The Bulletin announced today that they are offering free music downloads on their site: an album's worth of music from local bands, and an album's worth from national bands (15 each). For anyone who's familiar with the usual online offerings/technical abilities of the Bulletin, this is a Big Deal—the web end of things is not their strong point (to put it nicely). However, I've been checking out the site a bit, and so far I'm impressed with what I see.

I had a heads-up that this was coming from the Bulletin's music writer, Ben Salmon; he had reached out to spread the word on this and (I think) was also a driving motivator in getting this launched. He writes:

Basically, we've collected 30 of the best songs of 2007 - 15 from Central Oregon artists and 15 from non-local artists - and offered them for free download (no subscription needed) at www.bendbulletin.com/nearfar. Folks can stream the songs, download individual MP3s, or download each collection in its own .zip file (complete with CD artwork and tracklisting). They're split into:

"Near" - featuring locals like Coyo, Person People, The Mostest, Shireen Amini, The Roe, The Erins, The Bond Brothers and more
"Far" - featuring non-locals like The Shins, Arcade Fire, Aesop Rock, Blue Scholars, Band of Horses, Blitzen Trapper and more

(Please note: Downloading the .zips takes a little while, so patience is needed.)

There are also short write-ups of the bands and/or their 2007 albums, links to band sites, MySpace profiles and record labels, and a YouTube video where we could find one, plus The Bulletin's coverage of the best albums and concerts of the year as well as the favorites of people connected to Central Oregon's music scene.

It's an impressive undertaking for the Bulletin, and like I said, so far I'm impressed with the site. Not only can you download each album (the zip files are 69 and 62 megabytes in size), but you can also listen to each song embedded in the page (or download it directly) via a Flash player—so you can sample the music before deciding to download it (as it should be).

Plus, the fact that the Bulletin is able to offer this music for download for free, in DRM-less MP3 format, is awesome—much more progressive than I would've expected from the Bulletin.

Of course, I'd like to see more of this—especially the local music, which is worth promoting. The Bulletin could move to become the online source for discovering local music by doing so; I don't know of any other site that can claim this (searching MySpace Music is one possibility, but it's not that great an option).

All said and done, I like this idea well enough that I'm going to install the banner graphic in the sidebar of this site for awhile in the adspace. (With the other buttons.) Check it out.

In my Holiday Gift Guide entry for Beer, I mentioned that I didn't know if Wildfire Brewing had beer available to go. (Wildfire is the brewery established by the JC's folks.) Well, Paul (the brewer) was kind enough to write in to let me know:

Growlers can be filled at our brewery, which is located at 20750 High Desert Lane-just up the street from the Indoor Soccer place and directly across from High Desert Beverage.

At present, we don't have our own fancy growlers, but are happy to fill up the container of your choice if folks want to drop by.

Sweet! You should probably call first before showing up, just to make sure: 585-1007.

What: Albums from local bands and artists. Central Oregon has a thriving music scene, ranging in styles from hip hop (MC Mystic) to folk (Moon Mountain Ramblers) to alt rock (KouseFly) to just about any other genre you can think up.

For: Music lovers, anyone who wants local flavors of music.

Price: CD prices—the neighborhood of $10-20 - $-$$

Where: Ranch Records, of course—they have a good selection of CDs from all sorts of local artists. Downtown at 831 NW Wall.

Trivia: For a good sense of just how much local music there is going on, and for a good selection of free samples, check out MySpace Music and search locally.

What: Frontier Doctor, by Urling Coe. One of my favorite Bend history books—this is more of a narrative than a dry history tome and it's a fantastic read. Urling Coe came to Bend in 1905 to practice medicine when Bend was still entirely a frontier town, and his experiences and observations over the years that followed as Central Oregon developed are priceless.

For: Anyone interested in Bend history.

Price: $15.95 new - $$

Where: Try the Book Barn first—they have the best selection of local interest/authors that I've seen in town.

Online:

• Amazon
• Powells

Trivia: Urling Coe (aside from having an unusual name) also served as one of Bend's first mayors and co-founded Bend's first bank.

What: Cog Wild is a local guide company dedicated to mountain biking, and they offer a whole slew of bike tour options as well as gear you can buy directly from them. Tours are available from April to November (mountain biking season), so you won't be riding right away, but you can buy gift certificates and book tours in advance, and get the clothing now.

For: Biking enthusiasts of all types—beginners through advanced—and anyone who's looking for outdoor adventure.

Price: For clothing: Men's and women's shirts, $20; hats, $20; hoodies, $35 - $$-$$$

For tours: They start at $40 for the "Full Moon Adventure" tour, up to $895 for some of the best multi-day tour experiences out there - $$$-$$$$$

Where: Contact them directly to find out about buying gear and setting up tours. They're not always in the office in the off-season, so be sure to leave a message.

Trivia: From their FAQ:"Cog Wild is the only local permit holder offering mountain bike tours in Central Oregon. The Forest Service has issued Cog Wild a wider range of trails that none of the other companies can use."

What: A bottle (or two! or more!) of wine from one (or both!) local wineries, Maragas Winery and Volcano Vineyards. Maragas is the winery that is also attempting to grow vineyards locally, just north of Terrebonne—something that hasn't been done here before.

The available styles of wine are Zinfandel, Pinot Gris, Merlot, Syrah, Viognier, and a Muscat dessert wine. And, you can sign up for a wine club or put together a gift basket if you're looking for more than just a bottle or two.

For: Wine lovers, foodies.

Price: Individual bottles priced at $14 on up to $32 - $-$$$

Where: Maragas' tasting room at 643 NW Colorado Avenue; Volcano Vineyards at 930 NW Brooks Street Promenade downtown.

Trivia: You can visit the Maragas Winery north of Terrebonne on weekends, Friday through Sunday from 11 to 4pm. They're located just north of the Crooked River Gorge.

What: Locally-distilled spirits from Bendistillery. Everyone knows about their Crater Lake Vodka and Cascade Mountain Gin, but they also have a hazelnut espresso and a hot pepper-infused vodka.

The vodka is filtered though crushed volcanic rock—local, of course—while the gin is made from locally-picked wild juniper berries. And the distillery is looking into buying a farm in Tumalo to produce crops for their spirits, further bringing the local flavor to their products.

For: Anyone who wants something stronger than local beer.

Price: Around $20 to 25 - $$

Where: Available at all the liquor stores in the area.

Trivia: For companies that want to "own their own spirit brand," Bendistillery offers private label vodka, and will produce a flavored vodka of any type.

What: A wide selection of bath and body products from Dani Natural Products, including lotions, hand cremes, oils, soaps, and more. All of their "product bases contain 100% vegetable oils with NO petroleum or animal oils" and they do no animal testing.

For: Girlfriends, wives, female friends and relatives. Men can use them too, they just won't tell anyone.

Price: Ranges from $5 to 30 - $-$$

Where: Their store locator for Oregon shows 5 Bend locations: Maragas Wine, Indulgence, Newport Market, Paper Jazz, and Robert Scott Face/Body. You can, of course, also shop directly online on their site.

Trivia: They also produce a variety of soy candles, one of which is "Sweet Osmanthus"—and I have absolutely no idea what that is.

What: Organic and eco-friendly clothing from Of the Earth, who strive "to be the premier resource for fashionable alternative and organic apparel." Organic cotton, merino wool, hemp, and bamboo are among the fibers they use in their products.

For: Anyone wanting stylish clothing and who wants to be environmentally conscious.

Price: "Rock bottom prices", $5 to 25 - $-$$

Where: Check out their outlet store at 542 NW Arizona (just north of the Old Mill District) for those rock bottom prices they promise. Bambini of Bend on the westside also sells their products, but likely not at outlet prices.

Trivia: Among the fibers they use is recycled plastic bottles... the plastics are processed into fiber to make yarn and other textiles.

What: Growlers of beer from one of our local microbreweries, of course! (Oh come on, you knew I'd get to this one eventually, right?) And actually, they don't have to be limited to growlers: Deschutes Brewery, for instance, will fill any (reasonable) container for you. But don't just get any beer you can find in the grocery store (like the main line of Deschutes and Cascade Lakes beers, for instance)—pick something special from the respective brewery.

For: Beer drinkers.

Price: From the $4 minimum for 20 ounces Deschutes charges, to roughly $12 for a "standard" growler, to an ultra-fancy flip-top one (like the one pictured) that Deschutes sells, filled, for $35 - $-$$$

Where: Deschutes Brewery, Cascade Lakes, Bend Brewing Company, Silver Moon Brewing. I (shamefully) don't know if McMenamins or Wildfire Brewing (at JC's) sells growlers, but it never hurts to ask.

Trivia: Both Deschutes and Bend Brewing are medal-winners at the Great American Beer Festival, as well as being the two oldest microbreweries in the area.

What: "The construction toy of the future." That's as good a description as any for Qubits; this creative and educational toy looks to me like a cross between Legos and an Erector set. Each set contains 150 pieces and according to the creator, "will help children develop spatial skills and manual dexterity. The geometry is natural and scientific. The structures can be very architectural, structural, invoke concepts in engineering or touch on basic concepts of NanoTechnology."

For: Kids, particularly those who like building things.

Price: $39.95 - $$$

Where: Order directly online. You might be able to find these at Kids World in the Forum Shopping Center (eastside).

Trivia: The creator of Qubits, Mark Burginger, is a local architect. He and the toy were featured in this Bulletin article (which brought Qubits to my attention).

What: Locally produced "farmstead" goats milk cheeses from Tumalo Farms. They have seven different cheese varieties which you can order singly, and gift packages available too. These are definitely gourmet cheeses; check out the Pondhopper, a cheese made with a "local microbrew" (I'm guessing Mirror Pond Pale Ale) with "a faint hint of hops."

For: Foodies and turophiles.

Price: Ranges from $18 for a single cheese all the way up to $180 for the "Ultimate Gift": a 10 lb. personalized cheese wheel - $$-$$$$$

Where: Order online directly, or call them at 541-350-3718 to find out if you can order and pick up in person.

Trivia: "Farmstead" cheeses are the highest classification of cheese production: the milk is produced on the farm along with the cheese.

What: Men's and women's T-shirts from Bend Blogger monkeyinabox, where he's poking some fun at Bend's expense like the Buzztouch shirts. "In my SUV"? Indeed! I particularly like the Flaming Chicken design, seen here.

For: Anyone with a sense of humor, and who owns an SUV.

Price: $16.99 - 18.99 - $$

Where: Online, at his CafePress store.

Trivia: "Monkey" is one of the earliest local bloggers, and he even appeared in the newspaper a few years ago (with me, even).

What: The Bend 2008 Calendar from the Bend Calendar Company, featuring gorgeous imagery from local photographers. Because everybody needs a calendar, right?

For: Anyone who needs to keep track of the date.

Price: $15 - $

Where: Lots of places; check out the list of retailers to find out where you can get it.

Trivia: They also offer some basic personalization options, though these are more of a business-to-business nature.

What: Gourmet, hand-crafted biscotti from Di Lusso. I can personally attest to how good these are! They come in 15 flavors, 13 of which are dipped and decorated in chocolate. Decadent, and good either on their own or dipped in your coffee (drank from a mug from Mug Revolutions, of course!). These would liven up a stocking nicely.

For: Coffee drinkers—or anyone, really—with a sweet tooth.

Price: $5.99 for a 4-count, $18 for a 12-pack - $-$$

Where: You can pick them up in person at one of Di Lusso's locations, of course, and you can order them online.

Trivia: The price I gave is for their online pricing; if you stop in one of their stores, you can likely pick up individually-wrapped biscotti for cheaper than the multi-packs.

What: Men's and women's T-shirts from Buzztouch Designs; there are several designs all having a bit of fun at Bend's expense. In a good way, of course. The "Poverty with a View" is a popular design.

For: Anyone with a sense of humor, and who doesn't mind poking fun at  Bend.

Price: $18 right now - $$

Where: You can order them online here.

Trivia: Brian, the guy behind these shirts, is also a founding member of KouseFly, and has even more T-shirts and other products available from his CafePress store here.

What: Handmade, wheel-thrown, kiln-fired pottery coffee mugs from Mug Revolution. They're extremely durable, resistant to chipping, microwave and dishwasher safe, and you can even get them customized. A popular custom touch? Your pet's paw print. Really.

For: All those coffee and tea drinkers (and pet lovers) out there.

Price: From $15 to 20, depending on the personalization options. (Not counting shipping.) - $$

Where: Order online through their site. If you're local, you can contact them to set up a time to stop by their studio to pick up your mug(s) in person.

Trivia: Each 16-ounce mug is kiln-fired at 2,350° F for 10 to 14 hours. Mug Revolution was also featured in a nice write-up in the Bulletin last month.

Check this out: the Blacksmith Restaurant is all set to re-open (remember, they had closed down for remodeling), and they have an extensive beer list, thanks to local blogger brewerman. I've seen the tap list (Spence at brewerman gave me a peek—it's not online yet) and I can confirm it's quite extensive—the best tap list of anywhere I've seen in town.

(If I can, I'll post the list.)

I don't know how extensive their bottle selection will be, but I imagine it will be similarly well-stocked. Basically, among other things, the Blacksmith is going to be the best beer bar in town.

What: Bend, Overall, by Scott Cook. One of the best local guidebooks to the area, written by a local, with emphasis on the outdoors. I reviewed it here: "The book is divided into 53 featured outings/destinations, several driving tours, and maps. Each of the outings features exact directions for both driving and hiking, helpful tips like whether dogs are allowed and the price (if any), and is peppered liberally with photographs and tidbits of history and trivia."

For: Tourists and locals alike who want to see what the "Central Oregon lifestyle" is all about. But, if you're looking for a book that also recommends and reviews restaurants, lodging, shopping, etc., then this isn't it.

Price: $14.95 new - $

Where: Look for it at The Book Barn (135 NW Minnesota, downtown), or perhaps used at The Open Book (155 NE Greenwood) or The Bookmark (228 NE Greenwood).

If you're looking online:

• Amazon.com (used)
• Powells Books (used)
• REI.com (new)

Trivia: Trade paperback, 144 pages, guidebook-sized (about 5x8), should fit well in a stocking.

So, starting tomorrow (Monday) I'll be running with the Holiday Gift Guide idea I had last week. Between comments on that post, some ideas of my own, and (hopefully) more feedback as I post, there's plenty to write about.

The idea, of course, is to put together a gift guide for things that are related to Bend and Central Oregon in some way—produced here, are unique to the area, are about the area somehow, like that. In some cases, ironically, there may only be a source for the item(s) online—but where possible, I'll try to point to a local outlet.

I'll be using a price range scheme, too, in the highly (un)original form of dollar signs. Here's my scale:

• $0 - 15: $
• $15 - 30: $$
• $30 - 60: $$$
• $60 - 100: $$$$
• $100+: $$$$$

And if I come across something ridiculously cheap, I'll tag it with the "cent" sign: ¢

I think I'll do one item (or group of items, if they're all from the same vendor or something) per post, rather than do a big post for each possible category.

And maybe if I'm feeling really ambitious I'll turn it all into a downloadable PDF. But don't count on that.

I previously reported that the annual Deschutes Brewery Garage Sale—which is taking place this Saturday, December 8th—started at noon and conflicted with the Bend Christmas Parade. No so! In my email just now, I received their newsletter which says the sale is from 10am to 2pm—two hours earlier than I thought.

(It's on their homepage now, too.)

So there's still a bit of an overlap, but if you wanted to make it to both events, you're covered.

The various goings-on this month downtown at Thump: Art Walk, and a bunch of exhibits.

Click for the full post

Bend Memorial Clinic is having their annual Holiday Bazaar tomorrow, December 6th. It's taking place at their Main Clinic (at 1501 NE Medical Center Drive), from 10am until 3pm.

I don't know any other details, so I couldn't say what to expect. Maybe someone from BMC could comment...?

We were up at the Seventh Mountain Resort over the weekend, at the ice skating rink they have there. It's one of only two "official" ice skating rinks we have in Central Oregon (that I know of)—for an area with such an emphasis on winter sports, it seems like ice skating would be a no-brainer... but  there's really not much.

Seventh Mountain Resort details: Outdoor rink. $8 per session rink admission, $4 skate rental. Hours can be found here (PDF). They also have skating lessons available, at various prices.

The other rink is at the Sunriver Village Mall, during the winter (obviously). It's an outdoor rink also (during the summer it's a mini-golf course). Skate rentals available. Hours are Monday through Friday, 3pm to 8pm, Saturday 11am to 3pm and 4pm to 8pm, and Sunday 4pm to 8pm.

Actually, I use the term "official" kind of loosely here... because there's also ice skating available during the winter at Shevlin Park, on the Pond next to Aspen Hall when it freezes over. So technically, it's not a rink (hence "official"), and it's only available when it gets cold enough for the pond to freeze and stay frozen. Rentals are available there as well.

Last December I wrote up a Holiday Shopping Guide here, and minus a few businesses that closed over this past year (Boomtown, Gambit Games, Vino Mercato), I think it's still pretty relevant and there's no reason to repeat myself.

But I was thinking about maybe doing a Holiday Gift Guide instead. The premise would be gifts that are fairly unique (or are related) to Bend/Central Oregon somehow, rather than just neat gifts you could buy anywhere.

I like the idea—it could be a lot of fun—but I strongly suspect it's not one I could do justice to by myself... so does anyone have any suggestions?

This Sunday and Monday (December 2nd and 3rd), the Cascade Winds Symphonic Band is holding its free Fall concerts.

The Cascade Winds Symphonic Band will present the first concerts of its 2007-08 season on December 2 and 3. The Sunday concert will begin at 2:00 p.m. and the Monday performance at 7:30 p.m., both at the Summit High School venue. The concerts are free of charge, although donations are gratefully accepted.

The Cascade Winds Symphonic Band is a 60-piece community concert band based in Bend that serves the entire Central Oregon region. The group is comprised of a wide range of volunteer musicians including accomplished high school students, area music teachers, adult amateur musicians and retired professionals. This season artistic director Michael Gesme and the Cascade Winds have arranged for three exciting guest conductors to lead the group in its concert series.

This comes via Jake, who's been a member of the Band forever. I have yet to make it to one of these concerts (sorry Jake!) but at free, you can't beat the price.

No, I'm not kidding. This came through in my email today:

County Seeks New Name for Forest Service Road 40/45
Name Suggestions Due by Monday, December 31st

Following the recent reconstruction of Forest Service Road 40/45, (also known as the Sunriver to Mt. Bachelor road), Deschutes County Commissioners are asking the public for ideas on what to rename the road.

The County has assumed jurisdiction and road maintenance of Road 40/45. Under County code, all public and private roads are required to be named.

The Board of County Commissioners will consider ideas from the public and will decide on a new name in January.

All road name ideas may be emailed to annaj@deschutes.org before 5:00 p.m. on Monday, December 31.

No guarantee that the name you suggest will be picked, of course, but you never know.

So I've been loosely following the "Real Winter" story/project that the Central Oregon Visitors Association has been promoting; it started with this story in Sunday's Bulletin, and there was a bit on KTVZ last night about it. The gist of it is, it's a new ad campaign promoting winter tourism for Central Oregon (obviously), and it's taken the form of two mock movie trailers (each 30 seconds long) that will be shown on TV spots throughout the Portland market.

I've watched both the trailers, and I have to say they're technically well-done: quality filmwork and editing, soundtrack and voice-over. They look like movie trailers, and even though they're a bit cheesy—and I was (privately) harsh on them at first—I think COVA has put the effort into producing a pretty good quality piece.

That having been said, however, I read this in the Bulletin (empahsis mine):

“It’s based upon contemporary movie trailers,” said Alana Audette, COVA’s president and CEO. “The challenge is how to convey the myriad of things that this region has to offer. The movie trailer is a stroke of brilliance because it allows us to tell the Central Oregon (winter) experience in a 30-second sound bite.”

...and the warning bells started sounding off.

In general, when the marketers start telling me how brilliant they are and fall over themselves trying to pat themselves on the back, I am immediately turned off, and start wondering just what's wrong with their campaign.

Maybe I'm just cynical. What do the rest of you think?

Let me be clear, though, in saying that the campaign on its own does look like a good one, it's eye-catching and better than a lot of local marketing efforts I've seen (I'm thinking in particular of the really bad faux-viral video failure of a year and a half ago). I think just beyond TV spots and newspaper ads and a single website, though, they need to upload this video to YouTube immediately, and look at MySpace TV, and all other such sites for viral marketing opportunities. Like blogs (heh).

After blogging about the Bulletin letter forum yesterday, I wondered about how many other online forums/bulletin boards there are out there dedicated to Bend. There's a few I know about, and others I've dug up via search; I don't know offhand how active any of these are (other than if they've obviously been updated recently), but I figured I'd list what I found.

(I'm not even counting blogs or other similar sites where people can simply leave comments; I'm just looking at sites that offer threaded conversations.)

• Bend Forums - General forums
• Bend Economy Bulletin Board - bulletin board with topics along the lines of the "bubble bloggers"
• BendBulletinBoard.net - which I covered yesterday
• Bend Weekly Community Forums - hosted by the Bend Weekly news(paper) site
• OregonLive.com Bend Forum - The Oregonian's website (they host quite a number of forums)
• Topix Bend Forum - forums/message boards hosted by news site Topix
• TripAdvisor Bend Forum - strangely enough, a forum hosted by the travel site
• craigslist forums - by default part of the entire craigslist forum portfolio, but you can filter by Bend only

Those are the ones I can definitively point to, though I'm sure there are more. But there's a whole other class of sites that are similar to forums but aren't quite: "Groups" from the portal/search sites like Google, Yahoo, MSN; social networking groups/directories on sites like MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn; or "middle tier" sites (or private ones) that have forums embedded in them. Perhaps at some point I'll create a list of all those that I find.

Are there other forums for Bend that anyone wants to contribute?

Yep, coming up Saturday, December 8th, it's the Lava City Roller Dolls Season Championship match, the team of 12 Gauge Rage versus the Nerve Agents.

Action (as usual) takes place at the Indoor Sports Center, on the corner of Empire and High Desert Lane in northeast Bend. The doors open at 5pm, and the match begins at 6—be sure to get there early for good seats.

Tickets are $10 if you buy them in advance (from their website or D&D Bar & Grille) or $12 at the door. Kids and seniors are only $6 and kids under 5 are free.

You won't find a more unique sport in Central Oregon. I don't think.

Dean Harris writes:

I just wanted to alert you to an online community forum launched this month.  BendBulletinBoard.net is a community forum for Bulletin readers who need an alternative outlet to the newspaper's tiny letters to the editor section for interacting with their fellow readers.  I invite you to check out the forum.  If it's something you wish to join, please become a member and post away.

The site is just getting started, so there's not too much yet in the way of posts, yet it looks like it could potentially turn into a lively forum—with traffic. So far what's there now is mostly summaries of the "In my view" and Letters to the Editor from the Bulletin.

He also points out that he's not affiliated with the Bulletin. Which makes me wonder what the Bulletin's official response might be...

I received a phishing spam the other day that reminded me of the Bank of the Cascades scam that Jake first reported. The email claims to be from "Oregon Community Credit Union" and it says:

Oregon Community Credit Union temporarily suspended your account.
Reason: Billing failure.
We require you to complete an account update so we can unlock your account.
(etc.)

Granted, it's not as crazy as the night-time phone call "from" BOTC but I think it's a good opportunity to reiterate what BOTC says about fraudulent emails (and this applies in general to any suspicious-looking email):

We advise all customers to delete any emails that ask you for any personal financial information including card numbers, Internet Banking ID, PINS or to go to a link or web site. Only use phone numbers on your statement, our web site or as published in the phone book. These “phishing” scams are initiated by people from all over the world who have no access to our customer data.

Tonight is the annual lighting of the Christmas tree in Downtown Bend, in Mirror Pond Plaza. That's the big area next to the Mirror Pond Gallery behind the Breezeway and Bendistillery. It's at 6:30, but I'd get there early—parking will likely be a zoo.

It's also gonna be cold—it's only 35 degrees right now, and Weather.com predicts it'll be 25-28 degrees by that time.

Looking at the Downtowners Holiday Poster (PDF), there's also going to be a chance to visit Santa and get $1 coffee and cocoa from Balay after the lighting. Otherwise, attending the lighting is free.

We may or may not be down there... the cold is dissuading me.

I hope everyone is having a good, safe holiday today. Apologies about it being slow around here lately, but what can I say, the holiday season is upon us.

It'll pick up again soon. In the meantime, I've got a turkey in the oven and will have sweet potatoes and stuffing in pretty soon. I'm all about the traditional Thanksgiving meal—we're going to have green beans, rolls, and pumpkin pie too. (No mashed potatoes or cranberry sauce though—we're a small group this year.)

Happy Thanksgiving!

According to the Bulletin:

La Rosa Authentic Mexican Kitchen is moving to NorthWest Crossing, a mixed-use community on Bend’s west side, citing limited seating and parking at its current location on Northwest College Way. The Jaliscan cuisine restaurant, which has been at its existing site for about 3 1/2 years, is expected to open in its new space this spring. The new location, a stand-alone building on the southeast corner of Mt. Washington Drive and Northwest Crossing Drive, is in the final design stage, according to NorthWest Crossing management. The newly constructed 2,940-square-foot building will begin interior construction within the month.

La Rosa is one of the best Mexican restaurants in town, but space has always been an issue. It's a good move for them overall, but I have to wonder if moving farther west (rather than closer to downtown) will help or hurt them in the long run.

I'm already late blogging on this by a day—this weekend is McMenamins' 3rd Anniversary Weekend Party (started today). "Weekend" refers to Friday and Saturday, so there's still time to celebrate tomorrow.

The Party is going on all day, with music by the Freak Mountain Ramblers beginning at 8pm. All ages are welcome, and it's free. Also:

What a wonderful parade of guests we've had in our guestrooms, at our tables, spilling out onto the outdoor patios and into the movie theater and small bars since our opening in 2004! The place is always bubbling over with life and laughter, thanks to you. Join us in celebration of our third anniversary – we'll have rockin' tunes each night by the legendary Freak Mountain Ramblers. And enjoy an appearance by Silly Lilly the Clown, food and drink specials, a special Anniversary Ale, a McMenamins raffle and more.

Their winter/holiday seasonal ale, Kris Kringle, is out now too, and it's tasty—I had some last night and I think it's their best one yet. Don't know about that Anniversary Ale they mention...

Hard to believe that McMenamins has been here for three years already!

The new Typhoon! Thai restaurant is opening today, according to the Bulletin.

Typhoon! opens at 5 p.m. today in downtown Bend’s Franklin Crossing building. The Portland-based Thai restaurant’s front entrance is on Northwest Bond Street, near the corner of Franklin Avenue. Bend is the seventh Typhoon! location to open. Bo Restobar, owned by the Typhoon! group, will open in Franklin Crossing this spring, according to a Typhoon! release Thursday.

The menus look pretty good, even for someone as unschooled in Thai cuisine as myself.

(Not even getting into the idea of another restaurant from the same group in the same building...)

Stuck on lunch plans today? I got this email in my inbox this morning:

Please consider joining Deschutes County Assessor's Office staff today for a hotdog lunch fundraiser to benefit Deschutes United Way!

Time: 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 (or until we run out of food!)
Date: Today!
Place: Deschutes Services Center, First Floor—DeArmond Room
Cost: $3 buys you a hotdog, soda/water, and chips

Call 330-4640 for more information.

For a lunch deal, it's tough to beat this price, and it's for a good cause.

The Deschutes Services Center is located at 1300 NW Wall Street just north of Downtown Bend.

I was updating the calendar to reflect the Bend Christmas Parade and I noticed that it conflicts with one of my other favorite December events: Deschutes Brewery's annual garage sale.

Yep. Both are on the 8th. Both start at noon.

We'll be going to the Parade, of course. It's too traditional to give up, plus for the kids it's a no-brainer.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the Bend Christmas Parade, one of my favorite Bend traditions and holiday events I look forward to. And no, it's not too early to mention it—it's less than a month away already!

Saturday, December 8 is the day, and noon is when it starts. Downtown Bend, of course. It starts at Harmon and Newport and ends at Galveston and Harmon (map).

Prepare for cold if you go. And you might consider taking something to sit on, as well—collapsible chairs or something; sitting on frozen concrete makes it even colder.

My curiosity was piqued by this post from Metroblogging Portland (which indicates that Portland residents can have up to 3 chickens within the city limits) to dig around the Bend City Code and see if chickens are allowed here, too.

Turns out, they are: the relevant bits are in the Development Code, chapter 10.10, section 3.6.300.I.1.c., stating

No more than four (4) rabbits and/or chickens are permitted on parcels and lots greater than 6,000 square feet.

Of course, this is subject to a bunch of regulations; you need to apply for a Type I permit to get permission to have the animals (basically asking the Planning Director without having to go through the rigamarole of a public hearing, etc.), you have to maintain proper sanitation (no storage of waste, no odors permitted "beyond property lines"), and you need fencing. And, I'm assuming no chickens (or rabbits) allowed if your lot is under 6,000 square feet.

I've seen chickens in town before, so there's at least one question answered.

As famed British wine critic Michael Broadbent once wrote, “Drinking good wine with good food in good company is one of life's most civilized pleasures.” In this spirit, the Jackalope Grill’s Chef Timothy Garling has partnered with Bend WineStyles to present an Autumn Winemakers Dinner on Sunday, November 18. Starting at 6:00 p.m., a special six-course menu will be served with domestic and imported wines selected to pair perfectly with each dish.

The Autumn Winemakers Dinner Menu includes:

Click through to read the full press release

Just a quick note to observe that today at noon the Cascade Lakes Highway (Road 46) is being closed for the winter. The road closures will be at the Deschutes Bridge gate and at the gate near the entrance to Mt. Bachelor, and signs will be posted.

No snow yet, but it's the standard time to be closing the moutain byways.

The Old Mill District is hosting a Harvest Opening, tomorrow, November 8th. Sounds like a good deal—free food and drink, among other things.

Please Join Us for A Harvest Opening November 8th from 4-7pm. Complimentary wine, beer and appetizers served at five pavilions located in The Old Mill District. Celebrated local artists will be displaying their work and be on hand to answer any questions. Directly following A Harvest Opening, the Lubbesmeyer Fiber Art Studio will be holding a gallery reception from 7-9pm at their 2nd story loft location above Bella Cucina.

I'll try to swing by and check it out, if I can. I'm not sure if this is like the First Friday Art Walk, or something different; figure you can't go wrong with complimentary food and alcohol though.

Disclaimer: I do occasional website work for the Old Mill.

Scott says,

The Central Oregon Inventor's Group will be meeting November 12th, from 6pm to 8pm, at the Central Oregon Environmental Center.

Our speaker will be Patrick Kruse, the Owner of Ruff Wear. Ruff Wear is the leading manufacturer of gear For Dogs On The Go®.

Location: Central Oregon Environmental Center, Audubon Room, 16 NW Kansas, Bend
Time: November 12th, from 6pm to 8pm.

This sounds interesting—more interesting, I have to admit, than when I first misread this as "Investors" rather than Inventors.

Wish they had a website, though. One of the few things I found online about them was a mention in this Bulletin article.

I haven't attended any of these functions, though Shannon has encouraged me to do so in the past. Maybe sometime...

• Get involved with the Fastest Growing Segment of Bend’s Economy: Young Professionals!
• Next Event: Wednesday, November 14, 2007 at Renaissance Homes, 61175 SW Princeton Loop, from 5:30-7:30pm, where we will announce the 2008 Executive Committee leadership team and host a winter clothing drive for the Family Access Network!

What is YPN?
Established in June of 2006, the Bend Young Professionals Network has become a vital part of Bend’s business community - and now boasts over 140 members. YPN events are open to both Chamber members and non-members, and are geared towards those aged 40 and under. Past event hosts have included, Columbia River Bank, Bend Memorial Clinic, Century Insurance, The Shops at the Old Mill, and more.

Click through to read the rest

I got an email today wondering about all the smoke in the air, which I noticed today as well. Perhaps you've noticed it; the air is blue in some places. It's because the outdoor burning season started on the 1st (Thursday)—KTVZ has an article on it—and it lasts for 20 days, through most of November.

Once preventative measures have been taken to prevent the fire from escaping, call the Outdoor Burning Information Line at 322-6335 to confirm that burning is allowed. Please remember that debris burning is required to be supervised and extinguished by dark. Noncompliance of fire protection regulations may result in a citation with a fine up to $500.00.

With the Nature of Words kicking into full swing today, I was wondering if any readers of the blog attending any of today's events: tonight's was authors readings and signing at the Tower Theatre. What did you think?

It's one of those things I'd like to attend (perhaps a workshop or two, an author reading), but the first few days of November are always busy for us, so I'm always tied up with other plans. I need to live vicariously through the rest of you in this case!

With Halloween tomorrow, I thought I'd pass on that the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office is giving away free glowsticks for kids' safety on Halloween night. The four offices you can get glowsticks are:

• The main office in Bend, 63333 West Highway 20
• The Sisters substation, 703 North Larch
• The La Pine substation, 51340 Highway 97
• The Terrebonne substation, 8154 11th Street, Suite 3

They also are offering up a number of tips for parents, motorists, and general safety:

Read more—tips and safety

Events coming up in November for Thump Coffee.

First Friday Art Walk: Friday, November 2 (and continuing throughout November)

Click through for full list of events

While I'm on the topic of Halloween parties, I should note that JC's is also having theirs tomorrow (the 27th). Wear your costumes—there will be prizes awarded for the best. The DJ is starting around 8:30pm, and there's no cover charge.

Seems like Saturday is the night for the Halloween parties...

McMenamins is hosting a free Halloween party tomorrow night (the 27th):

Dress up in costume and head to our place for a party like you read about. Get down, get funky, get loose to the latest DJ'ed hits while you enjoy McMenamins handcrafted ales, wines and spirits. But try not to mess up your outfit, because there could be a prize at the end.

It's taking place in Father Luke's Foundation Room (the northern building), and starts at 9pm. 21 and over only.

My wife pointed out the ad in the latest Source: Between the Covers, "Bend's newest neighborhood bookstore." It's located in the historic Delaware Annex building (which also has a little-known vacation apartment space, according to Bend Living) at 645 NW Delaware—the corner of Delaware and Bond.

So far I only know what's in the ad:

• General bookstore
• Free wi-fi
• Sitting and gathering areas
• Old fashioned candy
• Gift cards
• Children's books
• Coffee
• Pastries from Sparrow Bakery

Definitely worth checking out.

I'd be remiss after blogging yesterday about Halloween Headquarters if I didn't mention another place that has a ton of costumes and Halloween accessories: brace yourself—the Pretty Pussycat.

Yes, that Pretty Pussycat, the adult store on 3rd Street next to the old Highway 97 gas station. I stopped in there today, idea-and-costume-hunting, and wow, they have a really big selection of stuff—some adult/mature themed naturally, but a lot of mainstream things. Their main floor in the front is women's costumes, and upstairs is men's. (The really adult stuff is in the back, probably somewhat displaced for the Halloween setup.)

There's a lot of licensed costumes especially—characters from movies and such. "V for Vendetta" (which no one else in town has; I was previously looking online for it), Star Wars costumes, the Burger King, like that. "Regular" costumes too, and a good selection of masks and accessories.

Full costumes range in price from around $40 and up (though there may be cheaper ones, I didn't look at everything), which is comparable to the Halloween Headquarters prices. Various other accessories seemed reasonably priced. If you're on the hunt for a good costume, definitely check it out.

I blogged about Halloween Headquarters last year, but this year they're in a new (permanent?) location: 1034 NE 11th Street, on Greenwood near the base of Pilot Butte. (The old Pilot Butte Event Center.)

They have a pretty expansive selection of costumes and accessories, the largest you'll find in town, I believe. Plus they have their haunted house—The Haunt. That's running through Halloween, and it's $10 per person.

They may or may not have a website; their yellow pages ad lists www.onlinehalloween.com as the site, but that doesn't seem to be resolving as I write this, so take that with a grain of salt.

Hours are Monday through Saturday, 11 to 7; Sunday 12 to 4.

You can read the general introduction to this series here.

Why the Eastside Rocks #13:

Eclectic Eats

No, the Eastside might not have the fanciest restaurants in town, but there's certainly no lack of interesting food (and experiences) to be found. Here are some prime examples:

• Texas Doughnuts
  These monsters are found, as far as I know, only at Erickson's Thriftway on Greenwood. As you may or may not be able to tell from my grainy cellphone pic there, they're about 4 times the size of a regular doughnut, yet are priced only slightly more. Where else can you find such giant doughy deep-fried goodness in one package?
   
• Taste of Thailand
  AKA Thai on the Fly, Trailer Thai... whatever you call it, it's the only Asian restaurant... heck, the only restaurant restaurant (aside from the ubiquitous coffee stands)... that's housed in a trailer. As in, drive-through. Exclusively drive-through. And it's good, from all accounts; check out the Bend Restaurants review for more.
   
• And speaking of coffee stands...
  ...the one on the corner of Greenwood and 8th sells biscuits and gravy.
   
• Demetri's Greek Cusina
  The only Greek place in town, snuggled in on the Eastside Windy Knolls area.
   
• Elvis Cinnamon Roll
  Remember this? Jake's Diner has 'em. Giant cinnamon roll. Peanut butter and banana. You pretty much can't go wrong.

And that's not even speaking to the Rico's Taco truck, or Pilot Butte's 18-ounce monster hamburger, or the insanely cheap meals (and free samples) at Costco, or the bakery thrift store, or... well, you get the idea.

Did you know you can take just about any sealable container into Deschutes Brewery and they'll fill it up for you to go? I just found out about this recently, and got some beer today.

It's essentially like getting a growler—the half-gallon glass jugs that they'll fill up for you for $12. The bartender told me today the fill-up policy amounts to about 17 cents per ounce, though I think they charge a minimum of $4—the same price as a 20-ounce pint of their beer. But as long as it's a container with a lid—mason jar, water bottle, growler, gallon jug, whatever—they'll fill it up for you.

(Incidentally, a gallon jug would cost you $24—twice that of a growler.)

How cool is that? I had them fill two 20-ounce plastic water bottles today. Cost $8. Microbrewed beer you can't get anywhere else, to go: priceless.

I don't know if the other breweries will do this; growlers, sure, but I'll need to call to see if they'll fill up other stuff.

Pretty big news for BMC...

All BMC Primary Care physicians accepting new patients are now accepting new Medicare members. "This is an important step in helping to ensure that our senior family members, friends and neighbors have access to the best possible healthcare,” said Marvin J. Lein, CEO. “Central Oregon’s quality of life attracts people of all ages, but the demand for high quality senior care is growing the most rapidly. We have a responsibility to everyone in our community, and we intend to continue to meet that responsibility.”

Click through to read full press release

It's not on their website (yet), but Jokers has posted on their sign that "Saved by the Bell's Screech"—aka Dustin Diamond—will be there on November 8. Presumably for a comedy show.

That seems weird.

Dave sends me a pointer to The Green Gathering, coming up this next Saturday October 20th:

[O]n this one-time and one-stop only tour, organizations and individuals will be coming together to have fun while building community and learning about green energy alternatives.

In order to build conscious community in Central Oregon, the day will be full of interactive events. The activities will be organized around a two-story dome, outfitted with hammocks, cushions, and couches. Free coffee will be available to you whilst listening to the melodies of The David Bowers Colony. They will be playing live music from noon-2pm, followed by an open-mic. The entire event will be solar powered compliments of The Giggling Gardener.

Outside the dome, the Bend Bike Co-op will be holding a clinic, community radio will be recording the day's festivities, and Avatierre and friends of the Juniper Forest will be hosting a poetry booth. BlueSky, ONDA, and other nonprofits will also be there chatting about what they're up to.

It's at Troy Park downtown—that's the park on Bond Street next to McMenamins (which seems to be largely used as a dog park?), and takes place from 11 to 3.

Saw this filter across craigslist tonight: New Salon/Barbershop opening downtown. They're hiring, and located at 1293 NW Wall a bit north of central Downtown. By my count, that will make five barber shops downtown.

(The other four are L & K Barber Shop, Bond Street Barber Shop, Metropolitan Barber Shop, and Planet Hair. Those first three are "old school" shops while Planet Hair is more of a salon, I believe.)

I don't know, five barber shops in our smallish downtown area seems a bit excessive. Doesn't it?

Big congrats to Deschutes Brewery and Bend Brewing Company on winning medals at the Great American Beer Festival! The GABF wrapped up today, and Deschutes brought home 3 gold medals and the BBC 1 silver.

The medals were for:

• 4K Pils (Deschutes) - International Style Pilsner category (10 entries)
• Pub Bitter (Deschutes) - Bitter or Pale Mild Ale category (43 entries)
• The Abyss (Deschutes) - Imperial Stout category (44 entries)
• Outback X (BBC) - Old Ale or Strong Ale category (32 entries)

Right on! As if we need any more proof that Bend is a top-class beer town...

Bunches of things going on this weekend.

• KouseFly is playing at the Reed Pub (1141 SE Centennial) Saturday. The show starts at 8:30pm and there's a $3 cover.
• The Second Annual SnowClone music and retail festival is taking place Saturday at Silver Moon Brewing. Doors open at 8am and admission is free. It's essentially a huge ski and snowboard gear swap, with prices 40-80% off retail prices.
• The other ski swap is, of course, the Skyliner's Ski Swap, taking place at the Mt. Bachelor Bus Barn on Columbia Avenue (across from the Mt. Bachelor shuttle parking lot and next to the Nosler building). Goes from 8 until 6pm, and admission is $3.
• The Lava City Roller Dolls have a bout Saturday the 13th at the Central Oregon Indoor Sports Center. Doors open at 6pm; tickets are $10 in advance or $12 at the door.
• Over in Sisters they have their Harvest Fair going on Saturday and Sunday (10 til 4 both days). "Over 200 juried vendors selling quality handcrafted items. Pottery, metal art, photography, painting, jewelry, clothing, furniture, home décor and much more. This event is celebrating its 26th year. Live entertainment, food court and free admission."
• The Pumpkin Festival at Tillicum Park in Tumalo is Saturday from 10 til 4. Pumpkin patch, entertainment of various fall-themed sorts, food, animals, and more. $10 for a kids all-day pass.
• And of course, BendFilm is still going on through the weekend. Tickets and passes are still available.

Looks like the rumor of the Blacksmith Restaurant getting remodeled was right.

Just another reminder about flu shots; BMC has their Clinic this Saturday, the 13th, from 8 to 3 at their northeast (main) location. Cost is $25.

Also, you can check out the other schedules people posted in the comments to my previous flu shots post. Prices on most others is $30.

Jake points out tonight that KOHD's new website has gone live. Much better than it was before. Jake didn't like the video auto-playing on the front page, but that didn't happen to me, so I guess they fixed it? Anywho, yet another source of local online news, which is always a good thing.

No RSS feeds yet, though. That'd be helpful. (Not that KTVZ's any better on that front... they keep breaking theirs and I have to go rediscover them again.)

This sounds like a really worthwhile event; the 28th at the Domino Room.

"Live With Purpose, Party With A Cause"

Rarely does a night of live world beat music and fine art in Bend directly improve the lives of several desperately poor children living half a world away. “Live With Purpose, Party With A Cause,” a fund raising event for locally based grassroots nonprofit Vima Lupwa Homes, promises to deliver on both. Sunday, October 28, at the Domino Room, master African drummer Obo Addy and his band headline an evening of music and art, a silent auction and raffles of cool schwag. Silent Auction and raffle items will be available for viewing and bidding beginning at 6:00, with pre-concert music featuring local slide guitar wiz David Bowers beginning at 6:30 PM. Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 at the door. Doors open at 6:00 and music begins at 6:30 pm.

Click through to read entire press release

On our way out to the Pumpkin Patch Saturday, we stopped at the Terrebonne Depot for lunch. I remembered that John Anderson had given it a pretty good review in the Bulletin sometime back, and since it's right on the way to the Pumpkin Patch (and Smith Rock, which will likely be more interesting to people), we decided to stop there and try it out.

The building is a renovated train depot originally built in 1911. Their about page has a detailed history of the building, including a video of moving the entire building on rails (because there was no solid foundation before the renovation).

It's a nice, open setup, with an expansive open dining area and a central bar with additional seating. And that's a full bar—beer, wine, liquor. The current beer on tap was Cascade Lakes' 20" Brown, Silver Moon's Pilsner, Deschutes' Mirror Pond (I think), and Paulaner Oktoberfest, which replaced (again, I think) Bend Brewing. So almost all local beers on tap (and a bottled selected, too).

Food was really good, I thought; I went basic with a buffalo burger (bacon cheeseburger, actually), my wife had the Greek pita, and the kids had the chicken tenders and the cheese pizza. My wife substituted fries with the soup of the day, a tasty tomato basil.

Service was also good and timely and we were able to just beat the lunch rush—it filled up after we got there.

All in all, a good place to eat. And I think the only place I've eaten in Terrebonne!

Terrebonne Depot
400 Smith Rock Way (just east of Highway 97)
Terrebonne, OR 97760
541-548-5030

This weekend we visited the Central Oregon Pumpkin Company (again), the one over in Terrebonne. We didn't spend the amount of time as we did last year, but it was still a nice trip. This is the place that also has the corn maze ("Corn Maize" they call it)—this year, the theme is pirates. Check out the maze:

Pirate ship, with Jolly Roger, and desert isle. The maze costs $5.50 for kids 6-12 (under 5 are free), and $7.50 for adults 12 and over.

They have some great pumpkins, too. You can go out into the field to pick your own pumpkin, or select from the variety they've already harvested; what's surprising to me is that variety, presumably grown there. There are large and mini pumpkins of course, but also white pumpkins, pie pumpkins, butternut squashes, Boers, Cinderella pumpkins, festivals, Jarrahdales, Long Island cheese pumpkins, gourds and others. Probably turban squashes too. It's mind-boggling.

One of these days we'll bite the bullet and do the corn maze. That's more of a commitment than just picking pumpkins, though.

This almost slipped under my radar: the Friends of the Bend Library Fall Book Sale. It's today (October 6) from 10am until 4pm, downtown at the Library Administration Building at 507 NW Wall Street. (The old Library building.)

Thousands of quality books of all kinds for sale: fiction, nonfiction, travel books, children's books. Audios, videos and free books too!
In the Book Cellar of the Deschutes Library Administration Building.

Always good deals to be found there. Children's books are sold by the inch (stacked height), if I remember correctly.

Louise Hawker of The Nature of Words writes in with this latest:

Benjamin Percy's new collection of short stories, Refresh, Refresh, was just released yesterday, so the book will be available for purchase and signing during The Nature of Words. Publishers Weekly had called it the most anticipated book of the fall season. Benjamin will read during the Friday night, 11/2 author reading at the Tower Theatre. He will also teach two writing workshops - all the details are on our website at www.thenatureofwords.org. Benjamin is a Central Oregon native who now teaches writing at Marquette University in Wisconsin.

The author page for him on the NoW site is here, and the NoW workshop schedules are here.

And is it just me, or does the picture of Percy on his website totally look like Vince Vaughn?

Holy smokes, I just realized today that the Fall Festival is coming up this weekend! Is it really that time of year already?

Anyway, it's this Saturday and Sunday, October 6 and 7. Downtown Bend, the streets are closed (Oregon, Minnesota, Wall, part of Bond?), and the usual seasonal festival attractions will be there: Artists and vendors, the Souk de Fall Fest, music stages, food court, beer and wine garden. The Family Harvest Area will feature a hay maze, apple bobbing, pumpkin painting and carving, and the like.

BMC will be there with their Health & Wellness Fair, and 3E Strategies is sponsoring a Green Building Fair.

Festivities start at 11am on both days, and there's the Official Event Guide insert in today's paper with details and the map.

My wife pointed out the irony of the Bend City Council meeting tonight to present the proposed city fireworks ban, while at the same time this image appeared in today's Bulletin:

Fireworks at the Les Schwab Amphitheater for the Pacific Amateur Golf Classic; photo copyright Rob Kerr and the Bulletin

More detail: The City Council is meeting tonight, open to the public at 7pm at City Hall (710 NW Wall St., downtown), and one of the items on their agenda is indeed a proposed ordinance banning all fireworks in the City of Bend. There is concern among some public officials over the fires that were started due to fireworks this year (I don't have the exact number handy), both in terms of public safety and dollars spent in fighting these fires, and the solution is to adopt a general-purpose ban.

But come on. Banning all fireworks (except sparklers and snakes, and road flares unless said flare is used as intended during an emergency) is plain ridiculous—particularly when the ban extends to possession, sale and use. That's right, under this ordinance, even simply possessing fireworks in the City of Bend makes you guilty of a Class A Civil Infraction.

Now, authorized fireworks displays—presumably like the yearly July 4th Pilot Butte show, and last night's Pacific Amateur Golf Classic show—are exempt, so we wouldn't miss out on the big show(s) each year. What's ironic about this though is that almost every year the Butte catches fire during the show—which generally accounts for most of the yearly fire problems!

But really, banning all fireworks in the city is just not realistic—people will simply buy them elsewhere (the stand set up just outside city limits, anyone?) and set them off anyway. Enforcement will be next to impossible. And, a worse scenario is that the ban does work, and ends up pushing all the fireworks out of the city into the rural district—which as we all know, is a virtual tinderbox around here in summertime. The fire danger increases dramatically—and the municipal fire department doesn't respond to fires in those rural areas. That wouldn't be pretty.

You can read a summary of the issues here (PDF), and the proposed ordinance itself here (PDF) and make up your own mind. And I'm quite sure tonight's City Council meeting will be entertaining.

Interesting story in the Bulletin today about the "Fragile Legacy" photo exhibit up at COCC; 61 high-quality photos of Bend history are on display at the Pinckney Center at COCC's Pence Hall.

“Fragile Legacy: Rare Views of Early Central Oregon” contains 61 photos from the Van Vleet collection of historic photos donated in 2006 to the Deschutes County Historical Society. The black-and-white images were printed from large-format, glass-plate negatives that had been stored in an attic in Stayton for close to 70 years, said Kelly Cannon-Miller, executive director of the society’s Des Chutes Historical Center. They depict everyday life in Bend and Central Oregon as well as celebrated events, such as the 1911 visit to Bend of railroad magnate James J. Hill.

In one image in the collection, two young boys stand on a street corner in front of a dry goods store in the early 1900s. Look closely, and see that one boy is barefoot. Look more closely, and see the shopkeeper through the window of the store. Look again, and see the display of hats for sale in another store window. Jolokai recommends bringing a magnifying glass to the exhibit to take advantage of the rich details the photos offer; facial expressions, tool marks in hand-hewn stone buildings, textures of fabrics; all are visible in the images.

What makes this more amazing is that these images were extracted from large glass plates that had been rattling around an attic for 70 years. Makes you wonder what other historical treasures like this people have in storage!

COCC also has a page on the exhibit here.

The exhibit opens Thursday, from 4 to 6pm, and thereafter runs through November 30 at the regular gallery hours of 9 to 4 Monday through Friday. Best of all—it's free.

Friday we had lunch at The Village Grill, the new restaurant/sports bar occupying the former Grove space, downtown. Quick summary: I liked it well enough, my wife didn't much care for it.

Service was good, and quick; our lunches were out to the table quicker than we're used to. I had the Reuben with fries, my wife had the Philly cheesesteak, with salad substituted for fries. The salad was huge—you actually get their dinner salad (for only $1.50 extra for the substitution) and it's loaded—greens and extras like cheese, hardboiled egg and bacon.

My Reuben was good—moist, flavorful, filling. The cheesesteak looked good as well (I didn't try any). My wife was lukewarm on the food, though; she forgot to have them hold the peppers and mushrooms on the cheesesteak and said it was too dry.

The only problem I myself had was with the prices; I thought they were 2 or 3 dollars more than they should be: the Reuben was $9, when I would expect $6 or $7. Other menu items were priced similarly high—although the beer I had was a very reasonable $3.75 for the pint. (And the salad deal I mentioned above was a good one, relatively.)

More details can be found in the Bulletin's Small bites from Friday. It's open 7 days a week from 11am on.

The Village Grill
1033 NW Bond St.
Bend, OR 97701
(541) 318-8578

So we've been watching a bit of the KOHD news since it launched this week, and I have some initial impressions.

• Very polished-looking, high production values, technology is there
• The newscasters seem comfortable, not too many mistakes or stuttering
• They seem to have an interactive portion of the (6 o'clock, at least) newscast, where they take and address user emails in real time... interesting...
• Very professional-looking
• They have none of the (extremely) poor video/broadcast quality that plagued KFXO when they started; and in fact, their quality is so good that it looks to me to even leapfrog right over KTVZ's
• I'd say where they lag behind KTVZ is the weather, though they do a very good job of it

All in all, I think it's a very successful, very well-done newscast. It certainly looks to me like it 'casts out of a bigger city/studio, not what we've come to expect locally.

Thoughts?

You can read the general introduction to this series here.

Why the Eastside Rocks #12:

Clotheslines (& no Brooks Resources)!

Yes, this is a largely snarky post that spun off from the Awbrey Butte/Brooks Resources clothesline controversy; I blogged about it on my other blog (where I was much harsher); Jake blogged about it; there's a KTVZ story about it; and now The Source has given Brooks Resources "The Boot" over it.

Brooks Resources deserves that Boot, while at the same time, giving yet another reason why the Eastside rules: No Brooks Resources developments anywhere East! String your clothesline up all you want, we don't mind!

I'm thinking I should make Tuesday the "standard