This statement about the origins of Sostenuto: The Systems-Thinking Magazine of Arts & Sciences was originally written when the magazine was known as permaCulture and updated upon the transition to Sostenuto. Capitalism and the Industrial Revolution brought the greatest technological…
Category: Essays
“Green”-eyed Monsters
Following in the footsteps of Pixar’s previous full-length computer-generated successes, Monsters, Inc. provides eye-popping imagery, laugh-out-loud humor and three-dimensional characters — and I’m not just talking about the animation. Most significantly, though, like its predecessors, the film creates a complete…
A Prelude to Begin With
Life on earth has been evolving for billions of years. For all this time nobody was “in control” and, most of all, nobody was “managing things.” If anything could be said to have been in control, it was natural selection.…
“Isaac and Ishmael” and Ishmael
In response to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, creator/writer Aaron Sorkin and the other minds behind NBC’s The West Wing decided to delay the official start of the series’ third season, quickly creating a new…
Trading the World — for a Better One
On the night of September 11, 2001, President Bush said that the assaults on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon failed “to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat… Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings,…
The Invitation: When Will We Learn?
Note: This piece was written as an invitation to Mosaic: A Magazine of Arts, Sciences & Everything in Between, which evolved into this website. The links below have been updated to make sense within the Potluck context. This website contains…
The Sad Meaning of A.I.
I used to idolize Steven Spielberg, feeling that he could do no cinematic wrong. Though I remain a devoted fan, I’ve become more realistic about his work. Spielberg is definitely not perfect. However, whether working at his peak (E.T. –…
Free to Be Seinfeld
For 168 episodes, Seinfeld reveled in the most minute minutiae, eventually spinning those trivialities into plots with the most cosmic interrelations. The show about nothing was, as has been suggested many times, always really about something. But those somethings were…
Murderous Pinko Propaganda
The picture is of Ali Alata, Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, flipping the bird. His target, protesters for the freedom of the East Timor resistance leader, Xanana Gusmao. The caption reads, ‘Is this the man who wants to be the next general…
To Boycott or Not To Boycott
Recently I embarked on what should have been an easy task — the purchase of a new winter jacket. My old one was tattered, torn, and out of style. After a long search I finally found the perfect choice at…