Culture Features

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River Boarding

Several groups of river boarders reside in the area, each having a slightly different system. Some have bigger or different shaped boards, some use braided bungee for their stretch and some use a garage door spring to launch themselves upstream or into the air. The better riders will ride it backwards, without a handle or completely submerge themselves under the water and erupt out like some strange porpoise.
A River board is basically a large skimboard with a rope and handle that pass through the nose allowing the rider to lean back into the current and shoot upstream. The origins of the activity are unclear, but whisperings have been heard of Oregon coastal river denizens as late as 50 years ago using a deflated truck tire for stretch and homemade boards.
One of the great advantages of river boarding is the proximity of a great location within a few miles of downtown. The First Street rapids draw groups on any hot day taking turns bobbing back and forth with the current like a giant fishing lure. Since no company constructs the equipment needed for this sport, the best way to get involved would be to go to the rapids and check the action out, make some new friends and get in the water.

Helmet? Check. Water Bottle? Check. Worldly possessions? Check. I have to admit I was ecstatic when I received several e-mails packed with far too many exclamation points announcing that a house would be moved from Southwest Bend to Northwest Bend by bicyclists this past Saturday afternoon. Wow, someone's crib put on wheels pulled through Bend streets by pedal power? How amazing would that be?

And sure enough a gaggle of cyclists hove into sight about 3 p.m. headed down toward the Old Mill District from the Reed Market roundabout. But what's this? No house? Wasn't this supposed to be a house move?
Leading the cycling contingent was Cascade Couriers' Daniel Brewster, who from time to time can be seen dropping copies of the Source throughout downtown Bend, pulling along a nice double bed followed by cyclists hauling packing boxes, potted plants, artwork, sports gear, rugs, a futon, and dirty laundry. In short, pretty much everything Brewster and his wife own. As I watched the parade of goods go by, it hit me that through the mysteries of the English language, that "house" being moved should have perhaps been more accurately described as a "household" being moved.

Where's the mustard-colored shirt and wrist calculator?We caught up with Rainn Wilson, as in "the guy who plays Dwight Schrute on The Office," last week to talk about the part-time Central Oregonian's upcoming philosophical lecture at the Old Stone Church on Thursday. Here's what he had to say about his hit TV show, his cerebral website and his new projects, especially his script centered on a "down-and-out ninja."

tSW: The title of your talk here in Bend is "Art and Faith," can you tell me more about what you'll be talking about?
Rainn Wilson: It's essentially just talking about some of the ideas behind the website that I helped create called Soul Pancake (www.soulpancake.com). It has to do with stuff that really intrigues me and turns me on. When I was in high school I took a great books course. We spent a couple of years just debating the great books, the philosophers, books of the Bible, religious thinkers, fiction writers and the ideas that underpinned their work and came to realize that there are only a handful of life's big questions. There's no place on the Internet that deals with life's big questions. As I became more famous and well-known, I wanted to just make a place to be able to dig into life's big questions and specifically for me, the links between creativity and spirituality, which for most cultures in the world are quite obvious…our culture kind of compartmentalizes these things.