Sunshine Week 2014

March 16-22, 2014 marks Sunshine Week, an annual event which serves to raise awareness of the need for transparent and open government at all levels. Also observed this week was Freedom of Information Day, which coincides with James Madison's birthday. In 1822, Madison stated:

A popular Government without popular information or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy or perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance, and a people who mean to be their own Governors, must arm themselves with the power knowledge gives.

Such sunshine laws as the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and open meetings laws provide essential legal rights and remedies for citizen access to government records and information. FOIA, which was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on July 4, 1966 and went into effect one year later, created a "right to know" as the basis for access whereas previously citizens needed to demonstrate a "need to know." As Johnson observed at the time:

This legislation springs from one of our most essential principles: a democracy works best when the people have all the information that the security of the Nation permits. No one should be able to pull curtains of secrecy around decisions which can be revealed without injury to the public interest.

For further information, the following resources may be of interest: The National Freedom of Information Coalition; The National Security Archive; The OMB Watch; The American Civil Liberties Union; The Electronic Frontier Foundation; and, for news of international freedom of information advocacy, FreedomInfo.org.

International Women's Day 2014

 
March 8, 2014 marks the 103st anniversary of International Women's Day. The United Nations' theme for International Women's Day 2014 is "Equality for Women Is Progress for All."  The video above features remarks by UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka.

First celebrated on March 19, 1911 by more than one million people in Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland after a proposal by Clara Zetkin [1857-1933] in 1910 at the second International Conference of Working Women in Copenhagen, International Women's Day is now observed in many nations throughout the world.

The United Nations first began celebrating March 8 as International Women's Day during International Women's Year in 1975, and in 1977 approved a resolution proclaiming a United Nations Day for Women's Rights and International Peace for member states.

WFMU Marathon 2014: Support Free-Form Radio

Love free-form radio? Then consider supporting independent station WFMU during its annual fundraising Marathon that runs February 23 through March 9, 2014. WFMU first hit the airwaves on April 24, 1958 at the now-defunct Upsala College and has never looked back. Currently based in Jersey City, New Jersey, WFMU broadcasts at 91.1 Mhz and via a second signal at 90.1 Mhz in Mount Hope, New York. WFMU has also long been an Internet pioneer, streaming its programming 24/7 in multiple formats, including iPhone and Android. Past shows are archived at the station's website, which also features WFMU's entertaining and content-rich blog.

What is free-form radio you might ask? WFMU describes itself as follows:

WFMU's programming ranges from flat-out uncategorizable strangeness to rock and roll, experimental music, 78 RPM Records, jazz, psychedelia, hip-hop, electronica, hand-cranked wax cylinders, punk rock, gospel, exotica, R&B, radio improvisation, cooking instructions, classic radio airchecks, found sound, dopey call-in shows, interviews with obscure radio personalities and notable science-world luminaries, spoken word collages, Andrew Lloyd Webber soundtracks in languages other than English as well as country and western music.

And because the station is listener-supported, WFMU DJs have for years maintained complete autonomy and control over their own programming, which is extraordinarily eclectic. Check out the current WFMU audio smorgasbord, and see for yourself!

Mary Poppins and Pulp Fiction among Additions to 2013 National Film Registry

Established by the National Film Preservation Act of 1988, the National Film Preservation Board is an advisory body for the Librarian of Congress. The Board helps shape national film preservation planning policy, and also recommends films for the National Film Registry.

Chosen for their cultural, historic, or aesthetic significance, the Board's 25 selections for 2013 cover a wide gamut of genres and time periods, from such early films as A Virtuous Vamp and King of Jazz to such later works as Judgment at Nuremberg and The Right Stuff.  The full list is as follows:

2000s
Decasia (2002)

1990s
Pulp Fiction (1994)

1980s
Roger & Me (1989)
The Lunch Date (1989)
Bless Their Little Hearts (1984)
The Right Stuff (1983)

1960s
Brandy in the Wilderness (1969)
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (1966)
Cicero March (1966)
Mary Poppins (1964)
The Hole (1962)
Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
The Magnificent Seven (1960)

1950s
Forbidden Planet (1956)
The Quiet Man (1952)
Notes on the Port of St. Francis (1951)

1940s
Gilda (1946)
Men & Dust (1940)

1930s 
Martha Graham Early Dance film (1931-44)
Midnight (1939)
Wild Boys of the Road (1933)
King of Jazz (1930)

1920s
Ella Cinders (1926)
Daughter of Dawn (1920)

1910s
A Virtuous Vamp (1919)

Further information on the Registry as well as the films themselves can be found on the Library of Congress' web site. All 500+ films selected for the Registry since 1989 can also be browsed online. In addition, the public is encouraged to make nominations for selections to the 2014 National Film Registry.

2014 RAGBRAI Overnight Towns Announced

The eight overnight towns for the Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa XLII were announced recently at the annual Route Announcement Party: Rock Valley > Okoboji > Emmetsburg > Forest City > Mason City > Waverly > Independence > Guttenberg. The 40 pass-through towns for RAGBRAI will be announced in early March. This year's ride takes place July 20-26, 2014 and will be 418 miles in length, with 11,316 feet of total climb, making it among the shortest and flattest since RAGBRAI started in 1973.

Registration for the world's oldest, largest, and longest recreational bike touring event is currently open, with a deadline of April 1, 2014 for online applications. Lottery results will be announced May 1, 2014.

Happy Year of the Horse

马 年 快 乐 !  恭 禧 发 财 !!  Eight things you (probably) didn't know about the Year of the Horse, via the Guardian.

Rest in Peace, Pete Seeger

Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself" as a MOOC

The International Writing Program (IWP) at the University of Iowa is offering a Massive Open Online Course, or MOOC, entitled "Every Atom: Walt Whitman's Song of Myself." The course is the university's inaugural MOOC, and will run from February 17 to March 29, 2014. Lead instructors will be Professors Christopher Merrill, Director of the IWP, and Ed Folsom, Co-Director of the Walt Whitman Archive and Editor-in-Chief of the Walt Whitman Quarterly Review. The course is free, and registration can be accomplished online. Information on additional courses can be found at The Writing University's web site.

The Dada Vinci Archive

The Dada Vinci Archive (DVA) is comprised of a large collection of oil paintings, works on paper, collages, letterpress printing and the book arts, photography, digital video, and works in other media. A representative sampling of new and older artworks can be seen in the DVA gallery at the Bucktown Center for the Arts, 225 East 2nd Street, Davenport, Iowa. Contact the Common Curator (commoncurator @ gmail.com) for further information.

From the Top

Heirloom Seeds for the New Year

The amazing 2014 Catalog from Seed Savers Exchange is now available and can be browsed online, or a copy in print can be requested free of charge.

Founded in 1975 by Diane Ott Whealy and Kent Whealy, Seed Savers Exchange is now the largest non-governmental seed bank of its kind in the United States. With over 13,000 members, SSE conserves and maintains heirloom seeds for thousands of vegetables, fruits, herbs, and flowers. Its mission is:

. . . to save North America's diverse, but endangered, garden heritage for future generations by building a network of people committed to collecting, conserving and sharing heirloom seeds and plants, while educating people about the value of genetic and cultural diversity.

Located on the 890-acre Heritage Farm in Decorah, Iowa, SSE is open to visitors from April to October, and sponsors special events such as seed starting, grafting, and gardening workshops. It also hosts an annual conference and campout. To learn more about Seed Savers Exchange and the benefits of membership, visit its website. Also of interest is the book authored by co-founder Diane Ott Whealy, Gathering: Memoir of a Seed Saver.

Wapsipinicon Almanac No. 20

The latest annual installment of the eclectic Wapsipinicon Almanac is now available. Published and letterpress printed since 1988 by Timothy Fay of Route 3 Press, the present issue, as with previous numbers, features an engaging mix of essays, reviews, fiction, poetry, art, wit and wisdom.

Number 20 can be purchased at bookstores or directly by writing the publisher at Wapsipinicon Almanac, 19948 Shooting Star Road, Anamosa, Iowa 52205. Single copies are $9, plus $2.50 for postage; Iowa residents should also include 63-cents for sales tax.

The cover shown here was designed by Terry Rathje, who also did the cover for the first almanac. A brief history of the publication can be viewed at the Almanac's website, and a video of "Linotype Operator Emeritus" Eldon Meeks in action can be viewed here.

Spike Like Ike!

Here is Dwight D. Eisenhower's recipe for bourbon-enhanced eggnog, courtesy of the National Archives' Our Presidents Tumblr. Enjoy responsibly.

Other of Eisenhower's favorite recipes, for such dishes as Old-Fashioned Beef Stew, Chili Con Carne, and 1868 Venison, can be downloaded here. Further historical information is available on the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum, and Boyhood Home website.

Jean Seberg Documentary Premieres

Movie Star: The Secret Lives of Jean Seberg, a documentary about the internationally renown actress from Marshalltown, Iowa, has just premiered at the 3rd Annual Jean Seberg International Film Festival. Besides screening several of Seberg's films, the festival sponsored a symposium that explored Seberg's legacy both as an actress and as a civil rights activist. The documentary was produced by filmmakers Kelly and Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films and Garry McGee of McMarr, Ltd.

The Story of the Duck

David Lynch relates a story of a duck and its significance for painting and film-making.