St John of God From Patrons and Protectors: More OccupationsArt and Commentary by Michael O'Neil McGrath, OSFS. 2002Yep we got one too. I am not sure if we are all covered, I'll have to ask my rabbi, but St. John of God is our man.Like many of us he had no trouble "taking part in the gambling, drinking, and pillaging that his comrades enjoyed." He eventually cleaned up his act and then "A vision at age 41 brought him to Granada where he sold books from a little shop."And here is my vote for the Patron Saint of Bibles.Dan "Southpaw"Smith....
Roethke Lives
The premier of David Wagoner's one-act play First Class opened last night at Seattle's A Contemporary Theatre (ACT).For Wagoner the play is a "remembrance of his friend and mentor, the legendary poet Theodore Roethke. In this world premiere, you’re a student in Roethke’s classroom. Why does art matter? When does genius become madness? And what does it mean to live a passionate life? Please discuss."Seattle actor John Aylward plays the lead and does so so convincingly that Wagoner says "he's absolutely channeling Roethke in many instances."Roethke is a legend around these parts. His time here in Seattle raised the literary...
The King of the Street
A couple of months back I posted a video about New York's street booksellers. Now I bring you a 3 1/2 minute video of the king of street booksellers.His "shop" is in Chennai, India. He has been there for 60 years and I am not sure if he's ever left. "This is my business for life I know no other" he says.He goes on:"The government doesn't want to help us. Government wants people to remain ignorant. If people started to read they might vote for others so the government gives no importance to education."Now that's street smarts.
Pop-Up Comes Alive
The Pop-Up Music Video award goes to:ShitDisco for "OK"Awesome.Thanks to Popular Edge Book Arts Blog the blog of pop-up artist Carol Barton for the lead.
Wilde Times
image Chris Ketchell "The public have an insatiable curiosity to know everything, except what is worth knowing. Journalism, conscious of this, and having tradesman-like habits, supplies their demands." - Oscar Wilde The Soul of Man Under Socialism Aside from his success as an author and playwright Wilde was also a major celebrity in Victorian London. In many respects his celebrity mirrors the path of many of today's celebrities (Martha Stewart and Paris Hilton immediately come to mind) where the prevailing culture hoists them up then tears them down with no mercy. My Wilde phase took place in England in the...