The window is open, the candle is lit and my book begs to be read, while visions of cozy soups and apple pies dance in my head. 

Clearly, I (Taylor) am enjoying cooler temps and the first rainfall in eons. As an East Coaster used to regular summer downpours, I especially love smelling the return of petrichor in the air.

Also, Annie was off this past week doing Cool Annie Things, so it’ll just be me sending you on a grand adventure this weekend. However, our esteemed editor, Mike McInally is filling in on the arts and culture beat, because the show must go on. 

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YOUR WEEKEND ITINERARY

It’s your last chance to experience the Whiteaker Golden Hour Night Market. The monthly summertime series concludes this Thursday (that’s today!) from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Farmers Market Pavilion, with live music, artists, food vendors and free indoor skating with Eugene Roller Village. It’s a great way to start the weekend (even if you land on your tush a few times around the rink).

Later on Thursday, at 7:30 p.m., Duane Betts (the son of Allman Brothers Band co-founder Dickey Betts, for those unfamiliar), will lead his band, Palmetto Motel at the Hult Center in downtown Eugene. Betts, a veteran guitarist in his own right, is touring behind a new album, “Isle of Hope.” Expect a blend of Southern rock, roots rock, blues and Americana. Snag a ticket here. 

On Friday, head back to the Farmers Market Pavilion for Fiesta Cultural during the First Friday ArtWalk. The event, held from 5:30 to 10 p.m., celebrates cultures and heritages from across Latin America. Enjoy live music, dance performances, a multicultural artisan marketplace, a family zone with kid-friendly activities, local food carts and craft beer by Xicha Brewing.

Football season is back, baby. And on nights before University of Oregon home games, 5th Street Market Alley will amp up your team spirit with Duck specials, a highlights screening and craft beverages. Rally in the Alley kicks off Friday at 5:30 p.m., in anticipation of the first Ducks game of the season this Saturday against Boise State. 

Emcee Nate Jackson addresses fans during a Rally in the Alley last summer. Credit: Max Unkrich / Lookout Eugene-Springfield

Also on Friday, groove to the multicultural, globe-hopping pop sounds of the Pink Martini All-Stars, who are performing at 6:30 p.m. at the Cuthbert Amphitheater. An offshoot of Thomas Lauderdale’s Portland-based “little orchestra,” the All-Stars features a rotating cast of singers and other collaborators. On this particular tour are vocalists Edna Vazquez, “America’s Got Talent” finalist Jimmie Herrod and Ari Shapiro, and — wait! Is that the same Ari Shapiro, formerly of NPR? Yes! Grab tickets here.

This is a reminder for ticket holders of the rescheduled Silversun Pickups show (rescheduled because the rock band’s bus broke down right before a planned Eugene stop back in March): Your ticket is still valid to see them play this Saturday at the McDonald Theatre, with Pure Hex as the opener. For everyone else: We’re still seeing tickets on StubHub, but the McDonald Theatre website lists the show as sold out. 

Work Wife, a four-member folk-rock band based in Brooklyn, New York, bills itself as “in part pop confidential a la Liz Phair, Jenny Lewis and in part oops-I-walked-into-your-band practice-and-hit-record,” and we like the way all that sounds. The band rolls into the Hult Center Saturday at 8 p.m. Get tickets here. 

The Art House continues its tribute to director John Woo with “Face/Off”, the ridiculously entertaining 1997 thriller in which FBI agent John Travolta and terrorist Nicolas Cage undergo experimental surgery to swap their faces and identities. It all makes sense, sort of, when you see it. It’s playing from Saturday to Thursday, Sept. 4-10. 

one thing we loved this week

The rain, of course! After such a dry summer, it’s lovely to be blanketed by clouds and to frolic among wet trees, as I did yesterday on my rain walk, which I hope becomes a regular occurrence. 

in case you missed it — food and arts news

  • If you’re dining somewhere on the Oregon Coast, it would seem practical — obvious, even — that the seafood you ordered was caught off said coast. Chances are, it wasn’t. Despite our incredible commercial fisheries, upwards of 90% of the seafood consumed in Oregon isn’t local. On the other hand, most Oregon-caught seafood is shipped off to other countries. Enter Port Orford, a city of 1.6 square miles on the southern coast that is working to keep Oregon seafood local. You’ll find fishers selling their catch right off the boat, 50-ton cranes hoisting boats into the Pacific, scientists and commercial anglers working together to save bull kelp, and an ocean-to-table kitchen serving a miso black cod bowl you’ll dream of long after you leave.
  • One year after opening, Xocolate Coffee Co. has distinguished itself in Eugene’s bustling coffee scene with a menu defined by Latin American flavors and cultures. The owners, who have Mexican and Guatemalan roots, serve mochas with Mexican chocolate (we can smell the cinnamon from here), chilaquiles, burritos with house-made chorizo and, for a fall special, coffee-flavored flan and pumpkin spice horchata lattes.
  • Another event to plug in your calendar (coming up Sept. 12), the Springfield Block Party is looking to be bigger than ever this year. The free, 12-blocks-long event will feature live music, food vendors and activities ranging from karaoke to mechanical bull riding. The Hispanic heritage celebration, Herencia Hispana, will also return to the plaza outside Springfield City Hall. Lookout Eugene-Springfield will be there, too, so stop by our booth for some new stickers and enter to win a bunch of different prizes.

Question for you

If I’m counting correctly, this week is our 10th edition of Bites and Sights! To mark the occasion, we’d love your feedback thus far. What’s your favorite part of the newsletter? Is it too long, too short, just right? What else would you like to see? 

Drop us a line at taylor@lookoutlocal.com and annie@lookoutlocal.com.

As for last week’s question: One of our readers, Lisa Fortin, wrote about meeting Dolly Parton in 1999 while working at an event where Dolly was honored with a humanitarian award from AMVETS.

Lisa wrote: “At these events, there is always a photo op/meet and greet with the VIPs, but [Dolly] insisted on having photos with all the hotel staff and anyone who worked on the event. And she brought multiple outfits! She was a bit of a stand-up comedian, and after dinner, when she was speaking, she said, ‘I know this is a military group because that banquet chicken was so tough it must have marched here!’ A classy lady who will be missed.”

Another reader, Michele, was right to remind us that actress and singer Shelley Fabares also died recently, on Aug. 22 at 82. 

Michele wrote: “Lots of my contemporaries (I’m 76) watched “The Donna Reed Show” regularly. We were touched by her song, “Johnny Angel,” not because it was a masterpiece like many of Dolly Parton’s songs, but because it was about first love. And we could or would relate to that. It was a special time.”

BEFORE YOU GO …

If things remain a bit soggy this weekend, well, put on your rain boots and waterproof jacket and get out there, dagnabbit! We’ve got things to do, people to see and music to dance to! Don’t let a little mud and wet get in the way. 

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Taylor Goebel covers Lane County's food and drink scene. She has nearly a decade of experience in multimedia journalism, having reported across the Mid-Atlantic on dining, food systems, education, healthcare, local elections, labor and business. She was most recently a food reporter in Washington state, where she documented a fourth-generation fishing family, covered a David vs. Goliath conflict between a national coffee chain and a small Turkish cafe, and had many culinary firsts, from ensaymadas and gilgeori (Korean street) toast to morels and black cod.

Annie Aguiar is the Arts and Culture Correspondent. She has reported arts news and features for national and local newsrooms, including at the Seattle Times, the Washington Post and most recently as a reporting fellow for the New York Times’ Culture desk covering arts and entertainment.