Friday Mixtape: Unplugged Songs
By Josh Gross I recently watched the HBO documentary on Kurt Cobain, Montage of Heck. It’s a well-made film, offering a noisy, impressionistic window into the head of a complicated artist. But one of the things it points out is how important Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged album was, as it showed their songs had reach beyond just…
It’s Getting Hotter Here
It is still unknown whether the two fires that sparked a massive forest fire just west of Bend were set intentionally or accidentally, but a year ago, fueled by dry wood, those two small fires quickly spread and eventually combined as the Two Bulls Fire. For a week, flames raced over 7,000 acres—a space equivalent…
Of This Time, Of That Place
JD McPherson may not be a household name yet, but his music is eminently familiar. In one guitar power chord of, oh say, “Fire Bug” or “North Side Gal”—probably the closest that the Oklahoma-born-and-bred musician has to hit singles—it sounds distinctly from one specific time and place in musical history—like Buddy Holly or Little Richard—but…
Public Spaces
Since last year, the Bend-La Pine School District has tried to find someone to purchase Troy Field, a one-acre spread of lawn downtown. Adjacent to McMenamin’s Old St. Francis and caddy-corner from City Hall, the space has long been an ad hoc public space, with pickup soccer and baseball games, and serving as an informal…
Letters 5/12-5/19
IN REPLY TO: “ROBBING THE PRINCE TO PAY THE PAUPER” (5/13) While I agree with the editors that it would be great to allocate funds from the Hotel Tax for other purposes, under state law 70 percent of hotel tax revenue must be applied towards tourist related advertising or infrastructure. Currently the remaining 30 percent…
Whatever, Mom
Adaptive. I can’t think of a better word to describe a mother’s role. From the time her belly starts to show to the day her child leaves the nest, a mother is constantly adjusting to new conditions—always molding to her (and her little one’s) environment. Take the attachment theory, for example. For those first few…
Smoke Signals 5/20-5/27
The legalization of recreational weed in Oregon brings about many changes, at least one of which is hard to celebrate. Police dogs are losing their jobs in states where pot is now legal, in large part because their ability to sniff out weed can now invalidate any arrest made where marijuana is present among other…
Know Your Goat
Moroccan barbecued goat, grilled goat sirloin kebab, and braised goat au jus are just some of the ruminant delights offered at the Meet Your Farmer Dinner hosted by Joolz Restaurant and White Diamond Ranch this Thursday. Organized by Central Oregon Locavore, the Meet Your Farmer Dinner Series partners local farms and chefs to create a…
Decemberists, Just “Normal” Oregonians
In February 2011, The Decemberists’ sixth studio album The King Is Dead debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart, crowning a familiar list of pop darlings including Katy Perry and Taylor Swift. It was a rare moment that saw a band that’s never been afraid to be themselves (no matter how theatrical or…
Beer Week: The Strategy Guide
Not to alarm you, but in addition to everything else taking place over Memorial Day weekend, Central Oregon Beer Week kicks off on Friday and proceeds for the next week-plus. A 10-day beer week? Well, why not? (And, if you actually attempt to hit up all the events taking place across the region’s breweries and…
Top Gear
Warm air, infrequent rain, and wispy yellow clouds of Juniper pollen have officially ushered in a new spring and soon-to-be summer season. Long gone are the days of waiting for and ultimately never getting snow, and welcome are the dusty and sun-stroked mornings, noon and nights of another trail-shredding, berm-busting mountain biking season. Over the…
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
In 1980, Sam Shepard debuted True West in San Francisco. Although probably not apparent to him at the time, this was the sweet spot of his career: A year earlier, he had won the Pulitzer Prize for Buried Child, a stage production that catapulted the young playwright into fame; and, in 1983, three years after…
Go Here 5/20-5/27
Because this is Bend, there is an actual organization dedicated to the your-peanut butter-fell-in-my-chocolate style serendipity that blends place-based education and craft beer. Behold: Beers Made By Walking, and you can be a part of it. BMBW has teamed up with the good folks at Oregon Natural Desert Association to organize a series of free…
Source Suggests 5/20-5/27
Voodoo Highway Locals recognize Voodoo Highway vocalist Stacie Johnson from her other gig as the leader of Broken Down Guitars. She brings her rich, layered vocals to Voodoo Highway’s edgy, rock sound, creating a vibrant dynamic. Guitarist and vocalist David Miller has also been around the local Bend music scene as a member of Kleverkill.…
Pity the Poor Sage-Grouse
For the last four years, my wife Sue and I have been bouncing all over parts of Deschutes, Lake, and Harney Counties searching for golden eagle nesting territories. Among the sites we’ve found throughout the Great Sandy Desert are hundreds of square miles of land cleared of sagebrush where cows are chomping their way through…
Film Events 5/20-5/27
Antony & Cleopatra Following the success of other world-class stage productions—and, well, of the boxing industry—live streaming productions, Canadian-based Stratford Festival is multi-streaming a thunderous, three-hour production about fated lovers. 7 pm. Thursday, May 21. Old Mill. $18. Pre’s People Steve Prefontaine was a rock star—a rock star for long distance runners and for small…
Out of Town 5/20-5/27
grants pass thursday 21 – monday 25 Boatnik For over 50 years, Grants Pass has thrown the biggest Memorial Day party in the Rogue Valley. The main event is the Memorial Day Hydroplane Boat Race, where the loudest boats you have ever heard scream down the usually serene Rogue River at breakneck speeds vying for…
Picks 5/20-5/27
thursday 21 Q&A with Ian Boswell MEET & GREET—Hometown hero Ian Boswell, a professional road cyclist in his third year with Team Sky, is preparing to lead his first major stage race, the Amgen Tour of California. Cheer him on while learning about life on the road for this young, rising star. Or, ask him…
Not Where, But How You Get There
It’s become popular to focus on the “journey” rather than the “destination.” And yet, most journeys do reach a conclusion. Less discussed is what happens when you arrive. For Thousands of Miles (FTOM) explores the emotional impact of an arduous and solitary cross-country bike ride, and one man’s struggle to reckon with the after-journey. Inspired…
Leading by Example
Walking down Franklin Avenue toward Drake Park, Chuck Arnold stops mid-stroll to pick up a scrap of paper littering the sidewalk. Affable, with an easy smile and a good-naturedly goofy sense of humor, Arnold has spent much of his nine years as executive director of the Downtown Bend Business Association tending to these easily forgotten…
The Essential Jenny Lewis
When I start talking about my love for Jenny Lewis, some of my lesser musically inclined friends say, “Oh, that girl from Troop Beverly Hills?” While, yes, the creative storyteller did get her start as a child star, she’s gone on to make a huge impact on indie rock and folk music. From her days…
Side Notes 5/20-5/27
In the growing trend of big water users giving back to water-related causes, Deschutes Brewery and Columbia Distributing recently donated $16,600 from last month’s Beer Machines Party in Portland to Salmon-Safe, a nonprofit focused on restoring salmon watersheds in the Pacific Northwest. But it’s not the first time Deschutes has shown up for salmon. It…
