Some Real Political Flip-Flopping
Fortunately, most days on the campaign trail aren't as rough for Jeff Merkley as Thursday was.
Rick Metsger Stumps Into Town
State Sen. Rick Metsger, one of four Democrats trying to win their party's nomination for Oregon secretary of state, dropped in at the Source office this morning for a chat, and The EYE was left wondering: "Why should we be electing anybody to this job?"
The Dirty Words: Live and Direct!
The Dirty Words, Bend’s indie, experimental rock squad dropped off a video of their show at the Silver Moon a few weeks back. Take a look.
City Beat: Burning and Dams
Still Burnin’?
Just two months ago, it looked like the Bend City Council was moving full speed ahead to ban all open burning within city limits in an effort to clean up the city's air, but now it appears that a complete ban on burning yard waste and other debris isn't in the cards. At…
Something for the Masses: BioWare’s new offering pushes the RPG envelope with “Mass Effect”
Bio-Ware returns to the role-playing format with the excellent “Mass Effect.” When BioWare made "Star Wars: Knights of the Republic" and "Jade" for the original Xbox system, they made a lot of gamers happy. They put some time and effort into it, and the result was great RPG storytelling that made Microsoft a major "player"…
A Super Letdown: Green Bay folds in OT, Lynchgate lurches on and more!
Why can’t this Pac Man get eaten by a ghost?18 AND ARIZONA How good is New England? Well, Tom Brady throws three interceptions, Randy Moss is barely a mention in the game and yet the Patriots efficiently dismantle the San Diego Chargers, 21-12 in the AFC championship game. Kevin Faulk catches eight passes, Laurence Maroney…
Our Spider Friends: Making friends with your eight-legged visitors
I just finished reading a short story about a firefly and a spider by Bruce Sterling in his paperback, Visionary in Residence, that is just too good to keep to myself. For all my dear friends who read my column and jump out of their skin when confronted by a spider speeding across the floor…
Fairy Meadows: The ultimate in backcountry skiing adventure
Living the high life at Pioneer Peack in B.C.If I could look into a crystal ball filled with a snowman and snow flurries abounding after a good shake and dream up the perfect backcountry skiing adventure, it would contain the following: fly into a backcountry hut with several psyched powder lovers, ski all day -…
Overrated: Films that the MPAA doesn’t want you to see
In September of 2007, Ang Lee (director of Brokeback Mountain, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and many more) was saddled with the NC-17 rating by the Motion Picture Association of America's censors on his movie, Lust, Caution. The rating is the kiss of death at the box-office. No matter what reviewers say, the large ticket-buying population…
The Late Ones: Two siblings care for the father who never did
Nothing like a good ol’ fashioned awkward moment…The Savages, the title of which refers to the characters' names as well as their predicament, is not, as luck would have it, another bleak film about people behaving badly. It can't avoid being a grim picture in places, what with its subject matter – the death of…
A Case of the Shakes: Cloverfield offers a refreshingly fresh take on monster genre
Just one of the dizzying moments in Cloverfield.After many months of prerelease hype and viral marketing, audiences are finally getting a look at Cloverfield - a scary, very shaky (physically, not technically) disaster movie whose effect is often distressingly real. So real, that some folks I saw it with seemed ready to vomit. The premise…
Soothing Beverage Choices: Sipping it up at Townshend’s Tea
A spot of milk with your tea at Townshend’s, Bend’s new downtown teahouse.As the menu at Townshend’s Tea Company states, tea has been relegated second-class status in the States. Ever since rogue colonists tossed their British rulers’ supply overboard into Boston harbor, tea has taken a back seat to the more pungent, and stimulating, coffee…
Soothing Beverage Choices: Sipping it up at Townshend’s Tea
A spot of milk with your tea at Townshend’s, Bend’s new downtown teahouse.As the menu at Townshend's Tea Company states, tea has been relegated second-class status in the States. Ever since rogue colonists tossed their British rulers' supply overboard into Boston harbor, tea has taken a back seat to the more pungent, and stimulating, coffee…
Sad vs. Happy: Local songwriters explore the dark and light sides of the musical force
Laurel Brauns Closed for the Season ★★★1/2 out of 5 stars It's remarkably appropriate that the cover of Bend-based singer-songwriter Laurel Brauns' latest album is black and white (mostly black). The cover photo is a moody, monochromatic shot of a wet-haired, shirtless young boy standing outdoors. He looks cold, and he's holding an earthworm awkwardly…
Welcome to Reggaetown, Oregon: Three reggae shows in two days – seriously?
Soldiers of Jah Army, honorary mayors of Reggaetown.We've pounded it into these pages more than enough in the past six months, and a sincere apology to all if this seems like a message from the Department of Redundancy Department, but … what is up with all the friggin' reggae going down in this town? At…
Sacred Steel: The guitar gospel, according to the Campbell Brothers
Keeping the steel in the family.In a weird way, it's accurate to call the Campbell Brothers "church music," because, technically they play their tunes in a church, just as they've been doing since they were kids. But this isn't the church music of organs, autoharps and white-haired women singing falsetto with one hand raised, leading…
Revving Up the Slime Machine
Republicans in Clark County, WA turned a deeper shade of red after MSNBC commentator Keith Olbermann exposed them for posting a pack of lies about Barack Obama on their website.
Eccentric Artist of the 64 Squares
You have to be a little crazy to be passionate about chess. Spending endless hours memorizing variations of the Nimzo-Indian Defense and more endless hours moving little pieces of wood around on a board isn't a pursuit for the completely rational. Bobby Fischer, one of the greatest players of all time and considered by many…
Paper Ballots or Vapor Ballots
The surprising results of the New Hampshire primary have conjured up the same questions that arose following the victories of Bush the Younger in the past two elections. Who really won The big question revolves around the use of Diebold electronic vote counting machines, which can be easily manipulated and leave no paper trail. Hillary…
Juniper Ridge Alphabet Soup
Burned once with MOUs, shame on Bend; burned twice, shame on us! Our city quickly turns MOUs (memos of understanding) into IOUs worth millions of taxpayer money to the beneficiary while we're left "holding the bag."
Is the Park District planning to sue Bend for nonperformance like everyone else? Or has the Park District accurately…
The Virus of Hate
If someone were to do something utterly vile to a dear loved one, our natural reaction would be to take out the same action upon them, right? We become so full of hate and violence, which makes us no better than the perpetrator. But we have to think about what caused them to do something…
Protect Our Westside Fairyland
Where I live, I look outside and see what I would describe as a fairy-tale castle scene. From the lush, plentiful trees, to the abundance of nature that buzzes around, it is a fantasy land - one that I would choose to live in if I could choose nearly any place in the world. But…
A Wise Vote on Measure 49
I am a third-generation Oregonian. I cannot even begin to express the joy I felt with the passing of Measure 49. I felt as if humanity, in a sense, had redeemed themselves. Oregon has been able to hold on to her beauty for so long. It has been so distressing to watch this great land…
Westlund Has Lenders in His Sights
State Sen. Ben Westlund says he plans to spend the legislature's brief emergency session next month pushing a bill to clean up the home lending business.
Paid Kindergarten
Imagine a public school system in which parents have to pay extra if they want their kids to have up-to-date textbooks instead of 20-year-old ones. Or if they want them to learn algebra and geometry instead of stopping with addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.
The Feud at the Seventh Mountain: Condo owners, prominent Oregon family fight over repairs to Inn
The venerable Inn of the Seventh Mountain on the road to Mt. Bachelor has been through a lot in its 35-year life, and it shows. The dark wood siding on its condos is weathered and deteriorating. Roofs leak. Uninsulated water pipes freeze.
Sound Check MP3s: Laurel Brauns and Canaan Canaan
Here are some free, full-length MP3s from the Laurel Brauns and Canaan Canaan albums we reviewed in this week’s mysteriously magical Sound Check column. We won’t even make you click through to get ’em.
