Culture Features

Get down and give me a downward dog. If anyone had told me 10 or 20 years ago that I'd be doing yoga at this
point in my life, I would've told them to f**k off. After a lifetime of
self-inflicted physical and mental abuse with my old friends, drugs and
alcohol, I had always subscribed to the belief that I needed a quick
fix, no therapy, and definitely not any form of exercise whatsoever.

But
then after being clean and sober for almost 10 years, I decided to give
it a try. The fact that my girlfriend is a yoga instructor at Namaspa
in the Tulen Center didn't hurt either. I finally gave into the dreaded
pretzel twisting regime to stop hearing her ask (every five minutes),
"When are you going to try my class?" Seriously, what did I have to
lose except maybe a few bad thoughts and a coupla unwanted and
unsightly pounds? I began by participating in an introductory workshop.
When I strutted in wearing my yoga shorts, carrying my new mat and
sporting my sweatband/headdress/bandana, I was approached by my
classmates as somewhat of a swami. The first question, "how long have
you been practicing?" and my response, "umm about two days" put an end
to any looks of admiration.

Oh so tacky.Great aunts, grandmothers and the overzealous knitters in your family
sometimes have the misguided idea that everyone should own a holiday
sweater. While some are more "tasteful" in their selection process,
others feel that nothing says "Happy Holidays" better than a blazing
red knit creation complete with three dimensional snowmen, glitter,
sewn-on ribbons and bells and, if you're lucky, some battery-operated
lights. While this attempt to spread holiday cheer is typically
well-meant, this nightmare apparel is about as subtle as Santa Claus
beating you over the head with a sack of broken Christmas lights
screaming "Merry Christmas" and about as desirable as an STD - until
now that is. Holiday sweaters have a new purpose in life and are a
reason for celebration with the increased popularity of ugly Christmas
sweater parties. So get excited when you unwrap the latest holiday
sweater from Aunt Gertie - you no longer have to fake acting thankful
and now have a perfectly acceptable way to show it off and even win
prizes.

Where the magic happens.You may be surprised when you walk into Hot Box Betty expecting pretty
things and are confronted by Jaws and Dead Birds. Not that the
paintings by Alex Reisfar aren't beautiful - they are.

Reisfar's work has a Latin American influence; the figures are rendered
like those of Diego Rivera or Antonio Ruiz. In Maria and Child, the
breastfeeding mother's hair transforms into artery and umbilical cord
ala Frida Kahlo, while her masked face draws from the indigenous
revolution. "In parts of the Zapatista movement, they have these
pamphlets, and the imagery in them, especially the female Zapatistas,
is very powerful," Reisfar says. While initially surrealist, Reisfar's
paintings are not about dream worlds, but full of intentionally applied
symbols. The drama in the work is not happenstance from the
subconscious, but grounded, as he says, in "anarchist history and
theory." One piece is blatantly anti-war; a soldier with a leering
skull greets a smiling baby and a female figure that cannot face him or
the viewer. In El Cazadore, a great white shark signifies a menacing
force ("great white: GW," Reisfar points out) while a Zapatista child
stands in defiance. In Gaurdian, a Native American child begins to
unravel. Reisfar is confronting big subject matter: death, organized
religion, war, propaganda and white guilt.

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.