On the Horizon

Posted inMusic

On the Horizon

Jeff Trainor

Wilco
Confirmed!
Famous last words, right? Indeed, if Modest Mouse has taught us anything, it's that announcements of hugely awesome flannel shirt≠≠≠-related (we hereby declare a moratorium on the phrase "indie") bands playing shows at Les Schwab Amphitheater are best taken with a grain of salt.

Posted inMusic

Down and Dirty: The triumphant return of the Dirtball

Denise CaJacob

Whose ready to get dirty?The word dirtball conjures images of scuzzy gutter dwellers, grease under the fingernails from their day job. Our Dirtball however, is neither scuzzy, nor greasy. This Dirtball is a rhyme-spitting drummer who is more likely to be dusty from a camping trip than anything else. David Alexander, a.k.a. The Dirtball, started playing drums when he was seven and doesn't seem to have stopped since then. A true Central Oregon native, Alexander named his third major label release Crook County.
 
"I wanted to bring it home with this album. Crook County is where I raised hell my whole life. We used to party out there all the time," he said.

Posted inMusic

Making Their Mark: Portland’s Weinland hits the road

Eric Flowers

Weinland’s magic bus. Adam Shearer, the lead singer and songwriter of Weinland wanted to be just that. A singer/ songwriter. But his songs had a different idea.
 
"I really love acoustic music and adding every layer took a lot of thought for me," Shearer said. "For example, I was sure we weren't gonna have drums and then we ended up adding them. The band wanted to fill out the sound. I was the only one dragging my feet."
Weinland, who will be playing McMenamins Old St. Francis School in Bend on Wednesday, April 30, started out as a solo acoustic project for Shearer, who at the time, was going by the stage name John Weinland.

Posted inCulture

Our Picks for the Week of 4/24-4/30

Eric Flowers

New Monsoon, Moon Mountain Ramblers
thursday 24
The Jam-tastic bluegrass-rock from San Francisco will be rockin' the Summit Thursday with Oregon's own traditional bluegrass band Moon Mountain Ramblers. The San Franciscan quintet's new album was produced by the famed Grateful Dead producer John Cutler which is reason enough to evoke interst. The band has played every festival from Bonnaroo to Summerfest making them seasoned tour veterans. Catch this show, you won't be disappointed. Bend's MMR opens. Proceeds benefit 3E Strategies. 8pm. $15. Summit Saloon, 125 NW Oregon Ave. 749-2440.

Posted inOpinion

Lose Ben Stein’s Money: The Boss comes out, the Putin

Eric Flowers

Big Bomb Theory
Stein is a lot of things, but movie star ain’t one of them. Ben Stein has had a checkered career - speech writer for Richard Nixon, TV game show host, business columnist, movie actor. But his latest foray into the entertainment world as movie producer doesn't seem to be panning out too well.
 
Stein's movie Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed opened last weekend with mediocre box office numbers and less than mediocre reviews. It's a purported documentary intended to support the theory of "intelligent design" and show how proponents of intelligent design face discrimination and harassment in academia. Among other subtleties, it attempts to link Darwinism to Nazi genocide and the Berlin Wall.

Posted inOpinion

If You’ve Moved, Re-register

Eric Flowers

Letter of the Week 
Nothing is more vital to OUR democracy than fair and effective elections. We rely (with varying success) on public officials for fairness and competence in the design and administration of our election process. We also rely (with varying success) on our citizenry to participate in the process.
We must also rely on the media to do its part in promoting fair and effective elections. By providing adequate and appropriate information, commentary and analysis, our media can educate and inform voters on candidates, issues and on the electoral process itself.

Posted inOpinion

The Bozos of BAT

Intern

After reading recent comments by Randy Grove, human resources director at Paratransit Services, I'm wondering if bulbous red clown noses are a management perk.
Grove says BAT workers want a 135% wage increase totaling $2.8 million. I've been following the transit union negotiations pretty closely, and I sure don't recall numbers that come remotely close to these outrageous claims.

Posted inOpinion

Bring Back Those Sunny Healy Days

Intern

To Matt Janney, president and general manager, Mt. Bachelor:
Hey man, remember those good old Healy days of summer? Yeah, those days when the mountain would stay open for all us snow lovers almost as long as the snow lasted? Dude, you were there and loving it all too! What happened, man? What happened to all those sunny summer mornings cruising down the hill under a hot summer sun? What happened to Bill's mountain, what happened to skiing thru July 4? What is up with May 18? That closing is so lame, man!

Posted inOpinion

SMART’s Dumb Move

H. Bruce Miller

Oregon's SMART (for "Start Making a Reader Today") program got started in 1992 with a handful of volunteers and one simple idea: that having a grownup spend a little time each week reading with a young child would encourage a love of books and improve the child's reading skills, confidence and school performance.

Posted inOpinion

King’s Inspiration

Eric Flowers

Earlier this month we marked the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King's death, or should I say his assassination, in Memphis, TN. Hours have been spent on radio and television commemorating the event. Articles, some at great length, have been written about what this Baptist preacher accomplished not only for his race but for the problem of segregation we have in America.
What never seems to be mentioned is what context, motivation and background motivated this great man. Sure, he was a Baptist preacher, but what made him do what he did, say what he said, motivated this man?

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