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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (May 30, 2018)
Wednesday, May 30, 2018 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon BUNKHOUSE: Film is a metaphor for a nation’s turmoil Continued from page 5 capable, caustic, and funny, with a real talent for painting, a severe problem with alcohol, and a tempestuous, uncompro- mising love for his farm. He believes, and when he says it the viewer also intensely believes him: “I am becoming my farm.” Dunning reminds us that once “everything had a meaning and everything had a purpose, and that’s what is get- ting lost now.” What he’s talk- ing about is, I think, related to what Wendell Berry calls “the stewardship of humans.” In “It All Turns on Affection,” Berry wrote: “... there must be a cultural cycle, in harmony with the fertility cycle, also continuously turn- ing in place. The cultural cycle is an unending conversation between old people and young people, assuring the survival of local memory, which has, as long as it remains local, the greatest practical urgency and value. This is what is meant, and is all that can be meant, by ‘sustainability.’ The fertil- ity cycle turns by the law of nature. The cultural cycle turns on affection.” I would argue that remain- ing local isn’t necessarily a requirement for sustainability — because notions of code, responsibility, and honor in both the Iliad and the Odyssey remain practical and urgent in their value — thousands of years and thousands of miles from their origin. The film meets Dunning at a time when Mile Hill Farm is Commentary... ‘The Rider’: Tale of man and horse By Ceili Cornelius Guest Columnist As a Sisters Outlaw, now a student at the University of Oregon, I have many oppor- tunities to learn from films and speakers that come to the university. A couple weeks ago, I took the opportunity to view “The Rider,” directed by Chloe Zhao, who also directed “Song My Brothers Taught Me” in 2015. “The Rider” will show at Sisters Movie House starting June 1, just in time for the run-up to the Sisters Rodeo. The film tells the true story of bronc rider “Brady Blackburn,” played by him- self, 22-year-old Brady Jandreau, who traded in his spurs for the acting chair. Brady in the film is not a “pretty” cowboy. He’s got worn out Levi’s, a well-worn leather belt with his tro- phy belt buckle, old boots, chaps of purple, dirty boots and a worn-out bronc riding saddle. In 2016, Brady suf- fered a massive head injury flying off a bucking bronco. The injury required surgery. The film opens with an inti- mate view of his head gash held together by staples: not a pretty sight. He has trouble sleeping at night and takes pills for the pain. He is living with his mentally disabled sister Lily, and his deadbeat gambling father, Wayne, in their trailer in the middle Hair & Nails Natural & Artifi cial 541-549-6566 484 W. Washington Ave., Ste. B of the grasslands of South Dakota. Shortly after Brady is recovering from his injury he visits his good buddy Lane Scott — the famous bull-rider who was left wheelchair- bound and unable to speak after a massive accident. Scott, played by himself, was a playboy bull-riding fool, and at just 18 suffered an injury that changed him forever. The connection between Brady and Luke is unwavering. Zhao said when they filmed his scenes, “Brady and Luke wouldn’t even have to act, they were just laughing and doing their thing and communicating through gestures.” Throughout the film we see the family struggle and Brady’s tense relationship with his father. Brady knows he has to do something to keep his family afloat, so he goes to work for the local grocery store. Throughout his work, he encounters custom- ers from around town, telling him to stick with it and get back in the saddle. So, what does a 22-year- old horse-riding fool do? He turns to colt breakin’ — a profession not for the faint of heart. But he’s got the magic touch. Apollo, the main horse in the story, owned by a local rancher, barely lets Brady touch him and looks toward him with wide eyes of fear. After just a few runs around the corral and weight pres- sure shifts, Brady hops on Apollo bareback with ease. The horse trusts him. Throughout the film, I was thinking of Nugget columnist Craig Rullman: a breaker of horses himself. I’ve seen him in action riding his new colt Remi. I’m always in awe of the cowboy’s connection to the horse and the focus and attentive, calm behavior it takes. Zhao mentioned that’s what the true moral of this story is: “It’s the story of the connection between a man and his horse.” Not only did I see that connection, I’ve felt it. It’s tough to imagine being in the boots of Brady, not being physically able to do what you love to do. The film does a fabulous job of depicting the prosaic life of the Jandreau family, all por- trayed by themselves, and the importance of family and connection with animals in order to keep on keepin’ on. The Rider is a film for anyone interested in the rodeo world and a story of persever- ance, and the strength of the connection between human and horse. hanging over a precipice. The farm has given him three wives and four children and taken them all away. He is mostly alone with his memories, his paintings, his orchards and his animals. And always the work. And despite Dunning’s impressive energy, intel- ligence, and passions; and despite his ravenous hunger for life in the midst of a suicidal pique, it is quite clear that the 13 existence of Mile Hill Farm — 134 acres of almost mythical New England — is hanging on by a mere thread in the intense winds of a physical, cultural, and spiritual tempest. What I found so engaging about this film is how accu- rately and precisely a lone man on his Vermont farm serves as a metaphor for the similar tur- moil of an entire nation, and I urge you to check it out. entertainment & EVENTS WED...MAY 30 Food Cart Garden at Eurosports Trivia Night 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Sign-up 6:15 p.m. Free! For information call Eurosports at 541-549-2471. Sisters Saloon Poker Night 7 p.m. Every Wednesday! $20. For info call 541-549-7427 or go online to sisterssaloon.net. THURS...MAY 31 Sisters Saloon Karaoke Night 9 p.m. to midnight. Every Thursday, no cover! For information call 541-549-7427 or go to sisterssaloon.net. FRI...JUNE 1 Food Cart Garden at Eurosports Live Music with Peter Heithoff & Patrick Lombardi 5 to 7 p.m. No cover! Info: 541-549-2471. Hardtails Bar & Grill Karaoke Night 9 p.m. Every Friday, no cover! For more information call 541-549-6114 or go to hardtailsoregon.com. SAT...JUNE 2 Cork Cellars Live Music with the Allan Byer Project 7 to 9 p.m. No cover! For info call 541-549-2675 or go online to corkcellarswinebistro.com. Sisters Saloon Live Music with Abluestics 7 to 10 p.m. No cover! For additional information call 541-549-7427 or go to sisterssaloon.net. Hardtails Bar & Grill Karaoke Night 9 p.m. Every Saturday, no cover! For information call 541-549-6114 or go to hardtailsoregon.com. SUN...JUNE 3 Sisters Saloon Open Mic Night 8 to 10 p.m. Free, every fi rst and third Sunday! 541-549- 7427 or go to sisterssaloon.net. MON...JUNE 4 Hardtails Bar & Grill Open Mic & Jam Night 7 p.m. Every Monday, no cover! For info call 541-549-6114 or go online to hardtailsoregon.com. Sisters Saloon Painting Party 6 to 8 p.m. $35, every Monday! 541-904-5280 or go to sisterssaloon.net. Hardtails Bar & Grill “After Bulls” Rodeo Kickoff Party, featuring Live Music with Love and Theft 8 p.m. $10 in advance at Hardtails or online at bendticket.com for the popular Nashville duo! For more info call 541-549-6114 or go to hardtailsoregon.com. Sisters Saloon Rodeo After-Party & Live Music with the Moon Mountain Ramblers 8 p.m. to midnight. No cover! For info call 541-549- 7427 or go to sisterssaloon.net. The Belfry Americana Project CD Release Concert 7 p.m. Suggested donation at the door is $15 adults, $10 youth to age 18 (no advance tickets). For more information call the Sisters Folk Festival offi ce at 541-549-4979. Food Cart Garden at Eurosports Trivia Night 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Sign-up is at 6:15 p.m. Free, every Wednesday! For info call 541-549-2471. THURS...JUNE 7 Hardtails Bar & Grill Locals’ Night and Live Music with the Rowdy Vegas Boys 8:30 p.m. in the party tent and locals get in free! Ride the Bull! For details call 541-549-6114 or go to hardtailsoregon.com. Sisters Saloon Live Music with the Joe Slick Band 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. No cover! For information call 541-549-7427 or go to sisterssaloon.net. FRI...JUNE 8 Paulina Springs Books Author Slideshow with Dan Mathews 6:30 p.m. The naturalist author presents slides from his book, “Natural History of the Pacifi c Northwest Mountains.” Go to paulinasprings.com for info. Sisters Rodeo Grounds Sisters Rodeo 7 p.m. Reserved seating is $12, $14 and $17. Tickets at 541-549- 0121. For more details go online to sistersrodeo.com. Hardtails Bar & Grill Live Music with the Rowdy Vegas Boys 10 p.m. start of music in the party tent after the Rodeo, with Crown Royal Girls on hand. Ride the Bull! For more info call 541-549-6114. Food Cart Garden at Eurosports Live Music TUES...JUNE 5 with Toothpick Shaker Band 5 to 7 p.m. No cover! Sisters Saloon Trivia Night For more information call 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Sign-up is at Eurosports at 541-549-2471. 6:15 p.m. Free, every Tuesday! Sisters Saloon on Live Music For info call 541-549-7427 or go to sisterssaloon.net. e Slick Band with the Joe 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. m. No cover! For WED...JUNE 6 additional information Sisters Rodeo Grounds please call Xtreme Bulls 6:30 p.m. $20 (kids 12 and younger free). 541- 541-549-7427 or go online to o 549-0121 for tickets. For more sisterssaloon.net. et. info go to sistersrodeo.com. Events listings are free to advertisers. Submit items by 5 p.m. Fridays to teresa@nuggetnews.com
