One of the best parts about BendFilm, which kicks off tomorrow night, is the chance to check out some of the films made right here in Central Oregon. I got a chance to take a look at “Big,” which incidentally is not about a suburban 12 year old who, thanks to a carnival game, suddenly transforms into a full-grown man and inexplicably becomes a toy company executive.
Local Film Premiers at BendFilm: “Big”
Posted inOutside
Inspiration: From unlikely heroes in our midst
Last weekend I was skinny dipping in a gorgeous alpine lake and this weekend I awoke to gigantic snowflakes blanketing town. It's that charming schizophrenia that makes Bend such a special place to live. Many of us moved here for the sun and the snow and the recreational opportunities they afford. But this week, especially, I was reminded why I stay. It's the people. That probably sounds trite, but the next time you're seeking inspiration, just look next to you.
CALL IT “UP” SYNDROME
I met Karen Gaffney at a luncheon last week. Karen lives in Portland, but she was in Bend to connect with friends and share her story. Karen Gaffney, all 4 feet 10 inches and 95 pounds of her, has swum the English Channel. Fewer people have swum the 21 miles of 60-degree water from England to France than have climbed Mount Everest. By the way, English Channel etiquette calls for no wetsuits. Those crazy Brits! Karen accomplished the feat in 2001 on a relay team of 14 Oregonians, which included Bendites Mike Tennant, Laura Schob, Tom Landis and Sara Quan. They completed the swim in 14 hours and 11 minutes.
Posted inOutside
Hand-Taming Wildlife: Don't feed the bears… or the deer or the skunks
There are a lot of people throughout Central Oregon who think it's cool to tame mule deer so they can pet them. That, Oh Best Beloved, is one of the dumbest things anyone can do.
Then there's the business of people baiting cougars by attracting deer to their back yards. That's equally as dumb. I know one guy near Sisters who feeds carrots to mule deer by hand. Some day either the deer will beat his head in or perhaps a cougar will decide man meat is better than deer meat.
Leave game animals to be just that, Dear Readers – “game.” It's unlawful to “bait” deer during hunting season anyway and in my book it's just plain dumb to bait cougar at any time. But having said all that, there's the business of feeding birds and our little Mountain Chickadee is trusting enough that it is often “tamed” and will come down to a human finger in hopes of finding a sunflower seed.
Posted inCulture
Geek Love: Flesh Eating Undead serves as backdrop to sappy love story in Zombieland
The first five minutes of Zombieland depict some of the best chewing, spewing and gore-guzzling zombies ever seen on film amidst side-splitting comedy. Unfortunately, what follows does not live up to the film's early promise. It's as if the grand finale starts the show.
This is not a Zombie movie to rival Shaun of the Dead. Mostly, it's a poorly directed love story with interspersed moments of humor. Zombies serve only as comedic background for a feeble and redundant story of love and angst. Too many “touchy-feely” moments interfere with the sort of guts splattering and zombie killing scenes that make for zombie film gold.
Posted inCulture
Money Talks: Michael Moore asks, “Dude, where's my money?”
Michael Moore loves America, but America does not always love Michael Moore. After the release of Fahrenheit 9/11, public opinion of the liberal filmmaker took a downturn. Republicans have good reason to hate him, but the attitude of Democrats is baffling. They claim to dislike his oversimplification, his manipulation of emotions and facts and his bombastic personality. Conservatives have long used these methods to influence the public with great success – all Moore does is play them at their own highly effective game.
Moore, in a way, has been a liberal in Republican's clothing for the last decade – he looks like a Republican and he sounds like a Republican. He takes radical ideas, mixes them up using the conservative's recipe, and makes them easy to swallow. Capitalism: A Love Story contains some very radical ideas. Moore argues that capitalism is evil, that the US is run like a corporation and that big business holds more power than politicians. He started making the film before the crash, and although the recession has produced a few more doubters of the American Dream you don't have to look far to see that the ideal is still alive.
Posted inCulture
Playing God: Stuck in limbo with just a handheld and a clue
Problem: A prisoner, a bully and a lawyer are all in hell – represented in Scribblenauts as an island of dull grey brick floating in flaming lava. Above them hovers heaven – a red-carpeted platform topped with pillars, parapets and a golden castle with an angel hovering overhead. Without changing their lifestyles, I must save the bad guys.
Solution: I decide to try building a stairway to heaven. I open Scribblenauts' virtual keyboard and type “STAIRWAY.” Immediately a small brown wooden staircase appears on the screen. I slide it next to the prisoner and he floats upwards through the air, landing in heaven, followed by the bully and the lawyer.
Posted inFood & Drink
Thai on the Fly: Thai home cooking at a drive-through speed
A while back, I started hearing whispers about a magical drive-through on the Eastside that serves up some of the best Thai food in town. I was skeptical. Not only is it hard to imagine the words “magical” and “drive-through” in the same sentence, but every time I drove out that direction with an eye open for it, the elusive little shop escaped my notice. I was starting to think that this so-called Thai on the Fly was an urban myth, when finally I caught sight of the tiny trailer tucked next to the Xpress Lube at Greenwood and 7th St. It is a wonder that food of this caliber can come out of such modest digs and at such a reasonable price point. But it is, in no small part, chef and owner Kaew Sumner's way with customers that keeps them coming back. To Sumner, everyone is “honey” and from her perch at the drive-through window treated like a special dinner guest.
Posted inFood & Drink
Thai on the Fly: Thai home cooking at a drive-through speed
A while back, I started hearing whispers about a magical drive-through on the Eastside that serves up some of the best Thai food in town. I was skeptical. Not only is it hard to imagine the words “magical” and “drive-through” in the same sentence, but every time I drove out that direction with an eye open for it, the elusive little shop escaped my notice. I was starting to think that this so-called Thai on the Fly was an urban myth, when finally I caught sight of the tiny trailer tucked next to the Xpress Lube at Greenwood and 7th St. It is a wonder that food of this caliber can come out of such modest digs and at such a reasonable price point. But it is, in no small part, chef and owner Kaew Sumner's way with customers that keeps them coming back. To Sumner, everyone is “honey” and from her perch at the drive-through window treated like a special dinner guest.
Posted inNews
Bashing Season
Bashing TimeIn the not too distant future snow will fall in the mountains which will soon be covered with several feet of it. And when the snow gets to a certain depth, the ski lifts will begin operating at Oregon ski areas.
Posted inFood & Drink
Veg Out: Something Special At Zydeco
I've been working on taking my diet to the next level by adding as much organic, locally grown fair to my plate as possible. Zydeco came up in conversation as the place to do this. An hour later, friends in tow, we took our seats under an outdoor heater on Bond Street. Our waiter asked if anyone would like the gluten-free menu. “I'll take the vegan one,” I said. They didn't have one; but our waiter told me, the chef had created a vegan special earlier that was reportedly some kind of wonderful. Perfect, bring it over!
While waiting for our table, I overheard a young woman mention Zydeco's crispy fries ($4) were the best in town. I needed no further encouragement. We ordered two cups of fries for the table and one cheese-less Acadian Flatbread ($11), a crispy hand-rolled cracker-bread, topped with oven-fried tomatoes, pearl onions and pepper. I could have eaten the entire thing myself; three, in fact.