What In The World?
Support survivors in the Philippines: After one of the worst storms this century – a typhoon that has killed nearly 10,000 people – MercyCorps has been deploying resources to the worst hit sites. Start the week out with a contribution to help out. Mercy Corps in headquartered in Portland, and considered one of the most…
Friday Mixtape
A Winter Wellness workout Friday Mixtape!
Nature of Words on Bendsource.com
The 2013 Nature of Words Festival is in full swing with author readings tonight at the Tower Theatre from Lawson Inada, James Prosek, Karen Finneyfrock and Jim Lynch. Buy tickets for tonight’s event here! Check out our full coverage with author interviews here and on stands in this week’s Source (it’s the one with the…
What in the World?—Today’s News
Friday Nov. 8Our first in an ongoing blog series, What in the World? where we link you to all the morning’s most important and most ridiculous national and global news. Internationally…SUPER TYPHOON Haiyan has hit the Philippines in full force with winds up to 235 MPH and is being called the strongest storm ever. Obama’s…
RiverBend Brewing Co. Now Open for Business (the Beer is Good)
Impressive. Yesterday evening, we stopped in and had a few pints at one of Bend’s newest brewery’s, RiverBend Brewing Company, formerly Rivals on NE Division St. The old poker/sports pub, which reopened as a brewery on Thursday, has remodeled and retooled and now, with a 12-barrel brewing capacity across the parking lot, is cranking out…
City Councilor Jodie Barram to Run for County Commissioner
We just got word that Jodie Barram, who’s been a Bend city councilor since 2008 and is the current mayor pro tem, is running for Deschutes County Commissioner. Barram, a Central Oregon native and democrat, will oppose incumbent Tony DeBone in the May 20 primary. From the press release: “I’m running for Deschutes County Commissioner…
Beautiful Urban Downhill Biking
Cool downhill biking video.
Nature of Words Literary Festival Schedule
A schedule of the Nature of Words event.
An English Lit Six-Pack
Jazz music. Fishing. Seattle’s Space Needle and 1962 World Fair. Slam poetry. Six literary talents, each flowing to and from the power of words at very different angles; there is little to hold together the six poets and novelists who make up this year’s Nature of Words annual festival and fundraiser. But, taken together, as…
L-I-V-I-N
In addition to being an electrician and a part-time rodeo bull rider, Ron Woodroof was also a career partier—a thorough user of drugs and a prolific womanizer. When he contracted the AIDS virus in 1986, the disease was still, in the public’s eye, very much limited to the realm of gay men. Woodroof overcame not…
Ellen Waterston, Bend Author and NOW Founder, is as Busy as Ever
In 2001, Ellen Waterston (or, Ellie, as her friends call her) launched Nature of Words, a literary nonprofit in Bend. Although she’s since stepped aside to focus on other projects—like her recent verse novel, “Vía Làctea,” which is being released Nov. 15—Waterston remains committed to the organization's mission and continues to stay involved through various…
Gods and Monsters
The populace has been indoctrinated. Now that Marvel and its corporate overlords at Disney can safely assume that every sentient creature on Earth is familiar with each of the Avengers, here’s Thor: The Dark World, coming just five months after Iron Man 3. Even if there are any pop cultural holdouts—no doubt they’re cold and…
Lawson Inada’s Poetry Explores the Intersections of Music, Culture and Community
Internment camps and jazz. Seemingly unrelated, these two American institutions are former Oregon Poet Laureate Lawson Inada’s primary influences—and, when passed through the filter of the now Southern Oregon University professor’s poetry and prose, their seemingly disparate relationship becomes clear. Inada was only four years old when his family began living in the World War…
Veteran Verses
Rod Napier is a Vietnam vet. He stands at the front of a small group, his white beard shaking with the rhythm as he strums a 12-bar blues song on his guitar with novice, but full hearted, accuracy. “Oh, Vietnam, what did you do to me?,” he sings. “You took my youth away from me.”…
Emily Carr's Poetry is From the Heart, But Not for the Faint of Heart
Emily Carr calls herself an “ecofeminist love poet,” which she details as addressing the “problems of…unposted love letters, cannibal chickens and a ship too late to save the drowning witch.” “The Damsel is (still) in distress,” she explains. Only in her mid-30s, Carr already has published a series of books of poetry—smart, beautiful and image-laden…
Rock Endurance
With only one founding member remaining, L.A. boogie band Little Feat has somehow survived—and actually thrived—for nearly 45 years. Today, the band's music sounds almost nothing like the classic rock initiated by legendary songwriter and guitarist Lowell George when he and his buddy Bill Payne—who is still with the band—formed Little Feat in 1969, after…
Fishing for Answers
James Prosek is a Yale graduate, author, naturalist and artist. But more than anything, the 38-year-old Connecticutian is a fishing fanatic. He has penned six books about fish, and even wrote and co-produced an award-winning fishing documentary for ESPN. Prosek, it seems, is on track to be New England’s version of the Pacific Northwest’s David…
Out of Town 11/6 – 11/14
portland friday 8 Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks Front man of Pavement, one of the most influential bands to emerge from indie-ist of indie ’90s lo-fiers, Stephen Malkmus has been praised as a genius by more music critics than just about anyone. This one-off show is a rare opportunity to see The Jicks in the…
Karen Finneyfrock’s Poetry and Young Adult Fiction Tell Angsty Stories
“At fourteen I turned Dark. Now, I’m Celia the Dark,” proclaims the first line of Karen Finneyfrock’s "The Sweet Revenge of Celia Door," like a high school battle cry. The line foreshadows the dark and boiling coming of age story that follows, the young adult version of gothic literature, combining romance and friendship with the…
Author Jim Lynch’s Literature is Equally at Home in Rural and Urban Washington
In 2005, former journalist Jim Lynch wrote his first novel, "The Highest Tide." It is a charming book; set in Puget Sound, the story follows a budding teen, Miles O’Malley, who idolizes conservationist Rachel Carson and often takes late-night walks along the beach. Although trouble is brewing—domestic drama at his parents’ house; hints about a…
Sequins and Stilettos
RuPaul is arguably the best-known drag queen in the United States, which is to say he is probably the only female impersonator the average American can name. That, however, is slowly changing: Starting in 2009, RuPaul has hosted his Logo reality TV show Drag Race, a sort of America’s Next Top Model for drag performers.…
Our Picks 11/5 – 11/13
thursday 7-sunday 10 Nature of Words Festival LITERATURE—Pulling together his family’s history as Japanese-Americans—including years spent in an interment camp—with a budding love for jazz music, Lawson Inada is a remarkable, and distinctly American, poet. Today, he headlines the annual Nature of Words Festival. (For more information, see pg. 33.) For full event schedule see…
A River Runs Through It?
Early last week, in order to get a good look at the leaking Newport Avenue Dam, Pacific Power, the utility company that owns the structure, drew down the already-low water levels of Mirror Pond (or, do we now call the water adjacent to Drake Park the Deschutes River?). The reason for lowering water levels even…
Just Get on the Bus, Gus!
Jeff Monson, Executive Director for Commute Options, has a vision for Oregon State University’s soon to be expanded Cascades Campus: A student approaches campus from a winding trail, hops off her bicycle and locks it up at a covered rack. She is joined by classmates who have walked from their dorms or neighborhood apartments, and…
Winter Wellness
Don’t fall for the hype! Some common health maxims hold up, others don’t. Read on to find out how to stay healthy this winter. Claim: Kombucha is good for you. If you know anyone who does their shopping at Whole Foods, you’ve surely been assured of the health benefits of kombucha, a fermented tea drink…
Transient Room Tax: A Beginning, Not An Ending
On Tuesday, voters wisely approved two tax-the-tourists measures that will, in theory, bring even more tourist dollars to the region. Measure 9-94 will ratchet up the transient room tax (TRT) in the City of Bend from 9 to 10.4 percent; and, in the process (and based on current residence rates), pull in roughly $450,000 in…
Breaking into the Big League
Last week, Ian Boswell was, by his own admission, “dying.” At 6 feet tall and 155 pounds, the lanky 22-year-old Bend native is one of America’s best road cyclists. Last month, Boswell wrapped up his first professional race season with Team Sky, a British cycling squad widely regarded as the best in the world (the…
Last Call for Liquid
After months of tight restrictions and alleged bullying from Oregon Liquor Control Commission officials, Liquid Lounge & Club, a popular Bend nightclub, has closed its doors indefinitely. Liquid General Manager Tim Long says he was doomed from the outset, and finally forced to shut down last Wednesday after the OLCC revoked the club’s liquor license.…
Pie in the Sky
On Monday, the Source hosts its Pie-Off. We have been collecting pie recipes from friends and readers, and on Monday evening will present the three winning recipes—and our judges, food critic Lisa Glickman and a surprise local chef, will determine the GREATEST (HOMEMADE) PIE IN CENTRAL OREGON. (7 pm, Broken Top Bottle Shop, free.) In…
One Day at a Time
MONDAY 28 Yesterday, Chris Brown was in jail on a felony assault charge, and the world was once again a beautiful place where rose petals fall from the sky. Today, it’s raining shit—because not only has his felony charge been knocked down to a misdemeanor, it looks like the abusive Mr. Teflon is going to…
Home of the Aluminum Bottle
Can or bottle? In the ongoing contest as to which brewery can produce the best-looking, most appropriate vessel for its beer, Portland’s Base Camp Brewing Company has made an interesting new entry. Neither a can nor a bottle, the now one-year-old, adventure-themed brewery offers its beers in 22-ounce aluminum cans that are shaped like bottles…
Letters 10/30 – 11/7
In reply to “Bond, Park Bond,” (News 10/31) While an ice rink would be nice, what would be better is another swimming pool and exercise facility similar to the Juniper park facility for the west side of town. One swimming/exercise facility for a town this size is ridiculous and does nothing to help with the…
City Council Votes 4-3 to Move Forward with Membrane Filtration
This drawing, from a past City Council presentation on water treatment options, accurately portrays the flow of tonight’s meeting. After a lengthy debate on whether to use ultraviolet lights or membranes to filter Bend’s surface water, the City Council voted 4-3 in favor of moving forward with the stalled membrane option, effectively putting to rest…
