Back in March, Smoke Signals wrote about the state of cannabis in the NFL. The league has a zero-tolerance policy on cannabis, with a cannabis-related arrest or positive urine test costing players upward of $500,000, depending on salary, and resulting in a suspension of one to four games, up to a quarter of the season. […]
Source Weekly Bend
Posted inCulture
Gerwig in a Box
“Maggie’s Plan” defies convention with convention
There is a specific type of indie romantic dramedy that has popped up over the last few years that owes a deep debt to the work of John Cassavetes. He brought a cinéma vérité style to American independent films that added a gritty realism to a genre that had only ever been light and fluffy. […]
Posted inCulture
Brobusters
Your childhood is perfectly safe
We should get the elephant in the room out of the way first. “Ghostbusters” 2016 is a reboot of the classic 1984 film and the less classic 1989 sequel (plus numerous video games and an animated series). The four new Ghostbusters are also women played by Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Leslie Jones and Kate McKinnon. […]
Posted inCulture
Picks 7/20-7/27
Thursday 21 The English Beat LIVE MUSIC—Munch & Music is always a fun time, but getting to see the seminal British ska/punk band play in Drake Park will be legendary. No other two-tone, three-chord ska band ever came close to sounding like these guys, and their catalogue is filled with so many classic songs, it […]
Posted inOutside
Go Here 7/20-7/27
Prineville Bike Park Kick up the dirt in Prineville! After a combined three years of planning and construction, Prineville Bike Park officially opened this past Saturday, July 16. The bike park is the first of its kind in Central Oregon and was designed to be versatile for all types of bikes and all skill levels. […]
Posted inOpinion
When is a Park not a Park?
For the citizens of Bend, Troy Field has become a de-facto park. Soccer teams practice there, local residents exercise their dogs there, and community members gather there for picnics and potlucks. It is a major urban open space in downtown Bend and for children who live nearby, the only place to run and play that […]
Posted inMusic
Twice as Happy on Half as Much
A conversation with Dave Wakeling of The English Beat
The English Beat have had a long and storied career since their 1978 debut, when they burst forth on the ska-punk/reggae scene in England. Technically, the band is called The Beat, but in North America they’re known as The English Beat, and in Australia they’re The British Beat. Consisting of Dave Wakeling on vocals and […]
Posted inCulture
Bend Open Streets Coming in September
Who needs a car when you have two feet and a heartbeat?
What would you do if your neighborhood didn’t allow cars on the streets for a day? Would you ride your bike, light the BBQ, or challenge your neighbors to a game of street ball? On Sept. 18, Bend residents will get a taste of what is possible when Open Streets comes to Bend and opens […]
Posted inNews
Legal Weed: One Year In
What’s on the horizon for cannabis laws in Oregon?
On July 1, 2015, a little over a year ago, it became legal for Oregonians 21 and older to grow and consume cannabis. Although Oregonians voted to legalize so-called recreational cannabis consumption in 2014, state officials still have not begun issuing business licenses for the recreational market. That is expected to happen around October, nearly […]
Posted inOpinion
Channeling White Guilt
This week saw two black men killed by police officers in two days, under questionable circumstances. During a #BlackLivesMatter protest in Dallas – a city that has embraced and implemented police reforms more than most – five police officers were killed by a sniper who said he wanted to kill white people and, in particular, […]