New Release: Caroline Bauer

Eugene singer-songwriter Caroline Bauer sits down with EW to discuss her new album

Caroline Bauer. Photo by Sean Danaher

Caroline Bauer releases her first full-length studio album, To Kneel and Kiss the Ground, Sunday, March 15, at her album release show at Sam Bond’s. Joining Bauer are Portland musicians Jeffrey Martin (who the Portland Mercury just declared “might be the best songwriter in Portland”) and Anna Tivel (formerly of Anna and the Underbelly), who also played violin on the album. EW caught up with Bauer this week for coffee and discussed raising money for the album, collaboration and her musical roots.   Continue reading 

Mykki’s Clubhouse

Mykki Blanco

Mykki Blanco

New York rapper Michael Quattlebaum Jr., aka Mykki Blanco, is as much a performance artist as a musician.  A published poet and art school dropout, Quattlebaum’s alter ego Blanco is inspired by teenage girls and drag queens — mixing the right-now youth culture of Rihanna, the decadent gutter of the New York art world, queercore and Riot Grrrl icon Kathleen Hanna.  Continue reading 

Eugene Arte Latino and Students Helping Street Kids International (SHKSI) host the Carnaval Brasil

Coming on the tail (feather) end of Rio de Janeiro’s world-famous Carnival, Eugene Arte Latino and Students Helping Street Kids International (SHKSI) host the Carnaval Brasil! 7 pm Saturday, March 14, at Cozmic; $12, kids 12 and under get in free. Costumes are encouraged, so break out your glitter, feathers, sequins and, of course, rhythm: Samba dance lessons start at 9:15 pm. Continue reading 

It’s About Time – March 2015

The gray whale cows and their calves are migrating north in good numbers this month. I finally visited the most fabulous place to watch whales: the shelter at the top of the Saint Perpetua Trail. The hike is very steep but a road allows one to drive up. Go early in the day, as the parking lot at the top is small. There are often volunteers with spotting scopes at the Cape Perpetua Visitor Center. They have information on how many whales are passing that day. Continue reading 

Transcendent Man

Eugene trans activist Aydian Dowling uses newfound viral stardom to shine light on trans issues

This photo also broke the internet: Aydian and Jenilee Dowling pose in their whiteaker home. Photo by Jason Ballard.

Sitting in Sweet Life Patisserie in the Whiteaker, Aydian Dowling discusses the meaning of “going viral” — or gaining instant fame via the internet. “Once we hit 200,000 views on just the Buzzfeed page,” he says, “we were like, ‘What does it mean to go viral?’” He laughs. “I think when we break a million, we’ll say that we went viral.” Continue reading 

This Smart House

Saving the planet with home automation systems

Lockitron

The iconic space-age cartoon The Jetsons features a technologically advanced home, complete with a robot housekeeper and a home full of futuristic gadgets. The show first aired in 1962, and while houses still don’t brush your teeth for you or make breakfast with the press of a button, technology now enables us to do some advanced home control, like dimming your living room lights from miles away.  Home automation systems have arrived. Along with compost, urban gardens and solar panels, they’re the future of sustainability.  Continue reading 

Small is Beautiful

From columnar apple trees to mini-dwarfs, small trees yield big

These days, you can grow apples without the hard work, responsibilities or space required by full-size apple trees. Cute and amazingly compact, columnar apple trees can grow up to 10 feet tall or higher while remaining barely 2 feet wide, and they can be spaced as close as 2 feet apart. The trees need minimal to no pruning, because the few side branches they produce grow vertically and can be removed, shortened or left to increase the crop.  Continue reading