Whats-Happening: Page 540

Code Red

Comedian Carly Aquilino talks standup, Girl Code and MTV

Comedy
Carly Aquilino

Carly Aquilino has been doing standup for less than three years and she’s already got a hit show — millennial favorite Girl Code, a comedy series where women in entertainment “weigh in on the sisterhood that all girls share” — and a cult following: In a recent episode, a fan gets Aquilino’s face tattooed on her thigh (another fan shaved her face into his back…). EW caught up with Aquilino over the phone from her New York apartment. She brings her act to Eugene for the first time Dec. 6 at McDonald Theatre.   Continue reading →

Sustenance for the Soul: Reverend Works to End Homelessness

CultureNews
Father Brent

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 →

The Spin

Who’s who and what’s what in dance this month

Dance
Ballet Fantastique’s An American Christmas Carol. Photo by Stephani Urso.

This holiday season, stages beckon with dance offerings for the young and young at heart. Ballet Fantastique rolls out its new holiday tradition, An American Christmas Carol, choreographed by Donna Marisa Bontrager and Hannah Bontrager. This jazzy retelling of Charles Dickens’ classic tale sets the ghostly story in post-WW II America and features live music by jazz singer Halie Loren. Performances run Dec. 12-14 at the Hult Center; $17-$49. Folks on the coast can catch the show Friday, Dec.19, at the Florence Events Center; $16-$24.  Continue reading →

Giftmas Wines

Drink

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 →

If It Bleeds, It Leads

Film

Nightcrawler begins as a sleek, beautifully filmed portrait of desperation in uncertain times. Under Los Angeles’ flickering lights, people are desperate to keep their jobs, or to find jobs, and a degree of dubiousness is par for the course. Lou Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a small-time thief, stealing scrap metal for cash, when he stumbles onto a new career: At a crime scene, there’s a man with a camera, gathering footage for local news. Inspired, Bloom buys his own gear and hires an “intern,” Rick (Riz Ahmed). Continue reading →

Gettin’ weird with Baby Gramps

Music
Baby Gramps

Seattle in the ’90s was the kingdom of super fuzz and big muff, as greasy-haired white boys in skinny jeans crunched out Neanderthalic riffs like The Kinks on horse ludes. It was a glorious time, full of sound and fury, signifying Sub Pop Records. Iggy was god. Everyone was touching each other and getting sick. And through all that nevermind noise, this beardy old dude with a froggy voice and clangy guitar continued to ply his strange old-timey stylings, laying down this wonky-doodle groove that was like a surreal vaudeville patter horned through the swordfish trombone. Continue reading →

Catching up with legendary Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr

Music

SHOW CANCELED. What would legendary Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr — now in his fifties — say to his 19-year-old self, just about to embark on a career that would lead him to become one of the most widely acclaimed and respected rock musicians of his generation?  “Don’t give up.”  And what would 19-year-old Marr say to older Marr?  “Keep a good haircut.” Continue reading →

Sallie Ford returns to Eugene with new band

Music
Sallie Ford

Much has changed since we last caught up with Portland darling Sallie Ford a year ago. Most notably, she’s no longer with The Sound Outside, her all-dude backing band (they broke up amicably). Ford simplified her band moniker to just Sallie Ford and pulled in a team of PNW musicians — Cristina Cano on drums, Anita Lee Elliott on bass and Amanda Spring on drums. Continue reading →

The Kryptonite Factor

Sports

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 →