Steve Miller Band is Coming to Bend…and hopefully some other acts
It’s almost spring here in the glorious highlands of Central Oregon, which means that if you’re a lover of live music, it’s time to start praying for some big news to come out of the folks at the Les Schwab Amphitheater. We already knew that Merle Haggard would be diverting his tour away from the…
A Thin, Blurry Ethical Line
One of the main tenets of journalistic ethics is that while a newspaper is free to express opinions on politics in its editorials, it shouldn’t let its political agenda drive its news coverage. There’s supposed to be a firm, clear line between the editorial page and the news columns.
Video of Eric Tollefson Live at Silver Moon on Saturday Night
If you were in Bend on Saturday night there were plenty of options for entertainment. Roller derby, people beating the crap out of each other, ska music, rock music; you name it, it was going on in town on Saturday.
Weekend Wanderings
In between telecasts of the Winter Olympics, I spent much of the past week following the fascinating saga of Matt Wingard's plagiarism. Wingard, a Republican state representative from Wilsonville, rose to his feet in the House last Friday to deliver some remarks casting doubt on the reality of global warming.
Medal Time: awards for the best and the worst from week one of the Winter Olympics
It's time to award platinum medals to the best and lead medals to the worst the past week at the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver Platinums for guts go to Petra Magjic, Annya Pearson and Lindsey Vonn. Slovenia cross-country racer Madjic took a horrific fall into a ditch during training for the women's sprint competition…
Big Time: They don’t come any bigger than the great gray owl
It’s true – just as the title of this story says – when it comes to owls of the New World, they really don’t come any bigger than the great gray owl, Strix nebulosa, or, for the sake of brevity, GGO. The adult has a wingspan that averages about four-and-a-hall feet; the female being larger…
A Conversation With The Men Behind the Beard and Moustache Championships Coming to Bend
In the event that you’re habitually are slow on the uptake when it comes to facial-hair-related news, the Beard Team USA National Beard and Moustache Championships are taking place in Bend this year. In advance of the Championships, which are slated for June 5 at the Les Schwab Amphitheater during the Balloons over Bend festival,…
Monk and Pops: Two American masters profiled in new biographies
When it comes to musicians who left an indelible imprint on America music, jazzmen Louis Armstrong and Thelonious Monk come to mind. Yet both have, to a greater degree, been widely overlooked and/or misunderstood by the general public.
Sweeping Up the Ska: Talking three decades of rebel music with The Toasters
“I feel like the ska janitor, you know? I'm coming through with a broom and cleaning up everybody's mess,” says Rob “Bucket” Hingley, the front man and sole remaining original member of The Toasters. His metaphor is more than apt. While it's difficult to know for sure, The Toasters were most likely the first ska…
Our Mini-Documentary of the Bend WinterFest Weekend
The Source Weekly’s calendar editor/video magician Anne Pick took all the largely cattywompus video I shot during the three days of Bend WinterFest last weekend and quilted it into a nice little documentary. Take a look and relive the joy that was WinterFest.
Still Some Air in the Bubble?
The Federal Reserve has released a report that seems to show Bend home prices have moved more or less back in line with those in other Oregon cities. The report, titled “Trends in Delinquencies and Foreclosures in Oregon,” includes a bunch of interesting graphs, including one that tracks the rise and (in Bend’s case) precipitous…
Hippie Jams, Michael Cera and Problem Stick: What happened last night
I arrived at McMenamins Old St. Francis School last night and quickly discovered that there were a couple hundred other people who also thought it clever to take in a free show from Blue Turtle Seduction.
Downtown Pay Parking Fizzles (again)
The effort to curtail downtown parking violations by instituting a new pay as you go system in two popular downtown parking lots was rebuffed again on Wednesday by downtown Bend merchants who object to the loss of free parking for customers. It is the second time in the past six months that retailers have revolted…
Depending on the Kindness of Strangers
In the poker game of life, young Brady Hardin drew a lousy hand. Born in St.
Sausage Fest: BurlyWurst rolls out a better wiener
Despite a recent run of unseasonably warm weather, it's still officially winter, but that didn't prevent Derek and Gregg Yarrow, a pair of Long Island transplants from staking their culinary claim on Mirror Pond plaza. The brothers recently launched a joint venture that might just be the best rolling sausage fest in downtown Bend, apologies…
What's Your Sign?: Double black diamonds are a girl's best friend
I should have really written this column last week to make it into the pre-Valentine's Day Source “Love Issue.” But sometimes you just come up a day late and a greeting card short. At any rate, I thought it might be amusing, if not timely, to comment on the outdoor dating scene in Bend. The…
Zen and the Art of Bicycle Maintenance: Building, repairing and teaching safety at Bend's Community BikeShed
Joe Katroscik is trying to explain something about bicycle parts, while Michael Martin bangs an old frame with a hammer. Pointing towards the front of the bike in progress, Katroscik says, “See this joint, what's it called Michael? A lug?” “You big lug,” Martin chimes in, clanging away. Not acknowledging the joke, Katroscik continues to…
What the Hell?: Dante's Inferno was just 700 years in the making
When we first meet Dante, he is midway through his life's journey, seated in a dark forest sewing a red cross across his bare pecs and up the ripples of his sixpack. It's not exactly how I envisioned the ardent pilgrim from The Divine Comedy. And it's certainly not the Dante depicted scowling down from…
What Is Funny?
What is “funny”? I think we can all agree that “funny” is subjective, in that what may be “unfunny” to one person can be shit-pantsing hilarious to another. My good friend Dave claims the funniest thing in the world is a dog running down the street with a ham in its mouth. I concur this…
Like Father Like Son: Oedipal twist tears the heart out of The Wolfman
The Wolfman looked like it might be OK, beginning with a lone figure prowling the moors at night, segueing into the first beastly attack. But resurrecting a horror icon should be done with some pizzazz, and the only thing this Wolfman has down is the lavish, Gothic sets. The plot revives the classic werewolf tale.…
Good Cop, Bad Cop: Nicolas Cage goes nuts playing The Bad Lieutenant in Werner Herzog's instant classic
Sometimes you see a movie, and two thirds of the way through you know that no matter how it ends, this is going to be one you'll be raving about for years to come. The Bad Lieutenant: Port Of Call New Orleans has Nicolas Cage playing the part of the injured, dirty, hopped-up cop Terence…
Won't Get Fooled Again: Pollo Gordo's rotisserie is a sneaker delight
Owners Ron and Diane Burns opened El Pollo Gordo in 2008 with a mission to provide, “fresh and healthy food at a reasonable price.” I admit when I first visited the restaurant, located across from the Wagner Mall, I anticipated fast food of dubious quality. Drawn in by “dollar taco” sandwich boards dotting the front…
Won't Get Fooled Again: Pollo Gordo's rotisserie is a sneaker delight
Owners Ron and Diane Burns opened El Pollo Gordo in 2008 with a mission to provide, “fresh and healthy food at a reasonable price.” I admit when I first visited the restaurant, located across from the Wagner Mall, I anticipated fast food of dubious quality. Drawn in by “dollar taco” sandwich boards dotting the front…
Little Bites: Sausage Fest: BurlyWurst rolls out a better wiener
Despite a recent run of unseasonably warm weather, it's still officially winter, but that didn't prevent Derek and Gregg Yarrow, a pair of Long Island transplants from staking their culinary claim on Mirror Pond plaza. The brothers recently launched a joint venture that might just be the best rolling sausage fest in downtown Bend, apologies…
From the Ashes: Jukebot and Blowin Smoke
Last fall, a staple of Bend's live music scene for the past few years, El Dante, decided to call it quits. Those who saw El Dante probably remember their mostly jammy take on reggae, funk and positive-vibe rock bent on moving some asses on the dance floor. The six-piece outfit was kind of like an…
Blue Turtle Seduction: Back in Bend once again tonight
Blue Turtle Seduction won’t leave Bend alone. By our count, tonight’s free show at McMenamins Old St.
Our Picks for 2/17 – 2/25: PUSH Auction, Moonalice, The Toasters and more
Blackflowers Blacksun thursday 18 If you've never seen Greg Bryce, the man behind Blackflowers Blacksun, in action you should make it to this show, before Bryce heads back to Alaska where he works as a firefighter in the springs and summers. Along with his band, Bryce creates a jet engine worth of power with dirty…
News in Briefs: Politics, Public Lands and Playhouses
Innovation Theatre to Open Bend Playhouse With the fate of 2nd Street Theater still up in the air (although there are rumors of a potential buyer for the location,) there's some good news to be had in the local theater world with the announcement last week that Innovation Theatre Works will be opening a theater…
To Protect And Serve: Could more Wilderness be the answer for struggling rural economies?
The thing that strikes me first about the John Day River canyon in winter is the silence. With no whitewater or even riffles to speak of for long stretches, the river slips through the open canyon without so much as a ripple. It's a consuming quiet where only the dip of the oars punctuates the…
St. Charles Stands Up for Patients
Many people think the Catholic Church's position on contraception is Medieval. They're wrong – it's several centuries older than that. “Because of its divine institution for the propagation of man, the seed is not to be vainly ejaculated, nor is it to be damaged, nor is it to be wasted,” wrote Clement of Alexandria in…
The Wart On Terror: Pols and polls, Olympic greatness and NASCAR runs America
The author has been sent on the road to discover a lost country formerly known as America. He is reporting from the land of monsters and mythology, chillin' with Goliath and Paul Bunyan – “On Giants: or, Why We Want To Be small” – on assignment for Or-Bust.com and The Source Weekly. “The Majority of…
These Damned Olympics
Did you hear? A pack of polar bears escaped from the Greater Vancouver Zoo and have put the city, which is packed with tourists and foreign heads of state for the Olympic Games, on a code red bear watch? No, this didn't actually happen (not yet, at least) but this is the sort of news…
Goose Poop & Trojan Horses
While the city of Bend projects deficits of $21 million in their general fund over the next six years, they squander millions of dollars on Trojan Horses like their preposterous Urban Growth Expansion Plan (UGB) and the unmitigated disaster at Juniper Ridge (JR). Both of these projects contain tons of proverbial goose poop fresh from…
Letter of the Week: Cry, My Beloved Country
This week's letter comes from Phyllis Greenbach of Sunriver who adds her voice to the chorus of Americans wondering just what the Supreme Court was thinking when it lifted corporate campaign spending laws in the name of Free Speech. Thanks for the letter, Phyllis.
Firing Line: guns ablaze at the Maston
A year ago a father and son were mountain bike riding on the Maston trail when the father heard a bullet zing overhead. He braked to a halt and grabbed his son off his bike and both fell to the ground.
Lust List Was Limp
I must say I am quite unimpressed by “The Lust List” in the Love Issue. If that is really the best Central Oregon has to offer, we all need to quit life and move away. I can name hundreds of people that are hotter or just better than half of the winners of the survey.…
Dick Cheney, Again and Again…Why?
Ever since he got out of the office of vice-president of the United States, Dick Cheney has engaged into some of the rudest and ruthless campaign of criticism of the Obama administration. So consistent is the once reclusive and unapologetic Cheney that the sane part of the American electorate is left asking why? Why the…
Gay Marriage Gets its Day In Court
My Jan. 14 letter in The Source mentioned that equality for gays had never been tested in federal court. As is turns out, there's a case right now, which was filed in the interim between when I submitted my letter and when it was published. The case is Perry v. Schwarzenegger, which challenges Prop. 8,…
Firing Line: Guns Ablaze at the Maston
A year ago a father and son were mountain bike riding on the Maston trail when the father heard a bullet zing overhead. He braked to a halt and grabbed his son off his bike and both fell to the ground.
