Pickathon Announces Lineup Additions: Black Mountain, Grupo Fantasma and more
Today, Pickathon — the eclectic rootsy/indie festival that takes place on a farm outside of Portland — announced additions to its already solid lineup. Topping the list is Black Mountain, a Canadian rock act with an Americana edge that has been making some waves as of late.
Brett Dennen, Dawes to Play in Bend on June 16
I’ve got another great addition to the summer outdoor music calendar and that’s the recent announcement that Brett Dennen is returning to Bend with special guest Dawes on June 16. The show is slated for the Athletic Club of Bend and tickets are available at Newport Market Avenue.
Video from the Weekend: ESO, Larry and His Flask, Mosley Wotta
When I left the house around noon on Saturday afternoon and looked up at the menacing gray clouds overhead, I said something like, “Ohhh boy, I hope it doesn’t rain?” Anyway, it didn’t rain, which was good, because I saw outdoor live music featuring three of our region’s best acts, in April, in Bend, all…
Last Band Standing Contestants Announced
Last Band Standing — the local battle of the bands competition — is back for another year. This year, the shows have moved over to the Century Center for Friday night shows between May 6 and July 8.
Chan’s Chinese Restaurant to Reopen Monday
Yesterday, while driving south on 3rd St., I longingly glanced over to the right when I was getting close to Chan’s Chinese Restaurant to check their reader board in hopes there would be good news.
Free Empty Space Orchestra Show Today
As Ethan mentioned yesterday, today is Record Store Day and our own Ranch Records is celebrating with a surprise, free show from Empty Space Orchestra. The show is on the Brooks Street side of Ranch at 1pm this afternoon.
Last Week to Buy 4 Peaks Tickets at Advance Pricing
The 4 Peaks Music Festival is back on this year and they’ve returned to their original spot out at Tumalo’s Rockin’ A Ranch. The festival, set for July 15 and 16, currently includes Poor Man’s Whiskey, New Monsoon, Elephant Revival, Acorn Project and several other rootsy acts.
Northwest Crossing’s Spring Festival Music and Events Lineup
Here in Festival Town U.S.A., Northwest Crossing kicks off its Spring Festival weekend with The Cascade Community School of Music – Art and Wine Bop from 6-9pm. The Art and Wine Bop features festival artists, live music by CCSM faculty and wine tasting at participating NW Crossing restaurants and retailers. Entertainment/Locations for the Music –…
Downtown Bend Getting Self-Serve Frozen Yogurt Shop
I just walked past the former location of Dilusso bakery and, as I do each time I saunter pass, I looked longingly into the vacant space, remembering all the delectable things I used to eat there. But today was different.
Green Issue Content Now Online
Each week we post all of the content from the paper online, and when it comes to this week’s special issue – there really is no other option. In keeping with the theme of The Green Issue, which features articles on wind power, composting in school cafeteria’s, solar power, and tips for going green, we’ve…
Blowin' in the Wind: New small-wind power business could open up another green industry in Deschutes County
Dean Abney started his sustainable energy career more than three decades ago installing small inverter systems in rural eastern Oregon. The modest units powered television repeaters that he and his father were licensed to install, bringing network television to ranchers whose children were clamoring to watch the Brady Bunch and other shows. Back then there…
One Man's Trash: A new recycling program is helping Bear Creek students turn slop into soil
It's lunchtime at Bear Creek Elementary School, and principal Matt Montoya rolls the last lunch table into place as the parade of children begins streaming in through the cafeteria doors. Stations are set up for students to pay their lunch money, get milk out of the cooler, select fresh fruit and veggies, and pick out…
Three Easy Ways to Green Up Your Act
Get Your Dog Food (Bag) Out of the Garbage If getting your pet a premium, meat-based dog food developed right here in Central Oregon weren't reason enough to consider the possibility of switching from the supermarket brands to Orion's Choice dog food, then the fact that it is delivered to your door in a recyclable…
On the Solar Grid: Bend Broadband teams with Sunlight Solar for Central Oregon's largest solar installation
The sun has made a comeback in Central Oregon after a long, gloomy winter. The sunshine has returned just in time for the opening of Bend Broadband's new data center, dubbed “The Vault,” which has become a showcase for the latest solar panel technology. Bend's own Sunlight Solar took on the project, which stands as…
Don't Waste Beer: Make Soap Out of It
“This beer is so good, I wish I could bathe in it.” You may have actually heard someone on the barstool next to you say this. I know I have. Now, with the help of retired schoolteacher Leslie Colvin, those people can make good on that claim with LeCol's Soap Bars. Colvin, who has been…
Today’s Pine Party at Mt. Bachelor is Canceled
We’ve been somewhat vocal in encouraging the entirety of Bend’s workforce to disappear an hour or two early on recent Fridays to get up to Mt. Bachelor’s Pine Parties — the mountain’s 4pm-7pm ski sessions on the Pine Marten chair.
Celebrate Record Store Day 2011
Record Store Day 2011 is tomorrow (April 16) and there are some great exclusive RSD releases coming and some amazing events planned at roughly 700 independent record stores across the U.S.
Will Ferrell is on “The Office” Tonight!
As I believe I’ve mentioned a few times on this blog: I freakin’ love The Office. A lot.
Bar on Wheels: The Cycle Pub of Bend makes you work for your beer
Two weeks ago, at the April edition of the First Friday art walk, you could hear an approaching roar coming down the street. People on the sidewalk stopped as what appeared to be some sort of old-timey boat on wheels rolled down the crowded streets. At first, it looked like a bus. But as it…
Let Your Wallet Do the Talking: A preview of this year's Green Spot directory
Every year Bend's Environmental Center compiles a directory of Central Oregon's sustainability minded business that is published and distributed throughout the community as The Green Spot. The directory, which can be found as an insert in this week's paper, shines a light on Central Oregon's Earth-friendly businesses while giving consumers the information we need to…
The Skyline Community Forest
At nearly 50 square miles, the Skyline Forest is the sea of dappled green that stretches from just outside Bend nearly to Sisters. It's the forest that frames Bend's postcard view of the Three Sisters Wilderness. It's also a playground for hikers, bikers and horseback riders, a source of clean water, clean air and a…
Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk to Headline Bite of Bend
In another nearly tortuous teasing of summer, Bend’s outdoor music season is starting to further solidify with news that Ivan Neville’s Dumpstafunk has been booked to headline the annual Bite of Bend food and drink festival. The show is set for Saturday, June 25 in downtown Bend.
The Upper Deschutes Salmon and Steelhead Reintroduction
One of the most ambitious species reintroduction efforts in the United States is happening right here in Central Oregon with the $100-plus million Pelton Round Butte Dam fish passage project. Last year, fish biologists counted more than 100,000 chinook and sockeye as they passed the Round Butte dam at Lake Billy Chinook on their journey…
5 Green Material Tips for a Healthier, More Sustainable Home
If you want carpet, go wool, a cradle-to-cradle product that can be composted or recycled. Wool is more durable than its synthetic counterparts, longer lasting, all natural and feels amazing!
Choose flooring surfaces like wood and bamboo that can last a lifetime. A new product called “Woven Bamboo,” is one of the hardest flooring surfaces…
CBS Missed the Mark with Mortenson Hit
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Let it Snow: Spring is a fine time to see and survive the Lower Deschutes
I got the call to run the Lower Deschutes as little bullets of hail pounded against my window Thursday night. But it's difficult to get motivated to spend the weekend on the river when it's snowing. So, I made a pact with myself that I wouldn't go if it were to snow the next morning.…
A Happy Beginning at Hatfield Lake: Hunters and birders come to together to the clear the air and the ground at waterfowl site
Two years ago, during the annual Christmas Bird Count carried out by the East Cascades Audubon Society, three people conducting the count ran headon into a few (illegal) waterfowl shooters at Hatfield Lake. Judy Meredith, a longtime member of the first Audubon chapter started in Bend back in the '70s, was the leader of the…
“Goff vs. Golf” at the Masters
For four days every April, I get hooked on a televised sporting event called The Masters. The sport in question is “goff.” It looks a lot like golf, but according to patrician looking elderly men in green blazers appearing on the Masters television broadcasts, it's “goff.” Masters goff is about wealthy young men playing a…
Taking the High Road: Your Highness revives the satirical medieval quest through stoner comedy
The quest story hasn't changed much since the days of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. The major variation being that most modern-day quests typically involve traveling great distances to find cheeseburger sliders or return an alien to its spacecraft. Every once in a while, though, a film comes along that satirically…
Fractured Fairy Tale: Hanna’s action yarn falls short
Director Joe Wright (Atonement, Pride & Prejudice, The Soloist) knows how to make a film look good, even with actors emoting all over the screen. Yet even with all of Hanna's fireworks, Wright plays it too safe by the end. Sure, he puts all the pieces together in a visually stunning manner with equal parts…
Monster Is Served: Gods Eater Burst is a feast for PSP
With a name like Gods Eater Burst, I was sure that it was going to be Japanese. And I was sure that it was going to be weird. What I discovered was a pleasant, almost predictable videogame. Yes, it’s Japanese (though in an unsynced dubbing and dubiously translated presentation). And yes, there’s some weirdness. But…
Married to the Mob
So, guys! I'm seriously considering “taking a wife.” (No, I'm not talking about your wife, nor will I be “taking her” in the way you're thinking – unless, of course, she's interested in such an arrangement, in which case, e-mail me.) Now, you may be thinking: “Hey, Wm.™ Steven Hump-Me! You've already had three wives.…
The Perfect Patty: Burger heaven and hell at Jackson’s Corner
While some people are busy fretting about the country's potential financial collapse, you wouldn't know it on the corner of Delaware and Broadway streets on Thursday night when folks line up, quite literally, to devour one of Jackson's Corner's coveted once-a-week $12 burgers. In the past two months, this corner store and bistro's “Burger Night”…
The Perfect Patty: Burger heaven and hell at Jackson’s Corner
While some people are busy fretting about the country's potential financial collapse, you wouldn't know it on the corner of Delaware and Broadway streets on Thursday night when folks line up, quite literally, to devour one of Jackson's Corner's coveted once-a-week $12 burgers. In the past two months, this corner store and bistro's “Burger Night”…
The Traveling Camera: Valley of Fire
The common wisdom on landscape photography emphasizes soft light. Most serious landscape photographers utilize the light of early morning or late afternoon.
Have it Your Way: A bartender’s modern lament
It's probably fair to say that no child has ever answered the what-do-you-want-to-be-when-you-grow-up question with, “Either a fireman, the president or a bartender.” And fair is fair, most children aren't acquainted with the bartender – nor should they be. Barmen are typically swarthy with acid tongues that can reel off obscenities to a beat. Bartenders…
Art for Art’s Sake: My Own Two Hands uses creativity in Americana Project
The Americana Project’s nostalgic logo, a vintage gramophone painted red, white and blue with the iconic image of Lady Liberty, was actually created by Katie Smith, one of the project’s student artists. The image symbolizes the notions of musical freedom and is an example of the creativity that's alive in Central Oregon's youth. The educational…
His Own Songs: The quiet, intentionally lonely greatness of Gregory Alan Isakov
Sometimes you can hear the sound of the freeway from inside Gregory Alan Isakov's house. The noise of the Boulder, Colorado, traffic seeps through the walls – not a lot, but just enough – and that can be a problem when the singer songwriter is at work laying down the tracks for his next album.…
Out of Town 4/15 – 4/19: Deftones, Mos Def, Oregon Zoo, Robert Plant
portland friday & saturday 15 & 16 Deftones Not everyone can handle intense screaming in their music at all times, which is why the Deftones are perfect for the casual metal fan and the hardcore ones alike. The Deftones are known for their experimental rock, poetic lyrics and for singing with some screaming added in…
The Strokes – Angles
The boys of the Strokes are men now. But their most recent album, Angles, will leave you wishing for the gritty scruffiness of their younger years. Back in 2001, the young New York garage rockers blindsided listeners with Is This It? and again in 2003 with Room on Fire. As twenty-somethings, the Strokes were revivalists…
Our Picks for 4/13 – 4/21: Yonder Mountain String Band, Andre Nickatina, Spring Festival, Paleface and More
Yonder Mountain String Band wednesday 13 If you got a copy of the paper fresh off the press today and have an empty evening, might we suggest you run immediately to the Midtown Ballroom and see one of the finest acts in all of bluegrass? The Colorado band is back in town, as they're known…
Yonder Mountain String Band Tonight in Bend
Today has been circled on the calendars of a few hundred (or several hundred) of Bend’s live music fans. The wait is over and roots music fans can finally rejoice because Yonder Mountain String Band is in town tonight at the Midtown Ballroom.
Trying to Re-Inflate the Bubble in Redmond
Trying to inflate a balloon with a gaping hole in it would seem like the height of stupidity. The balloon that was the Central Oregon real estate market went ka-pow almost five years ago. But some folks in Redmond think that if they can just hook it up to an air hose, the good times…
This Fresh Straight Poop Produced by Free-Range Reporters
Monday, April 4Well, that's comforting: Workers dumping more than 11,000 tons of radioactive water into the ocean in Japan; authorities say it poses no danger … Thought they decided that already: Libyan government spokesman says Muammar Qaddafi is open to holding elections, but only the Libyan people can decide his future, not foreign powers ……
Starve the Beast!
Regarding Oregon Legislature’s “Stupid Lawmaking Spree” (WTF, 4-6) Last fall, the Source Weekly supported Measure 71, which mandated that the Oregon Legislature meet every year instead of every other year. So we increase state government by a factor of two and end up with what? A hell of a lot more W.T.F's. Was that what…
Of Immigrants and Economics
One of the major reasons for the declining economy and unemployment numbers always seems to shift back to the illegal immigrants coming into the country and stealing jobs. Obviously we all know that large numbers of people are crossing our southern border for work, but how much are they really affecting the economy? Now I…
Serve Thy Master
One of our revered multibillionaires, a Koch brother, recently stated that they are the real doers in society and he has jobs for the people who don't want to work-in the prison! As inmates? Working through his Tea Potty people in Congress, he rightfully plans to eliminate all social government programs, except for the Giant…
