Arts & Culture

Lonnie Holley serenaded “Thumbs Up For Mother Universe” to the Wexner Center crowd on Friday with a textured and undeniable intimacy. The Atlanta-based contemporary folk artist/musician sat warmly at a piano backed solely by a guitar player. The sparse set-up allowed Holley’s soulful, harmonized affirmations to resonate a call for humans to respect the cosmic beauty in themselves and others while the musical undertones provided an ambient calm. Holley described himself as a “spiritual vessel.” The 63 year-old man came to Columbus this past weekend for the aforementioned Wexner performance, and also to open his “My People Shall Perish From Lack Of Knowledge” Art Show at the Lindsay Gallery in the Short North. In between the events Holley stopped to work with students at the Short Stop Youth Center and OSU’s Sculpture Department. His Columbus appearance follows a positive career trajectory for Holley, who also played at the Whitney in New York in chorus with their presentation of the “Blues For Smoke” exhibit that is currently at the Wex.

When Available Light Theatre premiered its stage adaptation of Jane Eyre earlier this year, it gave me a new appreciation for Charlotte Bronte’s original novel. When Shadowbox Live premiered its dance adaptation of Wuthering Heights last week, it gave me a new appreciation for Katy Psenicka’s choreography. It also reminded me that, when she’s not being one of the funniest people who ever graced the Shadowbox stage, Amy Lay is a fine dancer. As for Emily Bronte’s novel, it’s almost a no-show. Titled Madness & Lust, the new work focuses on the Victorian tale’s torrid emotions without explaining the characters who experience them. We surmise that young Catherine (Lay) and Heathcliff (JT Walker III) are devoted to each other, but Wuthering Heights virgins will have no idea why. Since Heathcliff spends most of his time wallowing in self-pity and generally acting like a jerk, it’s particularly hard to figure out what Catherine sees in him. For the many viewers who haven’t read the novel—or who read it too long ago to remember the details—Catherine and Heathcliff’s tortured relationship would make more sense if Shadowbox offered a prologue.

Christian Howes was nominated recently for jazz “Violinist of the Year” by the Jazz Journalists Association, Christian was voted first place in the 2011 Downbeat Critics Poll (rising stars/jazz violin). The Minneapolis Tribune calls Christian “arguably the most intriguing young violinist in jazz." He performs worldwide with his own ensembles and as a guest soloist with orchestras and bands, and is widely regarded as one of the leaders in jazz violin. A local musician answers five Free Press questions. Christian Howes FP: Put together your fantasy band, dead or alive. CH: Luckily my fantasy band is the same as my actual band, although we don't get to play together consistently on a regular basis. When we can, it's a real blast. The group consists of Hamilton Hardin on keyboards, Cedric Easton on drums, Dean Hulett on bass and Josh Hill on guitar. After living in New York City for eight years, and having a chance to play with a lot of world-class players, I can't overstate what a joy it's been to be able to put together a true working band with world-class players based in or near Columbus.

Women have been a part of geek culture since Marie Curie, Ada Lovelace and the fandom that sprung up around the original Star Trek. Women drive many fan communities, especially in fan fiction and on social sites such asTumblr. But on the internet and at conventions, outside of their own female-run communities, women are subjected to men accusing them of being “fake geek girls” who they imagine are driven to clad themselves in superhero spandex for male attention. The population of women involved in geek culture is only growing, but attending public events opens them up to criticism and ridicule from men who feel the ladies are muscling in on “their” turf. What's a geek girl to do? In 2011 a group of women determined to give others a safe place to geek out founded GeekGirlCon. Every October in Seattle, WA the convention brings together people from the entire spectrum to celebrate the things we love – be it Star Trek, Doctor Who, superheroes or anything else that inspires what others might see as just a bit too much enthusiasm – in a safe place where all experiences are embraced and celebrated.

The Free Press Fourth Tuesdays Screenings return to the Drexel Tuesday with an Early Bird Screening of the Columbus International Film & Video Festival Early Bird Screening of: Love Hate & Propaganda: The War On Terror 90 minutes Tuesday, October 22 @ 7.30pm Admission is free, donations encouraged. Propaganda is a powerful force which has helped shape events of the 20th century. This documentary examines how propaganda influenced significant moments in history, and the lives of the people who lived through them. Hosted by George Stroumboulopoulos, Love Hate & Propaganda is a primer on the art of mass persuasion aimed directly at a media-savvy generation. Nine days after the 9-11 attacks on the US, President George W. Bush declared War on Terror.

Not to be confused with Whole Foods (although, ironically they were both established in 1978 and have similar philosophies in serving whole food meals) Whole World is Columbus’ oldest completely (lacto-ovo) vegetarian restaurant, and they are very, vegan friendly. If you are a fan of Reuben sandwiches, Whole World has a delicious vegan Reuben. Their scrumptious menu is made from the freshest ingredients and includes; made-from-scratch soups and breads, daily specials, salads, specialty sandwiches, pizza (with either regular or soy based cheese) and an awesome (affordable) array of baked goodies. Almost every menu item can be made vegan, and they even offer whole wheat crust for the pizza if you so desire. They are located in Clintonville and open for lunch (11am) and dinner (8pm during the week and 9pm on Sat) every day except Mondays and offer a hearty brunch on Sundays from 10am to 2pm. It is a wonderfully whole world of delectable satisfaction as a vegan to find vegan pancakes and vegan French toast with a tall glass of orange juice available here on Sundays.

Area dynasties look to keep playoff dominance going As the shadows grow longer in October, high school teams prepare for their runs in the state tournaments. Certain schools’ names pop up again and again as the teams to beat in their prospective sports: Columbus Academy in field hockey, DeSales in football, Newark Catholic in girls volleyball, Upper Arlington in girls tennis and Worthington Christian in boys soccer to mention a few. How are these teams able to make their mark in the postseason year after year? The answer could be as simple as one word: tradition. DESALES FOOTBALL Last October seemed a little bit colder for coach Ryan Wiggins and the DeSales football team. After finishing 5-5 overall, the Stallions were left out of the Division III playoffs, snapping an 18-year string of consecutive playoff berths for DeSales. “It was very different when the playoffs are going on and your team is not in the discussion,” says Wiggins, whose team suffered two triple overtime losses last year. “We were knocking at the door but we didn’t get in.” There have been seasons when a .500 finish could get the Stallions into the playoffs.

When listening to Ron House’s new band Counter Intuits, (with Times New Viking’s Jared Phillips) one can see the how the Columbus icon rolls with a similar clever and cynical take on punk culture that he had in his 80s days in the seminal Columbus band Great Plains. It is easy to tell the guy who asked, “Why do punk rock guys/go out with New Wave Girls” in 1986 is the same guy on who wrote Counter Intuits “Anarchy on Your Face,” off the band's 2013 album released on House’s own Pyramid Scheme imprint. “It’s a mild joke song. One of my favorite lines: ‘crusty punks are very smelly but the odor is fortune telling.’” Ron explains that particular musical composition’s satire from the porch of his North Campus home of 22 years while we both somewhat ignore a rowdy, mid-afternoon game of beer-pong that his next-door neighbors are partaking in. I ask the 59 Year-old House if the college kids ever irritate his townie life, now complete with a wife and a kid. House observes that the generational diversity of North Campus isn’t so bad, “I think that students are more mellow than they were before because they have to be more serious in school.

I wasn't sure what my column's topic this week was going to be about. A moment in Giant Eagle this morning as I bought a roll of Scott's toilet paper and a roll of paper towels (I often get the purposes mixed up) decided for me. In the meantime, I'd been mulling over three ideas: 1) A preview of this year's kinky sex rave at Trauma's new basement addition, an invitation-only exhibition of "15 rooms of psycho-sexual terror" called ironically enough, "Bliss," as promoter Nick Wolak of Evolved put it to me. "I've been concerned Trauma's been getting vanilla-fied over the years. This'll put the edge back on. Nobody from the Doo-Dah Parade will be able to complain," he said with a laugh, referring to Evolved's suspension-pulling team hauling a huge truck, a cringe-worthy spectacle that had a few Doo-Dah folk complaining.