The Unchained Tour of Georgia: Coming Soon To Athens!

Celebrating Independent Bookstores

I'm part of a clear minority. I've never owned a PS2, Wii, Nintendo, or XBox. I've never gunned down a virtual alien on Halo... although I can see the obvious appeal. Kids today play for hours on end, completely fascinated by the action that is created by game designers and enhanced by their own imagination. This feeling is not wholly foreign to me. I've been known to devour entire books in one sitting, gobbling up the words as if I had just regained the power of sight. Unfortunately, as a college student, it's hard to find time to read for pleasure anymore with the looming deadlines of exams and research papers. Barbara Walter's Audition has been collecting dust in my room for months now.

The Unchained Tour of Georgia and author and founder of The Moth George Dawes Green invite you to slow down and finally find time to celebrate the art of writing and storytelling. The 14 tour stops, starting on October 20, 2010, will feature original stories, musicians, and circus performers. But it's really all about literature; enhancing the appeal of the written and spoken word and fostering a tradition of readership in the host cities. The Tour will highlight independent bookstores at each stop.

The performers will roll into Athens (on a re-purposed school bus!) on October 20, 2010 at the Seney-Stovall Chapel around 7:30 p.m. These are not your grandfather's tales, these contemporary stories, drawn from personal experience, are riveting, hilarious, and contemplative. So set down the controller, unglue yourself from the laptop and just listen as 5 fabulous storytellers make you laugh and cry. Hope to see you there!

Check out The Unchained Tour of Georgia Facebook page!
The Seney-Stovall Chapel is located at 201 North Milledge Avenue, Athens, Georgia 30602.

Discussing Innovation in Athens

New Media: How Technology Influences America Politics

Yesterday I wandered over to The Chapel on the campus of The University of Georgia to check out another great program. It's always impressed me how many great speakers, panels, and conferences come through Athens, Georgia. The university hosted panelists Senator Saxby Chambliss, Senator Ben Nelson, talk show host Neal Boortz, and Grady School Dean Dr. Cully Clark. University of Georgia President Dr. Michael Adams introduced the speakers to a crowd of local business leaders, faculty, and students. Senator Chambliss (R-GA), who heads up the Committee on Agriculture, cited a study that ranked him among the worst in the Senate for the adoption of media and technology. He thought that extensive "emailing and blackberry-ing" should have been taken into consideration.

All of the panelists agreed that the media revolution that we are experiencing is here to stay and that privacy is no longer a luxury afforded to anyone. "There is no space that I'm in that is not subject to digital representation...[the audience] is there, it won't go away." explains Clark. He, as well as other teachers at UGA, have noticed a significant uptick in the number of students using multimedia tools in the classroom such as laptops, smart phones, and tablets. Students can instantly post classroom comments to online platforms for hundreds of their friends to read. Boortz tells the audience that "There are no personal conversations anymore". However, this "live-tweeting" does have positives. The ability to communicate instantaneously allows everyone to be a reporter, fact-checking to keep teachers and politicians honest.

In Athens, we're lucky to be able to draw such distinguished speakers and generate tons of public interest that keeps them coming back. Athens, Georgia is a city that is dedicated to fostering creativity and innovation. I hope that the city and the university will continue to invite speakers here, opening up the lines of communication between residents.

Want to dive into discussion or hear some great speakers around town? Check out the Athens-Clarke County Library for weekly lectures and workshops or check out the UGA Master Calendar for upcoming events.