As the year draws to a close, we have a chance to reflect on all of our mistakes. The disappointment and despair that can accompany such reflections can be overwhelming and discouraging. Yet we must strive to find our inner strength and right our wrongs. In his short story, “East of the Sun and West…
Righting Our Wrongs: Peter Christen Asbjornsen’s Fairy Tale, ‘East of the Sun and West of the Moon’
O’ Christmas Tree: Reflecting on a Long Tradition
December 13, 2022
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Arts & CultureArts & TraditionBrightChristmas treecrècheGuiseppe SanmartinoHistoryMetropolitan Museum of Art
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During this holiday season of giving, many of us put up a Christmas tree. We decorate it with ornaments and place gifts for our loved ones underneath. What is the origin and evolution of this long tradition? A Transcendent Symbol Evergreen trees—the type of tree often used for Christmas trees—has had symbolic use all throughout…
‘It’s a Wonderful Life’: How America’s Greatest Christmas Movie Was Made
“It’s a Wonderful Life” is arguably the greatest holiday film in American cinematic history. Frank Capra, the legendary film director, stated in his autobiography that it was his greatest film. In fact, he thought it was the greatest film ever made. The premise of the film is that a man so down on himself that…
Inside the Story of Mary Rowlandson, the Courageous Colonial Woman Who Endured Captivity and Lived to Share Her Tale
Not many people today have heard of King Philip’s War. Though a small-scale event by modern standards, it devastated colonial America. As Plymouth Colony expanded in the years following the Mayflower’s arrival, the famous positive relations between Pilgrims and Wampanoag Indians started to break down. Plymouth’s second-generation leaders began to violate treaties negotiated by their…
Film Review: ‘Dragon Eats Eagle’: Connecting COVID-19 and the 2020 Election With Biting Humor
PG-13 | 1h 26min | Comedy, Satire, Parody, Lampoon, Politics | 13 December 2022 (USA) Of the many branches of comedy, satire, parody, and lampoon are the only ones which require the audience to have a rudimentary understanding of the subject matter going in. Farce or slapstick, and situational, observational, dark or blue humor, and even knock-knock jokes succeed or fail…
The Triptych: A Masterpiece in Three Parts
In the Early Renaissance, a rich, spiritually minded merchant would often want to honor God for his good fortune. As a devout believer, he prayed at home and would commission a triptych, which was a small, three-paneled painting to be placed in a niche as his personal shrine. The panels, compact and mobile, were often…
Film Review: ‘The Swimmers’: True Story of Two Heroic Syrian Swimmer Sisters
PG-13 | 2h 14m | Sports, Docudrama | November 23, 2022 ”The Swimmers,” directed by Sally El Hosaini for Netflix, recreates the heroic real-life story of two young sisters from war-torn Syria, who arduously hero’s-journeyed—yes I made up a verb—to freedom in Germany. They are sisters Sarah Mardini and Yusra Mardini, played by sisters Manal Issa and Nathalie…
Operation Jaywick: Sinking Japan | Documentary
December 12, 2022
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Arts & CultureArts & TraditionAustralianBrightBritishcommandosdaringdocumentariesdocumentaryEpoch CinemaEpochTVFilm & TVJapanJapaneseJaywickremarkableSingaporestorySubscribers OnlywarWorld
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This film is only available in the United States and Canada because of territorial licensing. This documentary is the remarkable story of a daring attack by 14 British and Australian commandos on Japanese ships anchored in a Singapore harbor during World War II. * Click the “Save” button below the video to access it later…
How Young George Washington Confronted Enemies and Wild Animals to Deliver an Eviction Notice to the French
December 11, 2022
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American EssenceAmerican RevolutionArts & CultureBrightFrench and Indian WarGeorge WashingtonHistoryPittsburgh
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It is a little known fact that in addition to being the foremost Founding Father, George Washington was unwittingly involved in the first world war. What Americans call the French and Indian War, which Europeans call the Seven Years’ War, took place because of a fight over Pittsburgh. This fight was begun by no other…
Theater Review: ‘Stardust Road’: Too-Airy Soufflé
NEW YORK—The music of Hoagy Carmichael (1899–1981) takes center stage in “Stardust Road.” Presented by The York Theatre Company at its temporary home at Theatre at St. Jeans, the show offers audiences the chance to experience some time-honored classics. Tunes which include “Ole Buttermilk Sky,” “In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening,” “Lazy River,”…
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