Projects
The Calamus Project
In the late 1850s, Walt Whitman wrote Calamus: a sequence of 45 poems about camaraderie, friendship, and love among men, which he included in the 1860 edition of his collected poems, Leaves of Grass. He named the sequence after the calamus plant, or sweet flag, a tall flowering reed that grows in wetlands. These beautiful short poems offer a less familiar version of Whitman—more vulnerable and self-critical— and address same-sex relationships in ways well ahead of their time. They pose prophetic questions about the relationship of love to democracy. The goal of the Calamus Project is to present these poems and other work by Whitman in an engaging way through films, programs, and collaborations.
The Last Word
“Never say you know the last word about any human heart.”
— Henry James
The Last Word is an independent feature film directed by Tim McCusker, with a screenplay by Sam Magavern. It stars two icons of the Minneapolis music scene, deejay Mary Lucia and musician Matt Wilson. Lucia plays Izzy Wright, an attorney taking on the defense of her old law professor, who has been accused of downloading child pornography. Meanwhile, she is rekindling an old romance with Wilson’s character – Luke, a musician in a band called the Flops. Another Twin Cities music legend, John Munson, plays the part of Luke’s roommate and bandmate, and the soundtrack features multiple performances by Wilson and Munson.
Containing Multitudes
This playlist contains roughly 200 different Bob Dylan songs covered by a truly multitudinous array of artists.
Favorite Live Performances.
Ten of my favorite live performances, culled from concerts, late-night television shows, and music blogs.
