Whats-Happening: Page 593

It’s About Time – February 2014

About Time

“Typical is not normal; normal is not typical” is my weather mantra. This year is no exception to the Rule of Exceptionality. I have always believed that Oregon weather was more variable from year to year, each year more likely to be an exception to normal greater than in other parts of the country. The growing season is less predictable as a consequence. Now that climate change is becoming more and more evident across the continent, testing my belief has become more difficult. Continue reading →

Sex & Love

Culture

Emily Aguilera, 26, single What is the best part about being single? Not having to answer to anybody but yourself. What is the worst part about being single? Nobody to split dinner with, half and half. Share portions, get that variety when you go out to eat; you’re stuck to that one dish. Have you ever been cheated on? Not to my knowledge. Have you ever cheated on someone? Continue reading →

Erotic Heart

New book examines intimacy in relationships

Culture

Local author and real estate investor Bill Syrios has written a new book about relationships that might make his four grown sons blush. “This book may contain more about good old Dad than you wanted to know!” he writes in the dedication to Intimate Conversations for Couples: Turning Your Relationship into a Lifelong Love Affair, published by Crossover Press in Eugene and available in print this Valentine’s Day. Continue reading →

A Bad Wrap

UO scientist wants to create the ultimate condom

Culture

It’s a common experience. You’re walking down the street, pleasantly enjoying the scenery, when you look down and almost step on the horror of all horrors: a used condom lying on the sidewalk.  We all know that condoms are readily available and people use them all the time (even if we don’t want to see the rubbery aftermath at our feet). The problem is that they’re not using them enough or with any kind of consistency. Continue reading →

Sex Scandal Roundup

Who did what, or who in the news

Culture

People having sex isn’t “news.” Sex is how our species survives, after all. Sex scandals make the headlines when the sex is had in awkward places, with ill-chosen or inappropriate people, including, as it turns out, one’s own self. That’s when sex makes the pages of not just tabloid news but the rarified newsprint (and websites, for endless sharing) of The Oregonian and The Register-Guard.  Continue reading →

Get Shorty

Film

Though only three of them are actually dark, this year’s crop of Oscar-nominated live-action shorts (now playing at Bijou Metro feels disproportionately heavy. There’s one bit of likable fluff (the Finnish “Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?”) involving a flustered family in a morning rush; there’s also a bit of humor in Mark Gill’s “The Voorman Problem,” which stars Martin Freeman as a doctor asked to examine a prisoner who claims he’s a god. Continue reading →

Inherit the Winds

Imani Winds gives classical music a youthful jolt

Music
Imani Winds

Many question whether classical music can survive its self-inflicted wounds: aging, demographically narrow (read: predominantly old, white, rich) audiences; endless recycling of the same old tunes from long-dead European composers; bloodless performances in audience-unfriendly settings, etc. The answer, my friend, is blowing in the winds — Imani Winds. Since 1997, the quintet’s concerts have mixed classical, jazz and world music, much of it contemporary, some composed by group members. Continue reading →

Vibrant Visitors

February basks in music from Brian Blade to The Bombadils to Bach

Music
Marimbist Eriko Daimo performs at Beall Hall

Thanks primarily to a pair of forward-looking institutions, Eugene keeps attracting visiting vanguard artists that just about any other midsized mini-metropolis would envy. This month, one of them snags three young stars who are also appearing at the big Portland Jazz Festival that annually brings some of world’s finest improvisers to the Northwest. On Feb. 19, The Shedd brings back one of jazz’s greatest drummers, Brian Blade, and his mighty Fellowship Band. Continue reading →

Valentine’s Day Roundup

Music
Concrete Loveseat

Valentine’s Day Roundup: Whether this day makes you groan or swoon, whether you have zero or 10 sweeties, at least there’s some good music to put you in the mood or take your mind off the faux holiday. The jazzy poppers of Concrete Loveseat present “Moonglow Valentine” in two shows, 7 pm ($10) and 9 pm ($8) Friday, Feb. Continue reading →