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
Rethinking the "unthinkable": An updated view of communism from Ike to Mao and beyond
by Bob Avakian. 449 pp. 2005
How does a good California boy of the 50's, an elementary school "Traffic Boy" who loved Smilin' Ed's "Froggy the Gremlin," a high school quarterback ("a little guy, brimming with confidence"), a serious fan of basketball and music, and the son of a prominent judge go from a nine-year-old supporter of Eisenhower to a supporter of Mao Tsetung and the Chairman of today's Revolutionary Communist Party, USA (RCP)?
Bob Avakian lays it out in his memoir From Ike to Mao and Beyond.
Most of us don't really know much about Communism. Growing up, we have all been taught to fear and disparage it. Like Avakian, many Americans practiced hiding under their first grade desks in case of nuclear attack by "godless Communists." Like Avakian, many of us lived through the McCarthy witch hunts that found communists under every bush darkly working for the destruction of America.
How does a good California boy of the 50's, an elementary school "Traffic Boy" who loved Smilin' Ed's "Froggy the Gremlin," a high school quarterback ("a little guy, brimming with confidence"), a serious fan of basketball and music, and the son of a prominent judge go from a nine-year-old supporter of Eisenhower to a supporter of Mao Tsetung and the Chairman of today's Revolutionary Communist Party, USA (RCP)?
Bob Avakian lays it out in his memoir From Ike to Mao and Beyond.
Most of us don't really know much about Communism. Growing up, we have all been taught to fear and disparage it. Like Avakian, many Americans practiced hiding under their first grade desks in case of nuclear attack by "godless Communists." Like Avakian, many of us lived through the McCarthy witch hunts that found communists under every bush darkly working for the destruction of America.
War made easy
By Norman Solomon
Published by John Wiley & Sons; 314 pp; $24.95
Selling war is a piece of cake if you have a mess of media that grovels at your Rovian feet, never challenges your deceptions and has its brain embedded in your darkest reaches.
For years now Norman Solomon has clearly and courageously exposed the outrageous way the American government's "fourth branch," the corporate media, has dragged our nation into the business of murder and mayhem.
As one of our keenest and most creative media critics, Norman digs deep into the horrific media corruption that's allowed this latest war to erupt.
By way of disclosure, Norman has been a long-time friend and colleague, a co-author of KILLING OUR OWN: THE DISASTER OF AMERICA'S EXPERIENCE WITH ATOMIC RADIATION (Delacorte/Delta). It's been an honor to work with him over the years and I continue to read his columns and critiques with pleasure and awe.
By Norman Solomon
Published by John Wiley & Sons; 314 pp; $24.95
Selling war is a piece of cake if you have a mess of media that grovels at your Rovian feet, never challenges your deceptions and has its brain embedded in your darkest reaches.
For years now Norman Solomon has clearly and courageously exposed the outrageous way the American government's "fourth branch," the corporate media, has dragged our nation into the business of murder and mayhem.
As one of our keenest and most creative media critics, Norman digs deep into the horrific media corruption that's allowed this latest war to erupt.
By way of disclosure, Norman has been a long-time friend and colleague, a co-author of KILLING OUR OWN: THE DISASTER OF AMERICA'S EXPERIENCE WITH ATOMIC RADIATION (Delacorte/Delta). It's been an honor to work with him over the years and I continue to read his columns and critiques with pleasure and awe.
BOOM!
The first song of the Green Day's show just ended. It was a perfect, exciting, loud and pumped start to a great concert.
If you ever have an opportunity to see Green Day perform, take it! Especially if you're a fan...and me being one they definitely exceeded all expectations I may have had for them
Lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong is a great entertainer filled with charisma and spark. He was wonderful, as was backup vocals/bassist Mike Dirnt and Tre Cool, the drummer.
All three make a powerful trio. Having been in this business for 16 years, they certainly have improved according to my Dad, since he last saw them at Woodstock in 1994. He said that along with improving, they have gained great political sense, since they are outspoken Bush haters, and have named their tour "The American Idiot" in Bush's "honor". I think it gives them more character.
Even if you aren't a fan the concert is certainly a fun filled night, with loud bangs and crazy crowd jumps!
At one point Billie even picked three people from the mosh pit, and he and Cool and Dirnt showed them how to play a song. Billie even gave one of them his guitar!
The first song of the Green Day's show just ended. It was a perfect, exciting, loud and pumped start to a great concert.
If you ever have an opportunity to see Green Day perform, take it! Especially if you're a fan...and me being one they definitely exceeded all expectations I may have had for them
Lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong is a great entertainer filled with charisma and spark. He was wonderful, as was backup vocals/bassist Mike Dirnt and Tre Cool, the drummer.
All three make a powerful trio. Having been in this business for 16 years, they certainly have improved according to my Dad, since he last saw them at Woodstock in 1994. He said that along with improving, they have gained great political sense, since they are outspoken Bush haters, and have named their tour "The American Idiot" in Bush's "honor". I think it gives them more character.
Even if you aren't a fan the concert is certainly a fun filled night, with loud bangs and crazy crowd jumps!
At one point Billie even picked three people from the mosh pit, and he and Cool and Dirnt showed them how to play a song. Billie even gave one of them his guitar!
The Orange Blossom Special, Betsy Carter
Published by Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
293 pages; $23.95
Betsy Carter's graceful, sweet novel THE ORANGE BLOSSOM SPECIAL is a tender treat, full of warmth and wisdom, and a pleasure to read.
A long-time editor and inventor of magazines, Betsy has a sixth sense about people and places that make her a rarity among novelists---someone who can write simple, uncomplicated prose without pretense or self-importance while rendering important ideas onto the page and into our hearts.
THE ORANGE BLOSSOM SPECIAL is about a widowed mother, her strong-minded teenage daughter and their struggles to love and grow in the transition from the late 1950s to the tumultuous 1960s.
Published by Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
293 pages; $23.95
Betsy Carter's graceful, sweet novel THE ORANGE BLOSSOM SPECIAL is a tender treat, full of warmth and wisdom, and a pleasure to read.
A long-time editor and inventor of magazines, Betsy has a sixth sense about people and places that make her a rarity among novelists---someone who can write simple, uncomplicated prose without pretense or self-importance while rendering important ideas onto the page and into our hearts.
THE ORANGE BLOSSOM SPECIAL is about a widowed mother, her strong-minded teenage daughter and their struggles to love and grow in the transition from the late 1950s to the tumultuous 1960s.
THE ONE-STATE SOLUTION
A breakthrough for peace in the Israeli-Palestinian deadlock
by Virginia Q Tilley
University of Michigan Press, July 2005
ISBN 0-472-11513-8
As Israel grapples with crisis after crisis - an endemic in proportion to its military might - it has inevitably slided to seeking refuge from the threats inherent in these.
This downward spiral has led to intense debates; on the one hand over historic romanticism with Zionism and on the other, more recent issues such as Occupation, Settlements and Borders.
Perhaps none have evoked such passion as the new emerging debate sparked by a reluctant acknowledgement of the failure of Israel as a Jewish State to provide security for Jews. This, according to the New York based editor of Time.com, Tony Karon, strikes at Zionism's basic premise: "The world was a dangerous place to be Jewish; our safety required a state of our own".
A breakthrough for peace in the Israeli-Palestinian deadlock
by Virginia Q Tilley
University of Michigan Press, July 2005
ISBN 0-472-11513-8
As Israel grapples with crisis after crisis - an endemic in proportion to its military might - it has inevitably slided to seeking refuge from the threats inherent in these.
This downward spiral has led to intense debates; on the one hand over historic romanticism with Zionism and on the other, more recent issues such as Occupation, Settlements and Borders.
Perhaps none have evoked such passion as the new emerging debate sparked by a reluctant acknowledgement of the failure of Israel as a Jewish State to provide security for Jews. This, according to the New York based editor of Time.com, Tony Karon, strikes at Zionism's basic premise: "The world was a dangerous place to be Jewish; our safety required a state of our own".
Of the movie series of our time, "Star Wars" is among the best and
most celebrated. Millions across America waited in line Wednesday, May
18 to celebrate the final installment in the series that evolved into a
religious following. Nearly 30 years after the premiere of "Star
Wars: A New Hope," director George Lucas has brought the saga to an
end (or beginning) with a bang.
In "Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith," Lucas succeeded where both Episode I and II fell short. In contrast to the child geared "Phantom Menace" and the plot heavy "Attack of the Clones," "Revenge of the Sith" successfully blends stunning special effects and edge-of-your-seat action sequences with a complex and long awaited plot that, at last, answers the questions that have plagued the minds of Star Wars fans since the first movie was released.
Specifically, the movie focuses on showing the transformation of young Jedi Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) from Jedi to Darth Vader, lord of the dark side.
In "Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith," Lucas succeeded where both Episode I and II fell short. In contrast to the child geared "Phantom Menace" and the plot heavy "Attack of the Clones," "Revenge of the Sith" successfully blends stunning special effects and edge-of-your-seat action sequences with a complex and long awaited plot that, at last, answers the questions that have plagued the minds of Star Wars fans since the first movie was released.
Specifically, the movie focuses on showing the transformation of young Jedi Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) from Jedi to Darth Vader, lord of the dark side.
The Broadway in Columbus Series's "Thoroughly Modern Millie" opened Tuesday night at the Palace Theater with a tight, light and thoroughly enjoyable musical cream puff to adorn the Palace stage.
This is, of course, no major work of angst or passion. Miss Saigon has come and gone.
But as advertised, Millie is a perfectly lovely milk chocolate trifle, served light and frothy. The performances are clean, competent and engaging. The staging is unpretentious and credible. The lines are delivered right, the music sung nicely, the pacing reasonable and the plot line so thoroughly predictable as to be downright relaxing.
Lead Darcie Roberts (Millie) and her cohorts Stephanie Pope (Muzzie), Robyn Payne (Miss Flannery) and Pamela Hamill (Mrs. Meers) balance each other nicely, while the men---mainly Bryan McElroy (Jimmy) and John Ganun (Trevor Graydon), along with Emir Yonzon (Bun Foo) and Richard Feng Zhu (Chin Ho)---more than deliver on their end of the bargain.
All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable evening, easy on the eyes, ears and psyche.
This is, of course, no major work of angst or passion. Miss Saigon has come and gone.
But as advertised, Millie is a perfectly lovely milk chocolate trifle, served light and frothy. The performances are clean, competent and engaging. The staging is unpretentious and credible. The lines are delivered right, the music sung nicely, the pacing reasonable and the plot line so thoroughly predictable as to be downright relaxing.
Lead Darcie Roberts (Millie) and her cohorts Stephanie Pope (Muzzie), Robyn Payne (Miss Flannery) and Pamela Hamill (Mrs. Meers) balance each other nicely, while the men---mainly Bryan McElroy (Jimmy) and John Ganun (Trevor Graydon), along with Emir Yonzon (Bun Foo) and Richard Feng Zhu (Chin Ho)---more than deliver on their end of the bargain.
All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable evening, easy on the eyes, ears and psyche.
There are scripts that qualify as national treasures, and Mel Brooks's THE PRODUCERS is high on the A-list. It is the ultimate, over the top, gleefully politically incorrect, good-hearted, goof-ball, completely nutso musical tour de force that defies description. Like a great moment in history, you just have to be there.
The version presented by the Broadway Series at the Ohio Theater---itself a national treasure---does this jewel justice. The staging is beautiful, the acoustics fine, the cast a delight, the costumes and sets all they should be. In short, it's a wonderful evening in a setting that can't be beat.
If you don't know the story, don't worry, there's not much to tell. A down-on-his luck producer named Bialystock hooks up with a liberated accountant named Bloom to scam a show funded by horny old women. They want it to fail, and wind up with a bomb called SPRINGTIME FOR HITLER that turns into a blitzkreig. What more can be said?
The version presented by the Broadway Series at the Ohio Theater---itself a national treasure---does this jewel justice. The staging is beautiful, the acoustics fine, the cast a delight, the costumes and sets all they should be. In short, it's a wonderful evening in a setting that can't be beat.
If you don't know the story, don't worry, there's not much to tell. A down-on-his luck producer named Bialystock hooks up with a liberated accountant named Bloom to scam a show funded by horny old women. They want it to fail, and wind up with a bomb called SPRINGTIME FOR HITLER that turns into a blitzkreig. What more can be said?
?
who
cooked the books
whose hands are dirty
people who look to be not much
past thirty?
Bush-speak techno geeks
with Absolut reeks
Computer polluters
with neocon tutors
bad motor scooters
and corporate suitors
Or that sin
in black skin
with the elephant pin
who thinks ho'in' fo' the right
makes you more white
Guvnuh of ahia
and then who knows?
Sky's thelimit fo' sheeps
in wolf clothes!
did they poison the fucker? - Not!
Just stole some of the votes he got.
Well
if it ain't
Action Jackson
That should help alot
Keep it in the news rev
keep the story hot
Proof once again
of that ofttold quoatation
"How goes Ohio
So goes the nation"
who
cooked the books
whose hands are dirty
people who look to be not much
past thirty?
Bush-speak techno geeks
with Absolut reeks
Computer polluters
with neocon tutors
bad motor scooters
and corporate suitors
Or that sin
in black skin
with the elephant pin
who thinks ho'in' fo' the right
makes you more white
Guvnuh of ahia
and then who knows?
Sky's thelimit fo' sheeps
in wolf clothes!
did they poison the fucker? - Not!
Just stole some of the votes he got.
Well
if it ain't
Action Jackson
That should help alot
Keep it in the news rev
keep the story hot
Proof once again
of that ofttold quoatation
"How goes Ohio
So goes the nation"
In a Time of War and Fear, Seattle Writer Paul Loeb's New Anthology Discovers
Hope for the Future in the Dissident Voices of Yesterday and Today
On a fall day in 1998, a group of people gathered for a conference on spirituality and ecology in a church basement in the college town of Bloomington, Indiana. They spent had part of a day sharing stories, ideas, and opinions on how they had and could live more meaningful lives as activists and environmentalists. But when one young woman voiced her frustration at her sense of powerlessness, complaining that the world was in such bad shape she couldn't believe there was anything she could do that would make a real difference, a voice in the room rose in protest.
On a fall day in 1998, a group of people gathered for a conference on spirituality and ecology in a church basement in the college town of Bloomington, Indiana. They spent had part of a day sharing stories, ideas, and opinions on how they had and could live more meaningful lives as activists and environmentalists. But when one young woman voiced her frustration at her sense of powerlessness, complaining that the world was in such bad shape she couldn't believe there was anything she could do that would make a real difference, a voice in the room rose in protest.