This from the Source Weekly this evening:

Capture the Flag, the young up-and-coming pop punk band from Bend, are shooting their first music video on Saturday (Jan. 30) and want you to be part of it.

The band's guitarist, John Davis, who many know from the concerts he promotes in town, is asking any and all folks who want to be in the video to be at the Rise Up warehouse (corner of 1st and Penn) around noon. Ever the nice guys, the bands will provide you with coffee and hot chocolate...not to mention the chance to be in a friggin music video.

No idea what they're looking for or intending the video to look like, but sounds like it could be fun anyway.

I'm dumb, teaches me to blog without checking: yesterday's post about Deschutes Brewery's Crabfest missed one very important point: they are also featuring the crab feed on Friday, the 29th, because Saturday is sold out.

But Friday is still available, still for $75 per person. Call 541-385-8606 for reservations and talk to Winter.

Deschutes Brewery is hosting their 8th Annual Crabfest this weekend up at their Mountain Room: the all-you-can-eat crab feed paired with Deschutes beers and live music from Bill Keale.

Menu:
Passed appetizer:
- Dungeness Crab Stuffed cucumber
- Dungess crab stuffed jalapeno poppers wrapped with bacon
Seated appetizer:
- Free form Pasta Salad with Dungeness Crab, Cherry Tomatoes, Avacados, and Pistachos tossed in a buttermilk herb dressing
Soup:
- Dungenesss Crab Bisque
Entrée:
- All you can eat Crab with Andouille sausage and corn on the cob.

The cost is $75 per person and it starts at 6pm Saturday, the 30th. To make reservations, call 541-385-8606 (and talk to Winter).

A few more things happening this weekend, making it a bit busier than the rest of the month.

Friday

• McMenamins Old St. Francis School is hosting their Winter Scotch Tasting at 7pm. Reservations are required, $50 per person. Nice list of appetizers and five different scotches to taste.
• The Ascetic Junkies is having their EP Release Party at Silver Moon Brewing starting at 9pm. Cover is $7.

Saturday

• The High Desert Museum has their Family Free Saturday going on from 10am until 4pm. There is even a free shuttle all day long, from Morning Star Christian School, just off 97 at Baker exit.
• The Deschutes Public Library is having their Friends of the Bend Library Winter Book Sale, from 10am until 4pm. I'm a big fan of these sales as always; the books are incredibly cheap and you can find some real treasures.
• Eleven Eyes is playing at Silver Moon Brewing starting at 9pm. Cover is $10.

Sunday

• The Library Book Sale continues, from 1pm until 4pm, where they will be selling books for $3 a bag—I'm guessing these are the leftover books from Saturday's sale, but if the bag is a full-sized grocery bag, then that's a really good deal.

I may be too late on blogging this one, but McMenamins is hosting a Winter Scotch Tasting on Friday the 23rd; for $50 you'll get to try five different scotches and enjoy a gourmet-ish appetizer menu:

Bacon-wrapped quail eggs
Scallops gratin
Duck wontons with orange sauce
Vension chop with single-malt demi-glace
Gingerbread pudding with Drambuie cream

It's at 7pm and you can find out more by giving McMenamins a call—reservations are required.

Haven't seen news from the Renegade Rollergirls for awhile; nice to know they're still going strong.

WHAT: January 30th, 2010 Will host another co-ed no holds-barred roller derby bout in Bend! Oregon Renegade Roller Derby; Bend's only non-profit Roller Derby League, will hold their second bout of their 4th season at Midtown Music Hall, located on Greenwood Ave. The Renegades will be competing in a co-ed bouting event including guest skaters from Washington and Portland. This is a no holds barred bout, full of hardcore skating abilities, wipeouts, bumps, bruises and cat fighting fistfights. This event is sponsored by The Source, 92.7FM, Action Typesetting and Printing, THEM! Marketing, Players Bar and Midtown Music Hall. Doors open at 7 p.m., action begins at 8 p.m. Admission is $10.00 and kids 10 and younger are free. There will be an after party with live music from Yenn at Players on Century Drive. Presale tickets are available at Aspect Board Shop, Riverside Market, Mum’s Tattoos or from your favorite rollergirl. Tickets are also available for purchase at the door beginning at 2pm the day of the event.

WHEN: January 30, 2010. Doors open at 7 p.m., actions starts at 8 p.m. $10 for general admission, 10 and under are free. Presale tickets are available at Aspect Board Shop, Riverside Market, Mum’s Tattoos or from your favorite rollergirl. Tickets are also available for purchase at the door beginning at 2pm the day of the event.

WHERE: The event will be played at Midtown Music Hall, located at 51 NW Greenwood Ave, downtown Bend, Oregon. After party to follow at Players located at 25 SW Century Drive, Bend, Oregon.

Silver Moon Brewing is hosting a free show tomorrow, the 21st (Thursday):

David Clemmer, frontman of local indie rock band The Dirty Words, will be playing a free show at the Moon this Thursday, January 21st. He's an incredibly talented songwriter, and is beginning to play with his own band to showcase his solo talents. Show starts at 8 p.m., no cover.

Incidentally, I see that Silver Moon's new website has (finally!) been launched. Looking good, but the live music calendar needs to be updated and I'd love to see an up-to-date list of what's on tap.

I mentioned the Phoenix Cafe opening yesterday but somehow missed the Olive Garden opening. (For shame!) It made a blurb in the Bulletin, and I can only imagine how busy it is, people were apparently "lined up outside the door when the restaurant opened for business at 4 p.m."

This week, the Garden opens at 4pm, and next Monday starts opening regularly at 11am for their lunch menu.

The Phoenix Cafe is now open in the old Kayo's Roadhouse location: I don't know how long exactly, but there was an ad in this weekend's Bulletin, and their website does in fact say "Now Open."

The new hours of operation are seven days a week: 11:30am to close Monday through Saturday (lunch and dinner), and 9am to close on Sundays (brunch included). The menus don't look bad at all.

In case you didn't know where the old Kayo's was located, it's on the eastside, across 27th street from the Forum shopping center (Safeway, Costco, Barns & Noble). The address is 594 NE Bellevue.

“Make it a day on, not a day off!”
Join Central Oregon in a national day of service on Martin Luther King Jr., Day 2010

To make Martin Luther King Day a "day on, not a day off," Volunteer Connect has organized service projects in Crook, Deschutes and Jefferson counties. Volunteers of all ages are encouraged to participate in this event and connect with their community on January 18th, 2010.

In 1994, Congress initiated Martin Luther King, Jr. day as a national day of service. Last year, in 2009, over 13,000 community service projects took place across the country on the King Day of Service. For more general information about the King Day of Service you can visit www.mlkday.gov.

This year Volunteer Connect has organized over 20 half-day projects for volunteers to participate in, spanning Bend, La Pine, Madras, Prineville, Redmond and Sisters.

Volunteer Connect MLK Day organizer, Jessica Knight, is excited about this event’s potential, “Our goal is to support Dr. King’s message that ‘everybody can be great because anybody can serve’ by engaging a wide variety of volunteers. We will have youth and student groups, corporate staff, families and individuals coming together”.

Projects are primarily in the morning, and include cooking, cleaning, organizing, painting, building, sewing and even bicycle repair. In Redmond, there will also be a special afternoon literary workshop hosted by Deschutes County RSVP.

To view a list of projects with more details, please visit www.volunteerconnectnow.org

Schedule:
Projects will be from 9:30am-12:30pm, followed by a light complimentary lunch and reflection session in each community.

About Volunteer Connect
Slated to launch its full volunteer referral program in February 2010, Volunteer Connect will work to link interested volunteers with meaningful opportunities to meet community needs in Central Oregon. The Volunteer Connect website will serve as a resource for students, businesses, families or individuals who are looking for one-time or ongoing community service opportunities. To date, over 70 agencies throughout the tri-counties have signed on. Interested agencies and volunteers are encouraged to visit www.volunteerconnectnow.org or call (541) 385-8977.

[Disclaimer: I worked on the Volunteer Connect website.]

There's a few things going on this weekend, but in general January (winter!) seems to be a slower time for weekends.

Friday

• Deadly Gallows, Larry and His Flask, and Bo Deens are all playing at Silver Moon Brewing tonight, starting at 8:30pm. Cover is only $5 and as Silver Moon posted on Twitter: "Are you ready for some ruckus?"

Saturday

• Tracorum is playing Silver Moon Brewing at 9pm. $5 cover.

Sunday

• The Crescent Lake Challenge cross-country ski race is going on from 10am until 2pm. It kicks off at Crescent Lake snow park and goes for 22 kilometers. There's a $45 entry fee at the start of the race.
• Silver Moon is featuring a Bellydance Showcase starting at 6pm—and it's completely free.

China Sun Buffet is closed, at least for now. On their website is the message about it:

WE ARE IN THE PROCESS OF RELOCATING DUE TO LOSS OF LEASE. CURRENTLY WE STILL HAVE NOT FOUND ANY SUITABLE LOCATION YET.

They're refunding gift certificates, so it's up in the air whether they'll re-open anytime soon.

(China Sun was up next to Shopko, north end of town.)

The Bulletin ran an article about the Oxford Suites hotel on Monday, including their new restaurant, 10 Below: so named because it's located below ground level. It seats "about 75" and they're open now, I believe; a copy of their menu (faxed to us) showed reasonably-priced dishes with a wide variety of cuisine styles (Asian, Italian, Middle Eastern, American, and more).

And BOR over on Bend Oregon Restaurants has a review of 5 Spice, the new sushi restaurant that took over the former Deep space. BOR gives it good marks for being delicious, well-paced, and reasonably priced.

Central Oregon is a long way from warm, sunny Hawaii, especially in January, but Hawaiian singer songwriter John Cruz is gladly making the trip to celebrate his debut as a Breedlove artist, with a show at Silver Moon Brewing Wednesday January 27th, at 8pm.

John, who has never played in Bend, is one of Hawaii's most popular artists.  He is a Grammy winner and 3 time Na Hoku Hanohano Award winner, which is Hawaii's equivalent to the Grammy.  His first album, Acoustic Soul, sold over 100,000 copies in Hawaii alone and produced the hit song "Island Style," which has become an anthem known around the world. His second album, One of These Days, was recorded at Jackson Browne's studio in Los Angeles, with some of the most respected musicians in the business, and produced 2 number one songs.

Some other recent career highlights include playing at Barack Obama's inauguration with Jack Johnson and being featured at the prestigious South By Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas.

John is known as a world class acoustic guitar player, so his association with Breedlove makes perfect sense. Breedlove Guitars, manufactured in Bend, are known in musician's circles as classy, exotic, finely crafted instruments of extraordinary quality.  The sound and feel are sought after by artists ranging from Madonna to Joe Craven to Sugarland.

John will be featuring his Breedloves at Silver Moon Brewing.  He takes the stage at 8pm for a solo acoustic performance and will headline the entire evening.

Silver Moon Brewing
24 NW Greenwood Ave.
Bend, OR 97701
(541) 388-8331
www.silvermoonbrewing.com
8:00 p.m. showtime/ 7:00 p.m. doors
21 and over only
$10 advance/ $12 at the door
Tickets available soon at www.bendticket.com

My first "Weekend happenings" post of the new year! (We were out of town with limited access last weekend.)

I don't actually have much to list, from the calendar: just two things:

• Tonight, Silver Moon Brewing is hosting Unkle Nancy and the Family Jewels, starting at 9pm. Cover is only $5.
• Saturday, another Silver Moon show: The JZ Band, starting at 9pm and also $5.

Of course, the Source's music calendar covers everything (perhaps I should start integrating everything into one?)

Overall, things just seem slow—everyone's hunkering down for the post-holiday winter.

Feel free to list any other happenings in the comments!

Sisters is having their very first Wine and Brew Festival, coming up in June. This came through as a press release, and it's not for another five months, but sounds pretty cool to me!

One question (so far): will it be kid friendly?

Sisters Wine & Brew Festival Announces First Annual Event

Announcing the first annual Sisters Wine & Brew Festival. Come celebrate the wonderful wines and brews of the Pacific Northwest! The weekend will also include live music, wine and beer pairing classes, cooking demos, art vendors and fantastic food. Entrance to the festival is free.

When:
Saturday, June 19, 2010
11am-6pm
Where:
The Village Green in downtown Sisters.
More Info: www.sisterswineandbrew.com, 541-385-7988, info@specialzied-events.com.

What Takes Place at the Event?

Wineries and Breweries
25 wineries and breweries will be in attendance to serve, sell and discuss their products.

Other Vendors
An array of other vendors will be on hand selling their products and services at the festival to round out participants’ experiences. These will include arts and crafts, food, specialty products and an extension of the retail already available throughout Sisters.

Music and Cooking Demos
Live music will add to the atmosphere and what is wine and beer without great food? Local chefs will be on hand to demonstrate their special recipes on our cooking stage.

VIP Area
Guests in this exclusive part of the Sisters Wine and Brew Festival will enjoy an array of all the wines on hand for hosted tasting at the event as well as delicious appetizers. VIP tickets are available for $60 (hosted wines, brews and cuisine).

Additional Events
In order to round out the guest experience, local restaurants will host a wine and brew makers’ dinner Friday evening. On Saturday, there will be an after party and a variety of local establishments will be staying open late.

Haven't run a straight-up press release in awhile, and this one caught my eye because it seems... odd for Bend Memorial Clinic to offer an alternative treatment like acupuncture. It's just not something I think you'd ordinarily see at such a place...

Bend Memorial Clinic (BMC), the largest provider of quality, comprehensive and convenient physician healthcare in Central Oregon, has launched a new acupuncture service as part of its broad scope of practices. Dr. Greg Borstad, MD, and Dr. Charlotte Lin, MD, will lead the department.

Read full press release

The organizers of the Crescent Lake Challenge sent in this info about this up-and-coming cross-country ski race:

On Sunday Jan 17 my wife Cary and I are hosting the Crescent Lake Challenge inaugural xc ski race. We hope that it will grow over time and that part of the proceeds (once profitable) can be donated to High School xc skiing. If you are a HS team member you can enter for free. If you are a parent or would like to support the effort you can join the 22 kilometer (13.5 miles) race at www.crescentlakechallenge.com or volunteer by sending me a e mail or calling me at 541-345-9623 work, or 345-2180 home. Sign ups are starting to come in and we've sent posters to about 120 ski shops around the Northwest. It starts at the Crescent Lake snow park and ends right at Crescent Lake Resort. We'd love any help or support that can be offered. Trails will be groomed for freestyle, all abilities welcome.

Capsule details: it takes place Sunday, January 15th at 10am, and you can register in advance on their website up through the 14th for $35; after that, you can register at the race itself for $45.

Tomorrow night, Tuesday the 5th, Deschutes Brewery is holding their "Cinder Cone Red Farewell Party" down at their pub. That's kind of a big deal for local beer geeks; Cinder Cone is (was) one of Deschutes' most popular seasonals.

Here's the details on the party:

That's right, we are toasting a fond farewell to Cinder Cone Red this year, and making way for Red Chair NWPA. Are you clutching your hair and screaming "WHY!" Well, we'd love to bottle and distribute every beer we come up with, but if we tried that our team would be the ones screaming. Come give us your own words of farewell on our "Memorial Wall" and enter to win a Cinder Cone Red Farewell Bend Package that includes a Mt. Bachelor Lift Ticket, Lodging at Mt. Bachelor Village, Snowshoe Rental from Sunnyside Sports and a $25 Deschutes Brewery Gift Certificate and VIP Brewery Tour. Cinder Cone Red Koozies will also be handed out to those who want to pretend that they are drinking Cinder Cone Red all of the time.

They kick off the Farewell Party at 6pm and go until closing; I don't know when they'll do the raffle for prizes, but I'd imagine not too late.

A fan of Lola's in the Breezeway (the restaurant that filled in the space that the Downtowner vacated) writes in to say:

Did you hear that the Chef from Soupcon has stepped into the Exec Chef shoes at Lola's In the Breezeway? He's brought his soups (from his little vending cart location), and has changed the Lola's menu to include...drumroll...Jerk Pork Pressed Cubans, House-made Pastrami on Rye, and even a Doggie Style Pastrami Dog. This, and lots more, like house made sausage plates, a house made meatloaf that rivals The Blacksmith, and comfort foods like Mac 'N Cheese.

Lola's In the Breezeway
New hours:
Monday 11am-4pm
Tuesday-Saturday 11am-Close

Not sure when "Close" happens on Tuesdays through Saturdays but a Doggie Style Pastrami Dog sounds pretty good.

No, these blog predictions aren't mine, but that's okay 'cause they're better. From acloudtree: Top 5 Bend blog predictions for 2010:

HackBend
Jon Abernathy surprisingly rues the day “The Brew Site” was able to supply him with an all-you-can-drink alcoholic beverage buffet. In a drunken haze some time during June and while trying to sober up, he will access his HackBend blog over an unencrypted wireless network at one of the many coffee shops around Bend. The packet containing his username and password will be garnished by a 15 year old taking a break from an eighteen hour WoW marathon. The teen will then proceed to hack “HackBend” leaving the message “You’ve been h@x0r’d!!! All your base are belong to us!” on the index page of HackBend’s site. Oh the irony!

That's pure awesome.

Hat tip to Jake for finding that before I did.

 Happy New Year everyone! I hope you all had a safe holiday and are ready for 2010.