Culture watch

It Wasn’t Video That Killed the Radio Star … It Was Videobot!

The rotten thing about making a short film or music video for your friend’s band is that, once you’ve made it, it’s hard to find a place for people to see it. Sure, you’ve got the odd film festival and the occasional Web site — but it doesn’t really live up to the MTV dream, does it? Well, URTV producer Chris Riddle has cooked up a monthly show called Videobot, which is just the place for you to get your idiot-box cred. Submissions are ongoing; for more information, visit urtv.org/whatson.html.

Clarifying the Limey Scribes

I don’t know about you, but I just can’t make heads or tails of what British playwright and novelist Michael Frayn is saying — it’s probably because of the accent. Thank goodness, then, that UNCA Literature and Language Professor Merritt Moseley penned the new book Understanding Michael Frayn, recently released by the University of South Carolina Press. The book is the third in Moseley’s Understanding series, although there’s no word yet on when Understanding Ken “Cranky” Hanke will see print.

What’s My Motivation?

Somewhere, rattling around inside your clever little minds, is a fiasco of a play — isn’t there? Don’t pretend. Who hasn’t wanted to see over-egoed hams trample all over your carefully crafted prose with all the grace of a hay-fever-addled rhino on an overdose of ecstasy? Who hasn’t dreamed of watching badly rehearsed student players in uncomfortable costumes bleating out your narrative fantasies on the haphazardly lit stage? Who hasn’t wanted to hear the forced applause of the crowds, most of whom only stuck around because they couldn’t find a good moment to sneak out without being noticed? Well, if this is your greatest inner desire, you shouldn’t contact Metabolism Productions, because they’d probably ruin it all by doing a good job instead. The new theater company is looking for submission of new plays, as well as actors and crew to put them on. Just in case you’d still like to give them a shot, e-mail metabolismproductions@gmail.com.

Time to Put That 10-Year Calendar to Use

The Center for Diversity Education recently announced that it will host a new exhibit at Pack Library — in 2009! That’s right, for those of you who haven’t been priced out of town by the end of the decade, you’ll be able to visit the 75-foot-long panel exhibit Forever Free: Abraham Lincoln’s Journey to Emancipation at Lord Auditorium for the exhibit’s six-week stay. Mark those calendars, now!