

Inside Bill Sizemore’s Brain
Plenty of celebrities have their own fan sites on the Web, but damn few have their own ANTI-fan sites. And now Bill Sizemore has joined that distinguished company.
Crunch Time for Transit: Citizens Step to the Plate to Pinch Hit for BAT
Getting out the voteIt’s 9:24 a.m. and Bend Area Transit (BAT) bus number three buzzes along its route through the city’s south side, picking up passengers headed for destinations as diverse as its individual riders, when Annis Henson, seated in the second row, starts speaking out about voter registration and the November election.
Henson gripsโฆ
The Bailout: Smith’s Risky Move
Locked in a tight race with Jeff Merkley, Gordon Smith made a gutsy - and risky - move yesterday in voting for the $700 billion Wall Street bailout bill in the Senate.
You Get Tubed: The best of Bend’s YouTube submissions
As promised, here are the videos featured in the "You Get Tubed" story from this week’s special film issue.
Don’t Forget the Hunters
Thank you for the "Wild Things" issue. I'd like to put in a word for another much-maligned predator: Me. Like the coyote, I hunt too, and I'm fighting a bad public image. People accuse me of being unethical. They say I kill for sport. They embrace nature and try to prevent me from having aโฆ
Make A Joyful Bosom Affair: One woman’s birthday gift is another’s force majeure
“A woman needs a man,” by Kristin ProvostLenora James was in a pickle. This last May, the Bend woman forgot to send a birthday gift to a friend celebrating her "Happy Boobday." James, inspired by the breast theme, applied paint to her breasts and imprinted them on a blank canvas
She soon realized this wasโฆ
Doing the Thing Right: Spike Lee scores with epic saga
Is that a head you got there?You gotta hand it to Spike Lee. He's willing to take risks. With Miracle at St Anna, the risk is a larger-than-life mainstream war movie that tries to hold onto his visionary/radical/art-house/civil rights themes From the first scene of an ex-Buffalo soldier watching The Longest Day with John Wayneโฆ
A Wild Ride: Eagle Eye delivers adrenalized action
Run shia, run.Even if you normally pick up a double Americano on the way to the movies, I would advise against it if your destination is Eagle Eye. You may find yourself on your back with electric paddles on your chest and a medic screaming, "Clear!" This movie is one all-out-Space Mountain-on-acid-thrill ride where youโฆ
Festival Season Will Never Die!
Step into the barn at the Outback Music Festival.There's a good chance you already packed up all your summer music festival gear…the folding chairs, the tent, the bug spray and even the sequined cape and matching mask. You sealed all of these away for next summer, when you'll reemerge from your winter cocoon come Memorialโฆ
Weekend Rally: Getting our Bend Roots stuck and trying to dance with Taj
The Dirty Words Display the Ultimate Rock Star Stance.With Oktoberfest raging downtown on Oregon Avenue, wiener dogs racing about and beers sliding down many a throat, a Floater show at Midtown and Alaska's Paper Scissors indie jamming at the Silver Moon, Sound Check sketched out a nice plan to hit it all on Saturday. Butโฆ
Omaha’s Finest: Neva Dinova’s friendly exchange
And Your mother said you’d never go anywhere without cleaning your room.After 12 minutes of conversation broken up by three dropped calls, I realize that I've learned almost nothing remarkable about Omaha's latest Saddle Creek Records phenom, Neva Dinova. Lead singer Jake Bellows has jokingly (hopefully) claimed that the band puts ruffies into the drinksโฆ
Slightly Not Stoned Enough to Come Up With a Shorter Album Title: Slightly Stoopid is back in Bend
Slightly Stoopid: With a name like that, they need balls like this. And also Dark sunglasses, apparently. Slightly Stoopid is back in Bend for round two this year and according to Ryan "Rymo" Moran, the band is planning on another great show and looking forward to partying down in Bend again. With the July releaseโฆ
Living in Elephant Country: When mammoths ruled the earth
Where’s Big Bird?They were BIG, very big, stood about 12 feet to the top of their wooly head, about as long as a school bus and weighed around six tons. As long as you didn't bother them, they probably wouldn't bother you, if you got one mad, however, you were in a heap of troubleโฆ
Shoulder Season: Plenty of post summer and pre-winter fun to be had
It’s a dog’s worldNow that autumn has arrived, Oktoberfest has come and gone and the days are (alas!) getting noticeably shorter, "Shoulder Season" is just about here. For those who have been reading this column lately, you'll catch my double entendre. Life in a sling can crimp your outdoor style unless you're creative. Likewise, theโฆ
Quick Bites: Blind Sipping in Sisters
“Not bad for out in the sticks.” One of the lines in Bottle Shock – a new movie based on the 1976 blind tasting in which California Chardonnays and Cabernet Sauvignons blew the cap off the notion that all the world’s best wines were French – can also be said of an event held recentlyโฆ
Quick Bites: Blind Sipping in Sisters
"Not bad for out in the sticks." One of the lines in Bottle Shock - a new movie based on the 1976 blind tasting in which California Chardonnays and Cabernet Sauvignons blew the cap off the notion that all the world's best wines were French - can also be said of an event held recentlyโฆ
Dos La Rose: La Rosa brings its award-winning Mexican up the hill
The much-awaited new La Rosa in Northwest Crossing has finally opened. Located within walking distance from most the Northwest Crossing homes means a built-in clientele. We sauntered in on a Tuesday night at 7:30 expecting to have no problem getting a table. The place was packed, but as luck would have it, there was oneโฆ
Dos La Rose: La Rosa brings its award-winning Mexican up the hill
The much-awaited new La Rosa in Northwest Crossing has finally opened. Located within walking distance from most the Northwest Crossing homes means a built-in clientele. We sauntered in on a Tuesday night at 7:30 expecting to have no problem getting a table. The place was packed, but as luck would have it, there was oneโฆ
After the Storm:Humane Society of Redmond works to repair reputation, debt situation
At a Deschutes County Board of Commissioners work session on July 9, the true financial problems of the Humane Society of Redmond came to light. There was, of course, already plenty known about the monetary crisis the animal shelter had found itself in by this point, but the public was nonetheless surprised when board membersโฆ
A Custom-Made Resort Exemption
At the Deschutes County Commission hearing earlier this month on a plan to metamorphose Aspen Lakes Golf Estates into a destination resort, there were a lot of comments about how the owners of the development, the Cyrus family, are longtime Central Oregonians and good people. It's true that the Cyruses have been here for generations,โฆ
All Jacked Up: New stealth rates at Bachelor, Call for photos and McCain Deathwatch
Mt B.
Early season pass sales ended on Tuesday and it appears that the move to reduce pass prices this year has paid off for Bachelor, which reported on its website that it is seeing an increased number of pass sales. In response, the ski area is jacking up Saturday rates (all season long). Theโฆ
Look Beyond the Grey Hair
What a great presidential race we're witnessing. Here we are, deciding between the most untraditional set of candidates our country's ever seen.
Wall Street Needs to be Cut Off
I was relieved, and even excited when I heard that Congress had voted, "No" on the Wall Street Bailout yesterday. Hyper-inflation will not help Main Street. If the Wall Streeters are so selfish that they are willing to save their collective asses while pretending that this does not hurt you and your family, then whyโฆ
Tower Crowd Too Tame
I went to the Tower Theatre for the first time thinking it was going to be a great event. I was going to see Taj Mahal! I've never been more embarrassed in my community.
Downtowners Pulled a Fast One
Shame on the Bend Downtowners. They completely misled us into paying $5 to get into NOTHING! My friends and I stood in a long line and handed over our $5 each for the privilege to walk through a filthy, sweltering hot tent ONLY to pay more if we wanted a beer or food, AND weโฆ
Betting on the Bulletin
Stop the presses; the Bend Bulletin just endorsed Chris Telfer. Wow, I never saw that coming. But seriously, I know a lot of locals consider The Bulletin's editorial board to be a bunch of ill-informed, predictable, and intellectually dishonest knuckleheads who do little more than carry water for the local builders, developers and the Republicanโฆ
Smith to Portland: Drop Dead
Gordon Smith likes to describe himself as a uniter, not a divider, but his campaign is running an ad aimed at antagonizing rural Oregonians against those durn pinko elitists in Portland.
Bend Roots Round Up: Pictures and Video
Last weekend saw a good chunk of the Westside occupied by local musicians and local music devotees for the Bend Roots Revival. Here’s some photos and video from that fest.
Shire Hits the Big Time, Again
The Shire, the ill-fated, Tolkien-themed housing development on Bend's southeast side, has become a national symbol of the follies of the real estate bubble. Latest evidence: a mention in Harper's Index, the venerable monthly's compilation of interesting and quirky statistics.






