Our second installment of Burnside Mixes hinges on our love affair with Portland (are you surprised?). Portland has been a hotbed of music for a while now, right up there with Austin, Nashville and New York. We will now offer you a wide cross sampling of songs about and from Portland. Most of these...

In the world of music, high-minded concepts go a long way towards affording the people involved at least a little bit of recognition. There’s the string quartet versions of Metallica songs, lounge versions of popular songs, muzak version of grunge hits, etc. etc. Needless to say, it puts us music...

David Dark’s The Gospel According to America kicks off the way nearly all of my discussions about politics begin; referring to his father. Like me, Dark’s father obviously had a heavy sway in the way Dark looks at the world, and it’s appropriate that he should begin with his roots....

Jonathan Safran Foer recently released Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, a follow-up to his debut, Everything Is Illuminated. We will post a review of the new book as soon as I finish it and am able to write a review. In the meantime, Everything Is Illuminated needs to be mentioned on this site. Now,...

“Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away.” – Philip K. Dick “…it is sometimes an appropriate response to reality to go insane.” – Philip K. Dick Imagine: One morning you wake up in an unfamiliar place. You know who you are,...

Four and a half years ago, when I first began attending Imago Dei Community Church, I met with my pastor, Rick McKinley, at a Starbucks at a newly built strip mall in a Portland suburb. I don’t remember much of the discussion we had that day, just catching up, mostly, but he told me I should read...