What’s that I hear about people in glasshouses and throwing stones? Oh, yeah. They shouldn’t.
The Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce didn’t listen to the age-old saying and threw some figurative stones at the local community. It supported a potential revamp of Kesey Square that was proposed about a month ago. The backlash? A literal stone was thrown by a vandal late at night on Feb. 13 at the Commerce’s glass entrance door.
A copy of last week’s issue of Eugene Weekly that discusses the Kesey Square debacle was left at the scene with words such as “greedy” and “capitalist” drawn on it. Mayor Kitty Piercy has voiced that she isn’t mad; she’s just disappointed in the outward aggression on the downtown office.
A lot of anger and disapproval has been expressed by passionate locals ever since a private development group, 2EB LLC, offered to buy the public plaza area and build a multi-purpose building on it. So, there are those who are against the idea of selling Kesey Square, but there is also a good amount of people who are pro-reform and want downtown Eugene to embrace a continuous change. A City Council meeting to settle the debate is set for Feb. 22.
If UO students learn anything from local Eugeneans, Johnson Hall and its glass doors should watch out. Some more figurative stones were thrown, this time by the university administration who has made it a requirement for the 2017 freshman class to live in the campus dorms.
There are always two sides to every bad idea, and the university’s side is that 80 percent of students who live in the dorms as freshmen are able to graduate in six years, so they want to spread the RA love and all the knowledge the dorms seem to exude onto future UO students. So thoughtful. So selfless. I’m sure the fact that housing costs at least $11,000 per year per student has nothing to do with this ruling – nothing at all. The campus community isn’t disappointed in UO administration; they are angry.
Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar and Ed Sheeran, on the other hand, are far from angry. These three artists won big at the 58th annual Grammy Awards that aired on Feb. 15. T-Swift beat out Kendrick, The Weeknd and a few others to become the first woman to win Album of the Year twice. Her album 1989 was entertaining and I’m happy for her, but I must say— in the words of Yeezy circa 2009— “[Kendrick Lamar] had one of the best [albums] of all time.”
Kendrick still won big, taking home five gold gramophones for categories like Best Rap Album, Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance. He continued to exude (literal) fire in his powerful performance of “The Blacker the Berry” and “Alright,” which LL (not-so-)Cool J teased as “very controversial.” The combo of chain gangs, jail cells and his emotional lyrics ended up being a perfectly wrapped package of the black experience in America today. And I say, bravo.
Then, everyone’s favorite redhead Ed Sheeran won Song of the Year for his romantic hit, “Thinking Out Loud.” Another result I’d debate, but shouldn’t the whole concept of award ceremonies be questioned? I’m agreeing with Kanye circa his 2015 Video Music Awards speech, but that’s another story.
Other noteworthy displays of art through singing and dancing included a very well-deserved honoring of 66-year-old Lionel Richie for his epic career thus far. He got to deliver a big “hello” to his fellow Grammy attendees with the help of John (the) Legend, Demi Lovato (who killed it), Luke Bryan (for a little pinch of country), Meghan Trainor (the anti-blonde now) and Tyrese Gibson (who can apparently sing?).
The late David Bowie was also honored for his vibrant musical life, which was depicted on Monday night’s show through a performance by Lady Gaga. Her medley of Bowie’s greatest hits didn’t lag once in the six-and-a-half minutes it lasted, thanks to Gaga’s natural captivation, (and all the special effects didn’t hurt).
Rihanna would also probably be mentioned here, but she called in sick at the last minute with bronchitis. People showed just how pissed they were about this online, but then again, when are people not pissed on the interwebs these days? @badgalriri, aka Rihanna, seemed fine a few days back at #NYFW – just sayin’.