Year-Around Film: BendFilm and the Tower team up to revamp The Series

Posted inCulture

Year-Around Film: BendFilm and the Tower team up to revamp The Series

The Source Staff

BendFilm and the Tower kick off the Series with the Breast Cancer DiariesFor a few days in October, the Tower Theatre becomes home to the
BendFilm festival, packing the historic venue with diehard film buffs,
as well as locals who just like to get a taste of independent cinema
without leaving town. But when the festival closes down, documentaries
and out-of-the-mainstream feature films, although not completely vacant
from our cultural landscape, are much tougher to find.

While some
might think of BendFilm as an entity existing only during that long
weekend in October, the organization has teamed with the Tower Theater
to present a bi-monthly series of independent films from the festival's
library and beyond. Kicking off Indie Reels is The Breast Cancer
Diaries, a film documenting a woman's battle with the disease.

Posted inCulture

Air-Power to the People: Pirate Radio USA gives media to the masses

Mike Bookey

These pirates don’t have scurvy.This is one of those highly entertaining, insightful, humorous,
fact-filled documentaries that can be enjoyed by those on both sides of
the political fence, despite its clear agenda.
I saw this movie
at the BendFilm Festival and was glad to see our local community radio
station KPOV 106.7 FM bringing the documentary to McMenamins on
Wednesday. As a DJ on KPOV, I confess that I'm somewhat biased -
sharing an affinity for the free-speech rights of local broadcasters
over large media conglomerates, having volunteered at the station for
more than three years.

Posted inMusic

Bluegrass and Newgrass: Acoustic sounds new and old hit Bend this week

The Source Staff

Poor Man's Whiskey
Taking a stab at replicating Pink
Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon isn't completely new - several bands have
pulled off the rock opera in its entirety, but to play the entire
record with in a bluegrass vein? That takes some guts. But San
Francisco's Poor Man's Whiskey isn't backing down to the challenge. The
band's acoustic lineup brings as many as seven string-playing yahoos
onstage to play a rock-influenced brand of bluegrass.

Posted inOutside

Random Thought While Watching the SuperBowl

Mike Ficher

How fast are you?Any doubt that sports and politics don't mix?
Perhaps, you missed the usual pre-game shots of American troops in Iraq. Or the flyover by United States Air Force. Yeah, nothing like a bit of compulsory patriotism with your professional football.
And, just how American is the NFL?
If Left Field had the financial means to establish a professional football club with a desire to join the NFL, well, the league restricts the number of franchises (currently, 32), charges a multi-million dollar entry fee (Robert McNair paid a $700 million expansion fee for the Houston Texans to join the NFL in 1999), and does not allow multiple teams in markets (exception: New York) without compensation to an existing team.

Posted inOutside

Inspiration in Salt Lake: More dispatches from Utah

Eric Flowers

Conservation Alliance
Tackling Maple Canyon In 1989, four main players in the outdoor industry identified a very important need to protect and preserve wild places in the great outdoors. The North Face, REI, Patagonia, and Kelty determined they were providing people with the equipment necessary to enjoy wilderness and wild places, but doing little to protect and save those places. The Conservation Alliance became the solution these companies were looking for - a way for them to give back. The four companies decided to contribute a portion of their profits from the year to a fund for distribution to grassroots conservation efforts all across the country. Since that time, 150 outdoor companies have joined the Alliance and have contributed more than $6 million to conservation efforts. Close to home, Oregon Natural Dessert Association and Deschutes Basin Land Trust have been on the receiving end of Conservation Alliance funds. These monies help protect and preserve lands near and dear to our hearts and soles of our feet.

Posted inFood & Drink

Far Off Places: Café 3456

Eric Flowers

I have always loved airports. Even now, when the experience means throwing away expensive perfume and padding through security barefoot, airports still represent the possibilities of distant locales and reunions with loved ones. It is the hope of travel, whether near or far, big plane or small, that evokes a palpable human electricity in all airports. From the tactile experience of walking across the tarmac at Redmond to the sci-fi glass tubes of Charles De Gaulle, airports are about adventure.
For some of us, air travel for business is a must – and anticipated with dread. But for those of us that may want to travel a bit more, or just miss those vagabond days of hopping on a plane once a year to spend all our minimum-wage earnings on sojourns in far-off lands, we welcome any opportunity to have a pleasant airport experience.

Posted inFood & Drink

Far Off Places: Café 3456

Eric Flowers

I have always loved airports. Even now, when the experience means throwing away expensive perfume and padding through security barefoot, airports still represent the possibilities of distant locales and reunions with loved ones. It is the hope of travel, whether near or far, big plane or small, that evokes a palpable human electricity in all airports. From the tactile experience of walking across the tarmac at Redmond to the sci-fi glass tubes of Charles De Gaulle, airports are about adventure.
For some of us, air travel for business is a must - and anticipated with dread. But for those of us that may want to travel a bit more, or just miss those vagabond days of hopping on a plane once a year to spend all our minimum-wage earnings on sojourns in far-off lands, we welcome any opportunity to have a pleasant airport experience.

Posted inMusic

Life in Sci-Fi: Talking Star Wars with Pinback

Mike Bookey

Like to rock, don’t like talkRob Crow is in a band, but doesn't seem all that jazzed to be talking about his music. He's polite and seems to appreciate that we're writing about him, but not all that enthused to discuss his much-revered new record. But when I bring up Star Wars … there's a little extra spark in his voice.
The men of Pinback obsess over science fiction to the point that Crow says he should get a tax break for his devotion to the genre. At times, it's hard to tell whether Crow, the band's multi-instrumentalist, is a musician that's into sci-fi movies, comics, and video games, or if he's maybe a sci-fi nut who just happens to be a damn good musician.

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