We were so pleased to host a Pie-Off this past Monday. Check out this week’s paper for results. And, we are pleased to present some baking tips from Elise Hurley, the very fine baker at the very fine Fearless Baking. Pecan Pie: At Fearless we like to use a mixture of chopped pecans and whole […]
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.
John Candy and John Hughes . . . Sitting in A Tree
Plane, Trains and Automobiles was the beginning to a beautiful relationship between director John Hughes and comedian John Candy. At this point – in 1987 – Hughes had already completed what is arguably the most important canon of teenage movies in cinematic history. Starting with the coming-of-age fantasy 16 Candles in 1984, Hughes wrote and […]
What In The World?
Support survivors in the Philippines: After one of the worst storms this century – a typhoon that has killed nearly 10,000 people – MercyCorps has been deploying resources to the worst hit sites. Start the week out with a contribution to help out. Mercy Corps in headquartered in Portland, and considered one of the most […]
Emily Carr's Poetry is From the Heart, But Not for the Faint of Heart
Emily Carr calls herself an “ecofeminist love poet,” which she details as addressing the “problems of…unposted love letters, cannibal chickens and a ship too late to save the drowning witch.” “The Damsel is (still) in distress,” she explains. Only in her mid-30s, Carr already has published a series of books of poetry—smart, beautiful and image-laden […]
Author Jim Lynch’s Literature is Equally at Home in Rural and Urban Washington
In 2005, former journalist Jim Lynch wrote his first novel, "The Highest Tide." It is a charming book; set in Puget Sound, the story follows a budding teen, Miles O’Malley, who idolizes conservationist Rachel Carson and often takes late-night walks along the beach. Although trouble is brewing—domestic drama at his parents’ house; hints about a […]
What Does A Frisbee Have to Do With Pie?
Frisbees were invented by alumni from my small Vermont college. While there were famous alumni and authors from the school, the addition of frisbee to American culture was a certain point of pride for the school. There was even a statute of a giant Great Dane leaping with a frisbee in his mouth on campus […]
What Bad Has Ever Come From Pie?
Oh sure, perhaps there have been some poisoned pies sent to enemies in the Middle Ages, but really, I would hazarded that 99.9% of the time a pie has been baked, it has brought joy. There are a few days left for our Pie-Off: Submit a recipe to pie@bendsource.com, and we will select three recipes […]
Gremlins: When Monsters Were Fun!
On Wednesday, October 30, the Source presents the 1984 funny and scary GREMLINS! Sponsored by 10 Barrel, the film plays (for free!) at Old Stone, 8 pm. Given the camp, it is easy to gloss over how clever and inventive some of the storyline is. The screenwriter, recently out of NYU film school, Chris Columbus […]
Indulge in Reading
This past week, the Deschutes Public Library Foundation announced its second lineup for the popular Author! Author! series. In its sophomore year, the series is rolling out some of the best and most entertaining writers in the country. Leading the pack is Sherman Alexie, who burst onto the literary scene in 1993 with his collection […]
A Good, but Incomplete Idea
Let’s be clear: We approve an increase in the Transient Room Tax for the City of Bend, as proposed by Measure 9-94 (not to be confused with Measure 9-96 for a similar room tax increase in Deschutes County). In fact, we think that the TRT for the City of Bend should be more ambitious. The […]

