Local

If live theater has a healthy future, it’s largely thanks to organizations such as Columbus Children’s Theatre and CATCO Is Kids. It’s well established that these local troupes have started many kids on the path toward professional thespianism. But it’s also likely that they started many others on the path toward a lifetime of theatergoing. CATCO Is Kids’ role in creating future audience members was on display last week at a preview performance of The Cat in the Hat. Before Dr. Seuss’s mischievous feline appeared, director Joe Bishara talked to the viewers—most of them very young students on a class field trip—to make sure they understood what was expected of them. Bishara began by asking if anyone could tell him the difference between a play and a movie. After a girl explained that plays have live actors, Bishara asked the viewers to list three things they could do to show those actors they were paying attention.

Offering a spectrum that runs from whimsical to meticulous, Columbus College of Art and Design's Impact-Influence exhibit opened to the public Jan. 16 in the Carnegie Gallery on the second floor of the Main Library. The show is co-sponsored by the Columbus Metropolitan Library, Friends of the Library, Ohio Arts Council and CCAD and features the talents of the school's Continuing & Professional Studies instructors. “Columbus Metropolitan Library is proud to showcase the incredible works of so many talented CCAD instructors and faculty,” says Gregg Dodd, director of marketing for CML. “CML’s Carnegie Gallery provides a public forum for the community to interact with the visual arts created by both emerging and established artists. The talents and techniques highlighted through this diverse exhibit shouldn’t be missed.” The work that immediately confronts the viewer on entry to the gallery is Esther Chung's Alexie, a sculpture composed of end of mill upholstery cotton. While simplistic in construction it is flamboyant in display.

Not since the abolitionists and suffragists rocked Ohio’s politics in the 19th and 20th centuries has a movement in the Buckeye State been so essential to human rights. The announcement last week that Ohio’s Legislative Black Caucus, aided by civil rights advocates, is backing The Voter Bill of Rights as an amendment to the Ohio Constitution is the single most important issue before us in the 21st century. The proposed constitutional amendment would end the massive new Jim Crow purges of poor and black people Ohio has become notorious for in national elections. The amendment would adopt the approach of the European Union and make voting a Constitutional right. Many Americans are shocked to discover that the right to vote is currently not an enshrined Constitutional right. Voting rights are often limited by the 50 different state governments that administer federal, state and local elections. The proposed voter bill of rights would assure that all qualified Ohio citizens have a right to cast a ballot, and more importantly, have that ballot counted. Since the 2004 election, Ohio’s history in purging poor and low income voters has been nothing less than appalling.

The sweeping Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act could bring an end to the resource war that’s ravaged the eastern mining regions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo for the last decade and a half, this according to the Enough Project, a Washington-based non-profit that seeks to end genocide. Signed into law by the Obama administration in 2010, Dodd-Frank was passed in response to the financial crisis of 2008 which led to the “Great Recession.” Many of Dodd-Frank regulations are targeted toward American banks and other financial institutions that took too much risk with other people’s money, nearly collapsing the world’s economy. Supporters of Dodd-Frank claim the law finally brings regulation and transparency to hedge funds while also establishing regulatory agencies such as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, tasked with preventing predatory mortgage lending. Dodd-Frank is being described as the most comprehensive effort to reform Wall Street since the Great Depression. But whether the law actually checks Wall Street greed is meant to be seen.

I have seen images of many executions over the decades that I’ve been working to end the death penalty. One that stands out in my mind is film footage of an Iraqi military execution of a number of men tied to posts. After the initial volley, an officer then walked down the line, quickly putting a bullet into the head of each victim. The Coup de Grace, a final blow to end the suffering of a mortally wounded person, seems to be an odd demonstration of compassion in the midst of an otherwise gross violation of human rights. Yet, if Ohio is allowed to continue with its current execution protocol, I can see a day when those charged with carrying out executions will insist on its use. Amnesty International (AI) opposes the death penalty as a violation of the right to life, as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Reviewing a Bruce Springsteen album presents something of a challenge. The first problem is the temptation to view his current work through the lens of his earlier offerings-- after all, this is the guy who recorded Nebraska, probably the most downright terrifying album ever recorded. The second is Springsteen's political legacy. I'm particularly sympathetic to music with a political bent. To be honest, I want his music to be good. High Hopes ain't Nebraska, it isn't even 2005’s Devils and Dust. It's an erratic album, and only a few tracks delve into the icy creepiness which is my favorite thing about Springsteen. Overall, though, it’s a better effort than 2012’s Wrecking Ball and 2009’s Working on a Dream. Half of the 12 tracks are pretty good, and a couple are really good. As my wife points out, that's a decent shooting percentage these days. The album really is a grab bag. Musicians and producers vary from song to song, three songs are covers, and two songs are re-workings of older tunes. Springsteen is joined on seven of the 12 tracks by guitarist Tom Morello, who really does some nice stuff.

On Tuesday, January 28, the Columbus Film Council, The Free Press and RadioactiveWasteAlert will present a Free Fourth Tuesday Double Feature of both Gasland at 5.30 p.m. and Gasland Part II at 7.30 p.m. Both screenings are at the Drexel Theatre, 2254 E Main St in Bexley. The screenings are one night only and admission to either or both films is free. Donations are encouraged. Director Josh Fox will be skyping in after the screening of Gasland Part II to talk with the audience. In 2008, filmmaker Josh Fox was offered $100,000 for mineral rights from a company interested in hydraulic fracturing, better known as “fracking,” on his family’s land in rural Pennsylvania. Curious (and perhaps sensing a great story) he took off around the country in his 1992 Toyota Camry with very little money, a banjo and a lot of charm.

As I have previously mentioned, Mrs. Peaves works with underprivileged children. That has led her to befriend some of their parents. A few years ago she learned that most of them were being ripped off yearly by unscrupulous tax preparers. She asked me to help them by preparing their taxes for them. What I learned was shocking, but more on that later. Over the weekend, Mrs. Peaves talked me into (read: browbeat me into) doing her own taxes. When I was finished I learned something that did not make her happy. I learned that the IRS will not begin processing returns until January 31. After researching the delay, I learned it was a result of the government shutdown back in October. The IRS made the announcement soon after the shutdown was over, but I did not see the news at the time. It was probably in the business news, which I routinely ignore. Since learning of the delay Mrs. Peaves has been in a snit, and not because her own return won't be processed until the end of the month. Her concern is the poorest members of the community who are typically eager to get their hands on some quick cash.

David versus Goliath: me and my High Street record store against the Ohio State University.

Who shall win? First, what's the problem, mate? Ahem, ah yes, the problem--as stated by OSU is, ready tailgaters?--the level of volume my lone, beat-up, pathetic six-inch sidewalk speaker puts out during store hours. You're thinking, aren't you? How could some dinky record store (our motto: small and getting smaller) and it's dinky speaker get phone calls and visits from the Columbus Police? At the behest of America's biggest university? How? Well, I'm not kidding. And it's been happening for some years. Backstory, please, right? Here it comes. I've been putting some sort of speaker out on the sidewalk every morning since Moses wore short pants. I give it a little volume so passersby get a little groove on for the few seconds they're walking by. Not hugely loud, not usually.

On January 14, the Federal Appeals Court for the District of Columbia struck down a Communications Commission rule that guaranteed what is called “net neutrality.” The rule prohibited internet providers from blocking internet traffic to consumers based on content or bandwidth or charging consumers a greater fee to access content. The split decision by the court in favor of Verizon and MetroPCS had additional support in the form of briefs from right­wing lobbying groups and the conservative former Attorney General of Virginia, Ken Cuccinelli. Cuccinelli had filed friends of the court briefs to assist the appellants in their case. The court leaned heavily on a similar decision in 2010 in favor of ComCast, that prompted renewed rules prohibiting the blocking of internet traffic based on content. Verizon brought the new lawsuit that asks to charge both the internet subscriber for access and the content providers for access to the subscribers.