Off Piste

During a recent month-long ESPN sports film festival one of the featured films dealt with Baltimore’s loss of their beloved Colts and how it affected the fan base, especially those in the all-volunteer Colts marching band.In a story of never ending loyalty the Colts band stayed together in spite of the team being hustled off to Indianapolis in the middle of the night by its owners to and the city being left without a pro team for years.

And so we come to the annual Civil War deciding which aptly named wet-side-of-the-State football team is better. Good luck to both schools, as I have no personal attachment to either institution.

Time was when a lot of local focus this time of year was on when the snowpack at Mt. Bachelor would reach 100 inches.

One of the brighter aspects as we approach the gloom of late fall and early winter was witnessing a Bend born-and-raised actor coming into his own and two local filmmakers continuing to deliver hysterical short ski films. All three talents were on display at recent events at the Tower Theater.

The first time I saw a show at The Second Street Theater was in the Theater’s 2001 inaugural season. I was enthralled.

A couple of blogs ago I wrote about the problems of renegade/bootleg trail building on public lands. It’s a growing problem and one that both the U.

Unlike many people, I don’t dread going to the dentist. To me, a visit to the dentist is just another one of life’s minor hardships like getting stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic.

Celebrating its fifth year, The Nature of Words’ two nights of Tower Theater readings were a good indication that the event has come of age. Gone are the days of writers talking about sagebrush, distant mountain ranges, cattle and corrals that came with the High Desert Museum's sponsorship of the event.

Despite regular pronouncements that Bend is, or will be, in the running to attract big name employers who will pay a living wage or better, it's nothing more than a public relations smokescreen. Not even Juniper Ridge, that fabled business wonderland of the future, will alter the fact that Bend and Central Oregon are not that attractive a relocation place to many businesses.