All sort of things going on this Labor Day weekend.

• Friday the 1st is the First Friday Art Walk in downtown Bend.
• Friday night also has "Batman Begins" at Munch and Movies in McKay Park.
• And don't forget Friday's Cascade Festival of Music performance of Leahy, Irish-influenced music.
• Friday and Saturday see the International Dutch Oven Society Convention, just outside of La Pine. No, I don't quite follow, but it sounds intriguing.
• Saturday the 2nd, the Bend Saturday Market (downtown across from the library).
• The 9th annual Liberty Bank Sunrise to Summit race starts 9:30am Saturday.
• The Bend Rotary Club has a Kobe-Q BBQ cookoff starting at 10am that day as well, over at the Deschutes County Fairgrounds.
• In Sisters, there is a Western & Native American Arts Festival on Saturday and Sunday, from 10 to 4. It's located at Creekside Park.
• Sunday the 3rd, the Les Schwab Amphitheater is hosting AFI in concert.

And the weather's supposed to be back into the 90s this weekend; perfect weekend for grilling and/or floating the river...

I don't know if I'm behind the times on this or what, but how long has there been a bar in the old Elks building downtown? I'm talking about Jokers Bar & Grill (nothing to see on that site). It's apparently the top floor of the Elks building at 70 NW Newport. How new is it?

The only reason I found out about it is that they're a sponsor of Shannon's roller derby club. What's the scoop?

monkeyinabox has posted a funny-yet-oh-so-true voting form for the Real Best of Bend 2006. It's a rip on tribute to The Source's annual Best of Bend edition. But I like this version better. With categories such as "Best Skanky Bar" and "Best Z21 Anchor Not Named Bob Shaw" how could you go wrong?

Go vote. I assume he's tallying up all the responses for a future blog post... that should be the definitive guide, if so. :)

I've noticed lately that someone has been making chalk outlines of shadows on sidewalks in downtown. Has anyone else seen these? What I mean is, the chalk artist traces the outline of a shadow of an object during a certain time of day, so later on when the shadow has moved, the outline is still there.

I've noticed this for trees, bicycles, and the bike hitching posts. Probably some other objects too.

And the other day? Someone did a parody of one by tracing the outline of a person. Over on Minnesota, just outside of the Astro Lounge, I think it was... next to a bike hitching post.

At least, you know, I'm hoping it was a parody. ;)

I need to start taking pictures of things...

Pointers to a couple of dead-tree (yet online) articles I thought were good:

• The Town That Doesn't Want to Bend: Walla Walla citizens see Bend as a model of how not to grow: The Source Weekly's cover story this week. It's less about Bend than Walla Walla, but at the same time it's an interesting mirror to hold up to Bend. Imagine that the article is about Bend and it's the late 80s, and you'll see what I mean.
  Disclaimer: I actually work for Pennbrook/Abito, the developers mentioned in the article with the Illahee development in progress up there.
  Further Disclaimer: I have nothing to do with any of the actual development, decision-making, or anything to do with any of it, other than developing the website for it.
• Serving more than just great beer: Good review of the Bend Brewing Company by the Bulletin. They point out that the brewery is still there and as popular as ever despite the construction going on around it; other than that, I don't have much to say other than I need to review it (and the other breweries) here, a glaring omission thus far.

The other day I got this comment about the newish Bend restaurant, 38 Degrees:

Linda Brown writes:
I was wondering if anyone has said anything about the new restaurant, 38 Degrees. I don't know if you can help me but I had the worst experience there that I want people to know about it. Could you help out.

I don't know much about the restaurant, but most reviews I've seen are favorable. I want to say I remember reading an article in the Bulletin about it when it opened, but I can't find that online anywhere. At any rate, it is a Mediterranean-style fine dining restaurant located in Northwest Crossing, over on Bend's westside. According to their website they are a "Mediterranean Bistro and Sangria Bar," open for lunch and dinner every day except Sunday.

I found this review on The Source Weekly's dining guide (which seems to have switched URLs when I wasn't looking). It's a favorable review.

Also found a brief blurb on this blog about it: "Dinner at 38 Degrees - one of the best dinners I've ever had, anywhere."

I haven't eaten there myself. Any locals want to submit a review? Linda Brown? I'd be happy to post your experiences here, as well as any other reviews anyone would like to submit.

Saturday's a busy day! It's the 18th annual High Desert Celtic Festival out near Redmond, at Cline Falls Ranch on the corner of Highway 126 and 67th Street. There will be food, music, vendors, and of course, the Highland Games, featuring such events as the caber toss, putting the stone, and the hammer throw.

The Festival starts at 9am and lasts until the "wee hours." There will be a pub with beer provided by Cascade Lakes, and the music is from Molly's Revenge Celtic Music Band. Admission is $8 for adults, $5 for students and seniors, and children under six are free.

This will certainly be one of the most unique events you'll go to around here. I remember attending one many years ago... it's very much like any other festival in some respects—food, vendors—but when you see the men in kilts running around a field with a 15-foot log propped up in their hands...

Via Bend Weekly.

According to this item over at the local Fox News site, the giant golf nets over at the defunct Volcano Golf Center (behind Target) are coming down soon. The news item says they're 100 feet tall, but they seem much taller to me... I remember when they were first erected (1999). Man, there was some huge controversy over those nets. People were complaining over the ruination of the skyline and the views (not that there were/are many houses around there), and to prove their point the complainers often pointed out that the golf nets could be seen from Redmond.

Well, almost. Technically they couldn't quite be seen from Redmond proper, but you could see them from The Brand Restaurant, a few miles south of Redmond on Highway 97... and even then, only marginally.

An eyesore? Sure, but at least they built them in a relatively out-of-the-way location... it's not like they were placed on top of Awbrey Butte or something. It'll be interesting to see where they get moved to (assuming they'll be moved at all).

This looks pretty cool: The Des Chutes Historical Society's annual yard sale and ice cream social. It's being held tomorrow (Saturday the 12th) from 8am until 2pm at their downtown location at 129 NW Idaho (kitty corner from the old library building). According to KTVZ.com:

The annual fundraiser, held by volunteers each year, benefits Historical Center operations, including collections care, programming and new exhibits. All citizens are invited to enjoy the large sale, which will include refreshing root beer floats and ice-cold water bottles for sale.

I've never been to one of their sales, but I'd imagine it's pretty good sized. And ice cream too!

The Cascade Festival of Music is coming up at the end of this month, from August 26th through September 2nd. The concerts each day take place in Drake Park, and tickets range in price from $15 to $38. (Although you could just hang out around the park and listen to music for free... not unlike floating the river during concerts at the Les Schwab Amphitheater.)

And lest you think the Festival is all about classical music, not so! In fact, one of the concerts is "A Tribute to Ray Charles" featuring a "who's who of Oregon blues and jazz musicians." This would be the concert I'd attend.

And on Tuesday the 29th, there are even some free children's events during the day, including an "instrument petting zoo," a concert, and Ben & Jerry's ice cream.

I don't quite know when they did this, but Google has updated their satellite views for their map of Bend, and it's pretty up-to-date—as in, recent sometime in the past year. To see it, search "Bend Oregon", then click on either the "Satellite" or "Hybrid" views and zoom in. Way in. That's some pretty detailed imagery! (Well, except for the cloud cover.)

The third annual Bend Brew Fest is coming up in just under two weeks, on Friday, August 18th and Saturday, August 19th. The big deal this year is that it's free. And yes, this is a big deal because the first year I went (two years ago), it cost $15 just to get in.

While admission is free, the mug and tokens are not; $5 for the souvenir mug, and $1 per token (for tasters). That's not a terrible deal, though. There are also going to be (they say) 60 beers from 30 brewers. That's pretty impressive for only being in its third year of existence.

Other details? It's located at the Les Schwab Amphitheather. Hours are Friday from 4pm until 11pm, and Saturday from noon until 11pm. There will be food and live music.

Sadly, I won't be able to make it; that's the weekend we have our annual family reunion. A shame too, as the Brew Fest people seem to have really gotten it together this year...

Chalk this up to another Shannon find: The Source Weekly's website, in addition to finally being updated and looking like something 2002 2006 would offer, has blogs too! You can get to them here.

Honestly, though, they're a little confusing, even to a seasoned (ha) blogger like myself... the listing format is a bit weird, but they at least allow user comments on a per-post basis, and even a form for users to rate a post. You can print, email, or PDF-ize a post.

But there appears to be no RSS feeds anywhere (a big no-no these days). Without RSS to load into Bloglines, I won't remember to check it that often...

But, it's a good start.