Video From the Bite of Bend Stage: Rubblebucket and March Fourth Marching Band
OK, I’m a little late on this, but there are some things people need to know about last weekend: 1) The Saturday lineup for the Bite of Bend was some of the best festival music we’ve ever had in this town. 2) When it’s rained for three straight weeks and finally gets sunny, people in…
Farewell Funk: summer arrives to save sagging spirits
It happened without much fanfare. Early last week people were still grumbling about the extended winter/spring weather and then it changed for the better overnight.
The Downtown “Fest” Season Strikes Again
It’s finally summer in Bend, and right on schedule downtown merchant and blogger extraordinaire Duncan McGeary has posted his first rant of the season against downtown street closings. Well, it isn’t a rant, actually – more like a mild sigh of protest.
Whooping Cough and the Anti-Vaccine Wackos
The epidemic of whooping cough that already has infected more than 900 people in California and killed at least five infants appears to be spreading into Oregon. The Medford Mail Tribune reported yesterday that Jackson County has recorded 23 cases of the disease so far this year – roughly four times the usual number for…
Last Band Standing Finals are Set: Empty Space Orchestra and Klever Kill advance
Inside the packed and sweaty — I mean “summery” — Boondocks Bar and Grill last night, two more bands punched their tickets for an appearance in the finals of Last Band Standing. Well-known space-prog-rockers Empty Space Orchestra and the crunchy metalistas of Klever Kill, will both appear in the final round of Last Band Standing,…
Weltmeisterschaft: Watching too much “fussball” on television
The e-mail read: “please don't schedule anything between 1 and 4 p.m.
Stephanie Schneiderman at McMenamins Old St. Francis School Wednesday Night – Video
For those of you who didn’t make it down to McMenamins last night for their weekly free music series, here’s your chance to check out some video of the insanely awesome Stephanie Schneiderman. Her song “Oxygen”, which we caught on video below, was recently featured during a steamy hot tub scene on the Oxygen Network’s…
Clear Summer Nights Lineup Released: Robert Randolph and the Family Band is coming to Bend!
The lineup for the annual Clear Summer Nights concert series at the Athletic Club of Bend has been released, and it’s strong to quite strong (STQS), including a show by pedal-steel guitar gospel prodigy turned rock and roll hero Robert Randolph and the Family Band on August 15. Randolph, who just released his new record,…
Dudley “Scandal” Doesn't Hold Water
Not to be outdone by the Oregon Catalyst’s John Kitzhaber “scandal,” Carla Axtman of the liberal/Democratic Blue Oregon blog has come up with a “scandal” involving Kitzhaber’s Republican opponent, Chris Dudley. If anything, Axtman’s entry is even lamer than the Oregon Catalyst’s.
Ready to Roll: The Renegade Roller Girls have a new banked track, and it's time to take them seriously
For 30 seconds, I was a roller derby girl. That's the amount of time I managed to stay upright on the track before falling on my face. Girls whizzed past me while a senior derby member, and leader of the practice, tried to guide me as my arms flailed and I reached out for something…
The Art of the Cart: Vendors “corner” ethnic lunches in Bend
A recent surge in gourmet street food vendors has added welcomed diversity to Bend's vibrant casual dining scene. Local food vendors include former chefs who have tired of the restaurant scene, but can't give up their love affair with good food. For others, a food cart is a means to start a small business and…
The Bite of Bend Preview Top Chefs, locals-only tent, mix masters and a boozy race for glory
This weekend, downtown will turn into a food and booze extravaganza known as the Bite of Bend. As the Source Weekly is one of the esteemed sponsors, we thought we'd bring you our must-eat-and-drink picks for the festival.
Free the Dogs!:One pooch's thoughts on off-leash laws in national forests
Woof! Sprocket here. Every Monday morning for the past two years, my mom has typed up a column for the Source. You know, she does a pretty good job of bringing home the Milkbones, so I thought I'd help out this week. I'm an Australian shepherd, so my grammar and syntax are in the 99sprocket…
Hummingbird Health: Believe it or not, those fast flyers don't need red food coloring
The hummingbirds that spend summer with us are returning, and with them returns the dilemma over whether or not red food coloring is harmful to them. The bottom line of this argument can be summed up best by stating: “It doesn't do them any good, so why use it and take the chance that it…
Riding the Buzz: Rubblebucket's seven-man, one-woman afrobeat, indie rock party
Alex Toth, the trumpet player and bandleader of Rubblebucket, is riding in a van somewhere in Iowa on his way to Nevada while the rest of his Brooklyn-based octet is in Vermont – the band's other home – playing at a hot air balloon festival. It's one of the only times Toth has ever missed…
Hexed: Damned from the start, Jonah Hex never lives up to its potential
It all made sense during Jonah Hex's ending credits that this PG-13 tease had Neveldine & Taylor (responsible for Crank) written all over it. But then it made even more sense to find out they dropped out and whoever took over left the good ideas on the cutting room floor. Based on the DC comic…
Playing it Safe: Pixar once again puts Woody and friends in peril for the third installment of Toy Story
There's a palpable weariness in the movie theater as the latest addition to the Toy Story franchise draws to a close and it's not just because of the struggle with young children who got bored after the first sighting of the familiar gang. The film's conclusion suggests further stories and frankly, the whole if-toys-could-talk routine…
The Art of the Cart: Vendors “corner” ethnic lunches in Bend
A recent surge in gourmet street food vendors has added welcomed diversity to Bend's vibrant casual dining scene. Local food vendors include former chefs who have tired of the restaurant scene, but can't give up their love affair with good food. For others, a food cart is a means to start a small business and…
Little Bites: The Bite of Bend Preview Top Chefs, locals-only tent, mix masters and a boozy race for glory
This weekend, downtown will turn into a food and booze extravaganza known as the Bite of Bend. As the Source Weekly is one of the esteemed sponsors, we thought we'd bring you our must-eat-and-drink picks for the festival.
Celebrate Steve Earle Day
Steve Earle coming to Bend is one of the coolest, most intriguing bookings we've seen at the Tower Theatre (PDXchange not included) this year and that's probably why the show is sold out and has been for a while. While there are almost 500 ticket holders who know plenty about Steve Earle and understand why…
Our Picks for 6/23 – 7-1: Show Us Your Spokes, USA Cycling Road Racing National Championships Block Party, Steve Earl, Bite of Bend and more
Last Band Standing thursday 24 Round two of the semi-finals continues this week with performances by Klever Kill, Blackstrap, Tall as Rasputin, Absofreakenlutly, Eric Tollefson and the World's Greatest Lovers and Empty Space Orchestra. Top two vote getters go on to the finals! $3/adv, $5/door. 8pm. Boondock's Bar and Grill, 70 NW Greenwood Ave.
Show…
Cash Cow: City says hotel owners have been improperly helping themselves to room taxes
It's a truism that nobody likes paying taxes. So last year when the city of Bend staff proposed to eliminate a loophole in the city's room tax rules that allowed hotels to take a meal credit deduction, several Bend hotels predictably objected. Leading the charge was local hotelier Wayne Purcell, an influential businessman whose family…
The Pharmacy Board and the Demon Weed
George Washington grew it, Shakespeare might have smoked it, and its use in medicine dates back some 5,000 years. But until last week, the State of Oregon regarded it as a dangerous drug in the same category as heroin and LSD. Bowing to scientific evidence and common sense, the state Board of Pharmacy voted to…
The Chamber's “Donation”
Like a lot of Bend businesses, we belong to the local chamber of commerce – you know the one “The Bend Chamber of Commerce, Make You A Promise… We're Taking Care of Business… Yeah, We're Taking Care of…” But we digress. And like a lot of businesses, we often find ourselves scratching our heads at…
Toking the High Road McChrystal vs. Obama, stupid bombers, and more medical pot
The author has been sent on the road to discover a lost country formerly known as America. He is reporting from a gray, rainy place known as Portland where boys wear tight pants and girls very little, wondering why booze is so much cheaper here than in Bend, on assignment for Or-Bust.com and the Source…
The Kindness of Strangers
Recently my five-year-old daughter and I rode our bikes to Ray's to do some grocery shopping. On our way out of the store, she fell down and stood standing in the parking lot crying and not wanting to ride home.
Road Cycling Nationals Championships to Increase Tourism
Dear Residents of Bend, From June 22-27, Bend will once again be hosting the USA Junior, U23 & Elite Road Cycling National Championships and the USA Paracycling National Championships. Similar to last year, this event will bring more than 2,500 visitors to Bend from every state in the country and will generate nearly $1.5 million…
Hold Hotels Accountable For Room Taxes
I am writing in response to the front page story in The Bulletin on June 17 regarding Wayne Purcell and Brett Evert charging their hotel guests tax and keeping the tax revenue as additional profit. Put simply, this is stealing and it is indefensible. Taxes that are charged to tourists staying in hotels are supposed…
The Saturday Morning Shenanigan Locomotive
There's crap for TV this week – unless, like me, you've got a cop fetish. If so, then you may want to check out the premiere of Rookie Blue (ABC, Thurs June 24, 9 pm), which involves an impossibly hot group of rookie cops trying to survive their first days patrolling the streets. The upside?…
