now, while I really DO hope to make some money from this venture, the primary motivation is to open up an East-West dialogue ... you may not be old enough to remember the TV series :"Northern Exposure".

There was one episode when one of the Indian tribal elders (a shaman) was trying to understand the white man, by listening to their (his / her) stories.  And every time he asked, one of the walking / breathing people, they would be utterly clueless.

Finally, Ed, the Indian film-maker told the shaman that the white people's stories were told in film. which, of course, the shaman had difficulty understanding, coming from an oral tradition.

But, he watched some of the classics, in particular, if I remember correctly, It's A Good Life -- because, in many ways, that IS the quintessential American Film (although, for my money, Pulp Fiction is closer to the reality, both in theme, in tempo, and in context).

And so, the shaman agrees, and decides NOW he can understand the whie man (and woman -- white people, or white folk -- personally, I have never really thought of my white self as fully developed, at least spiritually .. it's as if lacking that genetic strand .. wait, possessing that genetic strand that enabled my forebears to walk upright out of Africa into the frigidness of Germany, Wales and Scotland, gave me (my forebears, my "country men", my folks, my peeps) the right to rape, plunder, pillage and exploit people, places and things.

And I get a lot of very decent white apologists who will be quick to point out that ours was not the only race to enslave ... well, if you don't know where I'm going, there's no point in continuing

ANYWAY ... minimally I'd like to get a good recording ... or even a CELL PHONE thingie .. you seek, I'm not very technologically adept .. don't even possess the lingo ... assuming I do get some kind of record of the event, you can be assured that I will pass it along (I've got an account set up withMySpace, and also, I think, with YouTube ... although, I've not put up much of anything at either location.

Thanks for your kind words of encouragement.

It'll be fun, Marie Bolchazy - one of the publishers, Tom Kappheim, the artist who produced the wood-cuts that were used to make the illustrations, and Georgine Cooper (the person I admire more than all others -- moral integrity, courage .. blah, blah, blah) one of the editors will be there.

I also sent an invitation to the Islamic Council of Chicago ... or at least one of their publishing branches .. but to date have received no reply.

I've had a very productive couple of days ... and am getting keyed up for the event ... fortunately, ran out of money early, and couldn't get drunk on the pittance I possessed .. will be asleep by 10, singing in church, rehearsing actually, at 8:00 for the 9:30 service.

Thanks so much for the encourating words.

With warm regards,

Mark
pms_213@sheshere.net wrote:That's wonderful and thanks for sending this. I wish I was there and could attend. Any chance of someone filming it and putting it online?
Wilda