Year: 2016

It’s About Time

The mosquitoes have returned

About Time

The mosquito fern that covered the eastside Delta Ponds’ surfaces with dramatic purple the past two winters had nearly disappeared by late spring of this year. The duckweed family overtook the mosquito fern and turned the ponds green, much to the gustatory delight of the waterfowl. Suddenly, in July, the mosquito fern has made a resurgence and may regain dominance; observations to come. Even the green is different. Instead of common duckweed, the green is dominated by the tiny water meal (Wolffia) of the flowering duckweed family. Continue reading →

Biz Beat 8-11-2016

Biz Beat

• Measure Your Online Marketing: Reports and Analytics 6 pm Thursday, Aug. 18, with Carol Infranca, “award-winning print and broadcast journalist, business and government marketing and public relations specialist and an authorized local expert for Constant Contact.” The workshop is FREE and takes place at the downtown Eugene Public Library at 10th and Olive. Call 541-682-5450 or visit eugene-or.gov/library for more information. Continue reading →

Back Beat

Music

Greetings from the dog days of summer: This week, to help pass the warm drowsy evening-time, Eugene offers an eclectic lineup of live music, from the return of L.A.-based freak-folk artist Globelamp to the second local show in less than a year from Portland indie-rock living legends The Dandy Warhols.  Globelamp plays with Tashaki Miyaki and Mischief Mistress 5 pm Monday, Aug. 15, at The Boreal; $5, all ages until 7 pm.  Continue reading →

THE PEOPLE CAN’T BE STOPPED

Letters

THE PEOPLE CAN’T BE STOPPED If the Lane County Board of Commissioners votes in late September to give themselves the power to yank duly approved initiatives from the vote of the people because they decide the initiatives are not “of county concern,” there is at least one bright spot: the subsequent people’s initiative to reverse that unconstitutional ordinance will most assuredly be “of county concern.” To Commissioners Bozievich, Stewart, Farr and Leiken: The initiative process belongs to the people! Continue reading →

Why I’m Going to PRIDE

Viewpoint

Because of Orlando. Because just yesterday I reverted and referred to my wife as “my partner.”  Because my gay friend’s 70-year-old lesbian sister has yet to come out of the closet. Because lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people are the most likely           targets of hate crimes. Because Skye Mockabee, 26, found dead in a parking lot in Cleveland, Ohio, July 30 is the 17th transgender woman of color murdered in the U.S. this year.  Continue reading →

Accentuate the Positive

The Shedd's OFAM concludes with hits from the home front

Music
Siri Vik

When the United States went to war in 1941, music was in the arsenal. After Japan’s catastrophic sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, the country needed cheering up and troops needed cheering on. The nation’s pop culture institutions were enlisted, going on tours and producing “V-discs” (records) and shortwave broadcasts for deployed soldiers and music about coming home and accentuating the positive for Americans.  Continue reading →

Pokémon Players Aren’t Pumping Up Businesses

News

Grouping couches together, chilling racks of beer, lighting coals for the grill. These aren’t preparations for the neighborhood potluck. They’re what some people have done to get comfortable for playing hours of Pokémon Go on a downtown street corner. While some stores are seeing an increase in foot traffic, that hasn’t translated into a similar increase in profitable business.  Continue reading →

A Transcendent Year

Dispatches from Pride 2016

Culture

While planning EW’s second annual PRIDE issue, we made no deliberate decision to focus on trans women; the stories just emerged organically. Why? we wondered. The answer was obvious to many trans women, scholars and activists who contributed to this issue.  “Trans women are in the spotlight nationally, especially with Caitlyn Jenner and her entire show,” says Jam Tolles, a local artist beginning her transition (see "Contemporary Calico" this issue).  Continue reading →

Contemporary Calico

Jam Tolles explores gender identity and transitioning through art

Culture
Jam Tolles

A painting by Jam Tolles reminds me of “Las Meninas,” the enigmatic 1656 painting by Diego Velázquez, even though visually the two have little in common. Velázquez's oil masterpiece depicts members of the Spanish Court in a grand drawing room with a mirror, the figures peering back at you as if you were some sort of peculiar guest popping in.  Tolles filled ketchup bottles with acrylic paint and gooped hundreds of flowers on reflective mylar panels, creating amorphous mirrored pools that reflect the viewer between the blooms. Continue reading →