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Chicago Tribune
03-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
Column: Thar she blows! Chicago artist and writer Dmitry Samarov brings ‘Moby-Dick' back to life
Moby Dick was a whale, a very big whale. It is also a book, a very big book, written by Herman Melville and published in 1851. It was initially a commercial failure, this tale of Captain Ahab on a whaling ship named the Pequod on his mad quest for vengeance on the giant white sperm whale of the title that had chomped off Ahab's leg on a previous encounter. The story's narrator, a seaman along for the journey, opens with what is arguably the most famous first line in English literary history, 'Call me Ishmael.' 'Moby-Dick,' the book, entered the life of artist and writer Dmitry Samarov two decades ago when he was 33. 'I was going through a divorce and came upon a cheap paperback copy of the book,' he says. 'It was a crazy time for me and I was grasping at anything that might help me. This novel was a life raft and I felt lucky to be among the few who had not been assigned to read it in high school, so I wasn't spoiled by having to do it for homework.' And so he was helped and life moved on. But in the days following the bloody events of Nov. 4, 2024, in Gaza that rattled this world, Samarov was particularly affected. He set about trying to 'forget the news.' He canceled his subscriptions to newspapers. Never a tech aficionado, he severed his remaining internet ties so there was 'no headline-blaring app (following) me out the door.' Samarov came to the United States from his native Russia in 1978 when he was 7. He lived first in Boston and then came here. He went to the School of the Art Institute. He started driving a cab. He wrote. He made art. In 2006, he started writing an illustrated blog about his behind-the-wheel experiences. This attracted the folks at the University of Chicago Press, and that led to 'Hack: Stories from a Chicago Cab' (2011) and 'Where To? A Hack Memoir' (2014). His next book arrived in 2019, 'Music to My Eyes,' a gathering of drawings and writing handsomely published by the local Tortoise Books. 'For more than 30 years, I have been bringing my sketchbook to concerts and drawing the performers on stage,' he said. I wrote of it: 'His writing has matured over the years and in wonderfully compelling ways his new book can be read as a memoir, for in it he shares stories that help explain why and how music has, as he put it, 'haunted my entire life.'' He lives in Bridgeport and makes his living by working some fill-in bar shifts at the Rainbo Club and a couple of shifts at Tangible Books, near his apartment. 'My life is all freelance and flexible,' he told me some time ago. 'The goal is total unemployment.' Now, on to the latest book, seeded by an article Samarov read about, as he puts it, 'tech hucksters claiming to make millions publishing new versions of classics from the public domain.' He was not at all interested in 'tricking anyone into paying me $15.99 for a cut-and-paste reprint of some dusty tome.' He discovered Project Gutenberg, the internet site that allows people to download books or read them online at no cost. It offers some of the world's great literature, focused on older works for which U.S. copyright has expired. Near the top of its most-downloaded list, Samarov found his old friend, 'Moby-Dick.' And so he got to work. In his short but lively 'Designers Note' at the book's end, he gives some of the details, and he tells me one of his goals with this project is 'to introduce it to younger people.' He writes that he feels the novel is 'as relevant as any news story.' The book is handsomely published by Samarov's friends at local publisher Maudlin House and is available there and elsewhere for $25, not at all bad for a 650-page book. Melville dedicated 'Moby-Dick' to his great friend, novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne. Samarov dedicates this new edition to Harry Synder, the late manager of a theater in Boston about whom Samarov writes elsewhere, 'Harry and I didn't talk much about art over the 35-plus years of our friendship but he showed me how to carry myself in the world without neurotically making sure anyone who crossed my path knew of my 'true calling.' He was a fully-rounded person first but an artist to the core.' The whale is on the cover of this new edition, striking in black and white, though to me, he appears to be smiling. 'I was inspired by scrimshaw art,' says Samarov, then explaining that art form that is created by engraving or carving on such whale parts as bones and teeth. There are nearly 100 drawings of people, boats, buildings, implements, ropes in knots and other items. There is a Samarov self-portrait and a drawing of Melville, accompanied by Samarov's writing, 'I wonder what (Melville) would make of there now being over 7,000 versions of his masterpiece. … I'd like to believe he'd judge the version you hold in your hands worthwhile and not a cheap cash grab.' Far be it from me to dip into Melville's mind, but I think Samarov's right.
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Yahoo
It started quietly then all hell broke loose - on the trail of South Manchester's illicit car meets
It's 6.30pm and I'm sitting in my car in a supermarket car park in Stockport waiting for a message. A few metres away from me a police car is idling. I have a feeling we're both here for the same reason. Me and a colleague are currently waiting on an update from a group chat for a car meet. These see motoring enthusiasts gathering to show off their vehicles and share their interests. But while some meets might be closer to a stationary car show, the meet we are chasing tonight is something decidedly less static. READ MORE: School 'devastated' as they pay tribute to 'much-loved' teacher who died in Oldham incident READ MORE: Drug dealer and wannabe rapper boasted he was 'swerving the feds'....he was wrong Join the Manchester Evening News WhatsApp group HERE The secretive group shares locations at the last minute, with attendees then rushing to the meeting point, often with the police not far behind. As rain patters down on my windscreen my phone lights up with a message - the first location has been posted. We are directed to an industrial estate near Cheadle with an empty car park and a long empty road with a smooth curve leading down to it. It looks like we're the first to arrive, and we hang back and watch the turning into the estate from across the road. Just as we start to worry the location was wrong, a brightly painted hatchback with neon lights roars down the road, the exhausts popping as it accelerates. It's followed by another, then other until there are around five cars. Just minutes later, a GMP transport unit car arrives. It cruises down to the group with the unhurried purpose of a shark swimming up to a whale carcass. We follow on foot and are greeted by a group of around five people packed into a hatchback. They look to be in their late teens or early twenties, a mix of men and women, and warn us about the police. Without even getting out of their car the police move on the group, herding them out of the car park like a border collie. The road once again falls quiet. But sure enough, another message pings into the chat, and we are directed to a shopping centre car park. Like an automotive Ahab we follow on. The group has swelled here, with at least a dozen cars and a crowd of around fifty people milling about in groups on the car park. It's only now that we discover that our presence has not gone unnoticed. Rumours circulate in the group chat about two 'police spies' who are tailing the group and alerting the cops to the next location. We don't know whether to be worried or amused. Probably a bit of both. The numbers growing, the newly formed convoy leap back into their vehicles and depart. We check the chat, there's has a new location just outside Alderley Edge. It has the title "Drift/Circuit". The convoy, now swollen to a couple of dozen vehicles, makes it way there, crossing over the boundary between Greater Manchester and Cheshire. Drifting is a technique where a driver deliberately oversteers and loses traction on the tires while still maintaining control of the car. Given that it requires the car to effectively lose grip on the road, drifting on a public road is considered dangerous driving by law enforcement even if done by someone who knows how to do it properly. On this occasion however, the drivers didn't even get chance to attempt it as police showed up minutes after they did, scattering the group. But they were not so easily deterred, melting away like a dazzling shoal of fish, only to reform elsewhere. Another location drops, this one back over the border in Trafford. Once again we set off. This location is set on a length of straight road with a roundabout, and labelled "drags". And this time, the meet appears to have slipped past police and is able to continue undisturbed for a full hour. As people arrive, a pair of cars pull up on the road. Ahead of them a crowd gathers, many of them carried there in the vehicles that will soon be racing. An orange cone in the road marks the start line. There's no light or flag, just a simple countdown - 3, 2, 1, and with the roar of augmented engines the cars rocket away. They travel at terrific speeds, shooting directly past within inches of spectators watching from the pavement and the kerb in the middle of the road. The prospect of someone losing control is terrifying. I can't help but think of Sam Harding, a talented young footballer who was killed after being hit by a car doing almost 100mph at a meet in South Manchester not unlike this one. After an hour or so, the cars once again moved off to a new location, rushing off into the night. This time, we would not be following them. Both Greater Manchester Police and Cheshire Constabulary carried out operations over the weekend. A dispersal order was in effect in Stockport prohibiting anyone from travelling between locations in convoy. Meets are drawn to the south of Manchester for the intersection between GMP, Cheshire, and Merseyside allowing them to skip between jurisdictions in an effort to stay one step ahead of police. Cheshire Police reported 31 traffic offence reports for a variety of offences, including speeding, illegal number plates, and driving without due care and attention. GMP meanwhile reported 26 breaches of the public space protection order which had been put in place. The number of offences gives some idea of the scale of the meet, and the potential for disruption to residents left frustrated by the noise. Chief Inspector Zoe Bowden, of Macclesfield Command, said: 'As previously stated, we understand the frustration and anger that illegal car meets cause, and we are committed to doing all we can to tackle the issue. 'We have a zero-tolerance approach and as these results demonstrate we will take action against those who break the law. 'This is an ongoing operation, and I hope that the action taken this weekend will provide some reassurance and act as a warning to those planning to come to Cheshire. 'Our message is clear – anti-social behaviour and anti-social use of vehicles will not be tolerated.'
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
John Ivison: Trump's mad tariff crusade will sink itself. Carney just needs to wait for it
There was a narrow window for detente between the monomaniacal Captain Ahab at the helm of the U.S. federal government and the new prime minister-designate of Canada. President Donald Trump's beef with Justin Trudeau was personal, but Mark Carney is a tabula rasa, notwithstanding his comments on Sunday that Canada will never be part of America in any shape or form. There was an opportunity for conciliation and Carney was urged by some on social media to suggest to the president that they meet soon to discuss de-escalation. But the window slammed shut abruptly when Trump said on Tuesday morning that he will slap an additional 25 per cent tariff on Canadian steel and aluminium — taking the total tariff to 50 per cent — in response to Ontario's retaliatory tariff on electricity exports. In the president's eyes, American tariffs are a justified means of protecting U.S. jobs. Retaliation is viewed as an 'abusive threat.' He seemed genuinely shocked that anyone would hit back against his repeated provocations. 'Can you imagine Canada stooping so low as to use ELECTRICITY, that so affects the life of innocent people, as a bargaining chip and threat?' Trump posted on Truth Social. (Ford announced Tuesday afternoon he would hold off on the electricity tax for now and travel to Washington to talk things over with the White House.) If Trump's rhetoric to this point has been intemperate, the latest salvo was incendiary. Canada must drop its 'anti-American farmer' tariffs, meaning this country's supply management system on eggs, poultry and dairy, and all other 'egregious' longstanding trade barriers. Otherwise, Trump said, he will increase planned tariffs on cars coming into the U.S. on April 2. That 'will permanently shut down the automobile manufacturing business in Canada', he said. Once again, he repeated his solution to all these problems: Canada should become a 'cherished 51st state.' The 'artificial line of separation' — the Canada-U.S. border that dates back to the Treaty of Paris in 1783 — would disappear and the country's national anthem, O Canada, could in future represent a 'GREAT and POWERFUL state within the greatest nation the world has ever seen.' This is what comes from 'winning' at golf every time he plays. No Canadian politician can engage seriously with a foreign leader whose stated, unapologetic goal is the annexation of the country. The hope must be that Trump is compelled by his own supporters to abandon the wealth-vaporizing policies of mercantilism and autarky The only strategy is to match him blow for blow and let him burn himself out. And there are signs that this is exactly what is happening. Even after a healthy report on U.S. job openings on Monday morning, stock markets tanked across the board because of Chinese retaliation on agricultural products and broader uncertainty over tariffs. Economist Noah Smith estimated that the S&P 500 has fallen 7.5 per cent in the past month, wiping out $4.5 trillion (that's trillion with a T) in wealth. Trump's announcement on Tuesday sent it down a further 1.44 per cent (as of 1:30 p.m. in New York). Trump has suggested that a little temporary pain might be felt as the economy adjusts to tariffs, refusing to rule out a recession when asked in an interview on Sunday. But Smith suggested The Onion satirical news site had it right with its headline: 'Trump Says Recession Unfortunate But Necessary Step To Get to Depression.' In Smith's view, there is no utopia on the other side of tariffs because autarky — economic independence or self-sufficiency — has always failed. America has thrived because of gains from the exchange of goods that have allowed specialization, economies of scale and technology transfers, without which it will end up with Galapagos syndrome (where technology develops in isolation, incompatible with global standards). 'Trump is moving very fast toward making this outcome inevitable — swinging his baseball bat at everything in the shop, determined to wreck as much of the U.S. economy as he can in order to prepare the way for a utopia that he will never be able to build. And now, he's proven that he doesn't care about the stock market or recessions or anything else that might suffer in the name of his ideology. If he isn't stopped, it will just keep getting worse,' Smith concluded. Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers called the action on steel and aluminium tariffs a 'self-inflicted wound,' since it will increase the price of key inputs for U.S. manufacturing industries that employ 10 million people. The disquiet extended to Trump supporters like Republican senator Rand Paul, who posted on social media that 'market indexes are a distillation of sentiment and when the markets tumble like this in response to tariffs, it pays to listen.' Paul's home state of Kentucky has just seen its bourbon pulled off shelves all over Canada, so he knows the pain will be shared. Anthony Scaramucci, Trump's former communications director and now a bitter critic, offered some advice to Carney on this week's edition of The Rest is Politics podcast, suggesting he should not engage with Trump. 'If I were Carney, I wouldn't visit Trump or shame myself with a stupid stale buttered roll at Mar-a-Lago while trying to impress him. That is not going to work,' he said. 'My message is that this cannot last. Is the best strategy to ignore Trump? I do believe that. Fortify your own country and speak out against him, so you can galvanize your own nation.' Carney appeared to do exactly that in his response to the latest threat, saying his government will keep tariffs on 'until the Americans show us respect and make credible and reliable commitments to free and fair trade.' As Carney pointed out on Sunday, victory will not be easy. Ottawa said on Tuesday that it will issue a U.S. dollar-denominated global bond, largely because investors want a premium for Canadian-dollar bonds. The hope must be that Trump is compelled by his own supporters — including the tech bros who have lost hundreds of billions of dollars in recent weeks — to abandon the wealth-vaporizing policies of mercantilism and autarky. Scaramucci pointed out that imposing tariffs on Canada is not popular in the U.S., even with Trump's base. 'He didn't campaign on Canada being the 51st state,' he said. That has not stopped Trump forcing all Americans to support his fanatical mission, much like Ahab compelled the crew of the Pequod to hunt the great white whale, Moby Dick. In that case, Ahab was dragged to his death and his ship sunk. Let's hope the crew can save the captain from himself this time. National Post jivison@ John Ivison: Carney is already having trouble not looking like Trudeau 2.0 John Ivison: Canada might just bloody Trump's nose before this trade war is over Get more deep-dive National Post political coverage and analysis in your inbox with the Political Hack newsletter, where Ottawa bureau chief Stuart Thomson and political analyst Tasha Kheiriddin get at what's really going on behind the scenes on Parliament Hill every Wednesday and Friday, exclusively for subscribers. Sign up here.
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'White whale! Holy Grail!': How the epic tale of Moby-Dick inspired Mastodon's greatest album
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. On March 7 it was announced that Mastodon guitarist Brent Hinds has left the band my mutual consent. Mastodon formed in Atlanta, Georgia in 2000, and Hinds was there right from the start. The band's statement refers to '25 monumental years together'. And out of the eight albums they've made over the years, perhaps the most monumental of them all is the one released in 2004 - Leviathan. As UK journalist Paul Brannigan wrote: 'In truth, Mastodon have always been too quirky, too warped, too cerebral and too damn idiosyncratic to have genuinely stood a chance of cracking the mainstream. 'But the Atlanta quartet have created a remarkable body of work, forever pushing forward, constantly refining their craft. And it was their relentless, questing pursuit of excellence which inspired their finest artistic achievement. 'Leviathan, the band's second long-player, stands as both a conceptual piece themed around American writer Herman Melville's 1851 epic masterpiece Moby-Dick and an allegory for Mastodon's own career.' As Mastodon's vocalist/bassist Troy Sanders explained in 2005. 'The story of Moby-Dick paralleled the lives of the four dudes in Mastodon so much, [that] it was too easy for us to pick and pull similarities to Captain Ahab's character and the pursuit of the whale, and the dedication, persistence and sacrifice. 'The longevity of his trip was almost like what we've done in our band for the past five years.' In the same interview, Sanders nominated five musical artists who signposted the way for Mastodon's emergence: Thin Lizzy, Iron Maiden, Neurosis, The Melvins and These Jesus Lizard. According to Paul Brannigan: 'Elements of all five bands can be detected in Leviathan, but dissecting the beast is counter-productive, as this is an artefact that works best in its totality as an immersive experience. 'With Clutch frontman Neil Fallon supplying the voice of obsessive whale hunter Captain Ahab, opening track Blood And Thunder instantly sinks a harpoon into the listener, with a fabulously insistent riff and a chorus – 'White Whale! Holy Grail!' – that could hardly be more immediate.' Drummer Brann Dailor described Blood And Thunder as 'the ivory leg [Leviathan] stood on.' Another key track on the album, Aqua Dementia, features another cameo, from long-time collaborator Scott Kelly of Neurosis, while Megalodon is a spectacular showcase of all four band members instrumental virtuosity. But if any one single track on Leviathan marked out Mastodon as one of the most important metal bands of their generation, it's Hearts Alive, a majestic 13-minute prog-metal epic with echoes of Metallica's 1984 classic The Call Of Ktulu. Paul Brannigan described Hearts Alive as ' emphatic proof that Mastodon were more than just riff-monsters… a masterpiece of dynamics, structure and pacing, ebbing and surging like with its own riveting tale from topographic oceans.' In 2004, Leviathan was voted Album Of The Year in Kerrang!, Revolver and Terrorizer magazines. More than two decades on, it remains Mastodon's greatest achievement.
Yahoo
03-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Tuscaloosa area to get three new Starbucks coffee shops this year
The near-ubiquitous Starbucks logo will glow soon over three new locations in the area, adding to the handful already found in Tuscaloosa, and on the University of Alabama campus. The first Starbucks in Northport is being built ground-up, on land between Lurleen Wallace and 20th Avenue, and will be a drive-through location. The other new drive-through will be at 405 15th St., in what used to be T-Town Tire. That involves demolishing the old building and getting the new framework ready for Starbucks to outfit. The third will be a full-sized Starbucks, with patio and cafe. That's going up near Lake Tuscaloosa, on Rice Mine Road, not far from the shopping center anchored by a Publix. "We bought a lot from Emmanuel Baptist Church," said Will Roark, a partner in RJ Development of Montgomery, which is working on the sites. "It used to be their old rec center, right at the entrance." More: Looking for a new restaurant in Tuscaloosa? Here are some you might have missed Seattle-based Starbucks is the world's largest coffeehouse chain, following a period of aggressive expansion begun decades after its 1971 founding. Figures from 2024 indicate there are more than 40,000 worldwide, built on every continent except Antarctica. The U.S. has the most, with about 16,000. Starbucks is credited with leading the "second wave of coffee culture," focused more on quality of roasts and cafe experiences, unlike the first wave, which centered around mass-marketed grocery store brands. Seattle's maritime history helped anchor the brand. The founders chose the name after the character from "Moby Dick," while searching for a monniker beginning with "St," as one business partner thought words beginning with those letters seemed powerful. They began compiling a list, and had picked "Starbo," a mining town in the Cascade Range, until the homonym reminded them of the chief mate on Captain Ahab's Pequod. The logo image — originally a full-bodied, twin-tailed mermaid — conflates with sirens of Greek legend. Terry Heckler, the same partner who thought of the "st" thing, found the image, and its mysterious nature, alluring. Heckler once said she's 'the perfect metaphor for the siren song of coffee that lures us cupside.' Starbucks locations sell hot and cold beverages, whole-bean coffee, micro-ground instant coffee, espressos, lattes, Frappuccino beverages, juices, full and loose-leaf teas, along with pastries, breakfast foods and other snacks, depending on the size of the location. Tuscaloosa currently has a Starbucks at 807 Paul W. Bryant Drive, adjacent to the Supe Store at what was for many years the Corner Store, with another inside the Student Center, and one at 325 University Blvd. E. There are drive-through standalone locations on 816 Veterans Memorial Parkway/15th St. E., and at 804 Skyland Boulevard, with a walk-up Starbucks inside the Target Superstore, at 1901 13th Ave. E. Barnes and Noble in Midtown sells their products, but isn't a Starbucks cafe. The three new spots should open by late summer or early fall, but that's up to the chain. "It depends on Starbucks and their suppliers, if they can get materials in a timely fashion," Roark said. Once RJ Development has completed exterior prep, Starbucks' interior buildout can take from 90 to 150 days, he said. The 15th Street location got started first, so it may open by late summer. That had been a Phillips 66 gas station and a convenience store before becoming a used-tire store, for 26 years. "All three of them were challenging sites," Roark said. "They're dynamic sites that should do well for them." Starbucks doesn't just plop its businesses down anywhere, but studies demographics including projected growth, traffic rates, and how existing stores in the area are faring. More: Mayor Walt Maddox sees 'light at the end of the tunnel' for $68.9 million road project 'That gives them a good indication the market will serve at what they projected, or above," Roark said. "If there wasn't a need, we wouldn't have gotten this far." Roark and one of his partners are University of Alabama grads, so they were already familiar with the area. "When we first came to market, I drove by the (15th Street) store, and couldn't even get into the parking lot, it was so busy," Roark said. What's coming should be relief stores, hoping to draw some of that congested traffic, and make it easier for someone from Northport, for example, who otherwise would have to drive miles before seeing a green Starbucks mermaid. The newer 15th location is just a couple blocks from the University of Alabama campus, with its student population of nearly 40,000. Traffic count estimates on Lurleen Wallace indicate between 60,000 and 70,000 vehicles per day, Roark said, almost interstate traffic heavy. As the $68.9 million McWright's Ferry Road draws to an expected completion in the fall, that Starbucks should open up at a prime time, when traffic flow to and from areas north of the Black Warrior River is greatly eased. When a store reaches capacity, and can't handle more, "It's actually a negative impact," Roark said. "Customers might try a second alternative, a competitor." Reach Mark Hughes Cobb at This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Three new Starbucks are coming to Tuscaloosa: When will they open?
