Big City Forum #13
Honor Fraser Gallery – Los Angeles, CA
3/20/10

Big City Forum invites you to a conversation with poets, writers, and seers about literal vs. metaphoric space, inscape/landscape, the visible/invisible world, liminality — “betwixt and between” — & proximity in motion… →

The Bloggomist: Three Times a Trend
Fashion Opinion

I know the last thing any of you probably want to hear more about are those damn bloggers. The B word has gone from something barely anyone recognized to a dirty little term many of us would like to see deleted. I don’t think I still fully comprehend what a blogger is, but I supposed I do enough internet perusing and ranting to be →

Howard Zinn: “On Human Nature and Aggression”

Dr. Howard Zinn, a prolific figure in the academic and political spectrum, dies at 87.  As a verteran of World War II,  Dr. Zinn experienced the inner-turmoils of war which later inspired his work as a professor, a social activist and a participant in the civil rights movement. In a quest to educate and advocate for human rights, he continued as an active objector in the anti-war movement. →

“This Is Where We Live” by 4th Estate
Any distraction is welcome during this show-stopping storm that weather forecasters have mentioned could rival El Nino’s torrential onslaught in ‘98.  Thus in my quest to kill time, I’ve found this painstakingly detailed stop-mo animation by the ridiculously talented 4th Estate Publishers.  It is interesting to note that they’ve constructed everything themselves by hand.  A wondrous effort that hearkens the pre-CG glory days of my childhood hero, Jim Henson, Gumby, and even further back to the myriad of hand-made endeavors by gifted Russian animators. →

The Bloggomist: Acorn & Oak Tree
Culture Opinion

As every tech company seems to be releasing tablet e-readers, nearly every publishing giant cuts down on both their staffs and titles, and even seasoned media vets move online, I suppose it should be pretty apparent that the newer, democratically conceived voices undercutting established ones are, indeed, undeniably potent. →

JOE SACCO discusses “Footnotes in Gaza: A Graphic Novel”
Skylight Books – Los Angeles, CA
1/19/10

Patti Smith Reading Just Kids
Skylight Books – Los Angeles, CA
1/30/09

Music legend Patti Smith will discuss and sign her new book, Just Kids, the story of Smith’s extraordinary relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe. This is Smith’s first book of prose.

“[A] beautifully crafted love letter to [Robert Mapplethorpe]…Smith transports readers to what seemed like halcyon days for art and artists in New York…[a] tender and tough memoir.”
–Publishers Weekly (starred review) →

TimesTalks 2010
The TimesCenter – NYC
1/7 – 1/10/09

The 2010 New York Times Arts & Leisure Weekend will take place January 7 to 10.  The Times’s signature event is a four-day celebration of the arts featuring TimesTalks interviews between New York Times journalists and celebrated guests from film, media, music, television and theater.

This year’s guests include: the star of the new film “Crazy Heart,” Jeff Bridges interviewed by Lynn Hirschberg; the Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Rosanne Cash →

The Bloggomist: My Celluloid Fix
Love and Death (1975)

‘Tis the season for mass consumption and Hallmark-packaged nostalgia.  On this most celebrated of holidays, family members reunite after long stretches of silence and revel in merrymaking.  For some, Christmas poses a genuine test of true compassion or complete intolerance (depending on how dysfunctional their family has been the other 364 days.) For me, however, the colder holidays mean languorous days of feel-good movies, because gosh darn it, we deserve a bit of self-indulgence. →

The Bloggomist: Table of Content
Book Review

Many people I know love The Princess Bride with an almost “Maybe I will marry it!” kind of ardor. To be perfectly honest, I still don’t understand the adulation surrounding that film. It’s not that I didn’t want to like it. When everyone else in grade school is giving chase with cries of “You killed my father: prepare to die!”, and British bulldog isn’t happening with the four kids whose parents didn’t take them to see the movie, you sort of wish you shared the love (if only to busy a long lunch recess). →