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November 8, 2019
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Back when I attended the Episcopal church, I loved using Eucharistic Prayer C because of this passage:
“At your command all things came to be: the vast expanse of interstellar space, galaxies, suns, the planets in their courses, and this fragile earth, our island home."
I no longer believe that a deity kickstarted the life that we know, but I still love thinking about our place in the "vast expanse of interstellar space," and how we are so small and vulnerable here.
I worry about the kind of world I am leaving for my great-grandson to enjoy. I am not always a good steward of the wealth that has been given to me. I have hot running water and a flush toilet, for goodness sake; so, in comparison to the rest of the world's population, that makes me very rich indeed.
I wish I could protest at the nation's capitol and get arrested with Ted Danson and Jane Fonda. That sounds like a lot more fun than sorting through my garbage and putting it in the correct bins. To be honest, when I think about the state of our planet, I feel almost paralyzed. There is too much to do, and I don't know where to begin.
If you feel the same and want to be part of a global movement in the fight for our lives, check out extinction rebellion or 350.org.
How small are we? Here's Monty Python's humorous take on it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQPlFLtWDwM
And then there's this.....
A BRAVE AND STARTLING TRUTH
-- Maya Angelou
We, this people, on a small and lonely planet
Traveling through casual space
Past aloof stars, across the way of indifferent suns
To a destination where all signs tell us
It is possible and imperative that we learn
A brave and startling truth
And when we come to it
To the day of peacemaking
When we release our fingers
From fists of hostility
And allow the pure air to cool our palms
When we come to it
When the curtain falls on the minstrel show of hate
And faces sooted with scorn are scrubbed clean
When battlefields and coliseum
No longer rake our unique and particular sons and daughters
Up with the bruised and bloody grass
To lie in identical plots in foreign soil
When the rapacious storming of the churches
The screaming racket in the temples have ceased
When the pennants are waving gaily
When the banners of the world tremble
Stoutly in the good, clean breeze
When we come to it
When we let the rifles fall from our shoulders
And children dress their dolls in flags of truce
When land mines of death have been removed
And the aged can walk into evenings of peace
When religious ritual is not perfumed
By the incense of burning flesh
And childhood dreams are not kicked awake
By nightmares of abuse
When we come to it
Then we will confess that not the Pyramids
With their stones set in mysterious perfection
Nor the Gardens of Babylon
Hanging as eternal beauty
In our collective memory
Not the Grand Canyon
Kindled into delicious color
By Western sunsets
Nor the Danube, flowing its blue soul into Europe
Not the sacred peak of Mount Fuji
Stretching to the Rising Sun
Neither Father Amazon nor Mother Mississippi who, without favor,
Nurture all creatures in the depths and on the shores
These are not the only wonders of the world
When we come to it
We, this people, on this minuscule and kithless globe
Who reach daily for the bomb, the blade and the dagger
Yet who petition in the dark for tokens of peace
We, this people on this mote of matter
In whose mouths abide cankerous words
Which challenge our very existence
Yet out of those same mouths
Come songs of such exquisite sweetness
That the heart falters in its labor
And the body is quieted into awe
We, this people, on this small and drifting planet
Whose hands can strike with such abandon
That in a twinkling, life is sapped from the living
Yet those same hands can touch with such healing, irresistible tenderness
That the haughty neck is happy to bow
And the proud back is glad to bend
Out of such chaos, of such contradiction
We learn that we are neither devils nor divines
When we come to it
We, this people, on this wayward, floating body
Created on this earth, of this earth
Have the power to fashion for this earth
A climate where every man and every woman
Can live freely without sanctimonious piety
Without crippling fear
When we come to it
We must confess that we are the possible
We are the miraculous, the true wonder of this world
That is when, and only when
We come to it.
WHAT'S HAPPENING THIS WEEK
FLASH AH-AHHHH!
A Stageworks Ink Production
Thursday, Friday, Saturday November 7 - 9 @ 7:30pm
Sunday, Nov 10 @ 2:00pm
When the Earth is threatened with destruction by the Planet Mongo Flash Gordon, New York Jets football hero, and his high school sweetheart, Dale Arden, are shanghaied aboard Dr. Hans Zarkov's rocket ship in an attempt to save the planet.
But Ming the Merciless, Emperor of Mongo, has other plans, and decides to wed Dale before destroying the Earth. Now, Flash must avoid the amorous advances of Ming's daughter, Aura, and unite the warring kingdoms of Mongo to overthrow Ming, save his love and his planet... And he only has 14 hours to do it all!!!
This is the fifth anniversary of this unique and hilarious production. Several of the original cast and crew are returning for this final bow for Flash Ah-Ahhh!! Including most of the original band who were ages 13 to 17 and students at the School of Rock.
ADVANCE TICKETS AVAILABLE. $18 Thursday & Sunday, $20 Friday and Saturday.
HOMEMADE
Independent Documentary
Saturday, November 2 @ 7:30pm.
Veteran Reconnaissance Marine Adam and his wife Victoria could be America’s sweethearts. But after returning from combat, Adam finds himself struggling with PTSD, increasing his prescriptions, and battling suicidal thoughts. Victoria tries to support her ever more detached husband while treating her own chronic pain in a cycle that will feel all too familiar to many Americans.
Jason Maris and Danielle Bernstein’s intimate story avoids the usual trappings of mental illness and addiction documentaries by looking at the whole picture of a family over six years. Never turning away when things get difficult, the film takes a raw look at the dark and dramatic underbelly of ordinary American life and questions how we define success and demand stability in an unstable world.
Join us after the screening for a panel discussion with panelists Casey Curry--Executive Director, Veterans And Families Resource Center Of Oregon; a Representative from PSU Veterans Resource Center, and others to be announced.
$7-10 suggested; no one turned away for lack of funds. $8 ADVANCE TICKETS AVAILABLE.
PDX Filmmakers Present!
Sunday, Nov 10 @ 7:00pm
Tonight's presentation is brought to us by the Portland Film Community. Every month we celebrate Portland films and the artists who make them.
PDX Filmmakers Present! features upcoming Proof of Concepts, teasers and trailers, with Conversations with the filmmakers.
KUNG FU HUSTLE
Monday, November 11 @ 7pm
FREE Movie!! Please consider making a donation to our nonprofit partner, Community Warehouse.
The work of international superstar Stephen Chow, KUNG FU HUSTLE is a humorous, special-effects-filled, action-packed martial arts epic set in early '40s China.
KUNG FU HUSTLE snaps and crackles like nuclear popcorn on a scorching griddle.
Desson Thomson, Washington Post
Tonight's nonprofit partner is Community Warehouse, whose mission is to connect essential furnishings to neighbors in need through unique community partnerships, creating stronger home foundations and brighter futures for all.
Psychedelic Veteran:
Telling the Story of Psychedelic Healing
Presented by Portland Psychedelic Society
Tuesday, Nov 12 @ 7:00pm
Ian Stout is a filmmaker based in Portland, Oregon. While serving 15 months in Iraq he survived two roadside bombs, while close friends did not.
After 5 years of intense nightmares, and over 10 years on his own healing journey, he still felt hopeless for all of those still suffering. Watching the results come in from MDMA assisted therapy in MAPS' Phase II trials, showing that 68% of the test subjects no longer had PTSD after their 12-month follow-up, he quickly thought of the healing potential this could bring to so many of his veteran brothers and sisters.
This led him to start work on The Psychedelic Therapist, an upcoming documentary feature about the MDMA assisted therapy work happening right here in Portland, OR. Learn more about the film here: https://www.thepsychedelictherapist.com
Join Ian as he tells his personal story and reflects on how each of us in the psychedelic community can create fellowship, understanding and healing with our own unique psychedelic stories.
Please refrain from solicitation and illegal activities at PPS events. Please use common sense and be respectful of the organization and the event. Our events are about learning, sharing, and education. Illegal activities will not be tolerated at PPS events.
The Age of Cannibals
(Zeit der Kannibalen)
Presented by PDX GERMAN FILM FESTIVAL – Monthly Film Series
Wednesday, Nov 13 @ 7:00pm
Cut-throat business consultants Öllers and Niederländer travel the world without ever really seeing it. In advising companies on how to maximize profits, the two have managed to insulate themselves from the dangerous locations where they conduct business by never leaving their 5-star hotels. Models of ruthless efficiency, both hope to secure partnerships at their nameless company.
When Bianca, a newly hired younger female consultant is sent to assist in the negotiations, her constant critique of her colleagues’ unscrupulous behavior with clients and hotel staff alike is unsettling to the executives, who pride themselves on their ability to remain emotionally disconnected. Confined within the walls of their hotel, the three protagonists reach grotesque extremes.
The perfectly directed darkly comedic performances offer a timely critique of contemporary global economics. When the dangers of the outside world (experienced only through the occasional sounds of distant explosions or gunfire) find their way inside their hotel, the three models of efficiency prove to be incompetent.
ADVANCE TICKETS AVAILABLE. General Admission: $10; Student/Senior (62+): $8; Children (under 12): $6
CAN YOU DIG THIS?
KBOO @ The Clinton
Thursday, Nov 14 @ 7:00pm
South Los Angeles. What comes to mind is gangs, drugs, liquor stores, abandoned buildings and vacant lots. The last thing that you would expect to find is a beautiful garden sprouting up through the concrete, coloring the urban landscape. As part of an urban gardening movement taking root in South LA, people are planting to transform their neighborhoods and are changing their own lives in the process.
This documentary follows the inspirational journeys of four unlikely gardeners, discovering what happens when they put their hands in the soil. This is not a story of science and economics. This is a story of the human spirit, inspiring people everywhere to pick up their shovels and “plant some shit.”
Fundraiser for KBOO Community Radio and Emerson Street Garden.
$7-15 suggested; no one turned away for lack of funds.
COMING SOON
BILL & TED'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE, November 18; TREMORS, November 25; THIS IS SPINAL TAP, December 2; HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS, December 9; THE DARK CRYSTAL, December 16.
Strange things are afoot at the Circle-K.
You say you want more FLASH GORDON???!!! On Saturday, November 16, come to a 4pm matinee of the 1980 feature film. Or make it a three-fer....the movie, a gala reception with food and drink specials, and a ticket to Flash Ah-Ahhh....all for only $25.
It's not November at the Clinton without a few screenings of BLADE RUNNER: THE FINAL CUT. Thanksgiving weekend--Friday and Saturday @ 7:30pm.
The Amazing Bubble Man will be with us Thanksgiving weekend, too. Friday, Saturday and Sunday with shows at 11am and 2pm.
It's never too early to remind your peeps about our annual Holiday screening of THE BIG LEBOWSKI. Rice Russians!! Yum, yum!!!
Submissions are closed, but because of my father's death and my inability to properly promote the festival, PUFF has been postponed until January.
LitCrawl - A Live Storytelling Event happens Friday, November 8 @ Kickstand Comedy. 5 performers and a house band. Hosted by Jude Brewer.
Listen, Learn, Lead Event #8: NASTY Night Out is Sunday, November 10th. Come for shoulder/neck massages, henna artists, a jazz band, a swear word/resistance coloring station (very therapeutic), a photo booth, pizza, snacks, and more.
The book release party for my memoir UNFIT: The Tale of One Pregnant Teen in the Time Before Roe v Wade is December 8th. If you would like to be on a list for presale announcements, please contact me directly at ljleigh@northcountry.com.
Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.
— George Bernard Shaw
Don't be a stranger. Come see us soon.
Kind regards,
Lani Jo
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