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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 15, 1976)
Two in review: Magazines Rainbow turns Oregon beauty, art into colorful publication By Glen Gibbons This magazine was due: a quarterly publication by Oregonians about Oregon. As an East Coast acquaintance ob served to me recently, “Oregon is very chic these days.” The state has begun to develop an image — stronger among non Oregonians than natives perhaps — of a latter-day, idyllic environmental paradise with public beaches and only “clean industry,” sort of a Last Homely House of the West, overlooked since the California Gold Rush rerouted the Oregon Trail traffic several hundred miles south. — As a promotional brochure told pros pective readers: the magazine is “For the dream that is Oregon in the hearts of those who love her... For Oregonians everywhere who have never set foot in Oregon, but for whom the state stands as a beacon of what can be. Or be again.” Oregon Rainbow fosters this image, but projects it through the keenly fond eyes of those close at hand. The magazine escapes easy categorization. One might describe it as a multi-media — poetry, graphics, photography, architecture — presenta tion of arts with a strong historical, jour nalistic orientation. Contents of this first issue include: “Keep Oregon Green, etc.,” a rainbow series of exquisite photographs, each designed around a strong thematic color and a poem by William Stafford, perhaps Oregon's best-known contemporary poet: “Cascade Head: A Profile,” a his torical and visual trek through the rug gedly alluring promontory on Oregon’s central coast, recently designated a scenic research area by Congress: “Ceramics of Ken Shores," which ex amines Shore's unusual conjunction of earth and air elements in pottery that uses feather motifs; “Everything's Com ing Up Rose’s," yet another article on former Portland restaurateur Rose Naf talin, including two unpublished recipes for pastries such as made her delicates san in northwest Portland the calorific goal of many a fervent pilgrimage; “Old Church," a pictorial study of the Portland landmark's Gothic Revival architecture; “Farewell Rosaria," which traces the 70-year development of Portland’s Rose Festival — with numerous nostalgic asides — and fashions a pleasant cameo of Thelma Hollingsworth, the Festival's first elected Queen; “Men Alone; Sheepherders of Oregon," a pre viously published journey (with new, ad ditional photos) of a vanishing profes sion among the arid hills of Eastern Oregon. Everywhere the photography, whether stark and powerful black-and whites or lavish color reproductions, succeeds unambiguously. The natural beauty of Oregon has received photo graphic attention by such talents as Ray Atkeson whose Oregon and Oregon II books have sold well. Oregon Rainbow in many places matches and occasion ally excels these earlier efforts with the added benefit, as a serial publication, of timeliness and continued evolution of process. The visual success of the magazine seems less surprising when one learns that two of the three partners who created and publish Oregon Rain bow — Robin and Heidi Rickabaugh — possess international reputations in graphic designs. Editorially, the publication lags behind its own artistic vanguard. Occasionally, the written copy accompanying articles — having been so overshadowed by the dynamism of the graphics — appears only to fill the intervals between pictures, rather than assert its merits in its own right, as though the story-line was merely a rest area for the satiated eye. The Cascade Head feature lapses into National Geographic prose through several passages, as if to survive the panoramic trek of photos required mak ing seasoned troupers of language. Au thor Lionel Fisher, the magazine’s con The University’s own If the search for meaning is also the search for origins, then the latest edition of Northwest Review, appearing on books tore shelves this week, has provided us with a gently rustic, partial map for the journey. Loosely assembled under the rubric “Folklore," this University-based publication has gathered between its cov ers a selection of prose, poetry, photography and essays de void of the academic connota tions that often destroy such ef forts’ effectiveness. (folk and otherwise), poems by William Stafford, a collection of original folksongs that pro vided inspiration for more re cent renditions by such artists as Bob Dylan and Peter, Paul and Mary and even an excerpt from a novel of the future that prophecizes a return to neo shamanism and intercultural folk origins. Several translations of Ha' aninin (American Indian) tales edited and transcribed by Karl Pohrt (who tape recorded his Father's telling of them at Fort / Eva and Evea Applegate Folkish wisdom that es capes time past arrives, clut tered but honest — a cultural heritage that circumvents the political inventions of most formal histories. (Ah, cultural heritage — the kiss of death for honest en deavor in this clumsily com mercial Bicentennial year. But Northwest Review has nothing to apologize for in its skilled, diverse and sophisticated col lection.) Editors of this issue appar ently offered a wide latitude to the categorical direction of Folklore. The articles cast about among photo essays of bull-riding and architecture A G. Belknap Reservation) testify to the power of oral tradition. Pohrt presents the tales di vided into lines based on breath units — the pauses in serted by the Ha’ aninin nar rator — in an effort to convey something of the character of the spoken stories. A number of drawings by Pohrt’s brother, Thomas, used for a calendar printed by Bear Claw Press, accompany the tales. Probably the thematic kernal of the magazine is a lengthy section devoted to history and reflections of the Applegates, an Oregon pioneer family. Americana and pioneer his tory usually do not attract me. Northwest Review Prophets and prophetic litera ture are without honor >n their own land. I feel fortunate that the decision to review this magazine led me to read these selections. Unity and continuity through the century of Applegate Oregon history is provided in the test, skillfully and literately written by Shannon Applegate, a member of the present gen eration in her family. Applegate threads her narrative through a wealth of memorabilia: photos from cracked and aging al bums, a family tree, poems written by great aunts, extracts from pioneer George Apple gates notebook, her own diary. Anchoring her commentary is the powerful sense of pres ence of Evan and Evea Apple gate, two identical twins bom in the late 19th century. An over tly mystic overlay of different times and personalities, cul minating nonetheless in the descendant, permeates Shan non Applegate's story. Of a visit with her frail, debili tated Aunt Eva, then more than 90, Applegate describes this metaphysical fusion: My heart is beating; I feel it thrusting against the walls of my chest. I am inside this old woman, our senses merging. Beneath the mar red transparency of skin, beneath the veins floating near the surface. Behind the eyes of watered green, nearly sightless, minute white islands of cataracts, pupils dilating from the Demarol, the pulse, our pulse, pulls, pushes the skin up and down, slender wrists, blood moving. Fam ily blood...Part of the or ganic sum of the “family" floating down the river. Her ancestors are mine drown ing the Columbia. Family women calling from the boats across a century: “Men, do not quit the oars! Men! We cannot save the boys!" Later she writes of occult noises in the family house where she lives near Yoncolla, obscure rattlings and half perceived visions of a feminine presence wearing turn-of-the century clothes. Elsewhere the peculiar tragedies, the irrevocable events that mark, sometimes mar, a family, are recounted with poignant, penetrating style. She tells us about a great-uncle, maimed in a childhood accident, who lived out his life in an upstairs bed room, bound to a bed to pre vent self-injuries. Northwest Review has scored a coup in securing the Applegate documents. Read ers of the magazine might well consider themselves richly gifted with the entire contents of this issue. Copies of Northwest Review are available for reading in the University main library. The magazine will go on sale at the EMU Main Desk and such local bookstores as The Id, Koob dooga, UO Co-op, Book and Tea. Book Mark and Merlin's. The press run for this edition was only 1800. according to Northwest Review Editor Mike Strelow. Northwest Review, until 1970 funded by the University, is an independent publication operating out of the English department. Single-issue price remains $2, a figure below the publishing costs of the magazine, which is made pos sible by funds from patrons and institutions) donors. Subscrip tions are also available at stu dent rates of $4 a year, $6 for two years. A radio drama, written by Shannon Applegate, which deals further with her family and Oregon during the Civil War, will be broadcast bet ween 9:30 and 10 a.m. Sun day on Portland FM station KINK. Thomas Pohrt calendar drawing h • Courtesy o» Northwest Review tributing editor, swings ambivalently through his Rose Festival story — at times maudlin, almost mawkish in his second-hand reminiscences, elsewhere obscurely critical, as he touches upon the blatant commercial aspect of the (es tival or the tardy inclusion of racial minorities among Rose Parade royalty. The Naftalin article is fulsome in its adu lation. Words prosper most in Stafford s poetry, which provides a lean counter stroke to the richness of the ‘ Keep Oregon Green, etc." art. Michael Mather’s writing effectively embellishes and explains some points that may es cape his photographs in the sheepher der article. But the most critical comment that might be mustered against the magazine pales before the extraordi nary value of this publication. The art alone is worth the time and cost one might devote to Oregon Rainbow The work represented in the magazine comes almost entirely from Oregonians on a free-lance basis, ac cording to Everett Thome, third partner in the venture. Thome, a native of Pend leton in eastern Oregon and a 1966 Uni versity of Oregon graduate, says that the magazine is seeking publication-ready photo essays for future issues Some $8,000 has been budgeted per issue for contributors, who, Thome says, all too often are paid next to nothing by magazines for their work. Although presently based in Portland, along with the magazine, Robin Rickabough also claims status as a na tive Oregonian, having spent his child hood in Eugene His brother, Rene, who added the graphics that enrich Rose Naftalin s recipes, lives and works in Eugene. Rene s drawings — for menus, notices and wall display — have been seen by patrons of the Excelsior Cafe on 13th Avenue. The design and layout of the Spring 76 issue were almost flawless. An odd jux taposition of a full-page Old Church photo, with the cover page for the Rose Festival opposite it, seemed to be the single noticeable false step. Vigor of photo reproduction — high definition, re tention of vivid color, and contrast in the black-and-whites — was accomplished through use of expensive high-gloss paper pnnted using a one-color process: each color layer laid on one at a time. Consequently, the cost of Oregon Rainbow seems a little high in compari son with similarly sized magazines: $6 per single copy, 320 annual subscrip tion. The absence of any advertise ments on the magazine s 64 pages, however, mitigates the expense some what. Gift subscnptions have turned out to be popular, says Thorne, who added that 2,000 regular readers have already signed up. Nine patrons of the magazine pro vided about 10 per cent of revenue for the first issue, according to Thorne. But the publishers have not decided if they will seek patrons for future editions or try to make it on sales alone. Oregon Rainbow should begin ap pearing this week in Eugene books stores, including the UO Co-op Book store, which will soon feature the magazine in a window display, Book Marl, J.K. Gill, Walton's and the Literary Lion. Future issues will be released on the first day of each season — summer, au tumn, winter—just as this first appeared on the vernal equinox in late March. Address for Oregon Rainbow is P.O. Box 14935. Portland, Ore., 97214 j-v* Surface and Symbol Edited by Bob Webb and Glen Gibbons Thelma Hollingsworth Early Rose Festival Queen Photo by Michael Mather Courtesy ot Oregon Rainbow Persuasions are coming; R & B steamroller runnin’ Let's see, need to hit the books...hmmmm .need a cup of coffee, a pack of smokes, matches, highlighter, and the background hum of the FM Chapter one . what's this? Better turn up that tune on the box "I m lookin , lookin’, lookin', lookin' for a love to cad my own ” By Barbara Geiser That certainly ain't the J. Geils Band — matter-of-fact — there's no band at all, just panting voices. Who is this emitting energy through the airways? Better sit right down and call the station. Oh! It's the Persuasions! Man, they're hot, movin like a musical steamroller chuggin' and rollin' a steady beat. Real catchy tune they're running. So began a lasting, casual relationship with a group that specialized in singing acapella, the Persuasions. The blend of Jimmy (Bro) Hayes, Joseph (Jesse) Russell, Willie C. Daniels and Herbert (Tubo) Rhoad perfected their multiple-voice singing style over a decade ago. Originally calling the Parisians, the group turned professional with a diverse repertoire ranging from tight R & B to spiritual rockers. Keeping up with the times and remaining true to their style convinced the Persua sions to incorporate instrumentals into their act. Their second album, More Than Be fore, was a first attempt at combining the group's controlled voices with instruments. The album, I Just Want to Sing With My Friends, not only reflects the group's at titude towards music, but also was their first album fully incorporating orchestration. Maybe you’ve wondered who those five dudes singing behind Phoebe Snow in "Let the Good Times Roll” were. Well folks, that's the Persuasions. Qean, crisp and full of fire, they lift 'Good Times" with a certain characteristic spark. The double bill is rounded out with the Booker T & the MG's style of the Meters. The Meters appeared on the 1975 Stones tour and backed Dr. John on his 1973 re lease, "Right Race, Wrong Time." The New Orleans musical legacy shines through the Meters graceful, yet reggae funk. The boys have been in the biz as long as tiie Persuasions — a decade — signify ing their dedication to professionalism. A group doesn t ha ng around for 10 years without offerinq audiences a taste that s palatable. Get ready for some high-energy output, then get your body in the EMU Ballroom tonight at 8 p.m. The only dues you'll pay are $3.75 for UO students and $5 for non-students. “Everybody get in the groove and let the good times roll/We got to stay here till we loose our souls/Everything’s all night long...” Persuasions to perform here tonight 'Doll's House' misses point By John Loeber When the Very Little Theater opened “A Doll's House” by Hen rik Ibsen last week, a dull thud rol led across stage. This classic drama concerns a young wife who decides to leave her husband and look for truth — and punctuates her exit by slam ming the front door. Like a cannon shot. In this case though, if you didn’t know the play you wouldn’t know that the muted sound-effect pro vided was actually intentional. But then that’s fitting. If you didn’t know the lines, you wouldn’t know they were intentional either. There's a spot in the first act where Nora wheedles some money from her husband. She goes on and on pestering him until he gives in. Now this is important: while she's pouting with her back to him he pulls out his wallet to get the cash and when she turns around she yells with surprise. The content of the action is about values and the form about contracts. And any Freudian can extract a juicy interpretation from me wanei. Well, in the VLT production the whole bit failed.Nora yelled with surprise before she turned around. The scene fell apart. If you think this is a small point you’re doing more head work than the director did. You're imagining what she failed to create — a sense of possibility for the action. Now the play did get better in the second act and even showed some beautiful moments A solo dance by Nora tops off a long non-stop run of hysteria just short of total release, drops down to exasperation and rockets back up until she finally hurls a shatter ing thunderbolt into the audience. It's quite a display and well handled. But it only points out the weakness of the rest of the pro duction. The basic flaw exhibited is let ting the words do the job of acting. Of settling for reading instead of characterizing. The most emotional dialogues in the play are delivered as solilo quies and final scene plays as reader s theater with Nora bearing up under slings and arrows just like the rock of Gibraltar. This is after a desperate strug gle for emotional life is carryed off as a polite fencing match. Somehow the skittish jumps in tempo don’t create much realism or expectation. On the technical side the pro duction displays a set that is good-looking but with so many dimensions and planes it loses di rection and doesn’t ever quite support the acting. The lighting is also a bit undisci plined with more light behind the actors than in front, if one is going to act on the edges of the stage in a realist drama, some light needs to be there, too. If it isn’t clear yet, I found this production of “A Doll’s House” technically undisciplined and emotionally ummotivated. Throughout it showed a re strained, contained movement symptomatic of apprehensive di rection. I assume this was meant to keep control of Ibsen's melo dramatic lines, but in this case too much control and too little motiva tion abandoned Ibsen’s structure and left the audience with an un convincing play. And a note on convincing — this play should be never be taken so lightly as to assume it a sexual drama. If it were that, the play would be simply melodrama. There is much more to it, much more in the structure than in the lines. This is a play about human motivations and about human his tory. About options and growth and what is left behind. It is not merely about sex or a tract on women’s liberation. If you enjoy Ibsen, a night spent with the VLT — only after a read ing of the play — is recom mended. Tickets are still on sale for $2.50. “A Doll's House" will play each night through Saturday, be ginning at 8:15 p.m. at the Very Little Theatre, 2350 Hilyard. Vermont jazz lab open for summer Bennington Summers Jazz Laboratory, an educational and experimental American music program to be conducted July 5-August 15, at Bennington Col lege, Bennington, Vt., has ex tended its deadline for applica tions and audition tapes until May 1. The Lab, non-academic in structure, will be led by approxi mately 50 professional “Master' musicians, singers, composers and critics who will live, study and play together with the “Apprentices'-advanced music students and beginning profes sional musicians. The Lab is not associated with the Black Music Division of Bennington College. Strongest emphasis will be on personal experimentation in the jazz idiom. Technical instrumental training, improvisation, arranging, composing and ensemble-playing by practitioners rather than theorists will be offered. Apprentices will choose their own mentors and divide their time among workshops, individual practice and group interchange. Applicants must be completely familiar with basic music lan guage, standard notation systems and diatonic harmony; read eas ily; construct and play scales, in tervals, and no modes; differen tiate qualities of major, minor, au gmented and diminished chords through the ninth, and be able to perform — including solo improvi sation — with confidence. Room and board are included in the $1,500 tuition fee. Requests for additional details should be addressed to Benning ton Summers, Inc., 35 West 92nd St., New York, N.Y. 10025. Page 5 Section B