Walking down the main strip in Sisters, an extremely rare car sits noticeably parked in front of a little spot known as the Fantastic Museum. A Doval Shadow, rumor has it that only 20 of the vehicles were ever made. But as rare as that car may be, itโs nothing compared to the man who […]
Culture
Free Will Astrology Week of Oct. 30
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): In the late 18th century, Balloonomania came to Paris. Large crowds gathered to watch inventors and impresarios send hot air balloons into the sky. Spectators were astonished, fearful, and filled with wonder. Some wept, and some fainted. I suspect youโre due for your own exhilarating lift-off, Scorpio โ a surge of […]
Rich Man/Rich Man
I think Aziz Ansari meant well when he sat down to write โGood Fortuneโ and really thought he was trying to unpack the unfairness of the gig worker system in America, and how easy it is to make one or two small mistakes and end up homeless and destitute. While โGood Fortuneโ has some solid […]
Savage in Bend (or Redmond)
Readers get a two for one, because this week is the Redmond issue AND Halloween! So why not answer a question about a haunting? Lynn J. asks, โIs the SCP Redmond Hotel really haunted?โ This tale begins way back in 1906, when William and Fannie Wilson built the original Redmond Hotel, a wooden two-story structure […]
Building Confidence, Character and Grace
A Disney classic, โThe Little Mermaid,โ will be center stage in Redmond this November.ย Ovation Performing Arts is putting on the production. The non-profit primarily serves homeschooled families and describes itself as a Christian-based organization. Jonathan Shepherd and his wife have run OPA for the past decade, developing young actors from around Central Oregon. For […]
Finding Balance in Sacred Relationship
Q: Is it possible to develop too much of a relationship with psychedelics? How do I know if I’m using them as spiritual bypassing? A: This question touches something I feel deeply, both as someone who has walked this path for years and as a witness to countless others navigating these journeys. Your awareness in asking […]
Free Will Astrology for Week of Oct. 23
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Many cultures regard obsidian as having protective powers against negative energy. This makes it popular for healing talismans. Obsidian mirrors have often been used to scry for visions and prophecies. Because obsidian is so sharp, ancient peoples incorporated it into tools used to hunt for food, like knives and arrowheads. In […]
Itโs a Block(buster) Party
I think Bendites and Central Oregonians take for granted that they live alongside the Last Blockbuster on Planet Earth. While there are still several incredible and iconic video stores across the West Coast (the dreamy โMovie Madnessโ in PDX and the deeply quirky and cavernous โScarecrow Videoโ in Seattle are two of my favorites), our Blockbuster is a genuine Mom and […]
Score One For Ross and Reznor
The โTronโ franchise is an interesting one. The original from 1982 is groundbreaking in terms of filmmaking and special effects, but it didnโt perform well critically or financially. At the time, Disney had to write off most of the budget, and the film was seen as a failure (except by Roger Ebert!). Over the next […]
Where There Is Fire, Manifest Lake
At a recent event, I chatted with a consultant whose area of focus and expertise intrigued me. Long a practitioner of martial arts, he now travels the country to instruct organizations, from corporations to churches, to employ verbal martial arts techniques to create more fruitful communications outcomes between adversarial groups. From what I gathered, an […]

