Three Lanes May Be Better Than Four

Frequent travelers on Willamette Street between 24th and 32nd avenues know that the corridor isn’t Eugene’s finest for travel, and with the November passage of the pavement preservation bond measure, there’s funding to repave and possibly reconfigure the stretch in the next five years. Continue reading 

Stomp in the New Year

Once upon a time, in the days when “greed was good,” anything homemade was synonymous with shabby. Growing up in the Reagan age, a stage filled with buckets, washboards, kettles, spoons and cigar box guitars would’ve seemed more at home on a street corner or back alley saloon.  Thankfully we’ve moved past a time dominated with men with big hair and double-necked electric guitars. The DIY heart beats strong in the breast of young and old all over the country. Knowing how to make it yourself is in vogue, especially for musicians.  Continue reading 

The Floydian Slips’ Extra Dimensions

The Floydian Slips’ Extra Dimensions

The Floydian Slips’ Asher Fulero (keyboard, vocals) was “getting ready for the intergalactic mayhem” that some predicted for Dec. 21 when EW caught up with him. His plans must have included survival because the Slips have a big show lined up. After a four-year hiatus, the beloved cover band is taking the McDonald Theatre by storm on New Year’s Eve, transforming it into a psychedelic dreamscape. Continue reading 

Give Guide

“Resist impulse decisions to donate.” That’s one of the pithy bits of advice on charitable giving that the Oregon Department of Justice (DOJ) sends out along with a list of the worst charities in order to keep the generously inclined from getting scammed. EW begs to differ: Impulse donations are awesome. Then again we are the kind of folks who pull over at a green light to give dollars to the people holding signs that say “made some bad decisions” or who have cute dogs with them. But it’s all in whom you give to. Continue reading 

Fast-Forward

2013 will be the year of … more comic book-based films, more action flicks and more zombie apocalypse movies, not to mention sequels, more sequels and reboots: Man of Steel (another Superman reboot), The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (the second film of the trilogy), Jack Ryan (a second reboot of the Tom Clancy franchise), A Good Day to Die Hard (Bruce Willis’ fifth time as Mr. McClane), World War Z (Brad Pitt fights zombies), Pacific Rim (robots vs. Continue reading 

They Want to Swing You, Dove

Remember that Gap commercial circa 1998 where a bunch of khaki-clad models jump, jive and wail to the stylings of the Brian Setzer Orchestra? One of the oddest fads that passed through the music world during the ’90s was this sudden rise in popularity of swing and ska music, which cheerily rose out of a sea of grunge, alternative and electronica music. Continue reading 

A Plethora of Predictions

Shaggy dogs, claw-backs and suffering boehners

1. Hurricane Cassandra (aka “Sandy”) will again send advance warning of her return to the East Coast but no one will believe her. 2. Ice skating in hell will create new converts to the seriousness of climate change. 3. PERS retirees will be forced to wear a scarlet P on their chests, and retiring members in the private sector will be arrested for showing inadequate envy. 4. Walmart executives will lobby for a change to the U.S. Constitution – the part calling for “a more perfect union.” Continue reading 

Oregon Victory

Five good reasons why the Ducks will beat the Wildcats

1.  The forward pass. Oregon’s Marcus Mariota throws the ball pretty well and Kansas State does not do a good job defending against the pass. The Wildcats rank 90th in the nation in defending the pass and got scorched for more than 300 yards more than once. Watch for Josh Huff to make some big catches. If Marcus can find tight end Colt Lyerla early and often, the Ducks will roll.  Continue reading 

For this Pirate, It’s Personal

The year is 1980. Columbia University student Mark Beudert stood at the edge of the stage, coming in on the right note along with the rest of the chorus, as Kevin Klein and Linda Ronstadt rocked the house in a wildly successful Broadway production of Pirates of Penzance. Fast-forward 32 years and leap across the nation, Beudert is back at it again. This time he fills the director’s chair, but still utilizing the lessons he learned as a sophomore to inform a new production of the Gilbert and Sullivan classic. Continue reading