Mike Bookey, Author at The Source - Bend, Oregon

Give it the Finger: Wasilla native Matt Hopper on his solid new album

Mike BookeyOctober 13, 2010June 3, 2024

Matt Hopper is from Wasilla, Alaska, but don't expect the rock and roll singer-songwriter to spend much time talking about that – or, for that matter, say anything about that city's most famous resident.
“To me, you either make good music or you don’t, it doesn’t have anything to do with where you’re from except maybe some of the lyrical content is derived from your surroundings and environment,” says Hopper, who is now based in Boise and has just released his most complete and fully realized record to date, Jersey Finger.

News

Bend's Maralyn Thoma reflects on a career in daytime soaps

Mike BookeyOctober 13, 2010July 4, 2024

For at least two decades, the cabinet underneath my grandparent's television was packed full of video cassettes and as I dug in search of Star Wars, I had to pass through stacks of tapes labeled “All My Children” or “General Hospital.” My grandmother, like so many other women of her generation and the two or three after her, was – and still is – a devoted viewer of soap operas to the degree that the episodes were catalogued for posterity. Until, that is, they were taped over at the beginning of the following week.

Culture

A Weekend at the Movies: BendFilm returns for a seventh year with a wide-reaching slate of films

Mike BookeyOctober 6, 2010January 4, 2023

It might be hard for some longtime Bendites to believe, but BendFilm is now in it's seventh year and has long since shed its “new festival” tag, solidifying a reputation among filmmakers and cinema fans for high-caliber shorts, features, animation and documentaries. Once again, the festival will spread throughout town, as well as all the way to Sisters, showing films at the Regal Old Mill, the Tower Theatre, McMenamins Old St. Francis School and, new this year, the Oxford Hotel.

Outside

Good Point, Ken Burns: The Tenth Inning insists that baseball is still great, except for that goddamned Barry Bonds

Mike BookeyOctober 6, 2010July 10, 2024

We're not supposed to talk about Barry Bonds or Mark McGwire or Sammy Sosa – unless remarking about the sudden and inexplicable change in Sosa's skin color – because these are the guys we collectively decided, with the help of Congress, ruined baseball. Yet I doubt anyone could watch Baseball: The Tenth Inning, the continuation of bowl-cut filmmaking wizard Ken Burns' PBS documentary following the history of America's alleged pasttime, and not remember the absolute wonder that surrounded the 1998 homerun race.

Music

Politics from Venus: Valient Thorr's beardy, sweaty, politically charged rock and roll spaceship takes flight

At a table in a coffeehouse somewhere in Madison, Wisc., sits a heavily bearded man who goes by the name Valient Himself. He’s deeply engrossed in a fantasy novel by an author, George R.R.

Mike BookeyOctober 6, 2010July 13, 2025

At a table in a coffeehouse somewhere in Madison, Wisc., sits a heavily bearded man who goes by the name Valient Himself. He's deeply engrossed in a fantasy novel by an author, George R.R. Martin, who he believes “blows Tolkien out of the water.” At some point during the half-hour telephone conversation, Valient Himself will talk about the fact that he and the rest of his band mates in Valient Thorr are not Earthlings, but rather hail from Venus. They're just forever marooned on our planet, he tells me.

Music

The Dawg Prevails: David Grisman Brings His 'Grass to Bend

Mike BookeyOctober 6, 2010December 8, 2023

Bend has, for the past decade and maybe even longer, had a collective fascination with bluegrass, leading to the emergence of several local twangy acts and a steady string of acoustic bands stopping off in town. But here's the thing – if it weren't for a guy named David Grisman, there's a good chance that the modern bluegrass movement (sometimes annoyingly referred to as “newgrass”) would have never taken hold with the younger generations of music fans.

Outside

Missing Out: Why Dikembe Mutombo may have helped Boise State win last Saturday

I carry within me a deep, nagging and mostly illogical need to watch pivotal sporting events.

Mike BookeySeptember 29, 2010October 16, 2024

I carry within me a deep, nagging and mostly illogical need to watch pivotal sporting events. If I miss a big bowl game or an NCAA tournament upset because one of my wife's college friends is getting married (this happens about every four months) or I get stuck at work or the cable goes out, I find myself feeling absent from the cultural fabric of the present tense. It's as if the sporting world has left me on the side of the road and continued on without me. Sure, I can catch the next bus and watch the 1:00 a.m. replay, but that's not the same. It's almost cheating.

Music

A Cut Above: The Devil Makes Three's Pete Bernhard keeps the band's throwback Americana rolling with only three fingers

Pete Bernhard’s left index finger still hurts and that’s a problem for a guy who makes his living playing lazer-quick guitar riffs.

Mike BookeySeptember 29, 2010May 27, 2023

Pete Bernhard's left index finger still hurts and that's a problem for a guy who makes his living playing lazer-quick guitar riffs. It's starting to heal, but it's been less than a month since The Devil Makes Three front man sliced the end of his finger while sharpening a knife.

News

Viewed from Afar: Benjamin Percy no longer lives here, but that's not stopping him from writing about Oregon

Benjamin Percy speaks in a voice so low that it obscures some of the words coming through the telephone receiver and even though he’s in Iowa and I’ve never met him, it’s somewhat terrifying.

Mike BookeySeptember 29, 2010July 8, 2025

Benjamin Percy speaks in a voice so low that it obscures some of the words coming through the telephone receiver and even though he's in Iowa and I've never met him, it's somewhat terrifying. It's the sort of grumble that could be used for one of those plastic Frankenstein monster door decorations that mumbles ghoulish phrases at trick or treaters. Percy sounds about eight feet tall and more like a professional wrestler – almost as baritone as Andre the Giant but twice as intelligible – than one of the nation's most promising young authors and one of Central Oregon's most famous native sons.

Music

The Bend Roots Revival Survival Guide

Now in its fifth year, the Bend Roots Revival, the most significant celebration of local and regional music in our area, has gotten even bigger.

Mike BookeySeptember 23, 2010April 2, 2024

The Revival Survival Guide
Now in its fifth year, the Bend Roots Revival, the most significant celebration of local and regional music in our area, has gotten even bigger. Previously spread between the Parrilla Grill and the Victorian Café, Bend Roots quickly outgrew that location. With some 100 acts and workshops going down between Friday and Sunday, Bend Roots has now moved to the Century Center (see next page).
Mark Ransom, the local musician who serves as the festival's creative director, says that Bend Roots had outgrown its old spot, but is excited as ever for this year's expanded version of the increasingly community-oriented event. Not only is its venue considerably larger, but Bend Root s continues to stretch the definition of “roots” music, bringing in an even more eclectic lineup with rock bands like The Autonomics (6pm, Saturday, BIGS Stage) and The Dirty Words (6pm, Saturday), but keeping popular local acoustic acts like Moon Mountain Ramblers (8pm, Friday, BIGS stage) and Blackstrap (5:30pm, Sunday, Dave's Garage) high up on the lineup.

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