Author: Alex V. Cipolle

Familiar Frontiers

Explorer-photographer Jason Rydquist captures what the bygone becomes

Visual Arts

Abandoned homesteads on plains of matted golden grains. A door’s once glorious enframement, now peeling like an onion, pieces of its papery skin withering at its feet. A pristine cerulean bedroom, empty save for squares of sunlight from a four-pane window. Forgotten houses collapsing under the weight of moss, mold and time. These are the images that photographer Jason Rydquist seeks in his visual exploration, from Michigan to the forsaken corners of Oregon, and they will be on display in his show Retrospect starting March 29 at Sam Bond’s. Continue reading →

Talking to Strangers

Stand-up comedian Hannibal Buress talks Chris Rock and 30 Rock

Comedy

Before Hannibal Buress started doing stand-up comedy at 19 in Chicago, he wanted to be the “black Howard Stern.” Since then he’s written for Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock and has appeared on Louie, Conan and Jimmy Kimmel Live! In 2012, he released his first Comedy Central special “Animal Furnace,” and now he’s working on his new web series Talking to Strangers, in which he interviews musicians like The Root’s Questlove. Just don’t ask him when it premieres, because, well, he has no idea.  Continue reading →

Happy about the Blues

Music

Blissful blues. Sounds like an oxymoron, but that phrase hits at the essence of The California Honeydrops, who take the catharsis of singing the blues to a devil-may-care, happy-go-lucky level. The New Orleans-inspired stylings of the five-piece band from Oakland overflow with unabashed, easygoing joy, or in the spirit of The Big Easy: Laisser les bon temps rouler! Continue reading →

Faraway Fishtank

Music

Fishtank Ensemble’s lead singer Ursula Knudson likes to play music at the edge of the world, whether that’s breaking out her violin in the rural pockets of Maine or twangin’ on her hand saw at the tip of the heel of the boot of Italy. “I had this epiphany,” Knudson tells EW of playing in faraway and obscure places. “How much I love doing that more than playing in big cities.” She adds, “We’ve brought music to every nook and cranny, which I think is important to do.” Continue reading →

Sexiest Bartender: Teren Baker

Eirrin’s Bistro and Pub, Springfield

Drink

A self-described “townie” (he graduated from South Eugene High School), Eirrin’s Bistro and Pub bartender Teren Baker began tending bar two years ago at Emerald Valley Golf & Resort, where he mastered a mean Tom Collins. He juggles slinging drinks with slaying the guitar in his punk-rock band, Pirate Radio, and doing “daddy duty” with his 6-month-old daughter. Ask him about his Guinness Irish bread (yes, that’s a thing). Don’t ask him to store your 12-pack from home in Eirrin’s fridge (yes, that’s happened). Continue reading →

Sexiest Bartender: Summer McCarty

Jackalope Lounge

Drink

Born but not raised in Eugene, Jackalope bartender Summer McCarty returned to the Willamette Valley in ’93 from Southern Cali, bringing the sunshine with her. After graduating from high school a year early in Junction City, and living in a home that’s been in her father’s family for “over 100 years,” McCarty couch-surfed her way into Eugene residency. When she’s not helping customers down drinks, the yoga lover is doing downward dog, or spending time with her hubby and three kids. What do you drink? Continue reading →

Listen for the Bell

Patrón Hour at Starlight Lounge keeps patrons coming back

Drink

It’s a minute before half past nine on a Saturday night in downtown Eugene’s Barmuda Triangle. Four bartenders dressed in sleek black stand at their posts behind the long, narrow bar at Starlight Lounge. The bar stools have been removed, the limes have been cut and the saltshakers are at the ready. Ding! Ding! Ding! The clock strikes 9:30 and bartender Jonna Threlkeld taps the ceremonial brass bell with a stirring spoon. Patrón Hour has begun; crowds line up at the wooden bar and the cool blue agave nectar flows down rows of shot glasses. Continue reading →

Eugene Fashion Week 2013 at The Shedd

Fashion

It's  official. According to local designer, business owner and coproducer of Fashion Week, Mitra Chester, the two biggest fashion shows of Eugene Fashion Week will be hosted at The Shedd, May 3 & 4. Beautiful clothes in a beautiful venue? We're in. Belly and Oak Street Speakeasy will be hosting  the smaller runway shows.  Continue reading →

The Split-Headedness Paradigm

Painter Kaila Farrell-Smith explores her Klamath roots at Ditch Projects

Visual Arts

Kaila Farrell-Smith wants to decolonize her mind, and yours. She wants to repair the damage of the brutal concept from her father’s childhood: “Kill the Indian. Save the Man.” The Portland-based painter is exploring “split-headedness,” which she says “comes from being raised within an indigenous/tribal paradigm as well as having education in linear, Western concepts and society,” through her oil portraits and landscapes. Continue reading →