Huge in Japan: Lafa Taylor is looking to make waves in his homeland

Posted inMusic

Huge in Japan: Lafa Taylor is looking to make waves in his homeland

The Source Staff

Just a few of the many Lafa Taylor fans pack the legendary budokan Arena in tokyo. Watch out Cheap Trick…Lafa Taylor is big in Japan. He's seriously really big - the guy is 6
feet 5 inches tall, and when he had an afro, he was even bigger, making
him tower over the average Japanese citizen.

But in terms of musical
popularity, Taylor is also huge in Japan. The Eugene-reared-but-now-living-in-Portland-as-of-last-week hip-hopper
traveled to Japan a few years ago and was embraced by a duo called Def
Tech known for their Jawaiian (if you guessed that this is a
combination of Japanese and Hawaiian styles, you're right) reggae
vibes. Before Taylor knew it he'd become, well, kind of famous.

Posted inNews

A Click Away: Online networking sites are proving to be gathering places for grievers

Eric Flowers

Kyle Sonnen and girlfriend Laura Deatherage before he was killed in a car crash last month.Just before 8:30 p.m. on Feb. 13 Laura Deatherage logged on to Facebook and posted a short message on the wall of her boyfriend, Kyle Sonnen.
"i love you more than the world and wish i was in your arms up in heaven, i can't live without you."Laura said she can't help but believe Kyle heard her message.
"It was just kind of a way to talk to him - that there's this chance that he sees it," she said quietly, maybe still not sure herself what prompted her to leave him a message on the Internet.
At the very least, it was her way to say another goodbye.
Sonnen, 20, and Deatherage, 18, were traveling on the Mt. Baker Highway outside Bellingham, WA., on Feb. 7 when Sonnen attempted to pass another vehicle in a no-passing zone, according to police. Sonnen's 2000 Subaru hatchback slid off the road and hit a tree, killing him almost immediately. Laura suffered several injuries including a broken femur, a broken wrist and a gash on her head that required 22 staples.

Posted inOpinion

Shelter From the Storm: A hit on Jagger and Barack the Mac

Joseph Oguiza

After an 18-year-old audience member was fatally stabbed in a clash with Hells Angels during their notorious 1969 concert at Altamont Speedway, the Rolling Stones decided to stop using the Angels to provide security.
It was a decision that could have cost Mick Jagger his life, according to a new BBC documentary.
The documentary, which aired Monday, featured former FBI Special Agent Mark Young telling how a group of Hells Angels decided to retaliate against the Stones by assassinating their lead singer at his vacation home in the Hamptons on Long Island.
According to Young the bikers set out in a small boat, intending to land at Jagger's place from the ocean side to avoid the security at the front gate. But they weren't as good at handling a boat as they were at handling Harleys - a storm came up, the craft capsized and all the Angels ended up in the drink. Although they survived, they gave up the idea of killing Jagger.
Leading Upfront to muse on whether the Angels might have had the opening lines of "Gimme Shelter" going through their heads as they floundered in the Atlantic:
Oh, a storm is threatening
My very life today
If I don't get some shelter
Oh yeah, I'm gonna fade away

Posted inOpinion

Code Pink Is On Target

Eric Flowers

This week's letter of the week comes from Bill Bodden who takes issue with notion that people don't have the right to protest outside military recruiting offices. The First Amendment thanks you Bill and so does the Source. As a token of our gratitude were picking up the tab for dinner tonight. You can pick up your $25 gift certificate for Dinner's Ready at our office, 704 NW Georgia, anytime during business hours.
 
To put it in polite terms, Stephanie Bearse (Feb. 28) chose the wrong target when she criticized war critics in Bend. She objected to Code Pink picketing the recruiting offices where ill-informed young people go to join the military and possibly participate in the fighting in Iraq. The recruiters may be doing their duty and may not lie, but they won't volunteer the whole and sordid truth. They won't tell applicants this is an illegal war or that they may have to fight in it with defective or insufficient armor and supplies. Nor will they tell young women they will be at increased risk of being raped.

Posted inOpinion

Not Your Average Joe

Eric Flowers

Today I read the official announcement of the opening of Trader Joe's on March 28. This exciting, quite longed for and overdue event is finally coming to Bend.
I have been a fan of Trader Joe for so many years that it dates me. I know there are many other fans chomping at the bit, hearing it discussed at the gym, in the grocery store, and almost any place people gather… "Have you heard yet when Trader Joe's is opening? Oh, you don't know about Trader Joe? Let me tell you"

Posted inOpinion

Blacked Out of the Debate

Eric Flowers

I recently sent this e-mail to NBC, parent company of MSNBC:
I have a philosophical issue concerning your showing of the recent Democratic presidential debate.
In my home town, Bend, Oregon, the only way to watch this debate was to subscribe to a premium cable package. This seems to be counter to the way democracy is intended to work.

Posted inOpinion

Expanding Meissner Is a Good Move

Eric Flowers

In the article "Whose Playground" (Feb. 21, 2008) author H. Bruce Miller and those interviewed failed to mention the benefits of the groomed ski trails at Meissner Sno-Park that hundreds of Central Oregonians enjoy every week. Dale Neubauer of Wild Wilderness complained, "If you go up there and you have a busload or 50 or 60 kids unloading for practice your experience has been changed and you need to go somewhere else." This is in reference to a local high school ski team.

Posted inOpinion

Bend-LaPine School Board

H. Bruce Miller

Picking the top administrator for a big public agency can involve a delicate balancing act. The candidates you're screening have the right to a certain amount of privacy. But the community has a right to know something about the people being considered for a vital job and the process for considering them.

Sign up for newsletters

Get the best of The Source - Bend, Oregon directly in your email inbox.

Sending to:

Gift this article