The artists who made the Renaissance the Renaissance were well-funded by European merchants and city rulers who’d made their fortunes through war, commerce, and taxes. Today, it doesn’t take multi-generational assets to become a patron. Anyone with a few dollars can support good art now. And there’s a new opportunity to help. Filmmaker Leslie Foster […]
The portal of language
I’m a few chapters into the recent film Arrival. (I intend to finish watching over the next two weeks so if you’ve seen it and are going to see me, please: no spoilers!) The story begins with Dr. Louise Banks, a linguistics college professor who’s in class the day that 12 giant pods from an extraterrestrial civilization […]
Denial and opinions
There are two films called “Denial” out this year. One, a documentary, features climate change and the US energy system. I watched the other, a quiet drama based on a book about Emory professor Deborah Lipstadt’s legal confrontation with Holocaust denier David Irving. In 1994, Lipstadt was traveling around the US speaking about her recent book, Denying […]
Watch Disruption and Listen to Climate Stew
If you have 53 minutes today or at any time this week, you have the time to watch 350.org’s film, Disruption. It’s captioned in English. “DISRUPTION” – a film by KELLY NYKS & JARED P. SCOTT from Watch Disruption on Vimeo. “Climate change exacerbates every kind of social injustice that faith communities have fought against for […]
News: The Record Keeper’s Now Dead
“There are no secrets.” And now there is no Record Keeper. The Adventist News Network and other Adventist sources report today that the General Conference will not release The Record Keeper project: The Record Keeper is dead. The GC’s April 11 press release states that the project is “suspended” and “similar creative outreach projects” might be possible in future. Back in January I […]
About Noah—and What Happens After Trauma
This post mashes up a lot of things, including descriptions of violence, genocide, religious hatred, and religious apathy; literature and Christian hermeneutics; and mild spoilers for the new movie Noah (2014, Darren Aronofsky and Ari Mendel). Don’t read on if you haven’t seen the film yet and still intend to. Also don’t read if you’ve been struggling with […]
