Michael Franti and Spearhead Returning to Bend on August 5
Well, darn it if the summer music schedule didn’t just go and get even more awesome with the addition of Michael Franti and Spearhead to the Les Schwab Amphitheater lineup. The show is slated for August 5 and tickets go on sale at 10:00 a.
Video From Larry and His Flask’s Wild Alley Show
After returning from a cross-country trip last week, I was endlessly bummed to learn that the Larry and His Flask’s show at Silver Moon on April 8 I had missed had been one of the zaniest gigs ever at the venue. But thankfully, just a week later, I had a chance to see LAHF inโฆ
Skyline Forest: the possibilities are endless
This past Saturday, Deschutes Land Trust executive director Brad Chalfant asked me to join him on a mountain bike ride in the proposed Skyline Forest. He wanted to show me the potential for a trail network if and when the property becomes a Land Trust holding.
Saturday is Record Store Day: Celebrate at Bend’s Ranch Records
It’s somewhat of a strange holiday (or probably not actually a holiday exactly) but Saturday (4/17) is Record Store Day. Across the country, record stores will celebrate the spirit of independent music with events and concerts inside and outside of their shops.
Couple Dating is Hardly Controversial: But will you think it's funny?
Before taking a seat in the 2nd Street Theater last night to take in Couple Dating, the locally written and produced play by Cricket Daniel was already well on my radar. In fact, it had jammed my radar…like in that scene in Spaceballs. Last week, we ran a letter to the editor from a readerโฆ
Oregon Tea Party Crasher in Right's Crosshairs
Conservatives in Oregon, and all over America, have found something new to be angry about – not that that’s ever any challenge for them. The latest target of their wrath is Jason Levin, a middle school teacher in Beaverton who set up a website on which he vowed to “crash and destroy” the Tea Partyโฆ
Low Riding: bicycles and the fall of America
Not that many years ago I was riding my road bike with a friend east of Bend. We were headed single file down a long straightaway when a spiffy Mercedes C Class sedan came speeding by at what seemed like 75MPH and about four feet from us.
Punk Rock On: The Expendables are out to prove their music isn't
It might surprise you to know that Geoff Weers, the vocalist and guitarist for the reggae-punk rock blending band The Expendables, recently got a job cleaning carts at a golf course. “Not because I don't make any money playing music, ” says Weers, “But because I want to play free golf,” When he's not onโฆ
Marijuana Legalization Concert and Rally Comes to Redmond on 4/23
This event isn't on 4/20, the stoney-est day of the year, but it's close enough. On April 23, the Hooker Creek Events Center on the Deschutes County Fairgrounds in Redmond will serve as host to the Hemp is Earth Medicine Tour, a concert and rally supporting The Oregon Cannabis Tax Act, a measure that wouldโฆ
Sucker Punch: Hiding behind anonymity
My first magazine editorial position was with one that received quite a few letters to the editor. And when it came to those letters, the head of editorial department was a stickler.
aร·loร·ha [รยค-lร ๏ฟฝ'hรยค'] – noun, interjection 1. Hello 2. Farewell
Aloha from Hawai'i! We all know “aloha” as the traditional Hawaiian greeting, but there's much more than a simple “hi” packed into the literal meaning of the word. It comes from the root words “alo” meaning “sharing” and “in the present,” and “oha” meaning “joy” and “ha” meaning “life energy.” Aloha, therefore means: “joyfully sharingโฆ
Couch Surfing: A devotee of a new kind of retail therapy
My daughter and I found the perfect sofa on the way to school today. It was just the size and color I was looking to add to the living room. Unfortunately, someone had dumped it upside down in the mud of my neighbor's front yard. Apparently it took too much energy to have a garageโฆ
“Is There an Ex-Governor in the House?”
John Kitzhaber, the once and maybe future governor of Oregon, got a chance to show his medical skills as well as his debating talent at a candidates’ forum on the University of Oregon campus Wednesday night. According to the account of Kari Chisholm on the Blue Oregon blog, Kitzhaber was in the midst of aโฆ
New Chow in Town: Burritos, Indian comfort food and an expanded menu at Jackson's Corner
It might be a sign that the economy is turning around when new restaurants start popping up. Proving that Bend can never have enough Mexican food options, earlier this month, Super Burrito cut the ribbon on its third restaurant, located on Highway 20 in the former home of A&W on Auto Row. Owner Patty Moreno,โฆ
The Great Scapegoat: Why some sink spiders end up in the closet
What a great way to start the day! It was about 6:30 a.m., I wandered out to the living room, stuffed a couple of pieces of wood on the coals in the wood stove, then rolled back the curtains to see (a) what the morning temperature is – as if it made any difference -โฆ
Send in the Clowns: Date Night never gets beyond formula gags
It's soul crushing to see great comedians on cruise control. Can we reconcile Steve Martin in The Jerk with Steve Martin in Cheaper By The Dozen? Or Richard Pryor's transition from Stir Crazy to Another You. Or Gene Wilder doing the same? How about the Eddie Murphy of Beverly Hills Cop becoming the Eddie Murphyโฆ
Estimated Prophet: A Prophet examines a criminal's metaphysical rise
A Prophet is a French prison/mob film that sucks you in from the first scene. Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Picture, I guarantee this movie will inspire you to recommend it to others a) because it's that good and b) because… it's just that good. Prophet is the story of the transformationโฆ
Swinging for the Fences: Latest MLB dreams big but doesn't deliver
My first mistake was deciding to play as a catcher. The “My Player” feature, which joins Major League Baseball 2K10 in addition to its basic “play ball” mode, allows me to develop my own character from a generic nobody into a superstar. I assumed that catcher would be a good position to witness various hitters'โฆ
Torn Between Three Lovers
Oh, is that how it's gonna be, television? You're gonna make me choose? After years of dedicated viewership, you're going to treat me like I'm Tiger Woods and force me to settle on a single mistress/skank? Well, EFF YOU, my friend. I didn't make the ludicrous decision to program THREE AMAZING SHOWS to air atโฆ
Growing Pains: Cool concept suffers from a lack of execution at 10 Below
From the slick, padded walls of the elevator as it takes patrons down below street level to the post-modern, au natural motif – a stylish nod to the Pacific Northwest – 10 Below is one of the sexiest places to dine in Central Oregon right now. On my first visit in early March, my friendโฆ
Growing Pains: Cool concept suffers from a lack of execution at 10 Below
From the slick, padded walls of the elevator as it takes patrons down below street level to the post-modern, au natural motif – a stylish nod to the Pacific Northwest – 10 Below is one of the sexiest places to dine in Central Oregon right now. On my first visit in early March, my friendโฆ
Little Bites: New Chow in Town: Burritos, Indian comfort food and an expanded menu at Jackson's Corner
It might be a sign that the economy is turning around when new restaurants start popping up. Proving that Bend can never have enough Mexican food options, earlier this month, Super Burrito cut the ribbon on its third restaurant, located on Highway 20 in the former home of A&W on Auto Row. Owner Patty Moreno,โฆ
Tax Facts You Won't Hear at a Tea Party
As you wrestle with your 1040s, 1099s, W2s, Schedule C’s and other income tax impedimenta, the Oregon Center for Public Policy offers a few facts that should comfort you – and probably will surprise you, especially if you get your information from Glenn Beck and Lars Larson. Surprise No.
Harvestman: Trinity
Harvestman Trinity โ โ โ โ 1/2 If you look up a summary of the Italian horror film, H2Odio, on Wikipedia or IMDB, it's pretty clear that something is being lost in translation from Italian to English. But then listen to Harvestman's Trinity – the album that serves as the soundtrack for H2Odio. Though it doesn't specifically tellโฆ
The Ghost Writer
“I should be scared,” she [Sarah] said. “I'm dead. I've never been dead before. And I'm not scared.” Mary Sojourner's new novel, Going Through Ghosts, is a storytelling triumph. This should come as no surprise from this seasoned author, who is also a popular writing workshop facilitator and former commentator for NPR. Published by Universityโฆ
One Man's Trash: Turning discarded materials into works of art
Customers stopping into Pakit Liquidators this past weekend, hoping to quietly pick up a replacement door handle or storm window, got a surprise. Giant metal and, well, trash sculptures were displayed along Pakit's lawn and a purple hearse topped with a black ambulance siren welcomed customers and visitors. Inside Pakit, the near-eastside liquidator and allโฆ
Our Picks for 4/14 – 4/22: Northwest Crossing Bend Spring Festival, Jukebot!, Curtis Salgado, Andre Nickatina and more
Barn Party and Community Dinner friday 16 Did you know that this was the Week of the Young Child? Well, now you do, so round up your young 'uns and get them to this event that features children's music from Victor Johnson and the Kinderqueen Kathryn Claire. The biggest draw may be the free dinnerโฆ
Taken for a Ride: New Skyliner bike rules, furlough days and more
After months of wrangling with residents and cyclists, the Deschutes County Commission is prepared to tighten the rules governing recreational cycling on Skyliners Road. On Wednesday the commission was scheduled to vote on an “emergency” ordinance requiring bikers to ride single file on Skyliners where neighbors have complained that cyclists are clogging the narrow road.โฆ
The Bald Eagle Paradox: When the recovery of one species endangers another
All it takes to wreak havoc in a colony of common murres is one bald eagle. Gulls spot the eagle from a distance and sound the alarm, and the murres nesting on the cliff bob their heads nervously. As the big raptor swoops down, the stocky black-and-white seabirds flee, leaving their eggs and chicks behind.โฆ
COBA Goes Panhandling Again
The City of Bend needs to crack down harder on panhandlers. Those guys from the Central Oregon Builders Association hanging around City Hall with cardboard signs and tin cups are getting really annoying. COBA has been begging for handouts from the city at least since the summer of 2008, when it persuaded the city councilโฆ
Running on Empty: The GOP's long retreat, Polish aviation disasters, and who's your Master?
The author has been sent on the road to discover a lost country formerly known as America. He is reporting from an interstate rest area bathroom, making friends on assignment for Or-Bust.com and The Source Weekly. Officially Out of Ideas As Obama continues his contemporary version of Sherman's March – passing health care reform, hostingโฆ
This Week’s Number: 1090
That's the number of notices of default or loans going bad in Deschutes County for the first quarter of the year. The number is a record for Deschutes County and represents a stunning 32 percent increase from the last quarter of 2009 when home buying incentives, including (artificially) record low interest and tax rebates -โฆ
Letter of the Week: You Can't Beat Bend
This week's letter comes from Kevin T who cites Bend's karma as the cap off to a great weekend of entertaining friends. Good to hear that the Golden Rule is still honored, at least in local snow parks. Thanks for the letter, Kevin. You can pick up your winner's spoils, a bag of Strictly Organicโฆ
Local Play is Cruel
I was appalled to go to a local playcalled Couples Dating the other night and find ithomophobic and bigoted. I understand they meant it as comedy, but thehomophobic words used were definitely not funny. Because there was no comeuppance for the bigoted, homophobic, anti-Semiticmain character (and in the play's end his view was upheld asโฆ
Be a Part of History
The We the People group will be presenting their “Articles of Freedom” to the governor, all senators and those in the House in every state of the Union next Monday (April 19). Here in Oregon it will take place at noon on the steps of the capitol building in Salem. Fill your car, van etc.โฆ
