Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012, February 28, 2002, Page 9, Image 9

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

    PULSE briefs
Fiddle Festival to bring
Celtic flavor to Eugene
A violin is for classical music,
but a fiddle is for fiddling.
A trio of Celtic fiddlers known
as “The Celtic Fiddle Festival”
will play at WOW Hall at 8 p.m.
March 6.
The trio consists of Kevin Burke
from Ireland, Johnny Cunningham
from Scotland and Christian
LeMaitre from Brittany.
The men are from three different
Celtic cultures, but they are also
three good friends who share a love
of the same instrument.
The trio recently released their
live, self-titled album on the Green
Linnet label. Soig Siberil, a guitarist
from Brittany, will accompany the
group for this performance.
Tickets are $21.50 in advance
and $24 at the door and are
available at WOW Hall, the EMU
ricket Office and Fastixx. For
nore information, call WOW Hall
it 687-2746.
— Alix Kerl
Dead Kennedys bring
audiences to life
The Dead Kennedys, a popular
punk band of the late 1970s and
3arly 1980s, is proving that they
can still reach audiences with a
reunion tour that will bring them
to Eugene. But they will perform
without founding member Jello
Biafra.
The band goes on at 8:30 p.m.
March 4 at the Wild Duck with
opening band Spread Eagle. Tickets
are $12.50 in advance and $15 at
the door, plus applicable service
charges, and the performance is
open to all ages.
Despite Biafra’s absence, guitarist
and founding member East Bay Ray
said he was surprised at the reac
tion they received from recent au
diences. He said someone had seen
the band rehearsing, and word soon
hit the street that the band was per
forming together, which sparked a
dramatic increase in ticket sales.
“I’ve never seen so many smiles
at a punk rock show,” he said.
Since the group broke up in
1986, Ray said the band members
have been working on other musi
cal projects. They began rehearsing
together in November 2001 and
have released “Mutiny On the
Bay,” their first live album.
“The audience is intelligent,
more so than in the ’80s,” Ray said,
adding that today there is not the
same violent element that was al
ways associated with their audi
ences in past decades.
Ray said the “action had been re
ally good” at the recent shows. He
said he expects there to be a lot of
energy and some stage diving at the
Eugene performance. He also said
the band has been playing better
now than they ever had in the past.
For more information, call the
Wild Duck Music Hall at 485-3825.
— Jen West
Kesey
continued from page 7
He said the discussion groups
are an excellent way to get to
know people.
“It’s a great place to meet sin
gles,” Landfield said, adding that
there is romance in Kesey’s book.
Cunningham said it took him
less than five minutes to choose
Kesey’s book for the program.
“Kesey (was) probably the most
famous author in the area,” he
said, adding that “Sometimes a
Great Notion” contains a history
of Lane County.
Cunningham said he talked to
Kesey before he passed away
Nov. 10. 2001, from complica
tions after liver surgery, and he
said Kesey was excited about the
idea for the reading program. Ke
sey wanted to extend the pro
gram long enough so he could
participate after he recovered
from surgery.
“Interest really grew after his
passing,” Cunningham said,
adding that many area bookstores
supported the program.
He said when someone buys
the book, they receive a button
that shows they are part of the
“Readin’ in the Rain” program.
Joyce Berman, communications
director for Eugene.com, said she
heard about the “Readin’ in the
Rain” idea and decided to make it
a citywide event. She also said Eu
gene.com provides background on
the book and the author.
Berman said it was hard to
know exactly how many people
have become involved in the pro
gram, but she thinks it has defi
nitely received a positive re
sponse.
Pocket
continued from page 7
The nine-member cast was chosen
for their parts almost a month ago, af
ter a rigorous auditioning process.
The lineup includes: Nick Hamilton,
Liz Jamieson, Ben Maughan, Max
imillian McCal, Katie McClatchey,
Cassie Schwanke, Joe Shirley, Tara
Warner and Traci Vitale.
The group rehearsed Monday
night, with high-energy and expres
sion, tackling scenes that mocked
everything from the war on terror
ism, the Family Circus comic strip
and “tuna-safe dolphin meat.”
After running through one of his
Landfield said sales of “Some
times a Great Notion” dramatical
ly increased since the program’s
inception. Before the program
started, he would sell about one
“You really feel like
(Kesey) has captured
what it feels like to live
(in the Northwest).”
Joyce Berman
communications director,
Eugene.com
copy of the book every month,
but now he has sold about 300 in
the past three weeks.
“I'm sure all the bookstores are
selling a lot” of copies, Landfield
said. “The (public) library has
100 copies, and they are all
checked out.”
He said he was especially ex
cited by the program because he
had always wanted to meet Ke
sey, and he was hoping to gain in
spiration from his participation
in the program.
‘“Sometimes a Great Notion’
was far and away his best book,”
Landfield said. He said it has great
descriptions and characterizations
that are easily distinguishable to a
native of the Northwest.
Landfield said the discussions
are extremely helpful for readers,
especially if it is their first time
reading the book.
“The average reader can get a
lot out of it — but it is a test of in
telligence,” he said.
Berman said the book tells the
story of the conflict between two
brothers, when one of the broth
scenes, Hamilton said he takes on
multiple-roles in the play, includ
ing a guy in a flannel shirt called Bif
Studley and a newscaster named
Martha. He said the “fun, light
hearted play” hasn’t been as stress
ful as other productions, in part be
cause the brief scenes allow the
actors to learn and rehearse quick
ly before show time.
“Matt is a great writer. The script
is hilarious,” said Hamilton, a jun
ior architecture major. “He has a
good wit, and he really knows how
to make people laugh.”
Lighting designer Scott Thorson,
who has been programming the
lighting scheme since Sunday,
ers returns to the small logging
community in the midst of a
strike after living on the East
Coast for several years.
“You really feel like (Kesey) has
captured what it feels like to live
(in the Northwest),” Berman said.
The discussions are not like
lectures, Landfield said, and they
often are accompanied by good
food and entertainment.
Cunningham said he hopes the
program will inspire community
members to meet new people.
Turnout at the various events and
group discussions has been high,
small groups tending to bring in
between five and 10 participants
and large groups bringing in be
tween 50 and 100 participants.
Out of the 23 neighborhood asso
ciations in Eugene, about half are
participating, he said.
The thought within the pro
gram, according to Cunningham,
was that if two people are waiting
for a bus and they are both wear
ing the “Readin’ in the Rain” but
tons, it gives them the freedom to
strike up a conversation with
each other.
“Readin’ in the Rain” will cul
minate in a screening of the movie
“Sometimes a Great Notion” April
1 and 2 at the McDonald Theatre.
The Merry Pranksters will perform
at the April Fool’s Day screening.
Tickets are $10 for the April 1 per
formance and $20 for the April 2
performance. All proceeds will be
donated to the new library and the
neighborhood associations.
For more information about
“Readin’ in the Rain” events, visit
www.eugene.com.
E-mail reporter Jen West
at jenwest@dailyemerald.com.
added that it has been easy working
with Chorpenning.
The play “is funny, and it’s pretty
on cue with some political re
marks,” the freshman architecture
major said.
Hamilton, who has been involved
in theater as a hobby since high
school, was also in a previous Pocket
Playhouse production this year,
“The Swan.” He encouraged stu
dents, faculty and the general com
munity to attend the production be
cause, “It’s the best entertainment
you can get for $1 — a suggested $1. ”
E-mail features reporter Lisa Toth
at lisatoth@dailyemerald.com.
Nowhere to run to. Nowhere to hide.
The Oregon Daily Emerald on the world wide web.
www.dailyemerald.com
013394
TUESDAY: COMMUNITY SOUNDS REGGAE
WEDNESDAY: hump bump w/ el hammer
THURSDAY: 80 s NIGHT
SUNDAY: NEW BAND NIGHT EAST 11™
r
^OHNj^tRY^
FASTEN YOUR SEATBELTS...
RALPH NADER
$10 General Public
$5 Students
STANDING ROOM:
$7 General Public
$3 Students
AT CAFE PARADISO
AFTER m EVENT
I l * i 1 P I
MiitJlWi
7:30PM
MCDONALD THEATER
FOR EVENT INFORMATION CONTACT 00 CULTURAL FORUM AT 346-4373
Tickets Available Monday, February 25th at the UO EMU Ticket Office (3464363)
G-j/e ^t,e'
Run your for sale item in the
ODE classifieds for five days
(items under $1,000) ...
if you don't sell it, we'll run it
5 more days for free!