Going back 250 yearsย ago,ย our forefathers declared that all men are created equal by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.ย This phrase embodied, in theory, the concepts of freedom and libertyย as they existedย in 18thย century America but how those conceptsย evolved in our Constitution and our lawsย is the […]
Culture
Free Will Astrology, Week of Jan 29
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): In ecology, there’s a concept called “keystone species.โ This refers to organisms that have a huge effect on their environment relative to their abundance. Remove them, and the whole ecosystem shifts. I bring this up, Aquarius, because I believe you are currently functioning as a keystone species in your social ecosystem. […]
Snubs, Marketing Budgets and Future Classics
Hereโs how I know my brain is a giant old warehouse full of contradictions, out-of-print VHS tapes and Drew Struzan movie posters: I hold space for the two competing thoughts that the Oscars are an out-of-touch racket that only celebrates films with marketing budgets in the tens of millions, while also obsessively theorizing for weeks […]
Savage in Bend: The Oldest Business
Because I often get questions about the “oldest” things in Central Oregon, I thought Iโd tackle one to kick off the Savage in Bend column for this year. Catherine H. asks, โWhat is the oldest business in Bend?โ There are several factors to consider, but if we mean the currently operating longest business under the […]
Memento Mori
When weโre cynical about Hollywood and the movies they make, I think โ28 Years Later: The Bone Templeโ is exactly the kind of movie that we pre-judge before laying eyes on it. I mean, itโs the fourth movie in the โ28 Days Laterโ franchise, but also the second in a trilogy that began last June […]
The Psychedelic Frontier, Jan. 22
Q: I keep reading about psychedelics in terms of brain chemistry, serotonin receptors, neuroplasticity, default mode networks. While I appreciate the science, something feels missing when I try to understand my own experiences purely through this lens. During my journeys, I feel like I’m traveling somewhere real, encountering genuine intelligence, receiving teachings that seem to […]
Free Will Astrology, Week of Jan. 22
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): You are a spy from the future. Thank you for your service! I love to see your boldness as you smuggle innovative ideas into a present that may or may not be ready for them. Your feelings of alienation are sometimes uncomfortable, but they are crucial to the treasure you offer […]
Posthaste
What could be more fun than a book you canโt put down. Thanks to a friendโs recommendation, right now for me that book is “The Correspondent” by Virgina Evans. So not to spoil it, I will only say it is an epistolary novel. The plot thickens through the exchange of letters between the characters. The […]
COCCโs Black History Month to Celebrate ‘Black Triumph’ and Black Women
In celebration of Black History Month, Central Oregon Community College will host several community offerings in February that highlight โBlack triumphโ and celebrate Black women and youth. Events include an empowerment retreat; two dinners with speakers and/or performers; a viewing of โToni Morrison: The Pieces I Am,โ and a community forum. All events are free, […]
The Good, Bad and Average of 2026
The first few weeks of January for theatrical film releases are dichotomous, to say the least. We get a combination of the movies that studios have lost all faith in and want to dump quickly and cheaply released with Oscar nominees and some future winners. Itโs the best and worst of what was created the […]

