The latest Central Oregon wilderness lands bill took a step forward today clearing Sen. Ron Wyden's public lands subcommittee in a development that could set the stage for another wilderness showdown with Sen.
Another Showdown With Dr. No (wilderness) on the John Day
Posted inCulture
The Fanatical Fan: On becoming a Pilot Butte Greenwave believer
After close to 40 years of participating in, writing about and photographing individual, self-propelled sports, I recently developed a passion for a team sport. Not any team sport – girl's basketball and one team in particular: the Pilot Butte sixth grade girls park and rec basketball league team called the Greenwave.
In the beginning, I figured my role would be one of dutiful grandfather, delivering and picking up my granddaughter to and from practice and games. But as things developed, I found myself watching the practices and getting involved in the games.
Soon I was photographing the Greenwave in action and found myself slipping into the role of the worst possible male on the planet: the little league granddad. Luckily, a sharp reprimand from a ref after I loudly protested what I though was a bad call shocked me back into the role of calm observer. That was only on the outside. On the inside, I wanted the Greenwave to win.
Posted inOutside
Ring of Fire: Bringing Hawaiian values back home
It seems like half of Bend is “on island,” as they say in Hawaii. I think many of us get a little stir crazy and head to the South Pacific this time of year. You can spot the Bendites by their pasty skin and ski poles. Seriously, I saw a guy pole hiking down the beach yesterday. I don't actually know if he was from Bend. Perhaps he was Canadian.
Wendy Oliphant was last seen riding a bike up Haleakala. The 38-mile road from sea level to the 10,023-foot summit holds the world record for climbing to the highest elevation in the shortest distance. If you want to do it as an organized event, check out Cycle to the Sun on August 21, 2010 at www.cycletothesun.net. If that's not challenging enough, you could run up Haleakala in the Run to the Sun ultramarathon, held each March. Roger Daniels holds an age group record in that event. Sally Russell is in Hana with her daughters and Amy Petersen just celebrated her birthday hiking through Maui's waterfalls… and the list from Bend goes on.
Posted inOutside
On Earth Day… Reflecting on key environmentalists from here and beyond
In celebrating Earth Day on April 22, I would like to suggest we take Old Dame Nature by the hand and get to know her, up close and personal. That's what it usually takes to understand why it is so vital that we do all we can to keep everything going as smoothly as possible.
Unfortunately, we've been bending the rules of nature pretty badly over the years, the evidence is in the quality of the air we breathe, the water we drink and the soil in which we grow our food. There are a lot of us homo sapiens running around on this old Earth these days – 6,839,106,876 and still counting – and there's going to be lot more of us in the near future.
In that light, I am reminded of three unequivocal laws of nature that state: 1. Spoil the water and you will die; 2. Spoil the air and you will die; 3. Spoil the soil and you will die.
Posted inCulture
When Super Humans Attack: Kick-Ass opens a can of whoop-ass!
Kick-Ass is a goofy, mixed-up movie that examines what would happen if regular people became super heroes. I don't think this movie is sure what it is: teenage angst flick, revenge crime-stopper thriller or sensitive slice-of-life indie slacker comedy. But one thing is sure: Kick-Ass has tons of spurting blood combined with more than enough curse words to garnish an R-rating, plus an 11-year-old heroine using the “c” word and chopping off limbs like a ninja assassin. Basically this movie has its moments, but it's a mess.
Posted inCulture
Just Like in Bend! The Banff Mountain Festival is made especially for you… probably
There's this video being bounced between inboxes and Twitter feeds for the past couple weeks if you haven't seen it, you should watch it right now. Essentially, it's just two animated dudes talking to each other, but what they're saying is hilarious, but only if you've lived in Bend for a while. The two guys just talk about what they're up to that day, which turns into a long stream of where they're hiking, skiing, drinking coffee or taking their kids, complete with the sort of outdoor geek slang we're accustomed to hearing in these parts.
Well, that video could easily include a mention of the Banff Mountain Film Festival, taking place Sunday night. Because if we can't be skiing, kayaking, trail running, saving animals from extinction or hanging prayer flags, we love to watch movies about people who are. And that, for the most part, is the Banff Mountain Film Festival.
Posted inCulture
Stephen Hawking Gets More Tail Than Me
I get a lot of tail – we hold this truth to be self-evident. HOWEVER! It's causing me no small amount of distress that world-famous theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking probably gets more tail than I do. Now, I realize that “getting tail” is not a competition – except that it is a competition, and Stephen Hawking is winning.
First some background on Stephen Hawking and why he gets such a copious amount of tail. As touched on earlier, Stephen Hawking is famous for advancing humanity's understanding of theoretical cosmology and quantum gravity. In other words, Stephen Hawking studies shit that happens in outer space, which includes, but is not limited to, “black holes,” the nature of space and time, as well as the formation of the universe itself. This is wildly interesting to hippie chicks, who undoubtedly furnish him with tail.
Posted inCulture
Hello Moto: New MotoGP fires on all cylinders
The first time I saw MotoGP racing was in San Francisco. I had been invited to the launch of the PlayStation 2, and one of the games available for the system was called MotoGP. “A motorcycle racing game,” I thought as I sat down to test it. I revved my engine and accelerated toward the first curve.
As I turned, the bike tilted at an impossible angle. The rider's knee bowed down until it was inches above the racetrack that sped along like a vicious belt of sandpaper. I straightened my trajectory and the rider leaned to the other side as the bike veered across the track. I jammed my thumbstick the other way and the bike spun out of control, sliding sideways and spinning off the track.
For the first time on a console, racing was being simulated instead of sensationalized. Until MotoGP, most racing games made do with a cursory amount of physics. They were primarily distinguished by shortcuts, speed-boosts, banana peels and assault weapons. It took the processing power of the PS2 to make an intense, uncompromising game like MotoGP possible.
Posted inFood & Drink
Keeping the Meat Market Alive: Kicking it old school with Redmond Smokehouse
Confessing that you're a vegetarian among a herd of carnivores at an Angus convention won't win you any friends. Trust me. But that was a long time ago, when fewer people cared about the animal prior to its place on our plates and in our bellies. The controversy surrounding meat consumption has since taken root with ethical issues breeding like E. coli in America's factory farms. The little guys – the independent meat processors struggling to keep tradition alive – get caught in the crosshairs and end up taking misguided buckshot in the buttock. Yet they are the ones keeping the mystery out of meat. Ben Moore, owner of Redmond Smokehouse for the past several years, knows the origin of his products right down to the field, farmer and sometimes the specific animal. Point is, since he knows where his products come from, so do we.
Posted inFood & Drink
Keeping the Meat Market Alive: Kicking it old school with Redmond Smokehouse
Confessing that you're a vegetarian among a herd of carnivores at an Angus convention won't win you any friends. Trust me. But that was a long time ago, when fewer people cared about the animal prior to its place on our plates and in our bellies. The controversy surrounding meat consumption has since taken root with ethical issues breeding like E. coli in America's factory farms. The little guys – the independent meat processors struggling to keep tradition alive – get caught in the crosshairs and end up taking misguided buckshot in the buttock. Yet they are the ones keeping the mystery out of meat. Ben Moore, owner of Redmond Smokehouse for the past several years, knows the origin of his products right down to the field, farmer and sometimes the specific animal. Point is, since he knows where his products come from, so do we.