Kill the OLCC, Governor. Kill It Now.
As you approach the end of your final term in office, Gov. Ted Kulongoski, I would like to urge you to take an action that will make future generations bless your memory and secure your legacy as one of the great governors of Oregon history:
Downtown Criterium is SATURDAY NIGHT
We just noticed an error on the Our Picks page of the paper this week, which stated that the Cascade Cycling Classic's Downtown Criterium as taking place Friday night, which is incorrect. Although the criterium has been on Fridays for the past few years, this year's event is on SATURDAY.
Killing Kids for Jesus
When Ava Worthington was born, she was an apparently healthy, good-sized baby girl, weighing 10 pounds - putting her in the top 95% of weight for newborns. When she died 15 months later, she weighed only 16 pounds - in the bottom 5% for children her age.
A Beer Festival Will Happen in Bend – The Little Woody
You probably know by now that the Bend Brew Fest has been canceled, but fear not, there will be a beer festival in Bend this year. Just minutes ago, the details of the Little Woody Barrel-Aged Brew Festival, slated for September 12, were laid out and the Blender is pumped, because, well, the Blender likes…
A New Move in Bend’s Medical Turf War
Judging from the tone of the front-page story in yesterday's Bulletin, you'd assume St. Charles and local physicians have come up with the magic cure for what ails our local health care system.
Video from Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band at the Domino Room
The Blender was at the Domino Room on Tuesday night, sweating buckets on a really hot night as The Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band powered through a set that had an equally sweaty crowd rampaging along. Here’s a couple videos from the show, in case you missed it.
Industry Round Up: They Come and They Go
Coming soon to a theater near you.
The Central Oregon restaurant merry go round continues as new bars and restaurants are jumping at what they see as a window of opportunity to get in prime lease space even as others drop off.
Little Bites: Industry Round Up: They Come and They Go
Coming soon to a theater near you.
The Central Oregon restaurant merry go round continues as new bars and restaurants are jumping at what they see as a window of opportunity to get in prime lease space even as others drop off.
Politics
They made it mean something, the choice between cake and pie. Whoever thought as children that the world would grow up cruel enough to pit frosting against filling? History tells us the seeds of revolution came from one too many times hearing, "The proof of the pudding is in the crust." Maybe the kind of…
Got Ink?: A look at “Tattoo Machine: Tall Tales, True Stories, and My Life in Ink”
It would not be accurate to refer to Jeff Johnson’s collection of wryly-funny anecdotes and sometimes frightening tales in Tattoo Machine as simply a memoir. Instead, Johnson-the co-owner of Sea Tramp Tattoo Company in Portland-uses his life experiences to help tell the story of the tattoo industry itself (though he isn’t quite sure when it…
That Lizard Has a Hole in it!: Or does it? On the trail of the side-blotched Uta
Our common, Side-blotched Lizard, Uta stansburiana.I need to make an apology. Throughout all the years I've been preaching from this pulpit, I have never once (that I can recall) mentioned one of our more handsome reptiles, the side-blotched lizard of the genus Uta. For this I apologize, profusely!
You'll note I used the genus name…
Bike Bonanza: Tour des Chutes, Deschutes Dash, CCC and Nats
Breaking away, Central Oregon style, at the CCC.For bike lovers, this is sensory overload season. The wildflowers are ablaze along Sector 16, there is a century ride to choose any weekend, and the Central Oregon Crit Series (www.centraloregonracing.com) is in full swing on Wednesday nights in Northwest Crossing…and it only gets worse.
TOUR DES CHUTES…
Sally Forced: The Ugly Truth is that an uptight heroine doesn’t make a romantic comedy
Ten bucks says they fall in love, but with hilarious consequences.Twenty years ago-almost to the day-American moviegoers were introduced to Sally Albright in Rob Reiner and Nora Ephron's When Harry Met Sally. As played by Meg Ryan, she was a sunny but tightly-wound city girl who found a perfect foil in loosey-goosey misanthrope Harry Burns…
Could it Be Magic?: The Trouble with Harry Potter
Whaddaya call this sport again? Cribbage?British comedian Stewart Lee has a skit in response to the Harry Potter franchise. To quote: "People come up to me and ask, 'Oh, did you read the new Harry Potter?' And I say, 'No I haven't read it, because I'm forty f***ing years-old, no, I did not read Harry…
It’s, Ya Know, For the Children: The Sagebrush Classic is decadent, but not depraved
Awe, Shucks. So, “decadent and depraved”-the words Hunter S. Thompson used to describe the Kentucky Derby in his landmark 1970 article-isn’t quite accurate, but the Sagebrush Classic and the Derby have a few similarities. Like Derby festivities, Sagebrush also ostensibly surrounds a sporting event, in this case a golf competition at Broken Top featuring 52…
It’s, Ya Know, For the Children: The Sagebrush Classic is decadent, but not depraved
Awe, Shucks. So, "decadent and depraved"-the words Hunter S. Thompson used to describe the Kentucky Derby in his landmark 1970 article-isn't quite accurate, but the Sagebrush Classic and the Derby have a few similarities. Like Derby festivities, Sagebrush also ostensibly surrounds a sporting event, in this case a golf competition at Broken Top featuring 52…
Constructing a Rock ‘n’ Roll Empire
Holy Rolling Empire will build their psychedelic-rock empire from the ground up, literally. Three of the five Tucson, Arizona emperors worked in construction while recording their full-length debut album, Gigantis. The other two make a living as bartenders, so you know in their kingdom they will serve up wickedly good rock and roll cocktails.
The…
Fuel for the Roots
An all-star version of The Mostest rocking Bend Roots '08.Before closing out an intensely jammy set with his band, The Mostest, at the Show Us Your Spokes series at Parrilla Grill last Friday night, Mark Ransom took a moment to talk about the Bend Roots Revival, which is slated for September 25-26 at Parrilla and…
The Battle for July 30: Peter Frampton vs. Sugarland
On July 30, stars will align in Central Oregon for simultaneous events so rare that they can only be compared to prophecies and predictions found in The Singularity, The Cosmogenesis, the Quatrains of Nostradamus, and the I Ching. A day on the calendar so significant it immediately rivals in importance the ending of the Mayan…
Our Picks for the Week 7/23-7/30
Too Short thursday 23 No matter how you feel about this particular genre, we must reiterate the fact that a rap music legend is coming to Bend. His name, you ask? Too Short, the dude who pretty much invented the pimp image that so many other hip-hop artists have emulated over the years, including Snoop…
If Not Here, Where?: Appeals continue, but talks are planned over the Shepherd’s House expansion
A sign still sits in the window, stating the shelter's intention to add beds – which wouldn't require any construction or expansion of the building.At a July 1 meeting of the Bend City Council, councilors, once again, were faced with the issue of expanding the number of beds at the Shepherd's House, a shelter and…
The Public 4, GOBs 3
We won't go so far as to predict that it's the start of a trend, but the Bend City Council made a startling move last week: It voted for the public interest over the interest of a few well-connected local businessmen.
The issue was a loophole written into the city's transient room tax law six…
The Popularity Index: Obama chokes, Cronkite croaks and Afghanistan smokes
The author has been sent on the road to discover a lost country formerly known as America. He is reporting from your sister's bedroom, swearing he's only there for the air conditioning, on assignment for Or-Bust.com and The Source Weekly.
Popularity Under 60%?…What's a Guy to do? "If we're able to stop Obama on this,…
Deschutes County’s Growth and Prosperity: What might have been
Editor's note: This is the third in a series of columns about Central Oregon's economy. See the first two installments of series at tsweekly.com under the opinion tab by clicking Guest Commentary. "For of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: 'It might have been!'
-John Greenleaf Whittier
On Thursday July…
Six Reasons We Don’t Need 10
Just when I thought it was dead and buried, the cut and thrust of left/right argument on your website (letters page) brought this old claim up again - bringing the "10 Commandments and God" back into our schools would solve so many of our social problems.
1.
Put Your Name On It
With reference to "The stain on Farrah's name", July 16 issue, I was amused by "Jeff." He referred to the writer of the Upfront piece on Farrah Fawcett (July 2) as "Junior High-ish" while condemning "whoever did pen the Opinion column" with "keep your private, sick thoughts, in your puny, disabled brain!"
Sounds a little…
An Open Letter to City Hall
I am a residing, taxpaying and voting citizen that is considered to be a contributing and frugal member of society. I was instrumental in helping implement traffic circles in Bend Park, specifically the intersections of NE Hawthorne and 9th and 10 Streets.
An Open Letter to the Community
As many of you are already aware, two of the country's largest bicycle races will be held in Bend over the next two weeks beginning with the 30th Annual Cascade Cycling Classic, which starts on Tuesday, July 21, and continues through Sunday, July 26. Immediately following the Cascade Cycling Classic, Bend will play host to…
