Author Archive
Peter Gandesbery

Wine Quiz: Can You Pick the Real Wine Terms From the Fake Ones?
Do you ever read about wines and wonder what the heck the experts are talking about? You’re not alone. Experts don’t always know what they are talking about either, and when they do, it often involves a lot of big expensive words in the hopes that you, the reader, will

Choose Your Hole: Three Spots to Do Yourself a Favor and Go Swimming
Sometimes it seems that there is a law of physics that determines the quality of a swimming spot that goes something like this: The higher the quality of the spot, the farther you have to drive to get to it. Obviously this is not the case, since if it were,

Cramming Crater Lake: How to Tourist the S#@% Out of a Daytrip
Have you ever observed how hardcore tourists travel? They spend the day visiting as many locations as they possibly can, with the attitude firmly implanted that relaxing is for wimps and dead people. If you are going to visit Crater Lake there can be more to it than just driving

The Running Dead
Illinois Valley Comes Alive With Dead Folks for Z Day 5k In the world of zombie films, there is a major divide between slow, shuffling George Romero-style zombies, and Usain Bolt-like undead sprinters Danny Boyle pioneered for 28 Days Later. As weird as this may sound on the surface, let’s

Keeping It Wheel
Pushing Boundaries at The United Bike Institute Ask the average person what Ashland is known for and they’ll say ‘theater.’ Ask the average bike mechanic and you’ll get a very different answer: The United Bicycle Institute. The school has eight full-time and four part-time guest instructors, and typically sees 800
The Pisco Challenge: Wading Into Controversy with a Blind Taste Test and a Headache the Morning After
For the uninitiated, Pisco is a popular liquor from South America made from grapes in a distilling process similar to brandy. It typically is in the 40 percent alcohol range and is made in both Peru and Chile. More importantly, it’s a pissing match for the ages. Chileans will

King of the Rogue promises to Royally Kick Ass.
Game of Rapids Don your booties and skirts. King of the Rogue, the Rogue Valley’s only current whitewater competition, will take place Sat., July 11 in Gold Hill at Tilomikh Falls (aka Powerhouse Rapid) this year. The race, promoted by Stephen Kiesling, is not just a race to encourage
LifeArt Opens New Dedicated Gallery
Medford nonprofit LifeArt has a brutally simple mission: use art to prevent youth suicide. The organization, which partners with various schools and government agencies (such as Jackson County Youth Suicide Prevention Coalition), has been around since 2009. Phil Ortega, the founder of LifeArt, believes the kids will have better
How Well Do You Know Your Neighbors?
‘Merica, ‘Anada and ‘Exico Much as it can seem like it at this time of year, America is not the only country in the world. We even have other countries totally, ahem, “touching us down south” like creeps. And since those neighbors can direct influence on our cultural, economic and
Pints and Players
Pairing Local Bands with Local Brews By Peter Gandesbery, Jeff Hill and Josh Gross FACT: Beer makes everything better! [Editor’s note: that’s not medically accurate, but sure, why not.] Especially music. However, not all beers make every experience or type of music equally better. Ya gots to pair that shizzle,