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Graphic the Valley (Tyrus Books, 271 pages. $16.95), a first novel by South Eugene High School teacher Peter Brown Hoffmeister, is an ambitious and complicated read. The book draws together rock climbing, an attempt to correct the wrongs done to Native American history in Yosemite National Park, a Samson and Delilah tale, eco-sabotage and the tragedy of what man does to nature. Continue reading
“ … The motion picture community has been as responsible as any for degrading the Indian and making a mockery of his character, describing his as savage, hostile and evil. It’s hard enough for children to grow up in this world. When Indian children watch television, and they watch films, and when they see their race depicted as they are in films, their minds become injured in ways we can never know.” — Marlon Brando, Oscar speech, 1973 Continue reading
When Pacific Rim’s end credits rolled, a friend turned to me and said, “Now I kind of want to watch that Hugh Jackman ‘rock ’em, sock ’em’ robots movie.” Such is the effectiveness of Guillermo del Toro’s deliciously oversized robots vs. monsters movie: It’ll make you want more fighting robots, even of the sub-par kind. Continue reading
There was a time when the thump thump thump of electronic dance music was confined to abandoned warehouses and private basements or tucked away deep in the Willamette Valley’s forests and mountains. Jordan Cogburn likens finding a rave in the ’90s to a scavenger hunt. Step one: Find the party’s flyer (through a friend or at a record store). Step two: Call the number. Continue reading
Don’t miss: The Exiled In Eugene Future Musicians Concert Series (7/20, Luckey’s), the frenetic, high-stepping punk grass of Water Tower (7/20, Sam Bond’s), the incredibly uplifting grooves of local band Kokobola (7/21, Cozmic) and a free concert by Americana crooner Rebekah Pulley (7/23, Axe & Fiddle). Break out those legwarmers because The Davis Restaurant & Bar takes over ’80s night 10 pm Thursday, July 18, after the closure of John Henry’s. Continue reading
On July 6, the Oregon Bach Festival chorus sang a sweet surprise 80th birthday gift for retiring founding music director Helmuth Rilling — an “Alleluia” commissioned from the great contemporary Scottish composer James MacMillan, who’s working on a big new commission for the 2016 festival. It’s a treat to see the OBF returning to sparking the creation of new music, as it did for a while every other year, resulting in major works by Arvo Pärt, Osvaldo Golijov and other composers. Continue reading
Most ’90s alternative bands have long since disappeared — be it from lack of interest, internal discord, deaths or other unforeseen circumstances — but Collective Soul is one of the few who have continued on in spite of such troubles. Lineup changes have occurred, they’re no longer a chart-topping member of Atlantic Records and it seems like eons ago that they achieved the distinction of producing more No. 1 rock radio hits than any other band in the post-grunge era, but they are definitely alive and kicking. Continue reading
It’s high time the county fair became hip again. As society changes, the annual celebration of all things rural faces well-documented challenges. But in the age of Etsy and Pinterest, when cross-stitch, pickling and DIY chicken coops are all the rage, the county fair seems to have its finger on the zeitgeist. I mean, where else can you find a table-setting competition? Continue reading
Miwa Nishio has recently started listening to The Carpenters again, and for the first time, she knows what Karen and Richard are crooning about. “When I was little I used to sing along but I had no idea what the words were,” she says. Nishio grew up in Kyushu, Japan. While most kids were following Japanese pop music, Nishio was singing along to her parents’ records, namely The Carpenters and The Beatles. “I was definitely one of those weirdo kids in the neighborhood,” she says over the phone from her Brooklyn, N.Y., home. Continue reading
I remember commuting to a soul-eating server job in Minneapolis I had post-college graduation. It was one of those faux fancy steak-and-seafood joints where businessmen come for lunch in business suits to talk business and inhale their food without looking at it. Servers might as well have been robots for the amount of eye contact exchanged. Continue reading