Getting Ugly with the Source: A photographic review of Friday’s party
Friday night the Astro Lounge hosted our seasonal “Reader Appreciation Ugly Sweater/Holiday Garb Party.” Drinks were consumed, good times were had and those not in attendance were ridiculed.
Adventures in Babysitting; The Sitter is wrong on every level – and that's not a good thing
Director David Gordon Green has come a long way since Undertow and Snow Angels. I guess the comedy bug hit him with Pineapple Express and his time working with Danny McBride on Eastbound and Down has produced some of the most vile, offensive, hedonistic and, thus, funniest television I have ever seen.
They Can Still See the Light; Impervious to time, the Blind Boys of Alabama are still cranking out hits
Rarely does one make it late in life without a positive attitude. Even rarer is not just “making it,” but flourishing as the member of a 72-year-old gospel band that remains a mainstay of its genre. In 1939 at the Alabama Institute for the Negro Blind, a young Jimmy Carter (no, not that Jimmy Carter)…
Bend’s Midtown Ballroom Robbed This Weekend
The regional rock music business isn’t as glamorous or cash-loaded as some might think. In fact, a lot of times, shows here in Bend are put on by promoters and acts making a personal sacrifice in order to bring us the live music so many of us crave.
Drug Bust of the Week
Memo to the three gentleman that were pulled over with 12 pounds of pot stuffed into garbage bags in the back of their Jeep Cherokee: Next time you might want to rent a vehicle with, say, I don’t know, a trunk. It helps for those occasions when you’re transporting $30, 000 worth of illegal drugs…
Clooney Unplugged: The Descendants impresses, but beware the hype
How often do you find yourself sitting down to enjoy a film that you're genuinely excited for? Not just the excitement of it being a movie you've been looking forward to, but one that the critics are calling “The best film of the year” or “a stunning masterpiece that will open up your soul” or…
Blazers’ Brandon Roy to Retire?
Yeah, I didn’t believe that headline either, even as I typed it with my own basketball-loving fingers. The news broke this morning from inside sources who have it on good authority that the Blazers’ franchise player (and former rookie of the year), Brandon Roy, would be retiring do to knee injuries.
City is Hip to Westside Noise Complaints
“Shhhh…the neighbors are sleeping.” Such was the post on 10 Barrel Brewing Company’s Facebook page Thursday afternoon, a response to noise complaints voiced by neighbors at last night’s City Council meeting.
In Medias Res Show Canceled
Due to a very serious family situation, Vancouver B.C.
Post Office Looking To Shutter Bend Facility
The days when a letter could travel from one end of Bend to another without physically leaving the zip code appear to be numbered. According to a letter from Oregon Postmaster to Bend City Manager Eric King, the Post Office has concluded that it makes financial sense to shutter the Bend mail sorting facility on…
The Nature of Words’ Ellen Waterston to Step Down
Since founding The Nature of Words in 2005, Ellen Waterston has been the face of the literary festival, in addition to the year-around educational programs that soon followed in its wake. But today Waterston announced that she would be stepping down as executive director this spring.
See Your Trash Become Fashion Tonight
You throw a lot of things away. So do I and so does your neighbor and the vast majority of that stuff is never seen again.
The Blind Boys of Alabama: December show at The Tower sold out
I just got off the phone with Jimmy Carter (pictured at right), one of the founding members of the The Blind Boys of Alabama. What a great guy.
In reply to: Post Office Looking To Shutter Bend Facility, Bent, 12-9:
USPS is not a government agency, even though it cannot do anything without congressional approval. Did you know that the USPS puts millions back into the general fund in support of the US economy.
Peddling a Different Message: Traveling by bicycle, a local woman delivers a healthy message to America’s students
When I caught up with Sara Salo this past week she was pumped. That morning, she had been cruising through the deserts of New Mexico at 24 mph, enjoying a strong tailwind that helped her tick-off the 60-mile day faster than she had originally planned. “How can you make a change in your life?” she…
An Oregon Tale: Local author Kim Cooper Findling gets personal with her state and her past in her new book
Kim Cooper Findling is about to pack up and drive from her home in Bend to North Bend, Oregon. This is where she grew up and this is also where she would be reading from her new memoir the following day. She has no idea what familiar faces she might see, given that she'd been…
Ten Million Needed to Eliminate Homelessness, Report Says
It's been years in the making, but on Tuesday a group of local volunteers announced that they were ready to release a comprehensive 10-year plan to eliminate homelessness in Central Oregon. The issue of homelessness is one that has gained increased attention over the past several years as unemployment has forced more working families out…
Our Picks for 12/7-12/15
The Dimes wednesday 7 A couple years ago this Portland indie-folk-pop band came to Bend and stunned us with a bevvy of historically themed songs wrapped up in incredible melodies. Today, the band remains a strong force in the Northwest acoustic music scene, with their soft and floaty tunes that will have your head bobbing…
Dark and Dusty: The big, spooky country sound of The Rural Demons
Outside Lone Pine Coffee Roasters, two grown men are playing with a bullwhip. After every crack of the leather echoes through the chalked-up bricks of Tin Pan Alley, the guys laugh. I figure these bearded guys are living out a late-in-life Indiana Jones fixation, and I have no problem with this. But it turns out…
The Old Collage Try: A stream-of-consciousness review of the stream-of-nonsense New Year's Eve
Because New Year's Eve is a unique movie experience – or at least as unique as you can get from director Garry Marshall and screenwriter Katherine Fugate, who subjected us to Valentine's Day just 20 months ago – a standard movie review feels inappropriate to the task of capturing what it's like to be watching.…
Making a List: Forget the old standards and try one of these seven holiday films
I don't want to see Miracle on 34th Street. Ever. Same goes for It's a Wonderful Life, Home Alone, A Christmas Carol and A Christmas Story. I can still handle the Charlie Brown Christmas movies, A Nightmare Before Christmas, Bad Santa, Love Actually, Die Hard, Scrooged and Gremlins, but even those are starting to wear…
Allow Me to Fascinate You
Look, I get it. I'm not the most popular guy in the world. But with the people I am popular with? I'm INSANELY popular. For example; women's prisons. They love me in women's prisons. I'm just as big with the “lazy inebriate” set. And the “people who have lost the will to live” demographic also…
A Gran Affair: Cyclocross preview, broken bindings and a backcountry checklist
Doug LaPlaca and his cohorts at Visit Bend have done an excellent job establishing Bend as a premier cyclocross destination. Events ranging from the local to national level have invaded our town giving riders yet another reason to keep their bikes tuned all year long. With the lack of snow keeping skis in garages, now's…
BCS Lovers!: Why do these people enjoy ruining college football?
Somewhere on Sunday, likely in a dimly lit cavernous room inside a decrepit castle atop a craggy mountaintop surrounded at all times by a lightning storm, sat the group of men, likely smoking cigars and likely wearing the finest of suits, who make up the collective brain of the Bowl Championship Series. The committee had…
Working-Class Tax Cut Stalemate
Republicans never met a tax cut they didn't like, unless of course it comes at the expense of their corporate masters. To wit, view the most recent partisan showdown in Washington that has Senate leaders wrangling over a no-brainer payroll tax extension.
Stock Up Now On Fresh Straight Poop For The Holidays
Monday, Nov. 28 Mr. Excitement: Atlanta businesswoman Ginger White reveals 13-year affair with pizza king and would-be president Herman Cain, says it was “fun” and “exciting.” Who would've thought? … Parting shot: Rep. Barney Frank, D-MA, first openly gay member of Congress, announces retirement, takes dig at Newt Gingrich, saying his nomination would be “best…
Throwing the Boat-Rockers Overboard
When University of Oregon football coach Chip Kelly was handed the trophy for winning the Pac 12 championship, he immediately turned and presented it to “the real leader of our university, President Richard Lariviere.” It was a touching tribute to a man who, in two years at the helm of Oregon's flagship university, had made…
Leaders Should Share Our Schools
How often have your heard a parent encourage children to share, take turns, and to play fair? Our basic role as parents is to instill a spirit of cooperation in our children. And in schools, educators promote the same values, including respect, honesty, good citizenry, and democracy. Teachers understand that the foundation for a positive…
Magnet Take Was Off The Mark
This is in response to the The Boot on November 24 titled, “Tear Down the Magnet School Class Barrier.” The writer encourages readers to support getting rid of the Bend-La Pine School District policies for magnet school admissions. The argument that the policy is inequitable is primarily based on the fact that three of the…
Still Smokin’ : Controlled Burns Planned for Area
Officials at the Bureau of Land Management and U.S.
This Rudolph Will Light You Up: Rudolph’s Imperial Red Ale
One of the best things about the holidays are the delicious high-alcohol winter seasonals that breweries start to roll out beginning in November. These boozy, heavily-spiced beers often divide our beer loving staff and the community at large: there are those who love the flavorful, wintery touch and those who would just as rather have…
