“Oomph.”
As I hit the ball, it flies satisfyingly over the net toward my partner. As they continue to throw the balls, I return each one while unintentionally making the strange sound.

Do you remember the game where a message is whispered from one person to the next around a circle? When it gets to the end, the phrase has transformed into something very different.

Coastal Voices, the Central Coast’s 52-voice choir, will hold Vocal Introductions on Tuesday, Jan. 9, and Saturday, Jan. 13, at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Newport.

At the risk of scooping up the lowest of low-hanging fruit, the next production from National Theatre Live looks pretty … good.

Acclaimed as “bold, stylistically diverse, rhythmically rich,” “My Words Are My Sword” is a groundbreaking musical drama for actor and orchestra that fuses jazz, hip-hop and classical music.

The artists of Toledo will greet the New Year with a fresh perspective this Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 6 and 7, when the town’s galleries and studios open their doors for First Weekend.

This Saturday, Jan. 6, Giuseppe Verdi’s early masterpiece, “Nabucco,” will be broadcast live from the Metropolitan Opera stage in New York to the big screen at Newport Performing Arts Center.

All aboard for the first field trip of the year with the Newport 60+ Activity Center this Saturday, Jan. 6, to explore the history of Toledo.

The questions posed to people who like begin each new year by submerging themselves into cold water to have evolved over time from “What are you, nuts?” to “Which dunk are you going to?”

A beachcrest is the point on the beach where high tide storm waves end their run. It is the transition point between sand and sea, land and the ocean.

With its new facelift — walls freshly painted in soft pastel blue and festooned with bright mandala wheels of color and newly hung artwork — the New Moon Yoga space at the Lincoln City Cultural Center is ready for a party.

Chinook Winds Casino Resort will be ringing in the “New Year Under the Stars” this Sunday, Dec. 31, in Lincoln City.

Get a guided view to some of the most special places on the Central Coast on New Year's Day with the Oregon State Parks’ First Day Hikes.

The colors on SW 51st Street, in Lincoln City’s Taft District, are striking. The azure blue of the sky, the slate gray of the water as it flows out through the jaws of Siletz Bay, the inky black eyes of the curious harbor seals — and the bright-pink exterior of Eleanor’s Undertow restaurant, a fixture here for the past 43 years.

My friend Jake Carlsen teaches creative writing and photography at Newport High School. Not only is Jake a gifted teacher and writer, but he laughs a lot, high and loud, just like Claude Rains in “The Invisible Man,” and he’s fun to be around.

A pregnant female gray whale rises from the murky shallows of the Chukchi Sea. As she nears the surface, a trail of mud passes over her baleen into the frigid water.

The wreaths displayed on and around the large glass panels of The Wild Fern Mercantile storefront are detailed with bright ribbons, each different, each unique, each decorated by the shop’s owner, Christine McGowan.

Looking for music this holiday season? Yule be glad you checked our calendar section for live music all along the Central Oregon Coast.

There is still time to see one of the coast’s most unique holiday light displays, as the Oregon Coast Aquarium’s Sea of Lights continues every Friday and Saturday evening through December.

Swing by the Gleneden Beach Community Club to enjoy the Lincoln Pops Big Band this Thursday, Dec. 21.