Ascetic Junkies: Video from Saturday night’s show
On Saturday night, I was a bit torn between shows. Should I check out Jerry Joseph and the Jackmormons at the Annex or finally see what all the buzz is about with a Portland indie folk rock band called The Ascetic Junkies? Well, I thought I would do both — see the first set from…
Return of The Native: back in the land of Oz
Days after I was born, my parents took me from a San Francisco hospital home to Marin County where I spent my first eight years. When I mention that I'm a Marin native to a Bend friend named Sam, he invariably goes into a rant about that county north of San Francisco being the home…
And We Have Indoor Plumbing Too
According to Net Applications’ May 1 report, Bend ranks fifth in the nation in iPad ownership – a fact that seemed to completely flabbergast Philip Elmer-DeWitt of Fortune magazine. The five US market areas with the heaviest concentrations of iPads are, in descending order: San Francisco, CA; Grand Junction, CO; Santa Barbara, CA; Honolulu, HI,…
A Man with Mettle: The summer blockbuster season starts with a smile, thanks to Iron Man 2
Looking back, the summer of 2008 seems like a very different time to that we're living in today. The first Iron Man movie was released pre-recession, before Obama, at the tale end of eight long years of George W Bush. It came out just before The Dark Knight, a film that in comparison looks so…
Poll Sends Mixed Message on Spending and Taxes
Oregonians agree their state has a financial problem, but they don’t agree on what to do about it. In fact, some of their opinions contradict each other.
The Big Short: mystified and then some by Wall Street
I usually don’t read books that profile people like Bill Gates, Warren Buffet or some Arab potenate who is rich beyond believe. Nor do I dive into books about finance or Wall Street.
Video: Elliot wins Last Band Standing round 3, judges wildcard another band through
Boondocks Bar and Grill was once again packed for Last Band Standing last night as five more bands took the stage as their respective camps looked on (or slam danced on). At the end of the night, it was the well-groomed fans of pop rock band Elliot, that brought home the win.
The Colbert Report Takes on Bend’s Clothesline Lady in This Hilarious Segment
As if Bend hasn’t had enough weird news exposure lately with our mysterious “Jason Evers” and the bevy of other real-estate bizarreness, in addition to the counterfeit underwear ring that was recently exposed in town (OK, I made that one up), the clothesline lady was back in the national news last night in this segment…
Dudley Backs Arizona Immigration Law … We Think
Republican gubernatorial hopeful Chris Dudley thinks Oregon should consider adopting a draconian anti-immigration law like Arizona’s – or at least that’s what he seemed to be saying when he appeared on the Lars Larson show the other day. According to a transcript posted by Kari Chisholm on the Blue Oregon site, Larson asked Dudley whether…
Win Tickets to See the Ascetic Junkies on Saturday Night
For this week’s installment of our effort to continually give out “free stuff,” I have five spots on the will-call list for Saturday night’s show at the Silver Moon with Portland indie folk rockers The Ascetic Junkies, who are joined by local opening band Blackstrap. The band, which sports a poppy yet thoughtful sound by…
Owyhee Time: Hot springs, hoodoos and crappie jigs
I had just deplaned a 19-hour red-eye trek from Maui to Bend, saltwater in my hair, sunscreen in my eyes and sand between my toes. Kerie picked me up at the airport and we headed straight to 10 Barrel for a coffee porter. Halfway through our beers, she mentioned something about going to Hawaii for…
The Tortoiseshell Butterfly: Trust us, they're not monarchs
I have a good friend, Alex Weiss, who is a world-class builder, finish carpenter and poet with whom I share good feelings about the nature of our grand old planet Earth. He and I shared an evening together with Friends of the Sunriver Nature Center last week – Alex reading poetry about coyotes, me telling…
Tough as Dragon Scales: Noomi Rapace brings Lisbeth Salander and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo to life
When a wildly popular novel is adapted for the big screen, there are a few questions guaranteed to come up. For fans of the novel, they first want to know if the movie stays true to the story. Secondly, they are eager to know if the characters are as they imagined while reading the book.…
Dream On: Michael Bay continues to murder the classics with A Nightmare on Elm Street
Producer Michael Bay is on a murder spree. He is systematically slaughtering remakes of classic horror/slasher movies from the '70s and '80s, churning them out in slash-bang fashion. He has destroyed what was good about Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Last House on the Left, and Friday the Thirteenth and now, true to form, has lowered A…
Imagine Me Nude
Imagine me nude. Go ahead, I don't mind. But don't dink around! Really imagine it! Picture every contour, every vein, every floppy appendage of my stark-naked body. Got a good picture in your mind? Good. Now, in your imagination, is my nudeness wildly attractive? Do my taut, finely hewn muscles glisten and throb? Is my…
Cause a Commotion: Sometimes non-stop action is enough
My job is to mess things up. From the moment I parachuted onto the seething little South East Asian island nation of Panau, I've been causing trouble. I joined up with rebels as they seized a nuclear power plant. I jumped atop the white limousine of a politician as it sped down a snowy mountain.…
Blooming in Spring: Amalia's brings new flavor to downtown
As the buds of spring begin to bloom, Amalia's, the latest addition to the downtown Bend restaurant roster, offers an array of organically focused Mexican cuisine for lunch and dinner. With an emphasis on family-friendly dining by day, and a lounge with DJs spinning on weekend nights, Amalia's seems to have it all together. Chef…
Blooming in Spring: Amalia's brings new flavor to downtown
As the buds of spring begin to bloom, Amalia's, the latest addition to the downtown Bend restaurant roster, offers an array of organically focused Mexican cuisine for lunch and dinner. With an emphasis on family-friendly dining by day, and a lounge with DJs spinning on weekend nights, Amalia's seems to have it all together. Chef…
Them’s the Rules
I was recently out at a bar, which is a rare occasion, as I don't often go to what I consider the “flip side.” There is a reason for that, and it's typically because I feel like I am working without getting paid. Most recently, I was enjoying an evening out with a close friend,…
Mormons Just Want to Have Fun: Jerry Joseph and the Jackmormons might be a bit frustrated, but they still want to rock your ass off
“Here comes an ice cream truck,” says Jerry Joseph standing somewhere near 135th Street in Harlem, not far from his home. What can be heard over the phone doesn't sound like an ice cream truck, but more like police sirens. That's because they are police sirens, but Joseph thinks it's hilarious to let the gullible…
Joanna Newsom – Have One on Me
JOANNA NEWSOM Have One on Me
Every song is an opus, each opus a symphony. Every single track on Have One on Me, Joanna Newsom's third full-length record, is a drama, a tragedy – Newsom being the trilling one-woman Greek chorus behind it.
Where's Your Sexy Face? Boudoir photography isn't just sexy, it's empowering and sexy
Sometimes my job takes me to interesting places that I wouldn't otherwise go. I've been rock climbing, sat in a futuristic Japanese circulation machine and endured a traditional Native American sweat lodge. And a few weeks ago, I found myself in full stage makeup and underwear, surrounded by a dozen women, being photographed while lying…
Book Review: Beatrice and Virgil By Yann Martel
Beatrice and Virgil By Yann Martel Spiegel & Grau When boiled down, Beatrice and Virgil is a play within a semi-autobiographical novel within an extended metaphor. Oh, and it's basically about the Holocaust. Yann Martel's follow up to the wildly successful Life of Pi (which is half-assedly referenced in this book) is ultimately intriguing and…
Our Picks for 5/5 – 5/13: Last Band Standing, Central Oregon Hot Shots, First Friday, Casey Naill & The Norway Rats
Last Band Standing thursday 6 The local battle of the bands rages on this week with a rock-dominated lineup including Jones Road, Shades of Society, Tuck and Roll, Kousefly and Elliot. Come out and support one of these bands if you're a fan – or just come for the $2 Ninkasi beers. $5/door. 8pm. Boondock's…
Capital Gains and Political Games
Cutting the capital gains tax – or, better yet, eliminating it – has been a cherished goal of Republican politicians for decades. Now John Kitzhaber, the once and maybe future governor of Oregon, is embracing it – but with a twist.
The Devil You Know: Are appraisal brokerages the new real estate villain?
Securitized derivatives and interest-only loans notwithstanding, there's plenty of evidence that the collapse of the national and local housing market can be traced back to the foundation upon which all other assumptions relied – the actual value of the homes that were being bought and sold at a breakneck pace around Bend and other real…
Election Endorsements: Deschutes County
DeBone for Deschutes County Seat #1 At a recent candidate forum Tony DeBone didn't sound like much of a politician, fumbling to explain why as a citizen he was going to vote in favor of raising taxes for a new jail while running on a campaign of (read my lips) “no new taxes,” but we're…
The OLCC's Mystery Man
For critics of the Oregon Liquor Control Commission, Jason Evers – well, we suppose we should call him “John Doe” now – is the gift that keeps on giving. Evers/Doe is the former Bend regional manager of the OLCC who was exiled to Nyssa, a tiny town near the Idaho border, after behaving like a…
Oil Goes Boom: BP's big 'oops', stupid terrorists, a papal bailout and more!
The author has been sent on the road to discover a lost country formerly known as America. He is reporting from a quaint place called “Canada.” Seriously, there's another country up north full of good beer and money called “Looney's” (I'm not making this up) with millions of people coexisting rather amicably, on assignment for…
Arizona's Guns are Crossing the Border
The propagandists for Arizona's draconian anti-immigration law claim that illegals are terrorizing Arizona residents. Actually, the crime rate for illegals is lower than for the native born, but reality has never swayed a right-winger who wants to believe BS. Arizonans have a head-in-the-sand viewpoint when it comes to their virtually non-existent gun laws. Thousands of…
It's Called Teamwork
During these trying and often polarizing times, it is especially noteworthy when an entire community unites for a cause. With the recent headlines related to the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) and their former Bend regional manager, I find it appropriate to thank those people who led the effort to achieve positive change with the…
Reborn A Liberal
Being a conservative, I am ashamed by the findings of W. Lamberson, April 29, that found people of my ilk are responsible for food, water and medicine shortages on the planet. Then, worst of all, responsible for depleting the ozone layer, causing global warming and deforestation. What chumps! Being a conservative, it was required of…
Choke On This
The G String Stranglers are not a radio band, and never will be. We will never win a Last Band Standing corporate competition. That said, we had a blast doing that show. We did what we came to do, and that was kick the crap out of Boondocks, and Bend. We wanted to show people…
Radio Nights: a music education via the airwaves
When I was young, my family lived on the flanks of Cheyenne Mountain outside Colorado Springs, Colorado. My father would scan the horizon to the east and say, “on a clear day you can see Kansas from here.
