Page 2770 – The Source

Embrace Your Inner Couch Potato: Flicks and books to keep you stoked

Pam StevensonOctober 14, 2009December 20, 2023

I'm sure somebody will lambaste me for not being hardcore enough, but the cold, rainy weather we are in store for this week makes me want to embrace my inner couch potato and throw a log in the fireplace. This is a great time of year to overhaul your bikes, grind your skis, go to the movies or just get under the down comforter with a good book.
SKI FLICK SEASON
Shorter days. Cooler temperatures. Fall colors. All signs of the changing season. None more so, though, than a proliferation of ski flicks. Last week it was big mountain skiing movie The Edge of Never at the Tower followed by the Powderwhore movie Flakes at McMenamins. If that wasn't enough movie watching, we had BendFilm all over Central Oregon the rest of the week. Personally, I'm not ready for winter yet, so the film I caught was The Women and the Waves, a documentary about women's surfing pioneers. One of my favorite quotes: “When someone said 'You surf like a girl' it used to be an insult. Now it's a compliment.”

Culture

Child's Play: Wild Things turns make-believe into devastatingly emotional art

Source WeeklyOctober 14, 2009January 4, 2023

You could argue without fear of contradiction that Where the Wild Things Are is the most ambitious film ever conceived that was inspired by a 10-sentence-long picture-book – but I don't think even that sentiment does justice to this prickly, hilarious, devastatingly emotional work of art.
Maurice Sendak's classic book hinted at the complex psychology of childhood, with its rambunctious wolf-costumed protagonist. Co-writer/director Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich), however, has found the feature concept lurking beneath Sendak's minimalist text – and burrowed straight into the heart of a troubled young psyche trying to understand itself.

Culture

Hits from BendFilm: The gamut of cool, eye-opening, heartfelt and comic flicks just keep coming

The Source StaffOctober 14, 2009January 4, 2023

note: Our film critic, Morgan P. Salvo, spent the weekend taking in the movies of the BendFilm Festival, where he's long been a volunteer. Here's a list of the flicks that caught his eye and also may have caught your eye, too, if you made it out to BendFilm.
NARRATIVES:
Cold Storage (Directed by Tony Ellwood) This was by far my favorite, although in a semi-packed house I was one of only four people who applauded. A very warped and disturbing movie, it features the same hillbilly perspective of Norman Bates' Psycho world. This gory, graphic and darkly comic flick will make you think twice about taking that trip through the mountains.

Culture

Dreaming: Ellen Waterston and the Nature of Words

Source WeeklyOctober 14, 2009April 12, 2025

I've witnessed two close friends give their all to creating book festivals. When new friends here raved about the huge gift of The Nature of Words, I asked Ellen Waterston for her story:

Food & Drink

Feel the Love: Alpenglow Café casts a warm light

The Source StaffOctober 14, 2009January 24, 2024

When you name a place Alpenglow in a ski town, you better be able to back it up. For mountain dwellers, the very utterance of the word conjures a Zen oneness with nature and feelings of peace and serenity. After a tough day when you look up toward the horizon and see that reddish glow cast on snow-covered peaks at sunset, you are reminded that life in the shadow of the Cascades isn't too shabby. The Alpenglow Café, fortunately, does the term justice. Serving only house-made breads, locally smoked meats, dairy from area farms and fresh foods – absolutely nothing canned or frozen – Alpenglow has the whole oneness-with-nature locavore thing down. In fact, their mission statement offers a $1,000 reward to anyone who can find a can opener on the premises (“no fair bringing in your own!”).

Food & Drink

Feel the Love: Alpenglow Café casts a warm light

The Source StaffOctober 14, 2009March 12, 2023

Music

The Gift of Kottke: The guitar legend on recording, collaborations and Brett Favre

Source WeeklyOctober 14, 2009November 29, 2023

Going to see guitarist/songwriter Leo Kottke perform live is a lot like walking downstairs on Christmas morning and seeing all of the brightly wrapped presents under the tree – you'll receive several gifts you expected, some flat-out surprises and a few more that make everyone in the room glance at each other with beaming smiles.
Kottke, whose personal life is as ambiguous as his chord phrasings, doesn't give many interviews, but he talked to the Source via e-mail about his long career and his recent exposure to a younger audience.

Music

Yo La Tengo: Popular Songs

Source WeeklyOctober 14, 2009January 17, 2023

No, it's not a covers record. Nor is it a greatest hits collection. In fact, you may not know Yo La Tengo yet. Well, here's the quick rundown. The Hoboken trio has been twisting the alt-rock genre since 1984 and are heralded by critics and underground rock fans for their ability to create often catchy yet strangely unpredictable songs.
Popular Songs, their 14th studio album, is a fine representation of the group's skill in penning songs with incredible depth. “Here to Fall” opens the record as a perfect example of said depth. From quiet beginnings, the song builds a complex layer of dreamscape melody packed with a bunch of interesting instrumentation. By contrast, the super-catchy “Nothing to Hide” is one of those tracks that in my ideal world would be played all over mainstream radio. “When It's Dark” is a wonderfully easygoing acoustic-based tune that a Wilco fan might dig. Completing their overtly dynamic range is “If It's True” which uses Hammond organ as a backbone and clean string section to deliver a tight thoughtful pop song.

News

Spare Change?: Local non-profits cut back as donors tighten their purse strings

Source WeeklyOctober 14, 2009January 4, 2023

On the final day of business at the Working Wonders Children's Museum, Jason Friedman watched his two sons intensely engaged in their tactile experiences. The 15-month-old, Levi, squeezed the mysterious substance “moon sand” into a ball, then crushed it gleefully. Five-year-old Maxwell ran around dressed up like a firefighter, role playing with other kids in costumes.
“All this realistic setting is very healthy for brain development,” Friedman said. “The kids can learn to be builders, veterinarians, chefs. It's hard to recreate that at home.”
With Working Wonders closed, parents now have to find other places for their children to play. And there's nothing else quite like the museum here: a hands-on environment where kids could immerse themselves in “exhibits” such as grocery stores, veterinarian offices or foreign countries.

Opinion

The Greening of Bend

Source WeeklyOctober 14, 2009January 4, 2023

President Obama would be proud of Bend for the vision it has shown on issues like the original cash for clunker program with our junk busses, massive debt being incurred at Juniper Ridge for no benefit to the public, bailouts for BAT, gross overspending on employee health care, new taxes on water and sewer during a severe economic downturn, and urban growth expansion designed for the big money in town. Let's examine these issues in greater detail.
CITY COUNCIL
The “Bully Blockers” rode into town on their black stallions early this year to facilitate those with money and influence. Following a coup to fill a vacant position with an old crony who possesses serious conflicts of interest, another councilor called the back-door deal “crap” giving us a second faction of “Crappers.” A third Councilor rolled over in support of the bullies which demonstrates that “when money talks, ideology walks,” creating a 3rd faction of “Floppers.” The only things that they seem to agree on are higher fees for utilities and massive debt at Juniper Ridge.

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