When it comes to dining in Bend, I've been warned not to get too attached. Over the last two years, restaurant closings have been too numerous to count, and the victims have included some of our community's boldest culinary experiments. But like B of A execs at a junk mortgage trough, restaurant owners, chefs and restaurateurs are gambling on Central Oregon and the possibility of an economic rebound.
Little Bites: Heard from the Dishwasher
Posted inMusic
Happy Birthday, Mr. Music: At 40, Mark Ransom tells us how and why he keeps Bend's local music scene cranking
Mark Ransom is turning 40 this weekend and he's just fine with that because he's having a big damn party to celebrate.
While he once dreamed of skiing in Chamonix, France, to celebrate his summitting of the proverbial hill, Ransom says Saturday night's throw down at McMenamins Old St. Francis School, which features his own band, The Mostest, and an impressive who's-who list of other local musicians joining in for an acoustic song circle earlier in the night, will suit him just fine. And this makes sense because this guy is the face of local music in Bend, even if he might not exactly agree with that assertion.
Posted inMusic
Bringing PDX to the Old Stone
At Saturday's Portland Indie Invasion, there was something different, something special, and something fun – all the qualities needed for a solid show.
First up was the “something different,” which meant a set from father/daughter duo Alexandra and Hilary Hanes who performed as Tortune and took the stage to share their brand of self-described death pop. An innocent-looking Lex headed the duo on guitar and vocals and brandished some stellar pipes in near opera style while Dad plucked away at the bass and pressed play on the drumbeats.
Posted inCulture
Following the Beep: Why I have a metal detector and how it (hopefully) helps me find treasure
This late winter and early spring, I have become a slave to the beep. Beep, beep, beep – a quick metallic staccato as our metal detector, the Garrett Ace250, teases us with the possibility of unearthing a rare coin, a lost Rolex or an antique diamond ring. Armed with our “kit,” slang in the metal detecting culture for our detector, a pin-pointer, a shovel and an ice pick, my husband and I have scaled hill and dale in the hopes of finding that elusive buried treasure.
Metal detecting, like gambling, attracts the eternal optimist. Who else would spend a sunny Saturday afternoon waving a metal wand for hours over countless acres of park, forest and desert on the slim chance of striking it rich?
If you are a group-joining type, you can sit in on a meeting of the High Desert Treasure Club. They meet the second Wednesday of every month at the Bend VFW Hall at 7pm.
Posted inCulture
Our Picks for 3/31 – 4/8: West Side Story, Taarka, Art Hop, The Becker Family Benefit and more
West Side Story
thursday-saturday 1-3
You've probably heard of this story – it's like Romeo and Juliet, but with more dancing. This performance is brought to you by the shining youngsters of the BEAT program and enjoys a three-day, four-show run at the spacious Summit High auditorium. April 1-3 at 7pm and April 3 at 2pm. $15/adults, $10/youth, available at bendticket.com. 7pm Thursday, Apr 1. Summit High School, 2855 NW Clearwater Dr.
Posted inOpinion
Fine Lines: Or how I became a clothesline martyr
Almost three years ago, I heard a lecture by Mary Wood, a University of Oregon law professor. She talked about the narrow window of opportunity we had to respond to the devastating effects of greenhouse gases and the impact on the future of our planet. I had to do something.
While I knew full well it was against the rules on Awbrey Butte, I did not know the ramifications that the simple benign act of hanging a clothesline would create. I naively thought that others would clearly see the sensibility and understand that doing the right thing for all living things took precedence over following 25-year-old rules.
Posted inOpinion
John Kroger Plays It Cool
The ink was barely dry on the health care reform legislation when 14 attorneys general from states across the country – including Rob McKenna up in Washington – rushed to file a lawsuit claiming that it's unconstitutional.
To his credit, Oregon Attorney General John Kroger didn't join the stampede. “Based on a preliminary review of the legislation,” Kroger's office announced, “the Oregon Department of Justice is of the opinion that the health care reform bill is constitutional and that the challenges to the legislation are without merit. Legal scholars around the nation have expressed similar views. As a result, Attorney General Kroger will not waste taxpayer dollars on filing meritless litigation.”
Posted inOpinion
Shrouded in Mystery: Christ's sheets, Congressional gunfire and Palin's quest
The author has been sent on the road to discover a lost country formerly known as America. He is reporting from the rabbit hole, wondering if it was the pill or Easter egg, on assignment for Or-Bust.com and The Source Weekly.
Domestic Terrorists, in Richmond and Russia
Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) simply couldn't stand Democrats getting all of the attention for death threats and racial slurs after the passage of health care reform, so he first declared that his offices were shot at by gun-toting Liberals (later reported by Richmond police to be “random gunfire”) then decried Dems for announcing that they'd been threatened at all. But this wasn't enough for Cantor (who looks like that suck-up in-law you wish would stop talking) so he launched another PR bonanza about Mr. Norman Leboon of Philadelphia.
Posted inOpinion
The Spring Stud Storm
There's really no point in complaining or even commenting about the weather in Central Oregon. It's just to predictably unpredictable.
Posted inOpinion
You Keep A Knockin'
Dear Mr. Conger,
Please stop knocking on doors. You agitate my dogs when you do so. Surprisingly, some of us like to sleep in on the weekends. Please stop using paper door hangers to promote yourself. You talk about wanting a “Green revolution” for Oregon yet you are wasting paper products on doorknobs to promote yourself (interestingly enough, they are not printed on recycled paper.) Are you riding your bicycle around town while you promote yourself or are you being shuttled around in a gas-powered vehicle? If so, is it a hybrid or electrical vehicle? I would guess you're an SUV man.