Art and Culture

There are a number of opportunities to get involved this week.  We also talk about some arts and entertianment events and some things to help get you, or keep you healthy. (read more)

I’m Jim McKeown, welcome to Likely Stories, a weekly review of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and biographies

Josephine Edna O'Brien was born December 15, 1930.  She is an Irish novelist playwright, poet, and short-story writer.  The President of Ireland, Mary Robinson, cited her as "one of the great creative writers of her generation."  She has penned more than 25 works of fiction.  Her stories are heartfelt, poignant, and breathtaking.  

The Heavenly Dew Drops were one of many first-rate artists to release music through Detroit's legendary HOB Records label. 

In Episode 77 of Downtown Depot, show host Austin Meek interviews Katie Selman. Selman discusses her move from Brooklyn to Waco and her desire to bring punk, rap, and rock music to Waco with her organization "Keep Waco Loud." Before that interview, Meek shines the Small Business Spotlight on Gene Vinnykov of Koko Ramen and talks with real estate experts Austin Hooper and Greg Glime about the Waco market heading into 2020. 

From MLK Day activities to the Brazos River Clean Up, there is plenty to do in Waco this week.  

I’m Jim McKeown, welcome to Likely Stories, a weekly review of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and biographies.

A new writer I recently discovered, has led me to an amazing story of love and passion.  The story revolves around three couples loosely connected by time and space, with a thinner connection by blood.  André Aciman’s latest novel, Find Me, is a powerful story of the connections created by love.  Find Me is a sequel to Call Me by Your Name.  He has written six other novels.  He lives with his wife in Manhattan.

Sometimes the most perceptive voice in a controversy comes from an artist who sees it up close.

Last week I mentioned that the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond has just installed a monumental new sculpture by an artist named Kehinde Wiley, the first work of sculpture he’s created.  And it might just be one of the most powerful works of art you’ll ever see.

Wiley based the form of his work on a 1907 equestrian statue of Confederate General JEB Stuart that sits prominently on Richmond’s Monument Avenue.  In content, however, Wiley’s statue is quite different.  Well, the horse is the same.  But sitting on it in an equally heroic pose is a young African American man in street clothes with dreadlocks, torn jeans, and Nike shoes.  The effect is overwhelming.

"Lord, I'm the True Vine" is one of the earliest recorded precursors of gospel music, recorded in 1930 by the otherwise unknown Eddie Head & Family. 

Ready for a fresh start?

See what 2020 has to offer in Waco this week by taking in some art, laughing at the comedy club, or checking out the Oak Ridge Boys at the Waco Hippodrome!

I’m Jim McKeown, welcome to Likely Stories, a weekly review of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and biographies.

Louisa Treger has an amazing dual history.  She started as a classical violinist, and then to a Ph.D in English.  She lives in London, and this is her second novel. 

By interacting with art from the past a contemporary artist can often create something new and powerful.

There are few forms of art more formulaic than the portrait. That’s not exactly a complaint—more than perhaps any other form of art, portraits serve a purpose.  Whether through canvas and paint, or marble, clay, or bronze their job is to convey what a person looks like, and to commemorate the ideas for which the person stands. If they don’t do that, they still could be a good work of art, but they fail as a portrait. 

Sister Lucille Pope and the Pearly Gates never had much luck in gospel music - but that didn't keep them from releasing a host of killer gospel songs. 

I’m Jim McKeown, welcome to Likely Stories, a weekly review of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and biographies.

One of my most often reviewed authors is Ian McEwan.  I always learn a few things and add to my vocabulary while thoroughly enjoying his work.  His latest novel is Machines Like Me.  I pondered whether he likes machines or the machines like him.  Answering that conundrum will require a serious exploration of the human mind.

The end of the year is a good time to look back over at new art that you may have missed

One thing I always look forward to at the end of every year are the little retrospectives that come out in newspapers, magazines, and blogs about what things constituted the best art of the preceding 12 months. I like reading lists of what knowledgeable people think were the best recordings, the best plays, the best art exhibits, over the course of the year. Inevitably I’ve heard of, or seen, or listened to, far fewer of these than I should have and, I always have to admit that on some of the lists, I’ve never even heard of most of them.

Gladys McFadden and The Loving Sisters were both civil rights heroes and gospel music innovators.