3 Edgars

As you can see it's a series of pictures of Edgar Allan Poe, but something funny's going on--that's his regular portrait on the left, but the pictures in the middle and to the right are altered:

The middle face is made up of two right sides pasted together and the far right face is made up of two left sides pasted together. Weird, eh? They're both recognizable as Poe, of course, but--and here my pop-culture saturated brain will steer me into a Star Trek reference--they are like the two Kirks in that one episode where he gets split into two beings by (if I remember correctly) a glitch in the transporter. You know, aggressive, but self-confident Kirk v. passive, self-critical Kirk? Middle Poe is fierce, a force to be reckoned with, and a little scary. Far-right Poe is pathetic, maudlin, and full of self-doubt. None of this really means anything, but it fits neatly into the kind of pop-psychological silliness that is often foisted upon poor Edgar.

Meh...

Toot toot!

Here's  an annoying press release from Amazon which tries to argue that the nation's "best read" cities are those who buy the most reading material from Amazon. Umm...think there might be a fallacy at work here? Is shopping for reading matter at Amazon really an indication of how well read a city's population is? Portland is 19th on the list, I see. But I know that I, as well as many other Portland residents, like to shop at Powell's City of Books and prefer to buy a book from there rather than from Amazon if I can help it. Not to mention the fact that many readers simply borrow their materials from libraries or read from free online sources. All Amazon has done here is shed light on the shopping habits of some residents of some American cities. Oh and toot their own horn a little in the process. How silly.

Cavity Search

If you can swing it, go and see Werner Herzog's new documentary "Cave of Forgotten Dreams." It's all about the Chauvet caves in southern France where, in 1994, numerous cave paintings were discovered that may date back some 30,000 years. The film is in 3D, a form well-suited to the subject matter (somewhat surprisingly). Herzog's usual dry wit, understatement, and general quirkiness are scaled back here, and one gets the impression that the subject so overwhelmed the filmmaker that he was often at a loss for words. He mostly lets the pictures do the talking--and boy do they.

Visit the French Ministry of Culture's site on the cave here and the site for Herzog's film here.

K and I viewed it at Portland's Livingroom Theaters on 10th downtown, a place where you can have wine or a glass of beer (and I'm not talkin' no paper cup) and sit in comfy chairs with little tables. Well, we were a tad late, arriving during the previews, and couldn't find two seats together. The nice waiter brought in a chair for us so we could sit together in the corner. K sat and found her seat cushion soaked (and thus her bottom), and as she jumped to her feet again she kicked over her glass of wine and shattered it. The nice waiter fixed everything (except K's bottom) and we were able to settle in just as the film began. All in all, it's a cool place to see a flick. Check it out sometime. And right across the street is Clyde Common, an excellent place to have rack of pig, spaetzle, and more wine after the film. 'Twas the first "civilized" evening we've had in quite a while.

CD

and I feel fine...

Hey, I stole this from the letters after an article on Salon this morning. It was about today's rapture, naturally, scheduled for 6 pm (no matter the time-zone). Probably the best comments I've seen yet on this event:

The world has already ended.

Only those with Jesus in their heart can perceive that the world is being gradually destroyed. Everything from climate change to disease to war which is happening now is evidence of the tribulations that are stripping away the material world we knew.


The rapture was not a physical event, but rather the final salvation of the souls of the righteous. The raptured walk among us, but remain untouched by the apocalyptic forces besetting the world.


Are you raptured? If you are, you will believe you are sincerely, with no shred of doubt within you. Let the holy fire of armageddon be the crucible that purges the impurities of doubt.


Of course, should misfortune befall you, it will mean you were not raptured.


That's my new apocalyptic Christian cult idea. What do you guys think? It deals nicely with the whole prediction problem, and it really isn't that different from Calvinism.


Should I declare for tax exemption?


—psalmanazaar

And now I shall write no more forever about this sad instance of mass delusionality.
CD

the bird is the word

Congratulations to Portland chef Gabriel Rucker (of Le Pigeon and Little Bird fame) for winning the 2011 James Beard award for Rising Star Chef (or whatever it was called). If you've never eaten at his restaurants, please do. Investigate here: http://www.lepigeon.com/.

I'M BACK!!!!!!! Ha hA ha HA!