Empty Space Orchestra Video
On Saturday night, Empty Space Orchestra pretty much destroyed the Domino Room stage (not literally) with a freakishly tight set before Portland' Hillstomp further decimated said stage with their own killer set. Here's video of Empty Space at its best.
Sizemore Fulfills His Destiny
File under "This Had to Happen Someday": Right-wing ballot measure crusader Bill Sizemore is in jail.
Highway 97 Deaths: We Need The Wall
How many more people are going to have to die before ODOT installs a Jersey wall on Highway 97 between Bend and Redmond?
Taking a Rosy View of Black Friday
Black Friday was a pretty good day for local retailers, at least if you believe the story on the front page of this morning's Bulletin.
Random Wanderings Through Jersey
The Eye wandered East to our New Jersey birthplace to spend Thanksgiving with relatives and came back with a few random observations:
Blues, Buckets, Repeat: Making sense of Bend’s love for Hillstomp
Prepare to be stomped…again.You can overstay your welcome here in Bend. And I'm not talking about your ski bum cousin who slept on your couch for three months last winter. Rather, I'm referring to out-of-town bands that reappear in town over and over, eventually losing their appeal after that new band smell wears off. We've…
Turncoat Joe Gave $5,000 to Gordo
It was no secret that Joe Lieberman supported John McCain. But it came as a surprise Wednesday when campaign finance reports revealed that he also gave money to Gordon Smith.
Another Present for Bend Developers
The Bend Urban Area Planning Commission is wrapping up a little early Christmas present for the local builder/developer lobby.
The BCS Revolt
The snowball that is coaches and other big-wigs calling for a Division I college football playoff is getting bigger by the week, and the Big 12 Conference this season is making a case for a playoff all by itself. This after a weekend that saw then No.
CBC is coming! Christmas means one thing: Time to count some birds
Cal Elshoff of Bend and Mt. Chickadee of the forest looking each other in the eye. Before you go any further, pick up your indelible pen and mark the dates of December 14 through January 5, 2009 and write "CBC." Those are the dates for the 109th Christmas Bird Count, from which ornithologists, biologists, land…
Black Friday: Only 27 shopping says ’til Christmas!
The object of my affection.Months ago, I said I'd write about Stuff again. So, just in time for your holiday shopping, here is my Top Ten list of outdoor gear. It's not a list of the ten essentials recommended for survival nor the hottest, coolest, most unaffordable equipment. It's just a random collection of some…
Gears of War 2: Grinding through another shooter sequel
War! What is it good for?When the Xbox 360 was put into the hands of gamers, the one title that was to ride its wave was Halo 3. That was true for the most part, but another shooter has made a lot of gamers happy, the original Gears of War, which was released back in…
Vampire Love: Twilight is another case of book’s better, but still not bad
Besides bloodlust, we have great hearing and a keen fashion sense. "Surely it was a good way to die, in the place of someone I loved. Noble even. That ought to count for something."
Thus begins the new movie, Twilight, inspired by the first of four books about a young girl and her vampire…
Look What Happens: A mild-mannered skewering of Hollywood big shots
Cry it out. This fun little movie is actually a light-hearted look at Hollywood back stabbings and financial dealings. In other words, this could have been a scathing expose on Hollywood corruption, but What Just Happened just lets it happen and allows us to be the judge. Robert De Niro plays Ben (yes, just "Ben"),…
Happy Hour: Bistro Corlise
To anyone who has been there, Bistro Corlise happy hour may sound like an oxymoron or some sort of ruse. It's hard to imagine enjoying such a pedestrian tradition as happy hour at a place that is the epitome of fine dining.
Bend Fish Company: Choosing substance over style
Fish and a smile, what else can you ask for?At Bend Fish Company, no energy is squandered on the superficial. It's all about the food. Besides the stylized fish in the logo, the only other decorative touches in the place are a plastic blue marlin mounted on the wall and a small collection of toy…
Bend Fish Company: Choosing substance over style
Fish and a smile, what else can you ask for?At Bend Fish Company, no energy is squandered on the superficial. It’s all about the food. Besides the stylized fish in the logo, the only other decorative touches in the place are a plastic blue marlin mounted on the wall and a small collection of toy…
The Source/FFE Films Music Video Contest
Tim Cash: he could be your future music video director.Hey you there! Yes you, the one holding the newspaper.
Trying Out This Whole Charity Fad
There was plenty to do on Saturday night with Tentareign's big rock show at the Tower, music at both martini bars and the Silver Moon, but still, there was a big crowd at the Tulen Center. And where the big crowds go, so does Sound Check (for the most part) which is why we found…
This Week in Rap: Cramming big hip-hop names into a single week
Insert ego-stroking self reference. The phenomenon of the multi-platinum, mega-famous rap star is somewhat of a dying trend, but you wouldn't know it by what's on the marquee at Midtown for next week. The venue is host to not just one large-scale rap show, but two in a row. It's former G-Unit member Young Buck…
Our Picks for the Week of 11/26-12/4
Thanksgiving Eve!
wednesday 26
This isn't a specific event, per say, but rather recognition of a widely celebrated yet hardly mentioned holiday called Thanksgiving Eve. Every year on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, revelers from in and out of town flood the bars with the knowledge that they have the following day off (even if it…
One Way or Another: After losing election, Barram wins council appointment
In what may be one of its last official actions, the lame duck city council named a fellow "progressive" to fill a vacancy created when councilor and former Mayor Bill Friedman died earlier this month after complications from back surgery.
On a "party line" vote councilors took Jodie Barram over Don Leonard and Robin Vora.…
A One-Way Trip?: Bend’s transit supporters weigh next move in the face of cuts
Chase Hovan is the kind of bus rider who drives Annis Henson crazy. An 18-year old COCC student who is learning to play piano and studying music production, Hovan uses the bus to get to and from his classes almost everyday. Standing at a bus stop outside the local Ace Hardware store on Third Street,…
Glass Slipper: A Reprieve for BAT
Bend Area Transit hit some rough terrain in its early going - the worst pothole being its purchase of eight lemon buses from a slick used-bus salesman in California.
It was a costly mistake, and it happened because BAT officials didn't exercise due diligence.
eHarmony comes out of the closet: Sarah Palin’s turkey take, Obama’s mythology, more
Re-Nailin' Palin Who you callin' turkey?Even though we've devoted a lot of Upfront and WTF space to Alaska's most endearing governor Sarah Palin and we're pretty sure that 75 percent of readers would like nothing more to never hear her name again, we couldn't resist. Short of Palin actually dressing up in a stars and…
UGB is a Recipe for Sprawl
This week's letter comes from former city councilor John Schubert who asks a question that's been on a lot of people's minds lately: "What's with the massive urban growth boundary expansion proposal?" An advocate of smart growth and alternative transportation planning, Schubert questions whether the city's past subsidies to the building community have led to…
Don’t Dismiss 2030
Thank you for sending a reporter to our recent Town Hall event. We would like to add some clarity that would give your readers a more detailed picture of the purpose of Bend 2030 and of the highlights of the evening event. The Bend 2030 Board is designed to be a public/private partnership that will…
Imperialism 101
In preparing a nation for war, imperial war leaders have to create a visible and highly charged emotional sense of injustice and righteousness to secure national cohesion. Their challenge is to overcome the natural human opposition to early death and the destruction of civilian life. The need to invent a cause for war is especially…
Blaring TVs Add Travail to Travel
The word "travel" comes from the same root as the word "travail," meaning "hard and painful labor." This is not a coincidence.
