Quick Bites: Don’t Call It A Comeback

Posted inFood & Drink

Quick Bites: Don’t Call It A Comeback

Intern

Redmond's dining scene often gets overshadowed by that of its sister city to the south. But recent additions to the culinary scene in north county have diners reconsidering what Redmond has to offer. Here's an A-B-C rundown of some of the places that are worth the drive for Bendites and worth the investment for Redmond residents. Remember in this economy, it's use it or lose it, folks.
 Avery's Wine Bar
427 SW 8th St., 504-7111

This relative newcomer has emerged as a gem on the local scene. The elegant little cottage restaurant is tucked in the city's historic downtown neighborhood and offers unique small plates to pair with their ample wine selection. A relaxed ambiance will have you trying all kinds varietals and vintages you never thought you'd get in Redmond. From the fare to the fine wine it's matched with, the prices are reasonable and your taste buds will thank you.

Posted inFood & Drink

Read Your Food: A buffet of summer food reads

Intern

As Central Oregon basks in the balmy days of summer and locals spend more time in lawn chairs, sitting by pools and lounging on beaches, I can’t resist recommending some good food reads. Included are some readable cookbooks, a little fiction, a biography or two, and, of course, a dash of food politics.
Omnivores Dilemma
by Michael Pollan
If ever there was a book to change your eating habits, this is it. Michael Pollan follows the food chain of four meals: industrial (the way most of us eat), industrial organic (the Whole Foods crowd), pastoral (the way our great-great grandparents ate) and hunter/gatherer (the way Ted Nugent eats). It’s a fascinating journey as Pollan illuminates what the act of eating has become and should be required reading for all Americans.

Posted inFood & Drink

Read Your Food: A buffet of summer food reads

Intern

As Central Oregon basks in the balmy days of summer and locals spend more time in lawn chairs, sitting by pools and lounging on beaches, I can't resist recommending some good food reads. Included are some readable cookbooks, a little fiction, a biography or two, and, of course, a dash of food politics.
Omnivores Dilemma
by Michael Pollan
If ever there was a book to change your eating habits, this is it. Michael Pollan follows the food chain of four meals: industrial (the way most of us eat), industrial organic (the Whole Foods crowd), pastoral (the way our great-great grandparents ate) and hunter/gatherer (the way Ted Nugent eats). It's a fascinating journey as Pollan illuminates what the act of eating has become and should be required reading for all Americans.

Posted inMusic

An Orchestra for Everyone: Getting intimate with the 4 Peaks Music Festival

Mike Bookey

Ties it all together. It's been almost a year since organizers of the 4 Peaks Music Festival stood onstage at the end of New Monsoon's headlining set and took a bow. They'd taken a ranch in Tumalo and turned it into a certifiably well-done music and camping festival - the only such event of its size in the region - and produced a vibe that was like a county fair for people (from kids to the silver-topped tourists) who would never dream of going to a county fair.

In a letter to neighbors of the pastoral Tumalo area neighboring the farm deemed "Rockin' A Ranch," 4 Peaks organizers announced last week that the 2009 festival will move to a yet-to-be-announced location for the festival's third installment. Wherever the festival lands, it's sure that this down-home vibe will follow, which is something any music festival strives for - a sense of identity in a crowded summer music market place.

Along with massively expanded campgrounds and a new site plot, the festival also wrangled in some larger scale touring acts (Zilla, Flowmotion, Hot Buttered Rum, and, of course, Poor Man's Whiskey, among others) while remaining within its means and also true to roots and jam music genre on which it was built. Tea Leaf Green is at the top of the bill for the festival, taking the penultimate lineup slot on Saturday night. The San Francisco piano-driven jam rock quartet released a new record (Raise the Tent) this week and their stop off at 4 Peaks is just one of the band's festival shows this summer, a season that saw them taking the stage at big-name events like Rothbury, Floyd Fest and the Mile High Music Festival, among others. Tea Leaf Green might be the reason a good handful of music nuts from Bend and far beyond flock out to the 80-acre ranch, but the quartet might not be what people walk away talking about. There's sure to be some chatter about the Everyone Orchestra, the band comprised of, well…just about everyone that is set to close out 2008's 4 Peaks Festival and basically tie the whole two-day shindig together.

Posted inMusic

The Plight of the Indie Rocker: Conor Oberst comes out from behind Bright Eyes with a new record

Intern

Emo Idol, POp god, or Freedom Rocker? You decide. but choose wisely.When it comes to indie rock credibility, a few names come to the forefront: Ben Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie), James Mercer (The Shins), Jenny Lewis (Rilo Kiley) and Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes). A marketing explosion later, it's all major label contracts, national tours and MTV face time for these bands. And Oberst has been riding shotgun throughout.

True to rock star form, Oberst snubbed this paper for an interview, stating that interviews and press were not part of the tour agenda for his new musical venture, Conor Oberst and Mystic Valley Band. (Actually, he's not doing ANY press for the tour, so we can't feel that bad.) He did however snub Portland, giving Bend the only Oregon date - a surprising coup for our little Midtown venue.

It’s a new venture for alt/pop/emo-god Oberst. His backing "Mystic
Valley Band" was pieced together from seasoned musicians that have
either recorded on one of his labels or supported him on tour. Included
in that mix is Rilo Kiley drummer Jason Boesel. A mature and
refurbished Oberst has emerged with his Mystic Valley Band and an album
full of songs that demonstrate truly polished emotion and lyricism, a
direction that properly post-scripts Bright Eyes. The songs "Lenders In
the Temple" and "Eagle On A Pole" are complete audible testament to
that evolution and embrace a 1960s folk revival. The album comes across
as a sort of cut and paste of everything I appreciated about Bright
Eyes and surprisingly more than I expected from Oberst. 

Posted inCulture

Our Picks for the week of 7/24-7/30

Mike Bookey

Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band
thursday 31

It's the Bright Eyes front man out on his own with a new band. Read more about it in the Sound section. All ages. $22 Advance, $25 at the door. Midtown Ballroom, 51 NW Greenwood Ave.
4 Peaks Pre-Fest Party
thursday 24
Before you head out to
Tumalo for the 4 Peaks Festival, hop on over to the Astro Lounge for a
meet-and-greet party with members of bands playing at the festival.
Rumor has it that several of the acts will be playing acoustic sets as
well. But the best reason to attend is to get $5 off the already
discounted ticket prices. 8-11pm, Astro Lounge, 147 NW Minnesota Ave.
No cover.
 

Posted inNews

Road Rules

Mike Bookey

The scars on Kate Dunning's knees run about six inches from her kneecap to the top of her shin. She is neither shy nor self-conscious about the marks, which are indicative of 17 days in the hospital, three months in a wheelchair, six months of missed work, and four surgeries.

The scars are most precisely a reminder of July 2, 2002 - the day Dunning was hit by a car while riding her road bicycle through Tumalo on Highway 20. The Ford sports utility vehicle crossed the highway, its teenage driver never seeing Dunning until it was too late to stop. Both of her legs were broken (including her left femur) and to this day she still can't run, which was once a passion of hers.

Whether it's on the front page of the Oregonian or in the form of
impassioned blog posts on the Source website, the discussion of
"sharing the road" between cyclists and motorists has been nearly
ubiquitous in recent months. And if Dunning's experience proves
anything, it's the seriousness of what can happen when bicycles and
cars fail to coexist on Central Oregon roads.
"This was kind of a
freak accident, the guy was looking to cross a busy highway and just
didn't see me," said Dunning, an accountant who's lived in Bend for 12
years. She continues, however, to say that although she's returned to
her bike, she still is continually baffled by cyclists who ignore even
the most basic riding etiquette. She is equally miffed by the faction
of motorists who seem to have it out for cyclists, including the
youngsters who once tossed a Coke with ice at her as they drove past.
 

Posted inOpinion

Merkley’s Artful Ad Dodge

Intern

tough, but casual. They call him wrangler. They look like campaign ads, they smell like campaign ads, and they sure as hell sound like campaign ads. But Jeff Merkley insists they're not campaign ads.

The TV spots started airing early this month. In the first of them, Merkley talks about how America has mistreated veterans returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In the next, he touts the record of the Oregon Legislature, and himself as House speaker, in toughening laws against meth and child sexual abusers. In the third, he attacks wasteful spending in Washington and brags about how, as a legislator, he worked to "put the middle class first."
The ads aren't being funded by the Merkley campaign; the Democratic Party of Oregon is paying for them, using money from the national Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. And that's where the problem is.

Federal law limits the amount of campaign money a US Senate candidate can receive from his state and national party to $485,200. Merkley had already gotten more than $386,000 from the party before the first of the ads was released. That's why the Merkley ads prompted Republican Gordon Smith's campaign to file a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission.

Posted inOpinion

Without a Trace: Controversial Source columnist disappears

Intern

Editor's Note: For the past five weeks we have received Upfront via email from Mick McMenaminuses. This week we received none. Suspecting another belligerent weekend as the reason, we went searching for our itinerate columnist – only to discover that Mick McMenaminuses is missing… His reporter's notebook was the only thing found, bristling in the breeze along Greenwood. Here are the stories he had compiled.

Africa Is Saved!
After a tainted election comparable to the 2000 runoff that allowed the Supreme Court to name George W. Bush president, Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai have at last signed a deal to end the political crisis. Faced with inflation of over one million percent - by far the highest in the world - Zimbabwe under Mugabe has issues akin to Bend under its current city council. Tsvangirai was forced to find safety in the Dutch Embassy as his followers were arrested and murdered, and the new power-sharing deal (Mugabe at least agreeing to talk about sharing power, that is) intends "to chart a new way of political interaction." Upon signing the deal, AIDS was suddenly cured, Cecil Rhodes reincarnated and returned all of the treasure he stole from the continent, and white suburban kids decided to shave their dreads.

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