‘lackamas Print
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Arts Entertainment
5
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Isen’s ‘10:01’ reads like poetry
en Conley
for just what it was — images,
ideas and beliefs strewn together
trying to convey something to
us without ever having a whole
story - then I enjoyed it.
Olsen’s fictional creations,
although sometimes less than
half-formed, show a great flair
for what some would call the
“unique.” His words had a way of
making me think of things I never
had before, or think of things I
had thought of a million times
before in a new way. This, com
bined with the book seen from
the perspective of a cat, a ghost
and the consciousness of a once-
beautiful woman compressed into
nothing by a tear in reality, made
me wonder what form Olsen’s
muse takes.
On the down side, sometimes
UnnusPrint
lite the fact that the hectic
|ts in Lance Olsen’s “10:01”
j simultaneous effect of
I me in while being just
led enough to fade parts of
■ blur, I thought that over
Is rather interesting.
Iretically the book chron-
jie seemingly random
I of movie goers at one
(Mali of America’s movie
I The entire contents of
■-page book take place
|re 10 minutes and one
ton as I stopped searching
■plot and started reading
[ would poetry, taking it
reading it gave me a feeling simi
lar to talking to a pseudo-intellec
tual who seems insistent on using
overly embellished vocabulary to
show how intelligent they really
are.
Something I did like was
Olsen’s ability to capture true
emotion and desperation in his
characters by expressing their
hopes and dreams in one sen
tence and then crushing them in
the next, in a way mirroring our
own perceptions of our lives. At
the same time he portrays with
almost sickening accuracy how
truly pathetic and mediocre some
branches of the American popu
lation have not so much let them
selves become, as have chosen to
become, and the truly mundane
paths people walk.
Olsen also gives an excellent
view into the perverse sub-lives
and cultures those who we deem
“normal” create for themselves.
Whether those stories came from
his own mind or experiences
related to him from others I don’t
know, but they are truly chilling
at times. .
When all is said and done I
thought the book although cha
otic was well written and thought
provoking. It held my attention
and my senses and drew me in,
so that my own mind started
working in the way I believe
Olsen’s must have while writing
it. Whether or not one would
want to read this book depends
on taste in literary style, but I’d
recommend it to those who have
a taste for truly bizarre, those
QLSEN
who like peering into the crevices
of the human psyche, where no
one else wants to look.
al ‘Sopranos' season makes offer you can't refuse
iDelzell
thrnias Print
i... you may not be like
[complete ‘Sopranos’-
or you may not even be
¡ob-related stories at all,
s last season of the hit
¡how may change your
ode 66 starts out with
¡io character and New
Inob boss Tony Soprano
Gandolfini) doing his
mobster thang, thang.
horoughly enjoying the
! until the last scene
he former boss Junior
o (Dominic Chianese)
emented and shoots
fraight-up in the gut. I
eechless. The episode
painfully confused and
more. ’
next few episodes show
i the hospital in a very
na... the writer take us
Tony’s dream-world,
lay see it as Tony’s trip
■atory. It was a jump
from the normal knee bashing,
whacking and shaking down
that one is accustomed to when
watching mob. drama. It goes
way more into the drama side
inish
your college degree
of the characters life and much
less into the mob side.
As the season progresses,
Tony wakes while half of the
family has already counted him
dead. It makes for quite the
interesting story lines in epi
sodes 67-69. I would have to
say that the most dedicated
fan will probably question the
Quasi performance hits the Jackpot
Sam Krause
The Clackamas Print
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story lines and wonder why the
producers would take the show
in a direction like this.
Well, here is my answer:
If a show doesn’t make one
ask questions, then the viewer
is not interacting with the show.
Why would you want to watch
a series that numbs your mind?
This season of the ‘Sopranos’
has much less to do with mob
violence, making it easier on
the average one-time viewer.
This brings us to the latest
episode, 71, entitled “Live Free
or Die.”
In episode 71 Tony is back
to about half strength after the
shooting. Tony has to coral a
mob family that was counting
on his death. He has to deal
with a capo (under boss) that
has been ousted from the fam
ily when it was revealed that
he is a homosexual. He also
grapples with the idea that his
cousin Christopher (Michael
Imperioli) may be selling guns
and stolen credit card numbers
to Al Qaeda members.
In this latest episode, the
writers do an excellent job of
keeping the last season of the
‘Sopranos’ relevant with cur
rent events in the world. It
seems to me that the writers of
the show have tried to show a
different side of the mob, a real
life side that takes the viewer
on a toller coaster of emotions.
And with Tim Van Patten and
Steve Buscemi as directors the
last season may be the best and
most significant season yet.
Yeaha-Yeaha! Fhagetaboutit til
next week, dedicated viewers.
Portland band Quasi per
formed their new CD “When
the Going Gets Dark” to an elat
ed and faithful audience on
Friday evening.
Quasi’s show at The
Wonder Ballroom on
NE Russell Street
in Portland was an
extended encore to a
free CD release show
at Jackpot Records
on E Bumside on
March 21.
When I arrived at
The Wonder Ballroom
on Friday, The Minders
were performing. They
had a sound more upbeat
and straightforward. I
liked their energy, especially
the communication between the
only female in the band and the
rest of the geeky looking band
members.
While some of the songs they
played were similar (they pulled
a John Fogerty), they weren’t
shy on experimental sounds
either. Most notably experimen arranging her drum set just so. At
tal about the band is the lack of a - this show, as at the Jackpot show,
bassist. But The Minders set was a bassist joined them - Joanne
not hurt by how “out there” they Bolme of Stephen Malkmus
and the Jicks. This was a break
from past performances where
Coomes and Weiss performed
as a duo.
Each song from the new
album was played. They
even played a song from
Built To Spill’s new CD
“You in Reverse” in
which Coomes is. fea
tured on the organ.
Since I first started
listening to Quasi about
three years ago, the
music has morphed into
pseudo-psychedelic/j azz
/rock — very different
from their beginning as
a raw, unadulterated indie
band.
Coomes and Weiss have
created a sound that is defi
nitely unique to the PDX music
scene. With bands like Quasi,
Quasi took to the stage in a Modest Mouse and Built to Spill
rather unassuming way. Pianist/ gaining national notoriety, it’s
guitarist Sam Coomes just mean very evident that these region
dered on and off stage while ally renowned bands are making
drummer Janet Weiss was busy their permanent mark.