The Hairy Green Giant: Dinosaur Jr. at the WOW Hall
words and photo C.W. KEATING “The first time I walked into the office, three guys were talking about J Mascis for no apparent reason, and one of them was describing his guitar noodling as ‘trenchant.’ They had just returned from lunch. It was 3:30 P.M.” – Chuck Klosterman, Killing Yourself to Live I was first [...]
Groupie Action at The Head And The Heart
words MARISSA MCLAIN The two opening acts for The Head And The Heart were quite possibly the best picks for any opening act at any concert at any given time. Period. The first band, Curtains for You had the most refreshing-but-yet-still-catchy rock and the band members were awesome people – I chilled with [...]
Gold Tusks: The Home Recordings of Midas Bison
words C.W. KEATING Hailing from Madison, WI, Midas Bison is the moniker of Sidney Johnson, a former University of Oregon English major and full-time bedroom dreamer. Johnson has been playing music for years with various bands and side projects, but has only recently started releasing tracks on BandCamp, Tumblr, SoundCloud, and ReverbNation. His latest EP, [...]
Pink Martini and Storm Large at the Cuthbert
words and photos LUCY OHLSEN Underneath an uncannily clear sky, Storm Large’s voice wiped away all memories of soggy rain and overcast blues. The Portland rocker’s debut with Pink Martini was like watching worlds of music collide, not violently, but lovingly, producing fiery sparks of passion. Behind the stunning singer in a goddess-like black dress [...]
Bok Choy Babe
words LUCY OHLSEN I’ve never cooked bok choy, but I’m always drawn in to the bok choy booth at the Eugene Farmer’s Market. Two platters of bright, colorful greens draw me in with their sweet garlicky wafts and sesame-seed polka dots, and I can never resist. This week, I actually bought some bok choy to [...]
Whirled Pies Pizzeria
words NOAH DEWITT A new pizzeria called Whirled Pies (a stretch of a pun on world peace) opened up over winter break in the Jefferson Westside neighborhood, taking the place of community chill spot Monroe Street Café, which closed down last spring. Halle-fucking-lujah. The new joint has potential to both heal the heartbreak that Jeff [...]
Movie Review: Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie
words WILL STEVENS Over the past five years, the irreverent tandem Tim and Eric have cemented their status as the most polarizing force in viral comedy. If anyone tells you this duo’s humor is something that grows on you over time, they are full of shit. You either love these two and wholeheartedly embrace the [...]
Dear Gingerbeard No. 2
Dear Gingerbeard, It’s my third year in college and I still don’t know how to make myself sit down and study for my difficult classes. I find that I spend the four hours I reserved for learning doing anything else. At least my apartment is clean and well-decorated. You seem like a gentleman and a [...]
Fatherly Flow Patterns
An ode to the Mighty Willamette. words JORDAN CHESNUT If the Williamette Valley is the fertile motherland of the Oregon empire, then the Williamette river is the Daddy, the vital green sperm that runs northward through its belly; depositing soil from the Calapooya Mountains to the Columbia River. It is our all-seasonal watering hole, quenching [...]
Movie Review: Shame — Michael Fassbender, Carey Mulligan
words WILL STEVENS In an era of downloadable gratification, webcams, and the ability to mold the visual world to fit our own fetishes, are we more alone than ever before? What are the expectations for love now that our points of reference are derived from the infinite and ever-changing cyberspace and pop culture? Are we [...]
The Bookfinder
Local Chiller Brings Books to the People words NOAH DEWITT It’s a grey, dripping afternoon on the cusp of countryside in outer Eugene, Ore., and Arthur Ezra Tishman sits in “The Hole,” a cluttered book warehouse in the basement of his home. Forty-four stocked bookcases, each roughly 4’ by 5’, span most of the [...]
Welcome to Brewgene
Eugene’s Ninkasi and Oakshire take different approaches to ushering in the microbrew renaissance. words WILL STEVENS photo COLLETTE LEVESQUE [W]alking into a house party on a crisp autumn evening, you find a place in the corner of the dimly lit room. The incense fails to mask stale Pabst and yesterday’s quinoa, and the end result [...]
Bike Routes
Groovy Bicycle Adventures to Escape the Crazy Campus Scene! words EDDIE BOND art JULIAN EARNEST Searching for a fun way to escape the craziness on campus? Then lube your chain, pump your tires, and try one of these awesome bike rides! The Hendricks Park Loop: Roll to the corner of 19th Avenue and Agate Street. [...]
A Guide to Eugene Hoods
Get the fuck off campus. art ALLISON FONDER 1. CAMPUS AREA words NOAH PORTER A radioactive nucleus for student living, the generally accepted boundaries for “campus area” stretch from Kincaid to Pearl Street, between 13th and 18th Avenue. An emerald city of factory-issue condominiums intermittently sprinkled with abandoned high-heels, the dream of Seth from Superbad [...]
WTF Party Poopers
words MARY-KATE MORONEY art JULIAN EARNEST Break it up! Party’s over. But first, allow me to give a brief party-pooper history. In 2003, the city of Eugene passed a law banning any activity likely to attract more than 25 people in the downtown area. In December of that same year, the affected area was expanded [...]
Would You Like PCP with That?
Eugene’s possible drug fronts exposed. words MARGARET APPEL photo COLETTE LEVESQUE I Love Rocks The most obvious implication that this establishment could be slangin’ something on the side is, of course, the name. As you cruise past the magic-markered sign in the front yard of the small shack that is “I Love Rocks,” you might [...]
Bomb-Ass Meals
Eugene Food Not Bombs hooks it up fat — for the community. words COLETTE LEVESQUE art IMOGEN BANKS At 2 p.m. every Friday, UO students Paige Corich-Kleim, Thomas Walker, and Joe McFadden cruise to the Park Blocks at 8th Avenue and Oak Street with a bike trailer full of donated delicious food. They lay all [...]
Riding The High With Doug Benson @ WOW Hall 4/21
Funny-man Doug Benson is kickin’ it in Eugene this Thursday, 4/21, at WOW Hall for his “I’m Still High” Tour. Benson, who is most well known for his work with Last Comic Standing and the movie Super High Me, is one of the most prolific comedians of the past few years. He podcasts, hosts, and [...]
Paul Devro’s Explosive Rave
While I enjoy news stories about ASUO drama and fluffy opinion pieces, “The Weekend Police Blotter” is my favorite part of the Oregon Daily Emerald. If you don’t usually make it past page one, the blotter is a list of the weekend’s most serious — or most comical — police reports. Yesterday’s blotter contained this [...]
Paul Devro is the Man — And He’s Coming
This Friday, Paul Devro, co-founder of Mad Decent records and world-traveling DJ, will bring a high-voltage sound system, a crate of records, and a brimming laptop hard drive here to Eugene, Oregon, an uncharacteristically small town on his usual circuit of major metropolitans. His intention is simple: to transform the barren ballroom of the Veterans’ [...]
PDX’s Bar-muda: Who’s Biting Whose Style?
When heading home to Portland for an all-too-brief academic hiatus, I was looking forward to reading something cooler than the Eugene Weekly, i.e., The Portland Mercury and the Willamette Week. But today, when I glimpsed the words “Navigating PDX’s Bar-Muda Triangle” on the cover of the hot-off-the-press WW, I was all like, “Oh heck no!” [...]
An Irie Evening with Barrington Levy
photo & video SREANG HOK 1980s reggae legend Barrington Levy brought a sweet, tropical slice of Jamaica to Eugene’s WOW Hall last Wednesday. Backed by twangy guitar, electronic organ, syncopated rhythms, groovy bass, and dancehall reggae’s obligatory air horn, Levy sang a solid set of strikingly happy island jams. The music was rad, but the [...]
Never Waffle Over Waffles.
Breakfast has a special little nook in my soul. The familiar smell of frying fatty batter in fatty butter triggers endorphins to start coursing through my veins like I’ve just run a marathon. It’s almost a waste to put breakfast in the morning, when so often I’m not fully conscious and up to appreciating the [...]
Beach House and Vampire Weekend at McDonald — Don’t Believe the Merc!
The Portland Mercury might be the dopest alt-weekly Oregon has to offer, but inaccuracies in 94/7 FM’s recent ads may have caused some confusion. Beach House and Vampire Weekend will indeed showcase their immense talents in the great state of Oregon at Eugene’s McDonald Theater on September 1st; one night after their ‘Only Oregon Show’ [...]