It started with Spork… or was it Sancho and Soupcon? We're not sure whom to credit for the local gourmet-ification of food carts, but whoever it was, they started a revolution. Lately, downtown (and some eastside spots) have seen gourmet food carts popping up like weeds. While they may not be open all the time (and some are often closed during stated hours), the quality and prices can't be beat. Here's a roundup of the most recent additions to Bend's stand-and-eatery scene.
Little Bites: Street Smarts: Because you can never have too much street food
Posted inCulture
Fighting Fire with Fire: The Girl Who Played with Fire packs more action, but leaves little mystery
In the Swedish-language series' second film, Noomi Rapace and Michael Nyqvist reprise their roles as Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist, upping the action quotient while discovering the literal and metaphorical repercussions that come of playing with fire.
Posted inCulture
Serving Up Gore Galore: People-chomping fish prove intentionally hilarious in Piranha 3D's high camp fun
Piranha 3D is not necessarily a good movie but it's one of the best movies I've seen all year. The fact that it doesn't skimp on the blood, gore, carnage or splattering and bouncing bikini-clad, buxom women unafraid to take off their tops and swim naked might just give it three stars right there. Throw in the demonic flesh ripping, meat-chewing little sea devils and you have a CGI masterpiece of underwater hideousness.
Posted inCulture
A Straight Up Shooter: Dog Days holds few genuine surprises
Kane and Lynch are two bickering hit men who can’t seem to get along without one another. Dog Days, their second videogame shooter together, finds them squabbling their way through the byways of Shanghai, with the camera tagging along behind Lynch with the handheld shakiness beloved by cinema verité and episodes of C.O.P.S.. The image, which is continually grainy and spotted with light reflections, often pixelates and glitches like a cheap digital camera undergoing gunfire, which is presumably the effect that the game’s designers were going for.
Posted inMusic
Don Hoxie – Can't Get There From Here
Longtime local rocker and one-time Ranch Records employee Don Hoxie is so clear on his album opener, “Welcome,” that he's not impressed by the lack of skill and hard work demonstrated on current records. I agree, music seems too easy to record and sell. Problem is, few artists with strong musical chops make memorable albums. Yes, Joe Satriani might wail on gee-tar… but his albums blow. Just because you can play guitar doesn't necessarily give you the green light to record.
Posted inFood & Drink
New Donut Company Starts Baking in Bend
Sometimes working at the Source has its perks – like today, when Kim, from the new donut company Full Circle Donuts came in with a box of fresh baked goodies. Like the Dough Nut – the Voodoo Doughnut-style baker who, until last week, was baking out of Jackson's Corner – Full Circle Donuts has unique concoctions like a maple bacon doughnut and a peanut and pretzel-covered doughnuts.
Posted inCulture
24 is Back! Ka-BOOOM!
[Dudes! I'm on vacation! So enjoy this only moderately moldy I Love Television™ repeat column, with adorable old-timey pop culture references left intact! – Humpy]”THIS WEEK! Super agent Jack Bauer returns in another exciting, pants-wetting, testicle-dropping, liposuction-ing season of the Fox hit series 24! DO… NOT… MISS… IT!!” Okay, how did I do? See, I'm really sick of scribbling TV columns, so I'm applying for a promo writing job at Fox. Why? Because I'm AWWWWWWESOMMMME! And I've learned you can sell anything to anybody if you just scream and use a lot of capital letters and EXTEEEEEEEEND ALLLLLL YOURRRRR WORRRRRRDS!!!
Posted inMusic
Hurt So Good: Mellencamp and Dylan share an epic double bill this weekend
Whether it's by design or just a happy accident, the Les Schwab Amphitheater (LSA) concert series has managed to attract some of America's foremost songwriters and storytellers over the past few years, a line-up that includes Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard on the country side and Beck and Bob Dylan on the pop and folk side with plenty of good natured (classic) rocking in between – think Lynyrd Skynyrd and Steve Miller.
Posted inNews
Oh the Sweet Stank of Success! On the road with Abe Jones Septic Service
“A straight flush always beats a full house” reads the business card of Abe Jones Septic Service, owned by Mark and Gayle Johnson for the last 20 years. Employing seven, including Mark's son Tim and son-in-law Matt Finnestad, this family's business is all we would rather flush and forget.
Mark is actually the third Abe Jones, as explained by Matt: “Abe is fictitious. Sherman Jones was the original, and Mark thinks he picked Abe to be first in the phone book.” Though Mark doesn't advertise, Abe Jones Septic Service is well known, with most business coming from word-of-mouth. They work as far as Summit Lake and all the way south of China Hat. Where there's a mess, Abe Jones Septic is available.
Posted inNews
Treatment Homes Schedule Open House
After drawing the ire of neighbors in northeast Bend, the county has scheduled a pair of open houses for the community and neighbors to learn more about a pair of mental health transition homes that are slated to open in the area around Pilot Butte.