Winter Thaw

An oasis of music from warmer climes

Back in the 1970s, one of the major bands leading the welcomed revival of Celtic music was Planxty, a group that recreated the original energy in what could have been musty old tunes and forms and thereby revitalized Irish music. Singer Andy Irvine incorporated Eastern European elements into the band, and he later co-founded another all-star Irish band, Patrick Street, which he continues to front. Continue reading 

Bloody Derby Bouts

 In a bout marked by blood-splattering hits, a revolving-door penalty box, five ejections, and an appearance by Miss Oregon USA; our hometown men’s roller derby team lost a testosterone-filled event. The Lane County Concussion hosted the Deep Valley Belligerents of Mendocino County, Calif., Jan. 15 at the Willamalane Center in Springfield. The 198-154 score does not accurately represent how close this bout was. Continue reading 

May I Have Some More?

The dirty streets of London crawl with vermin and their lousy human counterparts. Victorian England is a great place to get rich, a terrible place to be poor and the perfect place for Charles Dickens’ imagination to run wild with an orphan in search of hope.    Oliver! The Musical is more than memorable songs like “Food, Glorious Food” and “Consider Yourself.” It is a dark, Dickensian story. A successful production takes skill, bravery and a heap of children. Continue reading 

Exploding Something or Other

Just how bad is Exploding Love, the play? It is so miserably and flatulently bad, in fact, that it’s nearly inconceivable Exploding Love, the actual current LCC student production directed by Michael Watkins, could not also be bad. We’re talking inevitably, ineluctably bad, as in lipstick-on-pig bad. Not just ungood, but bad. Awful. Continue reading 

Spiked Reporting: Rose Bowl Coverage Match Up

Sports reporters have long been blasted for pursuing homerism that roots for the home team rather than journalism. So it's interesting to look at the alternative realities of a Register-Guard v. Milwaukee, Wisconsin Journal Sentinel Rose Bowl match up. Here's the game-ending spike that the "reporters" largely covered by watching on TV like everyone else: Continue reading 

Baking Local

If you read our Spring 2011 Chow and want to share recipes or tips for finding ingredients for local baking, add them in the comments. Here are a few recipes we tried out, adapted for local ingredients: English-ish Muffins makes 10 big muffins Continue reading