Christmas is fast approaching (less than two weeks away!) and for any last-minute shopping you need to do, herewith are some suggestions. Organized by category, all as local as possible, with some specific suggestions and some general. Feel free to leave additional suggestions in the comments.

Both Newport Avenue Market and Whole Foods are great places to go for both specialty foods (gourmet cheeses, chocolates and candies, organic whatever), and have extensive beer and wine selections as well. (Particularly the beer—both have great offering perfect for any beer geek.)

Newport Market: 1121 NW Newport Avenue (west side), 541-382-3940. Open 7 days a week, 7am to 9pm.

Whole Foods: 2610 NE Highway 20 (east side), 541-389-0151. Open 7 days a week, 8am to 9pm.

Gift cards to one of our many good restaurants is always a good option: off the top of my head several good ones would be Zydeco, Ariana, the Pine Tavern, Joolz, the Victorian Café, Kebaba, and one of the many breweries.

Speaking of breweries, pick up a growler or bottles from one of our many: Deschutes Brewery, Bend Brewing, Silver Moon, 10 Barrel (at JC's), McMenamins, Cascade Lakes, or Three Creeks (in Sisters). Word to the wise about growlers though: they shouldn't sit around too long after buying them—they're full of fresh beer and don't have an airtight seal. So if you buy one a week or more in advance then you'll likely be giving flat beer as a gift.

More of a wine person? Try Maragas Winery or Volcano Vineyards. Both offer a nice variety of locally-produced wines which you can pick up (and taste!) in their tasting rooms here in town. Both also feature wine clubs that would be a fun gift to someone as well.

Maragas tasting room: 643 NW Colorado, 541-330-0919. Open Thursday through Saturday 2 to 8.

Volcano tasting room: 126 NW Minnesota, 541-617-1102. Open Tuesday through Saturday 12 to 8, Sunday 12 to 5.

Cheese goes great with wine, and Tumalo Farms produces handcrafted cheeses locally: artisan goat milk cheese, six different varieties on their website right now. You can order from them directly online, but I've also seen some of their cheeses as Whole Foods, and Newport Market probably has them as well.

Coffee lovers on your list? Check out Strictly Organic: they roast their own beans and sell a wide variety of blends and yes, they are certified organic. Stop in at their retail location/café to pick up your coffee, and stick around long enough for a cup or two and maybe lunch.

6 SW Bond, 541-330-6061. Open Monday through Saturday 8 to 8, Sunday 10 to 6.

Finally, booze might be what you're after—nothing wrong with that! My favorite liquor store is East Bend Liquor at 2220 East Highway 20, though the smaller west side liquor store inside of Ray's is pretty good also. East Bend Liquor carries a nice variety of gift packages—bottles of specialty alcohol with custom glassware, for instance—and the staff is friendly and very helpful.

And they stock the full line of Bendistillery wares as well: Crater Lake Vodka, Cascade Mountain Gin, Mazama Pepper Vodka, and the Hazelnut Espresso Vodka.

In addition to the May art I blogged earlier at Thump Coffee, here are this month's events:

CUPPING: Sunday, May 25 1:30pm-2:30pm

Can you taste the difference between a washed process and dry process coffee? Join our public coffee cuppings and taste coffees side-by-side. Discover personal preferences, likes and dislikes, and begin to taste and describe your personal and subjective sensory experience. You'll appreciate how many variables and steps along the coffee's path to us can influence how it tastes in the cup. Cuppings are usually the third Sunday of the month at 1:30pm - get details at www.thumpcoffee.com.

Click for full goings-on

May New Exhibit: Shelby Leigh

According to photographer Shelby Leigh, her work is an extension of sometimes-quiet observations and how she sees tiny moments in time. In her travels near and far — the exhibit includes photos from Oregon, Morocco and Chile — she likes to "notice the little things and bring them to others so that they too can see the beauty and intricacies that this world has to offer." Though she says her stories are infused in each image, she invites you to "let your imagination take you on your own journey to find peace, simplicity and wonder."

Read on (with an image, too)

March events and such at Thump Coffee.

CUPPING: Sunday 3/23, 1:30-3:30pm
This is where the sensory adventure begins! Come to our public coffee cuppings and taste coffees side by side. Discover personal preferences, likes and dislikes, and begin to taste hints of citrus, fruits, wines, chocolate, spices and possibly flowers. You will appreciate how a skilled roaster took meticulous time and care to bring those flavors out instead of roast them away (see this month's Thumpology). Cuppings are usually the third Sunday of the month at 1:30pm - get details at our website and by subscribing to the newsletter.

Read more...

Been sitting on this link for awhile—okay, I actually forgot about it—but Jen posted several places in town to get coffee and free wifi awhile back. She's come up with seven items for her list, which is two or three more than I would have.

I'd also add McMenamins Old St. Francis School; they have free wifi on their property and you can certainly get coffee (among other things!) there. (They even roast their own.)

Any others?

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.

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

I received the September schedule of events for Thump Coffee today. I've been down there a few times the past couple of weeks, and I'm liking it quite a bit.

Read the full September schedule

I have the August calendar of events for Thump Coffee.

Click through to see the events

Did you know you could be watching the Tour de France at Thump Coffee every day for the rest of the month? So I'm told:

Wednesday, July 11 through Saturday, July 29

Will Swiss rider Fabian Cancellara hold on to the yellow jersey? Tune into televised coverage of the Tour de France at Thump Coffee, everyday until the last stage on Saturday, July 29. Caffeine doping is encouraged.

This was forwarded on to me by Jen:

Thursday June 7^th, Michigan singer songwriter Joe Reilly appears at Strictly Organic Coffee, 6 SW Bond St., Bend, OR, 5-7pm, Free www.strictlyorganic.com

Planting Gardens is the latest album by Kalamazoo native singer songwriter and activist Joe Reilly. The result of a three-year process of songwriting, musical collaborations, and spiritual activism, this album offers listeners a hopeful vision of peace, non-violence, and love within the context of community building. In times when positive messages are difficult to find in the media, Reilly waters seeds of compassion and understanding with poetic lyrics, beautiful melodies, and soulful rhythms. Planting Gardens gives us a tour of Joe's experiences and reflections of life in Detroit and Chicago and of the earth and waters in between.

Backed by his Chicago-based band The Faith Project, Reilly recorded the album at the Leaven Center, a retreat and study center nurturing the relationship between spirituality and social justice in Lyons, Michigan. The spiritual activism supported by the Leaven Center as well as the beauty and serenity of its land provided the perfect conditions for the germination of this creative project. A ten-minute enhanced video portion of the album documents this creative process and includes interviews and scenes of the Leaven Center recording sessions.

The Faith Project consists of jazz drummer Jon Faro, soul gospel bassist Alejandro Cornejo, Haitian Master Percussionist Camelo Romelus and special guest vocalist, Chicago's Native soul diva Michaela Marchi. Their multicultural musical chemistry transcends barriers of race, class, and religion to create a solid foundation of world rhythm behind Joe's powerful voice.

Complementing the music are three excerpts from a talk by Vietnamese Zen Master, author, and teacher Thich Nhat Hanh, given during a retreat for entertainers at the Deer Park Monastery in California.

Funky.

The folks over at Thump Coffee submitted this list of events to be posted:

Tuesday, May 1 and Wednesday May 2
ART: Mark Bernahl, 6-8pm
Come watch (and help!) as Mark Bernahl hangs his "Wishes" installation. Based on a Japanese tradition, customers have been writing their heart's fondest desire on pieces of cedar, which will be suspended from the ceiling at Thump throughout May.

Bernahl has been showing his artwork in Oregon and New Mexico for nine years: "I make art out of discarded objects of all sorts. I have created eclectic work from discarded seconds and worn out firsts of milled wood, metal, fabrics and now, books. It really excites me to make something beautiful and interesting out of something someone has thrown away."

First Friday, May 4
MUSIC: Always Hallways, 6-8pm
Sonic acrobats Matt McConnell and Jason Friedman perform an acoustical, eclectic mix of ad lib jazz fusion blues. They said that we could play around with the wording of this description, but we like it just the way it is.

ART: Justyn Livingston & Mark Bernahl
Surround yourself with art this month at Thump. Bend-based mixed media artist Justyn Livingston's organic abstractions grace Thump's walls. Mark Bernahl's "Wishes" kinetic sculpture, created from pieces of wood inscribed with customers' wishes, is suspended from the ceiling.

Bend-based Livingston describes her process: "Most often I approach a blank panel without any particular imagery in mind. However, there is a particular emotion or impulse upon beginning, which may or may not be carried forward. Through the movement and layering of colors, the painting 'comes to' on its own (if I can keep myself from attaching to an outcome). There is an underlying meditative quality; an unfettered focus I experience in this process. It is this unexpected and cathartic exploration which motivates me to paint."
http://www.justynlivingstondesign.com

Sunday, May 13
CUPPING: Mother's Day, 1:30-3:00pm
Learn how to taste coffee like a pro at this special Mother's Day cupping of Stumptown Coffees from around the world. This is a fun way to better appreciate all the hard work that goes into growing, harvesting, processing, roasting and preparing the perfect cup. Slurp away!

Saturday, May 19
POLE PEDAL PADDLE: Team Thumpista (shop will be closed)
Come cheer for Team Thumpista at the Pole Pedal Paddle. The entire Thump staff will be competing together as a team. Fueled by Thump Coffee, of course.
http://www.mbsef.org/events/ppp/index.cfm?page=about_the_race

FEATURED COFFEE: Ethiopia Misty Valley Idido - Organic
Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee, and if you saw the documentary movie "Black Gold," you'll truly appreciate this farm-direct organic. Roaster Stumptown Coffee describes this as "a very unique dry-processed coffee from Yirgacheffe, with flavors of strawberry, lemon, starburst, black licorice, and a thick syrupy mouthfeel. We almost thought we were playing Candyland at the cupping table."
http://stumptowncoffee.com/
http://blackgoldmovie.com/

This was found on the Backporch Coffee Roasters' blog today:

Well some exciting news is instore for all you coffee folks. Deschutes Brewery has just announced the release of the new "Backporch Imperial Porter" which will be served at the downtown pub on the X tap. We are so excited to be paired with such a fine company to create such a beautifully paired beverage. Thanks to those at Deschutes who made this possible (Patrick). Get some while you can and make sure to tell them how much you like it.

Okay, let me just say, "Yum!" If it's like the Imperial Porter Deschutes now has on tap at the pub, it'll probably weigh in at around 8% alcohol.

Incidentally, Backporch Coffee is located on the westside in the old Royal Blend location: 1075 NW Newport Avenue, next to Newport Avenue Market.

Via Jen, there's a new coffee shop downtown: Thump Coffee. It's located at 25 NW Minnesota, just down from the Firehall building (which houses Staccato). They're in the old "Bears" location in Suite 2, next to the Habit clothing store (the other street-facing store in the building).

Anyway. According to Jen, today (the 12th) was their first day, and they are serving up Stumptown Coffee. She rather liked it. And since I work nearby, I'll be trying it out myself—and I'll write up my own review.

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.