Chicago is going crazy over the Bears upcoming trip to the Super Bowl. Even I, fan of the other kind of football, found myself watching the game in a sports bar last Sunday. Now some of Chicago’s arts organizations have contributed to the Bears Fever raging through the city. First, the Lyric Opera of...
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“Jimmy, I love Wikipedia. It’s an amazing creation — one that I use every single day. Like you, I want it to be as accurate and objective as possible. I admire the fact that you strive tirelessly for these ideals.” That’s how Scott Baradell over at Media Orchard describes Wikipedia in an open letter...
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The reason I watched last night’s State of the Union address was not because of the spoken language. There was nothing new there; same old political speech. In fact, I fast-forwarded through most of the War on Terror parts. But there is something else that makes it worth while to watch; and that something...
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I want to return to the extracurricular differences for a bit. As I explained, when there is poor funding, there are poor activities. But what about well-funded schools? If the after-school activities are running like they should, such a system might be favorable over the European system. Music and the arts are much more...
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A post by Jim Hirsch on Chicago Classical Music on high school athletics versus music education made me think about the difference between Europe and the United States. In the United States, sports are mostly associated with schools and therefore, rivalries are mostly between schools. In Europe, however, sports are mostly associated with villages...
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Last Friday it was exactly five years ago that I boarded a train from Arnhem to Vienna. Little did I know that my entire life would change as a result. The plan was a one-year sabbatical working in Austria followed by an undergraduate degree in communication in Eindhoven, probably followed by a job in...
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I just spent around 10 days in the Netherlands, celebrating the holidays with family. Every time I go back, I am becoming more and more aware of some of the differences between the Netherlands (or Europe in general) and the United States. I found myself saying the often irritating “well, in the United States...
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