The Free Press is bringing back a Reviews section after some absence. We hope to review plenty of events around town. Check back frequently and if what\'s going on is any good.
Arts & Culture
Writers often romanticize their subjects. At times they even manipulate their readers. A book - or any piece of writing for that matter – is meant to provide a sense of completion. Sociological explanations are offered to offset the confusion caused by apparent inconsistency in human behavior. At times a reader is asked to take a stance, or choose sides.
This is especially true in writings which deal with compelling human experiences. In Behind the Wall: Life, Love and Struggle in Palestine (Potomac Books, 2010), Rich Wiles undoubtedly directs his readers, although implicitly, towards taking a stance. But he is unabashed about his moral priorities and makes no attempt to disguise his objectives.
As I began reading Wiles' book, various aspects struck me as utterly refreshing in contrast to the way Palestine is generally written about. We tend to complicate what was meant to be straightforward and become too selective as we construct our narrative. And we tend to consider the possible political implications of our writings, and thus compose the conclusions with only this political awareness in mind.
This is especially true in writings which deal with compelling human experiences. In Behind the Wall: Life, Love and Struggle in Palestine (Potomac Books, 2010), Rich Wiles undoubtedly directs his readers, although implicitly, towards taking a stance. But he is unabashed about his moral priorities and makes no attempt to disguise his objectives.
As I began reading Wiles' book, various aspects struck me as utterly refreshing in contrast to the way Palestine is generally written about. We tend to complicate what was meant to be straightforward and become too selective as we construct our narrative. And we tend to consider the possible political implications of our writings, and thus compose the conclusions with only this political awareness in mind.
When I described the documentary “Living Downstream” to my friend she expressed uncharacteristic apathy: “I'm not really worried about pollution causing cancer. Everyone gets cancer anyway if they live long enough.” I rolled my eyes at her, but she was exhibiting a common contemporary experience. Our constant exposure to medical information is overwhelming even to members of a health obsessed society. News programs now designate entire segments to health. Doctors become celebrities. TV ads peddle pills. Websites like webMD.com provide enough detailed medical information to keep any hypochondriac awake and sweating. We are bombarded with so much information that it is difficult to absorb all the claims let alone decide which are true.
More than 106, 000 viewers reveled in the exotic, interesting, unique, and independent films presented by Michael Moore and the Traverse City Film Festival in 2010! Besides such wonderful films as NOWHERE BOY (the story of John Lennon’s coming of age as a teenage rocker maverick); THE INFIDEL ( the hilarious comic presentation of a Muslim family man who discovers his biological Jewish roots from adoption records); and THE IRANIAN COOKBOOK ( a documentary which reveals the constant cooking of the Iranian mothers and wives for Ramadan), film viewers were transfixed by the magic of the filmmaking world, its directors, writers, and performers.
"This is the most exciting time in the world to be living," says Pete Seeger. "There's never been such an exciting time," as we bring on "wind power, solar power..."
Pete should know. The solar panels on his home in the Hudson Valley woodlands turn the meter backwards on sunny days. They also power his pickup, whose front end is filled with batteries.
Pete's unique new music video, Song for Solartopia gets at all that. It'll open on the Big Screen at the 7th annual AREDAY gathering in Aspen, Colorado, on Sunday, August 22. Also playing on a day devoted to Collaboration, Messaging, Solutions and Climate Literacy will be a clip from Carbon Nation and a special environmental director's cut showing of James Cameron's AVATAR.
Pete should know. The solar panels on his home in the Hudson Valley woodlands turn the meter backwards on sunny days. They also power his pickup, whose front end is filled with batteries.
Pete's unique new music video, Song for Solartopia gets at all that. It'll open on the Big Screen at the 7th annual AREDAY gathering in Aspen, Colorado, on Sunday, August 22. Also playing on a day devoted to Collaboration, Messaging, Solutions and Climate Literacy will be a clip from Carbon Nation and a special environmental director's cut showing of James Cameron's AVATAR.
"We've got a country full of ambitious people," Pete Seeger tells us. Solar energy is "something direct," a way to "pay our bills, not tomorrow, but today."
By "bills" Pete doesn't just mean the ones from the electric company. He's talking about the Big Bill, the one from Mother Nature.
At age 91, Pete is American folk activism's truest bard. It's no accident that Pete's new CD is Tomorrow's Children and that his new music video is for Solartopia!, a holistic, socially just, post-corporate vision of a green-powered Earth.
Solartopia, he says, "is the wonderful, positive way of approaching the problem" of a polluted planet. "Don't just say ‘don't, don't, don't.' Say ‘DO! DO! DO!'"
This spring, while finishing up Tomorrow's Children, he joined singer-songwriters Dar Williams and David Bernz in a Beacon studio filled with singing schookids, organized by local music educator Dan Einbender, who co-produced the album.
By "bills" Pete doesn't just mean the ones from the electric company. He's talking about the Big Bill, the one from Mother Nature.
At age 91, Pete is American folk activism's truest bard. It's no accident that Pete's new CD is Tomorrow's Children and that his new music video is for Solartopia!, a holistic, socially just, post-corporate vision of a green-powered Earth.
Solartopia, he says, "is the wonderful, positive way of approaching the problem" of a polluted planet. "Don't just say ‘don't, don't, don't.' Say ‘DO! DO! DO!'"
This spring, while finishing up Tomorrow's Children, he joined singer-songwriters Dar Williams and David Bernz in a Beacon studio filled with singing schookids, organized by local music educator Dan Einbender, who co-produced the album.
Simply put: WICKED has now rightfully joined the pantheon of Broadway standards. For good reason, it will be seen by theater-goers for decades to come. It should not be missed during its current run at the Ohio Theater.
Last night was my second sighting. A year ago, with my daughter Julie, we saw it in Cleveland a few hours after watching LeBron James bury the Chicago Bulls.
WICKED will be around a lot longer than LeBron.
Our first viewing was from the front row, as we were lucky victors in the daily lottery that allows two $25 best-seats-in-the-house. The conductor was a few feet away. We smiled at each other.
On its primal level, the show is an astonishing spectacle. The costuming is lush and brilliant, the stage gorgeous and embracing, the pyrotechnics impressive. Close-up, one can easily be swallowed up just by the fancy footwork. And we were. It was an absolutely terrific first run.
Last night at the Ohio, from much farther away, the staging was still impressive. But second time around is the true test of a work of art. If it's as good or better on the re-visit, it should have legs.
Last night was my second sighting. A year ago, with my daughter Julie, we saw it in Cleveland a few hours after watching LeBron James bury the Chicago Bulls.
WICKED will be around a lot longer than LeBron.
Our first viewing was from the front row, as we were lucky victors in the daily lottery that allows two $25 best-seats-in-the-house. The conductor was a few feet away. We smiled at each other.
On its primal level, the show is an astonishing spectacle. The costuming is lush and brilliant, the stage gorgeous and embracing, the pyrotechnics impressive. Close-up, one can easily be swallowed up just by the fancy footwork. And we were. It was an absolutely terrific first run.
Last night at the Ohio, from much farther away, the staging was still impressive. But second time around is the true test of a work of art. If it's as good or better on the re-visit, it should have legs.
Kenneth Ring’s writing on Palestine has already received just praise, as it is another in a series of recently published works that cry from the heart of Palestine.[1] And while I have read many other books on Palestine, “Letters from Palestine”, as with others that are set within a personal context, brings forth the undying hope and resilience of the Palestinian people in the face of severe hostility from Israel and a careless disregard from most of the western media and governments. What come through uniquely from this work is that of hope combined with youthfulness, that the Palestinian story will surely go on and on as long as there are Palestinians to relate it.
The injustices perpetrated by the Zionists of Israel, supported by the awkward and embarrassing sycophantic participation of the U.S. government (read also military and corporations), cannot endure forever. It is from these letters from Palestine that spring the message that the Palestinians will not grow old and die off and there will be no one left to remember that there was a Palestine. There is life, there is hope, there is memory.
The injustices perpetrated by the Zionists of Israel, supported by the awkward and embarrassing sycophantic participation of the U.S. government (read also military and corporations), cannot endure forever. It is from these letters from Palestine that spring the message that the Palestinians will not grow old and die off and there will be no one left to remember that there was a Palestine. There is life, there is hope, there is memory.
From first impression to last impression this book, like its title Quicksand, is deceptive. Even the first physical impression, the physical structure of the book itself - its glossy pages and high quality binding - is designed to impress the reader. Initially the history is written powerfully and revealingly, highlighting information that I have not encountered within other histories of U.S. imperial adventures in the Middle East.
However as the story unfolds, particularly in the final third of the book, a different sense akin to déjà vu surfaces, as the history becomes more of a current events crisis without the in-depth analysis and critique that should have accompanied it. The end result is that instead of discussing the general Middle East geopolitical context and the power of the Israeli lobby within the U.S. - not to mention the lack of global context within the over-riding imperial intent of the United States since its inception - and there are many texts that support that analysis - the history ends leaving a feeling that, well, yes, the U.S. has made some mistakes in their relationships in the Middle East, but their intentions were good.
However as the story unfolds, particularly in the final third of the book, a different sense akin to déjà vu surfaces, as the history becomes more of a current events crisis without the in-depth analysis and critique that should have accompanied it. The end result is that instead of discussing the general Middle East geopolitical context and the power of the Israeli lobby within the U.S. - not to mention the lack of global context within the over-riding imperial intent of the United States since its inception - and there are many texts that support that analysis - the history ends leaving a feeling that, well, yes, the U.S. has made some mistakes in their relationships in the Middle East, but their intentions were good.
Okay, so I'm a sucker for watching two fantastically beautiful and talented women put on an impeccable show.
That would be Brenda Braxton and Bonnie Langford, the terrific co-stars of the truly wonderful CHICAGO that just opened at the Palace.
We're slated to see a similar duet when WICKED thankfully comes next month.
But from start to finish, this CHICAGO is truly special. Many of us will unavoidably compare it to the star-studded movie that got all that hype and won all those Academy Awards.
But I, for one, VASTLY prefer this one. The presentation is simple, unpretentious and both completely professional and personally engaging.
Braxton and Langford carried off their demanding, athletic and operatic leads with grace and charm. We---my 11-year-old daughter, Shoshanna, who was mesmerized for the entire performance---and I were engaged, amused, entertained and ultimately in awe.
That would be Brenda Braxton and Bonnie Langford, the terrific co-stars of the truly wonderful CHICAGO that just opened at the Palace.
We're slated to see a similar duet when WICKED thankfully comes next month.
But from start to finish, this CHICAGO is truly special. Many of us will unavoidably compare it to the star-studded movie that got all that hype and won all those Academy Awards.
But I, for one, VASTLY prefer this one. The presentation is simple, unpretentious and both completely professional and personally engaging.
Braxton and Langford carried off their demanding, athletic and operatic leads with grace and charm. We---my 11-year-old daughter, Shoshanna, who was mesmerized for the entire performance---and I were engaged, amused, entertained and ultimately in awe.
When former US President George W. Bush left the White House, he left behind one of the most unpleasant legacies in history. He redefined the US’ role in world affairs, tainted the country’s reputation, and left his successor with a political inheritance that seemed almost irrevocable. This, of course, says nothing of the terrible toll Bush’s policies inflicted on millions of innocent people, many of whom have so unjustly suffered and perished, and many more who are still held hostage to unyielding pain.
While reputable author and world renowned journalist Deepak Tripathi agrees with this grim view, he doesn’t think all is lost. He believes that there is still a chance, an opportunity even to redress the injustice and reverse the terrible mistakes that were made.
A compelling writer and a meticulous researcher, Tripathi’s work is both gripping and comprehensive. His latest book, Overcoming The Bush Legacy in Iraq and Afghanistan serves as a glaring reminder of what military power can do when it goes unchecked, and when it is combined with religious fanaticism or misguided political ideology.
While reputable author and world renowned journalist Deepak Tripathi agrees with this grim view, he doesn’t think all is lost. He believes that there is still a chance, an opportunity even to redress the injustice and reverse the terrible mistakes that were made.
A compelling writer and a meticulous researcher, Tripathi’s work is both gripping and comprehensive. His latest book, Overcoming The Bush Legacy in Iraq and Afghanistan serves as a glaring reminder of what military power can do when it goes unchecked, and when it is combined with religious fanaticism or misguided political ideology.