This just in from our sources in Klamath Falls: Perennial anti-tax crusader Bill Sizemore has come out in favor of a tax increase to offset the loss of federal timber payments.
FLASH: Sizemore Supports Tax Increase!
Posted inOutside
Ladybug, Ladybug, Fly Away Home!: Taking advantage of natural pesticides
Transverse Lady Beetle doing its thing: pigging out on aphids.In late summer, my wife and I take a small group to Lava Beds National
Monument and neighboring Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge to tag
Monarch butterflies. While we're about it, we observe thousands of lady
beetles gobbling up aphids on the Monarch's food plant, narrow-leaf
milkweed.
That's OK; that's what lady beetles do - eat pestiferous
insects that cause great harm to Monarch caterpillar food and the
agricultural and landscaping business.
The problem is, as is
often the case with the way Man does things, if a little is good, we
think that a whole lot more is better – like pesticides. Not so with
lady beetles. Unfortunately, the free enterprise system that we all
operate within, depend on to make a living and find things in the
grocery store got carried away with ladybugs.
Posted inCulture
Getting in Touch With My Inner Geek at Gallifrey: A weekend with my fellow Doctor Who fanatics
A deadly Dalek threatens to EX-TER-MI-NATE other convention-goers. Why aren’t they scared?Question: What's geekier than a Star Trek convention?
Answer: The 19th annual Doctor Who convention, held a few weeks ago in Southern California.
So what was I doing there with more than 1,000 sci-fi geeks at the LAX Marriott hotel?
I
was looking for a story, but I was also fulfilling a childhood fantasy.
I discovered Doctor Who in the late 1970s during the "dark ages" before
cable TV. As a latchkey kid, I watched the super campy series after
school on PBS. I loved everything about it: the psychedelic intro, the
British humor, the tin-foil aliens. It was like tripping on acid at the
tender age of 10. The campy, sci-fi series first hit British airwaves
in 1963, running for two and a half decades before being cancelled
abruptly in 1989.
Posted inOutside
Local Birkebeiners Go Big: Plus 51,000 vertical feet and trail running champs pick Bend
James Balog
Wins Rowell Award
The powder returns and luckily there are brave souls to ski it.The Rowell award is given out each
year to celebrate the lives of Galen and Barbara Rowell, who died in a
plane crash in 2002. The Rowells, with their athletic abilities and
adventurous spirits, traveled and climbed all over the world. They
captured awe-inspiring photographs wherever they went. When traveling
through Bishop, Calif., stop in at the Rowell Gallery to take in
hundreds of their breathtaking images. Lupine fields in front of Fitz
Roy in Patagonia, gnarled Bristlecone Pines in California's Sierra
Nevada 'Range of Light,' skiing in the Alaska Range, and cultural
photos of Tibetans, Pakistanis, and Nepalese are just a few of the
images chronicling the Rowells' lives.
Posted inCulture
Jurassic Turok: Getting knocked on your butt by dinosaurs is just part of the fun of “Turok”
It’s okay to shoot, they’re only endangered on their home planet. The "Turok" franchise has been quiet over the last few years. The last offering, "Turok Evolution" didn't quite live up to the original game. Still, developers Touchstone and Propaganda Games haven't given up hope that there is something left in the Turok series. While this game is an improvement from the last one, Turok's latest adventure leaves much to be desired.
As in the original, you play as Turok, a Native American and member of an elite squad of soldiers. Turok's spaceship crash-lands on a jungle-covered planet where he finds time to blast apart some dinosaurs.
Posted inCulture
Youth Gets Old: Coppola’s Youth Without Youth doesn’t live up to his reputation
Is that the new i-Phone?I really wanted to like this movie. It just wouldn't let me. I spent almost the entire second half aching for it to be over.
The
opening montage was nice. The old-school credits in the beginning,
reminiscent of '40s-style movies, were refreshing. The colors and
photography were close to captivating. There's nothing wrong with the
acting.
Then there's the story. Somewhere hidden in this mess is
a cool concept. Steeped in ambiguity, I just can't figure out where the
legendary director stashed it.
Posted inCulture
Short and Sweet: Mountainfilm fest brings a weekend of globetrotting films
A taste of the wonderment that is the Mountainfilm fest.This is your chance to vicariously scale the globe. Mountain bike
through an old growth forest, ascend Colorado's Black Canyon, or go fly
fishing in Baja, all from the comfort of your Tower Theater seat.
Bend-based nonprofit reSource hosts the touring film festival,
Mountainfilm on Tour, as a fundraiser for the organization. With an
emphasis on sustainable living, the event is also intended to encourage
Central Oregonians to make everyday choices that reduce our impact on
the environment. Play lists include 7-8 short films per night. Here's
are some particularly eyebrow-raising films from the weekend schedule.
Posted inFood & Drink
Quick Bites: Cross Creek shines on the Redmond scene
When I was a young lad growing up in Redmond I never paid much attention to food – partly because I didn’t care, and partly because I was too broke to walk in the door.
Returning again as an adult and a professional cook, however, I was constantly reminded that I didn’t miss much. Redmond feels like a culinary wasteland, filled to the brim with mediocre restaurants squeaking by on barely passable food. In every wasteland however, there are always oases. I found one in the Cross Creek Cafe. Nestled behind Redmond City Hall on 8th Street, this gem has become one of the shining lights. Hell, they even serve real pastrami – something I’d completely given up on finding anywhere in Central Oregon.
Posted inFood & Drink
Quick Bites: Cross Creek shines on the Redmond scene
When I was a young lad growing up in Redmond I never paid much attention to food - partly because I didn't care, and partly because I was too broke to walk in the door.
Returning again as an adult and a professional cook, however, I was constantly reminded that I didn't miss much. Redmond feels like a culinary wasteland, filled to the brim with mediocre restaurants squeaking by on barely passable food. In every wasteland however, there are always oases. I found one in the Cross Creek Cafe. Nestled behind Redmond City Hall on 8th Street, this gem has become one of the shining lights. Hell, they even serve real pastrami - something I'd completely given up on finding anywhere in Central Oregon.
Posted inFood & Drink
Hearing Voices: The Summit serves up the latest O’Kane building grub
The best bangers and mash in town at the Summit.Local legend has it that downtown Bend’s O’Kane Building is haunted by
the voices of long departed souls. But it’s a different kind curse that
has vexed many of the recent tenants who have struggled and ultimately
failed to gain a foothold in what should be a prime location.
Stuft
Pizza had a good, long run in the huge restaurant space facing Oregon
Avenue. But when rents went north they hightailed it to Highway 97 and
died a slow death. Legends, while always packed on weekends, seemed to
struggle with consistency and imaging problems. Then came the
short-lived catastrophes of On the Rocks and Bend City Grill.