Whats-Happening: Page 516

Sapient Being

The biggest rapper you’ve never heard of

Music
Sapient

Sapient might just be the biggest rapper you’ve never heard of, which is a sad fact considering the Portland-based artist grew up here in Eugene. As one half of hip-hop duo Debaser, as well as a member of Sandpeople, he’s rubbed elbows with members of Hieroglyphics, Living Legends and Grayskul.  Sapient has also produced infectious beats for Inspectah Deck (of Wu Tang Clan), Slug (of Atmosphere) and Aesop Rock, adding to the pile of reasons to know his work. The emcee-producer is poised and waiting patiently for his moment in the sun. Continue reading →

Emo at Heart

Heartless Breakers

Music
Heartless Breakers

Salt Lake City’s Heartless Breakers play a brand of bombastic, overwrought rock ‘n’ roll popularized at the turn of the millennium — a style known as emo.  Vocalist Chase Griffis’ expressive voice sits alongside post-hardcore screaming vocals. Beneath it all, aggressive guitars and a clamorous rhythm section intertwine, creating an auditory manifestation of adolescent tension and release. But Heartless Breakers also blend elements of hard and abrasive music with a pop sheen, a defining characteristic of emo. Continue reading →

An Indie-Classical Explosion

New classical ensemble Sound of Late debuts, Cherry Blossom Musical Arts hosts a showcase and more

Music

Like the blossoms that have been emerging this spring, Oregon classical music is entering a period of renewal. Earlier this month, we told you about the young musicians who’ve just started the new Delgani String Quartet, devoted to both classics and contemporary sounds. At 8 pm Friday, April 24, Eugene sees the debut of another exciting young ensemble at the Broadway House concert series (911 W. Broadway, 686-9270). 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 →

Destabilizing Agents

Film

In his groundbreaking 1978 book Orientalism, the late critic Edward Said went after the West’s misconceptions about the exotic and inscrutable otherness of Asian cultures, often so lavishly and fantastically portrayed in colonial writing. “From the beginning of Western speculation about the Orient,” Said wrote, “the one thing the Orient could not do was represent itself.” Continue reading →