The name Rainbow Girls is misleading. With a name like that, and an origin story that has a group of women retreating to Joshua Tree to form their band, it is easy to assume this troupe is an easy-going, mandolin-plucking, sundress-twirling, hippie-dippie folk lovefest. Their list of appearances dotting northern California seems to underscore those […]
Phil Busse
Phil Busse has done his tour of duty with alt-weeklies, starting in 1992 right after graduation from Middlebury College as the first environmental beat reporter for San Francisco Weekly. After a brief detour through the University of Oregon School of Law, Phil returned to writing as the first Managing Editor for Portland Mercury. In 2006, he started the Media Institute for Social Change in Portland, through which he continues to host a summer program teaching college students to produce documentaries.
Until he was 25 or so, Phil thought that he would be a spy, and took scuba lessons to prepare, and learned to drive a motorcycle and an 18-wheeler. Perhaps, then, it is unsurprising that his favorite holiday is the Fourth of July (he loves blowing stuff up). He feels at home with Joseph Conrad's fictional characters.
Posted inCulture
Give This Film An Oscar
Cartel Land is an unflinching documentary
Within the first two minutes of Cartel Land, the quality and moral depth of the film is evident. It is a nighttime scene as several men, presumably Mexican, unload ingredients from a truck and begin to cook meth in smoking drum barrels. At first, there is nothing terribly novel about the scene; a man, masked […]
Posted inBest Of Central Oregon
Best Novelty Gift Store
Wabi Sabi
Wabi Sabi is a feverish dream, a kaleidoscope of Japanese-inspired toys and seriously silly games, like the popular kendama, a ball-and-cup game that seems deceptively simple, that is, until it is attempted. The store, in general, serves as a portal to an entire culture and history. Wabi Sabi sprung six years ago from the brain […]
Posted inMusic
In Spite Of, or Because Of
Ziggy Marley makes his own name—and own music
It’s hard to explain Ziggy Marley without talking about his dad, the prototypical reggae singer whose name is so recognizable that the (excellent) documentary about his life three years ago needed only his last name as a title. Bob Marley’s image is so iconic, with dreadlocks slicing through the air, it can easily be caught […]
Posted inCulture
Art Watch 8/5-8/12
For the past five years, local photographer Gary Calicott has been capturing the candid and expressive emotions at local music shows. He has collected hundreds of images of favorite bands like Larry & His Flask and, on Friday, many of those photos will be displayed at The Tower Theatre—and (silently) auctioned off; all, appropriately, to […]
Posted inCulture
Burning Books
Forest fire adventures sizzle in Smokejumpers
In Julian Smith’s first book, Crossing The Heart of Africa, published in 2009, he (literally) followed the footsteps of Ewart Grogan, a distinguished Englishman and late 19th century adventurer who bushwacked 4,500 miles from Sudan to South Africa. And, in his most recent book, Smokejumper, released in mid-July, Smith shadows another, more contemporary adventurer, Jason […]
Posted inOutside
Run, Slap, Run
Cascade Lakes Relay: The most funnest run in Oregon
Seven years ago, Carrie and Scott Douglass ran the Golden Gate Relay together, one of the burgeoning number of approximately 200-mile running races that split up the chore among a dozen or so runners. Since then, they also have run the Bourbon Chase and Reno-Tahoe Odyssey Relay, and these events have become not just a […]
Posted inOutside
What’s Making the Bend Elks So Hot?
With the best record in the league, hometown team wraps up its regular season
As the season moves into its final stretch, with only two weeks remaining before the playoffs, the Bend Elks have already clinched the division title, with nine fewer losses than the second place team, division rivals Corvallis Knights. In fact, the team is so strong this year that they have nearly as many wins as […]
Posted inMusic
A Love Note to Thomas Lauderdale
Pink Martini’s bandleader is indefatigable
Thomas Lauderdale is busy. He texts me from the road. Then he texts from Columbus, Ohio. “Just finishing a month-long tour,” he lets me know. I call him back, but his voicemail is full. I text and let him know that I’ll call him the next day, just after lunch so that we can talk […]
Posted inFood & Drink
As In Vegan Heaven . . .
So at Earth Below’s plant-based food cart
Sierrah Umhauer is all smiles when she steps out of her food cart. Wood paneled and with a small stained glass window embedded in the door, the small cart looks like something from the Enchanted Forest. Youthful, Umhauer begins talking immediately, introducing her dog that stands a few feet away, out of the sun in […]
