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Some people do all their holiday shopping in one day. Others do it at their leisure over the course of weeks. Then there are the procrastinators, who do last-minute shopping at the grocery store. They are good people — they just need a little help. Continue reading
OK last-minute shoppers, you have one more weekend to find that perfect gift. And lucky for you, Down to Earth Home, Garden and Gift in downtown Eugene is there to help you out. Duck into this magical haven of kitchenware, gardening supplies and quirky curios, and you’re sure to find not just a last-minute gift but a fantastic one. Try some of these items on for size. Continue reading
Do Not Sell At Any Price: The Wild Obsessive Hunt for the World’s Rarest 78RPM Records By Amanda Petrusich. Scribner, $18.95. Do Not Sell At Any Price is an engaging, well-paced peek into the world of buying, selling and coveting rare 78-RPM records. (SPOILER ALERT: Did you know one of the world’s leading dealers of 78s lives just down the road from Eugene in Grants Pass?) Continue reading
World Peace Is None of Your Business by Morrissey. $25.98 Continue reading
A good friend of mine in Seattle — an Eritrean immigrant who helped pen that country’s as yet unratified constitution — once pointed out that, should I really want to understand the collision of race and politics in the U.S., read the sports pages. I figured he was being coy, but the more I think about it, the more I comprehend sports as a microcosm of society, where all sorts of racial and social tensions play out, often in the subterranean codes of privilege, ability and competition. Continue reading
All photos by Athena Delene unless noted. On a blustery December weeknight like last night (Wednesday, Dec. 3), it's always a crapshoot what will draw Eugeneans out of their warm little nests and to downtown. Well it turns out Eugeneans will come out in hordes for a LGBTQ happy hour. Continue reading
The duckweed and mosquito fern have been blown to the southeast corner of the pond. It means the wind is coming out of the northwest and it will be cold and rainy. I can feel it in the air; I can smell it swirling around me. It is the source of my joy of walking outdoors. I believe that the feel and smell of nature constitute a subliminal elixir to counteract the poisons of urban living. Even in town, it is important to preserve walking paths through woodlands and prairies in our neighborhood parks. A session on a treadmill in a gym just cannot substitute. Continue reading
In the spacious yurt at the center of Opportunity Village Eugene (OVE), Father Brent Was rummages through his bag with a red-and-white “OCCUPY” screenprint safety-pinned to it. Seated in a wobbly plastic chair, the bearded Episcopal reverend pulls out a simple wooden rosary and begins thumbing the blue beads from his left hand to his right, listening intently to the villager’s council meeting. Continue reading
Christmas? Already? Light the lights, jingle those bells, let’s wassail all season long. It’s a love fest. Quick switch from giving thanks for our gifts, to giving gifts, with our thanks — and lots of love. Now, you might imagine that because you have a wine fiend on your gift list you have this one in the bag: Plunk for a jug of plonk, plop into glitzy bag, designate, done. Not so fast. True, there are thousands of decent wines in stores, and gobs of wine-related gadgets, but getting a wine gift just right can be challenging. Continue reading
Sports are funny. If folks in this country cared half as much about the political process as they do about football, we’d all be living in some elegant utopia right now. Even casual sports fans can hold a civil, intelligent discussion about the pros and cons of the nickel defense, but bring up Obamacare and most of us degenerate into retrograde morons, hurling incoherent epithets at each other. Politics these days have become a nightmare, but football — it’s our religion. And that’s sad. Continue reading