Eric Flowers

editor@tsweekly.com
Posted inOpinion

A Helping Hand For Horses

We would like to take this opportunity to express our heartfelt gratitude to all of you who donated items to the silent auction at Brasada
Eric Flowers

We would like to take this opportunity to express our heartfelt gratitude to all of you who donated items to the silent auction at Brasada for "Equestrians Helping Equestrians."
A special thank you and note of appreciation to Sharon Morris-Reade and Kathy Gentry for their labor of love.

Posted inOpinion

Where Are We Going?

I miss the days of hitchhiking – of being able to feel safe enough to pick up hitchhikers, as well as knowing that it was
Eric Flowers

I miss the days of hitchhiking – of being able to feel safe enough to pick up hitchhikers, as well as knowing that it was alright to stick out your thumb and get a ride. I miss what that all "represented.

Posted inCulture

Just A Spark: inFamous gives a jolt to the genre

You ever see that movie called Powder?Power can make you blue. Consider Cole, the protagonist of inFamous. All he needs to do is walk up
Eric Flowers

You ever see that movie called Powder?Power can make you blue. Consider Cole, the protagonist of inFamous. All he needs to do is walk up to a circuit box, flex his arms, and he's suddenly streaming with power. It crackles across his hands and curls around his thighs, covering him in an electric glow. One of the residents of Empire City described it as a "halo."

Of course, that was after Cole cleaned up the neighborhood. At first, almost every resident thought that Cole was a terrorist. A mysterious explosion had destroyed the city center. They blamed his powers for the blast. They associated him with the ensuing onslaught of psychotics known as "reapers." But now that Cole busies himself with zapping the reapers and healing civilians, everyone adores him.
He could have easily used his powers for evil. Every citizen has a small spark of organic electricity, and Cole can suck it out of them as easily as he pulls it from the city's power grid. But instead of a life of infamy, Cole elected the path of fame. Of course he can always change his mind. Customization is one of the joys of being a videogame hero, and in inFamous the path between good and evil conveniently forks during obvious, awkward "Karma Moments."

Posted inCulture

Destiny’s Train Ride: First-time director nails a dark and disturbing drama

…without a paddle.Sin Nombre (which translates to “Without a Name”) is one of those films that will stay with you for days. This brilliantly directed,
Eric Flowers

…without a paddle.Sin Nombre (which translates to "Without a Name") is one of those films that will stay with you for days. This brilliantly directed, acted and photographed visual masterpiece is a chase-thriller/road-movie/coming of age/love story. The film examines the power and influence of Mexican gangs in small towns that offer little beyond the lure of crossing the border. It's a simple tale bound together with complex emotional themes, and produced by two actors who have established themselves in American movies, Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna (Y Tu Mamá También).
The film features two main storylines that intersect during a train ride moving immigrants north. El Casper (Edgar Flores) is disillusioned with gang life and seeks an escape; Sayra (Paulina Gaitan) is going to cross the Mexican border from Honduras with her estranged father. Casper is running from his past with gang members in chase. Sayra is smitten with him, a combination of infatuation, necessity and the white knight syndrome-even if the knight wields a machete. The saga of twelve-year old Smiley (Kristyan Ferrer) is the movie's pivotal and most powerful secondary storyline, chronicling his gang indoctrination and efforts to legitimize himself. Immigration, while a powerful undercurrent, plays a back seat to the depiction of desperate acts to escape intolerable circumstances.

Posted inFood & Drink

Pilsner Pundits

No one is as discerning as the yellow beer drinker. I work with a guy who can jam his nose deep in a Bordeaux glass
Eric Flowers

No one is as discerning as the yellow beer drinker. I work with a guy who can jam his nose deep in a Bordeaux glass and tell you-because of the slight aroma of charcoal- that it is a 2006 pinot blend from Walla Walla. Another guy will tell you that he is a certified beer snob who spends all of his free time reading about lagers, stouts, and ales, brewing different hop and barley concoctions and traveling to breweries on any long weekend. But neither of these guys’ palates can rival the yellow beer drinker.
It is he who knows that Budweiser is absolutely delicious and Coors is unpalatable. It is he who knows that Miller Light is scrumptious and agreeing to the soul while Fosters is so unagreeable that the mere mention of such drink is enough to cause a gag reflex.

Posted inNews

The Wrong Direction: Another city subsidy, bringing back burning, and John Day grazing

Eric Flowers

Bill Me Later

After taking a thumping over the past year, which has been characterized by cutbacks and staff layoffs, the city is ready to put the final stamp on its budget blueprint for the next two years. The council meets Wednesday night, after this issue has gone to press, to approve the final version of the 2009-11 City Budget. And it isn't pretty, especially for ratepayers who are getting socked with hefty increases for water and sewer services next year. Residents will see an additional 8.25 percent tacked onto their water bills and a hefty 14.5 percent increase in their sewer rates. Councilor Jim Clinton said he opposes both increases because the staff has failed to provide any incentive for conservation in the rate structure.
Clinton said he's particularly miffed about the new sewer rates, which are totally unrelated to actual water usage.
"It doesn't matter if you're the most heavy water user dumping millions of gallons down the drain, or you're the most frugal person on a fixed income who flushes your toilet twice a day," Clinton said.

Posted inNews

Sullying Sotomayor: An insider’s perspective on Supreme Court confirmations

courting race on the court.”All of these folks are capable or they wouldn’t have been considered for confirmation,” offers Mathew McCoy as we start our
Eric Flowers

courting race on the court."All of these folks are capable or they wouldn't have been considered for confirmation," offers Mathew McCoy as we start our discussion of Judge Sonia Sotomayor's ongoing confirmation to replace Justice David Souter on the Supreme Court. Sitting in his COCC office, I have obviously come to the right person for an insider's perspective on the process. McCoy witnessed the 27th failed nomination to the Supreme Court in our country's
history, and the most virulent - personal and political – attacks on otherwise qualified and respected judges.

Posted inOpinion

Metolian Resorts’ Impact Is More Than Minimal

bull trout habitat on lake creek.Jon Skidmore in his column titled “Metolian resort can be a good thing,” in the Bend Bulletin (May 31, 2009),
Eric Flowers

bull trout habitat on lake creek.Jon Skidmore in his column titled "Metolian resort can be a good thing," in the Bend Bulletin (May 31, 2009), demonstrates that he does not understand the impact of the Metolian resort's water use.

All of the water the Metolian resort would use presently recharges shallow aquifer supplies the Lake Creek system, particularly the North Fork of the creek. The stream that the Metolian would divert water from is a small, seasonal unnamed stream. This year the full flow of this seasonal stream has entirely percolated into the ground before reaching any other perennial stream. The majority of this water percolates into the ground within the watershed of Lake Creek less than one mile from the North Fork of Lake Creek.
The impact of the Metolian's water diversion between March 1st and June 30th will reduce the discharge of groundwater to Lake Creek–not during the spring when flows are high but much later, in summer and fall when stream flows are low. Adequate water in Lake Creek is critical for fish that spawn in the fall.

Posted inOpinion

OLCC’s Blind Eye

The Oregon Liquor Control Commission has all the outward appearance of hip, contemporary culture. You can subscribe to the agency’s Twitter feed (Here comes an
Eric Flowers

The Oregon Liquor Control Commission has all the outward appearance of hip, contemporary culture. You can subscribe to the agency's Twitter feed (Here comes an arbitrary fine, Tweet!) or its Blogspot blog where you can learn that 77 percent of Portland area businesses didn't sell to minors, or that 82 percent of Central Oregon merchants passed their client check. But don't let the web wrangling fool you, this is an agency firmly planted in the early 20th Century post-Prohibition era. Nowhere is the agency's Victorian era attitude about alcohol consumption and sales, and its even more troubling strong-arm approach to enforcing that idea, more prevalent than in Central Oregon where the agency has been handing out fines and sanctions like Tequila shots in Cabo.

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