If, like me, you haven't yet received your ballot by mail, don't stress.

YOU CAN STILL VOTE. You probably moved and didn't update your address at the County Clerk's office.

Getting a a replacement ballot is easy if you follow the simple steps below. I just got one and cast my vote, all in less than 30 minutes. Be sure to bring your our Oregon driver's license and Our Crack Election Guide.

Here's what to do.

Step 1:

Go here, with your OR driver's license in hand. Inside the Deschutes Services Building you'll find the County Clerk's office—the folks you want to see. They're upstairs. The address is 1300 NW Wall St., but the building is actually on Hill and Lafayette.

Step 2:

Go upstairs and through these doors.

Step 3: 

These nice ladies are very helpful. They will have you fill out a simple form and ask to see your OR drivers license (you did bring that, right?) then they'll give you a new ballot.

Step 4: 

This is the simple form. It takes 45 seconds to fill out. Hand it to the clerk and they give you a ballot!

Step 5: 

Using your handy Source endorsement guide, fill out your ballot. 

Step 6: 

Submit your ballot! Don't forget to sign it. There's a drop box in the Clerk's office and there will soon be a little drop-off kiosk on Wall St. You can also mail your ballot, but this seemed easier since I was standing right in front of this box. Done!

Call the County Clerk at 541-388-6546 if you have any other ballot/election-related questions. Their website is deschutes.org/Clerks.

If, like me, you haven't yet received your ballot by mail, don't stress.

YOU CAN STILL VOTE. You probably moved and didn't update your address at the County Clerk's office.

Getting a a replacement ballot is easy if you follow the simple steps below. I just did got one and cast my vote, all in less than 30 minutes. Be sure to bring your our Oregon driver's license and Our Crack Election Guide.

Here's what to do.

Step 1:

Go here, with your OR driver's license in hand. Inside the Deschutes Services Building you'll find the County Clerk's office—the folks you want to see. They're upstairs. The address is 1300 NW Wall St., but the building is actually on Hill and Lafayette.

Step 2:

Go upstairs and through these doors.

Step 3: 

These nice ladies are very helpful. They will have you fill out a simple form and ask to see your OR drivers license (you did bring that, right?) then they'll give you a new ballot.

Step 4: 

This is the simple form. It takes 45 seconds to fill out. Hand it to the clerk and they give you a ballot!

Step 5: 

Using your handy Source endorsement guide, fill out your ballot. 

Step 6: 

Submit your ballot! Don't forget to sign it. There's a drop box in the Clerk's office and there will soon be a little drop-off kiosk on Wall St. You can also mail your ballot, but this seemed easier since I was standing right in front of this box. Done!

Call the County Clerk at 541-388-6546 if you have any other ballot/election-related questions. Their website is deschutes.org/Clerks.

While doing some highly academic research for our annual Winter Wellness issue (on stands Nov. 8) we came across the video below. It's just what we were looking for!

When winter hits, you need to know how to stay fit and remain sane through the seemingly endless cold, grey days. But we were stressing out as we searched high and low for the latest workout fads and winter-appropriate fitness regimes.

Then THIS video fell in our laps: wimp.com/bestworkout.

PGA Tour player and U. of O grad Ben Crane explains how he got his body looking so good; how to keep a workout fun; how to relieve stress with the "snake-shaker" and how to beat the winter blues with the "sledge-wand."

Here you go: http://www.wimp.com/bestworkout/

Amazing.

Come Nov. 6, most of us are so supersaturated with the political carnival that it often seems like too great an effort to wade through the Oregon Voters Guide.

We feel you. It's depressing trying to make sense of the multimillion- dollar smear campaigns and the endless half-truths, especially in a world where it can be hard to discern the difference between candidates who are more interested in votes than taking a stand. 

Don't get bogged down. Vote! And use Our Crack Election Guide as your compass. Armed with a video camera and pointed questions, our editorial board hosted a number of the competing candidates in a panel-style Q&A in order to make an informed choice as to which ones would be best suited to carry out the people's vision for Central Oregon. We also dove deep into the ballot measures and made our picks here: Our Crack Election Guide: Measures

Our Endorsements:

Candidates

Measures

And! For an insider look at our meetings with the candidates, don't forget to check our YouTube channel. Videos from the sessions are now up! 

Now, watch this Final Debate: Songified! for some political comic relief. Keep with it at the end, even after all the "thank-you's," as Bob's closing mini-solo is amazing.

[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AreTsuFUOs&feature=plcp 560x315]

Come Nov. 6, most of us are so supersaturated with the political carnival that it often seems like too great an effort to wade through the Oregon Voters Guide.

We feel you. It's depressing trying to make sense of the multimillion- dollar smear campaigns and the endless half-truths, especially in a world where it can be hard to discern the difference between candidates who are more interested in votes than taking a stand. 

Don't get bogged down. Vote! And use Our Crack Election Guide as your compass. Armed with a video camera and pointed questions, our editorial board hosted a number of the competing candidates in a panel-style Q&A in order to make an informed choice as to which ones would be best suited to carry out the people's vision for Central Oregon. We also dove deep into the ballot measures and made our picks here: Our Crack Election Guide: Measures

Our Endorsements:

Candidates

Measures

And! For an insider look at our meetings with the candidates, don't forget to check our YouTube channel. Videos from the sessions are now up! 

Now, watch this Final Debate: Songified! for some political comic relief. Keep with it at the end, even after all the "thank-you's," as Bob's closing mini-solo is amazing.

[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=7AreTsuFUOs 560x315]

As you've probably noticed, there's a plenitude of fruit trees scattered throughout Bend.

Many of trees were planted with care and are lovingly looked after by the renters/homeowners who live on the property. Others grow untended on vacant lots or on public lands. Those who are fortunate enough to have fruit-bearing  plum trees, apple trees and pear trees, the most common fruit trees in Central Oregon, often pick the delectable treats and put them to good use—plum sauces, apple pies, pear salads—just a few of the hundreds of ways one can enjoy the fruits found in Central Oregon.

But what about those neglected trees whose fruit falls to waste? That's where you come in—with your backpack and your manners.

Gleaning is gathering produce left by others and is considered by its practitioners to be an effective way to mitigate food waste. You can donate the food to a food bank or use it for your own consumption. We hear there's a Central Oregon Gleaners gang in town which gathers forgotten fruit, but because of their secretive nature we weren't able to track them down for comment.

Come early fall, a great Bend game is guerrilla fruit harvesting. It's a fun, tasty and socially responsible activity. Here's how:

- Travel by bike (you can walk, but it's hard to cover a lot of ground) with a backpack and a buddy.

- Keep a lookout for apple trees, pear trees and plum trees (big shrubs, really).

- Once located, assess whether the tree is on public land or private property. If it's on private property, you should attempt to ask permission from the homeowner. Be friendly and considerate you'll often be allowed to pick freely.

- Trees with branches that fall over the property line are fair game, sorta. While you should still be respectful, picking at night may be the way to go. Same goes for those fruit trees that are clearly neglected. If you've tried to ask permission and haven't been able to raise the homeowner, maybe you should consider a covert mission. Do so at your own risk—this is not a Source endorsed practice, though it can be effective.

- With your bounty secured, fire up the interwebs and search for clever ways to use you harvest!

This year I missed my window. We were hoping to run a full Culture story, complete with pictures, venn diagrams, pie charts and the like, but we kept writing other awesome stories that seemed more timely and urban fruit harvesting kept getting bumped.

When I went out at the end of last week in search of a few hearty trees, I found only a precious few. And after talking to our farming friends I discovered that any fruit still on the trees wouldn't be much good anyway, given the handful of frosts that have already fallen on Bend.

"Once it freezes all the apples are all crap," said one local farmer. "They get super mushy because all the moisture inside them freezes, it's more of texture thing."

Well, shoot. We'll try again next year. And so should you. 

As you've probably noticed, there's a plenitude of fruit trees scattered throughout Bend.

Many of trees were planted with care and are lovingly looked after by the renters/homeowners who live on the property. Others grow untended on vacant lots or on public lands. Those who are fortunate enough to have fruit-bearing  plum trees, apple trees and pear trees, the most common fruit trees in Central Oregon, often pick the delectable treats and put them to good use—plum sauces, apple pies, pear salads—just a few of the hundreds of ways one can enjoy the fruits found in Central Oregon.

But what about those neglected trees whose fruit falls to waste? That's where you come in—with your backpack and your manners.

We hear there's a Central Oregon Gleaners gang in town which gathers forgotten fruit, but because of their secretive nature we weren't able to track them down for comment. Gleaning is gathering produce left by others and is considered by its practitioners to be an effective way to mitigate food waste. You can donate the food to a food bank or use it for your own consumption.

Come early fall, a great Bend game is guerrilla fruit harvesting. It's a fun, tasty and socially responsible activity. Here's how:

- Travel by bike (you can walk, but it's hard to cover a lot of ground) with a backpack and a buddy.

- Keep a lookout for apple trees, pear trees and plum trees (big shrubs, really).

- Once located, assess whether the tree is on public land or private property. If it's on private property, you should attempt to ask permission from the homeowner. Be nice and considerate you'll often be allowed to pick freely.

- Trees with branches that fall over the property line are fair game, sorta. While you should still be respectful, picking at night may be the way to go. Same goes for those fruit trees that are clearly neglected. If you've tried to ask permission and haven't been able to raise the homeowner, maybe you should consider a covert mission. Do so at your own risk—this is not a Source endorsed practice, though it can be effective.

- With your bounty secured, fire up the interwebs and search for clever ways to use you harvest!

This year I missed my window. We were hoping to run a full Culture story, complete with pictures, venn diagrams, pie charts and the like, but we kept writing other awesome stories that seemed more timely and urban fruit harvesting kept getting bumped.

When I went out at the end of last week in search of a few hearty trees, I found only a precious few. And after talking to our farming friends I discovered that any fruit still on the trees wouldn't be much good anyway, given the handful of frosts that have already fallen on Bend.

"Once it freezes all the apples are all crap," said one local farmer. "They get super mushy because all the moisture inside them freezes, it's more of texture thing."

Well, shoot. We'll try again next year. And so should you. 

In case you missed it, President Obama really handed it to Willard Romney (that's his real first name) in the third and final presidential debate last night.

Most pundits agreed this morning—Obama was the clear winner of the final debate. The President was well-prepared and even combative as he challenged Romney from the start—a far cry from the Obama we saw in the first debate in which he was accused of appearing weak and distracted.

There were a number of highlights last night, some that could even trump Romney's  "binders of women" comment from the last debate. But Obama's "battleships and bayonets" moment was MONEY and will be remembered as one of the best quips of this election cycle.

Here it is. Obama really gets going around the 18-second mark.

[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZTNS54Vl1c 560x315]

ZING!

It's doubly great with the split screen because you can see the "oh-shit—I just got my ass handed to me" expression on Romney's face. There's also an audible cheer from the crowd after the President is finished speaking, which is uncommon, but it highlights the awesomeness of the moment.

Obama:

"Well, Governor, we also have fewer horses and bayonets because the nature of our military’s changed. We have these things called aircraft carriers where planes land on them. We have these ships that go underwater, nuclear submarines."

This is well worth watching. See Macklemore and Ryan Lewis in Bend, 7pm Friday night at the Midtown.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QK8mJJJvaes 560x315]

Favorite lines:

"I probably shoulda washed this—smells like R. Kelly sheets. Pisssssssss. ...but shit, it was 99 cents!"

"Velour jumpsuit and some house slippers/dookie-brown leather jacket that I found, digging."

"I'm gonna take you grandpa's style ... no, for real—can I have his hand-me-downs?"

"Passin' up on those moccasins someone else has been walking in/Bummy and grundgy, fucking it, I am stunting and flossing and saving my money."

This is well-worth a viewing. See Mackelmore and Ryan Lewis in Bend, 7pm Friday night at the Midtown.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QK8mJJJvaes 560x315]

Favorite lines:

"I probably shoulda washed this—smells like R. Kelly sheets. Pisssssssss. ...but shit, it was 99 cents!"

"Velour jumpsuit and some house slippers/dookie-brown leather jacket that I found, digging."

"I'm gonna take you grandpa's style ... no, for real—can I have his hand-me-downs?"

"Passin' up on those moccasins someone else has been walking in/Bummy and grundgy, fucking it, I am stunting and flossing and saving my money."

This is well-worth a viewing. See Mackelmore and Ryan Lewis in Bend, 7pm Friday night at the Midtown.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=QK8mJJJvaes 560x315]

Favorite lines:

"I probably shoulda washed this—smells like R. Kelly sheets. Pisssssssss. ...but shit, it was 99 cents!"

"Velour jumpsuit and some house slippers/dookie-brown leather jacket that I found, digging."

"I'm gonna take you grandpa's style ... no, for real—can I have his hand-me-downs?"

"Passin' up on those moccasins someone else has been walking in/Bummy and grundgy, fucking it, I am stunting and flossing and saving my money."

In an interview for Men’s Fitness, Matthew Fox responded to a question that Bendites already know the answer to. 

Interviewer Nate Millado asked, Why Bend?

“Oregon is America’s best-kept secret. It has a lot of beauty, a lot of change in climate and terrain, lakes and rivers. You've got skiing and snowboarding in Mount Bachelor, which is 20 minutes from our house. Bike trails that branch out into the wilderness. Oregon is an amazing place for mountain biking. I can speak from experience because I haven’t been driving lately. And five minutes outside of Bend, I’m in the middle of nowhere, and I feel right back at home.”

For the full interview, dubbed "Matthew Fox, Uncensored" click here.

Fox has let the cat out of the bag, consider our precious Oregon secret exposed.

Thanks a lot, Matt. 

Half a dozen people shared their concerns about a new noise ordinance at a Bend City Council work session Wednesday.  

But ultimately the council did not make any changes to the law passed earlier this summer. 

The main concern of citizen speakers such as Wesley Ladd, owner of The Horned Hand, and other people in the local music and live events community was not so much the parameters of the law, but its enforcement. 

"How it's written I don’t think it’s a problem," said Ladd, whose business has received the only citation for noise since the new law was passed in June. "It's more about the enforcement of it. It leaves a lot of officer discretion."

Jason Schweitzer, a member of local band The Rum and the Sea, said police officers should be required to gauge noise with decibel meters and not leave things up to the way an officer might interpret a situation. 

Council members said they were receptive to concerns about noise ordinance and want to promote a vibrant live music community in Bend. 

"Our intention with this was not to disrupt business any more than necessary," said Mayor Jeff Eager. 

At times, the roughly hour long conversation become heated as people described the chilling effect the law has had on live music. But the tone remained civil throughout the discussion. Ultimately, council members decided they would allow the ordinance, and enforcement of it, to play out for a few more months before considering making changes to the law. 

"Lets see how the enforcement goes," said Eager. "Let's just gather more data on this."

In the meantime, Bend Police Chief Jeff Sale and several citizens agreed to get together to discuss how the department is enforcing the ordinance. 

It's not everyday that we get smart hip-hop in Bend.

This week we get it twice—Zion I tonight and Macklemore and Ryan Lewis on Friday. Click on the links to read our reviews, written by our own Mix Master Maffey.

Since we've been feeling hip-hop deprived, we'll be going to both shows. Zion I's new album, Shadowboxing, blends old-school-style beats with progressive lyrics and calls on the Bay-Area duo's 20-plus years of recording experience to make a very tight record. You can stream the 2012 release at djbooth.net.

Zion I

8:30 pm, Wed., Oct. 17

Domino Room

51 NW Greenwood Ave.

Tickets $15 at bendticket.com or at Ranch Records

Here's an old favorite from Zion I . Enjoy.

[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awe8phO_MWI 420x315]