Calling In the Chinese Web Police?
Did Nike try to get the Chinese government to track down an anonymous Internet poster who criticized the Oregon athletic wear giant?
Credenzas and Credibility
The Wandering Eye has been trying to deconstruct Gordon Smith's second "furniture" ad - in particular, the profound politico/socio/economic significance of the word "credenza."
Measure 59: “No Gain, Just Pain”
Bill Sizemore's Ballot Measure 59 would give the richest 1% of Oregonians an average tax break of over $15,000 a year while middle-income families would get the impressive sum of - are you ready for it? - two bucks.
Furniture Wars: The Merk Strikes Back
Jeff Merkley, stung by Gordon Smith ads attacking him over the purchase of new furniture for state legislative offices, has hit back with a tough ad of his own linking the Republican senator to our $9 trillion national debt.
Micro Cosmos: The Dissident
Never satisfied to just keeping cranking out the same signature brews, Deschutes is unveiling another ambitious, limited run specialty beer at the start of September, The Dissident. The Belgian style brew used a strain of wild yeast that is more commonly associated with European wines to give the beer a distinct flavor characterized by earthy…
Of Beers and Brotherhood: Beating the heat at Bend’s annual beer bash
Cold beer and cool toes. Hot! It wasn't just hot at the Fifth Annual Bend Brew Fest last Friday and Saturday, it was Discovery Channel Serengeti hot. It was the type of heat that pounds you into a pancake puddle. Thankfully, those in charge had provided 80 brews, 6 marquees, and two kiddies' pools as…
Packing Off Pack Rats: Don’t kill the rats, move ’em
Marilyn Miller's bushy-tailed packrat on its way to another home. Have you ever seen a guiltier look in your life than the one you find on a pack rat's face? That poor bushy-tailed pack rat was caught red-handed… No, "green-handed" would be a more accurate. Marilyn Miller of SE Bend caught him plundering her kitchen…
Five Ring Fever: Insights from past Olympians
Suzanne King surrounded by children sponsored by Grandmother’s Education Fund Africa in Kenya.THE SECRET TO WINNING
I think most athletes, no matter their talent level, fantasize about going to the Olympics. I was no different. In my early twenties, I got into bike racing and started winning on the collegiate circuit and some Northern…
No Narcissism Here: Reflective horror story shatters itself to pieces
With a promising beginning scene and dazzling credits, Mirrors looked like it was going to deliver. I was actually smiling and nodding to myself that this was going to be the horror flick I'd been waiting for. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Ben Carson (Kiefer Sutherland) an alcoholic cop on leave of absence…
Play It Again, Woody: The Manhattan neurotic goes international
Oh, to be that cigarette.Vicky Christina Barcelona continues what seems to be Woody Allen's never-ending introspective into the long and winding road of love's labors lost and found and lost again and forever talked about. The prolific and diminutive Woodman has been regurgitating his New York City neuroses across the screen on an almost annual…
Blood in the Water: Industry Roundup for August 2008
Rumors of restaurant closures have been flying lately, especially downtown. There has been buzz that both Merenda and Deep are for sale and that Merenda will be closing by the end of the month. After many e-mails, questions at parties and grand speculation on the part of long time Bendites, I went to the only…
Blood in the Water: Industry Roundup for August 2008
Rumors of restaurant closures have been flying lately, especially downtown. There has been buzz that both Merenda and Deep are for sale and that Merenda will be closing by the end of the month. After many e-mails, questions at parties and grand speculation on the part of long time Bendites, I went to the only…
Fire it Up: Flatbread a welcome addition in the Old Mill
It’s a community thing.For a while it was slim pickings when it came to eating in the Old Mill shopping district. You could get ice cream, some Italian food or an expensive plate of seafood, but that was about it. Then came the second phase of development and with it came Café Yumm!, Allyson’s Kitchen…
Fire it Up: Flatbread a welcome addition in the Old Mill
It’s a community thing.For a while it was slim pickings when it came to eating in the Old Mill shopping district. You could get ice cream, some Italian food or an expensive plate of seafood, but that was about it. Then came the second phase of development and with it came Café Yumm!, Allyson's Kitchen…
How Bizarre: Avoiding comparisons with Fleet Foxes
Didn’t get the beard memo. It's Friday afternoon and hotter than all hell as Casey Wescott and I talk on the phone. The Fleet Foxes keyboardist and vocalist is at home in Seattle and it's hot there too. So hot, in fact, that this member of one of the most talked-about bands in the country…
Modern Change: Talking with Beck about Hannah Montana’s America
Two turntables, a microphone and a laptop. On a recent Friday afternoon, we connected with one Beck Hansen (most of you know him exclusively by his first name) as he relaxed at home in Los Angeles in between a recently concluded European tour and the North American trek that brings him to Bend this weekend.…
Our Picks for the week of 8/21-8/26
Necktie Killer
thursday 21
There's nothing wrong with ska music, even if you're part of the faction that since 1998 have believed the horn-happy style is inherently flawed. If you need a local dose of ska revival, Necktie Killer can bring it to you in a full-speed, full-fledged ska/punk/funk attack that they learned while…
Death and Taxes: Tax bill cripples arts organization’s gallery
Denied tax exempt status, Mirror pond gallery faces closure. Nobody likes paying taxes, but when you're a small arts group with a federally recognized tax exempt status it probably stings just a little bit more - especially when the tax bill arrives to the tune of $28,000.
That's the case with Arts Central, Central Oregon's…
The Power of One: Catching up with a former council maverick in Africa
John Hummel had the life: A house in Bend. His own law firm. A seat on the city council. Lots of friends. But he wanted a change.
And change he got.
As a Project Manager for The Carter Center's Rule of Law Program in Liberia, Hummel is now working to develop a functioning justice…
Anti-Union Astroturfing
Grass roots right wing style. In the PR game they call it "Astroturfing." It means creating a movement or organization that looks like it's "grassroots" but really isn't.
One of the more noxious sprouts of Astroturf we've encountered this campaign season is an outfit called the Employee Freedom Action Committee. The Washington, DC-based group is…
Thanks for Cheating: Working around Bend Broadband, travels to Cuba, more
Opening ceremonies from beijing.The Olympics will wrap up this weekend in Beijing and the world can stop caring about things like trampoline, badminton, and air pistol shooting for another four years. Speaking of the Olympics, was anyone as indignant as Upfront over the blatant cheating by the Chinese gymnastics team who essentially rolled out a…
No Free Pass on Bike Death
Letter of the Week
This week's featured letter comes from Daniel Brewster, who happens to deliver the Source's downtown route by bike and knows a thing or two about the interactions between drivers and bikers. For more on the tragic death of Keith Moon, see this week's Boot, Page 8.
Let Love Rule the Road
Just when my faith in the local population falters, along comes inspirational words like those from "The Mailbox" contributor Heather McKenzie (8/14).
After watching this morning's continued news coverage of the recently-killed bicyclist, I tended toward the negative "How many SUV drivers have been killed by bicyclists?" or "If only he'd been wearing his helmet.
It Ain’t Easy Being Green
It's great to be poor in the green movement! Now when I ride my bike, it doesn't have to be because my car broke down three months ago and I have no way to fix it, it can be because I am reducing my carbon footprint. Now, when I eat two small organic meals a…
No Glue Traps
I would like to publicly thank Ace Hardware for agreeing to withdraw "Stick-Em" glue traps from their shelves. Ace Hardware readily acknowledged the inhumanity of these traps - the animals caught in the glue suffer for days before they finally die of starvation, dehydration, self-mutilation, and shock while patches of skin, fur, or feathers are…
Lay off the Donkeys
I was seriously disturbed this week to see that The Source stupped (sic) so low as to let the Stars Caberet advertise such pornographic filth. The last time I checked a "live donkey show" was illegal in the USA.
Stop the Cheap Shots
In the "Best of Central Oregon" issue, I noticed a little blurb in the eponymous section reading, "Best Way to Tell Someone's a Ski Instructor: Because He Keeps Telling You He's a Ski Instructor." The author, (BL), goes on to make comparisons to rafting guides and "those bizarro dudes who smack each other in Drake…
Sweating it Out at R3: And why Vengeance Creek rules the local metal scene
Sound Check drove the dreaded 32 miles down to LaPine Friday night for the R3 Festival and learned three very important things; Vengeance Creek are Central Oregon's metal royalty, clever beat-boxing can steal the show and you can three-person sandwich grind to metal.
As the sun set on a triple-digit August night, band after…
