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
This is a thought provoking if not fully developed work on the ongoing situation in Palestine/Israel. Avi Shlaim has compiled a set of his writings from previous publications that in a broad way cover the events of the region, with a brief look at the Balfour Declaration before jumping forward to look at the UN Partition Plan of 1947 and its resulting sequence of events.
Avi Shlaim self professes to be of the school of revisionist historians and his writing fully supports that claim. Throughout the writing one of the themes is the Israeli use of military power to solve its problems, a solution much preferred to negotiations and compromise. A corollary of this is that when negotiations were used, they were mainly as a mask to delay a solution while the ongoing status quo built more settlements and evicted more Palestinians from their homes and farms, especially after the 1967 war.
Avi Shlaim self professes to be of the school of revisionist historians and his writing fully supports that claim. Throughout the writing one of the themes is the Israeli use of military power to solve its problems, a solution much preferred to negotiations and compromise. A corollary of this is that when negotiations were used, they were mainly as a mask to delay a solution while the ongoing status quo built more settlements and evicted more Palestinians from their homes and farms, especially after the 1967 war.
If your bummed by Obama, nagged by nukes and turned totally off by your TV, here's a happy holiday homeopathic: THREE LEGGED COYOTE, the soulful, irreverent and occasionally hilarious new DC by Dana Lyons. ( Lyons Brothers Music. www.cowswithguns.com).
My brilliant singer-songwriter-activist long-time buddy has done it again.
Lyons is the singing satirist whose "Cows With Guns" has become the anthem of the vegan/vegetarian movement. The very idea of uzi-packin' bovines has become stock-in-trade for even those pacifists who would end at last the horrors of factory farming.
Dana has also rendered immortal a wide range of dam-busting, nuke-fighting, war-opposing activists. Their often lonely quest for peace, justice and the long-forgotten American way somehow finds a home in Lyons' range, which roams from the soulful to the sinful with shocking ease.
My brilliant singer-songwriter-activist long-time buddy has done it again.
Lyons is the singing satirist whose "Cows With Guns" has become the anthem of the vegan/vegetarian movement. The very idea of uzi-packin' bovines has become stock-in-trade for even those pacifists who would end at last the horrors of factory farming.
Dana has also rendered immortal a wide range of dam-busting, nuke-fighting, war-opposing activists. Their often lonely quest for peace, justice and the long-forgotten American way somehow finds a home in Lyons' range, which roams from the soulful to the sinful with shocking ease.
The Ground Truth: The Untold Story of America Under Attack on 9/11
by John Farmer
Riverhead Books (division of Penguin), New York, 2009
In recent public opinion surveys, roughly half the country believes the official account of what occurred on 9/11/2001 to be substantially true, and half is skeptical. Apparently John Farmer, the man who penned the official 9-11 Commission Report in 2003, is in the latter group. Farmer has written a book as paradoxical as the Government testimony which he picks to pieces: He details one incident after another, meticulously documenting the lies that high government officials told in testimony before his commission. But even after leaving our mouths agape at the mendacity and deception of the Administration (the word ‘perjury’ appears nowhere in the book), he reports unskeptically other parts of the story for which this same Administration was the only source, as if he has no choice but to believe them.
by John Farmer
Riverhead Books (division of Penguin), New York, 2009
In recent public opinion surveys, roughly half the country believes the official account of what occurred on 9/11/2001 to be substantially true, and half is skeptical. Apparently John Farmer, the man who penned the official 9-11 Commission Report in 2003, is in the latter group. Farmer has written a book as paradoxical as the Government testimony which he picks to pieces: He details one incident after another, meticulously documenting the lies that high government officials told in testimony before his commission. But even after leaving our mouths agape at the mendacity and deception of the Administration (the word ‘perjury’ appears nowhere in the book), he reports unskeptically other parts of the story for which this same Administration was the only source, as if he has no choice but to believe them.
IN PRAISE OF INDECENCY: THE LEADING INVESTIGATIVE SATIRIST SOUNDS OFF ON HYPOCRISY, CENSORSHIP AND FREE EXPRESSION
WHO’S TO SAY WHAT’S OBSCENE? : POLTICS, CULTURE AND COMEDY IN AMERICA TODAY
CONFESSIONS OF A RAVING, UNCONFINED NUT: MISADVENTURES IN THE COUNTERCULTURE
It’s time our national government at last enshrines its most critical artistic need, that of “Satirist-Laureate.” The first nod must go to the man who has pioneered the idiom in modern America---Paul Krassner.
Since the days of Lenny Bruce, Krassner (a good friend, but no relation) has been poking brilliant fun at every sacred horse’s ass in American politics and culture.
He also remains our cutting edge critic on censorship and its pornographic twin. His two recent books slash to the core of the utter hypocrisy of the government sticking its nose in what we read and write, think and smoke.
WHO’S TO SAY WHAT’S OBSCENE? : POLTICS, CULTURE AND COMEDY IN AMERICA TODAY
CONFESSIONS OF A RAVING, UNCONFINED NUT: MISADVENTURES IN THE COUNTERCULTURE
It’s time our national government at last enshrines its most critical artistic need, that of “Satirist-Laureate.” The first nod must go to the man who has pioneered the idiom in modern America---Paul Krassner.
Since the days of Lenny Bruce, Krassner (a good friend, but no relation) has been poking brilliant fun at every sacred horse’s ass in American politics and culture.
He also remains our cutting edge critic on censorship and its pornographic twin. His two recent books slash to the core of the utter hypocrisy of the government sticking its nose in what we read and write, think and smoke.
The thrift in me allowed me to wait until Michael Moore’s “Capitalism - A Love Story” came out on second run theatres - it was well worth the wait. The powerful effect that Moore has on his audience derives from the personal stories he relates combined with a sense of humour that highlights the bizarre nature of our capitalist society. The stories of the evictions, the factory shutdowns, the “Dead Peasants”, and the visuals of corporate towers juxtaposed against abandoned and rotting houses gives a powerful visceral message to the viewer. The statistical information flipped past the viewer in a matter of seconds, all that was needed to underline the numbers behind the emotional reality of unemployment without much of a future.
The opinions of the Catholic church leaders who characterized capitalism as evil, as opposed to God’s will, and the way of Jesus, emphasized that it went against all of the main religion’s precepts about caring for one’s fellow citizen and the common good. For a country that pledges allegiance “under God” these contrasting statements are powerful.
The opinions of the Catholic church leaders who characterized capitalism as evil, as opposed to God’s will, and the way of Jesus, emphasized that it went against all of the main religion’s precepts about caring for one’s fellow citizen and the common good. For a country that pledges allegiance “under God” these contrasting statements are powerful.
NEW YORK (with Gary Baumgarten and Abbie Wasserman) – Music history has been made with two uniquely powerful nights of performances at Madison Square Garden in celebration of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame---and the educational foundation it supports.
Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band; U2; Simon & Garfunkel; Metallica; Aretha Franklin; Annie Lennox; Stevie Wonder; Crosby, Stills & Nash along with Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne and James Taylor; Dion; Patti Smith; Smokey Robinson; the Jeff Beck Band; a surprise appearance by Mick Jagger; intros (both nights) by Tom Hanks (who said he did it "just to get the access pass") and much much more turned midtown into the center of the musical universe once again.
With two (almost) completely different concerts (Jerry Lee Lewis played both nights) the Hall of Fame celebrated its 25th Anniversary and raised more than $4 million for a permanent endowment for the Cleveland-based museum and the educational work in which it specializes. An HBO special from the show will debut at the end of the long Thanksgiving weekend, Sunday, November 29.
Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band; U2; Simon & Garfunkel; Metallica; Aretha Franklin; Annie Lennox; Stevie Wonder; Crosby, Stills & Nash along with Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne and James Taylor; Dion; Patti Smith; Smokey Robinson; the Jeff Beck Band; a surprise appearance by Mick Jagger; intros (both nights) by Tom Hanks (who said he did it "just to get the access pass") and much much more turned midtown into the center of the musical universe once again.
With two (almost) completely different concerts (Jerry Lee Lewis played both nights) the Hall of Fame celebrated its 25th Anniversary and raised more than $4 million for a permanent endowment for the Cleveland-based museum and the educational work in which it specializes. An HBO special from the show will debut at the end of the long Thanksgiving weekend, Sunday, November 29.
On Friday September 4, I went to an album release party for the Artist named “Fly Boy” at Expressions. I didn’t know what to expect from him but he brought a powerful performance. Being that Fly Boy was a Christian Rapper, he chose to have other Christian Artists open and warm up the audience for him. Artists included were “Jahova’s Boy,” “Har-vey,” “Icee Jake,” “Zero” and “Star.” They all delivered a powerful performance and the crowd was eager to see where Fly Boy would take the emotion.
Fly Boy came in with a lounge style instrumental performed by the live band that he had with him on the stage. During one of his songs he called his group “Fly Mental” to the stage and about a third of those standing joined him on the stage to perform an interlude which was just amazing. Fly Boy decided to announce in between his next song that everyone on the stage with him doesn’t just say it, they live it.
Fly Boy came in with a lounge style instrumental performed by the live band that he had with him on the stage. During one of his songs he called his group “Fly Mental” to the stage and about a third of those standing joined him on the stage to perform an interlude which was just amazing. Fly Boy decided to announce in between his next song that everyone on the stage with him doesn’t just say it, they live it.
Jim Crow America: A Documentary History
Catherine M. Lewis and J. Richard Lewis, eds.
University of Arkansas Press 2009
234 pp
Annotated Bibliography and Index
If slavery was the most pernicious chapter in American history, then Jim Crow is a close second. Defined as the legal, extralegal and customary separation of the black and white races, the system of Jim Crow successfully returned much of the United States, especially the eleven states of the Old Confederacy, back to slavery. It meant the loss of citizenship rights for African Americans, and was accompanied by crushing poverty and terrible hopelessness. A dual society allowed whites to retain financial, emotional and physical control over African Americans and was used to prop up the doctrine of white supremacy.
A night full of history, knowledge and a whole lot of fun. That is how you can describe the August Second Saturday Salon organized by Free Press Managing Editor Suzanne Patzer and her husband Bob Fitrakis, who is Executive Director. The guests in attendance were from all walks of life leading to many interesting conversations. Stories of exciting and political past, struggles of today’s world, and promises of the future took over the night. One guest I had the pleasure of speaking to is brilliant artist Malcolm J. Mr. J. has a past full of loneliness and depression which he turned into something beautiful. He admitted himself into a treatment to help with his drug and alcohol addictions. Mr. J has been drawing since his younger years, motivated by his 4th grade teacher Mr. Valentino. Since his recovery he has taken it to new levels with help from organizations such as the Fresh Air Gallery, the Cultural Art Center and the VSA arts of Ohio.
The Columbus Free Press sponsored an August 25, screening of the documentary “A Powerful Noise” at the Drexel Theater in Bexley. The movie focused on three women who aided the people of their countries, especially assisting women who are discriminated against after tragic experiences.
The three women’s names are Jacqueline (a woman from Bamako, Mali), Hahn (a Vietnamese woman) and Nada (a mother from Bosnia).
Jacqueline (better known as “Madame Urbain” to the people she helps) runs an organization called APAF which helps the women of Bamako get regulated pay and just treatment from their employers, but it does not stop there. Additionally, the organization helps women who were not able to get an education that enables them to sustain a normal life. Madame Urbain also knows that it is important to not only assist the women of Bamako, so she is a motivational speaker who talks to children currently enrolled in school, and villages where she has helped build schools.
Jacqueline (better known as “Madame Urbain” to the people she helps) runs an organization called APAF which helps the women of Bamako get regulated pay and just treatment from their employers, but it does not stop there. Additionally, the organization helps women who were not able to get an education that enables them to sustain a normal life. Madame Urbain also knows that it is important to not only assist the women of Bamako, so she is a motivational speaker who talks to children currently enrolled in school, and villages where she has helped build schools.