Rat Scabies and the Holy Grail

Ever since the days of X-Files, I’ve had a long fascination with bizarre, conspiracy-ladened historical theories. When done well, they shine as white-hot examples of brilliant plotting. Oftentimes, like in Thomas Pynchon’s Mason and Dixon or The Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea, the authors approach it with a tongue-in-cheek attitude, mixing bizarre but proven historical facts with wild fiction in ways that make it difficult to tell which is which. Others like Dan Brown’s surprisingly popular The Da Vinci Code take themselves very seriously hoping to expose “real” conspiracies by way of their fiction. I tend to prefer the former, and, thankfully, so does Christopher Dawes in his new memoir Rat Scabies and the Search for the Holy Grail.

Imagine, if you will, a semi-retired rock music critic in the midst of a midlife crisis moving into a new home in the quiet suburbs of Brentford, England. Strangely, he discovers one of his new neighbors is none other than Rat Scabies, drummer for the uber-important punk rock band The Damned. The two begin to bond over afternoon tea, trips to the local pub and discussions covering everything from neighborhood gossip to hedge-trimming to music.

As Dawes gets to know Scabies, he learns that Scabies is a man obsessed with a strange story of conspiracy and treasure. The story begins in 19th century France, at the small town of Rennes-le-Chateau. The local priest suddenly transformed from a man of limited means to a multi-millionaire. The general theory is that the priest stumbled onto a fabulous treasure – a treasure which may or may not have included the Holy Grail. Historians, archaelogists and treasure hunters have searched Rennes-le-Chateau for years without any sign of the treasure.

Dawes doesn’t believe the Rennes-le-Chateau tale at first, but with nothing better to do dives into the odd books, videos and websites trying to explain the priest and the source of the treasure. The memoir turns into a travel narrative and buddy book, taking Dawes and Scabies across Europe as they investigate different sites and uncover clues to the treasure. Theories of the treasure’s origin stem back to everything from the Merovingian Empire, alchemist formulas for creating gold, and the Knights Templar (and what good conspiracy is without the Knights Templar).

At this point readers might think of Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code, but the investigative approach here differs greatly from that in Brown’s novel. With more than a little bit of Monty Python style humor, Dawes and Scabies investigate by riding bus tours and attending bizarre conventions populated with occultists, psychics, reincarnated medieval heretics and members of various secret societies. This lampoon humor, along with Dawes’s own back and forth beliefs in the story, wonderfully satirize the complicated and convoluted threads involved in a story like this.

I will admit, though, I was a little back and forth on how seriously to take this book until I came across this wonderful little paragraph:

Now he (Scabies) had a book balanced on his knees, a copy of The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown's blockbuster novel, which Joy had brought over for him from Britain for him. Not that he was reading it...he was using it to roll a spliff on. (164)

For Americans not hip to Brit slang, a spliff is a joint on the other side of Atlantic.

But in the end Dawes's book is not so much about odd historical theories, but about the friendship between Dawes and Scabies, how it was built on their mutual obsessions, and how they finally moved on. Witty, funny, and often downright off-the-wall, it contains just enough heart to make it a real reading pleasure.

Excelsior

Harry Potter and the Pope Benedict

I've been debating over posting about this article from LifeSite.Net the last couple of days, ever since it crossed the desk here at Hebdomeros Central. Mostly because it makes me so damned angry, and I hate being angry at anyone. For those of you not wanting to read the whole article, the main gist is that Cardinal Ratzinger has written letters of support to Gabriele Kuby, a German critic who's been very vocal about the evils of the Harry Potter series. For those of you who missed the recent headlines, Cardinal Ratzinger now holds the seat of Paul at the vatican under the new name Pope Benedict.

Kuby is quoted in an interview saying this:

“I have no desire to see and depict devils where there are none,” she said, “but when I see with my own eyes, when my intelligence and heart inform me, that there is a devil painted on a wall even though most everyone else sees on this same wall only flowery wallpaper design, then I feel obliged to give witness to the truth, whether convenient or unwelcome. There is such a thing as public deception—we Germans know about that.”

From the same interview, Kuby quotes a letter of support she received from then Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict:

""Thank you very much for the instructive book. It is good, that you enlighten people about Harry Potter, because those are subtle seductions, which act unnoticed and by this deeply distort Christianity in the soul, before it can grow properly." (Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, March 7, 2003)

Personally, I was a little confused at this point. I can understand not being a Harry Potter fan, but what can people have against books that apparently bring joy to so many? So I looked up some of the people referenced in the article. Kuby is German, and despite my semester in Berlin I sadly do not read German very well. But I've taken a pretty good look at the site of author and painter Michael O'Brien, another very vocal critic of the Harry Potter series. According to his site:

Rome’s official exorcist, Fr. Gabriele Amorth, warned parents against the books in an interview with the Italian ANSA news agency. Fr. Amorth, who is also the president of the International Association of Exorcists, said bluntly, “Behind Harry Potter hides the signature of the king of the darkness, the devil.” He maintained that many of the ideas expressed in the books were from the realm of darkness, that they contain innumerable positive references to magic, “the satanic art”, and attempt to make a false distinction between black and white magic, when in fact the distinction “does not exist, because magic is always a recourse to the devil.”.

Hmm. Black magic. Yeah.

Perhaps I've just missed it, but have any kids been running around hexing each other or flying around playing Quidditch on brooms after reading Ms. Rowling's novels?
Even if I did believe in magic, the series just doesn't have enough information as far as spells that kids could start casting incantations and enchantments themselves (and, btw, most any public library or local bookstore has pretty detailed books on magic spells if kids want the "real" stuff). While I fully expect these kind of thoughts from random crazies and wingnuts scattered around the the world, clergy are well educated and should know better. Particularly those that make it all the way to the Vatican, whatever their respective position might be. With the release of the new Harry Potter book coming in a matter of days, I fully expected to hear from the overwrought crazies who can't handle words contrary to their world view, but hopefully the Vatican will keep quiet. If not, I expect they'll have hordes of angry kids--magically endowed kids, apparently--focusing their normally scatterered anger at them.

Excelsior.

Events for the Week

4 Monday

Happy July 4th!

5 Tuesday

7:30 P.M. Jehanne Dubrow and Bonnie Nevel read from their work as part of the Joaquin Miller Cabin Poetry Series held at Miller's Cabin, Picnic Grove #6, Beach Dr. at the Military Rd. overpass in Rock Creek Park, 301-587-4954.

7:30 P.M. Barry Eisler reads from and signs his new John Rain thriller, Killing Rain, at Barnes and Noble-Bethesda, 4801 Bethesda Ave., 301-986-1761.

6 Wednesday

7 P.M. Dylan Thomas -- The Man Behind the Myth Lecture & Reading. From his first published collection of poems in 1934, the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas captivated audiences across Britain and America in performance and on the page; but his untimely death at the early age of 39 resulted in the circulation of many myths about the poet. Learn the real story of Dylan Thomas during this evening's lively discussion led by writer and poet Owen Sheers. Then listen to unpublished recordings of Dylan Thomas reading his own work, followed by professional actor David Ponting's one-man show on the poet. Location: The Brickskeller, 1523 - 22nd St., NW This program is sponsored by the Smithsonian Associate Program. $32, general admission; $25, members.

7 Thursday

7 P.M. Mary Alice Monroe will be signing her new book Sweet Grass. Barnes & Noble, 8123 Honeygo Blvd. White Marsh, Md. (410) 933-9670

7 P.M. Poet Laureate of Maryland Speaks The Maryland Writers' Association hosts a reading and discussing about the importance of poetry lead by Maryland's Poet Laureate Michael Glaser. Pre-registered MWA poets will also have a chance to give readings. Event concludes with coffee and dessert. Located in the Studio Theatre. Location: Studio Theatre at The Chesapeake Arts Center, 194 Hammonds Lane, Baltimore, Md. More info available at the MWA website.

8 Friday

6:30 P.M. Karrine Steffans signs her new memoir, Confessions of a Video Vixen, along with Darren Coleman , who will sign his new novel, Don't Ever Wonder, at Karibu Books-Forestville,. 3289 B Donnell Dr., Forestville, Md., 301-736-6170.

7 P.M. Paul Feig , creator of the Emmy-nominated show "Freaks and Geeks," discusses and signs his new memoir, Superstud: Or How I Became a 24-Year-Old Virgin , at Olsson's-Courthouse, 2111 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, Va. 703-525-4227.

7 p.m. KEVIN SMOKLER & PAUL COLLINS BOOKMARK NOW
Writing in response to the NEA’s 2004 Reading at Risk report, twenty-five writers under forty examine the state of their art in a world of blogs and chat rooms. These authors contend that news of the death of reading is greatly exaggerated. Instead, new technologies offer increased opportunities for literature. Politics and Prose, 5015 Connecticut Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC 20008. 202.364.1919 

9 Saturday

9:30 AM-5 PM The Art of Writing the Personal Essay All-Day Seminar
Writing about your own life and experiences is perhaps the most rewarding kind of nonfiction to be mastered. The genre combines the finely crafted prose of the short story with the real-life intensity of journalism. Suzanne Chazin (writing instructor, New York University) discusses various styles of essay writing and guides participants in crafting their personal experiences into publishable works. This event is sponsored by the Smithsonian Associate Program. Location: S. Dillon Ripley Center. $131, general admission; $85, members


9:30 AM-4:30 PM James Joyce and His Dublin All-Day Seminar. Self-exiled from his native Ireland, his Ulysses banned in Britain and the U.S., denounced as an author who both could not and should not be read, James Joyce (1882-1941) ranks today as one of the most fascinating and influential of modern writers. In this illustrated seminar, Robert Nicholson, curator of the James Joyce Museum at the Tower of Sandycove, explores Joyce's life and works, his city of Dublin, and the phenomenal Irish literary renaissance that coincided with the launch of his career. This event is sponsored by the Smithsonian Associate Program. Location: S. Dillon Ripley Center. $131, general admission; $85, members

7 P.M. Television and film writer Adam Meyer reads from and signs his new young-adult suspense novel, The Last Domino, at Borders-Silver Spring, 8518 Fenton St., 301-585-0550.

10 Sunday

6 P.M. Miles David Moore hosts the launch of the Iota Poetry Series summer season with readings by Vladimir Levchev and Yvette Neisser Moreno at the Iota Club & Café, 2832 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, Va. 703-522-8340.

Egads!

I've been on vacation this week and have been pretty busy. Surprisingly busy, although not in the usual ways. I've seen some great exhibits like the Biennial at the Corcoran, I've been to the Folklife Festival on the National Mall, and I've been playing catch-up on several movies I've been meaning to take in like Sin City, Batman Begins (both fabulous), and Land of the Dead (a bit of a letdown). All of these probably deserve full write-ups of their own, and I may back track at some point to cover them. But then I may not if I get distracted with other topics. We'll see.

I've also been doing some actual fiction writing for the first time in awhile. Oh, I've written little scraps here and there but this is the first time in months I've sat down and wrote large passages all at once. I've secretly worried that maybe I couldn't do it anymore. And while what I've written may not be winning an O. Henry prize or anything, it still felt good to do that.

Tomorrow Miss L and I are heading up to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia to take in some of the history, and perhaps ride some inner tubes down the C&O canal. Weather permitting, of course.

Excelsior.

The Healer

I first read Michael Blumlein about nine years ago. I was still working as a gallery attendant at the Phillips Collection, a mid-sized art museum in Washington, D.C. On that particular day the HVAC system decided to break down, making the average temperature in the building an uncomfortable and sweaty 92 degrees. They stationed me in one of the least traveled areas of the museum, which meant I was not only hot but bored.

It wasn’t too hard to fight off the boredom and ignore the heat with Blumlein’s collection The Brains of Rats in hand. Although billed as horror, the collection is not your typical fare of monsters, ghosts or serial killers. Subtly disturbing, most the tales roam the dark, unfamiliar hallways of hospitals and medical practices, examining the fine lines of terror the medical industry has for everyone. One story, for example, is about a doctor with the ability to alter the sex of an unborn fetus, raising interesting and chilling questions about gender roles and identity. Another story features a struggling writer who starts selling body parts to make money for his family. Blumlein’s own experience as a surgeon serves him well, allowing him to bring in a visceral realism another writer might not have achieved. I had drifted away from fantasy, s/f and horror for a time, and I think of this book as one of the ones that brought me back.

After being so impressed by his work, I kept my eyes open for anything I could find. His two novels, The Movement of Mountains and X, Y, are both interesting but not as successful as the collection. Every now and then I’d stumble across a fabulous short story in places like Interzone, making me think he was more of a short story writer than a novelist.

But then along comes his new novel, The Healer.

Payne belongs to a race of mutated humans called grotesques. Although essentially human, they are set apart and looked down on by their human counterparts because of their unsightly cranial ridges and distorted bodies. A small number of grotesques develop the ability to heal others by pulling out infected or diseased material into their own bodies and then expelling it through a small orifice in their chest. Their unique abilities place healers in high demand, making them into slaves for the humans. Overworked, most healers have a short life span, a small blessing for people with very difficult life.

We follow the life of one particular healer, a grotesque ironically named Payne, from his initial recruitment and through his whole career. He spends his early days working for a mining colony, but Payne is quickly discovered as one of the most skilled and powerful healers in generations. His power puts him in high demand, and he quickly becomes a pawn for both human rulers and Grotesques fighting for independence. Blumlein’s other life as a medical doctor serves him well again. While he makes wonderful use of describing many odd diseases and disorders for Payne to cure, it also seems to influence the odd mixture of power and servitude healers continually feel throughout the novel.

As a character, Payne may frustrate some readers. He lives very much as a pawn throughout much of the novel, bouncing back and forth between outside influences, rarely making real decisions for himself. Often he acts as a tour guide through this fabulously detailed and metaphorical world Blumlein created. The dark and disturbing ending, however, develops fully out of a difficult choice Payne makes for himself, thus delivering a glimmer of hope for both Payne and the world he lives in which he lives. With all this going for him, not to mention very favorable blurbs on the cover by Peter Straub and Ursula K. Leguin, Blumlein's status as a writer is about to rise very quickly.

Excelsior

Events for the Week

27 Monday

12:30 P.M. Lisa Scottoline signs her new mystery, Devil's Corner, at Borders-Downtown, 18th & L Sts. NW, 202-466-4999. She will also read and sign at 7 p.m. that evening at Olsson's-Bethesda, 7647 Old Georgetown Rd., 301-652-3336.

6:30 P.M. The Inter-American Development Bank's Diversity Group is sponsoring an event with Jamaican novelist Patricia Powell , who will discuss Chinese immigration to her native island during the 19th century, the inspiration for her novel The Pagoda. The IDB Cultural Center is at 1300 New York Ave. NW; call 202-623-3558 or visit their site for details.

28 Tuesday

7 P.M. Joseph Kanon reads from and signs his new World War II thriller, Alibi, at Politics and Prose, 5015 Connecticut Ave., NW, Washington, DC 2008. Event Phone: 202-364-1919.

7:30 P.M. The Joaquin Miller Cabin Poetry Series features readings by Carrie Bennett , winner of the 2004 Washington Prize for Biography of Water, and Donna Denize , author of the collection Broke Like Job, at Miller's Cabin, Picnic Grove #6, Beach Dr. at the Military Rd. overpass in Rock Creek Park. For details and rain location, 301-587-4954.

29 Wednesday

6:30 P.M. Darren Coleman signs his new novel, Don't Ever Wonder, at Karibu Books, the Mall at Prince Georges, 3500 East-West Hwy., 301-559-1140.

7 P.M. Edna Buchanan reads from and signs her new mystery, Shadows (follow-up to last year's Cold Case Squad), at Books-A-Million, 1451 Chain Bridge Rd., McLean, Va., 703-893-7640.

7 P.M. Clarinda Harris, Rod Jellema and Roseanne Singer read from their poetry at the Kensington Row Bookshop, 3786 Howard Ave., Kensington, Md., 301-949-9416. An open reading follows.

7 P.M. Ray Villard, Infinite Worlds: An Illustrated Voyage to the Planets Beyond Our Sun. Baltimore scientist Villard signs his new book and discusses new astronomical discoveries and solar planets. Barnes & Noble, 1819 Reisterstown Road,
Pikesville EVENT PHONE: 410-415-5758

30 Thursday

Noon Charles E. Lathrop discusses and signs The Literary Spy: The Ultimate Source for Quotations on Espionage and Intelligence at the International Spy Museum, 800 F St. NW, 202-393-7798.

Noon. Forensic anthropologist and novelist Kathy Reichs reads from and signs her new Tempe Brennan thriller, Cross Bones, as part of the Smithsonian Associates series held at the S. Dillon Ripley Center, 1100 Jefferson Dr. SW. Admission is $15 for nonmembers; call 202-357-3030 to RSVP. She will also read at 7:30 p.m. that evening at Borders-Baileys Crossroads, Route 7 at Columbia Pike, 703-998-0404.

7 P.M Writing Young Adult Fiction. Young adult novels are one of the most popular genres in publishing today--and one of the easiest to break into for first-time novelists. Find out the secrets to writing and polishing your manuscript and how to sell it from author Adam Meyer. Meyer is the author of The Last Domino, a YA suspense novel recently published by Putnam and nominated as an ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers. His second novel, When She's Gone, is due out in 2006. Bertucci's Restaurant, 2800 Clarendon Blvd., Clarendon, Va., at the Market Common in Clarendon. (703) 528-9177 for directions. Order food and drink from 6:30 p.m. Meyer will speak at 7 p.m. This event is sponsored by Washington Independent Writers. Cost to WIW Members is $5 with advance payment; $7 at the door. Nonmember cost is $10 with advance payment; $15 at the door. Reservations are required. To RSVP, call (202) 737-9500.

7 P.M. Evans D. Hopkins , a former member of the Black Panther Party, discusses and signs his new memoir, Life After Life: A Story of Rage and Redemption, at Borders-Silver Spring, 8518 Fenton St., 301-585-0550.

1 Friday

7:30 P.M. Fireworks Fiction. Want to marshal your creativity? Stockpile story ideas? Conquer writer's block, or rocket your thinking "out of the box?" Then sharpen your pencils and join us in Leesburg for an evening of wordplay, writing prompts and games. $6 ($4 for members and Leesburg residents.) Event held at the Leesburg Town Hall, 25 W. Market St., Leesburg, Va. More info through the Writer’s Center.

2 Saturday

1 P.M. First Saturday Series Local authors sign copies of their books: T.P. Luce, Tha Bloc; Richard LaMotte, Pure Sea Glass; Peter Dans Perry's Baltimore Adventure; Vince Wilson, Ghost Tech; Stephen Parlato, The World That Loved Books; and Julio Malone, Sammy Sosa in 9 Innings. Barnes & Noble, 601 E. Pratt St., Baltimore. Event Phone: 410-385-1709

The Night of Gargoyles

Last night I went to the reading for the new issue of Gargoyle at the Lubber Run Ampitheatre in Arlington, Va. Tucked away in the neighborhoods of Arlington, it wasn't the easiest of places to find, but still a nice venue. Lubber Run is a small outdoor ampitheatre with 100-150 seats, and a small stage. The turnout was light--about 30 or so--but considering it wasn't at a metro-accessible location, it was pretty good. It was an especially nice evening. The temperature was very mild, and the only insects flitting around were a scant few lightning bugs. Somehow they seemed to fit right into the atmosphere for the evening.

Co-editor Lucinda Ebersole kicked things off by introducing herself and Co-editor Richard Peabody as the "Katie and Tom of Gargoyle" and jokingly invited everyone to ask about their new religion. From there, things jumped right into the readings. Standouts for me were David Housely's fun sequel to the old Princess and the Frog fairy tale, Matthew Kirkpatrick's story of second string superheroes, and poetry by Moira Egan and Sandra Beasley. All the work read, though, was very solid and I look forward to digesting them more fully in their printed state.

The new issue is a special one; number 50 for Gargoyle, and sells for $18.95. But before you balk at the cost, it's a big honker of an issue, and holds what looks to be a lot of fine work. Gargoyle pulled in their usual mix of big names (Richard McCann, Elizabeth Hand, Rick Moody) underground luminaries (Lance Olsen, Lidia Yuknavitch), and a wide selection of known and unknown local talent. As kind of a capstone, the issue also includes a previously unpublished piece by Kathy Acker. I'm always a little wary when mags put out "undiscovered" works by dead authors, but it's a killer piece. I couldn't help but read it while I waited for the actual reading to start, and it's very surprising no one else ran it yet. Although I have several things to read for revewing purposes, I know temptation will lead me to reading the full issue within a week or two.

Today marks the start of a ten day vacation from work for me. I'm kicking things off tonight by going to my first National's Game, and I'll be attending lots of cultural events over the next several days. I'll be busy, but I'll try to keep regular updates when I can. My next post will probably be a review for Blumlein's The Healer.

Happy weekend to everyone.

Excelsior.

Beltway

Added a new link today for the Blog Links section at Beltway, an online poetry magazine that focuses on poetry here in the D.C. area. The blogs they link to, including this one here, are pretty diverse, and really show how different all the writers in the D.C./Baltimore area are.

If you have time, take a look around their main site. Along with poetry, they also post a lot of good info on readings, publications, calls for submissions, and more.

Excelsior

My Cover's Been Blown!

Last night I went to a going away part for someone at work. It was a good time, and much needed since we just finished the busiest part of our year. Everyone was ready to blow off some steam, and a co-worker leaving was the perfect excuse.

We went to the District Chop House, an upper mid price place about three blocks away from the office. The Chop House is one of those big places that makes its own beer and serves steak with virtually every entrée. Even the dinner salads.

We pretty much took over the small bar area upstairs on the 2nd floor loft. There were two pool tables, but they charged $13 an hour and I couldn’t convince anyone else to play. Since work was picking up the food and drink tab, most everyone went way overboard with the Summertime Mint Margaritas and Chocolate Martinis. With my recent health problems, I’m still not supposed to drink much alcohol so I had a beer and followed it up with several glasses of Coke.

I’m not usually much for larger parties, but this was nice. Since my office is in a different building from most of the staff, it gave me a chance to catch up with people I don’t normally see and gossip with.

After a while of making the rounds, someone grabbed my elbow. It was our newly hired graphic designer. We’ll call him Designer Gary. “So I’m betting you’re a writer of some kind,” he said.

“Umm…yeah,” I responded. “I write a lot of book reviews, and a short story now and then. How did you know?”

“I can tell by the way you’re acting,” Designer Gary said. “You talk a bit, but mostly you listen. Unlike a lot of people at parties, you like you’re actually listening beyond the usual bar chatter. And every now and then you pause, look around the whole room, and the re-focus. It’s just a very writerly way to act.”

I nodded. “Yeah, I guess it is. I don’t really think about doing it, but I guess it is kind of writerly. But it looks like I’m not only observant one here.”

He laughed. “My first design job was with a newspaper, and I worked with a lot of writers. I just know what to look for. Either that, or you’re a spy.”

We both laughed at that, although it’s not the first time I’ve been accused of being a spy.

So be careful out there, fellow writers on the lurk and prowl. A few regular people out there know what to look for.

Excelsior

Events for the Week

Whew! A lot going on this week. Pay special attention to the Eco reading on Monday night (I met him once while working at a bookstore...he's very charming), the Contemporary Poetry Review event on Tuesday, and the Gargoyle Magazine event on Thursday. I hope to make at least one of them.

Special note:
The annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival starts June 23, and is located on the National Mall. If you live anwhere close to Washington, D.C. you have no excuse. Go. I attend every year, and usually more than once. It's more than worth the metro ride, the heat, and the crowds. As one of my friends always says, "I go for the food, stay for the exhibits, and then come back for more food".

20 Monday

6:30 P.M. Elizabeth Benedict reads from and signs her new suspense novel, The Practice of Deceit , at the Chevy Chase Public Library, 5625 Connecticut Ave. NW, 202-282-0021.

7 P.M. David Plotz discusses and signs The Genius Factory: The Curious History of the Nobel Prize Sperm Bank at Olsson's-Courthouse, 2111 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, Va., 703-525-4227. This event is part of the Washingtonian magazine book club. Plotz will also read on Saturday, June 25, at 6 p.m. at Politics and Prose, 202-364-1919.

7 P.M. Author and semiotician Umberto Eco continues to break boundaries with his new illustrated novel, The Mysterious Flame of the Queen Loana. Yambo is an elderly used-book dealer who loses his memory in an accident and seeks to recover it by revisiting the memorabilia and comic books of his youth. Eco blends masterful storytelling with insights derived from cognitive theory and philosophy. This is a Ticketed Event held at Temple Sinai, 3100 Military Road, NW, Washington, D.C. Two tickets are free with book purchase; otherwise $10 each. Event hosted by Politics and Prose Bookstore, 202-364-1919.

7:30 P.M. Michael Collier , professor at the University of Maryland and former Maryland poet laureate, reads from his work as part of the poetry series at Café Toulouse, 2431 18th St. NW, 202-726-4680

21 Tuesday

7:30 P.M. Daniel Abdal-Hayy Moore and Rosanne Singer read from their poetry as part of the Joaquin Miller Cabin Poetry Series held at Miller's Cabin, Picnic Grove #6, Beach Dr. at the Military Rd. overpass in Rock Creek Park, 301-587-4954.
Time: Tuesday, June 21, 2005 7:00 PM
Title of Event: CPR Book Club

7 P.M. Garrick Davis, distinguished editor of the online journal, Contemporary Poetry Review, launches Chapters' CPR Book Club, with a discussion of Adam Kirsch's new book, The Wounded Surgeon. Chapters Literary Bookstore, 445 11th Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 202-737-5553

22 Wednesday

7 P.M. Kermit Roosevelt , assistant professor of law at the University of Pennsylvania, reads from and signs his new legal thriller, In the Shadow of the Law , at Olsson's-Penn Quarter, 418 Seventh St. NW, 202-638-7610.

7 P.M. and 9:30 P.M. 48 Hour Film Project. Screening of films created over the weekend - 26 Baltimore teams have only 48 hours to write, shoot, edit, and score original music for their film. The winner of "Best Film of Baltimore" will compete against winners from other cities. Visit the official website for more info. Charles Theatre, 1711 N. Charles St, Baltimore, Md. 410-727-3456.

23 Thursday

6 P.M. Jeff Bagato presents a slide-illustrated talk about his new travel guide, Mondo DC: An Insider's Guide to Washington, DC's Most Unusual Tourist Attractions , at the Provisions Library, 1611 Connecticut Ave. NW, 2nd fl., 202-299-0460.

7 P.M. Peter Quinn reads from and signs his new WWII thriller, Hour of the Cat , at Olsson's-Penn Quarter, 202-638-7610.

7:30 P.M. Adriana Trigiani reads from and signs her new novel, Rococo, at Borders-Baileys Crossroads, Route 7 at Columbia Pike, 703-998-0404.

7:30 P.M. Pamela Kessler discusses and signs Undercover Washington: Where Famous Spies Lived, Worked, and Loved at Barnes and Noble-Rockville, 12089 Rockville Pike, 301-881-0237.

7:30 P.M. Meet the Artist: Leo Vallareal. Leo Villareal, whose work is on view in the exhibition Visual Music, discusses his lucent installations that redefine architectural and outdoor spaces with fluidly changing combinations of colored light. His work offers the viewer a charged experience that embodies the central idea in Visual Music. The event is free, and first come, first serve. Location: Ring Auditorium, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Independence Avenue at Seventh Street SW, Washington, D.C.

8 P.M. Gargoyle Magazine celebrates its 50th issue with readings by poets and fiction writers featured in its pages, at the Lubber Run Amphitheatre, North 2nd & N. Columbus Sts. in Arlington, Va. Call 703-228-1850 or visit Arlington Arts for further details.

24 Friday

11:30 A.M. Steven Raichlen , author of The Barbecue! Bible and BBQ USA: 425 Fiery Recipes from All Across America, presents a lecture, "Barbecue: A History of the World's Oldest Culinary Art," at the Library of Congress, James Madison Bldg., Mumford Room, 202-707-0911.

7 P.M. Honor Moore reads from and signs her new collection of poems, Red Shoes, at Chapters Literary Bookstore, 202-737-5553.

7 P.M. John Glassie. The author/artist discusses and signs his book, Bicycles Locked to Poles. Atomic Books, 1100 W. 36th St, Baltimore, Md. 410-662-4444.

7:30 P.M. Marc Estrin reads from and signs his new novel, The Education of Arnold Hitler, at Barnes and Noble-Georgetown, 3040 M St. NW, 202-965-9880.

8 P.M. Backseat Film Festival Kick Off Backseat Shorts "Laughs and Gags!" and Backseat feature premiere Pleasures of the Damned (1979, Giallo). Creative Alliacne at the Patterson, 3134 Eastern Ave, Baltimore, Md. 410-276-1651.

25 Saturday

5 P.M. Poetry Orgy with Clarinda Harris. Poets from Towson University read from their own work. Minas Gallery, 815 W. 36th St, Baltimore, Md. 410-732-4258.

26 Sunday

1 P.M. LARRY NEAL WRITERS’ COMPETITION: ADULT CATEGORY WINNERS
This annual competition, sponsored by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, honors excellence in writing. The first-place winners in the categories of poetry, fiction and dramatic writing will each give a short reading. Join us for an opportunity to support and encourage the work of up-and-coming local writers. Politics and Prose Bookstore, 5015 Connecticut Ave, N.W., Washington, D.C. 202-364-1919.

You Know You've Made It When....

...Julia Roberts calls you to work up a script. At least if your Michael Cunningham, that is.

Nestled between articles on obscure film awards and an inflated promtion of War of the Worlds, there's a very odd interview with Cunningham in the June 17 issue of Entertainment Weekly. The article starts on page 35 with this:

"I just left a message for Julia," says Michael Cunningham blithely, settling down for an interview in his closet-size Greenwich Village writing studio, where a framed, unhung poster of The Hours, autographed by Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, and Julianne Moore, rests in an overcrowded corner. Julia, of course, is Julia Roberts, adn Cunningham is the Pulitzer-Prize winning author of both The Hours and a peculiar and sometimes beautiful new novel called Specimen Days.

Although the article talks briefly about his writing life and success in the last couple of years, most of it reads like he's a new rockstar, going into detail on his celebrity status and what's it like to be Michael Cunningham, hollywood insider. It just struck me as kind of odd, considering an article in just about any other publication would highlight his artistic achievements, his struggle prior to his huge success, and on and on. I imagine it's the angle of a publicist trying to promote his new novel, which appears to be very different from The Hours, but it's an odd tactic I never would have considered.

Not sure where I'm going with this. It just struck as me as odd. Any way to sell a book, I suppose.

Excelsior.

Darkened Down-home Humor

Weneshkeen, Michigan, a small town on a small lake that feeds into Lake Michigan, appears simple and quiet on the surface. But Steve Amick’s novel, The Lake, the River and the Other Lake, peels back that picture postcard of serenity and brings us a set of loosely connected stories that are often funny and always touching.

Most, although not all, of the stories base themselves within the conflict between the people who live in Weneshkeen all year and those who simply vacation there during the summer months (these latter people Amick terms “fudgies” because of the high quantities of fudge and other knick knacks they buy from the various shops in town).

The novel’s big star is Roger Drinkwater, an Ojibwe Native American who served in Vietnam and now coaches the high school swim team. Tired of the noisy jet skis that make his daily swim in the lake difficult and dangerous, Drinkwater enters a one man crusade to sabotage every jet ski in the town. Other stories of Weneshkeen include a farmer whose son marries one of the migrant workers and has to face his own feelings of racism, a teen fudgie who starts dating the summer beauty queen and finds she may be more trouble then she’s worth, and a business man who starts a rumor that David Letterman is vacationing in the town to help sell his idea of Sumac Lemonade.

Despite everything that happens, and a lot happens in this fast moving book, Amick’s narrative is driven by the strength of his well rounded, memorable, and very likable characters. The folksy, down-home style of Amick’s humor reminded me of Garrison Keillor’s Lake Wobegon books and radio broadcasts. But Amick moves beyond the puns with some darker turns here and there, showing an occasional influence of T.C. Boyle. Darkly funny and bitterly poignant, Amick’s book is a great read if you want something just this side of quirky.

Alive and Kicking

Yes, believe it or not, I am still alive. I won't go into the finer details of my illness, except to say that it was painful and that I'm glad it's over. At least for the time being. Thank you, everyone, for the good wishes. It was nice to see those in my mail box.

I started back at work over the weekend. It was the big fundraising gala for work, so I dragged newly unmedicated self in to help the cause. Although the days were long, it was kind of fun. I attended a party at the capital building on Saturday night, and I saw a few celebrities. Jeff Foxworthy looks exactly like you think he does, and he's extremely friendly. Gena Davis is uber-tall, and was all the more strident in her white pants suit. Hillary Duff was there as well with her entourage. She seemed very nice when the couple of youngsters in attendance approched her. In actuality, though, I had more fun just looking around the building. I hadn't been inside the Capital since I was a little kid, so I had a good time walking through the House and Senate, gazing at the portraits and statues.

It'll take me a little bit to get used to blogging again, but I have some reviews that will be going up over the next few days. I'll also be picking up new books to review tonight at the monthly magazine meeting, so I should have a lot to write on once I get rolling.

Hope everyone is doing well out there.

Excelsior.

Hebdomeros is Out

I probably won't be blogging much, if at all, the next few days. I discovered bright and early yesterday morning that I'm the proud owner of a kidney stone. Fortunately, the drugs keep the pain pretty low, but they also make me pretty sleepy and fuzzy-brained. I'll be back up and running once my body is back to normal.

Hope everyone is doing well.

Excelsior.

Just Fake It

Author Jeff Vandermeer has a wonderful website up. It's a pretty fun parody of author web sites and does a good job at poking fun at all of our little conceits as writers. I'm particularly fond of the FAQ section, where he talks about suing Stephen King. Not for the thin-of-skin.

Excelsior.

Knocking on the Tin House

The newest issue of Tin House is billed as the Obsession issue. Theme issues, I realize, must be pretty tough to do. Some of the submissions will match what the editor's looking for, but I'm sure a good number don't. This issue, in particular, has several pieces that don't relate to the theme at all. Unless I'm just missing something, but I don't think I am.

In general, I actually enjoyed the non-fiction more than the fiction. Some took the quasi-literary approach, like Nathan Alllling Long's essay on Samuel Delany's The Motion of Light in Water or Jessmyn West's memories of her childhood favorite reads in her essay "Cress Delahanty". Others take a more personal approach, like Steve Almond's "My Soul Upon the Grill", which ends with a nice recipe for chicken salad, and "The Green Fairy" by Elissa Schappell, which explores her strange fascination and near addiction with absinthe.

Fiction-wise, the pieces I liked the most are the ones that tie closely into the theme. Amanda Gersh's tale "Stalk Me Gently" is, not surprisingly, a story about a stalker. The twist, though, is that the stalker's target-a lovely girl named Julie-enjoys the thrill of being stalked. Interesting curveball, in that their obsessions mirror and play off each other. We only get the point of view of the stalker, which made me wonder at points that Julie's obsession might be a fabrication to justify his actions. Delving into her point of view could be fun, but it would have made the piece much too long for a mag like Tin House, and might actually constitute a novel's worth of material

"Mudman" by Pinckney Benedict is probably my favorite piece in the whole issue. Farmer Tom Snedegar is driven by three obsessions: wasps in his house, the belief that his wife is having an affair, and the building of his Mudman. With a skeleton made from scrap pieces of wood and flesh and muscle from sculpted mud and dirt, the Mudman transforms from a blob of nothing into a living, moving, talking varmint killing machine. The three obsessions circle around each other and accomplish what I really look for in well written fantasy-the creation of a magical tale that in the end reflects upon the characters driving the work.

Bill Gaston's "A Forest Path" tells the story of a young man who hates fiction. Kind of an odd character to write about, his story makes sense as he tells it to you. His hatred for fiction extends from his unending obsession for the author Malcolm Lowry. This obsession, though, is not that of a fan but of a son left behind. A child of a brief affair between his mother and Lowry, the narrator lays blame for all the bad things that have ever happened to him and his mother at the feet of this respected if somewhat odd author. A compelling story, it has a lot to say about how authors and artists in general interact with the rest of the world.

There are other good pieces in the issue--Sergei Nosov's "Nabob: A Writer's Tale" and "End of Messages" by Lucia Nevai are particularly good--but they don't really fit into the theme. I went into the issue with certain expectations on the issue, and found myself a little let down by each piece that didn't really fit the mold promised by the cover or the editor's introduction. Not the fault of the writers at all, but the editors should have saved these pieces for use in other issues.

Beh. Maybe it's just my headache talking.

Happy weekend to everyone.

Excelsior.

Never Give Up the Good Fight

Apparently I had my head buried in the sand and missed this year's Balticon. For the uninitiated, Balticon is a gigantic S/F oriented convention held yearly in Baltimore. I've only been once before, but it put all other conventions to shame. Any convention of its type features way-out fans dressed like their favorite characters, but when I went I saw witness to people dressed as everything from your typical Kligons all the way out to Transformers. Quite a geek fest, so I obviously fit right in. Seriously, it's kind of a rare chance to meet and talk to people who like some of the same books and movies I like. And I'm sure it was way geeked up this year, with Star Wars and Star Trek just finishing up.

It was probably 8 years ago when I last went. I always mean to go, and always seem to miss it.

On the good side, I see on their site that one of their guests was Count Gore De Vol. For the few reading this who may have lived in the D.C. area in the 70's and 80's, the good Count was a fixture of local t.v. During the day he dressed in a faux Star Trek uniform, called himself Captain 20 and hosted a kiddie program called WOW. On weekend nights he changed personas, becoming the Count, a bloodsucking vampiric fiend who hosted the late night Creature Feature. The Creature Feature, the good Captain and the Count all vanished when Channel 20 became part of the UPN network, and I haven't heard a thing about him since.

But, god bless him, he's still fighting the good fight online, hosting and running a weekly creature feature. If you love the old horror movies like I do, little ventures like this one are probably the best way to find them anymore. I know I'll be watching.

Excelsior.

Events for the Week

Special Note:
Not exactly a writer event, but still rating very high on the cool list is Movie Dearest: Baltimore Pride Film Festival. Billed as "a celebration of the rich history of queer cinema – old, new, narrative, documentary, campy, cutting edge – stories from the boundaries. Baltimore Pride, famous for their weekend Pride parade and festival in Druid Hill park partners with Creative Alliance, presenters of Charm City Kitty Club and local films of all sorts, for a new annual celebration of queer cinema. Running June 1-3.

30 Monday

7 P.M. Young adult author Tamora Pierce , author of Trickster's Queen and the quartets "The Protector of the Small" and "The Immortals," reads from and signs her work at Final Draft Books, 192 North 21st St., Purcellville, Va., 540-338-8238.

7 P.M. Spoken Heard Mondays Open mic poetry surrounded by acid jazz, neo-soul, and hip hop. Local and national artists featured weekly. Club 347 347 N. Calvert St. 347 Baltimore. EVENT PHONE: 410-547-1045

8 P.M. Slamicide Poetry Slam is the competitive art of performance poetry. It was established in the mid-80s by Marc Kelly Smith, a then construction worker, as a means to heighten public interest in poetry readings. Since then, slam has evolved into an international art form emphasizing audience involvement and poetic excellence. Slamicide begins at 8:00pm SHARP!! Get there early (like 7:30pm even)! The show WILL go on without you! Price: $5.00 Event phone: 410.889.7076

31 Tuesday

12 Noon The citywide festival commemorating the 150th anniversary of Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass , "D.C. Celebrates Whitman , " winds up Tuesday, May 31 (Whitman's 186th birthday), with a noon reading of verse from the landmark collection by Robert Aubry Davis at the Library of Congress, James Madison Bldg., Pickford Theater, 202-707-1308.

1 Wednesday

1 P.M. Robert Littell reads from and signs his new espionage thriller, Legends , at Chapters Literary Bookstore, 202-737-5553. He will also read that evening at 7 p.m. at Olsson's-Penn Quarter, 202-638-7610.

6:30 P.M. Beverly Jenkins signs her new historical romance, Something Like Love , at Karibu Books, the Mall at Prince Georges, 3500 East-West Hwy., 301-559-1140.

7 P.M. Kim Schraf, Dan Vera and Craig Wallace read from their work as part of the Brookland Poetry Series #18, "Dog Days II," at the Brookland Visitors Center, 3420 Ninth St. NE. For details, call 202-526-1632

7:30 P.M. Alex Klaits and Gulchin Gulmamadova-Klaits. International aid workers/authors Alex Klaits and Gulchin Gulmamadova-Klaits read from their book Love and War in Afghanistan. Red Emma's 800 St. Paul St. Baltimore EVENT PHONE: 410-230-0450

2 Thursday

7 P.M. Gigi Anders discusses and signs her new memoir, Jubana!: The Awkwardly True and Dazzling Adventures of a Jewish Cubana Princess , at Borders-White Flint, 11301 Rockville Pike, 301-816-1067. She will also read on Friday, June 3, at 7 p.m. at Olsson's-Penn Quarter, 202-638-7610.

7 P.M. Scott Simon , correspondent and host of "Weekend Edition Saturday" for NPR, reads from and signs his new novel, Pretty Birds , at Olsson's-Courthouse, 2111 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, Va., 703-525-4227. He will also read on Saturday, June 4, at 6 p.m. at Politics and Prose, 202-364-1919.

7:30 P.M. Denise Hamilton reads from and signs her new Eve Diamond mystery, Savage Garden , at Borders-Baileys Crossroads, Route 7 at Columbia Pike, 703-998-0404.

7:30 P.M. Journalist Jim Lehrer , host of "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer" on PBS, reads from and signs his new novel, The Franklin Affair , at Politics and Prose, 202-364-1919.

3 Friday

7 P.M. Matt Bondurant reads from and signs his new novel, The Third Translation , at Barnes & Noble-Fairfax, 12193 Fair Lakes Promenade Dr., 703-278-0300.

7:30 P.M. Northern Virginia Writers hosts a discussion, "Using Language to Create an Emotional Landscape," with Joyce Hackett , author of the novel Disturbance of the Inner Ear , on Friday, June 3, at 7:30 p.m. at the Leesburg Town Hall, 25 W. Market St., Leesburg, Va. For details, call 301-654-8664 or e-mail nvw@writer.org .

4 Saturday

12 Noon. Open House at the Writer's Center.
Meet workshop leaders, staff and Board members at our June Open House. We'll have door prizes, including a free workksop, free membership and a subscription to Poet Lore, the Writer's Center's literary journal. We will also have demonstrations to show new features on our recently-revamped website. Light refreshments. Free admission.

Journals

I filled up my journal last night, which is always an interesting time. It usually forces me to flip back through the pages of the last few months and kind of re-live the major points, both high and low, and reflect a little on possible future events.

My first entry in the diary...dating November 1...details a number of places I sent stories to. Kind of reminder to me that I need to send out some gracious but questioning emails to some editors asking what the status is. I think I hit kind of mid-cycle on all the various publications. They all released new issues shortly at the start of the year, and my hope is they'll consider the pieces I sent for the next round. If not, though, I'd like to know. In the meantime, I need to shop for a new journal. I don't know why, but it always feels like a big decision to me. Do i spend the money and get a really nice, leatherbound notebook? Or do I go cheap, and just use one of the Mead Compostion Notebooks I have tucked away in my desk at home?

Still working up a review of sorts for the new issue of Tin House. I have mixed feelings about it overall, so it's been hard to create a cohesive review. I should have it up tomorrow or Sunday, though.

Happy weekend to everyone.

Excelsior.

Mother of Sorrows

Last night I went to the Richard McCann reading for his new novel, Mother of Sorrows, at Lambda Rising in the Dupont Circle section of downtown D.C.

If you're not familiar with Lambda Rising, it's a bookstore geared towards the Gay community in D.C. It was a lot of fun just browsing around the store beforehand. Erotica titles for both gay and straight readers and art books with nudes on the cover are not only prominent there, but turned face out. A high number of authors like Kathy Acker, Samuel Delany and Gertrude Stein who can be hard to find in a regular bookstore have a number of titles stocked there. A nice difference from the everyday B & N I normally do my browsing in.

McCann started his reading by explaining his book. He grew up in the Maryland suburbs of D.C. and left for a number of years when he hit adulthood. After returning to the area, he started using D.C. as a source of prime material for essays and stories. This material, which focuses on the D.C. suburbs of the 1950's, developed over the years into his novel.

One of his main goals was to create a suburb novel that works against the typical mode--meaning he set out to write them without irony and without presenting them as a lifeless limbo caught between the big city and the small town. He also admitted that much of the book--the characters, the basic events--is autobiographical. He explained that his writing always starts as non-fiction investigations into his ideas, obsessions and life and that he'll fictionalize the details as he goes for artistic reason and for clarity (his family, for example, is larger than the one presented in the book).

The two sections he read centered around Maria Dolores, the character based on McCann's own mother. Based solely on the small sections he read last night, the high praise he's received is well earned. The physical descriptions, the language, the details are all quite beautiful, but also worked well to define the character of the mother and bring her to life. Although a pretty serious book tackling tough subjects like family, sexuality, gender roles, and more McCann paints in nice strokes of humor. McCann's also an excellent reader of his own material, a skilll not every writer, myself included, possesses.

Although it will be a little while before I get to it, the reading inspired me to buy his book. Which, I suppose, is the whole point for him doing it and the whole point for my going.

Excelsior.

Moore Eno

Here's a pretty interesting if somewhat odd interview of Brian Eno conducted by author Alan Moore (best known for comic books like The Watchmen, Swamp Thing, and most recently The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen).

Maybe I'm a bit alone in this, but I've always been a bit of an Eno fan. Not all of his work excites me, but he has some great stuff out there.

My favorite quote:



Well, I just... actually, just finished a new album which is all songs, funnily enough... the first one I've done like that for a very long time. Twenty five years or so. Song writing is now actually the most difficult challenge in music. It's very easy to make music now. I just bought a synthesiser the other day... a plug-in synthesiser... the sounds are so complex that you can just sort of hold a note down and you've got an ambient album... y'know, as long as you can be bothered to keep your finger down for thirty five minutes. [general laughter].

There's also some good links to other info. The info on Oblique Strategies, a set of cards he created with painter Peter Schmidt to help stoke his creative fires, is interesting for all creative types.

Excelsior.

Events for the Week

23 Monday

7:30 P.M. Richard McCann , co-director of the creative writing program at American University, reads from and signs his new novel, Mother of Sorrows, at Borders-Baileys Crossroads, Route 7 at Columbia Pike, 703-998-0404.

24 Tuesday

7 P.M. Amitav Ghosh reads from and signs his new novel, The Hungry Tide, at Politics and Prose, 202-364-1919.

7:30 P.M. Richard McCann , co-director of the creative writing program at American University, reads from and signs his new novel, Mother of Sorrows, at Lambda Rising, 1625 Connecticut Ave. NW, 202-462-6969.

25 Wednesday

12 Noon Dorothea Benton Frank signs the fifth novel in her Lowcountry Tales, Pawley's Island, at Borders-Downtown, 18th and L Sts. NW, 202-466-4999.

12:30 P.M. "DC Celebrates Whitman: 150 Years of Leaves of Grass": Luncheon and Poetry Reading featuring David McAleavey, Clarinda Harriss, Linda Joy Burke, and Robert R. Giron. A tribute to Whitman's living legacy. Authors featured in The Whitman Issue of Beltway: A Poetry Quarterly read from Whitman and their own work. Hosted by Mark Ohnmacht. Sponsored by The Arts Club of Washington. Wednesday, May 25, 2005 at 12:30 to 2:30 pm $15 Admission cost includes lunch. The Arts Club of Washington, 2017 I St. NW, Foggy Bottom neighborhood, DC. (202) 331-7282. Further info available at Washington Art.

5:30 P.M. New Yorker magazine writer Adam Gopnik discusses and signs his recent anthology, Americans in Paris, at the National Archives, William G. McGowan Theater, 202-501-5000.

7 P.M. Martin Dickinson, Nan Fry and Martin Galvin read from their poetry at the Kensington Row Bookshop, 3786 Howard Ave., Kensington, Md., 301-949-9416. An open reading follows.

7 P.M. D.C. Poets Against the War is sponsoring a reading with poets Baron Wormser , author of Carthage , and Pamela Uschuk , author of Scattered Risks, at Chapters Literary Bookstore, 202-737-5553.

26 Thursday

11:30 A.M. Judith Farr , author of The Passion of Emily Dickinson and The Gardens of Emily Dickinson (written with Louise Carter) presents a lecture, "Spring in Emily Dickinson's Real & Poetic Gardens," at the Woman's National Democratic Club, 1526 New Hampshire Ave. NW. This English-Speaking Union event begins with a reception, followed by a lunch at 12:30 p.m. and lecture at 1 p.m. Tickets are $25; to RSVP, call 202-234-4602.

8 P.M. Archie the Messenger: A poetic sit. Bring a poem and your drum. Notre Maison, 18 West 25th Street, Baltimore. 410-235-4773

27 Friday

6:30 P.M. Daaimah S. Poole signs her new novel, What's Real, at Karibu Books, Iverson Mall, 3817 Branch Ave., Hillcrest Heights, Md., 301-899-3730.

28 Saturday

2 P.M. Connie Briscoe signs her new novel, Can't Get Enough (the follow-up to P.G. County ) at Borders-Silver Spring, 8518 Fenton St., 301-585-0550.

29 Sunday

7:30 P.M. The Smokin' Word Revolution. A closed mic set featuring spoken-word poetry hosted by E the poet-emcee. Sylvan Beach Cafe, 7 W. Preston St, Baltimore. 410-685-5752.

Dali in Philly

This past week Miss L and I ventured north to Philly to take in the Salvador Dali retrospective at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. If you've never been there, the museum's located in one of the nicer spots of downtown Philly. Sitting on what's essentially a large traffic circle, it's surrounded by gardens and paved pathways. On a day like the when we were there--lower 70's and sunny--the paths were filled with smiling joggers, couples strolling around and little kids darting back and forth.

The exhibit itself was sold out that day, making it a bit of a cattle call. Although not the most ideal way to view art, sometimes you just have to take what you can get.

There have been a couple other exhibits on Dali in recent years, most notably a very good touring show I caught at the Hirshhorn five or so years ago. What really distinguished this one for me was inclusion of a lot of his early work. When Dali was still in his teens and living in Spain, he was already experimenting quite competently with challenging styles like Fauvism and Cubism. Although owing a lot to his idols, especially Picasso, including this early work gives people not so familiar with his history a clearer idea of his development as an artist. As he turned older his familiar iconography like ants, watches, crutches, his father start appearing in different ways. Most of his major works were present, but his version of the Last Supper, currently owned by the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., was oddly absent.

Two real gems were outside the main exhibit area. The Philadelphia Musuem uses a small theatre space that usually showcases video art and short films. This time they tied it to Dali by showing two of his contributions to the film world. First was Un Chien Andalou, a short film of loosely connected dream images he co-created with director Luis Bunuel. There's no real narrative as such, so the film is entirely made of odd incidents like the slicing of an eye, a man's mouth vanishing and becoming under-arm hair, and man dragging a piano weighed down by the carcus of a dead animal. Although I've seen still shots of the film in different books over the years, I've never had a chance to see the full film. Quite innovative for the time not just in style but also in technique and special effects, it still holds up today as a really odd little film. Just ask the very confused people in the little theatre who saw it with me.

The second film was a recreation of a project Dali did for Disney. Originally Walt Disney conceived his classic Fantasia as a series that would have a new edition every few years. Dali created animation for a sequence intended for the second installment, but the original work was lost and never completed. A team rebuilt the animation based on Dali's drawings for the project, and brought it back to life with computer animation. It includes much of his familiar imagery without all the sexual undertones. Dali for the whole family, I suppose.

What really got me was the gift shop. They of course stocked necessary things like posters, postcards, and an exhibition catalogue. And, of course, books on Dali's life and art, videos of inteviews, and on and on. But they also carried things like Dali action figures, Dali finger puppets, mannequin feet with posable toes, make your own mustache kits, floating eyeballs on wheels, and yes even panties and boxer shorts with Dali's signature silkscreened across the ass. It's quite probably the largest level of exteme junk I've ever seen for one artist, and it couldnt' be more appropriate unless it was Warhol. Considering that when his health was too poor to allow him to paint he made money by singing and selling autographs in bulk, I think Mr. Dali would be greatly amused to see mass consumerism accepting his images so readily.

Excelsior.

Book TV

I almost never watch it, because they tend to focus primarily on political books. But tonight at 7 PM they're featuring Margaret Atwood talking about her new book of essays Writing With Intent. I've heard her speak before, and she's normally pretty interesting. They often re-run their programs several times, so if you miss it initially check your local listings for replays.

Excelsior

Publishing Update

Yep, it's finally out.

A short story of mine found a home in the anthology Elements of the Fantastic, put out by Coscom Entertainment, a small s/f and fantasy oriented press in Canada. If at all interested, the book is available through Coscom's website, and also through Project Pulp and of course Amazon.

The anthology contains six short stories, all of which play with the tropes of fantasy to varying degrees. Although I have the e-book version sitting on my computer's hard drive, I'm waiting for my hard copy to get to me by snail mail before I read it. I just can't read long pieces on the computer screen. Looking forward to getting it, though.

In more current writing news, I'm obsessed with religions that worshipped cats. I've been having troubles with my current story, and a lot of it goes back to not having the weird cult of cat worshippers fleshed out. I'm hoping research into this stuff will help. If not, it's fun reading anyway. There are some crazy people out there!

Tomorrow Miss L and I are heading up to Philly to pay homage to Salvador Dali at the retrospective at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. I'll probably stop in and say "Hi" to Marcel Duchamp as well. I can never pass up a chance to stare at the large glass for a time (museum curators take note.....it's past time for a major retrospective of Duchamp!). Full report when I get back on Saturday.

Excelsior.

Weekly Events

16 Monday

12:30 P.M. Michael Connelly signs his new Harry Bosch novel, The Closers , at Olsson's-Penn Quarter, 418 Seventh St. NW, 202-638-7610. He will also read and sign at 7:30 p.m. that evening at Borders-Baileys Crossroads, Route 7 at Columbia Pike, 703-998-0404.

1 P.M. Douglas M. Parker discusses and signs Ogden Nash: The Life and Work of America's Laureate of Light Verse at Chapters Literary Bookstore, 445 11th St. NW, 202-737-5553.

7:30 P.M. The Walt Whitman Birthday Tribute Reading , part of the citywide festival "D.C. Celebrates Whitman" (commemorating the 150th anniversary of Leaves of Grass ), will feature poets Mark Doty , author of My Alexandria and School of the Arts (published in April), and Anne Waldman , author of Structure of the World Compared to a Bubble, at the Folger Shakespeare Library, 201 East Capitol St. SE. A reception and signing follow. Tickets are $10; call 202-544-7077 to RSVP.

17 Tuesday

7:30 P.M. John Burdett reads from and signs Bangkok Tattoo (the follow-up to Bangkok 8 ) at Borders-Baileys Crossroads, 703-998-0404.

7 PM Author Mary Kay Zuravleff reads from her second novel The Bowl Is Already Broken. A tale of art, politics, and family, the novel begins with a precious Chinese porcelain bowl falling down the marble stairs of the fictional Museum of Asian Art, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Arthur M. Sackler Gallery and Freer Gallery of Art. Location: Freer Conference Room. This is a free event.

18 Wednesday

7 P.M. Nicole Krauss reads from and signs her new novel, The History of Love, at Politics and Prose, 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW, 202-364-1919.

7 P.M. Jane Alison reads from and signs her new novel, Natives and Exotics, at Chapters Literary Bookstore, 202-737-5553

19 Thursday

6:30 P.M. Gregory Maguire , author of the fairytale riffs Wicked and Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, reads from and signs his newest book in the Hamlet Chronicles series for young readers, One Final Firecracker, at Aladdin's Lamp Children's Bookstore, 2499 N. Harrison St., Arlington, Va., 703-241-8281.

7 P.M. Jennifer Anne Kolger reads from and signs her new young adult novel,
Ruby Tuesday, at Barnes & Noble-Bethesda, 4801 Bethesda Ave., 301-986-1761. She will also read on Friday, May 20, at 7 p.m. at Olsson's-Courthouse, 2111 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, Va., 703-525-4227.

7 P.M. Poets Mark Cox and Myra Sklarew , author of the collections Natural Causes and Lithuania: New And Selected Poems, respectively, read from their work as part of the Café Muse series at the Friendship Heights Village Center, 4433 S. Park Ave., Chevy Chase, Md., 301-879-1959.

7 P.M. Francine du Plessix Gray discusses and signs Them: A Memoir of Parents at Olsson's-Penn Quarter, 202-638-7610.

7:30 P.M. Scott Simon , correspondent and host of "Weekend Edition Saturday" for NPR, reads from and signs his new novel, Pretty Birds, at Borders-Baileys Crossroads, 703-998-0404.

21 Saturday

1 P.M. Mary Kay Zuravleff reads from and signs her new novel, The Bowl Is Already Broken, at the B. Dalton Booksellers at Montgomery Mall, 7101 Democracy Blvd., Bethesda, Md., 301-365-6209.

2 P.M. Connie Briscoe signs her new novel, Can't Get Enough (the sequel to P.G. County ) at Karibu Books, the Mall at Prince Georges, 3500 East-West Hwy., 301-559-1140.

3 P.M. Reading of Edgar Allan Poe's "Eureka". A reading of the poem by Edgar Allan Poe and art thing by New York-based Hope Sandrow. Mount Vernon Park Charles Street and Mount Vernon Place Baltimore 410-244-1030

7:30 P.M. Visiting writer Joyce Johnson will give a lecture at the Writer's Center, followed by question and answer, discussion, and a reception. Johnson is author of Missing Men: A Memoir and Minor Characters: A Beat Memoir, which focuses on her relationship with Jack Kerouac and other Beat writers. $10.00 (Member) $15.00 (Non-Member) The lecture and discussion will be followed by a reception, included in the price of admission. The Writer's Center is located at 4508 Walsh Street, Bethesda, MD.

22 Sunday

4 P.M. Poetic Voices Without Borders An anthology reading featuring poets published in Poetic Voices Without Borders, published by Gival Press. Readers will include Christopher Conlon, Robert Giron, E. Ethelbert Miller, Richard Peabody, and Myra Sklarew. The reading is followed by a reception and book signing. Held at the Writer's Center. $4.00 (Member)
$6.00 (Non-Member) The Writer's Center is located at 4508 Walsh Street, Bethesda, MD.

7:30 p.m. The Smokin' Word Revolution A closed mic set featuring spoken-word poetry hosted by E the poet-emcee. Located at the Sylvan Beach Café 7 W. Preston St., Baltimore. 410-685-5752

Obsess Much?

If Friday the 13th is a day when t.v. shows die, Saturday the 14th must be the day literary mags are born. At least in my house, because yesterday I received the newest issues of both Tin House and Conjunctions in the mail. Both are theme issues, and both are themes near and dear to my hearts.

Conjunctions is subtitled An Anatomy of Roads: The Quest Issue. Quests, despite the bad connotations to contemporary fantasy, have a long tradition stretching back at least as far as the Gilgamesh epic. I know it's an old truism taught in every high school English class, but I've always liked the idea of journey changing someone beyond the simple goals of inherent in the destination. Everytime I start out on a road trip I always wonder what things I'll find that I never expected. I'm curious to see what writers like Robert Coover and Rikki Ducornet have to say on the subject.

Tin House, though, might be even more interesting. It's theme this time around is obsession, something that artists of all kinds can appreciate. In my own writing, I know something's not working if I'm obsessed with some aspect of the story. It could be a character, an event, a physical detail, research...any number of things. My latest research obsession life in ancient Celtic societies, and I know someday I'll work Curious George into a story. I'm way too fond of that little guy not to use him in something. Anyway, the issue takes fiction, poetry and non-fiction and looks at obsessions as divergent as bugs, the smell of jasmine and dressing up like Peter Pan. I will probably start with it, because it should tie in nicely when I go up to Philly to see the retrospective for Salvador Dali---a man obsessed with many things, including with examining his reasons for his obsessions.

Excelsior.

Happy Friday the 13th

It's somehow very appropriate that a show like Star Trek: Enterprise, a show plagued by bad luck and bad decisions from the beginning, ended tonight on Friday the 13th.

In an attempt to end things, the writers plunged the characters six full years into the future. The story was told as a history by some characters from the much more popular Next Generation series. Without getting into geeky explanations, it was an attempt at closing this prequel of a series by leading it into issues of the other shows. A nice attempt, but didn't quite work for me. It's a big thing, though. Because in way they just weren't trying to close out Enterprise, but the entire canon of the Star Trek.

While I didn't enjoy every episode of Enterprise, some of their over-arching plot lines were unique and pretty well developed. But I knew it the show was in trouble in season 2 when nearly every promo featured surfer-turned model-turned actress Jolene Blalock in near-naked status. Scott Bakula, who was the only big name actor in the series, didn't help matters by seeming to phone in his performance each week.

But so it goes. As a cultural thing, Star Trek's had a pretty good run. And who knows, it may be back in another form another twenty years down the road.

In the meantime, there are some actors and film makers up in Maryland at New Voyages creating whole new episodes on the internet. Brings the idea of fan worship to a whole new level, and will keep all the closet Trekkers out there satisfied until the next one comes around.

Excelsior.

Bookstores

Related to my post yesterday, Jonathan Safran Foer contributed to Writing Life, a weekly feature in Washington Post's Book World.

Although he now resides in NY City, apparently Mr. Foer grew up in D.C.---I had no idea. His essay in Writing Life is in part about growing up in D.C., although I don't think you need to know anything about D.C. to enjoy it. It's really more about growing up with bookstores.

My only bookstores growing up were the small Walden's Books located in the local shopping malls, and later Crown Books. I loved them, even if they put all the s/f and fantasy books in the back corner. Always made me feel like they were trying to put the outcasts in an area so the regular readers wouldn't have to interact with us. The first time I encountered the super-bookstores was when we moved my older step-brother down to UVa and I found my first B&N. It seemed mammoth, and I spent probably three hours in there searching through the seemingly endless rows of books and magazines. I remember thinking it was wonderful when I needed a break I was able to stop for a cup of juice, rejuvenate and start looking again.

Excelsior

Sad Enough to Make a Grown Man Cry

I freely admit it.

When it comes right down to it, I'm pretty jaded as a reader. It takes a lot of skill for a writer to get me laughing out loud at their book. And it takes even more for me to be impressed by some quirk of technique. It's even rarer still to really shock or surprise me, and almost unheard of that a book hits me so perfectly on an emotional level that I'm nearly brought to tears.

When a writer hits on even one of these points, it illicits a rave review out of me. On the almost unheard of occasions when a book hits all of these, I rant and rave about it to everyone I know and people I don't know for months. Books that did this for me in recent memory are Murakami's The Windup Bird Chronicle, Delaney's Dhalgren, Acker's Empire of the Senseless and Rice's Blood of Mugwump. Jonathan Safan Foer's new novel Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close hits on two of these points, and that's pretty damn good.

Extremely is a contemporary, post-9/11 story. Oskar, a young boy living in New York City, lost his father to the fall of the World Trade Center. Two years later Oskar still searches for answers, as well as a way to connect with his missing father. When rummaging through his father's closet Oskar finds an envelope with the word "Black" written on it in red ink. Inside rests a small key that doesn't fit any lock in their home. Using flawless kid logic, Oskar begins a quest to speak with every person in New York City who has the name Black, thinking it will lead to the answer of the secret key.

Foer's creation of Oskar is a marvelous one. He's a brilliant and creative little kid with dreams of becoming an inventor. He imagines creations like skyscrapers that retract into the ground so people won't have to use stairs or elevators and ankle bracelets that leave a trail so you never got lost. Filled with ambition, he writes letters to scientists like Stephen Hawking asking to work as their assistant. I've always found writing from a child's point of view really difficult, and a smart child even more challenging. But Foer generates the right mixture of intelligence and naivete that a bright child would have.

In his quest, Oskar meets an odd assortment of characters: a retired journalist who keeps a card catalogue record of everyone he's ever met, a woman who hasn't left the observation deck of the Empire State Building in several years, and a mysterious mute who communicates through handwritten notes. Although he rarely finds answers that are helpful, Oskar still manages to charm his way into these people's live and, in some instances, even help some of them out with their lives.

If all of this sounds funny, it is. While I didn't expect to laugh at a book tied to 9/11, Extremely is filled with odd events and verbal puns, all doubled when presented through the wide-eyed point of view of Oskar. But it's humor done in a smart way that connects nicely to the ideas of the book. I can't help but think of Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five---with its humor within the tragedy of the bombing of Dresden, its straightforward yet almost postmodern flashes---in reading a lot of this. But I don't mean in a derivative way. While Vonnegut's humor constantly shouts on the page, Foer ocassionally tones it down and makes you chuckle in more subtle ways.

But Extremely is primarly a book about loss and about recovery. The most moving moments are Oskar's remembrances of his father. I was riding home from work on the metro when I read the flashback of Oskar hearing the phone messages his father left on 9/11. My heart fell, and I leaned against the window and cover my face with the book so no one would see the tiny tears I thought might form in my eyes. A book that can do that to me is a rare gem indeed.

So good job, Mr. Foer. You made a grown man cry. And I couldn't be happier.

Excelsior.

Events For the Week

9 Monday

7 P.M. Spoken Heard Mondays Open mic poetry surrounded by acid jazz, neo-soul, and hip hop. Club 347
347 N. Calvert St. Baltimore EVENT PHONE: 410-547-1045

7:30 P.M. Steven Johnson , Discover magazine's "Emerging Technology" columnist, discusses and signs Everything Bad is Good for You: How Today's Popular Culture is Actually Making Us Smarter at Barnes & Noble-Georgetown, 3040 M St. NW, 202-965-9880.

7:30 P.M. Poets Karren Alenier and Sandra Beasley read from their work as part of the new reading series at Café Toulouse in Adams Morgan, 2431 18th St. NW, which hosts local poets the second Monday of the month. Call 202-726-4680 for details.

10 Tuesday

7 P.M. The Anacostia Museum and Center for African American History and Culture presents a reading and discussion with Marta Moreno Vega for her new memoir, When the Spirits Dance Mambo: Growing Up Nuyorican in El Barrio, at the Hirshhorn Museum, Ring Auditorium, 800 Independence Ave. SW. A screening of the 2002 documentary of the same name (produced by Moreno Vega) follows. Call 202-287-3382 to RSVP.

7 P.M. Essayist and poet John Daniel discusses and signs his new memoir, Rogue River Journal: A Winter Alone (his experience at the remote Dutch Henry Homestead in Oregon), at Chapters Literary Bookstore, 445 11th St. NW, 202-737-5553.

7 P.M. Have you experienced or been told of incidents that would make the perfect story? How does a writer turn real-life events into fiction? Join WIW at the Rock Bottom Brewery to hear award-winning writer Doreen Baingana discuss short story writing. Baingana will share ideas and techniques she used to write the semi-autobiographical stories in her award-winning collection, Tropical Fish: Stories Out of Entebbe. She focuses on the main elements of the short story—plot, characterization, style, setting and theme to turn “what you know” into what could have been. Rock Bottom Brewery, 7900 Norfolk Avenue, Bethesda, Md. 301-652-1311

7 P.M. Melissa McConnell reads from and signs her new novel, Evidence of Love , at Politics and Prose, 202-364-1919.

7 P.M. Nina Killham reads from and signs her new novel, Mounting Desire , at Olsson's-Penn Quarter, 202-638-7610.

7:30 P.M. Poet Michael Collier , author of the collections The Neighbor and The Ledge , and a professor at the University of Maryland, joins graduating students Eva Foster, Laura McKee and Paul Otremba in a reading of their work at Grace Church Georgetown, 1041 Wisconsin Ave. NW. The program is the last of the spring semester's "New Voices" series, which aims to introduce new poets to the community and honor local mentors.

7:30 P.M. Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Thomas L. Friedman discusses and signs The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century at Barnes & Noble-Bethesda, 301-986-1761.

9:30 p.m.Trio Ricochet Open mike hosted by Todd Marcus and Russell Kirk. Copra 313 N. Charles St. Baltimore EVENT PHONE: 410-727-6080

11 Wednesday

6:30 P.M. Eric Jerome Dickey reads from and signs his new novel, Genevieve, at Karibu Books, the Mall at Prince Georges, 3500 East-West Hwy., 301-559-1140.

7:30 P.M. Matt Bondurant reads from and signs his new novel, The Third Translation, at Barnes and Noble-Bethesda, 301-986-1761.

12 Thursday

1 P.M. Obert Skye reads from and signs Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo, the first in a new fantasy series for middle readers, at A Likely Story Children's Bookstore, 703-836-2498.

13 Friday

Stay at home, lock your doors.

15 Sunday

The Friends of Fort Ward are holding a Civil War book sale on Saturday, May 14, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Fort Ward Museum & Historic Site, 4301 West Braddock Rd., Alexandria, Va., 703-838-4848.

Reclaiming My Fiefdom in Geekdom

Last night Miss L and I went to the Mega-Google-Plex theatre near the MCI Center to see The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, a wacky movie based on the even wackier novel and radio dramas by Douglas Adams. The Hitchhiker's series persists as one of the great guilty pleasures of my reading over the last 15 years or so. I even had the all-text based computer game on my old Apple IIC. From the opening scene of dolphins leaving the earth (I'm still singing their theme song) to Arthur's decision to stay a spaceman, I enjoyed my little retreat back into my former geekiness.

Okay, maybe not former. I'm still pretty geeky when you get down to it.

Most fans of the series should be happy; it's pretty true to the book, due in no small part, I'm sure, to the director using the script Adams himself wrote.

I was a little concerned that a film version would not have all the bizarre narrative asides, but a number of them stayed by way of journal entries in the computerized Guide. I still missed tidbits like point-of-view shifts to the automatic doors, but it was more than enough for a movie to showcase the wit and wonder of Adams. It was also used to describe some of the more bizarre "scientific" ideas of the book, like the improbability drive and the terrors of Vogon poetry. Although dubbed narratives often annoy me in films, it worked well for this one. And, in way, showed a bit of the Monty Python influence that's so strong in everything Adams wrote.

Visually, it's quite a stunning movie. Bold, bright colors, lots of wide-screen action. A number of the aliens were done by the Jim Henson studios, and come off pretty freaky in a cartoony kind of manner. Unfortunately, the major visual surprises --like John Malkovitch strutting aound on mechanial insect legs, the spherical ship known as The Heart of Gold turning into balls of yarn, and the workshop that builds custom-designed planets and star systems--are all given away in the trailers. Even still, it's quite a feast for the eyes and I can't remember an even halfway decent s/f comedy since Spaceballs.

Unsuprisingly, they set up for a sequel. Everyone cries for snacks after the adventures are over, and they make way for the restaraunt at the end of the universe. Coincidentally, the title for the 2nd book of the series. Personally, I can't wait for the 4th book in the trilogy (yes, you read that right). That book features an immortal alien whose sole purpose in life it to insult every sentient being in existence.

Hope everyone who can is out enjoying the spring weather.

Excelsior.

It's In the Genes

Last night I started reading Sam Weller's The Bradbury Chronicles: The Life of Ray Bradbury. Not too surprisingly, Well's first chapter looks into Bradbury's family history, searching for possible influences on his writing career.

Bradbury comes from a long line of print shop owners, as well as a journalist or two. His grandfather, who lived nearby, held a substantial private library so it's no real surprise that Bradbury developed a love of reading, writing and words. But the ancestor that's the most interesting is Mary Bradbury, a woman accused of witch craft during the Salem Witch Trials. This odd, familial connection to ideas of the fantastic and government trampling upon personal freedoms relates so well to Bradbury's writing career. Fahrenheit 451 was as much a reaction to the 20th century witch hunt known as the McCarthy hearings, and read in the right way it's almost a reaction to the one Mary went through centuries before. Bradbury himself said, "From her...I suppose I get my concern and dedicated interest in freedom from fear and a detestation for though-investigation or thought control of any sort" (Weller, 18).

This interests me in part because my own genetic history is a bit of a blank slate. I was adopted at two months old, and have never met either of my birth parents. In fact, I have no knowlwedge of them at all. My adopted mother (aka mom) is a librarian, and I spent many a summer day as a little kid in libraries when she couldn't find a baby sitter to watch me. Since there's not much to do in a library but read I quickly learned to get fun out of books. That influence is obvious. My adopted family has a very thin relation to Nathaniel Hawthorne, but I can't really claim that (although I would love to).

But I wonder what, if any, little genetic twists and curves my DNA possesses that gave me a love for the word and the page. Did one of my parents become a writer of some sort? If I strung my DNA back through time, perhaps I'd find some tenuous connection of my own to writers like Hawthorne, Poe, or Lovecraft. I certainly don't get my love of darker fiction from anyone in my family, so perhaps it's in the genes.

Or maybe not. Who knows.

Excelsior.

Cake, Plastic Costumes and PBR. Oh Yeah, and Movies, Too.

Yes, I know it's Tuesday. And I probably should have posted this earlier, but so it goes.

This past Friday Miss L and I attended the 5th Annual College Film and Video Bake Off, hosted by the Creative Alliance at the Patterson in downtown Baltimore. The festival was a juried event, with all the short films done by college students local to Baltimore. Along with the films, the admission charge got you a slice of cake shaped like a film tin and a can of Pabst Blue Ribbon. The PBR was handed out by a woman done up in a fabulous anime-like outfit of plastic and cloth. Although I'm not positive, I'm pretty sure we we're the only ones in attendance who didn't make a film or at least know someone who did. A couple of people asked which film was ours, and we had to admit that, sadly, we we're merely spectators.

The films themselves ran the whole spectrum. You had your action stories, your sweet vignettes, your comedies, and your parodies. Abstract art films made a showing as well one documentary, and even a film of a camera being dragged behind a car to the point of total, filmic descruction. Most were live action, but a few were animated.

The comedies/parodies got the best reception overall from both the audience and the awards from the judges. The big winner was Christian Coalition Against Queer Zombies (CCAQZ) by Nick Miller, taking in a judge award and a second award based purely on audience votes. It's a fun 5 minute parody of both 50's horror movies and over-the-top health/advice films like Reefer Madness. Presented as a documentary narrated by a tragically southern Sherriff, we watch as three teens spend an average day frolicking through a cemetery. They, of course, meet a small group of gay zombies who don't want to eat their brains but instead force them into...oh what's the best way to say this...homosexual activities. In the end (pun intended if you see the film) the teens decide the zombies and their ways really aren't so bad.

Two others received judge awards. From the Professor's Private Vault: We Are the Friends of Fun by Neil Van Gorder is a quasi-surrealist quest for the funny bone by way of caged monkeys, destroyed Barbie Dolls, and an imprisoned Oscar Wilde. Kevin Walla's Poof, a minimal story about two men waiting in limbo for their judgement in the afterlife, won the third prize.

Interestingly, the three more abstract pieces all came from Maryland Institute College of Art students. My favorite actually came from these. Christina Carbone's Empathy is a provocaitve series of images and music representing different viewpoints of rave culture. Dropping ecstacy, sexual laisons in public bathrooms, and of course dancing made up most of the content. Based solely on technique, Empathy was the most ambitious and probably the most successful of the festival. Carbone used a split screen, showing multiple images at once. This worked really well to give a sense of the frenetic energy that's so much a part of raves. Shot for shot, I was really captivated by the flashing visuals, colors and angles she used. The film ends with a short sequence of coming down; we see a negative image of night sky, brought on possibly by drugs or possibly by the end of the wild emotions experienced throughout the night. Sadly, I think I was probably the only person in the audience who voted for the piece. It's lack of narrative and untraditional structure probably made it a little less acessible than most of the other pieces, but it hit me in just the right way. It might have connected to me because of my misspent youth.

Anyway, it was a fun night. I highly suggest going next year if you have the chance.

In a complete tangent, I heard the new Nine Inch Nails single on the radio today. Not greatly inspiring, but not bad. I might spend my lunch hour today at a listening station at the music store down the street. Can't help being curious.

Excelsior.

Events for the Week

Normally I wouldn't include a celebrity book, but I'm kind of amused that Goldie Hawn has a book out. I didn't even know Books A Million did readings.

2 Monday

7 P.M. Alexander McCall Smith reads from and signs his new Precious Ramotswe mystery, In the Company of Cheerful Ladies , at Olsson's-Penn Quarter, 418 Seventh St. NW, 202-638-7610. He will also read on Tuesday, May 3, at 7:30 p.m. at Borders-Baileys Crossroads, Route 7 at Columbia Pike, 703-998-0404.

7:30 P.M. Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Philip Levine , author of the collections Breath and What Work Is , presents the annual Folger Poetry Board Reading (at which poets read from their own work and their favorite verse by others) at the Folger Shakespeare Library, 201 East Capitol St. SE. A reception follows. Tickets are $10; call 202-544-7077 to RSVP.

3 Tuesday

7 P.M. Elizabeth Gaffney and Roxana Robinson read from and sign their new fiction, Metropolis (a first novel) and A Perfect Stranger And Other Stories, respectively, at Politics and Prose, 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW, 202-364-1919.

4 Wednesday

6:30 P.M. Playwright and novelist Tomson Highway , author of The Rez Sisters: A Play in Two Acts and Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing reads from and discusses his work as part of the "Native Writers Series" at the National Museum of the American Indian, Rasmuson Theater, Fourth St. & Independence Ave. SW. A reception follows. He will also launch the museum's summer series of events for kids & families on Saturday, May 7, at 11 a.m. with a reading from the bilingual edition of Songs of the North Wind (published in English and Highway's native Cree) in the museum's outdoor theater. Call 202-633-1000 or visit http://www.nmai.si.edu for details.

7 P.M. James Salter reads from and signs his new collection of stories, Last Night, at Chapters Literary Bookstore, 445 11th St. NW, 202-737-5553.

5 Thursday

6:45 P.M. Ted Kooser , winner of the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for his collection Delights and Shadows, closes the literary season at the Library of Congress with a lecture reflecting on his first term as U.S. Poet Laureate (he was recently appointed to a second term for 2005-06) in the library's James Madison Bldg., Montpelier Room, 101 Independence Ave. SE, 202-707-5394.

6 Friday

1 P.M. Richard McCann , co-director of American University's graduate program in creative writing, reads from and signs his first novel, Mother of Sorrow, at Chapters Literary Bookstore, 202-737-5553.

7:30 P.M. A First Friday event at the Leesburg Town Hall, 25 West Market Street, Leesburg, VA 20176. "Buy This Book!" with Literary Agent Jeff Kleinman (Graybill & English); Brenda Copeland, Senior Editor, Atria Books (a division of Simon & Schuster); and Honour Kane, Editor, Simon & Schuster Audio. Do you want to find out what goes into a publisher's decision to buy a book? Come with your own book idea or just your own curiosity. Participants must complete a one-page "tip sheet" on site for review and discussion. Then they'll be assigned roles in a publishing house and attempt to "sell" their manuscripts to the Editorial Board.

8 P.M. The Howard County Poetry & Literature Society (HoCoPoLitSo) hosts a reading and signing with Edward P. Jones , author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Known World and the short story collection Lost in the City, at Howard Community College, Nursing Bldg., Rm. 116, 10901 Little Patuxent Pkwy. Tickets are $16; call 410-772-4568 to RSVP.

7 PM Smithsonian Resident Associate Program
Location: Location on ticket $15, general admission; $12, members; call 202-357-3030
Eric Bogosian, OBIE and Drama Desk Award-winning writer/ actor, recounts his 20-year career with wit and sincerity. His works -- which include 5 full-length plays, 6 full-length solo shows, and 2 novels -- explore the grittier side of human nature, with unblinking truth and humor. His latest novel Wasted Beauty, which paints a haunting portrait of New York's drug and fashion worlds, is available for signing after the program.

7 Saturday

9 P.M. Atomic Books' Anniversary Party: I Hate the 80's Night. Featuring CHESTER STACEY, SECRET CRUSH SOCIETY, KEYBOARD MAN, ELTON JOEL, KAMIKAZE KARAOKE, more! The Ottobar. 2549 N. Howard St. Baltimore.Doors open at 9. Tickets in advance: $7.NOW ON SALE AT ATOMIC BOOKS!

8 Sunday

3 P.M. Actress Goldie Hawn discusses and signs her new memoir, Goldie: A Lotus Grows in the Mud , at Books-A-Million, 1451 Chain Bridge Rd., McLean, Va., 703-893-7640.

6 P.M. Rod Jellema and C.M. Mayo read from their work as part of the spring season of the Iota Poetry Series held at the Iota Club & Café, 2832 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, Va., 703-522-8340. An open reading concludes the program.