Category: Culture

Sunday Morning Reading

Winter is coming. Or is it here?

It’s a Sunday and that means it’s time for Sunday Morning Reading. Fall is beginning its march towards Winter, but the chill in the unusually warm Chicago temperatures this weekend aren’t weather related. Some of that is reflected in today’s selections as well as other topics, some that feed the soul, while others fuel the fires.

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It’s tough to watch what’s going on in the streets of some of our cities and towns, and there’s no denying what Ian F. Blair points out That The United Police State of America Has Arrived.

Another Ian, this time Ian Dunt, discusses The Politics of Drawing a Moral Line, sketching a parallel between events in Britain and the Ezra Klein interview with Ta-Nehisi Coates. By the way, I encourage you to listen to that interview. It’s not easy, but nothing is these days.

Chicago’s Neil Steinberg comments that Next, Dyeing the River Green Will Be Cast As A Terrorist Act. I don’t think he’s far off.

On the Artificial Intelligence front, what was bound to happen happened when OpenAI released Sora, its tool for creating short movies, or better yet (worse yet?) putting yourself into one. That followed quickly on the heels of the uproar over the creation of Tilly Norwood, an AI actress created out of bits and bytes, and her creator seeking talent agent representation. Hollywood producers and bean counters are thirsting over better bottom lines ahead. Maureen Dowd has an interesting look at When A.I. Came For Hollywood.

Meanwhile one of the tech overlords, Peter Thiel, is obsessed with the antichrist and thinks tech is the only way to keep whatever that is from destroying us all. Laura Bullard takes a look at what’s behind Thiel’s obsession. Don’t be surprised at where Thiel drew some of his inspiration in The Real States, and Real Story, of Peter Thiel’s Antichrist Obsession. 

Continuing on the Artificial Intelligence beat, Bullsh*t Warning from John Warner, examines how to think about writing in the age of AI.

Mathew Ingram asks So What’s So Great About Reading Books? 

And to wrap things up this week, take a look at Christopher Michael Hefner’s On Letting Go Of The Idea Of The Tortured Artist. 

I included the image above from Fotgraf Petrova Olga on Shutterstock of an empty playground because I noticed this week that Chicago’s parks and playgrounds are empty of the laughter and life we usually experience due to ICE activity throughout the city before Winter begins to set in. There’s a different chill in the air this Fall.

If you’re interested in just what the heck Sunday Morning Reading is all about you can read more about the origins of Sunday Morning Reading here. If you’d like more click on the Sunday Morning Reading link in the category column to check out what’s been shared on Sunday’s past. You can also find more of my writings on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome.

Hollywood Stars Relaunch The Committee For The First Amendment

History once again repeating itself

In the tumult that is the debate over freedom of speech and the First Amendment, a large group of Hollywood celebrities, led in this effort by Jane Fonda, have relaunched The Committee for the First Amendment. I’m glad to see it.

Committee for the First Amendment.

First created during the McCarthy ‘Red Scare’ era after government repression of American citizens for their political beliefs, the original Committee for the First Amendment was also a group of Hollywood actors, producers, directors, writers and more attempting to fight the repression led by Joe McCarthy’s efforts to purge communists from all walks of life. That repression led to black lists, the end of careers, and a black stain on the freedoms American’s cherish. Sadly, we’re back there again.

Some in today’s world of complicit media like to call this current mess a debate over freedom of speech. That’s bullshit in my opinion. There’s no debate in the attempts to label what speech, what entertainment, what ideas are allowed or not, certainly to when you have many Hollywood and media executives willing to bend the knee to the fascist regime we now have in place.

Here’s an excerpt from the webpage:

The federal government is once again engaged in a coordinated campaign to silence critics in the government, the media, the judiciary, academia, and the entertainment industry.

We refuse to stand by and let that happen. Free speech and free expression are the inalienable rights of every American of all backgrounds and political beliefs – no matter how liberal or conservative you may be. The ability to criticize, question, protest, and even mock those in power is foundational to what America has always aspired to be.

We understand that this is a frightening and confusing moment for many people. We recognize that we represent just one group of many who are under threat right now. Across classrooms, libraries, factories, companies and workplaces of all kinds, Americans of every walk of life are facing intimidation and censorship too — and we stand with them.

We know there is power in solidarity and strength in numbers. We will stand together—fiercely united—to defend free speech and expression from this assault. This is not a partisan issue. That is why we urge every American who cares about the First Amendment—the cornerstone of our democracy—and every artist around the globe who looks to the United States as a beacon of freedom to join us.

The list of those signing on is long. Here’s hoping we see more join in for what appears at the moment to be a long fight. And not just from Hollywood. It’s going to take this kind of action in all sectors of our society.

You can also find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above.

Final Trailer for Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein Released

Looking forward to this

I’m looking forward to the release of Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein on Netflix perhaps more than any other film to be released this fall. The movie hits theaters on October 7 and streams on Netflix beginning November 7th. The official trailer has now been released. 

Mary Shelly’s tale of the monster who created a monster has been so twisted around in so many different incarnations it’s hard to separate the takes from the original fiction. That’s not a complaint, it’s just what it is. I can imagine this one will offer up a unique twist or two given Guillermo del Toro’s previous films. 

I’m really looking forward to this and hope it lives up to its promise.

You can also find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above.

Sunday Morning Reading

Traveling through the crazy paying attention along the way

It’s been a fortnight since I’ve published one of these columns due to travel. So much has happened. The travel adventures to London and Memphis were great. The way the world continues to pull itself apart continues to not be, as witnessed by protests and a madman’s threats of troops in the streets followed me from Chicago to London to Memphis. You can shut off and shut down to enjoy new places and visit dear friends, but the insanity keeps getting more insane. So, Sunday Morning Reading is back at it this week, with a mix of politics, culture and a bit of tech. (Oh, yeah, Apple released new iPhones during all of that.) If you can’t feel the currents flowing together, you’re not paying attention.

On my travels my wife and I caught some theatre. Two plays by Shakespeare and the contemporary play Stereophonic. The two Shakespeares were one of his worst, Merry Wives of Windsor, and one of the best, Hamlet. We’re theatre rats and know the importance of the medium and certainly recognize the role writers in all mediums play in our lives, history, and culture. So too does a favorite writer of mine, David Todd McCarty. Check out his important piece The Reason You Need To Be Making Art Right Now. And if I may be so bold, the other Sunday Morning Reading links below demonstrate that to a tee.

NatashaMH reflects on free speech, punk rebellion and British satire in When Satire Was Safe. Great piece. I dare say, satire has never been safe even when tolerated. Plenty of fools can attest to that. Ask Yorick.

I mentioned there’d be politics and here’s a few links to some excellent context on just how damn familiar all of what we’re living through is. For those who bother to pay attention. First up is Mark Hertling’s Beware Today’s ‘Fire-Eaters’. If you don’t know that term, read the piece. You’ll recognize today’s fire-eaters in a second.

On a broader scale, take a look at Nikki McCann Ramirez’s interview with Mike Duncan in Are We Witnessing The Fall Of The American Empire? My short answer is yes. Here’s the money quote that should terrify us all:

So if we go this route, we’re going to have congresses, we’re going to have Supreme Courts, we’re going to have a President of the United States, there will be governors, there will be elections, it’s just what’s happening underneath that facade. The facade is never going to go away, it’s how tissue-thin the facade is.

Follow that up with George Packer’s America’s Zombie Democracy.

For a bit of recent history and context, check out The Story of DOGE, As Told By Federal Workers from a team of Wired writers led by Zoe Schiffer.

As I mentioned Apple released new iPhones last week. Om Malik seems quite taken with the new iPhone Air, although he has some concerns in Go Out & Get Some Air.

In this column and other posts I’ve been following Denny Henke’s journey to de-Apple himself in his tech life with a keen interest. I greatly admire his drive and his sharing of his efforts. Check out My Ongoing Effort To de-Apple the iPad.

And to bring this all back around, take a look at Neely’s Tucker’s sharing of a guest post by Patrick Hastings,  Nobody Would Edit Shakespeare, Right? Right? They have and they do. David Garrick wasn’t the first or the last. Throughout history we always look for the ways to make it easier to swallow tragic moments and unhappy endings. In the theatre and on the stages of our lives.

(The image above is of David Garrick’s monument in Westminster Abbey, taken by me on my recent travels.

If you’re interested in just what the heck Sunday Morning Reading is all about you can read more about the origins of Sunday Morning Reading here. If you’d like more click on the Sunday Morning Reading link in the category column to check out what’s been shared on Sunday’s past. You can also find more of my writings on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome.

Nothing Lasts Forever

Another chapter of Chicago theatre history comes to a close

You know how you know that nothing lasts forever? When you go online to search for images of a place you worked, shed more than a few beads of sweat, blood, and tears in, and you can’t find images of it.

That’s the case here. I’m referring to Theatre Building, at 1225 W Belmont, Chicago. Yes, there is no “the” in front of it. Like Apple insists that there is no “the” before iPhone. In the case of the performance space that was intentional. Pretentious maybe, but purposeful nonetheless.

Theatre Building was founded as such in 1977 by three theatre companies: Travel Light Theatre, Pary Productions and the Dinglefest Theatre Company. The latter of those became Performance Community, and then the New Tuners Theatre, and after Travel Light and Pary Productions hit their respective closings, ended up managing the three theatre complex.

At one point or another just about every Chicago theatre company, and some from outside the city, rented performance space there. It was one of the centers of gravity in the Chicago theatre landscape. I can’t tell you the number of amazing performances by Chicago actors that I’ve seen on those stages. Shows hit. Shows flopped. Shows happened. And that was the point and purpose of Theatre Building.

Theatre Building was sold to Stage 773 in 2010 and still continued providing a home for Chicago theatres, until it changed it’s focus and became WHIM, which was supposed to be a sort of interactive attraction before it folded.

Here we are in 2025 and The Chicago City Council has granted approval for the property to be converted to a five-story apartment complex. As I said. nothing lasts forever.

My theatre company, The Absolute Theatre Company rented space there for a number of years, and I later served on the staff of New Tuners Theatre and helped manage the facility. I helped renovate the three theatre spaces in the late 90’s. So there are quite a few personal memories attached to those stages. They seems like another lifetime ago.

Change happens. The sad thing about this one is that there are three less performance spaces in Chicago, but that’s been the case since Stage 773 ran into financial difficulties and had to shut down after becoming WHIM.

I may not have been able to find a picture this morning of Theatre Building, but I do have this brick from the building that was given to me after my last show, before I headed out to Virginia for that part of my theatre career.

Guess I’ll hang on to that piece of Chicago theatre history.

You can also find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above.

Jimmy Kimmel’s Return: Grace and Strength

Perhaps a spark

Jimmy Kimmel returned to the air in some places last night. In my opinion, he did so with grace and with strength. 

He certainly didn’t give any ground as a comedian, continuing to needle the Trump administration and the two-faced chair of the FCC, Brendan Carr. But he also showed a great deal of grace given the moments he and we have all been through since this episode of life under a crazy emperor with no clothes. 

I’m linking to the video above with his opening monologue, because one way on the other the moment is a piece of broadcast and cultural history. The optimist in me hopes it will prove to be bigger than that, perhaps a turning point. The realist in me thinks we’re due for some sequels. 

Here’s hoping people and the cowardly CEOs have learned a lesson or two before the next sequel is given a green light. I’m not holding my breath on the latter. I have more hope for the former.

You can also find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above.

Add Satire to the List of the Dead

The Grim Reaper is hiring

The list of the things killed by this soul-less adminstration and it’s bloodthirsty allies keeps growing.

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In the wake of the Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel silencing, satire now joins Congress, The Rule of Law, Irony, Facts, The Constitution, Academic Institutions, Law firms, Religion, the Media, corporate titans, health care, women’s rights…the list just keeps growing.

At this rate the graveyards are filling up and the Grim Reaper will be the only one hiring soon enough.

Eventually they will run out of targets. You could argue that the way they are turning on each other over the Epstein files and a few other things they are fast approaching that point.

I just wish that pace of cannibalism would speed up.

We Have To Do Better. At What Exactly?

The time is out of joint

We’re burning up the words and phrases we use for comfort faster than out-of-control wildfires. We’re drowning meaning under flash floods of ravaging frequency. We’re dancing around sensitivities like so many angels on the head of a pin, ignoring that the pin has been smashed into smithereens by a sledge hammer. We keep looking for better angels of our nature to appear but they seem to have given up the ghost trying to reign things in. The time is out of joint.

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The meaningless phrase of the moment this morning that has gotten my goat is “we have to do better.”

What the hell does that even mean?

We pretend that everyone cares about the outrage of political violence. Not everyone does. There are those that care only enough to use it to their own advantage and want to see more of it. Yes, it’s about power. But it’s increasingly  become about the money, because you can make boatloads of it preaching hate and division. You know, free speech and all of that.

We have to do better.

There’s no “better” to do when it comes to language, because language only expresses what is felt inside. About self. About others. About domination. About fear. And when the “better” is about better profits… well, that’s the world we live in and at the moment it’s what’s making the world spin faster.

Step away from politics for a second.

When a sports team loses and coaches and players say “we have to do better” or “we have to play better” it means nothing. Of course they do. They lost.

When a business doesn’t meet its sales targets, they always say “we have to do better.” Unless of course they’re spinning losses into wins hoping no one pays attention.

Shift back to political world.

The spinning happens there as well, with a speed that can burn through the surface it’s spinning on. Yet, it’s a bit late to want to do better after the bullet has struck a target so broadly painted.

We can no longer expect appeals to better angels or doing better to work. It’s a naive call to a different past that in many respects never existed, even though on the surface it seemed to. We should no longer be afraid of phrases like civil war, because in case you haven’t noticed, we’re in one. People are being killed in their homes, at rallies, in schools, just about in any place. Sad fact of history, what we want to believe is random violence by extremists always happens before someone declares that a war is on. But hey, we’ve got a deranged lunatic of a leader who wants to meme one into being, while we spend so much time trying to figure out what we know is the why of it.

You can argue that the extremists aren’t the ones with the guns, but the ones with the big mouths and the AI bots at their command. No one is going to clamp down on the rhetoric any more than they are going to clamp down on guns, and it has already bubbled over into a toxic stew. How are you going to “do better” when all sides claim their way is the better way? I don’t have an answer for that question, because I’m afraid I actually know the answer and there’s nothing “better” about it.

The only thing we have to “do better” at is recognizing the horrors of the moment we’re in and facing it for the reality that it is. You and I certainly don’t want to see and hear what we’re seeing and hearing. But we’re too far down that road to not acknowledge we’ve arrived at a terrible place.

Hamlet says:

‘The time is out of joint: O cursed spite,
That ever I was born to set it right!’

I feel like we’re all caught in Hamlet’s dilemma. Wanting to fix it, but afraid to the point of cursing what will eventually need to be done.

You can also find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above.

Sunday Morning Reading

Sunday Morning Reading is on hiatus this week as we continue our travels, this time abroad.

Sunday Morning Reading will return next week. Possibly. Maybe. With luck.

If you’re interested in just what the heck Sunday Morning Reading is all about you can read more about the origins of Sunday Morning Reading here. If you’d like more click on the Sunday Morning Reading link in the category column to check out what’s been shared on Sunday’s past. You can also find more of my writings on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome.