Dicking Around

The long-awaited Deadpool movie is a lot of excellent things: Lively! Violent! Cleverish! Ribald! (If you don’t enjoy the occasional — OK, frequent — dick joke, this is probably not the movie for you.) As the title character, Ryan Reynolds is in his element, and he embraces the challenge of being a likable, violent smartass whose face we often can’t even see (it’s a physical role on more than one level). Continue reading 

Biz Beat 2-18-2016

• Oregon industrial hemp growers will likely be happy with amendments to House Bill 4060 which passed out of the House Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources Feb. 11, has had its third reading and is up for a vote in the full House soon. The new hemp rules are significantly relaxed over existing rules and an earlier version of the bill. Growing or handling hemp will still require an annual state license, record-keeping and random testing for maximum THC levels. Continue reading 

Back Beat

Mark your calendars: Legendary hardcore punk band DRI returns to Eugene April 21 at The Boreal; tickets on sale now (theboreal.com). Also, Seattle indie-rockers Chastity Belt’s Feb. 28 show looks like it will sell out. Get on those tickets if you haven’t already. You don’t want to sleep on that show, Eugene. This week, FREE is a beautiful number, and that’s exactly how much it costs to see Seattle indie-folk rockers The Cave Singers 9 pm Thursday, Feb. 25, in Hi-Fi Music Hall’s “Lo-Fi Lounge.”  Continue reading 

Arts Hound

More than a year has passed since Eugene’s beloved storyteller Mark Lewis passed away. The Emmy-winning local performer, author, teacher and voice actor was nationally known for his show Word Pictures and voicing part of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland.  His spirit and influence lives on in the people he mentored, such as Angela Dunham and Lindsey Shields of Flex Studios, a local dance school. Continue reading 

Thread the Kneedelus

Instrumental jazz-rock outfit Kneebody and electronic producer and muttonchops enthusiast Daedelus

Daedalus

L.A.-based instrumental jazz-rock outfit Kneebody and electronic producer and muttonchops enthusiast Daedelus are the kind of musicians who blow apart any form of genre classification.  “For better or worse, we refuse to be pigeonholed in one sound,” explains Kneebody bassist Kaveh Rastegar of his band’s eclectic tendencies. “You’ll hear music that pulls from elements of EDM, jazz, indie rock and re-contextualizes everything with improvisation.”  Continue reading 

Activist Alert 2-18-2016

• The League of Women Voters of Lane County meets at 11 am Thursday, Feb. 18, at the Valley River Inn. Joy Marshall, director of Stand for Children for Lane County, will talk on “How Can We Improve Oregon’s High School Graduation Rate?” Open to the public and free. Call 343-7917. • The city of Eugene Public Art Committee will meet at 3:30 pm Thursday, Feb. 18, at the Eugene Public Library, Singer Conference Room. Call 682-2057 or email isaac.r.marquez@ci.eugene.or.us. Continue reading 

War Dead 2-18-2016

In Afghanistan • 2,349 U.S. troops killed (2,349 last month) • 20,071 U.S. troops wounded in action (20,071) • 1,629 U.S. contractors killed (1,629) • 16,179 civilians killed (updates NA) • $728.2 billion cost of war ($725.3 billion) • $291.3 million cost to Eugene taxpayers ($290.1 million)   Against ISIS • $8.3 billion cost of military action ($7.9 billion last month) • $3.3 million cost to Eugene taxpayers ($3.1 million) Continue reading