The Madness of Memory Lane

VLT director Gerald Walters discusses the challenges of The Other Place

The human memory is a most wily creature, a Picasso-like construction of images and emotions. And if we manipulate our own memories, to what extent is anything we remember real? Part psychological study, part fast-paced thriller, The Other Place is a play that explores the fascinating study of memory. According to The New York Times, the play is “cunningly constructed entertainment that discloses its nifty twists at intervals that keep us intrigued.”  Continue reading 

Arts Hound

Maybe it’s the changing of the seasons, the ongoing downtown renaissance or something else entirely, but EW has noticed a burst of creativity and talent breaking through what remains of winter’s fog; May 2’s First Friday ArtWalk is no exception. First stop is the 5th Street Public Market with “BLOOM,” featuring gardenscapes by Retro Green House, Sweet Pea Designs, Beeologique Bee Hives and more. Continue reading 

Family Fishing Day is Sunday

This press release just came in from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife regarding a Eugene event next Sunday: Families interested in spending an enjoyable day outdoors with a fishing pole in their hands may want to put the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Family Fishing Event at Alton Baker Canoe Canal on their calendar for 9:30 am to 1:30 pm Sunday, May 4. Continue reading 

Touchy-Feely Cinema

This year, Cinema Pacific packs quite an international punch, with a focus on films from Chile and Taiwan and a slew of interactive events, EW spoke to Festival Director Richard Herskowitz to find out what not to miss. Here are some of the highlights:   Chile’s Crackerjack Playwright Continue reading 

Hard-Up Hemingway

Remember when Jude Law was pretty? Go back and watch Existenz, or A.I. or Gattaca, when he was often blonde and proper, and always a little bit cold. Then watch Dom Hemingway, in which he is, in so many ways, the opposite: earthy and sweaty and living it up. His hair sweeps back from a sharply pointed hairline, dyed dark brown and never clean; he’s carrying just enough extra weight (by movie-star standards) that his clothes bunch and puff in the wrong places, like real-person clothes.  Continue reading 

American Musical Tapestries

From folk to jazz, Eugene bursts with the best American sounds

Black Prairie performs at The Shedd May 3

American “classical” music often finds a more welcome reception in choral concerts than in orchestra halls. Maybe it has something to do with the enormous popularity of choral music; nearly 30 million Americans — a tenth of the population — sing at least occasionally in a choir of some kind, whether it’s in school or church, amateur or professional. Maybe that’s why American folk and choral music sometimes seem like kissing cousins. Continue reading 

Follow the Light

Lynx

Lynx reminds me of a general — marshaling her beats, strings, digital bleeps and waves like orchestrated forces to create a united front. Or perhaps a captain is more apt. Her latest album, Light Up Your Lantern, sways like a ship in unknown waters on tracks like “Southern Skies,” leaving the listener a little woozy but eager for what lays ahead. Either way, Lynx is master and commander of her own fate, plotting her own folktronica course somewhere between the chilled mystery of The xx and the electronic exotica of Beats Antique. Continue reading