Mike Bookey, Author at The Source - Bend, Oregon

Optical Delusions: I still can't see the trees on the court at Matthew Knight Arena

Dear University of Oregon, some of us don’t like to get seizures when we watch basketball.

Mike BookeyMarch 2, 2011November 19, 2023

Everything is OK. Just fine. Sit still, smile and, when appropriate, cheer when Oregon scores. Then repeat. We're going to get through this, brain. We've weathered far worse storms. Remember when we sat through that Two and a Half Men marathon with my parents? I promise we'll come out just fine, unlike Charlie Sheen. When we make it through this, I promise to treat you to a crossword puzzle every morning and discontinue my habit of drowning you in gin every Fourth of July.
If you've found yourself watching a televised University of Oregon basketball game played at Matthew Knight Arena, the above line of thinking may have raced across the teleprompter of your mind. If not, you're a genius. Congratulations. There's coffee in the lobby, go out there and congratulate yourself.

Music

The Sound of Two: Viva Voce shows just how much sound can come out of a duo

There's nothing really Portland about Anita Robinson's voice, at least the one she uses over the phone.

Mike BookeyMarch 2, 2011January 4, 2023

There's nothing really Portland about Anita Robinson's voice, at least the one she uses over the phone. She speaks in a soothing drawl that's far more country rock than indie rock and reflects her younger days growing up in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. But if you put on a Viva Voce record, there's not much Southern influence to be heard – rather, the band's sound is a blistering combination of psychedelic rock coupled with a wide range of high-powered tones that sometimes wander into a folky realm.
While the Robinson's have found plenty of allies in the Portland music community, including Loch Lomond, with whom they'll share the Tower Theatre stage, along with Damien Jurado, on Monday night, Anita Robinson acknowledges that they're unique in their region of origin. And when they're on tour, they can still identify with the Southern culture.

News

Forests For Sale: As more campgrounds come under private management, what does this mean for campers?

Mike BookeyMarch 2, 2011August 21, 2024

If you've camped in any of our nearby national forests in the past few years, you probably paid for the right to do so. And when you wrote a check for your campsite, you almost certainly didn't make it out to the National Forest Service. You probably made it out to Hoodoo, Chuck Shepard's recreation and resort management company, or one of the other companies contracted to take care of campgrounds in the forests.

Special Issues & Guides

The Jack (or Jill) of all Trades: Jill Hodgson

Mike BookeyFebruary 25, 2011August 15, 2024

Jill Hodgson likes to call herself a “broke philanthropist,” which is not just funny, but probably also an apt description of her role as a jack-of-all-trades do-gooder in Central Oregon.
Her job finds her as the volunteer coordinator at Common Table, downtown Bend's nonprofit restaurant, but her work extends far beyond that role. She's a poet who speaks about social change, she provides a helping hand to the city's homeless youth, helps out with arts education, coordinates neighborhood food growing efforts and, on top of all that, is always looking to help out friends and neighbors who also want to get involved in bettering the community.

Special Issues & Guides

The Rescuer: Geoff Frank

Mike BookeyFebruary 25, 2011May 18, 2025

When he's outside Tumalo Creek Kayak and Canoe, the popular water sports store he owns, Geoff Frank keeps a close ear on what's happening just feet from his back door on the Deschutes River. Frank and his employees are in the business of selling, renting and instructing people in the use of kayaks and canoes, but during the summer months, they've taken on an additional responsibility – listening for signs of distress near the Colorado Avenue bridge where floaters have in the past been known to find themselves in trouble.

Culture

Us: 1, Freaky Snow Storm: 0 How we made a newspaper without, well, much of anything.

A look back at the ridiculous surprise snowstorm on February 15 in Bend.

Mike BookeyFebruary 23, 2011April 15, 2023

“It snowed.”
I opened one eye to see my wife standing in our bedroom, hair half done, toothbrush in hand and about 47 times more excited than is appropriate for 7 a.m. on a Tuesday. I propped myself up in bed, pried open the shutters and gradually both of my eyelids to verify that it had, in fact, snowed. My verification wasn't because my wife is a liar – which she isn't, and especially not about meteorological events – but rather because I'd come to understand that winter ended a good month ago, giving way to temperatures in the mid 50s and the thought of snowfall had been shelved deep in my mind until next November. Also, it couldn't be snowing. There was nothing about snow in the forecast. Not on KTVZ, not on the Weather Channel, not on the NOAA website, not on that goddamn Weatherbug that chirps from the corner of my laptop despite repeated uninstallation attempts.

Outside

Defense is Boring: Why every NBA game should be played like the All-Star Game

One of these teams has to score 200 points at an NBA All-Star Game.

Mike BookeyFebruary 23, 2011December 7, 2023

Kobe Bryant dropped in 37 points. LeBron James had a triple-double. Kevin Durant did what he does best: scored 30-plus points, yet allowed himself to be completely ignored in post-game reports. Carmelo Anthony sat on the bench and tried to pretend like he didn't know he'd be living in New York in a matter of days.
A bunch of other stuff happened at the NBA All-Star game, like a dozen or so missed layups and Rihanna treating and/or subjecting basketball fans to her robotic warbling at half-time, but most importantly, the two teams combined for 291 points with the West all-stars taking down the squad from the Eastern Conference by a tally of 148-143. Here's the really crazy thing about this game; they could have scored a hell of a lot more points if either team would have run up and down the court or shot competently from behind the arc. And if you've read this column before, you know that I love high-scoring sporting events more than I love excessive amounts of kittens.

Music

The Bay Area Chameleon: Lyrics Born's shift toward soulful electro grooves may be his best reincarnation to date

When Lyrics Born comes to WinterFest on Saturday night, the set he and his band kick out will be far from straight-ahead rap music.

Mike BookeyFebruary 16, 2011July 11, 2024

“I get bored so easy. That's really my blessing and my curse,” says Tom Shimura, the man better known as Lyrics Born, the stage name he's been using for about two decades now.
It's his insatiable boredom, Shimura says, that has led him to reinvent himself as a musician not just between albums but on a song-to-song basis. While most know him as one of the leading rappers in the Bay Area hip-hop scene, when he comes to WinterFest on Saturday night, the set he and his band kick out will be far from straight-ahead rap music. That's because on his latest record, As U Were, Lyrics Born has shifted gears – once again – this time molding his sound into an electro-rock funk machine.

Outside

Buy This Stuff! What football fans like to buy, according to the ads I saw during the Super Bowl

Here's what I learned about myself – as a football fan – by the products that were sold to me on Sunday.

Mike BookeyFebruary 9, 2011April 26, 2024

So, yeah. My prediction that the Steelers would win the Super Bowl by way of a vast, mind-boggling conspiracy didn't exactly pan out. Whatever, who cares? I'm onto more important things now – like going out and purchasing all the items the Super Bowl advertisements told me I, as a football fan, should want. People, if you don't support the companies that pay in unicorn blood (the most valuable of all blood) for a 30-second spot during the Super Bowl, there won't be a Super Bowl next year. Seriously.
So, here's what I learned about myself – as a football fan – by the products that were sold to me on Sunday.

Music

Hitting the Road: From church to hip-hop, Joanna Lee heads to Austin for the next step in her career

Joanna Lee, a graduate of Bend High School who has been playing music since cutting her teeth at church performances with her two musically inclined parents.

Mike BookeyFebruary 9, 2011August 31, 2024

When most girls her age were, well, doing whatever it is 11-year-old kids did in the mid 1990s, Joanna Lee was already writing songs. And now, 14 years later, she's recorded one of those tracks, filmed a video for it and the tune has become a calling card of sorts for her unique blend of indie folk and soul music.
That song, “Sunshine,” was one that she penned with her mother, and she wrote it with one intention in mind – to impress a boy, of course.
“I wrote it about a little boy. I was in sixth grade and I had a crush on this eighth grader. I thought if I played the song, I thought he'd fall for me,” says Lee, a graduate of Bend High School who has been playing music since cutting her teeth at church performances with her two musically inclined parents.

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