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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.

A play party by definition is an orgy – a gathering of several people of varying sexual lifestyles/ preferences for the purpose of sexual activity. Usually the host(s) determines if the party is for a hetero/bisexual, gay/lesbian or BDSM (or all of the above) attendees. Play parties are usually by invitation only. When invitations go out, a set of rules are also sent. Sometimes admission is charged to cover the cost of staff, rent, laundry and supplies. Sometimes males only are charged admission or charged a higher rate of admission than females. Usually there is a reasonable fee for couples or a group that arrives together. The main rule is to have consent. If someone does not wish to engage with others, but to just watch or exhibit masturbation, that is their preference. If you ask someone for a sexual encounter, for permission to touch, kiss or more, be specific about your intentions and be ready to move on after hearing, “No.” A pile of writhing, naked bodies is not necessarily an invitation for anyone to join in. If you have been told “No” by someone and yet you see them in the midst of a pile, don't be confused.

The Columbus Film Council will present a collection of short films with a Valentine’s Day theme—love, sex and romance on Tuesday, Feb. 11. Join fellow cinephiles at Brothers Drake Meadery & Bar, 26 E. 5th Ave. in the Short North, to view the collection. The show is free and open to the public. Screenings begin at 8 p.m. Films to be screened include Love Stalk, A House, A Home, Grotto, and Sphere In Boxland. “We are thrilled to be able to present international short films as part of a community screening program with Brothers Drake Meadery,” said Susan Halpern, Columbus Film Council Executive Director. “The evening will be a dark and humorous look at love, yet with hope and romance as well.” Love Stalk (by Joe Fiorello, 20 minutes) takes place in Hong Kong and, hrough a young woman’s eyes, explores the world’s new digital capability of stalking via the Web. Sharon Ong (played by Angie Palmer, a former Columbus resident) is an executive from Singapore having a hard time finding love in the one-night-stand capital of the world.

Normally if someone invites me to a spoken word event, I bestow the same mistrust I would if that person borrowed a $5 from me and did not pay it back. I might be polite but I would have a distant politeness to that human until they showed me a reason to want to engage with them. So I was a bit leery when I went to the Jan. 28 reading at No Place that featured N.E. Alt-Lit stars Jordan Castro, Mallory Whitten, Richard Wehernberg as well as Columbus “poets” Alex Mussawir, James Payne, Danielle, Cagialno and Ryan Eilbeck. The writers from N.E. Ohio are primed as this era’s voices. So if they were corny, then poetry would be ruined for another 5-12 years depending on what technological advances, atrocities and new drugs created another generation. As far as the people from Columbus, I am not so sure if I wanted to see them naked. Fortunately everyone mixed humor with insight. Some highlights, James Payne started the evening singing an acapella version of “Mercedes Benz” by Janis Joplin, and went on to speak candidly about student debt often having zero correlation with job prospects, and his preferences for interacting with certain types of intellectuals.

EASY is a small independent publishing label and platform for experimentation and collaboration that local artists Samantha Rehark and Elijah Funk have been developing since 2011. “We need an intern.” Samantha Rehark and Elijah Funk joked from time to time during our interview at the No Place Studios located amidst an industrial ruin on the Southside of Columbus. “It’s a weird place to be to be… I don’t know if we even have time to make our own stuff,” says Funk of going from creating his own work to helping others. We were discussing the time-consuming labor of love the two artists have created with EASY. EASY started off organizing silent auctions, artist talks, skill-building events and a lot of informal drawing, bonding events in 2011. “We realized we were making a lot of print material through all of It.” said Rehark of EASY’s development from artist events to a zine publishing resource, which used Kickstarter in October 2013 to raise $2500 dollars to print publications by emerging visual artists, musicians and writers. EASY’s campaign is enabling them to publish Aiden Koch, John Malta, Sam Reiser, Nathan Snell, Heather Benjamin, Dan Rosser (Cult Ritual) and more.

In hindsight I realize it was a mistake. Oh, I had good intentions, but, alas, I have erred. For Christmas I gave Mrs. Peaves a tablet computer. Now she has become one of “those people.” You know the type. Always tinkering away on their smart phones, twiddling their thumbs to the tempo of a quick-paced Samba. God knows what most of those people are up to, perhaps launching a plan to commit some crime, or gossiping about their friends more likely. A year ago Mrs. Peaves was not exactly what you might call tech-savvy. Frankly she was pretty much tech-ignorant. She was afraid of the computer, actually. On the odd occasion when she needed to use one, I had to stand over her shoulder and guide her through the steps. It's tedious work, I can tell you. But then, around nine months ago, she dropped her cell phone in the toilet. That wasn't a good day for anyone, I assure you. The end result was, Mrs. Peaves was forced to get a new phone. Her contract was up anyway, so she received a new one for free, free that is if you don't count all the fees associated with it. What she got was a smart phone.

There’s nothing like a little Full Frontal Nudity to put folks in the mood for Valentine’s Day. That’s the hope, anyway, as MadLab’s resident improv troupe gets ready to open its third annual production of Date Night. The show contains no actual nudity, of course, as the group’s name is a come-on. Instead, FFN’s players plan to engage in off-the-cuff storytelling based on what little they know about couples from the audience. Josh Kessler, an actor who’s been with the show since the beginning, explained how it works. “We try to get two or three couples out of the audience, one couple at a time, and we bring them up onstage,” he said. There, the lovebirds are given a seat on a couch, offered snacks and asked a series of questions about themselves: how they met, what they like about each other, what they do for a living and so forth. “Then,” said Kessler, “we go out and do our rendition of that.” “Rendition,” in this case, means an improvised story that may have little to do with the couple’s actual lives but still contains a kernel of truth about their relationship.

Jim began playing professionally in 1965, and has played with some of central Ohio’s most popular bands. He was a founding member and front man for such bands as: the original Gears, the Diplomats, the Lapse of Tyme, Tristram Shandy, the Alligators, the Dick Mackey Band, the Hipnotics and the Lynch Mob. In 1995 Jim founded the band, the JuJu Bees. As the bandleader, lead guitar player, lead singer — and the only member of the JuJu Bees to have performed at every show from the band’s inception to July 4, 2002 — he named the band for a humorous story in his past. Jim has also been an integral member of such bands as: the Dave Workman Blues Band, Tyler, Spittin’ Image and McGuffey Lane, among others.