Genius

Every year at this time, I look forward to seeing the new batch of MacArthur Genius Grants that are awarded. If you are unfamiliar with these, it is a grant program that each year picks out innovators from across a variety of fields (art, music, science, historians, etc.) and awards these twenty or so with $500,000 over five years. Often this money goes to individuals who could really use it, freeing them up to pursue their craft and push forward in new ways with whatever it is they are working on. It's always an eclectic group, and I think that is why I so enjoy reading each bio, finding out about creative ways others are attempting to enrich our lives. Some of my favorites from this years group are Whitfield Lovell, a painter and installation artist from New York, who creates charcoal portraits honoring the everyday lives of African-Americans and places these portraits in the context of everyday objects- frying pans, bed frames, etc. Another was Deborah Biel, a graduate of Harvard's Grad School of Education, who started the Posse Foundation an organization that identifies promising youth from urban areas, and puts them in small groups, 'posses', to pre-train them for the college they and their other posse members are destined for.

Came across an article in this weeks New Yorker by probably my favorite cultural critic and essayist Louis Menand. Menand was the Pulitzer Prize winner for his non-fiction work, The Metaphysical Club. It is his essays though that I am familiar with and look for when browsing through the New Yorker, the magazine to which he frequently contributes. His essays touch on people and ideas from American history as well as analysis of current themes in American culture. If you are a fan of the Beat movement and some of its characters (Kerouac, Ginsberg, etc.) then you will want to catch this piece. While looking at the Beats in general, he hones in on Jack Kerouac and his magnum opus, On The Road. Menand gives a fresh perspective on the work and the characters involved, both fictional and the real men they portrayed. Even if you think you know the whole story on this time in American culture, this piece is still well worth the read.

Geisha

Having an interest in Japanese culture and history, I was immediately drawn to this art book sitting in the new book section at my local library. I took it home and was not disappointed. The book, Geisha: A Photographic History, 1872-1912, by Stanley Burns and his daughter Elizabeth Burns is a look into the life of the Geisha from the Meiji era, which many consider to have been their golden age. The pictures as collected and presented by the Burns are painted photographs revealing not only the life of the Geisha, but a snapshot of a number of other areas of Japanese life during this time. They have included informative blurbs to go along with each picture, giving the observer a better understanding of the photo and its context.

Brit Pop Treat

There's something infectious about this little Brit's single smile. I don't want to like pop tunes, but sometimes they are irresistble like this one from Lily Allen. I don't know much yet about the rest of her music. 'Smile' though is completely catchy, maybe it has something to do with the fact that in comparison to her American counterparts (Britney, Christina, etc.) the lyrics are smart, witty, and fun.

[MP3] Lily Allen : Smile

Powerful Pics

 

I came across the link to these 2006 Pulitzer winning pics on another blog, and had to post this particular one here. The whole set is powerful upon first viewing. They were taken by Todd Heisler of the Rocky Mountain News. You can see the rest of the pics and read more about them here.