Video: @MetMuseum and Why I like it

AUDITIONS – April 17-18, 2009, Friday and Saturday STAGED READING – April 19, 2009, Sunday “The Domestic Crusaders”, The First Major Muslim-American Play for the Post 9-11 World, Nuyorican Poets Cafe, NYC – www.domesticcrusaders.com The Domestic Crusaders makes its New York premiere at the world famous Nuyorican in Fall 2009. Opening 9/11/09 to 10/19/09. Please engage in this historic effort by auditioning or attending the staged reading in NYC. “The Domestic Crusaders is exactly the sort of theater we need today. The gulf that separates cultures must be bridged and Art is one of our best hopes. I’ll be supporting…

A medieval monument to religious pluralism, hidden in the mountains of Afghanistan. One of the great wonders of the medieval world is a very tall, heavily ornamented minaret nestled in a green valley at the edge of the Jam river in what is now Afghanistan. Often called the Minaret of Jam, the monument was almost a millenium ago illuminated by a torch at its top, and surrounded by a thriving town with small industries and outlying farms.  What’s remarkable is that the writing on the minaret and archaeological remains nearby strongly suggest that the city harbored a population of Muslims,…

Seven Stories, and Loads of Ideas, in Brooklyn – NYTimes.com. Here a dozen ecological and technology entrepreneurs work in constant collaboration. Amanda Parkes, a co-founder of a biofuel start-up called Bodega Algae, also designs what she calls “parasitic energy costumes” that capture energy generated by the body in motion. So when a Parisian dance company commissioned costumes for a performance this winter, Ms. Parkes solicited the help of James Patten, an interactive designer, and Jessica Banks, a roboticist, who sit 15 feet away.