Eugene weekly., October 12, 2006, Image 21

WHAT’S
happening
Had he not been shot in the back
by a maniac, John Lennon would
be 66 years old this month. It’s no
surprise the man’s got a cult fol-
lowing in Eugene: A quarter of
the populace is his spitting image
(see left). Organizers for the
25th Annual John Lennon
Birthday Celebration are cele-
brating Lennon’s life with tribute
bands (including The Number 9
Band, Lennonite Choir, Red
Pajamas and Paul & Nancy’s Love
Truffle, pictured left), food, danc-
ing and merriment. Chief organiz-
er and No. 9 Band member Beth
Miriam Rose dubs it “a bit of baby-boomer heaven.” This is the final celebration
— hey, make room for George, Ringo and Paul! — so break out your mementos
from 1969 (or their faux-equivalents) and head on down to the WOW Hall. See
Saturday Calendar.
Back when Robert Hladky was the UO’s cello professor (1961 through 1993), he
and his wife, Joan, always hosted a big class picnic on their Christmas tree farm
near Pleasant Hill at the end of the school year. “We’d play wiffleball,” Joan says,
and all of the cello students would come. Oregon Symphony member Ken Finch
laughs that everyone played baseball except at the farm: “He didn’t want us to
hurt our hands!” With the community-minded Hladky (pictured right) about to
turn 80, the community wants to give back: His friend and former student Susan
Rockey Bowles organized a musical tribute to him. Nine string bass players and
23 cello players, all former students, are flying in from around the country (and
internationally — one’s coming from England) to honor their teacher and mentor
at the Robert Hladky Cello-Bration in Beall Hall. Those partying low-voiced
strings plan to play some John Phillip Sousa, some Villa-Lobos and something,
we’re sure, funky and wild as they cavort alongside the toy tractor and stuffed
horse that Bowles wants onstage. They’re overtaking current cello prof Steve
Pologe’s office and borrowing all of his cellos, but he’s looking forward to playing
in the tribute to his predecessor. See Tuesday Calendar.
Eugene should consider itself lucky to be a stopping point for this weekend’s
Night Gallery International Film Festival at DIVA. With other stops including
Arizona, Alaska and New Zealand, this traveling film festival promises both film-
maker exposure to a variety of audiences and audience exposure to a variety of
films. Dramatic features roll on Friday evening, with the highlight being Drop
Box, a witty parable about what happens when celebrities don’t keep track of
their naughty homemade videos, and Luella Miller (pictured above), a psycholog-
ical thriller about a strange woman who brings a small town’s darkness to maxi-
mum intensity. Attend Sunday’s screenings if you’re in the mood for a smile, a
chortle or an outright outburst of laughter (the whole day’s devoted to comedy).
If you miss the festival this time around, stay tuned: Short films will be featured
in part two of the event, to be held Nov. 12 and 13. Go to http://proscenia.net/
download/nightgallery to download full movie synopses. See Friday Calendar.
What’s your favorite art sup-
ply? Is it pipe cleaners?
Sparkly markers? Big sheets
of molten metal? We’re willing
to bet pretty much everyone
loves clay. But we remember
making some, er, boldly
designed (or perhaps
deformed) representations of
Sir Gawain and his horse back
when we were Arthurian leg-
end geeks, and so we bow
down to the wondrous artists
of the Clayfest. Now in its
eighth year, Clayfest is a week-
end full of gorgeous hand-
made objects from local
artists (a sampling pictured
right), and it even hosts a
supervised Clay Discovery
area for kids. Get your hands
in the mud all year, but this
weekend shell out some
moolah for locally-created
ceramics! See Saturday
Calendar.
OCTOBER 12, 2006
21