Last Ring-Bearer Author on Why He Re-Imagined Middle-Earth

Kirill Yeskov: “I wrote The Last Ring-Bearer … strictly for my own enjoyment and that of my friends; … It is meant for skeptics and agnostics brought up on Hemingway and brothers Strugatzky, … What’s important is that while the world of a sequel is a reproduction that adds absolutely nothing to the original, the worlds of the canonical and the apocryphal works can ideally make a ‘stereoscopic pair’ that adds ‘depth’ to the former.”

Arizona’s Mesa Amphitheatre, Once-Hot Concert Venue, Now a Hot Mess

Revenues plummeted by 85% over the past four seasons, with the number of bookings (mostly rock acts) falling from 23 to three. The performers’ backstage area isn’t even air-conditioned. Part of the problem seems to be that the Amphitheatre is run by Mesa’s parks department rather than its arts and cultural department, which runs the city’s four-theater fine arts center.

Mini-Golf as Artistic Medium

“[M]iniature golf – that kitschy trope of suburban life – has become a medium of choice for [some] contemporary artists. … Curators say the chance to play with art brings visitors who would never dream of going to a typical museum exhibit. Artists see an opportunity, too; many never imagined showing their work to such large – or enthusiastic – audiences.”