By Joe Frey

George Carlin’s monologue “Baseball and Football?” [t]hough still accurate, Carlin’s almost wistful observations about the differences between the two sports merely allude to the cultural ramifications of these differences. Left explicitly unanswered is how “[i]n football you receive a penalty. In baseball you make an error” and other whimsical observations that reflect on the culture at large.

By Joe Frey

I love movies depicting scenes when an artist or, especially, a writer is working. Inevitably, the creative type is staring blankly out into a void, often with a pained and tortured expression. Then suddenly, as if overcome by an indigestion relief-inducing belch, the aspect brightens, the head lowers and the masterpiece is propelled outwards as effortlessly as foul, trapped air escaping the esophagus. Creativity, however, is not a function of reverse peristalsis.

By Terry McDermott

On Tuesday, August 21st, a CNBC commentator, taking a break from the TV station’s sub-prime credit crisis hysteria, switched to the announcement that The Chicago Tribune Co. shareholders had approved the sale of the company to Sam Zell and a ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan.) Said ESOP members are now left with 12 billion dollars in debt, certainly qualifying them to feel a credit crisis as well.

By Terry McDermott

By Matt McDermott

There is an art to everyday life. Whether it is work, family, relationships, spirituality, politics or a specific artistic practice, there’s an art to our creative engagement with the world around us. The constant change that constitutes our evolving way of being the people of Chicago includes literature and the visual and performing arts. The art of everyday life, however, is more expansive than traditional artistic practice alone. That is why we chose our working term to be culture.

By Matt McDermott