FishCountingWater
At some point I accepted that, in a world of creeping gloom, maybe I’d be more useful as a spot of light.
Read moreCategory Archives: Arts/Literature
The Soul-Sucking Ur-Obsidian Ceiling
I look around the world today and wonder just how human our billionaire overlords really are.
Read more#ArtSunday: What’s the Greatest Book You Ever Read?
My buddy Jim Booth put together a quarantine reading list for our little S&R community this week and it got me thinking. So let’s pose a challenge. What is the greatest work of literature you’ve ever read? The Rules It can be a novel, a collection of short fiction, a book of poetry, a play (yes, Shakespeare is eligible), or
Read moreTeach Me Baroque Art History
I have seven letters after my name, but I often feel as though I’m in desperate need of education. I can’t look at the news without thinking how much I’d benefit from a good history degree, for instance. More and more when I listen to music I wish I understood the mathematics of tone. And speaking of math, I envy
Read moreA day of mourning for George HW Bush
It’s a new world order.
Read moreS&R Honors: Claude Monet
Claude Monet was born with the gift of seeing things new and without any necessary devotion to denotation. Yet in later life, he saw almost nothing. What filtered through the cataracts – was he painting what was, or what seemed to be?
Read moreIn defense of Coyote
Perhaps the iconic trickster Coyote is a symbol for the frustrations of the smart person in a stupid world.
Read moreGhost in the Shell: a 2-minute review
The 2017 remake of the manga classic is marvelous to behold, but not especially filling emotionally. Went to see Ghost in the Shell the other day. In IMAX. IMAX 3-D, to be precise. Initial impressions: 1) It’s just fucking gorgeous. The designers have studied the classics, from Blade Runner on down, and they create a world that does justice to the
Read morePoem for the Trump Inaugural: "The Turning"
These truths we hold to be self-evident… The Turning – Samhain 1991 1. In this dry land crickets fear to chirp for waste of moisture. Rattlers bleach their bones, listless in the summer scald. 2. I don’t want to say too much for fear of being misconstrued or maybe for fear of being understood all too clearly so here’s your
Read moreRemembering 2016: the year when everyone died
No, famous people won’t stop dying on January 1. But we lost too many bright lights this year and we hope that 2017 will be better. Here’s a list of noteworthy people who died in 2016. For the past several months a lot of us have been saying we can’t wait for this damned year to be over. 2016 gave us
Read moreNew Years Resolutions, pt 2: support is a two-way street
I have always supported independent artists, but that support has not often been reciprocated. This bothers me. Part 2 of a series [Caveat: I’ll apologize in advance if this one sounds a little bitchy. That isn’t my intent, but I know people don’t always hear what I think I’m saying.] Ever since we started this blog in 2007, and really for
Read moreGod, who is as immense…
“Tree of Wisdom,” by Alexander Tylevich – Regis University, Denver
Read moreEsmé Wonders How She’ll Die
Esmé Wonders How She’ll Die – for Lisa …perspective is a lie. If I know a pond is round then why should I draw it oval? I will draw it round because round is true. Why should my brush lie to you just because my eyes lie to me? – Terry Pratchett I shot the boy whose piano chanted in
Read moreNobel Committee gives Bob Dylan the wrong prize
Dylan is one of the greatest artists of his time. But his genius wasn’t about Literature. Part 1 of a series. The Nobel Committee today awarded American folk icon Bob Dylan its annual prize for Literature. Not surprisingly, reactions have been mixed. I’m a bit torn myself. There is no questioning at all the immensity of Dylan’s artistic accomplishments, and
Read moreMonorail to the Future: reasserting the American Dream for #HopeTuesday
With the 1962 World’s Fair, Seattle asserted itself as the city that invented the future. Seattle Center, home to the Space Needle, Key Arena, the Pacific Science Center and other Jetsonesque architectural wonders, gave us a stunning Mid-Century Modern vision of our presumed technotopian future. In 2000 the EMP Museum opened, inserting a postmodern generational overlay in the form of Frank Gehry’s gripping postmodern
Read more
lullaby pit 