The Eye likes to check in on right-wing gasbag Lars Larson every so often to make sure he's performing at his usual level of idiocy. We took a peek at his latest entry on the Oregon Catalyst blog this morning, and his fans can rest easy - he's still at the top of his game.
The Latest News From LarsWorld
Posted inNews
Re-Elect Gordon Smith — For a Change?
Everybody knows voters this year are looking for change, and every politician is trying to position himself as The Candidate of Change - even Oregon's Gordon Smith, who's been in the U.S. Senate since 1997.
Posted inNews
FLASH: Obama Coming to Bend Saturday
Barack Obama will visit Bend for a "town hall meeting" at Summit High School on Saturday, his campaign headquarters announced less than an hour ago.
Posted inNews
Going Over the Top in Oregon?
Oregon supporters of Barack Obama are hoping Hillary Clinton will drop out of the race - but not until after May 20.
Posted inOpinion
Take The Long View with Transit
I concur with the 5/8 Boot opposing cuts to the BAT and Dial A Ride.
I am a daily commuter on BAT, and what you can call a "choice" rider.
Posted inNews
Gone to the Dogs?: Ultimate players and dog owners clash on use of Sawyer Park
The field at Sawyer Park where ultimate players have been tossing the disc for years could soon be Bend newest off-leash dog area.The sight of a dog chasing down a Frisbee is pretty standard, something
you'd expect to see on a greeting card accompanied by the phrase: "Keep
your eyes on the prize!" or something equally corny. But currently in
Bend, dogs and Frisbees, or perhaps more accurately dog owners and
ultimate Frisbee players, are butting heads as the two groups vie for
use of the scenic grass field at Robert W. Sawyer Park.
The 45-acre
park, which spans the Deschutes River at the Northwest end of town, was
on the short list of parks up for consideration for Bend's next
off-leash dog area. The other options included High Desert Park and the
soon-to-be completed Pine Nursery Park, both of which are on Bend's
eastside. Currently, park district staff has recommended to the parks
board that the field at Sawyer be considered as the site of the new
off-leash area, according to Director of Park Services Ed Moore.
Posted inCulture
Potty Talk: CTC delivers Urinetown in style
feeling flush at CTC’s urinetown. Dystopia, the opposite of utopia, is not an uncommon a sight in American drama. Think of plays such as Waiting for Godot and films such as Bladerunner. Think of the spectacle of the current Bush administration. Briefly. My point is, Americans conscious of the forces that have spawned such work would hardly expect a drama titled Urinetown: The Musical (UTM) to paint a vision of paradise. So, the fairest question that can be put to The Cascades Theatrical Company's current production of UTM (playing at the Tower Theater) is: "How well does it paint its particular vision of dystopia – given the expressive possibilities of the stage, as opposed to the screen, and of musical comedy, as opposed to, say, 'straight' drama?"
Urinetown: The Musical is a Tony-winning work that, according to
Wikipedia, "rejects musical theatre convention, parodying . . . shows
such as Les Misérables . . . and West Side Story." Pu-leez. UTM's book,
like "Les Mis's," pits have-nots against haves, and, like West Side
Story's, heightens dramatic conflict to the plane of life and death.
But when leads Bobby Strong (Ricky Johnson) and Hope Cladwell (Briana
Jayne Hinchliffe) harmonize unreservedly about "love," "peace" and
"tomorrow," what's "shattered," if anything, is the pretense that even
such a hoary convention as poor-boy-and-rich-girl-meet-and-fall-in-love
are interrogated, much less demolished, by UTM.
Posted inOutside
The High Desert Museum’s helping hand: HDC gives the Spotted Owl a boost
Adult Northern Spotted Owl going home with breakfast. The Bush administration has proposed cutting 1.5 million acres of Northwest forests considered critical to the survival of the Northern Spotted Owl. On the brighter side, however, the High Desert Museum is helping to save the owls.
As if the administration's bungling of wildfires and old-growth forest mismanagement are not enough, even Mother Nature has thrown a rock through the spotted owl's window in the form of the Barred Owl, a close relative and fierce competitor. They are so closely related that mixed breeding has been reported, which has professedly produced a bird known as the "Sparred Owl."
Posted inOutside
It’s a Spring Thing: Straightening up at Smith Rock, PPP training and The Chainbreaker
Team Leader Ed Roberts and crew test their newly installed staircase.The 16th annual Smith Rock Spring Thing was a huge success on Saturday. 177 volunteers came together to improve trails, build new stairs, replace old stairs, plant trees, replace bolts and anchors for climbers, pull noxious weeds, and more. Local rock climbers, visiting climbers from the Valley and around the world, hikers, and Smith Rock State Park enthusiasts were all involved in the Spring Thing. Ian Caldwell, a Smith Rock State Park employee and hard-core rock climber, organized the event. After the volunteers completed what Caldwell figured to be $20,000 worth of work, it was time for many involved to pull out their ropes, quickdraws, and gear to ascend the welded tuff faces in the Park. That evening the crew feasted on tasty burritos and brews. Raffle prizes, throw out shwag, and auction items took Caldwell well over an hour to disperse to the crowd. Amanda Stuart and Rebecca Larsen from Altrec were instrumental in pulling together over $13,000 worth of prizes from numerous outdoor companies. Slide shows by Sonny Trotter and Steve House capped off the fun-filled and productive day at Smith Rock.
Posted inCulture
Postcards from the Edge: Supersize Me director goes global
Nope, not over there. From the beginning scene of a high-tech animated version of director Morgan Spurlock battling Osama Bin Laden to the ending credits of smiling head-shots set to Elvis Costello's "What's So Funny About Peace Love and Understanding?", this movie pummels humanity down our gullet. The message is poignant, the trip around the Middle East is entertaining, but Spurlock himself is distracting and irritating as the somewhat perplexed interviewer - teaching us nothing really new.
Believing the world will be a better place for his yet-to-be-born child, Spurlock sets out to find Bin Laden, or at least shed some light on his whereabouts. He leaves behind his pregnant wife, resulting in some unnecessary interludes of cuteness. Soon he's in the Middle East doing the-man-on-the-street shtick, coming off as a somewhat bewildered news journalist. For the most part, he seems at a loss for words and charisma. His monologue in the rubble of a recently blown-up classroom teeters on sheer ignorance - although entering this dangerous territory may qualify him as the bravest dweeb around. Even with his dopey monologues and annoying laugh, he manages to get a positive message across - that we're all in this together, aren't we?