Tag Archives: culture

The Poor Man of Nippur – Babylonian language short film

Posted on December 15, 2018 by editor, facilitator, decider

I’m just giddy to present here, in its entirety, The Poor Man of Nippur—a 20-minute short film created by the University of Cambridge Department of Archaeology. It is the first feature produced in the Babylonian language, which has been extinct … Continue reading →

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A symphony for the people

Posted on July 30, 2018 by editor, facilitator, decider

I’ve boasted more than once about the state of the arts in my beloved hometown. We’re at the resilient epicenter of a rust-belt renaissance, and we take our public arts very seriously. Not to put too fine a point on … Continue reading →

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Lend me your art

Posted on April 2, 2018 by editor, facilitator, decider

The lending library is probably one of humanity’s greatest cultural institutions (stands to reason, then, that the first lending library in the Americas was founded by a veritable cultural institute in the flesh: Benjamin Franklin). It’s an ideal that’s kept pace … Continue reading →

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Connecting with an ancient artform

Posted on January 28, 2018 by editor, facilitator, decider

One of the most important unifying threads in art, in any art, is that of connection. It is that momentary removal of time and distance between observer and creator, when they become of one mind. Intent is key here, and … Continue reading →

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Sessions wants names, does he?

Posted on August 5, 2017 by editor, facilitator, decider

Limp A.G. and unloved sycophant Jefferson Beauregard Sessions announced this week that he was going after leakers like nobody’s business. Whether or not the man with the Most Confederate Name Ever truly believes this needs to be a focus of … Continue reading →

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Send me art

Posted on July 16, 2017 by editor, facilitator, decider

You already know what a sizable percentage of humanity’s wit, wisdom and culture is readily beam-downable to that device you keep in your pocket (and that might not be the safest place to keep it, by the way). But what … Continue reading →

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Virtual exhibitions bring art to us all

Posted on May 21, 2017 by editor, facilitator, decider

Hopefully there’s an art museum, gallery, studio, or exhibition space within easy traveling distance from wherever you’re sitting right now. And hopefully it beckons you, and you grace it with your patronage just as often as you possibly can. But…we … Continue reading →

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Who owns an atrocity?

Posted on March 26, 2017 by editor, facilitator, decider

The brutal murder of 14 year-old Emmett Till in 1955 was both a singular atrocity and a bellwether for change. It didn’t spark the civil rights movement—countless other indignities not to mention the sweep of history did that. But it … Continue reading →

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The sonneteer

Posted on January 21, 2017 by editor, facilitator, decider

~ ~ No clear idea why, but it seems I’m sonnetering these days. Works for me if it works for you: ~ ~ ~

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The devil writes well – a chat with The Devil Strip’s Chris Horne

Posted on December 19, 2015 by editor, facilitator, decider

Alternative newspaper publishing might seem more like an anachronism than a workable business plan, yet since March, 2015 we in the Akron, Ohio area have been blessed with a vibrant, funny, and locally engaged alt-tabloid that is shining a light on … Continue reading →

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Babylonian tree-hugger: The lost verses of Gilgamesh

Posted on October 4, 2015 by editor, facilitator, decider

Gilgamesh of Uruk, great king and itinerant seeker, priest of Kullab and bosom-friend of Enkidu, we thought we knew ye. Well, we should have figured. The Epic of Gilgamesh, history’s first great narrative poem and mankind’s inaugural piece of literature, … Continue reading →

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Ex libris

Posted on April 19, 2015 by editor, facilitator, decider

Libraries are living institutions, and that’s as unerringly true whether they’re public lenders or personal collections. In either case they’re bound to grow, as long as people care enough to nurture them. But they retract, too. Or shed, you might … Continue reading →

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History in the margins

Posted on April 12, 2015 by editor, facilitator, decider

It might be the bane of librarians, but after a certain interval marginalia becomes history itself. In this case the tome is the Black Book of Carmarthen (so named for its distinctive black binding), and as the oldest known manuscript … Continue reading →

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Let the retrospectives begin: 2014, a year in art

Posted on December 28, 2014 by editor, facilitator, decider

Say what you want about 2014 (and spoiler alert, I certainly will) — it may have been a kidney stone of a year, but like a kidney stone, it’ll pass. Global malaise aside, this was a lively year for the … Continue reading →

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Revenge porn and the law of unintended consequences

Posted on September 28, 2014 by editor, facilitator, decider

The fact that revenge porn exists illustrates an entire tragicomic spectrum of unhappy, unintended con-sequences. More aptly, it demonstrates the lowest of the low: infantile exes who aim to shame, and the profit-blinded thugs who give them the platforms for doing … Continue reading →

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