Cover Story
Jazz Binge
Rarely do two pianists share the same stage. Even rarer is a performance with three. And four? That’s bonkers. Yet an ivory drubbing jazz concert featuring individual sets by four of Oregon’s premier piano artists is exactly what’s in store for Bend Dec. 27 and 28 at The Oxford Hotel. Instrumentalists Gordon Lee, Darrell Grant,…
SCREENING TONIGHT: McConkey at The Tower Theatre
Extreme skiing pioneer Shane McConkey, who died skiing in 2009, must have been one of the most filmed athletes of all time. Since boyhood, McConkey, an affable daredevil, was obsessed with taking calculated risks—most of which were captured on camera. Using carefully selected clips, the directors of McConkey expertly match old footage with current interviews…
Friday Mixtape! The Best Songs of 2013
The 50 best songs of 2013 and a chance to win even more music!
Best EPs of 2013 (1-10)
The Best EPs from 2013.
Best Albums of 2013: 25-6
The final installment is here! Win Arctic Monkeys and listen to the year’s best music!
Best Albums of 2013: 50-26
Almost to number one; our countdown continues! This time win music from one of last year’s best albums, the fifth release from U.K. band Passenger!
Best Albums of 2013: 75-51
Keep sharing these posts and keep winning! How about music from the highest ranked local album of 2013? It’s here!
12 Days of Giveaways: Kids explain Christmas!
A short tutorial about Christmas and Chanukah by some young kids. Spoiler: Apparently the meaning of Christmas has something to do with Spiderman! Like and share for a chance to win our grand prize…TWO nights stay at the magical Sunriver Resort! This may just be an illustration but the Resort is seriously wonderful and festive…
Looking for something to do tonight?
Torrey Newhart grew up in Bend, and returns for a piano and accordion performance tonight at Broken Bottle Top Bottle Shop. 7-9 pm. Call Me Maybe from Torrey Newhart on Vimeo.
Kolby Kirk (The Hike Guy) Recounts his Best Hikes of the Year
Kolby Kirk is the authority when it comes to hiking in Bend. This year, he is on track to complete his “100 Hikes Project,” a resolution to hike 100 times and 700 trail miles by 2014. Kirk also runs thehikeguy.com and is a generally jovial and knowledgeable guy. Read below for his top 5 hikes…
Best Albums of 2013: 100-76
Another chance to win Of Montreal!
Best Albums of 2013: 125-101
Check out 2013 albums you may have missed and win Queens Of The Stone Age!
Anchorman 2 Review!
Check it out! We’ve got an exclusively online Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues review! Read it here. While you’re at it check out this interview with the four-man news team on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.”
12 Days of Giveaways: Christmas Episodes
There are too many amazing television Christmas specials for us to count. Luckily…Wikipedia has taken inventory. Here’s a comprehensive list of Christmas TV specials!! With Christmas break in full swing, now is the perfect time to throw on your holiday snuggie, make a mug of hot chocolate with peppermint schnapps and relive all your favorite…
12 Days of Giveaways: Santa Fail
We love Santa, but we also weirdly love it when Santa absolutely fails. See the video below. Share our Facebook post and we’ll give a random winner a Renegade Roller Derby package, a t-shirt, tank top, beanie and a pound of Thump coffee!
Bend to Host USA Cycling XC and Enduro National Champs, 2015 and 2016
Mt. Bachelor’s trails will be two years old when the races come to town. Visit Bend is doing a good job with the bike-race-hosting thing. It was just announced that our city would be the site of the USA Cycling 2015 and 2016 cross-country and enduro national championship mountain bike races. What’s most interesting about…
Jamming in a Winter Wonderland
It is remarkable what context can do for a song: This past summer, Bend-based folk singer Travis Ehrenstrom released a heartfelt album, Remain A Mystery. In the sweltering heat of July and August, these songs—easygoing ditties led by Ehrenstrom’s honeydew voice and backed by chirpy guitar chords—probably seemed as relaxing as an afternoon nap in…
Xmas Chopsticks
In the final scene of “The Christmas Story” (yes, as in “you’ll shoot your eye out.” Just say it! Get it out of your system. Okay, better? We on the same page now?). . . in the final scene of “The Christmas Story,” the Parker family remedies their disastrous Christmas dinner (a neighbor dog has…
Out of Town 12/18-12/26
portland friday 20 Holiday Sweater Spectacular: Portland Cello Project Blending modern compositions with orchestral instrumentation, The Portland Cello Project’s goal is to test listeners’ adaptability, playing unlikely selections on the classical instrument. This year’s Christmas pageant will feature a range of songs from traditional carols to modern winter-themed tunes (like Fleet Foxes’ “White Winter Hymnal”).…
Cruxing Out
On Saturday, Crux Fermentation Project released three beautifully packaged, experimental bottled beers: Freakcake Barrel-Aged Oud Bruin Ale, Banished Doublecross Dark Belgian Ale and Half Hitch Imperial Mosaic IPA. And, bonus!, the Bend brewery re-released Tough Love Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout. All are impressive, and available locally (look for them in 375-milliliter, wax-sealed bottles), but the lightly…
Broadcast News
Ron Burgundy tries to hang himself in the first 15 minutes of “Anchorman 2”—and for a second, even this Anchorman fan thought that might not be a terrible idea. It’s been nine years since the brilliant “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy” began its long journey toward becoming a cult classic, and expectations for a…
Used is the New Black
Tucked downstairs in one of the most ignored buildings on Bond Street (number 841, home to a small wine shop, an antique store and Rich Music), down an M.C. Escher maze of staircases under Townshend’s Tea, is a new consignment shop, appropriately called “The Basement.” Opened last week, the clothing store is more of a…
A Logical Breakdown of the Dam
One by one, latecomers walked to the far side of the well-lit Bend Park and Recreation District community room to retrieve a seat from the stack of black chairs on the opposite wall. The mood was solemn but anticipatory for the Dec. 2 Mirror Pond Ad Hoc work group meeting. It was a mixed bag…
Our Picks 12/18 – 12/26
wednesday 18 Red Chair Release Party BEER—Celebrate the Northwest pale ale that’s twice been dubbed “world’s best beer” at the World Beer Awards. That’s right, “world's best.” Named for one of Mt. Bachelor’s historic lifts, this perfectly balanced, hop-heavy brew is the mark of winter. Stop in and join the party. Santa will be there.…
Why Can’t We Just Get Along?
With the exception of a handful of school districts (like Bend and Lake Oswego), public education in Oregon ranks among the worst in the country. Graduation rates in Redmond and Portland are dismal, approaching 50 percent. Yet, the vast majority of Oregonians value K-12 public education. In fact, it is the number one concern, according…
Take Me to the River
During a special meeting on Friday, the Bend City Council, ostensibly, voted in favor of the environment when they pledged to limit drains on Bridge Creek, the city’s main water supply source. The small Tumalo Creek tributary remains at the center of a discussion about how to improve flows in the watershed, particularly in the…
True That!
The adage that “numbers don’t lie” apparently doesn’t apply to the current debate over the Bridge Creek water project. Last Friday, our recipient for the Boot this week, the Bulletin’s editorial team kicked the hornet’s nest. With a bold-face headline, the lead editorial read: “LandWatch Adds Misleading Info to Water Debate.” The editorial goes on…
One Day at a Time
MONDAY 9 Just when you think Lindsay Lohan is clawing her way out of the gossip rags—Paris Hilton’s family just keeps pulling her back in! Remember the halcyon days of 2006 when every young starlet was climbing out of limos sans underpants, and Paris’ pal/douchehole Brandon Davis infamously called LiLo “firecrotch”? (Good times. Good times.)…
Letters 12/11 – 12/19
Mirror Pond We might shorten the Mirror Pond debate if we’d refer to the feature by its real name: Goose Offal Slough. —John Bowers In reply to, “A Year Later, and Only More Guns” (The Boot, 10/10) So a deeply liberal anti-gun tirade. I have been in law enforcement ten years. First and foremost Chicago…
Going Big in Nepal
Starting in mid-October, Bend’s Chris Wright, along with his partner, Scott Adamson of Utah, battled deep snow, frigid temperatures, oxygen deprivation and terrifyingly steep cliff faces to claim two impressive first ascents in Nepal. Snowy, far-flung climbing expeditions, however, are nothing new to Wright. Last November, the 30-year-old part-time Timberline Mountain Guide and area avalanche…
A Spoonful of Daddy Issues
If only Disney’s Saving Mr. Banks had been terrible, I could’ve screamed, “Damn you, Disneyfication!” from the chim-chimneyed rooftops. But the film is sweet and likeable, and not without a bit of an edge. It’s a Disney edge, sure, but it’s there. Mr. Banks is centered around Mary Poppins—particularly author P.L. Travers (Emma Thompson), who’s…
Senior Moments
Woody Grant (Bruce Dern) is determined to get to Nebraska. He’s received a form letter notifying him that he may have won $1 million, which he’s inclined to accept at face value. All he has to do is go to the sweepstakes office in Lincoln and collect the prize. There are a few obstacles: Woody…
Because They Needed the Monet
Christian Bale has transformed himself in all sorts of ways, but his turn as Irving Rosenfeld is something else again. It’s such a striking transformation that the camera can’t tear away from Bale’s body throughout the opening scene of American Hustle. His pasty beer gut juts forward proudly, suggesting chronic constipation. We watch him construct…
Two Short Film Reviews
If we take the entirely creepy 1934 carol “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” at its word, the man in red sees us when we’re sleeping and knows when we’re awake, and thus, he knows if we’ve been bad or good. What the song fails to inform, is the state of Santa’s personal behavior. Has…
Deck the halls with new music
A Christmas Album While alternative band Bright Eyes initially offered a very limited run of this album in 2002, it wasn’t widely released until this year. Interestingly, tortured soul Conor Oberst—who at the time was almost anti-everything—managed to break from the lament-filled lyrics of his original music to make a strikingly pleasant Christmas album. While…
Vacation Rentals Get Audited (and Other City Council News)
Some vacation rentals aren’t paying into the Transient Room Tax, a city audit reveals. City Council got the results of an audit of vacation rentals during its work session Wednesday and the results were better than anticipated. The audit was sparked by a perceived widespread noncompliance with the transient room tax code and concerns about…
Best Albums of 2013: 150-126
Win the 150th best album of 2013 and help kick-off the countdown!
Meissner is Open for Skiing!
Meissner’s Nordic season officially kicked off on Dec. 14 (read about their new grooming machine HERE) and regular grooming has commenced on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Also exciting, and infinitely useful, is the new Grooming Report rubric on Meissner’s website. See what’s been groomed and plan your workout accordingly. Meissner Nordic—with new the addition…
What in the World? Todays News!
Ronnie Biggs, train robber and folk hero, dead at 84. A captivating story by the New York Times about the man who eluded the authorities time and time again. The kids are all on drugs. A recent study found pot is now more prevalent than cigarettes among American teens. US Olympic delegation is a big…
