Oregon

Oregon (ⁱ/ˈɔːrᵻɡən/ AWR-ə-gən) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Oregon is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean, on the north by Washington, on the south by California, on the east by Idaho, and on the southeast by Nevada. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary, and the Snake River delineates much of the eastern boundary. The parallel 42° north delineates the southern boundary with California and Nevada. It is one of only three states of the contiguous United States to have a coastline on the Pacific Ocean, and the proximity to the ocean heavily influences the state's mild winter climate, despite the latitude.

Oregon was inhabited by many indigenous tribes before Western traders, explorers, and settlers arrived. An autonomous government was formed in the Oregon Country in 1843, the Oregon Territory was created in 1848, and Oregon became the 33rd state on February 14, 1859. Today, at 98,000 square miles, Oregon is the ninth largest and, with a population of 4 million, 26th most populous U.S. state. The capital of Oregon is Salem, the second most populous of its cities, with 160,614 residents (2013 estimate). With 609,456 residents (2013 estimate), Portland is the largest city in Oregon and ranks 29th in the U.S. Its metro population of 2,314,554 (2013 estimate) is 24th. The Willamette Valley in western Oregon is the state's most densely populated area, home to eight of the ten most populous cities.

Beyond Words

Beyond Words is a 1997 documentary film directed by Louis van Gasteren.

Shot in India partly in 1967 in 35mm film and partly thirty years later in 1997 in video, Beyond Words is one of only three or four films ever shot of the silent master Meher Baba that include synchronized sound and the only film shot of him in color 35mm. In the film Van Gasteren interviews Meher Baba on finding God within the self, and questions him on drugs and cinema. Meher Baba's silent gestures are interpreted in English by his disciple Eruch Jessawala. It was one of the last films and by far the most professional ever shot of Baba, with cinematography by Jan de Bont.

The Meher Baba footage in Beyond Words was originally shot for a feature film Van Gasteren was making in the 1960s, titled Nema Aviona Za Zagreb. The film stalled in 1969 and remained unfinished for decades. Although Gasteren did not show the 1967 footage of Baba for 30 years, he allowed Pete Townshend of The Who to include two still frames from it inside the gatefold of his 1972 Meher Baba tribute album Who Came First. Gasteren finally decided to release the unseen footage of Baba in the shorter film Beyond Words in 1997. The full length film Nema Aviona Za Zagreb, for which he shot the footage, was eventually completed and released in 2012.