Welcome to the Arts and Culture page from The Culture House

It is our hope that this site will be a valuable resource for those interested in the impact of out modern culture on our daily lives and how we can influence that impact in a positive way. In the coming weeks and months, we will continue to add to this site with articles and links we find interesting and valuable to our readers. If you would like to contribute to this site, or have suggestions and comments, please contact me directly at The Culture House at kipton@culturehouse.com.

Enjoy, Kip

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"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Upcoming Events

Mar 29, 08 : Ellis Potter: “How to Read Films ”
Apr 26, 08: Jeremiah Enna: “Raising Artistic Kids to Succeed in Life, Faith, and the Arts”

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Patriotic painter portrays fallen soldiers

Lisa Cowan perches on a chair in her kitchen, the middle of all the action in the house she said,

to paint portraits of men who have given their lives to protect this country. (Read)
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Free at last: Störling Dance Theater scores stellar success with

work on Underground Railroad

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RAILING AGAINST SLAVERY

Kansas City Star calls Underground "Riviting, Powerful"

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A dear friend and family member passes

Marilyn Visel Blue, 77, of Palm Desert, CA passed on Saturday, January 12, 2008 at Eisenhower Memorial Hospital. Well known for her beauty, social graces, innovative entrepreneurial businesses and charitable involvements, Marilyn Visel Blue was a much beloved personality in the desert for over 40 years. She died surrounded by her loving family and many friends.

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Higher Earning Power as Adults is Music to Kids' Ears

NEW YORK -- Music may strike fire in the hearts of man, but does it also fill his pockets?
A recent study by Harris Interactive (HPOL: 3.79, -0.08, -2.06%) shows that 83% of people who make more than $150,000 a year had some type of musical training when they were young. According to the study, conducted in October of 2007, 86% of college graduates and 88% of people with postgraduate degrees had music lessons as children. That shows that being connected with music is important, said Regina Corso, director of the Harris Poll.

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Led Zeppelin's Rocking Return

For a band that hasn't been on stage together in almost 20 years -- and almost a decade more than that for a full performance -- Led Zeppelin was as tight as a rock group could be. Its members mixed their brand of rock and metal with an authority that suggested they still might be the best rock band in the world. more

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Ben Stein Wrote: (2005)

Herewith at this happy time of year, a few confessions from my beating heart:

I have no freaking clue who Nick and Jessica are. I see them on the cover of People and Us constantly when I am buying my dog biscuits and kitty litter. I often ask the checkers at the grocery stores. They never know who Nick and Jessica are either. Who are they? Will it change my life if I know who they are and why they have broken up? Why are they so important? I don't know who Lindsay Lohan is, either, and I do not care at all about Tom Cruise's wife.

Am I going to be called before a Senate committee and asked if I am a subversive? Maybe, but I just have no clue who Nick and Jessica are. Is this what it means to be no longer young. It's not so bad.

Next confession: I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are: Christmas trees. It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, "Merry Christmas" to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu. If people want a creche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.

I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.

Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship Nick and Jessica and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand Him?

I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where Nick and Jessica came from and where the America we knew went to.

Visit Ben's House

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Man Who Helped Start Stem Cell War May End It

If the stem cell wars are indeed nearly over, no one will savor the peace more than James A. Thomson.

________________________________________________________________________________________

Read “The Underground Railroad: A Vision For the Future” by Luke Bobo

________________________________________________________________________________________

Need a Long Spoon?
The new evangelical élites.
by W. Bradford Wilcox

Thankfully, the publication of Faith in the Halls of Power suggests that the American publishing industry's season of silliness when it comes to covering evangelicalism's influence in the public square has come to a close. In the last two years, we have had to endure such awful books as Kevin Phillips' American Theocracy and Randall Balmer's Thy Kingdom Come, with their crude and simplistic attacks on populist evangelical efforts to shape public policy and the culture. By contrast, sociologist D. Michael Lindsay's new book offers a nuanced and engrossing account of the complex role that evangelical élites are now playing in U.S. politics, academia, the entertainment industry, and corporate America (read more)

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Is modern art a left-wing conspiracy?
Ask a right winger who is in charge of the arts in Britain and they are likely to tell you that the arts are run by a liberal-left conspiracy - that the BBC, National Theatre, the Institute of Contemporary Arts and the Arts Council are all staffed by pinkos who generate propaganda in service of leftie causes.

________________________________________________________________________________________

THE GOLDEN COMPASS” SPARKS PROTEST

“Atheism for kids. That is what Philip Pullman sells. It is his hope that ‘The Golden Compass,’ which stars Nicole Kidman and opens December 7, will entice parents to buy his trilogy as a Christmas gift. (read more)

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Confusion Everywhere

No matter what "conventional wisdom" purports to tell us about the dominance of the Christian worldview in our culture, recent headlines illustrate the formidable challenges confronting Christian conservatives from inside and outside the church. (read more)

________________________________________________________________________________________

The Inaccuracy of Kathy Griffin's Remarks on Jesus

I just don't understand comedian Kathy Griffin. Please understand that I like her. She's been on the FOX News Channel quite a bit and for the brief times we've talked, I've found her to be funny and self-effacing. (read more)

Madeleine L'Engle at Home
You know her as the author of A Wrinkle in Time — possibly the best and most memorable young person's novel written in the United States since World War II. If you're lucky, you read or sampled a dozen or more of the 60-odd books she wrote for children and adults before passing away on Thursday at the age of 88. (read more)

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I’m Not Afraid of Death

In an interview with SPIEGEL, prominent Russian writer and Nobel laureate Alexander Solzhenitsyn discusses Russia's turbulent history, Putin's version of democracy and his attitude to life and death. (read more)

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Evangelicals Start Push in the Arts

After the 2001 terrorist strikes on the World Trade Center, three blocks from Fujimura's home, his work explored the power of fire to both destroy and purify, themes drawn from the Christian Gospels and Dante's "The Divine Comedy." (read more)

________________________________________________________________________________________

Why Atheism is Selling…Books

In his June/July First Things article, “Remembering the Secular Age,” along with emails he’s been sending us over the past few months, Michael Novak has been tracking the claim that atheism is back. Or so, at least, you might imagine from all the figures in recent months, one after another declaring a proud and militant rejection of God and all his works. (read more)

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Ballet Shoes is essential reading for aspiring dancers

The dramatisation of Noel Streatfeild's Ballet Shoes has only just been announced, but speculation is already rising as to whether it will galvanise a new generation of hopeful ballerinas and recreate the much-vaunted Billy Elliot effect for girls. (read more)

	The Culture House: Storling Dance
Ideas Faith & Culture Special Report: Slavery Arts Dance Music Theater Reviews Links TCH Store Contact Us

	Welcome to the Arts and Culture page from The Culture House It is our hope that this site will be a valuable resource for those interested in the impact of out modern culture on our daily lives and how we can influence that impact in a positive way. In the coming weeks and months, we will continue to add to this site with articles and links we find interesting and valuable to our readers. If you would like to contribute to this site, or have suggestions and comments, please contact me directly at The Culture House at kipton@culturehouse.com. Enjoy, Kip _______________________________________________________________________________________ "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." Martin Luther King, Jr. Upcoming Events Mar 29, 08 : Ellis Potter: “How to Read Films ” Apr 26, 08: Jeremiah Enna: “Raising Artistic Kids to Succeed in Life, Faith, and the Arts” _______________________________________________________________________________________ Patriotic painter portrays fallen soldiers Lisa Cowan perches on a chair in her kitchen, the middle of all the action in the house she said, to paint portraits of men who have given their lives to protect this country. (Read) _______________________________________________________________________________________ Free at last: Störling Dance Theater scores stellar success with work on Underground Railroad _______________________________________________________________________________________ RAILING AGAINST SLAVERY Kansas City Star calls Underground "Riviting, Powerful" ________________________________________________________________________________________ A dear friend and family member passes Marilyn Visel Blue, 77, of Palm Desert, CA passed on Saturday, January 12, 2008 at Eisenhower Memorial Hospital. Well known for her beauty, social graces, innovative entrepreneurial businesses and charitable involvements, Marilyn Visel Blue was a much beloved personality in the desert for over 40 years. She died surrounded by her loving family and many friends. ________________________________________________________________________________________ Higher Earning Power as Adults is Music to Kids' Ears NEW YORK -- Music may strike fire in the hearts of man, but does it also fill his pockets? A recent study by Harris Interactive (HPOL: 3.79, -0.08, -2.06%) shows that 83% of people who make more than $150,000 a year had some type of musical training when they were young. According to the study, conducted in October of 2007, 86% of college graduates and 88% of people with postgraduate degrees had music lessons as children. That shows that being connected with music is important, said Regina Corso, director of the Harris Poll. ________________________________________________________________________________________ Led Zeppelin's Rocking Return For a band that hasn't been on stage together in almost 20 years -- and almost a decade more than that for a full performance -- Led Zeppelin was as tight as a rock group could be. Its members mixed their brand of rock and metal with an authority that suggested they still might be the best rock band in the world. more ________________________________________________________________________________________ Ben Stein Wrote: (2005) Herewith at this happy time of year, a few confessions from my beating heart: I have no freaking clue who Nick and Jessica are. I see them on the cover of People and Us constantly when I am buying my dog biscuits and kitty litter. I often ask the checkers at the grocery stores. They never know who Nick and Jessica are either. Who are they? Will it change my life if I know who they are and why they have broken up? Why are they so important? I don't know who Lindsay Lohan is, either, and I do not care at all about Tom Cruise's wife. Am I going to be called before a Senate committee and asked if I am a subversive? Maybe, but I just have no clue who Nick and Jessica are. Is this what it means to be no longer young. It's not so bad. Next confession: I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are: Christmas trees. It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, "Merry Christmas" to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu. If people want a creche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away. I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat. Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship Nick and Jessica and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand Him? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where Nick and Jessica came from and where the America we knew went to. Visit Ben's House _____________________________________________________________________________________ Man Who Helped Start Stem Cell War May End It If the stem cell wars are indeed nearly over, no one will savor the peace more than James A. Thomson. ________________________________________________________________________________________ Read *“The Underground Railroad: A Vision For the Future”* by Luke Bobo ________________________________________________________________________________________ Need a Long Spoon? The new evangelical élites. by W. Bradford Wilcox Thankfully, the publication of *Faith in the Halls of Power* suggests that the American publishing industry's season of silliness when it comes to covering evangelicalism's influence in the public square has come to a close. In the last two years, we have had to endure such awful books as Kevin Phillips' American Theocracy and Randall Balmer's Thy Kingdom Come, with their crude and simplistic attacks on populist evangelical efforts to shape public policy and the culture. By contrast, sociologist D. Michael Lindsay's new book offers a nuanced and engrossing account of the complex role that evangelical élites are now playing in U.S. politics, academia, the entertainment industry, and corporate America (read more) ________________________________________________________________________________________ Is modern art a left-wing conspiracy? Ask a right winger who is in charge of the arts in Britain and they are likely to tell you that the arts are run by a liberal-left conspiracy - that the BBC, National Theatre, the Institute of Contemporary Arts and the Arts Council are all staffed by pinkos who generate propaganda in service of leftie causes. ________________________________________________________________________________________ THE GOLDEN COMPASS” SPARKS PROTEST “Atheism for kids. That is what Philip Pullman sells. It is his hope that ‘The Golden Compass,’ which stars Nicole Kidman and opens December 7, will entice parents to buy his trilogy as a Christmas gift. (read more) ________________________________________________________________________________________ Confusion Everywhere No matter what "conventional wisdom" purports to tell us about the dominance of the Christian worldview in our culture, recent headlines illustrate the formidable challenges confronting Christian conservatives from inside and outside the church. (read more) ________________________________________________________________________________________ The Inaccuracy of Kathy Griffin's Remarks on Jesus I just don't understand comedian Kathy Griffin. Please understand that I like her. She's been on the FOX News Channel quite a bit and for the brief times we've talked, I've found her to be funny and self-effacing. (read more) Madeleine L'Engle at Home You know her as the author of A Wrinkle in Time — possibly the best and most memorable young person's novel written in the United States since World War II. If you're lucky, you read or sampled a dozen or more of the 60-odd books she wrote for children and adults before passing away on Thursday at the age of 88. (read more) ________________________________________________________________________________________ I’m Not Afraid of Death In an interview with SPIEGEL, prominent Russian writer and Nobel laureate Alexander Solzhenitsyn discusses Russia's turbulent history, Putin's version of democracy and his attitude to life and death. (read more) ________________________________________________________________________________________ Evangelicals Start Push in the Arts After the 2001 terrorist strikes on the World Trade Center, three blocks from Fujimura's home, his work explored the power of fire to both destroy and purify, themes drawn from the Christian Gospels and Dante's "The Divine Comedy." (read more) ________________________________________________________________________________________ Why Atheism is Selling…Books In his June/July First Things article, “Remembering the Secular Age,” along with emails he’s been sending us over the past few months, Michael Novak has been tracking the claim that atheism is back. Or so, at least, you might imagine from all the figures in recent months, one after another declaring a proud and militant rejection of God and all his works. (read more) ________________________________________________________________________________________ Ballet Shoes is essential reading for aspiring dancers The dramatisation of Noel Streatfeild's Ballet Shoes has only just been announced, but speculation is already rising as to whether it will galvanise a new generation of hopeful ballerinas and recreate the much-vaunted Billy Elliot effect for girls. (read more)