Gov. Ted Kulongoski rode a bicycle from the governor's mansion to the state capitol Monday to encourage people to seek alternatives to car commuting, but the feat didn't impress The Oregonian's editorial writers much.
Lance Armstrong He Ain’t
Posted inNews
We’re Number Two — In Overpriced Houses
Bend has earned a high spot on a national list again, although this time it's an honor that we probably would just as soon pass up.
Posted inNews
Wyden Gets Off the Fence — Finally
Sen. Ron Wyden, one of Oregon's superdelegates to the Democratic National Convention, announced his support for Barack Obama today - a day after Obama had clinched the nomination.
Posted inMusic
Liner Notes: Hip-Hop Cinema with Andre Nickatina
Around his Bay Area stomping ground, Nickatina is a hip-hop legend who's best known for his hardcore "life-on-the-streets" ethos and silky smooth delivery. Some might call Nickatina "gangsta rap," and he might not even disagree with that label.
Posted inCulture
Sweet Claustrophobia: 2nd Street Theatre puts on a big show in Sweet Charity
That’s what we call a dress rehearsal. It's the opening night of Sweet Charity at 2nd Street Theatre and it's a full house in the tiny theater. As a Second Street Theatre virgin I am surprised by how small the theater really is. While some would call this an "intimate" setting, I am more concerned that if there is a fire, or if this happens to be a sort of Cats-like production where the cast interacts with the audience, I won't be able to get out of the theater fast enough and will therefore either die in the flames or be arrested for punching an overzealous actor. The show could not start soon enough. As the show tunes crank out of the sound system, the lights shine on a young couple standing by the left edge of the stage.
Sweet Charity tells the story of a young woman named Charity Hope Valentine who works at a dance hall in New York City as a sort of dance partner for hire. The play begins with Charity being pushed into Central Park Lake by her boyfriend. Charity later meets Oscar Lindquist, a nerdy tax accountant. The two fall madly in love until Oscar learns of Charity's occupation as a dance hall hostess. The play ends with Charity again being pushed into Central Park Lake by Oscar and then emerging (presumably with hepatitis or some other water-borne disease by this point) optimistic that she will some day find love and get away from the dance hall. The musical numbers include hits like "Big Spender" and "If My Friends Could See Me Now."
Posted inOutside
What? You’ve Never Seen a Skink!: an introduction to this sexy, sexy lizard
Not too many years back, I received a phone call from an old pal, Millard Tope. "Jim!" he exclaimed, "You've got to come over and see this lizard … it's got the bluest tail I've ever seen!"
Millard lives only a hop, skip, and a jump from me in Cascade Estates, so I grabbed up my camera and hustled over to his home. "It's over here, under this piece of plywood," he said, pointing toward the back of his house. Lifting the plywood so we could both see his prize more clearly, he said, "Now, what is it?"
One look is all you need to recognize a juvenile Western Skink. Its four-inch body is covered with shiny glass-like scales, and the tail is the bluest blue you'll ever see. If you can believe it, it's brighter blue than even a male Mountain Bluebird – and that's really blue!
Posted inOutside
Spring Fling Thing: COTA trail build ing, adopt-a-road (ride) and more
COTA volunteer Dave Caplan repairs the Farewell Bend trail at last year’s COTA Spring Fling.COTA Spring Fling
Thanks to last week's rains, the mountain bike trails are in prime shape. With mountain biking on the mind, it's a good time to support the Central Oregon Trail Alliance (COTA) Annual Spring Fling and BBQ that takes place Saturday, June 7. CogWild, Green Energy Tours, and WebCyclery will provide shuttles to the work site, leaving at 8am from WebCyclery. Trail crews will build and repair trails until 1:00 pm, then volunteers will be shuttled back to town for the after-party BBQ. Volunteers should bring plenty of water and wear sturdy footwear and clothing, including gloves and glasses. The after-party begins at 2:00 pm at WebCyclery on SW Industrial Way. Food and beverages will be provided by COTA and Seventh Mountain Resort, while Blackstrap will play live bluegrass, and COTA will announce awards including the Volunteer of the Year and Lifetime Achievement Award. Trail crew volunteers will receive free food and beverages at the BBQ. The public is also invited to join the after-party and to become a member of COTA. All new and renewing members will be entered into a drawing for a Niner EMD 9 Twenty9er bicycle frame. For event details and membership information, go to www.cotamtb.com.
Posted inCulture
Fii-tness Test: Is the Wii Fit for You?
step it up on the wii Fit. When the Nintendo Wii hit the market, the first thing people noticed was that it required users to move their bodies while playing. Nintendo has decided to take advantage of this feature - and the fact that most Americans don't get enough exercise - by creating a video game with elements of a workout video. The Wii Fit offers up to 40 different exercises and mini games that are supposed to help players not only get into shape, but actually have fun while working off the love handles. Nintendo has packaged the game with a balance board, which is a cross between a weight scale and a video game controller. The board is a fancy looking step board that connects to the Wii wireless and can sense weight and movement, which creates lots of possibilities.. In a sense, the game presents a realistic looking personal trainer who walks you through a bunch of yoga exercises while also testing your strength. You perform the yoga, standing on the balance board as it keeps track of your center of balance and lets you know if you are shifting your weight too much to one side or the other. This helps you perform the exercises correctly and allows you to get the most out of each movement. In the strength-building part, you can do push ups, twists, squats and earn points based on how well you perform each movement.
Posted inCulture
Dam it All: River Ways tackles controversial Northwest dams
Tribal fisherman have suffered along with the salmon on the columbia river. Who says all fish-talk is boring? River Ways proves the opposite in a documentary about four controversial Snake Rivers dams. Set against the backdrop of the collapse of a once unrivaled salmon fishery on the Columbia River and a campaign to have four dams that have contributed to that decline removed, River Ways finds there are no easy solutions, or easy villains in this story.
River follows three essential characters-Frank Sutterlict, a Yakama tribal fisherman, Ben Branston, a wheat farmer, and Mark Ihander, a commercial fisherman. It keeps most interviews short and to the point, highlighting viewpoints from both sides of the river debate. The other perspectives include conservationists, protesters, board members, biologists and river advocates. The big river draws in a huge spectrum of interests, both economic and environmental, and there is plenty of acrimony between the extremes. One scene shows gun-toting, racist fishermen making a stand at what they consider "their river" when a Native American tries to fish the same stream.
Posted inCulture
People are Strange: Stock scares and abrupt ending hurt The Strangers
refuses to clean up her room. The Strangers will piss off a lot of people, but probably not for the same reasons as me. It has its moments as it's an odd twist of a film. It's all about a victimizing, murderous act and any substance beyond that is all but lost. Relying only on scare tactics, the film has virtually no plot. This can be a good thing, but in this case it leads to an unredeemable finale with a supremely uncalled for ending.
The beginning has that good ol' horror movie promise with narration and "inspired by true events" facts straight out of Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Strangers keeps the suspense up and will undeniably creep you out. (The sound of a knock on a door might never be the same for you again.)
Kristin (Liv Tyler) and James (Scott Speedman) are back from a party early because Kristen has re-buffed James' marriage proposal and they're in a sad quandary as to what to do next. Staying at his folks' remotely situated house, they receive a knock at the door from a seemingly lost girl. They send her on her way and the trouble begins. Knocks turn into pounds, windows break, and masked figures begin to appear. (Props go to the creepiest masks ever: doll-face and pillow-head.)