Unique Food Experience: 1st/3rd Tuesdays - Taste of Norway at Sons of Norway Lodge

First and third Tuesday, 11am to 1pm, Sons of Norway Lodge, 549 NW Harmon Blvd Bend, OR. Call 541-382-4333 to confirm schedule.

My grandfather, Olaf Skjersaa, immigrated directly from Norway, arriving in Bend, Oregon as a teenager unable to speak a word of English. Like many of our country's earlier immigrant generations, he was determined to learning English as quickly as possible to "fit in" here. As a consequence, my family lost the ability to speak Norwegian in a single generation. My mother, Greta, and her siblings know only a few words of their father's native tongue.

But also like many immigrant communities, food became a connection to the Old World, and I grew up surrounded by the tastes and smells of the Norwegian cooking my Grandmother Grace Skjersaa, Great Aunt Edna Skjersaa and my mother would serve at family gatherings.

Now, the holidays are the time of year that me and my children join my mother in re-creating baked treats like the delicious potato flat-bead lefsa and delicately crisp, ornate cone cookies, kramakake.

When my mother invited me to join her this week at the Sons of Norway Lodge for the Taste of Norway lunches member Barbara has been preparing on Tuesdays, I jumped at the chance.

If you've never experienced Norwegian cuisine, you'll be pleasantly surprised to discover that it's far more diverse and tasty than the notorious lutefisk. I recommend getting the "Some of Everything" sampler. My "smorbrod" open-faced bay shrimp sandwich on rye bread, Swedish yellow-pea soup, lefsa and cucumber-dill salad were fresh and light, and the baked treats are some of the best from any any cooking tradition.

Get your Norsk on! -Harold Olaf (Skjersaa) Cecil

Kristin Klus Photography at Thump Coffee | November 2009

Looking forward to more hand-tinted darkroom prints @thumpcoffee from Klus. -hoc
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Kristin Klus Photography at Thump Coffee, throughout the month of November 2009.

(BEND, OR) Scenes from Central Oregon by local photographer Kristin Klus are showcased at Thump Coffee in downtown Bend throughout November. Klus’s works bridge the gap between classic darkroom photography and newer digital techniques in the artist’s self-described quest to create photographs as “powerful as nature itself.”

“Photography is my way to share my adventures with the world,” says Klus. “My goal has always been to create photographs as powerful as nature itself by capturing the perfect lighting, angle, and exposure while in the field. The focus of my current collection is on capturing the beautiful landscapes and wildlife that I am so lucky to be exposed to here in Central Oregon.”

A native Oregonian who grew up with a strong love for the outdoors, Klus discovered a passion for photography in a high school photography class, and she pursued both academic training — earning a degree in photography — and hands-on experience working at a camera shop while attending Central Oregon Community College.

Klus’s work has been published in Photographers Forum magazine, and her photography can be found in businesses and private collections throughout Central Oregon. Visit her website at kristinklusphotography.com.

Thump Coffee is located in downtown Bend at 25 NW Minnesota Ave. For details about art exhibits, coffee cuppings and other events, visit www.ThumpCoffee.com or call 541-388-0226.

Photo Caption: “Historic Old Mill” by Kristin Klus (hand-tinted black-and-white darkroom print, 12”x18”). “This photo was taken nine years ago. The pond has been bulldozed, and new buildings have blocked this angle entirely,” says Klus.

VLH Events-Honoring and Proceeds for Children in Zambia

Just received this update and announcement from Malerie Pratt, founder of Vima Lupwa Homes. -hoc

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Hello all Lupwanians!

Summer came and went more rapidly than many would have hoped. News from our/your children in Zambia is that as we start the school year, they are beginning their "summer break" for the next couple of months. All the children have completed the grades they were attending and continue to grow. Each week Mrs. Winnie comes to teach them new skills: reading, writing, sewing, woodwork, jewelry-making, gardening and cooking. While at first the children were shy with her, they now cannot wait for her weekly visits as they look forward to all the new things she is teaching them. As soon as we process the photos of this summer, we will prepare and send out an updated newsletter.

In the meantime, several exciting and important events have been organized that we hope you will be able to attend and support. Two of the major events are listed below, with more information available on our website. Attached is a more comprehensive CALENDAR OF EVENTS - we hope to see you at one, some or best of all ALL of the events!

Haute Trash Fashion Show
September 19th - doors open 7:30
Show begins 8:00 PM
Old Stone Church - Bend
Featuring McJason Graham
$15.00 - all proceeds go to Vima Lupwa Homes
for more info: http://www.hautetrash.org/
A Night to Remember - A Celebration of the Human Spirit
October 3rd - doors open 6:30 - no charge, tickets required
Show begins at 7:00 PM
Tower Theater - Bend

Produced and directed by Alistair Paterson the evening will be a blend of inspirational stories of local individuals and organizations, augmented with uplifting musical and choral presentations.

Featured individual "honorees" include Cole Ortega, Mimi Ausland, Rachael Scdoris, Bob Maxwell, Beth Basham, Bob and Cheryl Shaw, and Jim and Debbie Fields. Also being honored will be Malerie Pratt and Marlena Bellavia, the founders of Vima Lupwa in Zambia, CORIL - the Central Oregon Resources for Independent Living, and the Cascade Youth & Family Center.
The show officially starts at 7pm but attendees are encouraged to arrive early to enjoy a special slide show prologue of "The People & Places of Bend" showcasing the unique photographic talents of Jill Rosell.
Starting on September 15th a limited number of tickets will be available from the Tower Theatre box office.

Please read entire evening's event information at www.lupwahomes.org

VIMA LUPWA HOME
1550 NW Galveston
Bend OR 97701

Who is Harold Olaf Cecil, and why is he so busy?

Pleased to report that Giant Loop, the company I started last fall with my friend David Wachs, is really taking off as we enter our first full riding season!

It's a bit of a wild ride working three jobs right now (landlord, marketer, startup owner), and I've sort of fallen off with the posts here as a result . . .

Here are peeks at what I've been up to:
Giant Loop Moto website
Giant Loop Moto blog
My LinkedIn profile
My Twitter experiment
My Facebook page

Ride while you can,
HOC

Giant Loop Saddlebag in Dirt Rider Magazine + "Product of the Week" on Website

Here at ad HOC : Words + Ideas worldwide HQ in downtown Bend, we're celebrating after finding out that the Giant Loop Saddlebag is in the February 2009 issue of Dirt Rider Magazine — and the Giant Loop Saddlebag is "Product of the Week" on the Dirt Rider website. I do work like this for clients all the time, but it's a special kick being my own venture that's getting the publicity this time around.

Here's what Dirt Rider says: "Take the insult out of 'you've got saddlebags,' and carry your stuff easier, too, over the rear of the seat!"

My partner Dave Wachs and I didn't know the review was already arriving in subscribers' mailboxes until a local rider scanned the magazine page and posted it on the Bend Dualsport forum.

Since launching the Giant Loop in September 2008 (just a coule months ago!), we've sold saddlebags to customers riding in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, UK, Costa Rica and Tanzania. This is an international community!

We are truly blessed. Ride while you can!

-hoc

Fully Briefed: Designer Men's Underwear

Keep it local. Keep it real. Make it fun.

Spice up the man in your life's underwear drawer this holiday season with something more than old-school boxers or briefs in white. Based in Bend, Fully Briefed has assembled the finest collection of great fitting, high performance, designer underwear known to man.

Fully Briefed searched the nether regions throughout the globe, investigating undergarments worldwide to find brands like Baskit, C-in2, Cocksox, Danial Webster, DT, Dirty Fukker, Elite, Gia, Gigo, Go Softwear, JM, Joe Snyder, Justus Boyz, N2N, Otter, Rufskin and WildmanT. Profile-enhancing, fun and sexy styles. No big mystery really. It’s all about feeling great and looking your best.

People of all shapes and sizes can enjoy shopping at Fully Briefed. Sexy, comfy briefs, bikinis, trunks, low rise, boxers, jocks, thongs and enhancers aren’t just for those with swimsuit-model-perfect physiques. You'll find options ranging from xx-small to x-large, and the FB phunderwear engineers have tested and measured every pair of undies in the shop to create the most detailed and complete sizing information in the known universe. Shop with confidence, knowing it’s Fully Guaranteed to Fit.

Green, sustainable men's underwear options shouldn't be as rare as a Sasquatch sighting. FB shoppers will find fabrics like bamboo, tencel, lyocell, hemp, organic cotton and other alternatives to industrially produced cotton, which is one of the most chemical-dependent, water-consuming fiber crops. Call them wild, but the FB boyz think that a healthy planet is the ultimate bottom line, and they want to do their small part to leave behind a better world for their children and grandchildren to discover, explore and enjoy.

What's in your drawers? Get Fully Briefed!

-hoc

credits: Research, branding, logo, web design and content by Harold Olaf Cecil (Ad HOC) and Carlos Perez (Perez design). Website development and programming by Woody Beverly and Justin Clapick (Bend Web Solutions).

Giant Loop: What I Did During Summer Vacation

Friends, I've been up to my eyeballs launching this project with my friend and co-conspirator David Wachs, graphic artist, landscape painter and desert-rat dualsport motorcycle touring maniac:

Giant Loop Saddle Bag

We're very excited about it, and I'd really appreciate it if you can pass the word along to those who might get it.

Skol,
Harold Olaf Cecil
partner
giant loop llc
bend, oregon
rideatgiantloopmotodotcom