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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 9, 1981)
Tip of the Tongue Saturday Market Saturday Market. It's Eugene’s own little Bagdhad in-a-cement-parking-lot on the corner of Oak Street and Eighth Avenue across from the government block, the banks and the brokerage houses. A once-a-week while-the weather's nice carnival, it at tracts the caravans of craft speople with their booths and the gawkers with their money, and inspires exchanges ben eficial to both. What's to be found at Satur day Market? At the Market on Saturdays you can find belts, pots, rings and other familiar things. There’s also handpainted por celain Japanese iris broches, winsome Pierrots and "Critters’’ — elephants, lions and sort-of gorillas with human limbs and private parts (“Great for Easter basket stuffers”). There are tarot and palmistry readings ($5), a massage inside a tipi (donation requested), and the Lane County Mental Health “Lucy booth" giving advice for peanuts (4 cents). Strolling in between the booths are clowns and on lookers. Crowds surround the impromptu stage where various musicians, magicians and other artists perform. In addition, Saturday Market proudly sports food in many forms. Wandering through the booths and crowds on opening Saturday we found some old favorites: Knish Bliss, Ritta’s Burritos, and Lulu’s Smoothies. Cramming side-by-side with the elders were about a dozen new booths with cute and rhyming names and all of them with hand-holdable food. Like everything else at Satur day Market, the food is sup posed to be handmade by the people who sell it. “The county inspects for compliance with sanitary laws, and there’s a $38 licensing fee every 30 days,” explains Bonny, owner of the Pizza stand with the delicious whole wheat pizza. “I spend between $100 and $150 on food, and reserving a space for the booth costs $15 per month. In addition, each week you pay $3 to $20 to oper ate, or 10 percent of the gross if it's over $400.” “I’ve been doing this booth for seven years," Bonny re flects, "and sometimes we’ve done real well. But,” she adds, casting a wary eye across the little plaza at new arrival DePal ma’s East Coast Pizza, “com petition is getting more all the time.” Bonny needn’t worry too much about her business as long as there are thick-crust, whole wheat pizza fans in Eugene. For $1.25 you can get a temptingly delicious piece with garlic-butter topping. Given the competition for the Saturday Marketeer’s dollar, and the constraints of the hand-holdable food genre, the Market food booths are a veri table ferment of ingenuity. Only because we were on assign ment, you understand, did we eat as much as possible and then some. Besides the pizza, we had a sour cream and bean-filled quesadilla at Wild Rosa’s Mex ican Munchies (two for $1.95); a quick-grilled skewer of Red Snapper Piccata ($1.85); and a spinach and cheese-stuffed, deep-fried pastry Florentine at Taste Me Pastry ($2). Not wanting to shirk our professional responsibilities of the tastebuds, we also found room for a large falafel sahd wich on whole-wheat pita bread at the new Mediterranean Cafe for $1.50 — don’t forget the hot sauce. We drank a glass of fresh squeezed orange juice for $1 along the way, but were finally daunted by the hot sun and the long lines in front of Ritta’s Bur ritos. Rumor had it that Dana’s cheesecake was the best ever; however, satiated, we resolved to indulge — only after jogging next Saturday morning. By Joe Cone Joe Cone's last Tip of the Ton gue appeared in the Emerald almost exactly a year ago. In the intervening time, he’s dined out on pizza in New Haven, catfish in St. Louis, Hunan shrimp in Chinatown, San Francisco, and tofu in Eugene. Now that he's back from the time-warp (out there), there'll be a regular column in the Thursday Revue tasting the good, the odd and the edible here at home. Films Being There Starring Peter Sellers Directed by Hal Ashby Peter Sellers, perhaps best known as the multifarious actor of the acclaimed Pink Panther series, displays his talents most proficiently in Director Hal Ashby’s comedy, Being There. Sellers, in a role most varying from his slapstick Inspector, ex hibits an elegant pose in his wonderful depiction of Chaun cey Gardiner, the simple-mind ed television addict who finds himself thrust into the American political limelight. Based on the novel by Jersy Kozinski, Being There is a witty, intelligent, poli tical comedy, the likes of which Hollywood has not seen since its recent run of Bedtime for 3onzo. Chauncey Gardiner, is of course the gardener. Raised by “The Old Man,” he is allowed to putter about in the townhouse and garden accompanied by a fleet of color television sets. When “The Old Man” dies, Chance is turned out of his in sulated environment to fend for himself in the nation's capital, armed with only a suitcase and a television remote controller. Through a typical Sellers misadventure, Gardiner finds himself in the care of Eve Rand (Shirley MacLaine), the wife of powerful financial magnate, Benjamin Rand (Melvyn Doug las). To the dying Ben Rand, Gardiner is a fresh relief to an otherwise stuffed and ostenta tious life of wealth and protocol. “A truly peaceful man,” says Rand, who is fascinated by Chance’s simple answers to a grim and complex world. Gardiner's eventual rise through Washington’s political channels is nothing less than a hilarious, instantaneous spoof on the mindless sensibilities of the prevalent men in control. Yet, the true comic appeal lies in Chauncey’s child-like in nocence, a complete passivity of mind which seems to only comprehend the shows he sees on television and the plants he tends in the garden. Invited to a personal meeting with the President, Gardiner unwittingly presents his heart-rendering garden philo sophy: ‘‘I like to watch the young plants grow” — which the President incorporates into his financial speech to the people. With no more than a childish quirk and a simple play on words, Chauncey is elevated into the eyes of the public and the heart of political scrutiny. But Gardiner is not aware of the events happening around him. Instead, his life seems transfixed to the screen of a television set, from morning cartoons to the Washington, D C. news. And, when ques tioned at length about his per sonal life, Chauncey simply answers, “I like to watch T V.” In one compelling scene, Eve attempts to play passionately in Chauncey’s “garden,” and ends up dramatically mastur bating when he explains he’d “rather watch” (television, of course). While a bit far-fetched, the plot offers enough subtleties to transcend its ludicrous moments into something almost tangible in Gardiner’s captivat ing character. This is best summed up when Benjamin Rand’s live-in doctor confronts Chauncey with the fact that he really is a gardener and nothing else, a position Gardiner never tries to refute, deny or even ex pect anyone to think otherwise. But, to Ben Rand, Gardiner exudes an aura of tranquility, leading Rand to claim: “Since he's been around, the thought of dying is much easier for me.” While Sellers’ performance and incomparable talents cap ture the film, a strong support ing cast, which does justice to Kozinski’s deft screenplay and Ashby's fine directorship, add the final touches that make the movie enjoyable. The end result is the creation of Chauncey Gardiner as a great, political epic hero. Being There shows at the Bijou Theatre April 9-15. Times are Thursday through Saturday, 7 and 9:30 p.m.; Sunday through Wednesday, 7:30 p.m.; Sunday matinee, 4 p.m. Being There is also coming to the campus on May 5. — James Jiler Craft Center and Cultural Forum Marc Goldring An Overview of Contemporary Leather Sculptural Form Opus 2, No. 1 A slide lecture of Contemporary Leather Wednesday April 8th, 7:30 pm, EMU Forum Workshop with Marc Goldring Thursday April 9th, 5:30-9:30 pm, EMU Craft Center An exploration of the ancient water-forming leather teciinique. FREE. Pre-registration is encouraged as enrollment is limited. offers you a FREE package of rolling papers No Purchase Necessary or $2.00 off reg. priced album or tape with coupon Now Two Locations 164 W. Broadway 1036 Willamette -VALUABLE COUPON_ On the Downtown Mall 687-9766 or 687-0139
