Dr. Scott Fisher has looked into other galaxies and worked for the National Science Foundation, but he’s teaching a 100-level astronomy course at University of Oregon.

He describes himself as an absolute stereotype of a scientist: Bald with glasses, with facial hair reminiscent of Walter White. But his attitude about the way science courses should be taught is anything but stereotypical: He starts most classes with “What’s up, my fine peoples?”

But Fisher is serious about science. He’s a “planet hunter,” monitoring infant solar systems from a remote-controlled telescope in Bend, on UO’s Pine Mountain Observatory. He’s also looking for supernovas: If he spots one, he’ll alert the Gemini telescope at Mauna Kea, where he used to work.

“A major problem is not that people hate science, but that people had such a bad experience with science, that it turned them against it,” Fisher said. “And that’s what I’m trying to fight. Let’s have a positive experience that you can carry forward in life.”

Continued below.

Dr. Scott Fisher worked at the National Science Foundation, where he came face-to-face with statistics detailing dropping science literacy in elementary schools. Photo credit: Cole Elsasser

In 2014, the National Science Foundation found that one in four American people don’t know the Earth orbits around the sun. Fifty percent of Americans believe astrology is either “very scientific” or “sort of scientific.”

University of Oregon’s Science Literacy Program is working to change this. It offers general education science courses with the goal of making science interesting for non-science majors.

The approach in SLP classes is much different than classes that count toward a science major, and that’s because SLP classes are designed for non-science majors in order to get them engaged with science.

Students taking an SLP course should expect to walk into a class where they’re not going to be asked to sit and listen to somebody talk, according to Elly Vandegrift, associate director of the Science Literacy Program.

Melissa Kidman, a junior majoring in Family and Human Services, took astronomy with Fisher last year and noticed the difference in pedagogies first hand.

“We didn’t take that many notes, but I think it was really effective,” said Kidman. “Instead of sitting down staring at a notepad [and] stressing out about fitting all the words, we were up and thinking about it. He was getting those concepts across through conversation and discussion.”

This is what the classes are designed to do. They aren’t about whether you pass tests, but whether you want to keep learning.

Continued below.

Fisher shows this video in class to help students grasp the true size of the universe. Here’s another tool: the sharpest view we have of the Milky Way’s closest neighbor, the Andromeda Galaxy.

“If we could get all of our students to be able to read something in the science section of The New York Times — not just now as college students, but for their whole lives — to me, that seems to me like a measure of science literacy,” said Vandegrift.

Though the majority of students attending these courses are not majoring in the sciences, a small subset are graduate students training to be teachers. These post-grads are studying the methods, not the content.

“Most of us who are college faculty didn’t receive any training on how to be teachers, so we want to help future faculty,” said Vandegrift.

Since promotion of SLP classes has been mostly through word-of-mouth, the classes aren’t as full as the faculty would like.

As of fall 2015, the UO offers 10 SLP classes. Only two are completely full: Fisher’s Astronomy 121, and an introductory Human Physiology. Three have over 40 vacancies, and the rest range from five to 30.

This isn’t the first time teaching has been adapted to promote literacy, according to Stanley Micklavzina, a professor in the physics department. He’s been a professor at the University of Oregon for 30 years and has seen the different styles of teaching that have been adapted to further some sort of science education.

Continued below.

UO’s Science Literacy Program focuses less on memorization and more on getting students excited about learning science.

“There have been some drastic changes [in the way science is taught] in the last 10 to 20 years,” Micklavzina said. “What the Science Literacy Program is trying to do is take the science education and put it more into the realm of … trying to make sure students are learning the science, and not just regurgitating some memorization.”

Fisher, who worked for the National Science Foundation prior to arriving at UO, has been teaching for three years, and his astronomy courses have become a staple of the Science Literacy Program.

He decided to go into teaching when he saw low national test scores for science. From 2005 to 2007 — when most of Fisher’s students were in elementary school — elementary test scores dropped considerably.

“I saw the test scores and it bugged me so bad,” Fisher said. “I really wanted to do something to change that.”

Fisher knows that some students come in scared they might get overwhelmed with math, or that they’re only taking his class because most degrees require at least a general education requirement in science, and he understands that.

“If you reject science in some way, you immediately put yourself in this camp where you’re not keeping up,” he said. “We live in the information age, and if you don’t understand how to access that information and be comfortable with it, you’re going to be left behind.”

Here is a list of SLP classes in winter term.

A previous version of this article stated that Fisher worked for NASA. This was incorrect. In the same version of the article, a photo caption claimed that Fisher worked on the second largest telescope in the world. It has now been corrected to reflect its change in ranking. 

Geneticists don’t usually have the opportunity to see a movie about their field of study, but on Oct. 26, Dr. Alexis Gambis and members of the University of Oregon’s Doe Laboratory will host two free advance screenings of The Fly Room at the Bijou Art Cinemas at 7:30 p.m. and 9:15 p.m. The film, directed by Gambis, is not set to be released until spring of 2016.

The showing will be accompanied by a demonstration presented by Dr. M.H. Syed and Matt Q. Clark, PhD student, that will allow members of the community to control the minds of fruit flies.

“We are using transgenic fruit flies to demonstrate optogenetic and thermogenetic ‘mind control’ experiments,” said Clark, a PhD student working in the Doe Lab. “In essence, of the roughly 100,000 neurons in the adult fly, we can turn on small groups of neurons that can trigger very specific behaviors, such as aggression, feeding and courtship.”

The Fly Room is Alexis Gambis’s first film, and it’s being followed largely by the genetics community because he himself has earned a PhD in genetics from Rockefeller University. He then attended the New York University Graduate Program to begin his 10-year project, The Fly Room.

“The movie is set between [world] wars in a lab called the fly room, where all the discovery of modern genetics was done,” Gambis said. “It’s a mainstream film with a layer of science in it.”

The story follows Calvin Bridges, a geneticist working in the fly room, and the relationship with his daughter, Betsy Bridges.

Both the Doe Lab community and Gambis are passionate about science outreach, presenting science to the public without overwhelming them with information.

“I, along with my colleague Matt Clark, have done lots of outreach events where students have visited our lab and performed experiments or we visited local schools,” said Dr. M.H. Syed. Next year, they plan to take their outreach to an international level by having a two week neuroscience workshop in Ethiopia.

Gambis has created his own non-profit organization, Imagine Science Films. Its mission statement is “to bridge the gap between art and science through film, thereby transforming the way science is communicated to the public and encourage collaboration across disciplines.” Gambis’s The Fly Room will be the first mainstream feature film of the organization.

A reception before the screening at 7:30 p.m. will be held at 7 p.m. where free pizza and and other treats will be available. Gambis will host a Q&A session after the film, and for the 9:15 p.m. screening he will have a presentation before the movie is shown.

The 7:30 p.m. screening is already full, but space is available for the 9:15 p.m. showing at the Bijou Art Cinemas at 492 E. 13th Ave. on Oct. 26.

Last July, Ed Sheeran sold out three shows at Wembley Stadium in England as a part of his tour promoting x, his second studio album. Jumpers for Goalposts follows Sheeran and documents the three historic nights. He’ll be wrapping up the final dates on the second leg of his visit to Australia this December.

Attending the film will have you sit through some awkward “Ed Carpet” interviews with camera-shy fans, showing Sheeran autograph memorabilia or take selfies with fans for a grueling and silent four minutes. If you decide to attend a showing, go ahead and arrive 20 to 30 minutes late. You won’t miss anything.

Jumpers for Goalposts features performances of “The A Team,” “You Need Me, I Don’t Need You,” “I’m a Mess,” “Sing,” “Photograph,” “Bloodstream,” Tenerife Sea, ”Thinking Out Loud” and “I See Fire.”

In the film, Sir Elton John makes a surprise appearance and joins Sheeran on his second night of concerts to perform a duet of John’s hit “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart,” as well as Sheeran’s “I See Fire.”

The film has breaks after each concert night in order to squeeze in interviews with Sheeran, and those who have been traveling with him since he was promoting his first album, +. There, Sheeran reveals that playing at Wembley was his 23rd birthday wish, and that he intended on doing three shows when only one was scheduled.

Sir Elton John tells the audience in an interview that Sheeran is “the only solo artist to perform at Wembley all by himself.” He continues to say, “when I performed in 1975, I had a band.”

The most interesting moment came when Sheeran answered a fan’s question with information that might make fans jump for joy: “I have like six albums I want to release right now, but I have people sitting behind a desk telling me to calm down.” Sheeran continued on to say that “I got to get this album out of the way and go away for a while and then release more.”

It’s also no secret that Sheeran is a big fan of hip-hop and rappers. In the film he confirmed that he and The Game, who just released his new album The Documentary, finished making an album and that it will “hopefully be released soon.”

Certain qualities of Sheeran’s concerts, like him using the loop pedal, or hearing his wide vocal range is difficult to put into words; it’s better to see him do it than read it from someone else, and Jumpers For Goalposts gives people that opportunity. It’s still not as great at a live concert, but it’s certainly the next best thing.

Jumpers For Goalposts will be screened at Regal Valley River Center 15 from October 24-26 only.

Last year, the Emerald enlisted Taylor Swift superfan (Mike Mendoza) and a first-time listener (Craig Wright) to review her album 1989 in our Double Takes series, in which two writers go head-to-head in an in-depth analysis. Now, the tables have turned as Ryan Adams finally released his full, sequential cover of Swift’s still omnipresent smash hit record. This time, Wright is the resident Ryan Adams expert, while Mendoza is a first-time listener.

Listen to Ryan Adams’ take on “Bad Blood” below.

Craig Wright (resident Ryan Adams expert)

I have to admit it; I made a huge mistake not picking Taylor Swift’s 1989 as 2014’s album of the year. In fact, it fell outside of my top five. Everybody from young girls to middle-aged, denim-clad rockers adore this album, which is why we’re here now. No album has come anywhere near being as culturally significant this decade, with Swift approaching Beatlemania levels of fame. If it were put to a popular vote, it’s safe to assume Taylor Swift would be elected Queen of the World in a landslide victory.

The best part of 1989 is the top-notch songwriting, which Ryan Adams has exemplified in his no-nonsense cover album. The main difference between Swift and Adams’ 1989 is that Swift made a very personal album in which the audience is just that: the audience. We are watching her reinvention without participating (maybe dancing along), from the overly poppy “Welcome To New York,” to the subdued, yet masterful finale, “Clean.”

Using the same words and chord structures, Adams manages to deconstruct Swift’s album, rip out its still-beating heart and create an entirely different, more personal experience for the listener. Here, the audience is forced to listen up, shed a tear and share Adams’ pain. Even though we’ve already heard these tracks before, each of Adams’ songs are a sonic journey that is impossible to not become totally enveloped by.

The best example of a song that benefits from Adams’ renovation is “I Know Places.” The lyrics become the song’s focus, with a much more interesting musical approach than the original that a tango-like anthem fit for a villain escaping the countryside.

For some reason, hearing Adams sing “Places” clarified Swift’s intentions. It’s not a ballad, but a cry for help. The running and hiding is to escape the fans and paparazzi; the desperate search to discover a moment of solace in a chaotic and public life in which a single act of stupidity could have unimaginable ramifications against her persona.

On very rare occasions cover songs far surpass the original version. “Bad Blood” is one of those moments. Adams makes this song his own, so much so that it could have been prominently featured on his 2014 self-titled album. His version is much more believable, honest and more pleasing overall. Swift’s “Bad Blood” is the most skip-worthy track on either album, while Ryan Adams makeover of it is the strongest candidate for best song on either album.

Worth mentioning as well are his cracks at “Welcome To New York” in the style of The Smiths, a mellow waltz version of “Out Of The Woods” and “How You Get The Girl” transformed into a cautionary love tale.

The mutual respect these artists have for each other is abundantly clear. Adams was forced to find ways to make the album flow as well as the original, chart dominating album – a titanic task for any mere mortal to accomplish, but in the process, he has created the perfect companion album that leads to a greater appreciation for 1989.

Currently, 1989 appears on the iTunes Top 10 list twice. Adams is No. 3, while Swift (11 months after the release) is hanging tight at No. 7.

Final thought: Adams took on a daunting task, and masterfully recreated Swift’s pop-drenched, super-seller record with his own architecture, which solidifies his worth as one of the generation’s most skilled musicians.

Mike Mendoza (Taylor Swift superfan)

Taylor Swift left encrypted messages in the lyric book for each song on 1989. The message from “This Love” says, “timing is a funny thing.” She could not be more correct as Ryan Adams has finally released his cover album of 1989, which created a social media frenzy as Adams slowly released previews of each song on Twitter.

Adams’ 1989 captures the mood of the album in a different light than Ms. Swift’s, in part because Adams was in a different stage of his life when he recorded his covers. Executed very carefully, Adams successfully takes each song and adds a unique element from his personal experiences, which showcases his incredible talent.

Adams first had the idea to cover 1989 after spending Christmas alone in Los Angeles while reeling from a divorce that capped his five-year marriage to Mandy Moore. He wanted to send the synth-driven pop songs of 1989 through the filter of despair and hopelessness key to Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska and The Smiths’ Meat Is Murder.

Adams knew his interpretation would strip these songs to their core and showcase what they were on the inside: masterful, well-written songs by Taylor Swift and her co-writers. It maintains the heartbreak element that Swift is recognized for, but when performed by Ryan Adams, they’re given a new story and meaning.

“Blank Space” is a satirical bass-heavy song written to mock the media and how it portrays Taylor Swift as a serial dater, but when you hear Ryan Adams finger-picking an acoustic guitar ballad, it becomes the story of a couple who were madly in love until their relationship literally went down in flames.

While removing the bridge of “Boys only want love if it’s torture/ don’t say I didn’t, say I didn’t warn you” – a line that many Swifties belted out and enjoyed at her live shows – Adams was able to keep the underlining message of torture without ever saying it through his aching, saddened vocals on the track.

“Shake It Off” was Swift’s first single for 1989 and it is arguably one of her weakest lyrical efforts on 1989 (along with “Out of the Woods”). Though “Shake It Off” is a massive statement song by Swift – reaffirming her decision of becoming a pop star (and the biggest one of our time) and not caring what her label, critics or fans were going to say – Adams, inspired by Springsteen’s “I’m On Fire,” slows down Swift’s screamingly colorful “Shake It Off” into a slow burning black and white story of loneliness.

With “Out Of The Woods,” Adams extends it past the six-minute mark, transforming a fast paced electronic (and worrisome) track into a mellow and nostalgic waltz. The repeated lyrics are cast in a different light, making them his own, as he did across the entire album.

Final thought: Ryan Adams’ version of 1989 is a beautiful yet tear-jerking cover of Taylor Swift’s original that highlights her writing and his musical intellect.

Listen to Mike and Craig discuss Adams’ v. Swift’s 1989 in a podcast below, wherein they break down each track in a boxing-style scorecard to determine which version reigns supreme.

Follow Craig on Twitter: @wgwcraig

Follow Mike on Twitter: @mikewheresike

Our demographic of young eaters are picky when we want to be. On a Tuesday night, nothing can fill us up quite like a chicken burrito from Chipotle can. But, on the weekend, when our beverages of choice are in our system, anything that delivers or is within walking distance will suffice. Here at the University of Oregon Campus, our quick bite options have been dwindling.

Chipotle and Hawaiian Time are much preferred over McDonald’s because of the quality. Stephanie Storm, a New York Times business reporter, recently broke down people’s preferences and found “upscale fast-casual restaurants like Chipotle attract customers who will pay $6.65 for a steak burrito (‘organic and local produce where practical’). The menu might be full of calories, but it comes with a halo of quality.”

Here on campus, that quality is lacking with the EMU being shut down for spring term.

Term schedules have been made where one might be stuck on campus for four or five hours (maybe even more) due to back-to-back classes and other responsibilities. With food options in the EMU closed for spring term and Wendy’s shutting down across the street, students are left to figure out what their food situation will be for the day.

For many, the closure of the EMU isn’t a big problem so much as it is a burden. Katie Bennett, a human physiology major, labeled the EMU’s shutdown as annoying. “I would usually go in there for a snack – I wouldn’t necessarily eat there – but now, because it was so centered, I have to go out of my way just to pick up a snack,” said Bennett.

Some have made it a habit of packing their own lunch or snacks from home to make it through the day. Morgan Adams, a sophomore Biology major, faced a schedule last term where she didn’t have time to go home and eat. “I’d pack snacks and just make a big dinner when I get home,” said Adams.

Others have decided to go back to the dining halls in the residence halls. Melissa Kidman, a sophomore family and human services major, has loaded up her student ID with campus cash to literally fill her needs.

Kidman is now vegan after being a vegetarian for a year, “I have campus cash and so I still go to the dining halls… but being vegan in the dining halls is a lot harder [than being vegetarian].”

Propositions for new food options, like Chipotle and Starbucks, have made its way to the board of trustees, and these suggested options just might be able to fill the quality gap that campus food lacks.

Kidman hopes that restaurants will adapt to the needs of vegans and vegetarians “I hope there will be something, not necessarily a vegan restaurant, because I know the audience for something like that may not be that big, but something with vegan options would be really cool,” said Kidman.

Bennett hopes that campus cash will still be accepted in the new EMU, “I don’t want to see that go away.”

Follow Mike Mendoza on Twitter @MikeWheresIke

Two classic musicals are making their way to the Eugene area this weekend. The comedic Hairspray and the dramatic and historically popular Les Miserables will be featured.

Hairspray will be showcased at the New Hope Center Auditorium in Eugene, under the helm of Cindy Kelly. Kelly has connected the musical to some serious racial issues that have been center stage recently.

“The basic plot of these Baltimore teenagers struggling to integrate the Corny Collins Show in the early ’60s was based on the real-life Buddy Deane Show,” said Kelly. “However, the outcome of the Buddy Deane Show was quite different: That show was canceled due to backlash from the attempts to integrate the show.”

“We are reminded that racism is still something that plagues us today,” said Kelly. “In subtle and overt ways, racism continues to exist even here in our own backyard.”

Les Miserables will be at the Cottage Theater in Cottage Grove with Alan Beck steering the ship.

Hairspray!: 1790 Charnelton St., 7 pm., $15-21
Les Miserable: 700 Village Dr., Cottage Grove, 8 p.m., $26

Here’s what else is going on this weekend.

EUGENE:

Apr. 11 Color Me Rad 5K
We’ve all seen Facebook posts and pictures on Twitter of friends at the finish line with blue, green, pink and other colors all over their bodies. Now you can check that off your bucket list.
293 Valley River Center, 9 a.m., $15-35.

Apr. 11-12 Eugene Public Library Book Sale
Head over to Downtown Eugene and search for your favorite books for an incredibly cheap price.
796 W 13th Ave., 9 a.m.-6 p.m. and 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Apr 11 Super Intergalactic Electro Swing Special
Some of the coolest music to listen to is swing music. The purpose of swing is to make you get up and dance. Fuse that with electronic music and you have a giant dance party.
291 W 8th Ave., 9 p.m., $12-15.

PORTLAND:

Apr. 9-11 Nikki Glaser at the Helium Comedy Club
Glaser has performed on The Tonight Show, CONAN and Last Comic Standing. She is currently a contestant on Comedy Central’s @midnight and will be in the upcoming season of Inside Amy Schumer.
1510 S.E. 9th Ave., 8 p.m. and 10 p.m., $15-30

Apr. 11 ‘80s Dance Cruise
Who doesn’t love the ’80s when you can wear hammer pants? DJ MC provides the beats, you provide the funky moves.
Only ages 21 and over permitted, Saturdays 11 p.m. – 1 a.m., $20

Apr. 12 Franz Grilled Cheese Day
It seems like everything has a day, and this Sunday it’s national Grilled Cheese Day. Courtesy of Franz Bakery, enjoy free grilled cheese sandwiches, beverages and games.
2828 NE Glisan St., 11 a.m – 2 p.m., FREE.

Follow Mike Mendoza on Twitter @MikeWheresIke

Unfriended, the new-age horror thriller film, is set to release on April 17, but Eugenians can see a special screening of the movie this Thursday.

The Bijou Art Cinema will be having a free advanced screening of Unfriended on April 9 at 8:30 p.m. The free tickets are available at the door but it’s first come, first served, so be sure to get there early.

Unfriended was directed by Levan Gabriadze and stars actors Cal Barnes, Matthew Bohrer and Courtney Halverson.

The story follows a group of high school students on a Skype chat room who are being terrorized by the ghost of their former classmate Laura Barns. After footage of Barns passed out drunk surfaced on the internet and became viral, she was cyber-bullied until she eventually committed suicide.

This new movie contributes to a newer genre of horror implementing technology and social media being key parts of its plot, and with the switch to having a film surround the complexities of social media reveal all of our subconscious fear: losing privacy.

With most people in our demographic having social media, we are outraged when a friend posts an embarrassing or inappropriate photo in fear of a future employer or a family member seeing it.

A majority of the film was shot on a Skype-like interface with “each actor locked away in their room and we just (shot) for 85 minutes and the longest take that we did is the one in the movie,” said Nelson Grieves, producer and writer of Unfriended.

Check out the trailer here:

Follow Mike Mendoza on Twitter: @MikeWheresIke

The beginning of a new term means new classes and a steep hole in our wallets from new textbooks, but online resources have increasingly become a requirement for many classes as well. What does this mean for the future of textbooks, or more importantly, for the prices for textbooks and online resources?

The struggle with textbooks begins at an early age when elementary school children suffer from chronic back pain, according to Dr. Pierre D’Hemecourt, a sports medicine specialist at Children’s Hospital Boston.

Gradually, the annoyance of carrying textbooks turns into a financial frustration — as college students on average pay $1,200 a year for books, according to The College Board. Now being added to the burden of the textbooks, are online resources like Sapling Learning and Connect.

University of Oregon economist instructor and PhD candidate, Ben Fitch-Fleischmann, requires his students to purchase an economics textbook and access Sapling Learning, an online resource where homework and other exam preparations can be assigned.

Fitch-Fleischmann said class size is the reason behind having both resources: “Class size is definitely the reason for using an online homework system. With 300+ students, it would be too time consuming to grade homework by hand. But I think it’s important for students to get a lot of chances to practice and get feedback, which the online system does pretty well.”

The total cost of this one class is $201.75,  including the textbook, $171.75, and access to Sapling Learning, $30.

Taylor Eldridge, a sophomore English major, spent $400 on textbooks this term, and although it wasn’t required, her time doing Spanish homework was mostly spent online.

Access to the online learning site, like Connect and Imagina Supersite, would cost $120, and the prime argument in support for online resources is its ability to adapt to the students’ learning habits.

“I know many don’t like it, but it did help me,” said Eldridge. “I could go back before an exam and redo an assignment, and that’s how I learn best, through repetition.”

Sites like Sapling Learning claim that its learning tools create better test scores, but Bill Buxton, founder of the open-source publisher Textbook Equity, disagrees.

“I haven’t seen really strong evidence that people are doing a lot better with the online stuff than textbooks,” said Buxton.

The end of the term also means textbook buybacks, but many online add-ons expire at the end of the term or after a specific sequence, undermining the re-sale value.

The future of education may rely largely on technology ending the textbook’s reign, but relief from paying for learning materials may not decrease.

As the use of more online resources are being required for classes, prices are inevitably going to spike, leaving students in the same money hole as before.

Follow Mike Mendoza on Twitter @MikeWheresIke

We’ve made it to the end of winter term and deserve the next week off.

For the few that are staying in Eugene, don’t worry — there will be plenty to keep you busy.

The beach will be a popular destination over break, and rightfully so. What could possibly beat the Oregon Coast in the spring?

Well, there’s one thing: Witnessing nature’s largest mammal, the whale, breaching and splashing on the Oregon Coast in the spring.

Whales are migrating back north to the Arctic Ocean after a stay in Mexico’s waters and the best time to see whales make their way north is March 21-28. Florence is on the whales’ path making it a perfect location to see these gigantic creatures.

The best places to spot a whale would be Devil’s Churn Viewpoint, Heceta Head Lighthouse, Sea Lion Caves and Cape Perpetua (highest point on the Oregon coast.)

Here’s what else is going on this weekend.

EUGENE:

Mar. 19 Buku
Robert Balotsky, a Pittsburgh native and a graduate of Music Technology, combines simple melodies loaded with bass drops. Buku will be performing songs off his first album, Skippy.
199 W. 8th Ave, 9 p.m., $12-15

Mar. 21 Futuristic & Sam Lachow
These two up and coming hip-hop artists will be performing at WOW Hall. Futuristic is from Illinois and his songs combine humor, intelligence and real life experiences to produce incredible lyrics. Sam Lachow recently released his EP, 5 Good Reasons, and his music known for the use of live instruments.
291 W. 8th Ave, 9 p.m., $10-12

Mar. 21-22 Willamette Valley Arms Collectors Spring Show
Got tickets to the gun show? This is the first of two hosted by the Willamette Valley Arms Collectors Association. Go and check out some local collectors of some of the coolest and craziest guns.
796 W. 13th Ave, Saturday 9 a.m.- 5 p.m and Sunday 9 a.m. – 3 p.m., $6

Mar. 22 McKenzie River Half Marathon
All those 5ks and all that training have led up to this Sunday. Run all throughout Springfield and get an amazing view of the McKenzie River along the way. Even if you don’t plan on running the 13.1 miles, witnessing this spectacle should be incredible.
2050 Yolanda Ave., Springfield, 9 a.m., $50

PORTLAND:

Mar. 20 Macaron Day
Jour du Macaron is a worldwide day dedicated to the French pastries that Americans like to call pretty patties. In Portland you can treat yourself to some free macarons while treating a good cause. Pastry shops will offer free macarons to anyone who donates a $2 minimum to Meals on Wheels.
404 NW. 10th Ave., $2, all day.

Mar. 21 The Decemberists
The Decemberists will be performing at Keller Auditorium after a short-term break from performing. The Grammy-nominated band will be playing songs from their album What a Terrible World, What a Wonderful World.
222 S.W. Clay St., 8 p.m., $47

Mar. 22 Mick Foley
The former WWE Superstar will be at the Helium Comedy Club to telling stories from his time with the WWE. In his one man show, Foley discusses the the difficulties of escaping the WWE’s shadow, and his special insight into subjects like politics, pornography and the quest for world peace.
1510 SE. 9th Ave., 7 p.m., $27-35

Mar 21-22 Oregon Coast Trail Spring
This two-day, 10-mile hiking trip begins at Cannon Beach. The first day’s trek will take you from Cannon Beach to a World War II bunker that has a view over Tillamook Lighthouse. The second day will begin at Tillamook Head and end at Seaside.
Cannon Beach, 9 a.m., $159

Follow Mike Mendoza on Twitter: @MikeWheresIke

The post WKND Calendar: Whale watching, macarons and gun shows appeared first on Emerald Media.

This is it, everybody.

If you’re fortunate enough to not have any finals next week, you’re done with winter term! But most of us still have a few more days until we’re free. But in your final days of the term, you can take a study break and check out Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street at the Hult Center in downtown Eugene.

This production, put on by the Eugene Opera in accordance with the Music Theatre International, will be bringing a Broadway classic that has been performed across the globe to the Hult Center.

This production of Sweeney Todd is dedicated to the memory of Mark Lewis, a Eugen performer who who was cast as Sweeney Todd before his death in December.

Here’s what else is going on this weekend.

Eugene

March 13, Kayzo
This 23-year-old is talented. Unlike many artists, professional or ametuer, Kayzo consistently plays around with music and isn’t afraid to try new genres to master and perform. This Friday, he’ll be performing electronic music from his original compositions.
199 W Eighth Street, 9 p.m., $13-15

March 14, Lucky Clover
It’s almost St. Patty’s day, and one way to celebrate (other than drinking beverages of your choice or kissing strangers) is by running 10 or five kilometers. You also get the option of choosing the path you want: road, trail or road and trail combined.
205 Dorris St., Springfield, 5 p.m., $15-20

March 14, Help Save the Bees
The livelihood of bees is at risk, but there’s a way for you to help out. On Saturday, Falling Sky Brewery will donate 25% of all purchases to the Northwest Center For Alternatives to Pesticides.
1334 Oak Alley, all day, prices will vary.

March 15,  Tycho
Tycho’s ambient music and shows have made him the performing artist he is, and you have a chance to see him at the McDonald Theatre. Electronic musician Shigeto will be opening for Tycho, and Tycho will be performing music that represents 1970s analog media, while twisting it to have a progressive sound.
1010 Willamette St., 8 p.m., $20-25

Portland

March 13, Mr. Oong-Kah at 75: The music of Louis Andriessen
Fear No Music will be presenting a mix of rock, dissonant modernism and swing-era jazz. And if that wasn’t enough, Andriessen will be be performing Workers Union, infamous for having “any loud sounding instruments.”
3000 NE Alberta St., 8p.m., $10 for students.

March 14, Dirty Leprechaun Mud Run
Fun for all ages, mud runs and obstacles. There will be music, bonfires and beers (for those who are 21 and over).
21975 SW 65th Avenue, Tualatin, doors open at 9 a.m., $45-$55.

March 14, St. Patrick’s Day Festival and Parade
St. Patty’s day is for all sorts of fun, and Portland knows how to have fun. The festival and parade is family friendly and is serving some authentic Irish food and, of course, beer.
7960 SE 15th Ave, Noon-5 p.m., FREE.

March 15, Portland Flea Market
It’s this month’s first flea market, and with the spring approaching, it’ll be a perfect time to purchase spring decor for your house or apartment at a low cost.
525 SE Pine St., 10 a.m. – 4 p.m., prices will vary.

Follow Mike Mendoza @MikeWheresIke

The post WKND Calendar: Sweeney Todd, St. Patty’s festivities and lots of concerts appeared first on Emerald Media.