Generous Portions and Good Fortunes: Getting into bed with Red Dragon

Posted inFood & Drink

Generous Portions and Good Fortunes: Getting into bed with Red Dragon

Amy Belasen

As teenagers, my friends and I became known by name at the Chinese Buffet in our upstate New York town. There, we followed a ritualistic fortune cookie reading in which we'd tack on “in bed” to the end of our fortunes, making each experience a memorable one, and the buffet rotation felt almost like a school cafeteria. Whether it was the sleep-inducing buzz from MSG or our raging teenage hormones that led to the tagline, a reprise of “in bed,” fortunes echoed at Red Dragon Chinese Restaurant this week.
For many foodies, Americanized Chinese food isn't a regular stop with more authentic Asian options like Japanese and Thai food available, but several of my friends, devout fast-foodies, as I've come to call them, enjoy nothing more than heaping portions of General Tso's (an American invention) at Red Dragon. We arrived at this south-end spot and settled in with good intentions and were greeted by a giant gold Buddha in the entryway and the familiar sounds of trickling water and soft music. The space was well lit and decorated with porcelain vases.

Posted inFood & Drink

Generous Portions and Good Fortunes: Getting into bed with Red Dragon

Amy Belasen

As teenagers, my friends and I became known by name at the Chinese Buffet in our upstate New York town. There, we followed a ritualistic fortune cookie reading in which we'd tack on “in bed” to the end of our fortunes, making each experience a memorable one, and the buffet rotation felt almost like a school cafeteria. Whether it was the sleep-inducing buzz from MSG or our raging teenage hormones that led to the tagline, a reprise of “in bed,” fortunes echoed at Red Dragon Chinese Restaurant this week.
For many foodies, Americanized Chinese food isn't a regular stop with more authentic Asian options like Japanese and Thai food available, but several of my friends, devout fast-foodies, as I've come to call them, enjoy nothing more than heaping portions of General Tso's (an American invention) at Red Dragon. We arrived at this south-end spot and settled in with good intentions and were greeted by a giant gold Buddha in the entryway and the familiar sounds of trickling water and soft music. The space was well lit and decorated with porcelain vases.

Posted inMusic

The Funky Old and the Funky New: Maceo Parker and Trombone Shorty blow their horns across the entire region

Mike Bookey

On Tuesday night, two men will be blowing their horns here in Central Oregon and both will be getting terribly funky. One specializes in the saxophone while the other favors the trombone but their styles both weave through the realms of jazz, soul and, again, the funkiest of funk.
There are plenty of other similarities to be found between these two men and their dance-happy sounds, but where they diverge is the 43-year age gap between them. The man on the saxophone is Maceo Parker, one of the forefathers of funk music, and the other is Trombone Shorty (real name: Troy Andrews) the 24-year-old New Orleans virtuoso who has already generated a mystique of his own, having burst onto the scene as a youth on his namesake instrument.

Posted inMusic

Quasi – American Gong

Source Weekly

Quasi
American Gong Kill Rock Stars Records

All along – when Janet Weiss and Sam Coomes weren't busying themselves with Heatmiser and Sleater-Kinney and the Jicks, or being married and then being divorced – they were Quasi. So when they do occasionally choose to wear their Quasi pants, fans freak. On American Gong, Quasi's eighth record, the band (now a trio) offers more of what makes people love them: out of nowhere jams, lullaby-choruses, sing-song rhymes and dissonant juxtapositions. In fact, it's a bit of a show-off record – not hoity-toity, but a portfolio, almost, of everything they're capable of. “Bye Bye Blackbird” starts as a contagious, loud-quiet-loud rock song, before shuffling off into an all-out jam session.

Posted inCulture

Off the Wall, On the Street: The delightfully low-brow art of Dana MacKenzie

Mike Bookey

Sitting on a couch at the Bendistillery Martini Bar, Dana MacKenzie sips from a Rogue Dead Guy Ale as he points up at his artwork on an adjacent wall. He's giving a deeply detailed account of his two pieces and revealing some of the inspiration behind the work he placed on the wall just a few minutes prior.
He points out that even 15 years ago, his work might not have even been considered art and that's because the two pieces on the wall are in the form of skateboard decks. The 39-year-old MacKenzie is a graphic artist and made a name for himself early in the history of computer-aided design. Now, MacKenzie lends his skills to the creation of video games, an industry he's been in since the mid-'90s.

Posted inCulture

Our Picks for 3/10 – 3/18: Tuck and Roll, Pato Banton, Local Flavor, Maceo Parker, Brandi Carlile and more

Source Weekly

Tuck and Roll CD Release Party
friday 12
Over the last year we've watched as Tuck and Roll got tighter and tighter with their local shows and now they've got a full-length album, Time To Run, to showcase their delicious punk rock licks and NOFX-style harmonies. While poppy punk is the crux of the disc, there's also one Americana-ish gem that caught our ear, that being “Nothing on You.” But seriously, go to this show and get this incredibly honed-in record. Danger Death Ray open. $2. 9pm. Players Bar & Grill, 25 SW Century Dr.

Posted inNews

Sleep, Stretch, Ski: One woman's search for satisfaction in Central Oregon

Source Weekly

I'm no Elizabeth Gilbert, and when my life changed dramatically a few years ago I didn't set off for Italy to eat, India to pray, or Indonesia to find love. I didn't have the money or the resources. My husband died in September 2006 and it took me six months to put one foot in front of the other, to figure out finances, and to adjust to not being a full-time caregiver. It took another year for me to realize that I needed to head for Bend.
Twelve years before his death, my husband Ralph had a devastating bicycling accident that left him a C-4 quadriplegic, unable to move his arms or legs, incapable of eating or voiding on his own. One minute he was an amazingly fit athlete training for the California Land Rush, a 400-mile, two-day road bike sprint from San Francisco to Los Angeles, and the next he was flying over the handlebars of his Italian racing bike, about to plunge into a reality neither of us was prepared for.

Posted inOpinion

Ben Westlund: A Life Lived Well

Source Weekly

If somebody designed a prototype of the perfect politician, it would be a lot like Ben Westlund. And we mean that as a compliment.
Westlund had all the natural gifts that go into making a great politician – an outgoing, gregarious personality, a remarkable memory for names and faces, a ready way with words.
But beyond that, there was something else that made him special: He was real. The friendliness, the concern for the problems of other people, the passion for making his state better – all that wasn't just a façade that Westlund erected to impress voters. It was who Ben Westlund was.

Posted inOpinion

How To Defend Big Ben: Grilling Roethlisberger, the insurance racket, soft drink taxes and more!

Source Weekly

The author has been sent on the road to discover a lost country formerly known as America. He is reporting from D.C., marrying his new pal Gary for a goof, on assignment for Or-Bust.com and The Source Weekly.
Kettle said “Say What?” to the Pot
“The reconciliation rules have never been used… ” repeated Orin Hatch (R-Utah) over and over on Meet the Press, proving the GOP is more redundant than Lil Wayne (who is now serving a one-year sabbatical at Rikers Island on gun charges) “The reconciliation rules have never… ” Really? Do any parents remember the S-CHIP bill that brought health care to uncovered children? That's just one evil example of legislation passed by Obama and Dems in that underhanded manner, via reconciliation… How about Bush's tax cuts for the wealthy, adding $1.7 trillion to our debt? Yep, holier than thou Republicans have used reconciliation for only good, right? Reconciliation is a ruse so Republicans can object to the process rather than a health care bill that has most of their wants included – too bad Dems (who called reconciliation “the nuclear option” under Bush) are wimps trying to help the sick and needy, while the GOP (which calls Obama a racist Mexican woman) cares only about fiscal responsibility and freedom, err, corporate donors and regaining power.

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