Week of 11/29/2008 - 16:00 to 12/06/2008 - 15:59

"Ms. Chan, an engineer whose company helps develop environmentally friendly technology projects, also owns homes in Hong Kong, Belgium and Budapest."

People generally go ga-ga for EW's I Stalk You's I Saw You's. Whether they're checking to see if they're included or just want to pry into the lives of others (or both), the I Saw You section always grabs an audience. It's recently come to our attention that UO art student Dustin Dybevik has decided to bring some these postings to life. At his personal blog, Dybevik writes that he has chosen to animate several I Saw You's for his BFA terminal project. Dybevik explains in a blog entry:

I came upon this new idea while I was sleeping. The Eugene Weekly posts a section called “I Saw You” where people can submit short descriptions of their sightings and casual encounters with people who are generally affiliated by only that one moment or series of moments. I want to select specific postings throughout the year and translate them into animated shorts based on my own interpretation of the description. My tendency is to create things that are slightly odd or disturbing, and that would likely be the angle from which I would interpret these postings. Each short would receive a unique approach in terms of style and interpretation.

Dybevik has posted the first fruits of his project on his blog, and they're looking super-cool. Here's the two he's posted so far...

One of the first dance videos to blow me away was this clip for Daft Punk’s “Around the World.” Like the song itself, it’s a mishmadsh of mummies, B-Boys, synchronized swimmers and skeletons, all dancing to the steady, repetitive Daft Punk beat, and it kicks off Dance Dance Dance this week.

Key Moment (2:25): Dancing skeletons commingling with bubbly, bouncy ladies in swim caps.

FRIDAY, DEC. 5 Samba dance (social dance) with lesson, 8:30pm, StaverDanceSport. $10.

SATURDAY, DEC. 6 Square dance (social dance), featuring Molasses String Band, 8pm, Fir Room, EMU, UO. $3-$5.

How does the national media love the man Eugeneans voted Best Bartender? I'll spare you from counting the ways; you can check the press page of his website for that. I just want to mention the two latest, er, mentions:

• Last week, The Wall Street Journal did a story on Repeal Day, the growing-in-popularity sorta-holiday that celebrates the end of Prohibition:

The demise of Prohibition, 75 years ago this coming Friday, is something of a cause for celebration, and it will be treated as such with Repeal Day parties in Washington, Chicago, New Orleans, San Francisco, New York and elsewhere. The trend got started a couple of years ago, when Oregon bartender and blogger Jeffrey Morgenthaler promoted the anniversary as an informal holiday suitable for quaffing.

Pretty nifty, right? Keep in mind that that is THIS Friday we're talking about — the fifth of December. Which is also the night of the First Friday Artwalk, the Meet Your Maker craft fair, the Downtown Holiday Party and other things too numerous for me to remember off the top of my tired head. Be sure to raise a glass of free artwalk wine (or other beverage of choice) in honor of the 75th anniversary of once again being able to legally raise a glass.

• Yesterday, a The New York Times story appeared discussing what the writer calls eight new bartending philosophies. Oregonians in general make a strong showing here — the other two included are Kevin Ludwig from Clyde Common and Daniel Shoemaker at the Teardrop Lounge, both in Portland. Morgenthaler turns up under "Home Brewers," and to absolutely no one's surprise (this drink also turned up in our online Best Of Eugene Staff Picks), the writer highlights his gin and tonics, "made with his own recipe for agave-sweetened quinine syrup."

It's worth noting that the majority of the other bars and bartenders — bars on the edge, the story calls them — included in this piece are in big cities: New York, Seattle, Houston, Chicago, Atlanta. How long, we worry, until Morgenthaler ditches us for the big leagues? Maybe you should drink up while you can. I mean, since it's legal and all.

I can't get enough of this preview clip for Vol. 3 of the Found Footage Festival, coming to Eugene Sunday. Maybe it's the song in the background ... who is that?! Doobie Brothers? Kenny Loggins? Journey?

Never-before-seen TV commercials for obscure toys? Instructional videos on how to handle sexual harassment at the workplace, made at the height of said plague, the early ‘90s? Long-forgotten home videos featuring daredevil stunts? If this all sounds familiar, that’s because we’ve seen it all before on YouTube. Or so we think. Joe Pickett and Nick Prueher have been co-curating the Found Footage Festival for the past four years and somehow always manage to come up with gems that no search on YouTube will reveal. In addition to the collection of oddities (mostly made by unselfconscious filmmakers from the ‘80s and ‘90s), Pickett and Prueher provide colorful commentary and stand-up routines (both are veterans of The Onion and The Colbert Report). 7:30 pm Sunday, Dec. 7, Bijou Cinemas. $10.

Word has it that International Rock Gods, Art Brut, are set to cut a new record in Oregon with Rock God (and erstwhile Eugene resident) Frank Black (of The Pixies) as producer. Art Brut will be in our neck of the woods starting Thursday. This transmission comes via Art Brut's bandleader Eddie Argos's blog (which was subsequently posted to P4K). No word on where in Oregon they will record, but if it's, like, out in the suburbs of Eugene at Frank's house, how will that affect Art Brut's pop-wash sound? Will they incorporate the midnight wail of nutria? And will you give a shit?

Props to RR&TFB for the incredible instrumental cover of Michael Jackson's "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin"!