Culture: Page 217

The Original Birdman

An interview with Sesame Street puppeteer Caroll Spinney, the man behind Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch

Culture

Like so many of us, I grew up on Sesame Street, that magical Manhattan block where fuzzy puppets and real people cooperate and collaborate and teach the ABCs of life. Seated before the television in my pajamas, laughing at Ernie’s antics and wondering what it was like inside Oscar’s garbage can, I was gifted the rudiments of an education that was at once practical and deeply moral. Big Bird still breaks my heart. Oscar still makes me giggle. Continue reading →

The Red Tide

Lane United kicks off the 2015 season with new players and a growing fan base

Sports
Lane United’s Rolando Velazquez in May 2014. Photo: John D. Sperry.

When Lane United soccer club returns to Willamalane Center to kick off their sophomore season with an exhibition game on May 8, expect the team to build off the momentum they created in 2014. During the inaugural season for Lane’s local soccer club last year, the team secured a home venue at Willamalane, a title sponsor with Oakshire Brewing, a developing fan base as well as a devoted supporter’s group in the Red Aces.  Continue reading →

Beer Steward Aaron Brussat and Party Downtown pair up with local food and Belgian beers

ChowDrink

We have some great locally grown food here in the Willamette valley. Paired with some top notch innovative chefs and a thriving fermentation culture it an exciting time to be a food lover in Eugene. Here is a look at a fantastic dinner that took place Monday at Party Downtown with wonderful German and Belgian beer chosen by Beer Steward and friendly Bier Stein bottle librarian Aaron Brussat. Continue reading →

Touch and Go!

Eugenean Erika Farias will join first U.S. women’s team heading to the touch rugby world cup

Sports
Erika Farias playing touch after Nationals in 2013 as a part of a USA Touch training camp.

For the first time ever, the United States is sending a women’s team to the “touch rugby” world championships.  UO club rugby player and Eugene resident Erika Farias is one of the women who will represent the nation at the Federation of International Touch’s 8th annual World Cup in Coffs Harbour, Australia. In the past, the U.S. has sent only men’s and mixed teams to the world championship.  Continue reading →

4/20 Means Weed, Thanks To The Dead

But as of July 1, every day will be weed day in Oregon

Cannabis

The date 4/20 might mean weed day across the world, but as of July 1, every day will be weed day in Oregon. Given the long history of the association with 420 and weed, it’s doubtful that 7/1 will take over as a code for “Let’s go light up.”  But thanks to Measure 91, if you are over 21 and you partake (privately) on 4/20 next year, you will be doing so legally. For this year, if you don’t have a medical marijuana card, there are other activities you can legally engage in. Continue reading →

The Rhone Rangers

Drink

Spring? This was no stinkin’ Oregon spring. We were dry, warm; no endless days of sog and rain. Even the worst climate-change-deniers had to notice, even if no idiot thought to bring a snowball (or a bucket of water) into the Legislature. Last year, around this time, we sat in a UO lecture hall, listening to paleobotanists tell us that, due to climate change (i.e., warming), Oregon grape growers should re-plant their acres in warm-country grapes, like those of the southern Rhone Valley of France. Continue reading →

The Tao of Tomatoes

Gardening

Carol Deppe knows we want tomatoes. “And you want them earlier,” she says, “and you want the most delicious varieties, and you want different kinds and colors.” Deppe, who lives in Corvallis, is a plant breeder, farmer and author. Her book The Resilient Gardener, published in 2010, catapulted her to prominence as an events speaker. Her talks at the Good Earth Home Show in Eugene are always among the best attended. Continue reading →

Divergent Ducks

The 2015 season proves again that the Oregon Ducks Softball team is top in the nation

Sports
Outfielder Janie Takeda. Photo courtesy Eric Evans.

The Oregon Ducks softball team has earned the right to call its squad the best in the nation, even if that title ebbs and flows ever so slightly. While UO secured the top spot in the joint ESPN.com/USA Softball poll as well as the USA Today/NFCA coaches’ poll on March 31, they slipped to number two when the weekly polls were released again on April 7.  Continue reading →

New pub and nightclub opening downtown

Culture

A new pub and nightclub is set to open downtown this summer in the former space of the Lord Leebrick Theatre Company's administrative office on Broadway.  The space will have two separate entrances and feature a pub and a nightclub, each with its own bar. The owner and operators say they want it to be a community-oriented space with a cozy feel and that it had to be downtown. "My mind kept going to a pub in southwest London," the owner says of the new venue's inspiration. Continue reading →