Meet and See Atmosphere Tonight in Bend
Atmopshere, one of the more intriguing acts in all of the hip-hop universe, is playing in Bend tonight. If you or any of your friends or loved ones are into indie rap music, you probably already knew this.
Boom Box: bringing down the fest volume
Imagine my surprise when I sat in my living room a quarter mile from the heart of downtown this past Saturday night and could distinctly hear every note and every word of the fest (whichever one of the many this one was) music. The music was so clear it was if the performance stage was…
Sara Jackson-Holman Covers “Such Great Heights”
Pestering rain showers didn’t stop a sizable crowd from gathering down at Bend Fall Festival this weekend and those who were down there on Saturday afternoon caught this mind-blowing solo gig from Sara Jackson-Holman. Halfway through the set, Jackson-Holman knocked out a cover of “Such Great Heights” the Postal Service’s mega hit from 2003.
Study: Those “Overpaid” Public Employees Really Aren't
A favorite tactic of conservatives these days is to bash public employees – especially those who belong to unions – as overpaid and underworked, stoking resentment among workers in the private sector whose pay and benefits don’t measure up. But a new study by the Economic Policy Institute blows a pretty big hole in the…
Bend Fall Festival Music Schedule
The Bend Fall Festival is taking place today in downtown Bend and includes a strong lineup of almost all local performers, including another appearance by Sara Jackson-Holman and what’s sure to be a rowdy set from Larry and His Flask. Headlining the main stage tonight is Bay Area all-female Led Zeppelin tribute band, Zepparella.
Celebrate Fresh Hops!
Beer lovers in Central Oregon have it pretty good as of late. First was the Bend Brewfest, then the wood-aged beer festival known as the Little Woody.
Kroger's Hoping to Let the Sun Shine In
Oregon Attorney General John Kroger has published a revised, on-line version of the state Public Records and Meetings Manual that he says will help make state government more transparent. “Changes to the manual reflect new legislation, recent court decisions and a fresh look at previous interpretations of the law,” Kroger said in a news release…
Happy Willie Nelson Day, Everyone
Every few years in Bend there’s one night where cowboys and hippies, bikers and businessmen all gather at the Les Schwab Amphitheater and sway to the sounds of American musical hero Willie Nelson. It’s all quite magical.
Colorado Springs: an anomoly or model of the future?
When I was a kid growing up in Colorado Springs, Colorado it was almost paradise. The town was small (some 29,000 inhabitants) with plenty of wide-open spaces surrounding a well laid out downtown grid, a wonderful parks system, great weather and plenty of outdoor recreational activities close by.
Help Local Musicians Replace Their Stolen Gear
Earlier this summer at the West Wind Ranch Americana Music Festival a thief, who may or may not have been wearing a black mask and carrying a brown burlap sack with a green dollar sign on it, stole a bunch of gear from local musicians. The River Pigs’ Scott Foxx and Thomas T (the later…
They'd Rather Be Right – Extreme Right – Than Win
The Republican Party is dead. Anyway, that’s what some of the gang at the Oregon Catalyst site are saying – and they couldn’t be happier about it.
Vote For Dallas
I write in support of an energetic, intelligent and knowledgeable candidate for Deschutes County Commissioner – Dallas Brown. Dallas has a deep understanding of the government, having worked with officials at local, state and federal agencies.
Let's Get Volcanic: A day at the Newberry National Volcanic Monument and Derrick Cave
A couple of weeks back, my good friend (and geologist) Al Waibel gave me a call. “Hey, Jim, how about joining a few friends and me Wednesday? We’re going out to Newberry Monument and then Derrick Cave.” Would I? If these people were friends of Al’s, they were already friends of mine – we all…
Getting Schooled: Rebound's cross clinic, Trebon on the Thrilla and more
Cross Clinic It's all well and good until somebody gets hurt, and I was fully aware that that someone might be me. While I'm an experienced road and track racer, many of my friends will tell you I'm pretty lame on the mountain bike. I didn't grow up on BMX. The gravel driveway in front…
“Vote Pedro”
So we're at “Bay Days” in Hampton, VA, (not to be confused with a fabulous fashion show in CA) looking for George Clinton and Parliament yet finding some crap country band instead, wondering where da funk be at. Asking one of the 22 crackers listening to some 9-11 patriotic heartburn we then learned that Parliament…
Brew La La: Bend Brewing Company's Tonya Cornett is quietly making award-winning brews
Bend is a beer town. With eight breweries, many of them award winning, our little city rivals any on the West Coast in terms of quality beer production. And one of the smallest breweries, Bend Brewing Company, is producing some of our region's most well-received beers out of a studio-apartment-sized space above its brewpub on…
Little Bites: Restaurant Round Robin
The Central Oregon restaurant industry has been experiencing a pretty big overhaul lately, with the opening of three new eateries and big changes and additions to four more. Level 2, the new lounge above Saxons in the Old Mill District (formerly the home of the Old Mill Martini Bar), opened its doors over Labor Day…
Howdy, Neighbors! New owners give Riverside Market a much-needed facelift
Neighborhoods are defined not just by their residents, but the shops, cafes and markets that hold them together. Neighborhood businesses are a reflection of the hood's personality – they employ neighbors, act as meeting places, organize get-togethers and events. Such is the case with Riverside Market, the casual café and corner store between NW Congress…
When Bryce Met Juli: The sum of Flipped's parts just doesn't add up
Do you remember when you flipped? The time in your life when you stopped thinking boys had cooties and all you could think about was when that cute boy in your math class would finally make a move and kiss you? Rob Reiner's Flipped takes on the coming-of-age tale of first love, where two middle…
Lame in Every Dimension: 3D action can salvage Afterlife's staggering dullness
Be warned: Resident Evil: Afterlife really isn't a movie, it's a great big video game that you can watch, but not play. Shot in Real-D, rather than the horrible post-shooting 3D conversion process, the cutting-edge effects are of the Avatar variety and are a welcome dose of visual improvement on the fourth installment of this…
How The Mighty Have Fallen: Metroid makes an off balance transition to the Wii
During the movie that opens Metroid: Other M, Samus Aran, the bounty hunter star of the franchise, is revealed stretched out in the same aqua blue bodysuit in which she ended the original Metroid. Now, however, she wears high heels and hauls quite a caboose. Maybe it balances the linebacker shoulders her suit of armor…
Wanted: More Thumbs
Sad to say, but “criticizing things” can be a real cutthroat business! If I'm not keeping up with the other TV and movie critics in the country, I could easily find myself at the bottom of a dumpster, licking cheese out of a discarded Dominos box. That's why, in honor of the new Fall season…
Deb Yager: Six Song Austin Demo
Deb Yager didn't start playing guitar until she was in her mid 30s, but you wouldn't know that by listening to the smartly crafted folk numbers on the six-song EP that she recorded in her former hometown of Austin, Texas. Yager has been in Bend for the past five years, playing music with her band…
Our Picks for 9/15-9/23: Willie Nelson, Little Shop of Horrors, and more!
I am Indie Open House thursday 16 With both BendFilm and the Future Filmmakers' 72-Hour Shootout quickly approaching, take this opportunity to find out from the filmmakers what it takes to make an independent film on a dime. Check out high-end video equipment (stuff that puts our flip cameras to shame, for sure); ask the…
The Virtual Office: Inside Oregon’s ever-growing telecommuting culture
Troy McMullin lives in Bend and is a pharmacist by trade. But you won't find him in a white coat behind a counter anywhere in town. Rather, most days McMullin is at his computer in Tech Space Bend in the Old Cigar Building, likely on the phone with his boss in St. Louis. Outside his…
Bend Distillery Opens New Distillery
If you've driven down Highway 20 towards Sisters in the past few months, you've probably seen the signs for the impending opening of a new Bend Distillery distillery, tasting room and farm. Well, that opening is this weekend.
Call It Indoctrination
Remember a year ago when Parent of the Year candidates across this great land put down their Diet Cokes
Corralling the Downtown Parking Problem
Never mind Israelis and Palestinians, Sunnis and Shiites, Bosnians and Serbs – the longstanding war between bicycle partisans and automobile loyalists can get as nasty as any of them, though fortunately it's rarely as violent.
Freedom Ain't Free, FOX goes gray, Resort Rules and Your SAT results
Freedom! The United Organization of Angry Rural Old People, also known as the “Tea Party,” gathered in Redmond last weekend for something called the American Freedom Festival. The event featured music from the ironically named band One Hot Mess and “patriotic speeches” about how America as a whole needs to hop in the DeLorean with…
Letter of the Week: GOP Is Slowing the Recovery
This week's letter comes from Nathan Glover of Central Oregon Jobs with Justice. Thanks for the letter, Nathan. You can pick up your winnings, a pint of cask-aged Mirror Mirror at our office, 704 NW Georgia.
It's been two years since the collapse of Lehman Brothers set off a global financial meltdown. The big…
Kozak Is The Man For 54
Do we want to be led down that same path that we seem to go each and every election year? We are bombarded by the media telling us whom the right candidate is for our best interests. I believe it is time for us as a community to stop and really think about the best…
