A WOMAN'S TOUCH
Paul Van Camp awaiting a wave with Haystack Rock in the background.On Thursday mornings, for years if not decades, I've
grabbed a Source and flipped immediately to this page to catch Bob
Woodward's commentary, usually enriched by a story connecting past and
present and occasionally spiked with an edgy throwdown. More recently,
I've enjoyed Kevin Grove's tales of mountaineering adventures and
appreciation for our natural environment. Well, Woody's written enough
articles to fill a library and Kev's roaming the country skiing Hood,
Ranier and other mountains. At a time in our country when the glass
ceiling is being broken, it seems appropriate for the Source to bring a
woman's touch to the Outside column.
On that note, kudos to
Pine Mountain Sports and Trek for the women's bike demos and ladies
night earlier this month. I happened to be out at Phil's Trail during
the demo and it seemed like a huge success. Riding there another day, I
pulled aside for a young woman riding uphill. She had a big grin on her
face as she followed her friend and huffed, "This is my first mountain
bike ride!" You go, girl.
Surf Is Where You Find It: Estrogen, waves, triathlons and more
Guitar Hero to Go!
With a popular franchise like Guitar Hero it was only a matter of time
before game makers took a stab at crossing over to another platform.
Well, game developer Vicarious Visions has answered the call with a
guitar-like attachment for the Nintendo DS that allows obsessive guitar
heroes to play the game (Guitar Hero: On Tour) on the go.
This took
some creative engineering, but they were able to create an attachment
that resembles the games' original "guitar" neck, which plugs into the
Game Boy Advance slot on the Nintendo DS Lite and Original DS systems.
You use the stylus screen to strum with a guitar pick-like stylus. This
can be frustrating, but shouldn't keep you from getting the hang of the
game.
Dead or Alive
Jolie in a shot from the new Whitesnake videoYou are going to have to set aside common sense to enjoy this movie. It'll be no fun if you question the logistics of Wanted, with its dopey dialogue and ridiculous plot. Better to sit back and enjoy the ride while this flick delivers a ton of exhilarating, jaw-dropping action scenes.
The plot unfolds with a quick voice-over narrative biography explaining the lame existence of one Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy), a stressed out accountant, stagnating in his measly meek life. People abuse and take advantage of him on a daily basis. Oh, if only he could grow a pair… Enter Fox (a tattooed ultra sleek Angelina Jolie) who literally whisks Gibson away to employ his unknown talents for an underground assassin club called the Fraternity. Sound farfetched so far? You betcha. But who cares? Right when you think the film will get long and uninteresting, Wanted pumps in the adrenaline-beginning with some Matrix-effect flying bullets.
Horsing Around in Mongolia
The wrath of KhanAs Kazakstan's first entry into the Academy Awards (2008 nominee for Best Foreign Language Film), the epic historical drama, Mongol, will enthrall horse devotees, history aficionados (who can argue afterwards about its authenticity), or anyone else interested in a visually incredible depiction of life on the steppes of 12th century Central Asia.
Be a Guest at your own Party
When talking to Lisa Glickman about her new endeavor, she draws a distinct line between her work and that of a personal chef. Personal chefs, she says, are geared toward daily food preparation or small family events. She also says she isn’t a caterer, as she does not have specific menus items to choose from and doesn’t do events for over 20 people. But Glickman is all about events – anywhere from 10-20 people – combining cheffing with party planning and decorating.
Be a Guest at your own Party
When talking to Lisa Glickman about her new endeavor, she draws a distinct line between her work and that of a personal chef. Personal chefs, she says, are geared toward daily food preparation or small family events. She also says she isn't a caterer, as she does not have specific menus items to choose from and doesn't do events for over 20 people. But Glickman is all about events - anywhere from 10-20 people - combining cheffing with party planning and decorating.
Let Freedom Ring — in your ears
As tends to be the practice of this publication on the eve of any party-intensive holiday, we would like to take this opportunity to bully you into following our recommendations for a good time. In the past, we've given you plans for a perfectly ridiculous St. Patty's Day and laid the pavement for a marathon New Year's Eve (complete with both bluegrass and bull riding) so there's really nothing stopping us from pushing you in the direction of a Fourth of July weekend so explosively awesome that you'll have no problem using puns as corny as "explosively awesome."
Jumpsuits, Sideburns and $1,000 costumes
Where does the leather end and the man begin?Danny Vernon prefers to be called an Elvis "tribute artist," rather than an "Elvis impersonator." He's clearly aware of the connotation that accompanies the word "impersonator" and is pretty serious about what he does.
This is why when I ask him to slip into his Elvis character over the phone and answer a question like "what are your thoughts on Michael Jackson, your former son in law?" he's not all that thrilled. He laughs at the request, but it's a trying-to-be-polite sort of laugh - a let's-change-the-subject laugh.
If It Weren’t for the Stones
All Hail the King and LucilleIt was the summer of 1969 and there was a party goin' on backstage at Ravinia, the outdoor concert venue 30 miles north of Chicago. The classical music squares running the joint, they'd never seen anything like it: For sixty years, backstage had been the site of oh-so-sedate and oh-so-cerebral pre-concert soirees, fore-fronted this summer by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's Maestro Georg Solti. And, man, if he'd got wind of this, he'd never have stood for all the laughin', drinkin' and cussin' this then-21-year-old journalism student saw and heard when he was admitted backstage to interview the even-then-legendary B. B. King. Here he was all crisp in his burnt-orange sharkskin suit a half hour before his first gig at Ravinia, maybe 45 miles but cultural light-years away from the Regal, Chicago's black music Mecca, which King repeatedly sold out.
Armed in Oregon
You've just arrived at work, interested in coffee more than conversation, and a coworker enters, setting her purse down – BOOM! A gun explodes, bullet flies, nearly hitting you - Where are you? The sheriff's office, where everyone is armed? A rural factory where busting-off a few rounds after work isn't uncommon? No, you're a nurse at St. Charles Medical Center and this actually happened a little over one month ago. No one was injured and the incident went unpublicized, but the nurse with the concealed handgun is no longer employed at the hospital. Everyone knows why.
She brought a ballistic umbrella in case of rain.

