&review

Last night Bryon and I attended a talk / presentation for a wonderful new publication just starting out called &review. I find it satisfyingly similar to my favorite major quarterly The Paris Review. &review may not be interviewing legends like Gay Talese or Hemingway, but judging from its first free edition it shows great promise. Three contributors presented their work last night at the Liberty Glass. One of the artists was Jeff Guay who presented a project called Ghost. He paired his own film footage from the 99 New Carissa wreck with his own narrative. Using the indelible wrecked ship as a kind of personification for his unsteady connection with an ex girlfriend.

Keep your eyes and ears open for more about this auspicious little publication. They are working on their 2nd issue and always seeking good contributions, that means all of you. For more information please check out http://andreview.com/ Rachel Pedderson is the Portland contact that I am acquainted with.

The Return of the Salon, a few random thoughts as well

In honor of the season I found myself late last night watching a PBS documentary on King David and the Israelites. The program drew from a variety of resources interviewing historians as well as several Rabbis. I think it made a very good point about the question of truth, which I grapple with from time to time. The historians did not attempt to dismantle arguments in favor of God nor did the Rabbis try to explain away all logic in favor of faith. All parties knowing that archeology has dismissed many biblical stories into just that, stories, fiction, gave credence to the history of the writing above all. Two tropes for one belief: the importance of documentation. The Bible was written to influence a certain people. It aimed to give them strength and unity. In turn it influenced the entire world, for the good is a major argument. The stories give believers something to stand on and give historians something to jump off from. I think of all of this and more because as I was watching these reenactments of Moses and Bathsheba when I decided to look up a map of the Euphrates River. Once I clicked on the Google image it came up on its original page entitled "HeavenAwaits" a zealous, Old Testament driven warning of the Apocalyptic destruction of all the unholy. Needless to say I did have nightmares last night. The woman who writes the blog seems like a nice person, really, except that she sees life through a pin hole. She is diligent with her writing and it made me think about this blog and how terrible I have been about keeping up. I have no gospel to preach except for the passion of history. In theme with all of these random thoughts I would like to propose that the next Salon (maybe 2) delve into the history of western religion. Paganism to Christianity and then to the Romans, Catholics, Protestants, Lutherans. I want to know all of it, so badly! Before "Heaven Awaits' " Apocalypse is upon us. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
Albrecht Durer