Author Archives: Paul Parks

Trial by Jury

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Trial by JuryTrial by Jury (1994)
A juror is threatened by the defendant in a murder trial to vote against conviction. In this simmering thriller, the juror is presented with new dangers at every turn. The personal character of the threats made them palpable. The mobsters were unusually creepy, their slime insidious.  Joanne Whalley and William Hurt gave especially good performances. Gabriel Byrne was also especially convincing. I’ll never forget Hurt’s line when pleading with Valerie to follow his instructions, “The name of the game, Valerie, is not who dies but who dies first.”

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Tao Te Ching

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The Tao Te Ching is a Chinese book of proverbs written circa 600 BCE – which is just long enough ago it isn’t possible to determine the author with certainty. In fact, it is debated whether it was written by a single person. The oldest copy of the work was discovered only twenty years ago in a tomb, written on bamboo tablets.

The form of the book familiar to the modern world dates from English translations made near the turn-of-the-century. However, the many versions discovered indicate the work may have at one time existed as a fluid work; that it was broken into verses and rearranged over time.

Because it is a small work, I was tempted to read it in a single sitting. I don’t think this is the best way to appreciate it. Better to digest it in bite-sized pieces and take time to consider different levels of meaning. I found some proverbs more meaningful than others.

I got a newly-minted audio version with commentary I plan to read next. But my favorite transmission takes place every Thursday morning – me kneeling on my cushion with eyes closed and right foot nestled in the sole of my left while one of my fellow Qigong practitioners reads aloud a selection of her choice.

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The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada

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The Three Burials of Melquiades EstradaThe Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005)
Enraged when a border patrol officer cavalierly kills his illegal alien friend, an old ranch hand abducts the patrolman and forces him to assist in taking the body back home across the border.

The jumbled manner in which the story is told is interesting and effective. The cleverness of the old man is surprising. The storyline is believable. The movie is peppered with the curious culture one might well find in a small community near the Texas/Mexico border.

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The Tempest

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The TempestThe Tempest (2010)
This is Shakespeare’s original play bolstered by bits taken from other of his works – and a female lead. Exiled to an island after her evil brother usurps her rightful position of ruler ship, Prospera uses magic to bring an appropriate marriage prospect to her maturing daughter.

This film presented Shakespeare’s story more intelligibly than any production I have seen heretofore. And it is an amazing work of art! I can hardly believe that the diverse landscapes filmed all came from a private island in the Hawaiian chain. Black barren beauty, desert, forest, bog and cliff! I have never seen anything like it. Amazing! Great attention was paid to bringing life to Shakespeare’s original lines and retaining drama throughout the movie.

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Source Code

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Source CodeSource Code (2011)
The military uses a cash of short term memory stored in the corpse of a serviceman to send him to a time and place of their choosing in order to solve a mystery they hope will prevent a catastrophe. As the military manipulates the serviceman over and over again, he struggles to understand his experiences.

Great movie! Original idea. I like how the viewer must struggle to figure out what’s going on right along side the main character. And then there is a little mind-bending ending. Nice.

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Artist Resume

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My wild scions, take wing!
Engage and captivate; haunt the mind’s eye, strike the hearts,
Nest in high places.

Art is mysterious. I don’t mean the decorative thing; where an interior designer picks color coordinated wall hangings and furniture. I mean what happens sometimes to the client of the interior designer; when one of these randomly collected articles pops out of the scheme, inexplicably connects with something meaningful inside that person, brings up emotions and a sense of expansion.

Sometimes the viewer understands the art piece the same as I do, but more often the viewer brings their own meaning to the art piece. In either case, that connection between the art piece and the observer is transcendent. The seed of transcendence is what I aim for in everything I create. I get there with a lot of revisions. I usually feel done when I step back and say to myself, “I can think of no way in which to improve this further.” I sense there is a strange little plateau upon which an idea achieves clarity and aliveness just before it becomes overworked.

As a painter, I am an experimentalist. I move forward with an intention, but I allow lots of room for the medium to speak to me and pull me in unintended directions. It has been awhile since I painted. But I have been gathering ideas for new series of work. When I take to the canvas again, I will bring to it more meaning than I could conceive of when I was younger.

As a photographer, I have discovered that everything has a personality, and a good photograph is one that manages to capture that inherent personality. Creating a final image is just as big a job as taking a good photo. I enjoy starting from scratch every time I make a print, bringing to my subject all the skills I have honed since the last time I brought the image to life. My next step will be to explore abstraction as a way in which to add meaning and intrigue to my subjects.

As a writer, I have honed my skills in business; creating all the sales and marketing materials for two different businesses. I have directed the creation of and provided content for three websites and four trade show displays. I have also written a wide variety of back office materials including legalese, instruction manuals, contracts, proposals, reports and presentations.

Exhibits
7/06 Photos, Koffee Krazy, Portland, Oregon
10/05 Photos of India, Café Vivace, Portland, Oregon
8/04 B&W Abstract Farm Equipment Photos, P/M Industries, Beaverton, Oregon
6/04 B&W Abstract Photos, WSU, Vancouver, Washington
11/03 Western Landscape Photos, Wind Horse Café, Milwaukie, Oregon
9/03 Protest Photos, Cafe Nola, Portland, Oregon
6/90-8/92 Watercolors, NW by NW Gallery, Cannon Beach, Oregon
8/13/90 Watercolors, Soiree d’Art, Alber’s Mill, Portland, Oregon
7/90 Watercolors, Mayor’s Office, City of Beaverton, Oregon, via Beaverton Arts Commission
3,4/90 Watercolors, Thayer’s Office Supply, Beaverton, Oregon, via Beaverton Arts Commission
1/90 Watercolors, Pine Street Chiropractic, Portland, Oregon
12/89 Watercolors, Morrison Street Gallery, Portland, Oregon
8/89 Watercolors Private showing by the request of Michael Keeline, Portland, Oregon
6,7/89 Watercolors, Saturday Market, Portland, Oregon

Skills:
Art: watercolors, marbling, paper making, photography
Computer: Photoshop, Freehand, Illustrator, Pagemaker, MS Office Suite, ACT
Marketing: promotional literature, trade show displays, website development, product development
Business: project management, organization, computer administration, purchasing, costing, hiring

Education
B.S. Journalism (advertising, photojournalism), University of Oregon, 1984
Graphic Design, Lane Community College, Eugene, 1984
Basic Media and Design Skills, Oregon State University, 1981

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Total Recall

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Total RecallTotal Recall (2012)
A guy suffering from insomnia tries to relieve some stress by getting a false memory implant. In the process he discovers a former identity locked in his brain along with amazing survival skills. That’s a good thing since now the whole world government has declared him most wanted. Which team does he truly belong to – the rebels or the establishment?

It was a pretty good sci fi action flick. The whole chase thing didn’t entirely hold together. But if you simply figure that the pursued has to have nine times more lives than the pursuers in order to make it to the end, then the main character’s die-hard abilities weren’t too distracting.

I liked how the story line in this film was only loosely related to the 1990 original. It had its own merits and up-to-date special effects. But the vision of this story was much simpler than the original. A lot of the acting was formulaic and a few of the stunts were down right tired out.

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Howards End

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Howards End

Howards End (1992)
This is a movie based on Forster’s novel of the same name which has been lauded for its description of social conventions in turn-of-the-century England. The story follows various members of several different families, who represent strikingly different social groups within English society. They are evidently fated to intermingle in ways that lead to unexpected and ponderous outcomes.

It doesn’t sound like the makings for a very dramatic movie and yet there is drama in it. But I was most attracted to the poetry that wound through it. I found here a tribute to the many of the most meaningful aspects of life. The way the story is told, the performances and the ideas are all building blocks of a classic.

 

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The Conspirator

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The Conspirator (2010)
In the wake of President Lincoln’s assassination, the government is anxious to hang someone – anyone – for conspiracy. The more they can round up, the better they might quench the thirst for revenge.
The movie is well told, the cast is star studded and the performances are good, but I just couldn’t find much sympathy for the young lawyer or his client. It is an interesting story, but certainly not riveting.

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