Culture: Page 230

Rejuvenate the Land

How OCF overcame this year’s swathe of obstacles

Culture

Crashing branches, trees snapped in half, debris-littered roads — the ice storm that swept across Lane County in February left the streets a twiggy mess that took weeks, even months, to address. The Oregon Country Fair site in Veneta bore its share of the damage, with the back half of the main camp kitchen totaled and three booths taken out by trees. Add to that a flood and a fire that damaged OCF’s iconic dragon-shaped entryway, and the Fair faced a much bigger challenge than usual when shaping up the grounds for July. Continue reading →

Mischief Makers

Like any large social gathering, OCF faces its own brand of troublemaking

Culture

Some Oregon Country Fair mischief is part of innocent tradition, some practices are heavily frowned upon and others warrant police intervention. Unwelcomed activity at the Fair is deterred conventionally, with law enforcement, and creatively, with a volunteer security team numbering in the hundreds. Sneaking in, drug use and dealing, inappropriate behavior and theft are among the troublemaking OCF must curb every year. Continue reading →

Summer Cocktails

Drink

A product of the EW Advertising Dept.   The Eugene Cocktail Muddled mint & lemon with a healthy portion of Oregon made whiskey, Genesis Juice Hibiscus Cooler. Topped with sparkling water and garnished with lemon and mint. Cornucopia 2 Locations: 295 W. 17th and 5th & Pearl        Continue reading →

2014: A Beer Odyssey

Drink

Eugene’s craft beer scene is out of this world, and Eugene’s biggest brewery, Ninkasi Brewing Company, is ready to make that figurative statement literal. On July 15, the Civilian Space eXploration Team (CSXT) will launch its second rocket into space, carrying 16 strains of brewer’s yeast as part of its cargo. Ninkasi CEO Nikos Ridge says that to his knowledge, it’s the first brewing experiment involving ingredients that have traveled to space, and the first step toward brewing beer in space. Continue reading →

Browder Ridge Ramble

Wildflowers, strange hemlock and stunning Cascadia views

Outdoors
Browder Ridge. Photo by John Williams.

Old-growth Western hemlock, Douglas fir and Alaska cedar blanket all slopes of the Browder Ridge near the junction of Hwy. 126 and Hwy. 20. You can hike this trail from west to east, east to west or arrange a shuttle. In my opinion, this hike is best done from the eastern trailhead at Gate Creek.  As we set out up the trail I was quickly reminded how steep this section of the trail is, covering nearly 1,400 feet in just less than 2 miles. The impressive and ever-changing forest gives you the sense of being far from any roads and helps dull the pain in your calves.  Continue reading →

A Dirty Soccer Secret

Sports
Argentine friends wear their national team jerseys on game day in Brazil. doherty (right) wears his training jersey of an Argentine club, Estudiantes de la Plata.

I consider myself a fairly transparent person, but there’s something I’ve been reluctant to share: I would not be upset or disappointed if the albiceleste (the Argentine team — nicknamed after the white and sky-blue stripes of their flag and jerseys) wins the World Cup. I was passionately supporting other teams but they’ve all been eliminated.  Continue reading →

Art, Music, Wine

Drink

Before launching into this month’s wine discoveries, let me briefly explain last month’s rant against racism and misogyny. Wine, see, is one of life’s little pleasures, but I find it hard to write about such pleasures when my mind is tormented by thoughts of hundreds of young girls abducted and enslaved by gun-wielding fanatics. I can hardly bear to think about their fear and pain, much less devote time and attention to tasty vinos while they suffer.  Continue reading →