On Monday evening, the three candidates for the Director position for the Bend Park and Recreation District (BPRD) gathered at the Deschutes County Building, and on May 6, a second debate will be hosted at Deschutes Brewery Public House. No wonder all the interest: Serving on the Board of Directors for BPRD is a critical […]
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 inMusic
Three is The Magic Number
Redmond hip-hop trio defies expectations
We are sitting outside at Crow’s Feet Commons, and I’m talking with Tyler Martin and Lion Lovechild, two members from NRG Tribe, an up-and-coming hip-hop trio from Redmond. They are telling me about auras, and about how the third member of their group was drawn to them because of one of their indigo auras. No, […]
Posted inFood & Drink
By Any Other Name
From Kombucha Mama to Humm,
a beverage company booms
A year ago, a local beverage manufacturer was going by the name of Kombucha Mama, and boasting a label with a lotus flower. It was a name and image that reflected the simple beginning for the company. ”It was about two moms taking care of the world,” said Jamie Danek, one of the two original […]
Posted inMusic
A Second Baby
Wilderness is incubating its second album
Some bands try too hard to create synergy, to harmonize their vocals and find a groove. Not Wilderness. Like the name suggests, the band’s sound is a bit chaotic. Jared Nelson Smith’s guitar occasionally races off toward Lynyrd Skynyrd Americana, while drummer Bradley David Parsons holds down a slamming beat, creating a musical diversity that […]
Posted inCulture
Film Events 4/22-4/29
OR7 – The Journey Oregon Wild premieres the documentary OR7 – The Journey. Named as if a New York hip hop artist, OR7 is the famed male wandering gray wolf that formed the first wolf pack west of the Cascade Range in 70 years. A truly heartwarming story about rebounding wolf population, and a story […]
Posted inSpecial Issues & Guides
What’s Trending?
Mostly, our Advisory Board was positive about what they are seeing—and eating—in local restaurants. But, the panel members did have a few bones to pick. “One of the negative trends we are seeing is pricing,” said Alan Dietrich. “We are seeing prices that are exceeding what the town would really like to pay for going […]
Posted inSpecial Issues & Guides
Restaurant of the Year 2015
Trattoria Sbandati
Juri Sbandati did not dream about growing up to be a chef, and he really had no dreams of moving to America. He grew up in Italy, and it is that distinctly Italian childhood—and, moreover, his self-admitted stubbornness to concede to America influences—that makes Sbandati such a pure ambassador for the country’s food and lifestyle. […]
Posted inSpecial Issues & Guides
Rookie(s) of the Year 2015
Stihl Whiskey Bar and Next Level Burger
STIHL WHISKEY BAR Call us indecisive. Or, as we prefer, say we found a yin to the yang for this year’s Rookie of the Year choice. We simply could not choose between two strong entries—each is so different and stands out for different reasons—that we are selecting both the vegan “burger” joint, Next Level Burger, […]
Posted inNews
editor’s Note: In this week’s issue
It is almost like an unofficial film festival this week, with nearly every evening over the next seven days hosting some remarkable, one-of-a-kind film event—and not just a great film, but live “performances” to provide something that you simply can’t get from renting the movie at home. On Thursday, in anticipation of TEDxBend this weekend, […]
Posted inMusic
A Little Bit Country, A Little Bit Rock-n-Roll
Leon Russell has been there, done that
Leon Russell is a Hall of Fame inductee, Grammy Award nominee for Song of the Year in 1977, and a musician who has played with musicians as diverse as Herb Alpert and Frank Sinatra, and counts among his friends Willie Nelson, Elton John, and George Harrison. Reading Leon Russell’s musical biography is a matrix of […]