MightyWriters

The mind boggles!

This from Newsweek: “It’s no surprise in this economy that the few companies with ready cash are acquiring new properties at recession-special prices. Disney, for one, has decided to expand its base by purchasing Marvel Entertainment. The company that has long painted itself as American as apple pie is now the home of Captain America—as well as Spider-Man, the X-Men, and the entire stable of Marvel characters… (more here)

Says the LA Times: “The estimated $4-billion deal would give Disney access to a library of more than 5,000 characters and help it strengthen its appeal to the young male audience. Ike Perlmutter, Marvel’s CEO, will work directly with Disney to build and integrate Marvel’s properties.” Story here.

The big story this back-to-school season, as it is with everything, is the recession.

Everyone is trying to shop smarter. Buying back-to-school supplies is no exception.

Here’s information that can help.

US News and World Report suggests delaying some purchases until after school starts. Here they tell you the reasons why.

Great Schools, the nonprofit website that offers all kinds of education advice, has a back-to-school budget tipsheet with many solid and practical suggestions.

If you’re in the Mighty Writers neighborhood, our friends at the South Philly Review have a story that will at least make you feel you’re not in the back-to-school budget crunch alone.

“Parents of school-age children will spend about $548.72 on supplies, clothes and electronics,” SPR reports. There is some good news: many have found ways to save.

But here’s even better news: Mighty Writers is about to open its doors for after-school drop-in tutoring. Our program is free-to-all, but because our space is limited we need you to register. The information is right here.

See you soon!

“I never paint dreams or nightmares.
I paint my own reality.”

—Frida Kahlo

1. “‘Soul of Democratic Party’ Is Memorialized by Nation,” by Dan Barry
“Soon, seven riflemen were firing three volleys. Soon, the shadow of a bugler was playing ‘Taps,’ as heat lightning stunned the night sky. Arlington was dark; a long day had ended. But come Sunday morning, cemetery officials say, the green of the grass will be smooth again, the hole filled, the sod laid. Only then it will feature a white wooden cross made by the cemetery’s carpenter, and a white marble marker that bears the name of another Kennedy, this one as distinct and as human and as accomplished as the others, a man in his own right. EDWARD MOORE KENNEDY, it will say. 1932-2009.”

2. “Students Get New Reading Assignment: Pick Books You Like,” by Motoro Rich
“… fans of the reading workshop say that assigning books leaves many children bored or unable to understand the texts. Letting students choose their own books, they say, can help to build a lifetime love of reading.”

3. “In World of Songwriting, at the Top of the Pack,” by Jim Dwyer
“Ms. Greenwich, whose masterful way with melody helped to shape popular music in the early 1960s, died last week at 68.

Greenwich: Wrote “Be My
Baby” and “Leader of the Pack.”

She was widely heard and little known. With Carole King and Cynthia Weil, she was one of three influential women songwriters who came of age in New York just after the three-minute 45-r.p.m. vinyl record became a standard.”

4. “Until Medical Bills Do Us Part,” by Nicholas D. Kristof
“A study reported in The American Journal of Medicine this month found that 62 percent of American bankruptcies are linked to medical bills. These medical bankruptcies had increased nearly 50 percent in just six years. Astonishingly, 78 percent of these people actually had health insurance, but the gaps and inadequacies left them unprotected when they were hit by devastating bills.”

5. “Scents and the City,” by Jason Logan
“Lower East Side: Barbecue chicken; teak; sugary nuts; a zingy, flowery perfume with a powdery trail; packaging; confusing perfume; renovation; garbage; butter.”

Two text murals created by Mural Arts (at far right).

Check out this description of the city’s arts scene from today’s Weekend Arts section of the NYT: “There is a particularly Philadelphian brand of hardy, low-budget, do-it-yourself, do-it-for-love creativeness evident in art and art spaces across the city. It is a climate that, as new as it sometimes feels, has been embodied and nurtured for decades by organizations like two I included on my itinerary: the Fabric Workshop and Museum, founded in 1977 as a way to combine world-class artistic collaborations with community outreach and education, and the Mural Arts Program, which grew out of the city’s anti-graffiti efforts and has worked with neighborhood residents and artists for 25 years to create more than 2,800 towering murals on walls throughout the city.”

Among the city’s arts programs and institutions name dropped in today’s NYT: the Philadelphia Museum of Art; Fluxspace; the Stoogeum; the Fabric Workshop and Museum; Little Fish; Matyson Restaurant; Fleisher/Ollman Gallery; Paesano’s; Philadelphia Institute for Advanced Study; Philadelphia Mural Arts… and more.

Congratulations to all our Mighty friends!

Full coverage: http://www.nytimes.com/

Photo: Steve Legato (NYT)