Sasquatch Lineup Announced: My Morning Jacket, Pavement, Massive Attack, Ween and more
Summer festival season is still a ways off, but it feels much closer now that the Sasquatch! Music Festival has unveiled its downright impressive lineup. Taking place over Memorial Day Weekend (May 29 through 31) up at the Gorge Amphitheater, the festival boasts arguably the strongest lineup of its eight-year history with headliners like My…
Five Rings: Non-Medal Winter Olympic Moments-Part II
Easily the most fun Winter Olympics I ever worked were the 1988 Calgary Games. The organizers of those Games came up with the brilliant idea of erecting a big tent at most venues for pre- and post-event parties.
Video From the WinterFest Music Stage
If you were one of the several thousand folks who descended on the Old Mill District for last weekend’s Bend WinterFest, you probably saw some of action below. Friday night featured a headlining set from Bend favorites, The Gourds, making for a packed stage as the skiers jammed the rail behind the crowd.
A Ride For Life: Back to mountain biking after cancer
On November 9, 2008 one of my favorite mountain biking partners called to say that he couldn't ride that day as he was dealing with a bad strep throat. It became so bad that two days later he went to see a doctor and by day's end had been given the news that he had…
WinterFest Music Video Preview: The Gourds, Hell’s Belles
It looks like that nasty little wet burst of stormy weather has passed and things are looking food for tonight’s kick off of WinterFest. While many out there are heading down to the Old Mill District to watch the always insanely popular Rail Jam, others (maybe you) will be there to take in some first-class…
Video of Greg Mortenson, Author of “Three Cups of Tea,” Speaking in Bend
I just got back from Summit High School where Greg Mortenson, the author of Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace.
Welcome to Slumburbia, Oregon
New York Times columnist Tim Egan has written a piece that should be read – no, memorized – by every city councilor and other public official in Bend. Egan looks at Northern California’s San Joaquin Valley – a region he calls “Slumburbia” – and paints an ugly picture of the economic and human debris left…
Spring Music Preview – Pato Banton, Andre Nickatina, Brandi Carlile and More
Although we’re only in mid February and we haven’t even enjoyed the musical fruits of WinterFest yet, it’s time to look to spring and see what’s in store on the local live music front. There’s been a few announcements for March and April in the past two weeks, including word of return appearances from reggae…
Get Oregon Out of the Booze Business
There aren’t many things that The Bulletin’s editorial board and I agree on, but the Oregon Liquor Control Commission is one of them. In an editorial this morning, The Bulletin asks why the state’s legislators don’t take a long, hard look at reforming “the archaic and contradictory system” under which the OLCC both regulates the…
Slightly Stoopid Tonight at the Midtown in Bend
After a few months of build up, tonight’s (Wednesday) Slightly Stoopid show has finally arrived and it seems there’s plenty of buzz about it. This is the band’s third appearance in town in the last two years — a testament to the fan base they’ve secured in these parts.
Anyone For Tennis? Another Bend mill finds new life on the westside
Tucked behind a log-cabin-style tavern and a Mail Boxes Etc., the former Bright Wood mill building has had more reincarnations than Michael Jordan's pro sports career. The complex of buildings tucked between Century Drive and Columbia Street began as a toy factory, manufacturing those rubber-band-powered, balsa-wood airplanes before China got dibs on those kinds of…
A Grand Tour of Tahoe on Skinny Skis: Adventures of a Ski-O Newbie
We have it pretty good here, but sometimes you just get a little jaded with yet another lap of Woody's or Zig Zag. So last week I decided to try something new – the 2010 Sierra Avalanche Ski-Orienteering Championships, a week full of Ski-O races in Tahoe. The field was stacked with several top Ski-O-ers…
The Weary Kind: Crazy Heart allows Redemption to come in painful doses
Crazy Heart is this year's The Wrestler – a true character study built on pain, suffering, angst and real human emotion with a standout performance by the lead actor. Instead of over-the-hill wrestler Randy the Ram spilling his blood on the stage as he fades into obscurity we get the burned-out 57-year-old country star Bad…
When Sparks Don't Fly: Get the tissues out for the latest Nicholas Sparks' adaptation, Dear John
John and Savannah are lovers kept apart by the contrivances of writer Nicholas Sparks' cruel, cruel world. Oh, they try so hard to be together, but the obstacles of logic and common sense keep getting in the way. Like a capricious God, The Notebook author doth smite them for such hubris in the face of…
A Brief History of the Winter Olympics
Dear “snow”: YOU BLOW! (Heh.) What's up with “snow” anyway? You certainly never hear about rain turning into boiling water during the summertime! Am I right, people? AM I RIGHT? Anyway, like it or not, snow is like genital herpes – we're stuck with it! And this realization is exactly what inspired the ancient Greeks…
Behold the Dragon Slayer: Divinity II makes a mark (albeit a glitchy one) in the RPG world
There are two sides to every story. My life in Divinity II tells a part from both sides of the tale of Rivellon. I was trained in the arts of the Dragon Slayer. Using powers as mundane as swordsmanship and as arcane as mindreading, we scoured the land seeking to eradicate the ancient Dragon Knights.…
Chocolate is for Lovers: A Valentine's Day survey of local and regional decadence
Reaching for the dark shaded polish at my pedicure, I knew I had eaten enough chocolate. I've spent the last two weeks tasting chocolates and sweets: expensive, inexpensive, milk, dark, French, Belgian and locally made. Valentine's Day is rich in confusion with gods, folklore and Spanish conquest and sexual imagery. For Valentine's Day, confectionery gifts…
Chocolate is for Lovers: A Valentine's Day survey of local and regional decadence
Reaching for the dark shaded polish at my pedicure, I knew I had eaten enough chocolate. I've spent the last two weeks tasting chocolates and sweets: expensive, inexpensive, milk, dark, French, Belgian and locally made. Valentine's Day is rich in confusion with gods, folklore and Spanish conquest and sexual imagery. For Valentine's Day, confectionery gifts…
Hats, Gloves, Music: What you should see at the Winterfest mainstage
There's something about seeing music outside. Maybe it's the bigger crowds or the fresh air or the fact that you can spill a few drops of your beer on the ground without feeling too bad about it. Over the past three years, the music at WinterFest has become one of the biggest draws of the…
Johnny Cash – American VI: Ain't No Grave
Johnny Cash American VI: Ain't No Grave American Recordings/ Lost Highway
Editor's Note: For all of you that caught the Cash'd Out show at the Domino Room last weekend (check www.tsweekly.com/blender for video from the show), here's some more about the Man in Black to keep you in the country spirit.
The final installment of…
Our Picks for 2/10 – 2/18: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, WinterFest, The Fly Fishing Film Tour and more
Pennies for Peace Benefit Concert thursday 11 Adding to the festivities surrounding Greg Mortenson's appearance here in Bend is this late-announced fundraising show that follows the event at Bend High. The lineup brings to the stage two familiar local acts in Blackstrap and The Mostest, playing bluegrass and jam rock, respectively. All you need to…
The One About the Jew and the Tomato: The clearly enunciated outsider story of newly local author Adam Schell
Leaning against a table in the corner of a local wine bar, Adam Schell adjusts his square, black glasses as he reads passages aloud from his debut novel, Tomato Rhapsody, occasionally breaking from the page to explain the more idiosyncratic aspects of the 16th century Tuscan setting in which he placed his cast of classically…
Reinhart's Slash-and-Burn Attack
Bend City Council elections are supposed to be non-partisan, and generally that's worked pretty well for us. Our council races are far less acrimonious than, say, the typical campaign for president, Congress or even the State legislature. But Troy Reinhart apparently would like to change that. Reinhart, the Chairman of the Deschutes County Republican Party,…
Welcome to the Tea Party: Notes on the end of the recession, tea-bagging with Palin and more!
The author has been sent on the road to discover a lost country formerly known as America. He is reporting from Sarah Palin's palm, offering talking points and apologies to Todd for last night, on assignment for Or-Bust.com and The Source Weekly. “Cause for Hope but not Celebration” New unemployment numbers for January came in…
Don't Wait for Washington
During every campaign, we often hear about how the candidates are going to do “this, that and the other thing about something.” Often that 'something' is an issue that is important for the moment: the economy, national defense and the war on terror, or healthcare. Sometimes, the issues are important to specific groups: the environment,…
Colorado Springs Had It Coming
My tears were large reading Bruce (Miller's) account of poor Colorado Springs. The voters said “No” to more taxes and told the city to live within its means – what a novel concept.
The Great Duping Of America
It was a gut-wrenching experience the moment health care reform became doomed with the special election in Massachusetts. A democratically elected President of far too much personal integrity was asked to do what the GOP would not hesitate to do in his position – use the last remaining days of party majority to advance a…
A Brief Look at the WinterFest Rail Jam Construction
With Bend WinterFest only three short days away, things are already starting to look like festival time down in the Old Mill where the crew is hard at work erecting the massive apparatus for the Rail Jam competition. Take a look at this brief video and see where they’re at.
