The Bend Area Transit system has been running for a few days now, and I thought I'd do a bit of a round-up and see how things are shaking out. My post from earlier this month has garnered a fair number of comments, with some valid criticisms:

• Southeast Bend is completely unrepresented
• Route 11 (the Northwest Crossing/westside route) only runs limited hours
• Buses don't run at night

I'm pretty sure most of these issues will be resolved once a lot of the kinks and bugs are worked out of the system. Plus, remember they only have six buses, I believe it is; they might be a bit stretched thin right now as it is.

Their website is much improved, too, with PDFs of the full system map and the route maps/schedules for each route. These are scalable high-res quality PDFs, which is nice.

BAT in the news: OregonLive, KTVZ. Nearly 1000 people rode that first day (and it's free this first week, through the 3rd). That seems pretty good to me; hopefully that kind of number will hold up when they start charging fares.

Personally, I'm still really glad to see the buses driving around town, and even seeing the bus stops with signs is cool. The nearest bus stop to my house is about a mile away, and I've been figuring it would take me about 20 minutes to walk to it. That's actually not a huge deal, but I've been thinking about when winter comes; that becomes a whole different walk. So we'll see.

Jake has a post of local (to Bend) telephone prefixes. Good resource. And he says, "When I lived in Bend growing up, I knew if the phone number didn't start with 38-something (382, 385, 388, 389, and then 383 came along later) or 593, it was a long-distance call." I remember, too, when it was just 382, 388 and 389; people would regularly write phone numbers with only the third digit of the prefix (e.g., 9-0123).

Of course, only having to dial four digits is a little before my time; even though the "38" part was assumed, you still had to dial the full seven digits. And yes, calling Redmond (which was only 548, and later, 923), was long distance.

Saturday, September 30th, you can get in to the High Desert Museum for free—if you bring a Museum Day card from Smithsonian Magazine. Fortunately all you have to do is visit the Smithsonian Magazine site and print out the card at no cost.

Cards are good for two people.

In addition, according to KTVZ,

to nationally acclaimed wildlife and living history programs and exhibitions, visitors to the High Desert Museum on Saturday can enjoy Totally Touchable Tales Day — fun fish tales inside the U.S. Forest Service inflatable salmon, wildlife tales from renowned storyteller and author Susan Strauss at 11 am and 1 pm, and more fun activities.

For more information, call the High Desert Museum at (541) 382-4754.

Simone sends along this email:

YOU'RE INVITED to join Larry & Bryon for their 100th Morning Show Celebration tomorrow morning [Tuesday, September 26] from 6-9am LIVE on location at DiLusso Bakery Cafe in downtown Bend. Stop by for a cup of coffee, try the Larry & Bryon Blend and stick around for prize giveaways every 20 minutes!

DiLusso Bakery Cafe
744 NW Bond St in downtown Bend

For those who don't know, these guys are from The Peak 104.1 radio station. What I'm curious about, though, is whether the coffee is free or not? That, and I totally think they should make a Hack Bend blend of coffee.

On Tuesday, September 26, the Deschutes Brewery is hosting their launch party for the new seasonals of Hop Trip and Jubelale at their Mountain Room. It runs from 6pm to 8pm, and only costs $10 to get in; this "gets you appetizers, door prizes, and of course, samples of Jubelale and Hop Trip".

Ten bucks seems like a sweet deal for this, and the Mountain Room is a pretty neat place. It's located at their main brewery, just off Colorado at 901 SW Simpson Avenue—right at the first roundabout on Colorado after crossing the river (heading west).

Now this just looks hedonistically delicious: McMenamins is hosting their Scotch & Cigar Tasting this Friday night (September 22).

In this long-running and popular event, we pair together a couple of life's finer pleasures — good scotches from Ardbeg and Glenmorangie along with fat cigars. We'll also provide our guests with an assortment of hearty appetizers. See you there!

Glenmorangie 10 Years Old
Glenmorangie Port Wood Finish
Glenmorangie Sherry Wood Finish
Ardbeg

It starts at 6pm, costs $35 (not cheap, but not super expensive, either) and they say reservations are required, so you'd better call 382-5174 for them.

Oktoberfest is upon us!

Sunday, September 24th, McMenamins Old St. Francis School has their all-day Oktoberfest celebration:

Come out for live music, McMenamins Oktoberfest Ale, food & drink specials, belly dancing and more! Wander about the entire property, beer and bratwurst in hand, to check out the fun.

It's free (well, except for the beer and food you'll have to buy), and live music will start at 3pm. The music will be by the Moon Mountain Ramblers, Coyo & The Gypsy Fire Belly Dancers, and Mark Ransom & The Mostest.

Then, Saturday, September 30th is the 2nd Annual Bend Oktoberfest, in downtown Bend. It runs from noon to 10pm, and will occupy Oregon Avenue—between Bond and Wall only, I think, but I might be wrong on that. Cost is $3.

There will be seasonal beers from all five breweries in town (Deschutes, Bend Brewing, Cascade Lakes, Silver Moon and McMenamins), and food provided by Merenda and the Blacksmith Restaurant. Also, they advertise:

• Oktoberfest Girls Competition
• Live Bavarian Music
• Traditional German food
• Beer Stein Challenge
• Hammerschlagen Contests
• Puppet Shows & a Kinderland area for the kids

I'll bet it's going to be fun. Chilly too, probably, so bring a jacket.

I saw a flyer for this at Pizza Mondo today (Pizza Mondo, of course, rates its own blog entry, sometime in the near future): the Bend Roots Music Festival 2006. It's a "music festival in Bend for the musicians in Bend."

Bend Roots promotes musical community in the high desert creating opportunities for performance, workshops and extemporaneous jamming.

This year's event will be held Saturday, September 23rd on Bend's west side at 14th and Galveston by the flaming phoenix roundabout.

There will be two outdoor stages: one at Parrilla Grill and one at the Victorian Café.

Admission is free.

This sounds pretty cool. The music starts at 10am, and they say it'll go to 9:45pm and "absolutely no later!!" Check out the list of local musicians on their page; seems like a pretty eclectic spread.

Yes, I was bound to blog about this sooner or later here: The Shire. We all know The Shire around here, correct? The Hobbit-themed real estate development? Right. It's hitting the news outside of the area, finally.

I first blogged about it here over a year ago. I called it "some kind of crazy." I mean really, who builds Hobbit holes? (Okay, utility sheds, but still.) If I were to live there, I would fully wear period clothing and a long sword strapped to my belt. Hey, "some kind of crazy" requires crazy living.

Anyway, the other day Boing Boing ran an item on it, based on this article from the Oregonian. In the geek world, when it hits Boing Boing, it's the Big Time.

Today Shannon points to the Pop Candy blog and the Best Week Ever which have both picked up the story. The tone in both is mocking.

Okay, I think that's it. Did I miss anybody? I imagine there will more links; perhaps we need a ShireWatch or something.

I just find this whole thing rather weird. I mean, right here among resort destination ranches with celebrity-designed golf courses and multimillion dollar homes, we have... a medieval village inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien?

Sad to say, I haven't visited it yet. Would anyone who has like to post a report?

Holy crap! It's finally happening! According to KTVZ, Bend's new transit system is starting at the end of the month!

The City of Bend is launching its new transit system at the end of September. After years of planning, the city is making the vision of a public transit service into a reality.

The city's new Bend Area Transit (BAT) service will begin passenger routes Wednesday, September 27. Riders will ride free during BAT's inaugural week - September 27 through October 3....

Fares to ride BAT are: $1.00 per trip with multi-ride passes available for purchase. An unlimited day pass is $2.00. Senior/Disabled rates are $.50 per trip with an unlimited day pass for $1.00....

Route maps and schedules are available at City Hall, located at 710 NW Wall Street or the Public Works Building at 575 NE 15th Street.

They have a website here. So far there's only a couple of PDFs on there.

This is huge. I think I'm heading down to pick up a route map and schedule tomorrow, to check things out. (The first PDF on their site has a small version.) Does anyone have any more information on these? Are they regular buses, or small ones like the Dial-a-Ride bus? Will they have bicycle racks?

Yeah, I'm excited; I can't believe it's finally happening!

Update: Bend Area Transit, a few days in

I promised Shannon I'd blog this for her: the latest "Renegade Rollergirls" roller derby is coming up Saturday, September 16 at the Central Oregon Indoor Sports Center. $6 tickets. Click through on the image for the full flyer and info.

And no, I'm not displaying the full image here because I really don't want a big bloody knee on the front page of my site. :)

Jen has posted a notice for a web developer (and programmer/coder and designer) user group meeting to kick off on Wednesday, October 11 (and crossposted here on craigslist).

This is an opportunity to network and share ideas with others in your field! This kick-off meeting is intended as a meet-and-greet, and to find out what topics are of interest to attendees in Central Oregon.

The meeting will be held at Edge Wireless Corporate Headquarters, 650 SW Columbia Street. Pizza and sodas will be provided.

This is something I've been interested in for awhile, and I know Jen and Jake have blogged about this before. Looks like it's finally on.

Excellent! I'll try to be there myself.

The results for monkeyinabox's Real Best of Bend 2006 are up! Classic... I'm thinking about making a link in the sidebar for this.

2. Best Roundabout To Drive In Circles:
Winner:the "SEX" roundabout
Runner Up: Chicken with the butt on fire.

Makes you proud to be a Bendite, with landmarks such as these.

8. Best Milkshake:
Winner: Dandy's / Goody's (tie)
Runner Up: KTVZ's Newsroom

Honestly, whoever voted for the runner up, please let me know. Does Bob Shaw have some extra talents we're not aware of?

12. Best Family Dinner For Under $20:
Winner: It Can't Be Done
Runner Up: Dumpster Diving

Why do you think I asked the question. Argh!

You know, I realized the other day that this town really doesn't have that many used book stores. Not including thrift stores that have a book section, I count four (in Bend):

• The Bookmark: 228 NE Greenwood
  
• The Open Book: 155 NE Greendwood
  
• Pegasus Books: 105 NW Minnesota. Known primarily for comic books, collectible cards and toys, Pegasus also sells used books.
  
• Xela Gallery: 920 NW Bond, Suite 206

My favorite of the bunch is the Open Book. They've been there forever and stock a ton of books. Good selection and reasonably priced, too.

I often think of that stretch of two blocks on Greenwood—just west of the light on 3rd—as the book store district. Especially when the Paperback Exchange was still open, across the street from the Open Book.

I've never been in to Xela Gallery, but it's located in the Penney Galleria downtown. Since I work downtown (more or less), I'll have to check it out one of these days.