Posted inCulture

Lessons in African Culture: The Impenetrable Forest: My Gorilla Years in Uganda

Author and narrator Thor Hanson details his Peace Corps experience from beginning to end in his new book, The Impenetrable Forest: My Gorilla Years in

Author and narrator Thor Hanson details his Peace Corps experience from beginning to end in his new book, The Impenetrable Forest: My Gorilla Years in Uganda. The story begins with a host family's home in Kajansi - a small town in Uganda where Hanson trained for his impending Peace Corps duties.

Posted inCulture

Our Picks for the Week of 12/10-12/18

Slick Side Down CD Release Party
thursday 11
Bend's smooth
jazz/funk/R&B band is releasing their debut CD Eat At Joe's and
they want you to celebrate with them. The self-proclaimed "Loudest Band
in Bend" (we may have heard a few louder ones, but whatever) will have
you dancing in no time to the quartet's funky distinctive jazz fusion
sounds. No cover. 6:30pm. The Blacksmith Restaurant, 211 NW Greenwood
Ave, 318-0588.
The Summit Saloon & Stage
First Anniversary Party
thursday 11
Believe
it or not, the Summit has been open for an entire calendar year and the
popular nightspot is celebrating with what's sure to be a ripping set
from Moon Mountain Ramblers and then dancing late into the night with
DJ Moksha. The Summit has been through a bevy of entertainment changes
over the course of the year, going from a live music venue to a dance
hall and back again, but things are looking up over there on Oregon
Avenue. No cover. Summit Saloon and Stage, 125 NW Oregon Ave.

Posted inCulture

Theater-apalooza – Holiday Edition: Bend community theater, from Dickens to “Gunsmoke”

The Around the Bend players bring you some old timey Christmas shows.While the weather outside has yet to be frightful (although 62 degrees
in December is kind of scary), inside Bend's local theaters the holiday
season is underway and definitely delightful. Area theaters and
production companies have pulled out all the stops to ensure that
Bendites have the most Holly Jolly Christmas play lineup yet. While
Bend Theatre for Young People, Innovations Theater Works and one of the
Tower Theatre productions have already wrapped (see sidebar), there's
still plenty more to see. So even if it's 75 degrees outside next week
and Bachelor reopens its Frisbee golf course, you can still get into
the festive seasonal spirit thanks to Bend's diligent theater stewards. 

Posted inCulture

In Defense of the Poetry Slam: Understanding Bend’s fascination with iambic pentameter

Noted literary critic Harold Bloom calls spoken word poetry, "the death
of art" but I prefer comparing the monthly Bend Poetry Slam with an
Andy Warhol quote: "Art is what you can get away with."

The academic
community has criticized poetry slams since their inception in the
mid-80s because they challenge what is literary merit, though the same
devices of repetition, alliteration and rhyme, beloved by classic
poets, are shunned by critics when used in a slam setting.
Poetry
began as a way for ancient societies to record history. Over time,
iambic pentameter became the most common meter in the English language.
Think Shakespeare's sonnets. Think of this line, "to swell the ground
and plump the hazel shells" by Keats. Then how about, "complacency is
not the common place to cultivate the seeds of resurrection" mirroring
this poetic construction, from a poem by Jason Graham, who performs and
regularly places in the top three at the slam as Mosley Wotta?

Posted inCulture

Our Picks for the Week of 12/3-12/11

Leif James & The Struggle
wednesday 3
We profile the new
reinvention of Leif James in the Sound section. Read that, then
immediately head to the Moon to see him and the Struggle rip it up with
an all-out acoustic rock show. 8pm. Silver Moon Brewing Co. 24 NW
Greenwood Ave.
DJ Barisone
thursday 4
Yeah, we've
spilled a lot of ink about DJ Barisone over the last year, but our
prolificacy of writing on this man is worth it - he throws some of the
best (if not the best) parties in town whenever he's behind the wheels.
So, spend your Thursday with Barisone for some worldly jams and healthy
amounts of funkalicious party music. 10pm. Bendistillery Martini Bar,
850 NW Brooks St.

Posted inCulture

Our Picks for the Week of 11/26-12/4

Thanksgiving Eve!

wednesday 26

This isn't a specific event, per say, but rather recognition of a widely celebrated yet hardly mentioned holiday called Thanksgiving Eve. Every year on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, revelers from in and out of town flood the bars with the knowledge that they have the following day off (even if it means some semi-stressful family get-togethers).

Posted inCulture

Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli: Over the River and Through the Woods at 2nd Street Theater

I’ve fallen and I can’t find my grandparents. Oh wait, there they are.In Italian, the expression "Tengo Famiglia" means more than just its
literal translation of "I hold family." The expression, as writer Joe
DiPietro (author of I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change) shows
throughout the production, is more about putting your family first.
Even though DiPietro's play focuses on an Italian-American family
living in Hoboken, New Jersey, the overall theme of the play transcends
cultural boundaries and appeals to the audience. The cast and crew at
2nd Street Theater give this heartwarming comedy about family, food and
faith legs and the story itself does the rest.

Posted inCulture

Our Picks for the Week of 11/19-11/27

The Sofa Kings
friday 21
You've likely seen MC Mystic behind
the turntables as well as the microphone, but most don't know the dude
can also play the drums like nobody's business. He'll show off his
beatkeeping prowess with this new band, the Sofa Kings, the
female-fronted outfit that's debuting at the newly reopened Pyro Lounge
at the Old Mill Martini Bar. That's a pretty clever name for a venue
that was closed due to a fire not too long ago. 9pm. Pyro Lounge at The
Old Mill Martini Bar, 360 SW Powerhouse Dr.
Will Durst
friday 21
If
you didn't laugh enough during the past election, check out Durst's
bipartisan take on political hilarity. Check out the Culture section
for more info. 21 and over. 8pm. $25/advance, $28/door. Tower Theatre,
835 NW Wall St., 317-0700.
 

Posted inCulture

Stars, Stripes and Laughs: Political comic Will Durst on how to make fun of Obama

Will Durst takes a seat on his newspapers for the week.The exhausting election of 2008 has ended and political comedian Will
Durst is in Hawaii. It's not that Durst, one of the nation's premier
political satirists and a self-described "raging moderate" found his
brain overloaded by broken record of stump speeches and hotheaded
pundits, forcing him a few thousand miles into the Pacific to seek
refuge, but rather he was in the islands to celebrate his 27th wedding
anniversary. But still, the break has given him a chance to reflect on
a campaign that was hardly light on the comedy.

Posted inCulture

Our Picks for the week of 11/12-11/19

Drift
thursday 13
Summer-run steelhead are spread throughout
the lower river and most local rivers and lakes are still producing
good trout, but it's time to put the fly rod down - at least for a few
hours as the latest fish porn feature rolls into town in the form of
Drift, an hour-long fly fishing documentary that includes footage from
right here in Central Oregon. The segment, which highlights the
increasingly popular sub-sport of spey fishing, was filmed last year on
the Deschutes River with legendary guides and spey gurus John and Amy
Hazel. The film was produced in conjunction with The Drake, a
Colorado-based fly fishing magazine, and the local showing benefits the
Upper Deschutes Wastershed Council and Oregon Trout. Doors 5:30, Film
6pm. $10 McMenamins Old St. Francis School, 700 NW Bond St.. Advanced
tickets at ortrout.org.
Music For The Fallen
friday 14
Veteran's
Day just passed and the local music scene is paying tribute to the
families of Central Oregon's fallen soldiers with this crossover show
featuring music ranging from metal to hip-hop. The lineup includes:
Relative, No Cash Value, Snap Point, Pov City, Trevor G and The
Collektive Cartel. 8pm. $10, $1 off with non-perishable food donation.
Domino Room, 51 NW Greenwood Ave.

Sign up for newsletters

Get the best of The Source - Bend, Oregon directly in your email inbox.

Sending to:

Gift this article