Wayne Kinney, a Democratic convention superdelegate who lives in Bend, announced today that he's supporting Barack Obama for the party's presidential nomination.
Bend’s Super-D Throws In With Obama
Posted inMusic
Liner Notes: Word to the 23rd
Spoken word or tamborine? Which is it, Al?Spoken word is hard to pull off. Sometimes this genre, or subgenre, if you will, brings to mind beret-intensive poetry slams where ideological rhetoric tends to trump skill. There are some heavy spoken word elements at play with Alfred Howard and the K23 Orchestra, but it's not the sort of aforementioned dimly lit coffee house nonsense.
AHK23 is a San Diego-based four-piece band that serves as the anchor for the vocal avalanche that is Alfred Howard. For the most part, AHK23's sound is marked by a laundry-line tight funk assault that rises in tempo along with Howard's pristinely clear speaking/rapping/singing voice.
Some might consider the band a jazzy hip-hop act in the spirit of the Roots, but what Howard is doing isn't always hip-hop, because half the time he's more singing than rapping and at other times his flow is more like he's reading from a leather-bound collection of contemporary poetry than hyping the crowd in the true spirit of hip-hop. Those who need a local barometer, one could compare some of Howard's riffs to what Bend's own Jason Graham does when out doing his solo stuff. Where Howard and Graham differ is in the improvisational orchestra department.
Posted inCulture
Won’t You Be My Neighbor? Bend kids meet new friends through the Hello Neighbor program
photographs from caldera’s hello neighbor project grace the source weekly headquarters.When was the last time you talked with your neighbors? Maybe they're your best friends, or perhaps more likely, you've never even really gotten to know them beyond a simple wave. Somehow, we seem more likely to seek out friends on MySpace than we are to take the time to understand the individuals who make up our community.
Caldera, a non-profit organization that mentors students in Central Oregon and Portland schools through artistic programs, has brought to town the Hello Neighbor program, a project meant to encourage kids to get out and meet the people in their neighborhoods.
The murals are hanging from the Boys and Girls Club on Wall Street, on the side of the Merenda restaurant, the Des Chutes Historical Museum, and of course, on the brick façade of the Source's Bond Street headquarters. The photos are hard to miss, given their seven feet by five feet size, and it's likely you've already seen a few at the aforementioned locations.
Posted inOutside
Running the gauntlet: The intersection of owls, cars and evolution
CASUALTIES to nature and man.Every day you see them dead on the highway, animals that tried to run the gauntlet and lost - cats, dogs, squirrels, mice, mule deer, elk, pronghorn, hawks, owls, eagles, and other forms of life, both domestic and wild.
There isn't much anyone can do about it either; it is the price all Life pays for the "Advance of Civilization." Even at more than $4 a gallon for fuel, we continue to drive our motor vehicles on our wonderful, paved roads. We have to. Oh sure, I suppose we could slow down a little, but that's not the American Lifestyle. We are a "Now!" "Get it Done!" generation; driving slower just doesn't fit into our way of life.
The above photo of the dead owl and gopher demonstrates a situation on our highway that is almost impossible to avoid. Great horned owls are birds of the night. That owl would have spent the day snoozing in the shade of a nice, cool juniper; when the sun dropped below the snow-capped peaks of the Cascades he'd wake up, open those magnificent, huge eyes and look for food. First things first.
Posted inOutside
King of Runners: A conversation with Bend’s own Max King
Max King competing in the 2008 Oregon RelaysMax King
Max King's running resume spills onto a second page as he quietly continues to rack up national level finishes, World XC Championship team selections, and impressive steeple chase finishes across the country and around the globe. Two main goals he's been working toward are qualifying for the 2008 World XC team and for the 2008 Olympic Games in the 3000 meter steeplechase. King checked off his first goal in February, finishing seventh in the senior men's 12 km race at the National XC Championships in San Diego. This earned him a spot on the World XC team and a trip to Scotland in March to compete against the World's best runners from 78 countries. King finished 55th overall in the 12 km race, crossing the line as the fifth of nine American racers. King also traveled to Japan in 2006 to race on the World XC Championship team.
Max began competing in the steeplechase in college. He graduated from Cornell University and was an All-American in the 3000 meter steeplechase in 2002 by finishing ninth in the NCAA Div. I National Championships. Even more impressive, Max competed at this level while completing a degree in Chemical Engineering. He worked full time as a research chemical engineer at Bend Research, Inc. out of college and took a couple years off of competing in track. After missing the competition, he started jumping back in post collegiate races. He has worked part-time the past two years at Bend Research while working full-time on steeplechase.
Posted inCulture
Do Wii Need Another Mario Kart? Popular franchise makes its way to Nintendo’s new console
blasting off with mario Kart. Nintendo capitalizes on the nostalgia for childhood games like Mario, Link and Samus, allowing us to relive these classics with each new Nintendo system that comes out while allowing newcomers to indulge in some retro-gaming.
But, after spending a few hundred dollars for various versions of the same game on each Nintendo console, is "Mario Kart Wii" worth it?
Yes.
A new wheel accessory and added online play through Nintendo's Wi-Fi connection give new value to the franchise. As you grip the plastic wheel (a separate, steering-wheel-shaped game controller in which you can mount the Wii remote, or Wiimote), your couch transmogrifies into a speedy go-kart. The spell is broken, however, with other controllers, such as the game pad, the Wiimote alone, or with the attached nunchuk controller. With those in hand, you might as well dust off your copy of Game Cube's "Mario Kart: Double Dash." By contrast, the wheel feels natural and requires engagement and focus. If the wheel is held carelessly, the kart will handle poorly and send you into a ditch.
Posted inCulture
Simple on the Screen: The Visitor looks at deportation with a subtle eye
some flowers are just funnier than others. The Visitor is tough to categorize. On one hand it's a straightforward story of a lonely guy who finds meaning in life, and on the other it's so deadpan and simple that it makes you remember why they make movies: Because real life depicted as real life can be boring.
The movie stars Richard Jenkins (Six Feet Under) as Walter Vale, a withdrawn, forlorn professor gliding through life in isolated emotional pain. Jenkins (an underrated actor) proves to be absolutely proficient in this role, broadening his range to new heights or in this case, lows. Gone are his usual comedic wise-cracks and/or witty flamboyance.
When Walter is sent from Connecticut to New York City to give a lecture and visits an apartment building he owns, he finds a couple of illegal immigrants, Tarek (Haaz Sleiman) and Zainab (Danai Gurira) living there. He reluctantly befriends them and his life begins to change. Tarek plays an African conga-drum and entices the prof into giving it a whirl. Next thing we know, Walter's beating the darn thing while wearing his underpants. Soon they are playing in a drum-circle in Washington Square Park. Trouble ensues in a subway when cops apprehend and arrest Tarek for supposedly jumping a turnstile. The rest of the movie is the slow-burn-saga of Walter trying to come to grips with saving someone else's life, therefore saintly redeeming his own. The film's tricky title will provoke discussion as to who's the visitor: Walter charting new territory or Tarek whose immigration status is challenged.
Posted inCulture
Keeping Up with the Joneses: While Globetrotting with an Older Indy
Hey, aren’t you han solo?The unabashedly campy Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull takes us on yet another retro, whirlwind adventure, this time led by an older, slightly mellowed, but still dashing "Indy." The latest installment of the four Indiana Jones films taps into '50s nostalgia-beginning in a malt shop in Cambridge, Mass. - and winds up in the Amazonian Jungle of Peru. Once again, we get to tag along with our favorite rogue archeologist, while in this episode he fends off several near-fatal attacks by Russian KGB operatives turned treasure hunters, and an onslaught of computer generated ants.
The plots of the Indiana Jones movies are always somewhat ridiculous; but who cares when in a span of under three hours the audience gets to trek to Nepal and Cairo, Shanghai and India, Venice, or the Amazon Jungle, all in the name of discovering treasure (which always bears some supernatural power), while preventing evil-doers from getting there first? The Crystal Skull, possibly the most schmaltzy of the bunch, is no exception.
Posted inFood & Drink
Quick Bites: Spring is the small wine time
Wine making is a tricky business. I recently visited my friend Mark Huff, owner of Stag Hollow Vineyard, who along with his wife Jill Zarnowitz, generates about 1800 cases of classic Oregon pinot noir, dolcetto, and dry-style muscat each year.
Posted inFood & Drink
Quick Bites: Spring is the small wine time
Wine making is a tricky business. I recently visited my friend Mark Huff, owner of Stag Hollow Vineyard, who along with his wife Jill Zarnowitz, generates about 1800 cases of classic Oregon pinot noir, dolcetto, and dry-style muscat each year.