Topic: Commentary

Not so long ago in a theater near you …

By Christine Anne Piesyk | May 24, 2007 |

Once upon a time there was a handsome young man from a broken family, living on a planetary wasteland with an aunt and uncle…he races around his lunar-like landscape on a landspeeder, running errands for his uncle — things like buying androids and robots from very short creatures wearing inter-galactic versions of monks robes — but in one violent afternoon, he finds himself en route to becoming an inter-gallactic hero …

Welcome to world of Luke Skywalker, Director George Lucas’s ground-breaking fantasy that would rev up the imaginations of millions of moviegoers. That was 30 years ago (May 25, 1977). Where were you when Star Wars changed the face of movies? «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: Arts and Leisure | 1 Comment »

Support our unsung ‘Heroes’

By Christine Anne Piesyk | May 9, 2007 |

KeyKey came to visit me today — it’s been a while. I took the out the hidden box of doggie treats, but he kept eyeing the refrigerator door, hoping for better things, knowing I am a sucker. And when it comes to him, I should be.

He was on his best behavior, all dog, all cute, panting, excited that he’s been for a ride in the car with the windows open, his ears flapping in the breeze. He likes to ride. Crazy for it. Not quite sure why he was at grandma’s house, but hey, grandma’s cool.

KeyKey was about to be photographed with me for the annual Red Cross “Heroes” campaign.

“Heroes,” for the purpose of this campaign, are the people in a community who make significant donations to support the all volunteer efforts of the Red Cross. The agency runs almost exclusively with volunteers as its life’s blood, but the infrastructure costs money to run: office space to lease, communications gear, radios and GPS equipment, computers, laptops for the field, volunteer training, community outreach, CPR and other paid classes that help support the local chapter, emergency vehicles to maintain and stock … it’s no different than any other business in that respect. Clarksville’s Red Cross is a local chapter run with local dollars. Donors wanted. «Read the rest of this article»

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Stunning ‘Il Trittico’ delights opera fans

By Christine Anne Piesyk | April 28, 2007 |

A stunning performance of Giacomo Puccini’s complete three-act Il Trittico played to a near capacity crowd at Green Hills Mall in Nashville Saturday, a high-definition big screen broadcast of the New York Metropolitan Opera Live from Lincoln Center. Maestro James Levine conducted.

First performed in 1918, Il Trittico is actually three distinct one-act operas, two heart-wrenching tragedies followed by a light-hearted look at living, dying and “the will.”

The opening segment, Il Tabarro, unfolds its tragedy in the form of a lovers triangle — with the faithless wife Giorgetta (Maria Guleghina) mourning the loss of a child, falling from her husband’s arms into the passionate embrace of an all too eager Luigi (Salvatore Licitra). Guleghina brings a beauty and power to the role, torn between what was, what is and what will be, yearning for the physical love of Luigi, while waging a love/hate war with her husband Michele (Juan Pons), the father of her lost child. Licitar’s voice, in a word, mesmerizes as he sings of his adoration and his frustration at not being able to claim his new love for his own. Pons offers a haunting aria of passion, hatred and despair as he realizes his wife has betrayed him, has triggered in him the power to kill. «Read the rest of this article»

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One unknown soldier

By Christine Anne Piesyk | January 4, 2007 |

He had short, shorn hair, sunkissed blond, and didn’t look old enough to be out of high school. Light skin, pale skin. Blue eyes. His faced was peppered with healing scabs on one side. Shoulders that should have been energetically squared off were instead slumped, as if shouldering burdens the rest of us could not imagine.

He leaned back against the wall, a bright blue wall that looked like sky. His eyes, those blue eyes, looked out across the room, but they didn’t seem to see; instead they held a vacancy, a distance, looking far away and anywhere but where he was. He looked old, in the way that only someone who has experienced great loss can look old. «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: Opinion, Politics | No Comments

Rethinking the “New Year’s Resolution”

By Christine Anne Piesyk | December 28, 2006 |

“What’s your resolution, Grandma?”

I fielded that question years ago, when my grandchildren were much younger, having already abandoned the concept of an annual commitment I may or may not be able to keep. There’s got to be a better way, I told myself, as the issue grew into discussion that grew into a process of life planning I’ve kept for years.

I don’t resolve to complete anything. I plan. I dream. I explore. I follow the sage advice of a wonderful teacher from my adolescence who, when questioned about how she knew “so much about everything,” replied, “Each year I pick a subject about which I know nothing, or am curious about, or that simply appeals to me, and I use my spare time to learn more about it. I may love the subject, or hate it, but I won’t really know until I immerse myself in it and see where it takes me.”

That was my beginning. And in that beginning, I studied horticulture — extending the one-year study to three when I fell in love with plants. I dabbled in interior design. I learned to crochet. I studied children’s special education law. I explored poetry and discovered pre-Raphaelite art. I went back to college. My lists are almost 40 years long now. «Read the rest of this article»

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THE POUR HOUSE CAFE

By Larry Dunlap | December 22, 2006 |

My friend, Leonard had cornered me at The Pour House Café and asked for my help in writing a song.

“Ok, Leonard,” I said, “just what kind of song are you writing?”

“A protest song, I want to write a protest song.”

I hesitated, but knew I had to ask. “What are you protesting, Leonard?”

“Indoor toilets, that’s what, indoor toilets!”

«Read the rest of this article»

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One button says it all, Don’t buy war toys

By Christine Anne Piesyk | December 10, 2006 |

I was rumaging through the last boxes, the little boxes packed within boxes, of things to sort in my new home, when I found this small blue button and its four word slogan, “Don’t buy war toys,” one of several given to me years ago by teacher, activist, and author Joyce Kornbluh, my inspirational first advisor at Goddard College in rural Vermont. The others had to to with the women’s labor movement, her passion.

I held it in my hand as I first considered putting it in my personal treasures box. Not good enough, I thought. I need to wear this again, now, when the frenzy of holiday shopping is at its peak and the fatalities in Iraq are skyrocketing toward the 3000 mark and the newest movies are being heralded as “bloodbaths,” each director trying to outdo competitors in graphic audio/visual detail. «Read the rest of this article»

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The Holiday Season

By Christine Anne Piesyk | November 29, 2006 |

Thanksgiving has come and gone, quietly spent with family, the extended kind with children and grandchildren and stepchildren and their children. The dog that saved two of us from the fire that destroyed our home got the huge bone from the ham to gnaw on. Some of these grandchildren were among the brave who charged into stores full of deals for some early holiday shopping in the pre-dawn hours of the day after the feast. They’re braver than me; I would have been the person everyone else was trampling on in what has become an annual stampede at chain stores and malls across America. That’s not for me.

I hibernate after Thanksgiving, and I plan. I even start writing my Christmas cards, which I usually buy in July. Actually, I bought mine in July but they are crisply burnt now. «Read the rest of this article»

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