52nd City: January 2006

New Show on KDHX: Uncontrollable Urge

A slight shakeup on Wednesday afternoons finds Jeff Hess and "Afternoon Delight" shifted up to the noon-2 p.m., slot while morning show refugee bobEE Sweet takes over the 2-4 p.m. shift with "Uncontrollable Urge." The show's first edition featured a rather wild assortment of tunes, with everything from Michael Jackson to Sleater-Kinney.

Here's a playlist: http://www.kdhx.org/programs/uncontrollable.htm.

Recall, too, that a special "third" pledge drive will be added to the station's lineup in about two weeks. Not suggesting anything, but the Monday evening talk slot will be one option for membership!

Slow Food St. Louis

I read about the Slow Food movement years ago and was intrigued with the mission of the organization. Slow Food, founded in 1986, is an international organization whose aim is to protect the pleasures of the table from the homogenization of modern fast food and life. Through a variety of initiatives, it promotes gastronomic culture, develops taste education, conserves agricultural biodiversity and protects traditional foods at risk of extinction. However, I wasn’t inspired to join until last spring when I attended a Slow Wednesdays event at the Bottleworks. Stephen and Sara Hale, both long-time employees of The Saint Louis Brewery, talked about their October 2004 trip to Turin, Italy to attend Terre Madre, which was the first meeting of "world food communities”. Their passion and enthusiasm was infectious and shortly thereafter, I joined the organization officially.

I attended my first meeting this afternoon. About twenty of us met at Stephen and Sara’s home Soulard. The group shared a lot of diverse food and ideas for 2006. The local convivium discussed offering various tastings (I think they did a chocolate tasting last year…how did I miss that one?), educational projects and tours (meet the chef, meet the farmer, learn how it all works), social activities like Dinner and Movie (where the food offered has some tie in to the film) and a major fundraiser, The Art of Food, which will be held at Mad Art in July. Plus, Sara and Stephen will continue Slow Wednesdays at the Bottleworks, which offers an introduction to many of the topics on Slow Food agenda in a friendly low-key environment.

If you’ve read "Fast Food Nation," seen "Super Size Me," heard about the new school lunch program in the city schools, wondered how to make tamales, been curious about how to find which growers at the market are offering local produce, or just want to meet great people who want to preserve the sense of connection and community sharing food can bring—please consider joining us. Check out the Slow Food website or attend an upcoming meeting or event. You can also subscribe to the Slow Food St. Louis Yahoo Group by emailing Stephen Hale at slowfoodstl-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

Real Poets on the Radio, Right Now!

If you aren't near a radio, you can stream Literature for the Halibut online to hear Joe Esser (author of The Book of Punch Lines, hailing from the Pine Barrens where the Jersey Devil once trotted along on cloven feets) and our own Kent Shaw, curator and mad genius behind the stellar Underwood Poetry Series.

Aaron Belz, also a mad genius and series curator, has invited both of these poets to take to the Club Room stage a week from today at 8pm. That's at the Tap Room on 2100 Locust. I can speak for Josey, knowing him pretty well, and say that he has spent many years knuckling under in order to master the very unfashionable art of poetric form (iambs, syllabics and diptychs) and his poetry is better for it. Kent's work I don't know, but only a clever poet would have the insight to book the poets he booked. Joining these two fellows is Patrick Herron, organizer of the Carrboro Poetry Fest & author of (love this title) The American Godwar Complex.

Rather than mooning on & trying to explain the poetic nature of these three, I suggest tuning in to listen to two of 'em to get a taste of what's coming next week. For those who have never been to the Readings @ The Tap Room Series: even if you think you don't like poetry, you will like this. I predict that you will become addicted to the series. And if I am wrong, I will buy you a beer.

Another Month, Another Film Fest

It's been only days since we posted a note about a local film fest, but there's no complaining about the bounty of free movie opportunities breaking out in town. This time, we note the Euclid Record Film Festival in February, a second-annual deal that's taking place at the shop, 601 East Lockwood, on Tuesdays-Fridays and Mondays at the Halo Bar, 6161 Delmar.

Films I've seen worth seeing again: "Dig!" Friday, Feb. 10, an amazing tale of excess and madness, featuring the Dandy Warhols and the Brian Jonestown Massacre (and I don't care what anyone says, the Dandys are the better band); and "Stan Kann: The Happiest Man in the World," Feb. 28, Mike Steinberg's delightful bio-pic on the legendary Fox organist.

Films I've seen that I'd rather not again: "The Rutles," Feb. 1, a mockumentary that proves good talents and a good idea do not necessarily a good film make; and "True Stories," Feb. 9, the incomprehensbile Talking Heads musical, featuring a wildly-overacting John Goodman and wildly-disconnected David Byrne.

Films I've not seen that I hope to: "End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones," Feb. 3, the long-delayed doc on the late punk pioneers; and "Moog: A Documentary About the Mad Scientist of the Synthesizer," the name of which says it all.

Even as we note that the films are free, it's impossible to go to the Halo and not have a drink and even more impossible to Euclid Records and not pick up a record, or 10.

52nd City's Mini-Trivia Night

“Timesaver Trivia”
Sponsored by 52ndCity.com

Where: Hartford Coffee Company, 3974 Hartford, 314-771-JAVA
When: Thursday, February 23; game @ 7:00 p.m., check-in @ 6:30 p.m.
How much: $20 per team of four players
Why: To benefit the publishing efforts of 52ndCity.com

What: If you’ve played marathon, night-long trivia contests, don’t fear. This one’s a quick-moving, pop-culturally-themed evening of trivia, with four-person teams. Game’s beginning at 7:00 and we’ll roll through 50 quick questions, which a heavy emphasis on that pop-cultural clutter in your head.

Some particulars:

Teams need to pay the total of $20 before the game’s start. No individual payouts of $5 per player, please! Registrants/team captains are responsible for entry fee.

Though alcohol is not sold at Hartford Coffee Company, you may bring your own. Because we’re not paying for space usage, please patronize the HCC counter for all your other drink and food needs. Can’t stress it enough: BYO beer, wine and spirits, but no outside food and liquid refreshments.

Winners receiver their cash back, plus absolutely fabulous, yet-not-necessarily-expensive, STL-related gifts.

Full rules will be provided at the door, which opens at 6:30 p.m.

Only 15 tables of four are available, so please register early.

Please contact 52nd City for details (rather than the good folks Hartford Coffee). Direct questions and registrations to: thomas@52ndcity.com or 314-776-6929.

Thanks!

SLU Announces Spring Film Series

Webster University's Film Sereis is rightly regarded as the leading source of on-campus cinematic entertainment in town. But Washington University and Fontbonne University have also been known to highlight occasional, high-quality film offerings. Less known is the annual, spring program at Saint Louis University, which typically offers a broad selection of (relatively) recent, international cinema.

Though it's generally aimed at students and faculty/staff members, general publicans have been known to slip into the films, held at the Kelley Auditorium on campus. Thanks to a keen reader at SLU, we note the arrival of the spring mix of films at SLU, a rather diverse blend, at that:

The film studies program has announced the schedule for the fourth annual Campus Film Series, which includes a selection of American and international films in varying genres. All films are shown free of charge at 7 p.m. on Thursdays in Kelley Auditorium.

January 26
Tre metri sopra il cielo (Lucini, Italy, 2004) 1:41
February 2
The Triplets of Belleville (Chomet, France/Canada, 2003 Animation) 1:21
February 9
Nowhere in Africa (Link, Germany, 2002) 2:12
February 16
The Motorcycle Diaries (Salles, Peru and Brazil, 2004) 2:08
February 23
Lagaan, Once upon a time in India (Gowariker, Hindi, 2001) 3:45
March 2
La Niña Santa/The Holy Girl (Martel, Argentina, 2004) 1:46
March 23
Whale Rider (Caro, New Zealand, 2002) 1:45
March 30
The Passion of Joan of Arc (Dreyer, 1928, silent) 1:22
April 6
Brother (Balabanov, Russia, 1997) 1:36
April 20
Les Choristes (Barratier, France, 2004) 1:37
April 27
The Ballad of Ramblin’ Jack (Elliott, USA, 2000) 1:30

Appropos of Nothing: Some Catfish with your Coffee

First, a PSA: Brett Underwood reports that the Howe/Grubbs reading has been cancelled. Which bums me out very much. I'll have my ear to the ground; if I hear news of a possible re-schedule, you will hear about it here.

Now; I've been meaning to post on Ernest Kirschten's Catfish & Crystal for weeks. How many weeks? Lots. I got a used copy for Chistmas, as a white elephant. As one astute reviewer pointed out, this book (first published in '59) has some, ah, outdated and embarassing aspects to it (Much like another fascinating regional title, Vance Randolph's Ozark Magic and Folklore). But Kirschten, who wrote editorials for the Post back in the first half of the 20th century, has a charming way of describing St. Louis in its various incarnations, from Chouteau to the groundbreaking for the Arch. I don't know if it's a St. Louis transplant thing, but I have a yearning that borders on obsessive to learn everything I can about what happened here before I landed in '01. Whether I'm peering through the chain link fence at Taille de Noyer in NoCo, or breezing past the Carondolet Coke plant, I feel like I am woefully ignorant about St. Louis history. Which is why I have been tearing through this little book, slowed only as I wince through the stone-age, un-PC passages.

For anyone who craves vivid accounts of South City corner bars in the '50s, Sportsman's Park or Gaslight Square, it's here (Gaslight was coming into its own as Kirschten wrote, and so his descriptions have a quality of immediacy that you don't get in retrospective accounts). It's also fascinating how aware he was of St. Louis' urban hemmoraghing, and why it was occuring. It was the same old city vs. county debate - and Kirschten had some grumpy words for the ranch-house/bridge party set. He quotes Lewis Mumford, reminds us that no American city is Paris or London, but that our younger cities have the virtue of being able to change and adapt, if we will allow them to; and though we are eating Chicago's dust (then and now!) it's no reason to despair or do nothing:

"By putting on smoked glasses, Hollywood-style, or a pair of the rose-tinted kind which horse players wear, it is easy to see that St. Louis and its future are either as black as a flea in a tar-bucket or as bright as a snow-covered alp in the morning sun. Both pictures do more for the emotions that the more or less gray, more or less mixed-up things as they are. Yet why do so many St. Louisians prefer the darker view? Tinsel and brightwork may be gloomy, but why a cult of the gloomy?"

Why, indeed. After some ruminations on Patience Worth, he gives us some words to live by:

"Since then nobody in St. Louis has been much good with a Ouija board. When it comes to predicting the future, people do little better than the emininet Dr. George Gallup. Judging by the past, there is not much truth in talk about a city dying on the vine. Right now things look good. Anway, who wants to live in the future? A fine big catfish with beer--or sauerbrauten, if you prefer--only can be enjoyed in the present. Nor is the meal spoiled because an old crystal chandelier or two have not been removed for something more modern. Crystal's nice."

The encouraging thing about reading Catfish is that (at least it seems to me) the "black as a flea in a tar-bucket" mindset is quickly fading away. And voila: look at all the tinsel and brightwork that's manifested itself, not just downtown but all over the place. The big problem back then was that Gaslight was confined to a few blocks, but now that the same sort of energy is busting out all over town--if you were down on Cherokee on the first Saturday of this month, you know what I mean--and it will be harder to smother it with graft, go-go bars and greed. Mr. Kirschten, we won't call you up with the Ouija board like Patience Worth, but if we did, we'd be happy to report that things look pretty good even to those wearing smoked glasses, Hollywood-style.

Cine16 Goes to the Park

The post-Margie & Alan, post-Mad Art Gallery version of the popular Cine16 series kicks off tomorrow night, with a screening at the Des Lee Auditorium.

Here's all the pertinent info:

“Motion and Growth” Classic films by director Norman McLaren and others:

'Pas De Deux' (1968)
'Ballet Adagio' (1971)
'Barges' (1973)
'Johnny Learns His Manners' (1977)
'How Does a Rainbow Feel?' (1972)
'The Living Soil' (1965

7 p.m. (south entrance will remain open after museum hours)
Thursday, January 19, 2006

Lee Auditorium (lower level)
Missouri Historical Museum, corner of Lindell and DeBaliviere in Forest Park, St. Louis.
Free (cash bar will be available before the show and during intermission)

For further information:

Directions and museum information:
314-746-4599
http://www.mohistory.org/content/HomePage/GettingHere.aspx

Academic Film Archive St. Louis program schedule and information:
http://www.afana.org/afastlouis.htm

Or contact:
Evalyn Williams
evalynwilliams@mac.com

STL Music 4 Sale

I already have a copy - in fact, two copies, with different covers - of Sinister Dane's single release for Columbia Records. But if I was looking for that album on cassette tape, I'd be in business at The Music Exchange in Kansas City. There, on one of hundreds of disorganized racks, sat five copies of the Dane's national debut, still tightly-encased in shrink wrap.

The St. Louis presence at this rambling, shambling store was pretty impressive. I passed on a passle of already-owned STL releases (MU330, Judge Nothing), but purchased a handful, too. One LP: the World Saxophone Quartet's "Dances and Ballads." (Okay, the band was surely living in New York by this point, but still.) And three 45s: Snake Ranch, "Stop the Violence"; Bunnygrunt, "Standing/Hampton"; and Isaac Green & the Skalars, "Strikeout Summer."

The store's apparently for sale, though owner Ron Rooks - who keeps vigil in the place, constantly roaming and talking to whoever will listen - is apparently looking for a new place. If you're in KC and want to be overwhelmed by this "Vinyl Phenomenon," drive down to 4200 Broadway, conveniently located near the Westport district. Be prepared to spend some time, whether bending under shelves, climbing ladders into the overstock, or crab-fingering through thousands and thousands of insanely-low LPs, with 40% off the price until the store and its outragous amount of mismatched stock moves.

You might even find that single that's been eluding you for the past 15 years. You never know.

Film Update: "A. (Anonymous)"

Filmmaker Daniel Bowers has launched a fairly ambitious website for his hour-plus mockumentary "A. (Anonymous)" at his website: lacklusterpictures.com. The site features a press release about the film - shot in St. Louis, but finished after his move to Mexico - along with a message board and a lengthy trailer for the flick, which stars some notable St. Louisans, including George Malich, Ray Brewer, Tony Miller and clothier Gus Torregrossa, he being a one-time documentary subject of Bowers.

This writer, in the interests of disclosure, has a few lines, as well, shot just up the block.

Despite that fact, check out the site, view the trailer and hope that a local outlet, be it a theatre, film series or distributor, gives the piece a few screenings around town.

Transmissions from: Real, Live Artists

In between those offers for low mortgage rates and deals on hoodia, the daily e-mail occasionally offers actual notes I want to read. A couple, local, fave artists send updates:

From Peat Wollaeger:

Hey check it out...
http://www.juxtapoz.com/
Juxtapoz Magazine talks about the recent installation I did with Justin
Tolentino at the STL-Center.

You can also view the Video Podcast recently created by LOFISTL.com
http://lofistl.com/?p=64

And always check my BLOG with latest news and updates------>
http://stensoul.blogspot.com/

From Dana Smith:

site has been updated with new paintings/drawings and
show info (Fri Jan 13)
**in addition to the show at Typo Cafe, check out
openings at Snowflake, Beverly and Fort Gondo - all
located on Cherokee**

http://www.asbestossister.com/

gallery 2 - places
"cape girardeau"
"mo dry dock"
"walking on emerson bridge"

gallery 3 - people
"kite pilot at radio cherokee"

gallery 5 - drawings
"ronald reagan"
"gerald ford"
"nikita kruschev"
"warren e burger"
"george schultz"

Lucky Friday the 13th

There is nothing unlucky about this Friday the 13th as St. Louisans get a chance to take part in a Cherokee Street art walk. I always joke about there being a Mad Art Mafia, but Galen Gondolfo, of the always ambitious Fort Gondo, extends his cultural reign into all kinds of new territories, opening a café and another gallery space. (But no turf wars expected.) All of these venues are within walking distance of each other so scoot your way over to Cherokee and support this crew. We are lucky to have so many people willing to put their energy into this kind of exciting stuff.

FORT GONDO (3151 Cherokee): On the heels of his successful show at Mad Art, Peter Pranschke shows “My Disaster Box”. This exhibit will display close to one thousand drawings Pranscke has thrown into a box next to his desk over the last 3-4 years. Many of these images are early awkward versions of drawings later exhibited in other shows. These drawings will wallpaper the gallery from floor to ceiling.

BEVERLY GALLERY (3155 Cherokee): Celebrate the grand opening of this women’s gallery owned by Galen Gondolfi and named after his mother. Artwork by Sara Arnold, Amanda Baker, Julie Hayes, Jessi Kelley and Nicole Northway.

SNOWFLAKE (3156 Cherokee): While not officially a gallery, David Early owns and operates this space and has his sights set on turning it into a second hand shop of sorts. For Friday’s festivities, he’ll be showing new works by Jesse Thomas and Andrea Green.

LIVE THEATER (3157 Cherokee): Tin Theater Group. Not sure of time.

TYPO CAFÉ (3159 Cherokee): Gondolfi presents Typo Café, a mostly laptop free coffee shop with typewriters on almost every table. Patrons can purchase typewriter ribbon as well as coffee. Occasional art shows will be held at the café. The grand opening will feature new drawings by Mike Cook, Chris Deckard, Peter Monahan, Dana Smith and Jason Vargas. I can't wait to check out this one.

ART PARTS (3211 Cherokee): Performance Art/Installation by Galen Gondolfi and Mike Schuh.

ART PARTS (3215 Cherokee): Performance Art/Installation by Amy Broadway.

RADIO CHEROKEE (3227 Cherokee): Live Music by the Monads, Jay Riley & Jason Vargas. Doors open @ 9pm.

A Fort Gondo website should be up by Friday with more information. www.fortgondo.com.

Painful

The new KTRS, eh?

Anyone else wincing?

Anarchy, Shangri-La, La-La-La

Recently, I stood on the corner of Jefferson and Cherokee, swinging a dead cat. Remarkably, I did not hit a young, political radical.

That outcome would probably not be true on Wednesday, January 11, at the nearby corner of Cherokee and Missouri. The Shangri-La Diner (314-772-8308) will host two neo-folkies in Shannon Murray and Adhamh (Anna) Roland at 8 p.m., with admission based on a $3-7 sliding scale.

Directly from the flier we picked up: Roland - "Homegrown radical shenanigans in a queerly folk fashion; Murray - "Folksinger, riot grrrl punk rock screaming, socially conscious songs and color crayons from the northwoods of Minnesota."

(By the way, the dead cat thing's not true. What is true is that I've never gotten my food at Shangri-La in less than 30-minutes, whether there are two people or two-dozen. What up with that? I mean, I dig it, but I gots to keep movin'!)

Thiefth

I rarely get excited about academic literary readings, because usually -- unless it's someone like William Volman or Wislawa Szymborska -- it's just an insufferable snooze. I was required for a class to go see Susan Howe read, and was not really pepped up over it, but was happily shocked when the reading was over; she looked like a conservative New England mom, but she read like David Byrne. She whispered, she yelled, she gestured. It was refreshing, especially because you didn't expect that out of this tiny, conservative-looking person.

On January 24th, she's going to be at SLU with musician David Grubbs to present "Theifth," a reading of two poems accompanied by Grubbs on computer and piano; one is on the marginalia in Melville's notebooks, and another is a sketch Thoreau, appropriately titled "Thorow." (Though she's no Burberry mom, as you can seee she is thorow-ly a New Englander). They have a CD out, which was named as one of Artforum's "Best of 2005," which you can pick up at Blue Chopsticks, a fun little stop-off even if you hate poetry but like academic music. It's at 6pm, at the University Theater at Xavier Hall. If an ice cream truck pulls up outside the doors to distribute popsicles and bombpops before the show, it will be an absolutely perfect night.

Party in the Ville

There are five things that I know to be true, at least in terms of the scene at Zack's this evening, Thursday, January 5.

1. The bar is located at 1904 Whittier, a truly St. Louis address if ever there was one.

2. DJ Play will be spinning music from 7-11 p.m. (You may know him by another name, but it's not for me to ruin mystery.)

3. The drinks will be strong like Ken Patera.

4. Several people will rue their life on the morning of Friday, January 6, thanks to the strength of the drinks.

5. Strange conversations about the vagaries of the world and our places in it will take place.

These things I know, though I still feel compelled to attend and confirm them. I'll be the guy with the cranberry juice and Bacardi Apple. I think that's what I drink there...

What's in a Name?

There have a remarkable number of good band names to come out of St. Louis over the years, with some of the acts having a better name than sound.

Judged by the background of one new combo - made up as it is of former members of the critical/inde darlings of the BaySayBoos and the Whole Sick Crew - this group should have the musical chops to go along with a stunning moniker.

This group will be playing Lemmons on Saturday, January 21, with Bad Folk. It's there that you can welcome... The Rats and People.

I mean, what? "The Rats and People." Genius.

Best Radio Show I've Never Heard

But just look at the playlist!

1. Camera Obscura "Happy New Year" (Biggest Bluest Hi-Fi)
2. The Trash Can Sinatras "January's Little Joke" (Cake)
3. Sigur Ros "Glosoli" (Takk)
4. Below The Sea "Stroll Down Memory Lane" (Blame It On The Past)
5. 28 Degrees Taurus "Haven't I Seen You Before" (No Sense Of Separation)
6. Sennen "Laid Out" (Widows)
7. Blind Mr. Jones "Small Caravan" (Spooky Vibes The Very Best Of)
8. The Vera Violets "Darling" (Sunshine Dust)
9. The Morning After Girls "Fall Before Waking" (Prelude: EP's 1 & 2)
10. Yellow6 "Solone" (Melt Inside)
11. Dreamend "A Place In Thy Memory" (Maybe We're Making God Sad And Lonely)
12. Voyager One "Endless Repeat" (Dissolver)
13. The Sounds Of Kaleidoscope "New Language" (From Where You Were To How You Got There)
14. The Curtain Society "Beautiful Song" (Every Corner Of The Room)
15. Bright Channel "Ricochet" (Bright Channel)
16. Faunts "Memories Of Places We've Never Been" (High Expectations/Low Results)
17. Portal "Light At The Centre" (Waves & Echoes)
18. Lorna "He Dreams Of Spaceships" (Static Patterns And Souvenirs)
19. Telephone "Ahead" (V/A The Fuzzyball)
20. Raymond Scott Woolson "Bringing Margot The Sun" (The View From Boggins Heights)

It's Matt Diestelrath's "Hindsight," Mondays, 4-6 p.m., KYMC, 89.7 fm.

Would someone make a mix CD of the above for me, please?

Aarons, Aarons Everywhere!

According to Wikipedia, "Five represents openness to new experiences as well as new ideas. Seeking freedom, it is often the adventurer. Five is about pushing life to its limits." 5 is also a Fibronacci number, a Pell Number, and a Markov number. Alchemists theorized that there were five elements: air, water, earth, fire and "aether." Five is heavy medicine. Big stuff. Look down at your fingers and toes; you dig?

So what happens when five Aarons converge for the 5th Readings @, on the 5th day of the month? You and your neighborhood alchemist can find out on Thursday, at the Tap Room.

THE LINEUP:

Aaron Belz, who has led this series through two and a half seasons, will be introducing all of the other Aarons.

Aaron Kiely is a New York Aaron. His book, The Best of My Love, was published by Ugly Duckling Presse in December. You can get a little audio sample of Aaron Kiely reading one of his poems here.

Aaron Kunin is a California Aaron. You can see a photo and read an interview with him at Here Comes Everybody. If you had a grandpa who like to build stuff, you might remember playing with folding rulers as a kid; and you remember how you could turn it into a big star (or a triangle, if you were less ambitious). Aaron Kunin's book is called Folding Ruler Star but it is not about folding rulers, but shame. Aaron Kunin also writes novels and literary criticism.

Aaron McCollough is a Michigan Aaron. Ann Arbor, to be specific. His first book, Welkin was published 2002; since then, he's written two more, Double Venus and Little Ease, which will be released this year by Ahsahta Press. Keep clicking to find out more about this book, and about this fourth Aaron!

Aaron Tieger is another New York Aaron. (Meaning New York state; Mr. Tieger lives in Ithaca, not Brooklyn, like Mr. Kiely). His newest chapbook, After Rilke, which should be out on the streets as I write this, was published by Anchorite Press. And if you don't know already, an anchorite is someone who's become so religious they must retreat into hermitude, because the world is just too much.

The Schlafly Tap Room is located on 2100 Locust; don't go into the dining room, but take the stairs to your right, where you'll find the Club Room on the next landing. The reading begins at 8 p.m., but a 7:30 arrival time is always good; that means you can buy yourself a beer and maybe talk to some of the poets before they take to the stage.

And for those of you who've always wanted to be a part of Team Readings @, Aaron (Belz, that is) has created this clever PDF poster, which you can download & print out on legal-sized paper. And tell me that this plea from Mr. Belz doesn't melt your heart: "PLEASE see beyond your hatred of poetry and come to this event. Get hammered with us."

Rock'n'Roll

A couple of picked-up bits, from a week/weekend of kicking around local barrooms.

1. The Highway Matrons have broken up. The group played a farewell gig at their de facto home, Frederick's Music Lounge, last week.

2. Elvis Kennedy, guitarist and songwriter of the late, fab punk band the Dead Celebrities, is now living in California. Now with the group Shocker, featuring former L7 member Jennifer Finch, Elvis has rebranded himself Ronnie James. Apparently, the only place in town to secure Shocker merchandise is Tension Head, the new punk/metal record shop on Cherokee Street.

3. Enthused by the 800, or so, people that attended last week's reunion show, members of KINGOFTHEHILL are mulling another show.

4. Anybody else sick of seeing photos, stories and references of the Living Things in national publications? Hate to be a hater, but... down with charlatans!

5. The local band Seven has launched a site: www.sevenrocksyou.com.