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I get the feeling I’m not the target audience for The Lego Movie. Not only am I not a kid who plays with Legos, but I’m not an adult who used to play with Legos. While others may see the flick as an extension of their playtime hours or a nostalgic reminder of their youth, I see it as one long product placement with really primitive-looking 3-D animation. Directed and co-written by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs), The Lego Movie is designed to appear as if it’s made with Lego toys. When the heroes end up in the ocean, even the water is constructed out of Lego bricks. At times, the plot developments likewise seem to have been dreamed up by a young Lego enthusiast, as when superheroes such as Batman, Superman and Wonder Women join forces with real-life figures like Shakespeare and Shaquille O’Neal. It’s the kind of conglomeration only someone with access to a variety of Lego sets could have imagined. Other times, the plot follows a well-worn path that seems numbingly derivative. At its center is Emmet (Parks and Recreation’s Chris Pratt), a construction worker who prides himself on being faultlessly normal.

We already know what you’re going to say. Valentine’s Day is a billion-dollar ruse, the brainchild of greedy card and chocolate companies who care nothing for love and want only to take your hard-earned cash. First of all, why are you so cynical? Stop that. Second of all, how about you take advantage of the opportunity that’s been presented to you. Okay? Okay. Now that you’re no longer behaving like you’re dead inside, it’s worth exploring your options for the holiday, should you decide to think above and behind cliché. A quick glance around the area shows there are some good options for couples interested in more than just dinner and Redbox. The Ohio Theatre will host one of the area’s more traditional pieces of Valentine’s entertainment. On Friday Feb. 13 and Saturday Feb. 14 the Columbus Symphony will perform a program entitled “Masterworks: Romeo & Juliet.” ($25-$68, Friday/Saturday) Kansas City Symphony’s Michael Stern will conduct selections from Berlioz, Bernstein and Prokofiev. Stern returns to Columbus after an almost ten year hiatus.

Thanks to a “Progressive,” a well-connected Democratic attorney and four lockstep election officials, the citizens of Columbus remain stuck paying off four rich Columbus families for the Nationwide Arena debt and Columbus City elections will not be as open to independent candidates as it could be with public financing. At a Monday, February 3 hearing, the Franklin County Board of Elections voted 4-0 to keep two petitions off the ballot that could have rescinded the Arena bailout and provided publicly funded Columbus elections. A century ago, the Progressive Era was coming to an end. But its legacy of citizen initiatives lived on for another century. In the period from 1901 to 1914 there was a tremendous push for municipal reform. At the heart of it were city and state charters that allowed people the right to vote on major public policy issues by initiating an ordinance, a law or a constitutional amendment. In 1914, Columbus adopted a new charter that gave its citizens the right to initiate and legislate their own policies and take on what were often corrupt municipal political machines. That Progressive Era democratic legacy is now over.

In the summer of 2010 Wes Crow and Brandon Pettiford were members of different musical acts competing against one another at the Rising Star Talent Show in Gahanna. Neither of the teens won that day, but the event proved to be the genesis for one of the area’s most noteworthy emerging bands. One year later, Crow and Pettiford teamed up with Wes’ younger sister Julia to form Pett Crow, returned to the Rising Star and came away with top honors. The jazz scene in central Ohio may never be the same. It is rare these days to hear teenagers rattle off a list of musical influences that includes The Doors, The Who, Kiss, Motley Crue, Rush and The Allman Brothers Band. But such is Pett Crow, a trio featuring a pair of Olentangy High School students and an eighth grader at Gahanna’s Middle School East. “We’re a blues rock band,” said Wes, 16. “But we play old blues, modern rock and anything in between.” Pett Crow will be headlining a diverse lineup at this year’s Instaband Battle of the Bands semifinals, a 20-group competition taking place Friday Feb. 7 at GROOVE U’s campus in Columbus.

Despite not being a professional football fan, after being inundated with much pre-game chatter, this year I decided to watch the Super Bowl. The story line, according to multiple pundits, was the best defense going against the best offense. What actually resulted was something else entirely. Super Bowl? I think not. Sub-Par Bowl, is more like it. The best part was the Halftime Show, which is really saying something. I didn't really expect much from Bruno Mars, but to my surprise, he was pretty good. The lady who delivered an operatic rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner” before the game received high praise from the announcers and others, but I found it tedious and overly drawn out. By comparison, many years ago I saw the Boys Choir of Harlem do the best rendition of the National Anthem ever. It was done in a very quick tempo. They didn't indulge in any extra trills or flourishes, they just belted it out and were done with it. At the time I remember thinking, “that's the way everyone should sing the National Anthem.” To my regret, I haven't heard anyone do it that way since. In short, I thought the Super Bowl was a real dud.

I love Mazah. Maggie, the owner, has really made this place a piece of heaven for the vegan community. Vegan spinach fatayer? Check. Vegan baklava? Check. (call ahead to pre-order that). Although Mazah also serves animal based meals, the Mediterranean tradition of Lent lends itself favorably to plant eating people with an abundance of delicious options. They are currently building a new restaurant space and their new menu will be specifically listed to make accommodating the vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free communities with simple selections instead of forcing their customers to do creative thinking, manipulations of the menu options and ask for accommodation. They do recycle products and have predominantly transitioned from Styrofoam containers, with the exception of the soup container. They are happy to accommodate parties on Sundays for special occasions (graduation/ bridal/meetup group dinners etc. from 45 to 100 people) and have many other traditional vegan options not on the menu available upon request. Mazah is located at 1439 Grandview Ave. Columbus. Open Monday - Saturday for lunch and dinner.

[This is the first in a two part series] Fukushima’s missing melted cores and radioactive gushers continue to fester in secret. Japan’s harsh dictatorial censorship has been matched by a global corporate media blackout aimed—successfully—at keeping Fukushima out of the public eye. But that doesn’t keep the actual radiation out of our ecosystem, our markets…or our bodies Speculation on the ultimate impact ranges from the utterly harmless to the intensely apocalyptic. But the basic reality is simple: for seven decades, government bomb factories and privately-owned reactors have spewed massive quantities of unmonitored radiation into the biosphere. The impacts of these emissions on human and ecological health are unknown primarily because the nuclear industry has resolutely refused to study them. Indeed, the official presumption has always been that showing proof of damage from nuclear bomb tests and commercial reactors falls to the victims, not the perpetrators. And that, in any case, the industry will be held virtually harmless.

Justifiably celebrated as a statesman, civil rights warrior and all-around American hero, Pete Seeger was also an incredible musician. Beyond the civil rights anthems for which he is known, Seeger produced a huge body of work encompassing both traditional songs from around the globe and contemporary songs, many of which he authored himself. His songs can be pointed, serious, political, irreverent, hilarious and sometimes all of these. Many of his best recordings are live, with a healthy dose of audience participation (witness his 1964 solo version of “Wimoweh” (Mbube) in which he organizes the audience into three separate parts, before adding the falsetto part himself). His back catalog is a treasure of music, and well worth exploring. In the week since Seeger's passing, I have compiled eight of my favorite Seeger tracks, which I hope are a good jumping off point to his music. Whenever possible (and often it wasn't), I have tried to give the original release dates and albums for these songs, because in an 80 year career chronology matters. Seeger was so incredibly prolific, however, that running down all of his recordings would be an impossible task.

If you’re looking for tropical beaches populated by beautiful people, you’ll find them in Brazil. You won’t find them in the Wexner Center’s new building-wide exhibition, “Cruzamentos: Contemporary Art in Brazil.” But you will find lots of other things, some of which you’ll like more than others. For example: ▪ A trio of adjoining video screens showing a man struggling with, respectively, a tree, a goat and an angry crab. (Weird!) ▪ A wall topped with jagged glass. (Don’t touch!) ▪ A lighted cabinet filled with rotting oranges. (Hmmm…) In all, 35 artists contributed to the ambitious art show, which is part of the Wex’s ongoing “Via Brasil” project. If none of them produced works that fit Americans’ image of the land that gave us the 1960s hit “The Girl From Ipanema,” that’s probably because they’re too busy responding to their own reality. “I think the greatest thing about the show,” said Luiza Baldan, a featured photographer from Rio de Janeiro, “is it’s not a typical cliché about Brazil.” A similar sentiment was sounded by Paulo Venancio Filho, a Brazilian art historian who co-curated the show along with Wexner officials Jennifer Lange and Bill Horrigan.

Many years ago, Andrew Herbert Davis, also known as Episkopos Udu Tribble, realized a great truth: people with titles get better seats at the ball park. Although not interested in sports, Andrew took this advice to heart and began collecting letters. Now, when sending out important letters, as important people sometimes must, Andrew finishes his signature sapp epoee rev ulc pop sp ahem. An explanation is necessary. Andrew belongs to a secret sect of devotees known as the Legion of Dynamic Discord. In fact, he is a Pope (Self-Appointed Pope and Poet). An Episkopos is an overseer. In this case, what is being overseen is the Para-Theo-Anametamiskhood of Eris Esoteric (see http://principiadiscordia.com/ for more information on the Goddess Eris and how you too can become a Pope). Andrew is also an ordained minister, Reverending for the Universal Life Church O’ Love In_Action. Feel free to make contact for information on weddings, wakes, house cleansings and other ministerial type duties. POP stands for Prince of Parsnips. This makes no sense and was added just for the letters. SP is for Snappy Pappy.