City Beat: Burning and Dams

Posted inNews

City Beat: Burning and Dams

The Source Staff

Still Burnin’?

Just two months ago, it looked like the Bend City Council was moving
full speed ahead to ban all open burning within city limits in an
effort to clean up the city's air, but now it appears that a complete
ban on burning yard waste and other debris isn't in the cards.
At
last week's meeting, the council discussed an ordinance that would ban
open burning, except during two days in November - a divergence from
earlier indications that the city might ban all forms of burning. By
the end of the discussion, however, the council decided by way of a
four-to-three vote to amend the proposed ordinance to allow burning
during the two-day November period, but only on parcels of land two
acres or larger with a Fire Department-issued permit. The council has
not approved the ordinance, but will revisit the item at future
meetings.

Posted inCulture

Something for the Masses: BioWare’s new offering pushes the RPG envelope with “Mass Effect”

Shawn Wallbaum

Bio-Ware returns to the role-playing format with the excellent “Mass Effect.” When BioWare made "Star Wars: Knights of the Republic" and "Jade" for
the original Xbox system, they made a lot of gamers happy. They put
some time and effort into it, and the result was great RPG storytelling
that made Microsoft a major "player" in the console wars. Now BioWare
is taking its turn on the Xbox 360 with "Mass Effect." The game
publisher is so confident about the game that it plans a trilogy. In
the meantime, it's providing downloads to bridge the gap between game
releases.
As with BioWare's other RPG titles, you have the option of
playing as a man or woman. The decision influences your interaction
with other characters and enables you to customize the character's
appearance. You also have limited control of two other characters that
will help you along.

Posted inOutside

A Super Letdown: Green Bay folds in OT, Lynchgate lurches on and more!

Mike Ficher

Why can’t this Pac Man get eaten by a ghost?18 AND ARIZONA
How good is New England? Well, Tom Brady throws three
interceptions, Randy Moss is barely a mention in the game and yet the
Patriots efficiently dismantle the San Diego Chargers, 21-12 in the AFC
championship game. Kevin Faulk catches eight passes, Laurence Maroney
rushes for 122 yards, including critical first downs on the
clock-chewing final drive in the fourth quarter. Jabar Gaffney catches
a touchdown pass, Wes Welker catches a touchdown pass. The ageless
Junior Seau makes key defensive plays. Rodney Harrison pressures Philip
Rivers. And, the offensive line continues to stake a case as the best
in the NFL, whether run or pass blocking. Yeah, New England is that
good.
ELI'S COMING
How improbable is winning three games on
the road, including defeating not only the frequently sleeveless Green
Bay Packers, but the ghosts of the legends oozing from the frozen
tundra (minus one degree, the third coldest game in NFL post-season
history) of Lambeau Field? Well, the New York football Giants (love the
sound of that!) accomplished one of the most difficult feats in sports
to reach their fourth Super Bowl and create the second consecutive
championship game that features a Manning at quarterback.
 

Posted inOutside

Our Spider Friends: Making friends with your eight-legged visitors

Jim Anderson

I just finished reading a short story about a firefly and a spider by Bruce Sterling in his paperback, Visionary in Residence, that is just too good to keep to myself.
For
all my dear friends who read my column and jump out of their skin when
confronted by a spider speeding across the floor – or dropping in for
lunch – Sterling's neat little caricature will help you with your fear
of spiders. Honest! And with that, please let me help you to enjoy
yourself as much as possible and read on…
First, about the fear
of spiders…There is nothing wrong with jumping out of your britches
when a spider suddenly – or even slowly – appears in your life. Spiders
are, from a human being's standpoint, the original "creepy crawly
critters."
 

Posted inOutside

Fairy Meadows: The ultimate in backcountry skiing adventure

Mike Bookey

Living the high life at Pioneer Peack in B.C.If I could look into a crystal ball filled with a snowman and snow
flurries abounding after a good shake and dream up the perfect
backcountry skiing adventure, it would contain the following: fly into
a backcountry hut with several psyched powder lovers, ski all day -
every day - for a week in untracked terrain among jagged peaks and
glaciers, then head back to the hut for lots of good cheer and gourmet
cuisine while basking in the glow and tales of the day's adventures.
This
fairy tale came true the first week of the New Year as my wife Molly
and I drove north to Golden, B.C., After meeting up with the
enthusiastic group in Golden, 20 of us gathered our gear and food at
the helicopter loading site. It was a clear day with great visibility,
perfect for a heli ride. I was fortunate enough to ride shotgun on the
first of five trips our group took to get all our bodies and supplies
into the hut. We flew along the Columbia Arm of Kinbasket Lake, the
headwaters of the Columbia River, before swinging west into the Adamant
Range of the Selkirk Mountains. My eyes bulged as the views became
better with every minute. The heli set us softly down just below the
Bill Putnam (Fairy Meadow) hut in a hanging valley surrounded by
picturesque B.C. mountains.

Posted inCulture

Overrated: Films that the MPAA doesn’t want you to see

Mike Bookey

In September of 2007, Ang Lee (director of Brokeback Mountain,
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and many more) was saddled with the
NC-17 rating by the Motion Picture Association of America's censors on
his movie, Lust, Caution. The rating is the kiss of death at the
box-office. No matter what reviewers say, the large ticket-buying
population of under-17-year-old viewers have already been axed out of
seeing the film, much less those that equate the NC-17 rating with
porn. Most of the time, there is usually one scene that censors just
can't stomach, so to save their films from bombing at the box office,
directors will go back and cut the scene enough to appease the
thumb-screwing censorship committee, which later gets reinserted and
released on DVD as the "director's cut." Below are some "directors cut"
versions of some originally NC-17 or X-rated films.

Posted inCulture

The Late Ones: Two siblings care for the father who never did

Jason Blair

Nothing like a good ol’ fashioned awkward moment…The Savages, the title of which refers to the characters' names as well
as their predicament, is not, as luck would have it, another bleak film
about people behaving badly. It can't avoid being a grim picture in
places, what with its subject matter – the death of a parent by
dementia – likely to provoke nearly universal feelings of dread. But
writer/director Tamara Jenkins (Slums of Beverly Hills) presents The
Savages as a tale of survival, one in which Wendy (Laura Linney) and
her brother Jon (Philip Seymour Hoffman) reshuffle their lives when the
father who abandoned them can no longer care for himself. It's a savage
undertaking, to be sure, but Jenkins isn't interested in death as much
as how death reorganizes the lives it doesn't take.

Posted inCulture

A Case of the Shakes: Cloverfield offers a refreshingly fresh take on monster genre

Robert Grimm

Just one of the dizzying moments in Cloverfield.After many months of prerelease hype and viral marketing, audiences are
finally getting a look at Cloverfield - a scary, very shaky
(physically, not technically) disaster movie whose effect is often
distressingly real. So real, that some folks I saw it with seemed ready
to vomit.
The premise is that a tape has been found in Central Park
after an unexplained disaster, and our task is to sit back and watch
it. It begins with playful couple Rob and Lily (Michael Stahl-David and
Jessica Lucas) as they speak to one another after a night of apparent
unabashed sexuality.

Posted inFood & Drink

Soothing Beverage Choices: Sipping it up at Townshend’s Tea

Mike Bookey

A spot of milk with your tea at Townshend’s, Bend’s new downtown teahouse.As the menu at Townshend’s Tea Company states, tea has been relegated
second-class status in the States. Ever since rogue colonists tossed
their British rulers’ supply overboard into Boston harbor, tea has
taken a back seat to the more pungent, and stimulating, coffee bean.
The new downtown teashop, Townshend’s, embraces that underdog
reputation, offering an unabashed sanctuary for tea leaves and tea
lovers.
The location that housed Pfundementals for as many years as I
can remember has been cleaned up, buffed out and infused with a
tea-worthy atmosphere. Retro, antique and modern furniture blend with
the polished concrete floors, pillowed benches and brick walls to lend
a tranquil, but energetic, climate that is imbued with alternative
atmospheric music. The menu is extensive and slightly intimidating for
the tea neophyte. To alleviate some of the possible stress of deciding
from more than 100 teas and infusions, owner Matt Thomas has divided
the selections into types of teas such as white, rooibos and oolong;
rare and top-grade teas like matcha, bao zhong and pu-erh wang; as well
as separating out the infusions which are listed under “Apothecary”.

Posted inFood & Drink

Soothing Beverage Choices: Sipping it up at Townshend’s Tea

Mike Bookey

A spot of milk with your tea at Townshend’s, Bend’s new downtown teahouse.As the menu at Townshend's Tea Company states, tea has been relegated
second-class status in the States. Ever since rogue colonists tossed
their British rulers' supply overboard into Boston harbor, tea has
taken a back seat to the more pungent, and stimulating, coffee bean.
The new downtown teashop, Townshend's, embraces that underdog
reputation, offering an unabashed sanctuary for tea leaves and tea
lovers.
The location that housed Pfundementals for as many years as I
can remember has been cleaned up, buffed out and infused with a
tea-worthy atmosphere. Retro, antique and modern furniture blend with
the polished concrete floors, pillowed benches and brick walls to lend
a tranquil, but energetic, climate that is imbued with alternative
atmospheric music. The menu is extensive and slightly intimidating for
the tea neophyte. To alleviate some of the possible stress of deciding
from more than 100 teas and infusions, owner Matt Thomas has divided
the selections into types of teas such as white, rooibos and oolong;
rare and top-grade teas like matcha, bao zhong and pu-erh wang; as well
as separating out the infusions which are listed under "Apothecary".

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