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
Dylan to English Dictionary, by A.J. Weberman (Dylanologist).
2005. New York: Yippie Museum Press.
560 pages. ISBN: 1-4196-1338-3.
www.booksurge.com
orders@booksurge.com
2005. New York: Yippie Museum Press.
560 pages. ISBN: 1-4196-1338-3.
www.booksurge.com
orders@booksurge.com
PEYOTE AND THE YANKTON SIOUX
By Thomas Constantine Maroukis
University of Oklahoma Press (Norman: 2005)
368 pages; $39.95 hardback; $14.95 paper.
ISBN 0806136162
The use of peyote has generated controversy among the white community for decades. But in Native America, particularly among the Yankton Sioux, it has been a constant source of deep religious conviction and contentment for the past 100 years.
In the past few months serious new medical studies have indicated that when used within the spiritual context of native traditions, peyote has no discernable negative health effects. In fact, the studies have confirmed that the "Peyote Road" can improve the well-being of the tribes and the individuals within them, helping many Native Americans escape the grip of that lethal white man's drug, demon alcohol.
By Thomas Constantine Maroukis
University of Oklahoma Press (Norman: 2005)
368 pages; $39.95 hardback; $14.95 paper.
ISBN 0806136162
The use of peyote has generated controversy among the white community for decades. But in Native America, particularly among the Yankton Sioux, it has been a constant source of deep religious conviction and contentment for the past 100 years.
In the past few months serious new medical studies have indicated that when used within the spiritual context of native traditions, peyote has no discernable negative health effects. In fact, the studies have confirmed that the "Peyote Road" can improve the well-being of the tribes and the individuals within them, helping many Native Americans escape the grip of that lethal white man's drug, demon alcohol.
Review and Commentary on Mike Palecek's Latest Novel
"George Bush is a liar AND a loose gun for hire." I found it so refreshing to read these affirmations of truth on the cover of Mike Palecek's latest novel, Looking for Bigfoot. Palecek's "irreverent" novel is a potent attack on almost everything which is perverse, depraved, immoral, and malevolent about the US government and the society which it creates and perpetuates (through the public education system and its subservient corporate media). The search for Bigfoot which Jack Robert King, the novel's protagonist, undertakes is a metaphorical quest for the truth behind the deteriorating facade of the United States as a benevolent super power which spreads freedom and liberty around the globe.
"George Bush is a liar AND a loose gun for hire." I found it so refreshing to read these affirmations of truth on the cover of Mike Palecek's latest novel, Looking for Bigfoot. Palecek's "irreverent" novel is a potent attack on almost everything which is perverse, depraved, immoral, and malevolent about the US government and the society which it creates and perpetuates (through the public education system and its subservient corporate media). The search for Bigfoot which Jack Robert King, the novel's protagonist, undertakes is a metaphorical quest for the truth behind the deteriorating facade of the United States as a benevolent super power which spreads freedom and liberty around the globe.
Ali A Mazrui debating the African condition
An annotated and select thematic bibliography, 1962-2003
Compiled by Abdul Samed Bemath
Published by Africa Institute of South Africa & New Dawn Press, Inc.
ISBN 1 932705 37 6
A year ago, in a citation on Ali A Mazrui’s nomination as 100 Greatest Africans of all times by New African Magazine he is profiled as representing a positive image of Africa and its people.
A month ago Mazrui was yet again nominated as one of the top 100 public intellectuals in the world. The honour this time was bestowed by an American journal Foreign Policy, published by the Carnegie Endowment.
Who is this man about whom the late Palestinian academic Edward Said observed in his classic Culture and Imperialism: “Here at last was an African on prime-time television, in the West, daring to accuse the West of what it had done, thus reopening a file considered closed.”?
He is undoubtedly a Global African and as this continent’s most respected contemporary scholar of repute is widely acclaimed as its foremost thinker and writer.
An annotated and select thematic bibliography, 1962-2003
Compiled by Abdul Samed Bemath
Published by Africa Institute of South Africa & New Dawn Press, Inc.
ISBN 1 932705 37 6
A year ago, in a citation on Ali A Mazrui’s nomination as 100 Greatest Africans of all times by New African Magazine he is profiled as representing a positive image of Africa and its people.
A month ago Mazrui was yet again nominated as one of the top 100 public intellectuals in the world. The honour this time was bestowed by an American journal Foreign Policy, published by the Carnegie Endowment.
Who is this man about whom the late Palestinian academic Edward Said observed in his classic Culture and Imperialism: “Here at last was an African on prime-time television, in the West, daring to accuse the West of what it had done, thus reopening a file considered closed.”?
He is undoubtedly a Global African and as this continent’s most respected contemporary scholar of repute is widely acclaimed as its foremost thinker and writer.
Much like the Greek and Roman city-states that passed into the dustbins of history, the high-maintenance petroleum-based suburbs, home of the SUV with names like Pathfinder, Explorer, and Land Rover, will fade into mythology, according to the new award-winning documentary, The End of Suburbia. The title, The End of Suburbia, is a bit of a misnomer. What director Gregory Greene predicts the end of is the suburban nonsustainable bedroom developments at the core of sprawlburbia.
Historically cheap energy in the form of fossil fuel represents the largest "misallocation" of resources in world history, the film argues. The documentary does an excellent job of distinguishing between various forms of sub-urbanization – a trend since factories in cities grew out of the industrial revolution following the Civil War.
A Review of Bonnie Raitt’s “Souls Alike” (Capitol Records: 2005)
The incomparable Bonnie Raitt has produced an another incomparable masterpiece. “Souls Alike” confirms that she can create cutting edge new art even after decades at the top, while still being able to connect deep into the mainstream.
Long enshrined in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Bonnie’s shelf full of Grammys has not compromised her commitment to her craft, her adventurism or the creative demands of her raw talent.
There are ballads on this new album that remind us how Bonnie manages to speak to the pop mainstream with an integral clarity of soul and vision. There are others that take us deep into a world of hard blues and experimental jazz. How she pulls it all off is why she’s, well, Bonnie Raitt.
Three ballads are for the ages.
The incomparable Bonnie Raitt has produced an another incomparable masterpiece. “Souls Alike” confirms that she can create cutting edge new art even after decades at the top, while still being able to connect deep into the mainstream.
Long enshrined in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Bonnie’s shelf full of Grammys has not compromised her commitment to her craft, her adventurism or the creative demands of her raw talent.
There are ballads on this new album that remind us how Bonnie manages to speak to the pop mainstream with an integral clarity of soul and vision. There are others that take us deep into a world of hard blues and experimental jazz. How she pulls it all off is why she’s, well, Bonnie Raitt.
Three ballads are for the ages.
And They All Sang: Adventures of an Eclectic Disc Jockey
By Studs Terkel
The New Press (New York); hardback: 301 pages; $25.95
Few Americans can honestly be described as a "national treasure," but Studs Terkel is certainly one. And there is certainly just one Studs Terkel.
Feisty well into his nineties, Studs still has that unquenchable spirit and that ultimate radio voice. Our world has been bettered by him, in more ways than we can measure.
His newest book is a tribute to that legacy. And They All Sang: Adventures of an Eclectic Disc Jockey is a completely unique and fascinating compendium of Studs's brilliant, vanguard interviews with many of the most important figures in American culture.
Studs is at his incomparable best in the Introduction, explaining the origins of this, his first radio show, The Wax Museum. Soon after World War II, the owner of Chicago's classical music mecca at WFMT gave Studs (and the people of Chicago) the ultimate gift---an hour of radio time in which to do whatever he pleased.
By Studs Terkel
The New Press (New York); hardback: 301 pages; $25.95
Few Americans can honestly be described as a "national treasure," but Studs Terkel is certainly one. And there is certainly just one Studs Terkel.
Feisty well into his nineties, Studs still has that unquenchable spirit and that ultimate radio voice. Our world has been bettered by him, in more ways than we can measure.
His newest book is a tribute to that legacy. And They All Sang: Adventures of an Eclectic Disc Jockey is a completely unique and fascinating compendium of Studs's brilliant, vanguard interviews with many of the most important figures in American culture.
Studs is at his incomparable best in the Introduction, explaining the origins of this, his first radio show, The Wax Museum. Soon after World War II, the owner of Chicago's classical music mecca at WFMT gave Studs (and the people of Chicago) the ultimate gift---an hour of radio time in which to do whatever he pleased.
In an era when journalistic integrity has all but given way to the corporate bottom line and the regurgitation of government spin, a new book is being published. Goats in Prison: From Hippies to Headlines will offer an exciting look at the early years of one of the few surviving examples of America's "underground press." Smartly edited, this book will document the anti-war movement beginning in 1970 with actual articles, photographs, cartoons and even advertisements, chronicling events and the struggle to report them up to the present day. "Make no mistake about it" (as Richard Nixon would say), this book is no acid trip down foggy-memory lane. The Columbus Free Press is still publishing. This fact alone is what separates this book from those in the Woodstock-flashback publishing genre. It is an insiders' look at what really happened, and still is happening. Perhaps only in the conservative heartland could left-wing journalism find the motivation to survive for 35 years...and there is much to learn from its history. Steve Conliff, former Freeper from the 70s is editing the book.
WAR MADE EASY
How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death
By Norman Solomon
John Wiley & Sons ISBN 0-471-69479
$24.95 314 pages
In "War Made Easy" Norman Solomon demolishes the myth of an independent American press zealously guarding sacred values of free expression. Although strictly focusing on the shameless history of media cheerleading for the principal post-World War II American wars, invasions and interventions, he calls into question the entire concept of the press as some kind of institutional counterforce to government and corporate power.
How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death
By Norman Solomon
John Wiley & Sons ISBN 0-471-69479
$24.95 314 pages
In "War Made Easy" Norman Solomon demolishes the myth of an independent American press zealously guarding sacred values of free expression. Although strictly focusing on the shameless history of media cheerleading for the principal post-World War II American wars, invasions and interventions, he calls into question the entire concept of the press as some kind of institutional counterforce to government and corporate power.
"The March of the Penguins"
At the Drexel, Bexley, Ohio
"That Penguin Movie" at the Drexel happens to be a major masterpiece. This improbable full-length feature film about the lifecycle of penguins at the South Pole would sound like a joke. How about watching grass grow?
But it takes its place alongside "Microcosmos" in the small but growing niche of nature documentaries that are truly great enough to stand up to theatrical release.
The March refers to the seventy-mile walk these emperor penguins must take back and forth from their breeding grounds to the sea to feed.
When they are four years old, these beautiful non-flying birds leave the frigid ocean and walk to a place where the ice doesn't melt. Here they mate and create their eggs, which they carry around in feathered sacks beneath their bellies.
At the Drexel, Bexley, Ohio
"That Penguin Movie" at the Drexel happens to be a major masterpiece. This improbable full-length feature film about the lifecycle of penguins at the South Pole would sound like a joke. How about watching grass grow?
But it takes its place alongside "Microcosmos" in the small but growing niche of nature documentaries that are truly great enough to stand up to theatrical release.
The March refers to the seventy-mile walk these emperor penguins must take back and forth from their breeding grounds to the sea to feed.
When they are four years old, these beautiful non-flying birds leave the frigid ocean and walk to a place where the ice doesn't melt. Here they mate and create their eggs, which they carry around in feathered sacks beneath their bellies.