Culture: Page 195

Weed for Life

Local cannabis growers keep an eye on healthy, sustainable practices

Cannabis

When it comes to weed, a clutch of competing cannabis mythologies seems to guide our collective imagination, each one containing seeds of truth and shakes of misinformation and ignorance. One of the more subtle myths surrounding cannabis goes something like this: “Dude, it’s all good. Weed is a product of the earth, God-given, and we are meant simply to grow it, smoke it and enjoy. Unlike alcohol, weed never hurt anybody. It’s just a plant, for goodness sake.” Continue reading →

Running Races for Wine

Good wines are always competing with each other

Drink

When I first began to write about Oregon wine 20-some years ago (in millennia of wine, hardly a flash), there were only a couple hands-full of labels to track. Now we have more than 400, increasing almost daily. And the wines are often very good. This poses many challenges, not only for wine writers but particularly for the wineries themselves — their owners, their staff, retailers, et al. Continue reading →

Still Smokin’

EW lights up with legendary stoner, comedian and activist Tommy Chong

Cannabis

If there were a Mount Rushmore of stoners, Bob Marley, Snoop Dogg, Willie Nelson and Tommy Chong would proudly be on display. EW sat down with Grammy Award-winning comedian, activist and stoner legend Tommy Chong this week to discuss his views on cannabis regulation, 6-foot bong rips, his battle with cancer, the unveiling of “Chong’s Choice” and his comedy partner, Cheech Marin, doing too much weed at the wrong time. Continue reading →

The Boba Bandwagon

It might be a fad, but it's a tasty one

Chow

Once unheard of, boba tea, or bubble tea, features chewy tapioca, or “boba” balls that patrons slurp down with a wide straw, along with a milky iced tea.  “It started in Taiwan in the 1980s,” says D.I.Y. Tea & Beyond owner Richard Zheng. “Now it’s all over the world.”  Zheng says his shop’s boba tea is a standout because of its brewing process, using a tea espresso machine, and the way they prepare the addictive little boba balls themselves:  Continue reading →

Curry and Spice

Crazy Curry is a food cart to look out for

Chow

Padma Prakash worked as a prep cook at the Oregon Electric Station for more than three decades, she says. It was a hard pill to swallow when management changed in 2014 and slashed her pay. Unsure what else to do, Padma Prakash— with help from her youngest son, Jayant Prakash — opened Crazy Curry, the bright yellow Indo-Fijian food cart on the lonely corner of River Road & Thomas Lane. “I’ve eaten a lot of Indian and Fijian food,” Jayant Prakash says. “Nothing compares to my mom’s cooking.” Continue reading →