Staff picks

Of William Quantrill, the Reverend H.D. Fisher wrote: “In him were represented courage and cowardice; successful leadership, intrigue, cunning, desperation, revenge and hate, all to a marked degree.” Fisher would have known, too – Quantrill nearly killed him.

Looking for a good book to read or give? Check out these end-of-year “best of 2009” lists for some ideas.

I’m often pegged as a cynic, but I’ll have you know that I can appreciate some fine art as much as the next guy. Just the other day I was watching Olivier Assayas’s Summer Hours (2008), and I found myself thinking about the nature of art, creative processes, how folks regard items of beauty . . . all that kind of stuff. In a nutshell, the film follows three siblings as they attempt to find a mutually-accommodating way to manage a rather extensive art collection left to them by their recently deceased mother. That’s the gist of Assayas’s script, however through his characters he addresses themes such as how artwork should be used and displayed, its worth across generations, and the differences between old-timey and newfangled what have yous. Thinking of these things caused me to recollect some of my favorite films depicting creative types doing and making stuff that generally makes me happy. Here goes nothing ...

It’s the first week of the 2010 school year in Kansas City, Missouri, a time of energy and excitement. And for many parents, it’s a time for cutting back – those no. 2 pencils and spiral notebooks add up. Thanks to the KC Public Library’s Ruiz Branch, nearly 200 Westside families got a break from the school-supply squeeze.