v « •4*1 Editorial Michael Burge« On the Friday before Christmas Rhonda Kennedy doven and ring mistress ol Women In Blues public relations director for the Tibetan Foundation of Oregon producer of the Tibetan Cultural Festival and easily the huskiest voice at KBOO got a chilly blast of holiday good cheer Her purse containing a painful amount of money disappeared from her storefront office in a picturesque upscaled warehouse m Northeast Portland It wasn t what I needed to have happen if you know what I mean So Rhonda s sitting at her desk surrounded by Oriental artwork and accounts payable humming Wagner anas and wondering which vein to open first when the phone rings II s her agent Sam Scarlett Downey calling to tell Rhonda she s landed a couple of voice overs Sam notices a lack of excitement and asks what s up Rhonda tells her And suddenly Rhonda says lm starring in It s a Wonderful Life Before midnight the moneys been replaced by friends a few «4 whom Rhonda didn i know A nice sum but only the lead in Neil morning Rhonda gels another call This one from lack Coble and fam illc Scheewe Her wallet s been found in some bushes a block from Rhonda s office Care to guess by whom ' A 2a year old Tibetan refugee named Tenzin Phuntsok who works at Architectural Reproductions a couple doors down For those who like to figure odds there are exactly 2S Tibetan refugees in Portland I hough Rhonda d heard there was a Tibetan working there they hadn t crossed paths I thought about him one day when I was carrying a couple of Taras «the Tibetan goddess of compassion) u» my car Rhonda recaus ttnuugnt it d be neat il he happened to look out the window He didn t Rhonda hadn t met |ac k Coble AP s owner or his partner Camille Sihecwe either At least nut exactly When Rhonda stopped bv their plate to pick up her wallet Scheewe s jaw dropped noticably You re the woman from ms dream The one she d had the night before where Rhonda dressed in black tame to stand behind three monks praying beside a lake Talk about coincidence hey So Christmas comes and goes l ike most of us Rhonda spends some of the holy day» sorting things through tin I really the person on mv resume she asked or am I iust playing grownup in mv new office 7 So driving m the next Monday Rhonda i w ho describes herself as a Buddhist wannabe » asked the universe lor a sign And when she opened the door ol her office there it was How about a 7 foot tall Ewan Yin standing behind my desk 7 Ewan Yin is the Chinese goddess of compassion and friends had placed Rhonda s 4 foot bronze statue on a handcarved table they d brought as a gift Nothing magical but the effect She was looking down at me with such compassion Rhonda savs that I suddenly understood I needed Ui come from love and not fear Wh ich brings us to the next phone call This time it s Steve Saiamonavich with Central Casting m Seattle II seems Bernardo Bertolucci (director of among other films The Last F mperor t is making a movie called The Lillie Buddha They d heard of Rhonda s work with the Tibetan community and wondered could she help with the casting7 She could Nowthen remember Tenzin Phuntsok7 The young man who found Rhunda s wallet and returned it with the two $V) bills the thief hadn l found7 Care to guess how he spent his youth in the monastery in Dharmsala India after fleeing the Chinese rape of Tibet7 Winning honors in drama and dance He and several fellow strangers in a strange land auditioned and got parts And an agent who knows which side her bread is buttered on It s a pretty funny world Now & Then This is (fo r you folks who read from the back to the fro n t) issue 12 of the Upper Left Edge twelve limes the Edge stall has stayed up til three io the morning twelve limes we have had to decide between the paper and the rent twelve times we have had to look at our mistakes reproduced thousands of times and twelve limes we were proud of our meager efforts Now as we enter volume 2 of our history with our April issue and we would tike you to know who is really responsible for what you are holding m your hand First on the list is Sally Louise Lackaff our assistant editor and graphics department proof reader layout dept and heart Ms la cka ff is a native of Cannon Beach though she was raised in Europe and Eastern Oregon and comes from an artistic family (her father s paintings hang in the City Council Chambers) Her drawings have been sold at the Cannon Beach Arts Association Gallery and she has recently been approached by the Daily Asturian to do a variation on the Wildlife Column she draws m the Edge (No Spud doesn l draw them or write them for that matter he is the guy who goes out in the rain, comes back and shows Sally the birds he s seen and are in his bird books ) Even though she is still in her early ( very e a rly ) twenties Sally also does all of the incidental graphics in the Edge and has a great deal to say about what goes in the Edge from ads to stories to headlines yes a great deal1 Second Uncle Mike1 We get more mail about Uncle Mike than any other part of the paper And also the Edge was a twinkle in his eye from the beginning Mr Burgess is the only real newspaper person (that means somebody pays him to w rite) on the staff of the Edge He lives in the Valley ( PDX) and keeps us somewhat in touch with our urban roots so we don I get loo in touch with nature He is our science editor and yes the voice of sanity at the Edge Third (it s a lie 1) Spud and Dr Karkeys do all the music organizing plus their own columns They gather information on events musical environmental A political and are the closest thing we have to reporters Each in his own way is unique and essential to the Edge as we know it Fourth and most important YOU our friends contributors/ subscribers/ advertisers Without your support feed hack and MONEY the Edge wouldn t be and certainly not for a whole year " I suppose we should thank our contributors