Bachelor Breaks Ground on Downhill Bike Park
Rob Cocquyt, www.chilledimages.com Coming soon. As we reported in April, Mt. Bachelor will soon be home to a new downhill mountain bike park. Yesterday, the project got underway yesterday. Gravity Logic, the same trail technicians that built Whistler’s famous features, is doing the work at Bachelor. Officials hope to have at least part of the…
Want to See Hopeless Jack and the Handsome Devil Smash Stuff?
Saturday, vagabond rockers Hopeless Jack and the Handsome Devil dropped their first music video, and it’s a doozy. Watch the boys smash a whole bunch of stuff (glass, Christmas ornaments, a wooden guitar, a TV) below. HJ&HD will be playing at Mead, Music and Motorcycles, the opening of Nectar of the Gods Meadery’s tasting room…
Tour de France Starts Tommorrow! Here’s Where and What to Watch.
VeloNews Watch Stage 9 on July 7. Four Cat. 1 climbs! Saturday, June 29 marks the beginning of the 100th edition of the Tour de France, one of the most grueling and beautiful sporting events in the world. But one that’s also been plagued by scandal and negative press. Ignore such “information!” Care not about…
Shake It Like a Polaroid Picture
This weekend has it all, warm weather, outdoor concerts, and a mid-summers abundance of food and drink. So grab a hat, slather on some sunscreen and shake it like a polaroid picture. FridayPortland indie rockers Blind Pilot headline Northwest Crossing Hullabaloo with rockers Jeff Crosby and the Refugees opening the show at 7pm. Local ska…
Friday Mixtape!
A Friday Mixtape from the music editor’s inbox…
LISTEN LOCAL: Isles recording live show Saturday
Locals boys Isles have a ‘can’t miss’ show coming up in Bend.
Up in the Air
It’s a contentious issue—whether or not a 2 percent room tax increase should be added to November ballots. The bed tax is paid by tourists—not locals—and, if approved, would change the rate from 9 to 11 percent. The tax would help fund the arts, emergency services and Bend’s tourism reach. Last week, after months of…
Bad News Bears
Newspapers in America are dying. That’s the common refrain—and it is backed up by numbers. Over the past five years, two dozen major daily newspapers have shuttered their productions, and an estimated 40 percent of print journalism jobs have been lost over the past decade. Case in point: Last week, The Oregonian announced it will…
One Day at a Time
MONDAY 17 Exciting news, kiddos! As we reported last week, we couldn’t give two shits whether Kim Kardashian and Kanye West’s baby was born or not…however, we DO care very deeply about what idiotic name they’ll bestow upon the unlucky little girl. And thus far? They refuse to officially release the name. But! We unofficially…
Letters 6/19 – 6/27
In reply to “Too Many Dogs in Too Many Places” (Opinion, 6/20) I am very much aware that Bend is a kid town. I have friends and family who have kids and for the most part we tolerate each other. I do not have a kid, nor do I want one. However, it is getting…
No Pain, No Gain
Kevin Larkin, Bend-Fort Rock District ranger, is asking community members for patience, understanding and that they “maintain the long view.” Last week, while addressing a comfortable City Club luncheon inside a St. Charles meeting hall, Larkin spoke honestly and earnestly about an uncomfortable subject: Larkin, and others who presented at the midweek event, explained how…
Zed’s Dead, Baby
Books and film are different mediums; what works in one rarely works in the other. Still, it’s hard to read "World War Z" by Max Brooks—Chronicler of the Undead, Son of Mel—and not see how a film version could’ve worked. Subtitled “An Oral History of the Zombie War,” Brooks’ post-apocalyptic survey profiles the war-weary survivors…
What Do We Want? Brains!
On the coattails of the release of what could be the biggest budget Hollywood-saturated zombie flick of all time (who better than a scruffy Brad Pitt to solve the world’s infectious crisis?), and the unbridled success of AMC’s zombie-centric drama-filled “The Walking Dead,” here are a few lighter love letters to zombies, each equally filled…
Stop Talking
Much like their first single—the beach-y sounding “Float” released in 2012—Santa Ana, Calif. brother duo Pacific Air’s debut album, Stop Talking, has instant appeal. Ten seconds into the opening track, “Lose My Mind,” the song takes off with big-time summertime pop. And even though the song revolves around the serious topic of mastering one’s chaotic…
Drinky McDrink
Aviation American Gin, 84 proof Forget the juniper-flavored ethyl alcohol most associated with mass-produced gins. Portland’s Aviation flies at a higher altitude. A dry gin, made by the Portland-based House Spirits, Aviation relies more on florals and savory notes—lavender, cardamom, anise, Indian sarsaparilla—rather than the traditional juniper berry; this means it is perfect alone, or…
Home Sweet Home
Austin, Texas: Live Music Capital of the World. At least that’s what Austin’s City Hall claims. Fiddle player and singer Carrie Rodriguez—who grew up there and moved back a couple of years ago after a stint in Brooklyn—agrees; it’s a special place. “I think in Brooklyn it’s virtually impossible to make a living out of…
Little Bites: Psst! Spare a Cup of Organic Honey?
One of this year’s new offerings to hosts this weekend’s 11th Annual Bite of Bend is Locavore Alley. No, this isn’t the place to buy black market morels. Located on Minnesota Avenue between Bond Street and the alley near Dudley’s, the Alley will feature 22 vendors of locally-produced food, including goat meat, jellies, oatcakes, allergen-free…
Harvesting Fruit Borne of Harsh Times
Sometimes it takes a messy life to make meaningful music. It would be hard to argue that folk singer John Prine doesn’t fit that bill. Though not one to suffer any of the self-inflicted and unnecessary difficulties typically associated with musicians—oh, say, the cliché alcohol or drug addiction—Prine has instead navigated the kind of trials…
Don’t Be Late to the Wedding Party
Meriel Darzen, a 30-year-old Bend attorney, is sitting behind her silver MacBook, finishing a business meeting with an older gentleman at Palate, a local coffee bar, when her partner, Kirsten Naito, walks in. Darzen introduces her partner as such—”This is my partner”—concludes the meeting and invites me to their table. Naito, also 30 and also…
Musical Opiate
Addiction is human nature. People return to the same pleasures over and over again. A favorite hiking trail, an enthralling novel or, in the case of Ryan Dobrowski (the drummer for Portland indie folk band Blind Pilot), a tasty food cart can hold sway over where we spend our time and our money. “Recently I’ve…
Summer Reads
Perhaps books about apocalyptic events don’t seem very summertime effervescent, or perhaps they are the just the proper counterweight to all the sunshine and living-is-easy. Three great novels (like seriously great, well-crafted works of art) for beach and hammock reading. “Highest Tide” Just as “To Kill A Mockingbird” was Southern Gothic, “High Tide” should be…
Out of Town 6/26 – 7/4
seattle Friday 28 Gender Blender As Central Oregon Pride rages on (our one-day event in Drake Park is really trying to be progressive! Hey, at least we have a Pride Day. Yeah, Klamath County, we’re looking at you!), our same-sex-marriage-supporting neighbors to the north will celebrate Seattle’s-own blown-out glitter-bombing pride festival. Events include the ever-fabulous…
Play Manuscripts Wanted
Attention undiscovered playwrights! 2nd Street Theater is now accepting 60 to 90 minute manuscripts for a new initiative aimed at uncovering local and national talent. A panel of local talent will judge the manuscripts, producing scenes from a select few to perform for local theatergoers. “Audiences will then have an opportunity to vote on which…
Bend’s Pearl District
Last month I found myself sipping on deliciously tart hard cider from the local Red Tank cider mill huddled under a cloth umbrella in the early evening drizzle. As two-man-band If BEARS were BEES played next to the blazing fire, I watched the steam rise from Dump City Dumpling’s wooden baskets of treats across the…
Our Picks 6/26 – 7/4
thursday 27 Presidents of the United States of America POP-PUNK—While “Peaches” and “Lump” (FUN FACT: videos for both songs were directed by Roman Coppola) make up the best-known entries in the sugarcoated grunge rockers’ catalog, the Presidents' repertoire spans six full-length albums. In the band's two-decade run, PUSA has performed for Bill Clinton, John Kerry…
Compromise Reached on Transient Room Tax
The contentious transient room tax issue was resolved moments before tonight’s scheduled town hall at Bend’s Municipal Court where both sides intended to continue the conversation on the proposed room tax-rate hike. Instead of jumping from 9 to 11 percent, as was suggested by Bend’s tourism agency and others, a compromise was found in 10.4…
