[Reviewed by Bruce Roberts]

Michael Alyenikov’s Ivan and Misha is a beautiful book of short stories,  seven all told, if the prologue and epilogue are counted, that are loosely centered around the title characters. What really ties them together though are the variety of passionate, intense characters, and the author’s amazing descriptive writing.

Ivan and Misha are two Russian fraternal twins who emigrate to America with lots of emotional baggage. Their beautiful mother died when they were very young, and neither they nor their father—a doctor of amazing charm and personality, and a penchant for big stories, and dreams he never pursues—have got over her. She reappears over and over through the stories, the stuff of dreams and sad memories.

As intensely as they remember their mother, so do Ivan and Misha love–in a very conflicted way—their father. He brought them to America for a better life, and he too appears and reappears. He is the charming big talker of their childhood, he is the old man deteriorating before their eyes, he is the vessel of ashes that they and his best friends reverently scatter from the Staten Island Ferry.

Both gay, early on in the AIDS epidemic, Ivan and Misha maintain the same conflicted yet loving intensity with their romantic partners. Misha, the more stable of the two, seems to have longer relationships, with only two partners mentioned. Ivan, more mercurial, bounces from partner to partner, aching with love for one only to have him slip away and go home without a word. All the relationships though seem transitory: Even Smith, Misha’s current partner, anguishes over staying or going, loving or not loving. He even tries a one-time stand, but halfway through realizes he loves Misha, dresses, and leaves.

Bruce Roberts is a poet and ongoing contributor to Synchronized Chaos Magazine. Roberts may be reached by at brobe60491@sbcglobal.net.

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[Reviewed by Dave Douglas]

There is plenty of shmaltz in Jeremy Cohen’s book, Craft Beer Bar Mitzvah. Enough so for everyone who is anyone (or not), to go a’round of beer, from the front cover (charge), to the back. The atmosphere in his shtick is fluid throughout. From his seedling of an idea, to hopping from one coast to another, and brewing his dream so we can taste what Cowen delivers as a picture of the bitterness of business to the Jewbelation of success, all with an ongoing buzz of humor.

Not only is his book entertaining, but as Cowen labeled it himself, “… who doesn’t love the story of a small business, a sole proprietor trying to make it happen? And free booze!” And this book is no side-show to be tossed aside or re-gifted to the other end of the bar. There are bold, real-life, hard-to-swallow business lessons which grant his book the entrance into any university library. One big ingredient of his formula is, “… until you’re already a success, nobody else is going to make you a success.” It is that type of shtick which enables Cowen to pour out his transparency about his personal life as well – the part which provides a view into the passion for his beer which comes to a head on the printed page.

As Cowen states, “Remember the three pillars of shmaltz … quality, commitment, shtick.” And, he has them all in this well-balanced, full-flavored read, which will prompt you to ask for a second-coming! Shmaltz Brewing Company is “THE CHOSEN BEER”, and Craft Beer Bar Mitzvah is THE CHOSEN BOOK!

You can contact the reviewer, Dave Douglas, at carpevelo@gmail.com.

Synchronized Chaos Magazine is encouraging you to do what you can to contribute toward East Africa famine relief efforts. East Africa is experiencing the worst drought in over 50 years and right now, there are millions of people living in fear of starvation and in immediate need of food and water.

Here are several ways to donate directly:

• Etsy (proceeds of arts and crafts)
• Save the Children
• PayPal relief campaign
• UNICEF

Art and music events in Canada:

• St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church: Artists for Africa Benefit Auction (St John’s, NL- August 13th)
• The Association of Artists for a Better World: Benefit concert (Toronto, ON – August 16th)

This month’s issue of Synchronized Chaos Magazine, Building Bridges, expresses transition, movement, and connectivity.

Lex Munson and Michelle Tholen connect their own lives with the natural world. Munson’s rustic artwork is unique in that it is often created from memory. Tholen’s landscape paintings are luminous and subtly mysterious.

Erik White’s paintings are intricate and alive. Each piece seems as though it is in a state of transition.

Andrea Allen links identity, consumption, and nature in interesting ways. Her work contains lines that intertwine into balanced and colorful designs.

This issue also features spirited mural work by Johanna Poethig. You’ll have an opportunity to catch a glimpse of what the artist is currently working on in the Tenderloin District of San Francisco, California.

We have several poems to offer you this month, including those from new Synchronized Chaos contributors Cesar Love and Don P. Musey. Also featured are Sam Burks and J’Rie B. Elliott.

Be sure to read Michaela Elias’ interesting interview with artist and publisher Rama Tiwari. Tiwari is the owner of Pilgrims Book House.

Whose Brain Is It? Presented as a mystery with fictional characters and some clues before the answer is provided, this is a monthly column with a journalist’s (Leena Prasad’s) perspective, on the neuroscience of the brain.

We appreciate you reading this diverse and exciting issue of Synchronized Chaos Magazine! If you would like to contribute to the magazine, we are always accepting new submissions. For more information, please click on the “Submission Guidelines” tab on the top of this page.

About the artist:

Andrea Allen doesn’t believe in wastefulness. Allen often uses secondhand objects or seemingly disposable objects and places them into new context in her artwork. “Does our progress come from new ideas or recycled ideas in a new context?”

“Color, line, form, and texture are prominent design elements in my sculptures. My abstract artwork incorporates found objects, rope, resin, paint and metal.”

– Andrea Allen

Website: http://www.andreaallen.biz

Contact: alaart@gmail.com

Whose Brain Is It?
by Leena Prasad

“Maybe you should start smoking pot,” her daughter says and laughs.

“Does it help?” Patricia says, not laughing.

“Well, the THC in cannabis has been shown to be useful.”

“THC?”

“I couldn’t tell you what it stands for; it’s a very long name. It’s an active ingredient in marijuana and has been shown to help delay the onset.”

“But smoking can cause so many other problems,” Patricia says.

“Well, you can ingest medical marijuana in other, safer ways.”

They are talking about prevention for a type of brain disease. The Scripps Research Institute found a possible link between THC and the prevention of plaque formation in the brain. But, more recent studies at the Brain Research Center in Canada and the Maudsley Hospital in Denmark, have refuted this claim. Cannabis has not been scientifically vetted as a preventive method for this disease.

Leena Prasad has a journalism degree from Stanford University. Her writing portfolio is available at www.FishRidingABike.com and she can be reached at leena@fishridingabike.com.

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Oedipus

Study the green sting of fireflies
Those alert and fulgent flares
Prods in pulse against the witless night
Till quashed by the whiteout of day

Take note the glow of the Halloween frock
Wraithlike white – a hue of milk disbodied
Worn by the revelers who coquet death
Yet boxed, forsaken – once the moon is through

Then watch the welder and his snaky torch
His furtive peek becomes a lock noose stare
The pupil learns when he closes his eyes
Of the retina’s dreadful stigmata

Cesar Love is an editor of the Haight Ashbury Literary Journal. He has recently been featured on the San Francisco Poetry Open Mic Poetry Podcast TV Show: click here!

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