A roundup of the weekend’s news: The Grammy Awards go political: Yes, awards went to the Pacific Northwest’s own Macklemore, who sprung from obscurity to shift the center of hip hop, but it is probably the massive translation of his song “Same Love” which will be remembered: During the award ceremony, 33 same-sex couples were […]
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 inNews
East Side Rising
Two Juicy Scoops of Economic Growth
It is as cliché as a John Hughes film that every town has its two sides—the right and wrong side of the tracks, the greasers and the socios, the post code envy. But with more advanced city planning and increasing city densities, it is just as likely in the 21st century that gentrification… …and economic […]
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Welcome Back Fellini
The Great Beauty brings back traditional Italian cinema
The Great Beauty takes a while to take on a structure—and, with true Fellini dreaminess, rarely holds onto a cohesive storyline. The film opens with a seemingly unrelated scene—a lyrical and sun-dappled scene as Japanese tourists explore one of Rome’s hillside chapels, before one man drops dead from a heart attack—and then jumps to a […]
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What in the World?
A roundup of Monday morning’s news . . . Football: Of course, football is on the mind, with the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks winning their games on Sunday and advancing to the biggest TV commercial in world history. The Seahawks were impressive with their Russell Wilson driven offense, but did themselves no favors by […]
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Darn the Oscars!
Although I still believe that “Crash Reel” deserve the Oscar for Best Documentary of the year, the Academy apparently disagrees – and didn’t move them from the short list to the final list of five. (Really? “20 Feet From Stardom”? Sure, a nice story with an obviously catchy soundtrack, but not the deeper themes about […]
Posted inCulture
Give This Movie an Oscar
Crash Reel is the best sport documentary in a decade!
Crash Reel is not a film that will be shown by NBC during the 2014 Sochi Olympics. The remarkable documentary plainly, candidly and beautifully tells the story about Kevin Pearce, a top snowboarder and probably Shaun White’s biggest (and only?) rival—that is, until his accident. The story is fairly well-known, but even if you don’t […]
Posted inCulture
The House I Live In
A documentary on public policies intersecting with personal lives
For the past decade, New York-based director Eugene Jarecki has been making engaging and smart documentaries about some of the most thorny political and social issues in America. With MTV quickness and PBS intelligence, the films tell epic stories about where public polices intersect with personal lives. His most recent, produced by a dynamic duo […]
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Scandal! Sex! Police!
I do love me a man in a uniform, but Mr. Lt. Chris Carney should know better. Bend’s former public information officer resigned after Internal Affair documents revealed that the somewhat awkwardly named “Carney” (carnal? carnie?) had sex with three different City of Bend employees and a “member of the press” while on-duty. The report […]
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What in the World?
A roundup of the weekends highlights: Do you really think Gov. Christie Traffic-Gate will affect his presidential chances? Jon Stewart disagrees, in what is perhaps the most apt coverage about how New Jersey Gov. Christie will be affected by revelations that his staff retaliated against a mayor who wouldn’t endorse him. Summary: This whole thing […]
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We Choose You
A Pokemon™ guide to upcoming elections
With the battle cry, “I choose you,” Pokemon characters awaken their strengths and super-abilities, and head into battle. What better proclamation to make when considering our elected officials—and asking them to play out their strengths. In the coming months, leadership in Central Oregon will undergo some significant changes; nothing major, but potential changes in Deschutes […]
