We've got issues.
I took too long to write about last Friday’s episode of Battlestar Galactica, and hereby vow (with fingers only a little bit crossed) to do better in the future. But there are a couple of things I want to scribble down before tonight’s episode airs … So this is longer than intended. It happens. Continue reading
I’m a bit embarrassed that I completely forgot to mention this last week, when I first heard it, but better late than never: Culiarnia Eugenius, also known as EW’s food columnist, Jennifer Burns Levin, reminded me with her recent post that hey! Mark Bittman ate at Bellly last week! And that’s kind of nifty. Continue reading
I dithered. I didn’t want to. I never cared. Etc. What a pack of hooey. Battlestar Galactica isn’t perfect. Television almost never is, even the television I love best. (OK, Deadwood comes fucking close, and if you’ve ever seen it, you understand why it was vital I swear in the middle of that sentence.) But it’s astonishingly good, and powerful, and sometimes beautiful, and incredibly acted. Continue reading
Ho, hum. I realize it’s a little bit weak to comment when you’ve not yet seen all the films, so I’ll be brief: Even the surprises this year (Melissa Leo, Richard Jenkins) don’t feel like surprises. Slumdog Millionaire ceased being an underdog even before it got here, and while it a perfectly fine film, it is not a Best Picture. Not, not, not. I think I’m attached to exactly one category: Man on Wire had really best win Best Documentary. Continue reading
Yesterday, the Oregon Arts Commission announced the recipients of its annual fellowships, given to “performers and writers of exceptional talent and demonstrated ability, professional achievement and continuing dedication to an artistic discipline.” The cash awards ($3,000 each) can be used “to complete work in progress or embark on a new body of work, undertake research, study or experiment with new materials or media.” Continue reading
Yesterday, I got one of those makes-your-heart-skip-with-joy press releases: a new And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead album, Century of Self, comes out in just over a month! They’re independent again! MTV News says they’ve “amped up the guitars!” And they’re coming! To Portland! Well, you can’t have it all. (You apparently can’t have anything, if you’re me: Mates of State are passing us by again, too. What gives?) Continue reading
Economy got you down? How about the weather? Looking to make a little more money but also get out of the rain? Australia would like you to apply for what they are ever so casually calling The Best Job in the World: The Caretaker of the Islands of the Great Barrier Reef (their excess capital letters, not mine). You live on a teeny island for six months, get paid good money for it and tell the world about how totally awesome the experience is via blogs and photos. Responsibilities of the job include: Continue reading
At the very tail end of last year (I admit it: I’m still stuck in 2008), The New York Times had one of those I-wish-I’d-thought-of-that pieces, this one about the rising popularity of salted caramels, now available not just at Starbucks, but in your local (er, well…) Wal-Mart. Continue reading
If you missed the Eugene State of the City event last week, here’s the condensed video highlights: Continue reading
The Oregonian has picked up on the story that EW first ran Thursday about Oregon National Guard soldiers’ exposure to a highly toxic chemical in Iraq. Continue reading