I agree that this particular show’s format was unique in blending art and news as nother said. Living in New Orleans for the last 10 years, I was interested in hearing how it would play out.

Today I had a lunch with an interesting mix of people and it is amazing how many thoughts/questions/ideas everyone still has re: katrina and the future of this area.

With the recent interviews and the video tape featuring Brown and our most esteemed president, I have redefined my own opinion of ‘Browny’ (or is it brownie?).

It is interesting to think back on his testimony at the hearings…he seemes to have changed his tune quite a bit over the last few months….ahh the liberation of losing a job

Act 1 – Michael Brown’s old college buddy, Bush’s former chief of staff in Texas, and 2000 campaign manager headed FEMA

In 2001, Allbaugh told Congress that, “Many are concerned that federal disaster assistance may have evolved into both an oversized entitlement program and a disincentive to effective state and local risk management. Expectations of when the federal government should be involved and the degree of involvement may have ballooned beyond what is an appropriate level.”

Act 2 – Government fails, Wal-Mart and Home Depot shine and Veri-chip gets a contract to put a rfid chip in every corpse.

Act 3 – New Orleans is reconstructed by private contractors using illegal aliens, who are often abused and unpaid, New Orleaneans are unemployed. Money flows. Like Iraq, we are winning! Have you seen Dick Cheyney’s portfolio. Brown is a cog in the wheel of privatization.

I’ve listened to half of this podcast and I’m very excited. I’ve been yearning for more shows on art and less on the news and now you’ve managed to bridge the two – bravo.

Thanks Nikos, I marvel at your gifts with the English Language and I enjoy reading your posts. The acrobatic verbal skill of your writing reminds me of T.C. Boyle.

Allison, its fun to imagine an ROS retreat. We would have to allot a time for meditation and take bets on how long we could go without talking to each other.

As far as the play you propose about the ROS community, I’m thinking something along the lines of “The importance of being Earnest.� Striving to be earnest in our daily life is a constant struggle and sometimes we end up leading a kind of double life.

Act 1- Chris and his cohorts lay the foundation for a new kind of community, a community seeking immigrants of imagination. One by one we arrive, wide eyed and enthusiastic. Within this ROS community, we immediately tap into an earnestness that we don’t always achieve during our daily relations. As the days move forward and the threads grow longer, we begin to immerse ourselves in this community of curiosity and the earnestness it demands. Our double life begins to evaporate, the lines begin to blur, and we are slowly sliding into the fulfillment of our earnest self.

Act 2 – Just as Wilde’s play was commenting on the skewed values and morals of the Victorian era, we spend a lot of time at ROS commenting on the skewed values and morals of our current political climate. We lament the “shallow mask of mannerâ€? around us. Together we carefully unmask the rhetoric of righteousness and uncover hypocrisy, avarice, and a basic lack of empathy. We find men who have created alter egos to allow their own evasion of responsibility.

Act 3 – We are not so much mad at these people, but sad for them. They have moved themselves so far from truth, far past even truthiness, that they will never truly live life, and feel real joy. We do not despair though, far from it – we rejoice! We rejoice in the comfort of like souls – a community of souls, energized by – the importance of being earnest.

Fucking facinating show!

Just got done listening to the podcast. Novel, creative and well done. I will listen again in a few days. For I am sure there is more to take in, and around and back again. My mind doth wander…

And I wish you’d post more – your stuff is typically well-reasoned and sparkling. See ya.

Please.

As a proud and founding member of the ROS Mea Culpa Club, I take some exception to your laugh-inducing exculpation. Apologizing feels good – it’s gauging how profoundly to abase oneself that’s the tricky bit!

Nevertheless: thanks for the absolution. You’re an admirable referee.

I wonder if we could have an ROS retreat where we spend a whole weekend creating a play out of some piece of our current events…..

Of course, we’d all have to check into a hotel, and stay in our individual rooms where we do nothing but post on the blog all weekend. Still, imagine what we could come up with!

And what would the play about the ROS blog community be about……

I want to emphasize, I am having so much fun on the ROS train ride, I punched my ticket for this expedition with all my heart and I’m enjoying the new vistas outside my window every day. I just get worried about the dangers of boxing ourselves in. I see ROS as less about changing others peoples minds, correcting the wrongs of society, and venting our frustrations; I see ROS more about welcoming curious people to come together, each with a zest for substance, each with a unique view from their little corner of wonder, enabling us all to view the world with new eyes, new enthusiasm, and new empathy.

With all that said, as I look back two days later at your synopsis, I see that my post was reactionary, the synopsis was more open-ended then I had first felt.

I appreciate all of you looking for different ways to traverse the new frontiers of this blogosphere, and I look forward the road ahead.