Eugene Weekly : Calendar : 05.18.06

Ritual whale cleansing to gospel music! Crazy competitive rural folks versus crazy competitive city bureaucrats! And yes, there's another film festival in Eugene this weekend, this time about our 49th state and its glorious capitol city. Last year's Grizzly Man didn't put you off Alaska forever? Good. The Juneau Underground Motion Picture Society screens its traveling film festival at DIVA. The lineup includes short films from animation to drama to documentary that give a sense of life in the part of the U.S. that John McPhee described bleakly and memorably in Coming Into the Country: "A pedestrian today in Juneau, head down and charging, can be stopped for no gain by the wind." We're sure sorry he missed the whale rendering — but you don't have to! Put your head down and charge into DIVA for this film collection. See Sunday.

What can one say about a free outdoor festival that has brought Greg Brown, Ani diFranco, Queen Ida, the Neville Brothers…etc., etc., etc.? OK, we think the venue change to the recently privatized Cuthbert might not have been the best idea, but those of us 21 & over can finally snag wine and beer during the 36th Annual Willamette Valley Folk Festival. This year's lineup includes, well, it includes a lot of bands. So many that we advise you to look at the insert or simply grab sunscreen, a lunch and a blanket before you bike to the park. Hot Buttered Rum (pictured right) blends bluegrass with reggae and rock, which we find fascinating, and perennial local fave Elizabeth Cable. Beautiful music and righteous weather on the canal — what more could you need? See Calendar.

Why did Constantinople get the works? Find out and give the touring musicians of Cappella Romana a benveuto when they hit Eugene on the last leg of their "Fall of Constantinople" tour. After performing in Italy, the group — one of the Pacific Northwest's few chamber music vocal ensembles — has covered the West Coast with their Latin and Greek tribute to the twilight of an empire. (No, they're not talking about the end of oil.) The tight harmonies and haunting lyrics (even if we can't quite understand the languages) might just help you understand why, if you've a date in Constantinople, she'll be waiting in Istanbul. See Thursday, May 18.

"I think poetry helps takes us to places that Americans aren't always accustomed to going," Edward Hirsch (pictured left) says. And no, he doesn't mean the vegetable fields of California. Instead, the poet, critic and professor at the University of Houston means ... Heck, let's give Hirsch the floor. From his poem "In Memoriam: Paul Celan":

Lay these words on the dead man's eyelids

like eyebrights, like medieval trumpet flowers

that will flourish, this time, in the shade.

Let the beheaded tulips glisten with rain.

Hirsch's imagery and intelligence make his Poet's Choice reading too good to pass up. If you need more proof, check out his recent interview with Scott Simon on NPR, but get ready to go some new places with Hirsch. See Thursday, May 25.

A ZAPP dancer's day starts before 6am dance practice, and the dancer might practice up to 30 hours a week when school's not in session…or before a Hult Center performance like this week's ZAPP: InvaZion. ZAPP (pictured below), made up of young Eugeneans and directed by Cindy Zreliak, won a ton o' gold in last summer's national dance competitions; this show promises "an emotionally charged, physically compelling roller coaster ride for the senses." We don't know what that means, exactly, but it sounds pretty dang exciting to us. See Friday.