About Author: Samuel Webster

Website
http://www.samuelwebster.com
Description
Samuel Webster is a writer who spends his days teaching undergraduates about cultural studies, and his nights pondering the impact of a cascading tune whistled on the darkening urban landscape. He is currently working on his first novel. Follow him on twitter: www.twitter.com/wiredjazz

Posts by Samuel Webster

  • The stage of Mercury by the Sydney Dance Company is immaculate, a large white room with a glowing orb at its rear. It is not really an uncommon site, such a minimalist stage, given the practicality of open area for dance, and the emphasis which should be placed on the physical being. The difficulty of this stipulation is in thematic interpretation.

    Review: Sydney Dance Company – Mercury (Kenneth Kvarnström)

    Posted on November 15, 2009 | 3 Comments
    The stage of Mercury by the Sydney Dance Company is immaculate, a large white room with a glowing orb at its rear. It is not really an uncommon site, such a minimalist stage, given the practicality of open area for dance, and the emphasis which should be placed on the physical being. The difficulty of this stipulation is in thematic interpretation.

    Continue Reading...

  • The two greatest inhibiting factors a cultural critic has to deal with are expectation and exaltation. The first only brings an easy review to fruition when it is failed, and the second is difficult to write without seeming unnecessarily extravagant with language. The truth is, I have a certain bias towards the Australian Chamber Orchestra, but it is not what you think.

    The Girl with the Golden Flute (Australian Chamber Orchestra)

    Posted on November 2, 2009 | No Comments
    The two greatest inhibiting factors a cultural critic has to deal with are expectation and exaltation. The first only brings an easy review to fruition when it is failed, and the second is difficult to write without seeming unnecessarily extravagant with language. The truth is, I have a certain bias towards the Australian Chamber Orchestra, but it is not what you think.

    Continue Reading...

  • I wondered, would this be yet another publishing venture capitalising on tragedy, something thrown together in the early hours, and pushed through the printers? The truth is this book is none of these things.

    Michael Jackson: Life of a Legend – Michael Heatley (Review)

    Posted on November 1, 2009 | 5 Comments
    I wondered, would this be yet another publishing venture capitalising on tragedy, something thrown together in the early hours, and pushed through the printers? The truth is this book is none of these things.

    Continue Reading...

  • Once in a while a show comes along that pulls in a different direction, a show which uses the form but doesn't indulge itself in its typical extravagance, a performance which is beautifully honest and emotionally underplayed.

    Review: Peter Grimes (Opera Australia)

    Posted on October 20, 2009 | 1 Comment
    Once in a while a show comes along that pulls in a different direction, a show which uses the form but doesn't indulge itself in its typical extravagance, a performance which is beautifully honest and emotionally underplayed.

    Continue Reading...

  • The young men and women behind Vintage Duck may still be finding their sea legs, but they have certainly left an indelible impression, reworking Orpheus in the Underworld in the Hades of the modern world, the junkyard.

    Review: Orpheus in the Underworld (Offenbach/Vintage Duck)

    Posted on September 28, 2009 | No Comments
    The young men and women behind Vintage Duck may still be finding their sea legs, but they have certainly left an indelible impression, reworking Orpheus in the Underworld in the Hades of the modern world, the junkyard.

    Continue Reading...

  • It has been said that all good things must come to an end, and indeed, we live our lives with an extremely closed notion of time, as something that is, rather than cyclic, finite and self-contained.

    To Face the Final Curtain

    Posted on August 10, 2009 | 1 Comment
    It has been said that all good things must come to an end, and indeed, we live our lives with an extremely closed notion of time, as something that is, rather than cyclic, finite and self-contained.

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  • The problem with young people of any generation, including mine, is that our lives are far from our own.

    Creating the Adolescent

    Posted on August 4, 2009 | 1 Comment
    The problem with young people of any generation, including mine, is that our lives are far from our own.

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  • For those who’ve come across the seas, we’ve boundless plains to share; with courage let us all combine to Advance Australia Fair.

    Purebred and Proud

    Posted on July 28, 2009 | 9 Comments
    For those who’ve come across the seas, we’ve boundless plains to share; with courage let us all combine to Advance Australia Fair.

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  • Whether we believe in the utopia, or prefer to take it in smaller doses, the impact of the visual medium channelled nightly into our lounge rooms is undeniable.

    The Televised Utopia

    Posted on July 21, 2009 | 2 Comments
    Whether we believe in the utopia, or prefer to take it in smaller doses, the impact of the visual medium channelled nightly into our lounge rooms is undeniable.

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  • This week, we celebrate 20 years of the Internet. The appeal has changed greatly over that time. What used to be ‘^a|S|m^' is now ‘Samuel Webster.' What was e-mail is now Facebook. Wikipedia has all but replaced the CD-Rom encyclopaedia.

    Facebook and the New Social Philistines

    Posted on July 14, 2009 | 9 Comments
    This week, we celebrate 20 years of the Internet. The appeal has changed greatly over that time. What used to be ‘^a|S|m^' is now ‘Samuel Webster.' What was e-mail is now Facebook. Wikipedia has all but replaced the CD-Rom encyclopaedia.

    Continue Reading...

  • We cannot escape the shock of the everyday unless we know its capabilities. We cannot change a world we cannot fathom. We cannot live a better life if it is unimaginable.

    The Why and Why Not

    Posted on July 7, 2009 | 3 Comments
    We cannot escape the shock of the everyday unless we know its capabilities. We cannot change a world we cannot fathom. We cannot live a better life if it is unimaginable.

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  • Is the remix an imaginative exploration, an artistic revitalisation of the past, or just a cheap attempt at artisanship?

    Originality and the Remix

    Posted on June 30, 2009 | 4 Comments
    Is the remix an imaginative exploration, an artistic revitalisation of the past, or just a cheap attempt at artisanship?

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