52nd City: October 2008

Vonnegut in STL

That'd be Dr. Mark Vonnegut, compliments of STLAS.

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ST. LOUIS ACTORS’ STUDIO PROUDLY PRESENTs
AN EVENING WITH DR. MARK VONNEGUT
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.’s son to speak about his late father for one night only

WHAT: St. Louis Actors’ Studio is honored to bring Dr. Mark Vonnegut to St. Louis to present “Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.: His Life, Art & Politics” for one night only—Friday, Dec. 5, 2008, 8 p.m.—at The Ethical Society. Dr. Vonnegut will read pieces of his father’s writings, present his fine art and discuss his ideologies and political viewpoints.

“Kurt Vonnegut has had a life-long impact on me. Not since Mark Twain, have we had an American writer and humorist care so much about this country and our place in history. Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. fought for us in WWII and every time he sat behind the typewriter. We are very proud to present this evening as part of our “Power and Politics” season” says William Roth, founder and producing director of the St. Louis Actors’ Studio.

Dr. Vonnegut, notable on his own merits for having written “The Eden Express” in 1975 about this own battle with mental illness that went on to help others understand the disease, is currently a pediatrician practicing in Massachusetts.

St. Louis Actors' Studio (STLAS), founded by William Roth, Milton Zoth and David Wassilak, strives to bring a fresh vision to theatre in St. Louis. Housed in The Gaslight Theater, a new venue in historic Gaslight Square, STLAS is committed to bringing engaging theatrical experiences to our community of actors, writers, producers, filmmakers and all patrons of the arts; and to provide a strong ensemble environment to foster learning and artistic expression.

WHEN: Friday, Dec. 5
8 p.m.

WHERE: The Ethical Society
Main Auditorium
9001 Clayton Ave.
St. Louis, MO 63117

TICKETS: Adults - $15
Students (with a valid ID) and seniors (65+) - $10

Tickets are available for purchase through Ticketmaster.com, all Ticketmaster Ticket Centers or Charge by Phone at 314.421.4400. Tickets will also be available at the Venue box office one hour prior to performances.

For more information on St. Louis Actors’ Studio, please visit www.stlas.org .

CALL FOR PRINTMAKERS!

This just in from Cherokee St - more info coming as Dec 6th gets closer but for now all you printmakers out there listen up!

CHEROKEE PRINT LEAGUE HOLIDAY SALE!

In celebration of the growing arts scene in the Cherokee neighborhood and in greater Saint Louis, several businesses on Cherokee street have organized a holiday show and sale to take place Saturday, December 6th from 11-9. This indoor print-themed craft show will take place all along the street, with businesses "hosting" artists from all over the metro area whose work is print-related (printmaking, letterpress, printed fabrics, etc.)

WE'D LOVE TO HAVE YOU PARTICIPATE!

This is organized as a sale rather than an art show, and we expect a huge turnout, so it would be a great way to make some cash before the holiday season. Hosting businesses will be extensively advertising the event, and 100% of participation fees go toward advertising. You will be provided with a table in an indoor, heated space, and your name and location will be included on a map of the event that will be available the day of the sale.

Here are the details:

Participating venues:
City Art Supply
Snowflake City Stock
All Along Press
Fort Gondo Compound for the Arts
the Community Arts & Media Project
Firecracker Press
APOP Records
Boots Contemporary Art Space

Participation fee: $50 (35 for students)

Approximate Table Size: 3 x 5' with optional wall space.

Advertising: Sauce Magazine/RFT, KDHX, letterpress posters by Firecracker, screenprint posters by All Along

To reserve your table, please drop off your fee (in cash!) to Firecracker Press at 2838 Cherokee Street no later than November 14th.

For more info on the event, you can call:
Eric Woods or Matty Kleinberg at (314) 776-7271
or Elysia Mann at (402) 369-3833

Thanks a bunch! Come join us for this amazing, out-of-this-world, best-ever art sale!

Cooper-Moore redux

Went to Joe's Cafe last night, for its first show in six months. The acts were Zimbabwe Nkenya and Cooper-Moore, a gig which wound up selling more than 100 tickets, with generous number of additional people topping that attendance number. Having sat in the back of the room - at a table inc. 19th century Presidential enthusiast Thom Fletcher, among other - it was obvious that the 7 p.m. ticket time meant little to folks, as they arrived all the time up until the 10 p.m. close of the show.

Cooper-Moore is a part of a long tradition of heavy-touring, African-American storyteller/musicians, and his stay in St. Louis inc. two gigs yesterday: Joe's and at the season-ending Tower Grove Farmer's Market. Received a note yesterday from one of the two prime organizers of his visit, Brett Underwood, which indicates that Cooper-Moore is on tap for two more gigs today: one in person, at the Scott Joplin House (7-9 p.m.) and one the radio (10:30).

Here are some notes from Underwood, penned yesterday:

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It's true!

We sold-out this incredible show in ADVANCE!

There are atleast 100 people in town that are going home with sweet dreams tonight.

I just saw the man perform in Tower Grove Park and you are all in for a treat!
See Cooper-Moore tomorrow night at the Scott Joplin House (Beaumont at Delmar, one block west of Jefferson and Delmar). Donations are encouraged.
7 p.m.

If you can't rip yourselves away from another riveting episode of 60 Minutes, turn on All Soul, No Borders at 10:30 p.m., www.kdhx.org, 88.1 FM.

Yowza!

Vedad Ibisevic

Who he?

Just a graduate of Roosevelt High School.

And the leading scorer in the German Bundesliga.

Piasa Film Festival

Would not have guessed such a thing existed, but... it does.

Details below:

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Join us on October 25th, 2008 at the Piasa Film Festival. The festival will present the Illinois Premiere of "Shadowland" - a Thriller full length feature filmed in St. Charles, Missouri. This film was written and directed by Wyatt Weed and produced by Pirate Pictures. The film has received awards from the St. Louis Film Showcase for Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy Film, Best Director, Wyatt Weed and Best Actress, Catilin McIntosh.

The festival will also showcase two aspiring filmmakers from Webster University. Former student, Dan Allen will present the action film, "101 Damnations" and current student, John Richter will present "ULTRA" a sci-fi film.

A panel of judges will present awards for Best Film, Best Director and Best Cinematography. The audience will be able to vote on their favorite film of the night for the PIASA Award. This award is presented for Best Artistic Imagery.

Scott Stoltz, the producer said, "We are very excited to present a festival that is being so well received. The festival is already booked years in advance for locations in Edwardsville (2009), Grafton (2010) and Alton (2011). We intend for the festival to grow, to offer many films over the course of 3-5 nights and multiple screening locations and to offer a broad spectrum of film genres in the future."

The Piasa Film Festival is a regional film festival that focuses on the talents of independent filmmakers in the St. Louis Metro Area. The evening festival spotlights 10-15 short films, showcases a feature film and presents awards for Best Film, Best Director and Best Cinematography, as well as the PIASA Award for Best Artistic Imagery.

We hope to see you there with your friends as we continue to bring our community together!

Fran Landesman @ The Gaslight

Over the past half-dozen years, there have been a few different Gaslight Square-themed events and projects: plays, films, concerts and, yes, even a book. I don't know, though, that any took me back to that magical time as well as last night's performance by Fran Landesman at the Gaslight Theater. Landesman, who with husband Jay, ran the legendary Crystal Palace club in the Square was onstage with: her son Miles, who backed her on guitar; vocalist Anna Blair, who handled some of the trickier vocal work; and a pianist, who was name-checked quickly onstage, but wasn't credited on the program.*

The diminutive Landesman's performance was a mix of spoken poetry, much of it delightfully salty, sprinkled alongside some tunes of hers, both old and new. As noted above, Blair stepped in for some of the songs, like the "hit" from the Beatnik musical "The Nervous Set," the lovely "Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most." Miles usually accompanied her on the tracks she sang, while orchestrating the flow of the evening, giving his mom quick cues before and after each cut.

The audience certainly seemed to enjoy the opening night performance, which ran about 90-minutes, including a slightly late-start and longish intermission. If the night wasn't about quantity of material, it definitely didn't lack for quality, as Landesman hit the stage with an understated gusto. For starters, her red Colonel Sanders t-shirt had a certain "wow" factor, which was a bit unexpected. But even more amusing was an early line, which she uttered after checking the setlist she held close all night.

"I suffer from craft," she said. "Have you heard of it? Can't Remember a Fucking Thing."

Hello!

From that moment on, you knew that things were going to only kick, and Fran Landesman provided just that, with songs and stories that were either: simple and lovely; or simple and devastatingly witty.

The audience, made up of members of the Gaslight past (Joe Pollack, Jack Parker, Al Becker, Jeanne Trevor, Bill Christman, Jorge Martinez, etc.) were contemporaries of Landesman, and certainly knew enough of her acclaimed backstory to understand how utterly cool this event was. But for someone who missed the glory days, Landesman's wit and poise and thorough sense of hipness was more than enough to carry the night.

We may not be treated to many, if any, more trips by Landesman to St. Louis from her longtime home in London. It says here that you'd be lucky and smart to snap up a ticket for the remainder of the weekend's gigs. (Call 314-531-4607 and grab a seat the bar of the West End Grill and Pub before, or after, the show.) I know that I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of Landesman's time on the intimate stage of the Gaslight.

And on it, I think, she sprinkled a little pinch of magic, there for all who'll follow.

(* That very piano player was kind enough to write a note. He's Joe Dreyer, the same fellow who worked on "Cool and Hip: Gaslight Square," a few years back; that revue was performed at the Missouri Historical Society and will hopefully be revived at some point in time. Thanks for the contact and great set, sir.)

Another Winner: Kosha Irby

The Kick Ass awards, themselves, are on-order and that's a very good thing, since the event's coming on up: Thursday, November 13. We continue to announce the winners, one or two at a time, to build suspense, don't you know?

We'll note today that Kosha Irby, the Associate Athletic Director of External Operations for Saint Louis University's Billikens is a winner. Perhaps during his comments that evening, he'll discuss the responsibilities between the long title. But we can tell that: a) he's working hard to address some ADA compliance issues over at the new Chaifetz Arena; and b) he's nice to kids.

And, for that, you get a prize!

Nukes!

There was a point during the Nukes concert at Blueberry Hill in which I looked around and realized that within about 20-feet were members of the past St. Louis bands: Stir, the Unconscious, Pale Divine, the Stranded Lads, E.J. Quit, Corporate Humour, Black Sand Hand, the Urge, Sinister Dane, Getaway Car, Ulcer Inc., Life without Wayne, Blank Space, L.O.V.E., the Treeweasels, the Finn Brothers, Big Fun and others, I'm sure. A group like the Nukes would bring the old heads out from hibernation and it was wonderful to see those faces in one room.

The good news from the Nukes show: though the band wasn't able to make the announcement from state (more in a moment), the group will be opening for the aforementioned Pale Divine at the Pageant on Dec. 29.

The bad news, though not too bad, in its own way: after racing through a vocal-less "Going Nowhere," a good one-hour-and-change into their set, the power was cut off on the Nukes, undoubtedly due to the fact that gallons of ice and water were thrown at singer Packy Reynolds during the performance, along with a tree's-worth of paper. The stage resembled, well, a mess, by the time that the juice was cut. Admittedly, Blueberry Hill's Duck Room isn't the old Furst Rock, but there's something kinda not very rock-ish about cutting off a punk band because of excessive fun. Then again, there's something very rock-ish about the Nukes (and, more importantly, their fans) acting so crazy that the principal had to step in to restore order.

Thanks for the nostalgia trip boys, way to rip through "464" and see you over the holidays!

Nukes & Celery

'Tis the season of reunions.

The Nukes return to the St. Louis stage on December 29, opening for Pale Divine at the Pageant. (Much more on their Blueberry Hill show during tomorrow's blogging.)

Celery is set for a show at Maplewood's Deluxe on November 16.

Rumored is an Unconscious gig during the holidays.

Happy, happy, happy.

Kick Ass: Lucas Hudson and Phil Valko

Two more Kick-Ass recipients confirmed: Phil Valko of The Urban Studio (who's also involved in TrailNet and many other wonderful things) and the magnanimous Mr. Lucas Hudson, editor of The Vital Voice and market master for the North City Farmers' Market. If it were not so late (yikes!) and I did not get up so early this morning (double yikes!) I would be much better equipped to wax rhapsodic about both these gents. As it is, you'll just have to come to the Kick Ass Awards and hear us sing their praises.

PestoFesto

I've heard of this event for years, but have never attended the PestoFesto, which sounds like the kind of thing that any good liberal vegetarian would support. Or, for that matter, folks that simply like a big, ol', delicious meal. And, for those of us hopelessly locked into city rounds, it's held in the funtime environs of Ferguson.

Here's the linky.

"Bama Bus" in STL

A multi-media, multi-arts Bama Bus is coming to town this weekend, with multiple stops scheduled, including a Saturday night touch-down at the heavily-Obama-festooned Royale.

Details on the project here.

And a video:

Even More Kick Ass

I’m happy to announce three more confirmed nominees for our 5th Annual Kick Ass Awards:

Stefani Pollack: Stefani’s blog Cupcake Project has fans across the country (me included!) and has been featured on USA Today Technology Live, Serious Eats, Cupcakes Take the Cake, BlogHer, Slashfood, All Things Cupcake, and Simply Recipes. She also writes at Slashfood and Food Interviews.

Josh Weise: Josh is the former president and current vice president of Clifton Heights Neighborhood Association. Neighborhood association work is so often thankless and the people who do it deserve some sort of appreciation for listening to all the bitching and moaning about pigeons problems and speed bumps. This guy is way more patient than I could ever manage.

International Institute: A service agency that offers an integrated package of resettlement services to immigrants, refugees and their families including counseling and therapy for newcomers with trauma, individual and group work, and interpretation and translation. They also put on the annual (and awesome) Festival of Nations at Tower Grove Park, which had more than 100,000 visitors this year.

52nd's Own

Stefene Russell's latest movie role is now outed. If she hoped that only the indie film geek gang would get wind of this, Chris King's surely ended that option of anonymity. Not that we should assume Stefene's trying to keep this project under wraps.

Kick Ass Awards: A Bitch is in the House!

I'm very pleased to report that Ms. Shark Fu, otherwise known as Angry Black Bitch, has accepted our nomination for a Kick-Ass Award. I'll note here that she's not just one of my favorite bloggers, but also a dear favorite of Salon's Broadsheet (which, of course, carries considerably more weight in the world than my humble endorsement, but hey). She's even got a permanent home on Broadsheet's blogroll, along with venerable sites like Boing Boing and Dooce, one of the few things to come out of my hometown that I can love unabashedly. We would like to congratulate a Bitch! And direct you, if you've not been, to her excellent blog.

Fall Along the River

A mix of fall happenings going on up and down the Great River Road over the next couple of months. I am not much of a 'quaint fall festival' type, but whenever I have gone to some such thing on the eastside along the river I have ended up digging it.

The events are of course not all in an apple-butter sort of vein (not that there is anything wrong with apple butter or events that involve it, but variety is nice). I loved the Tow-Boat Festival in Grafton last year. The re-enactments of 18th Century war activities at Fort Des Chartres and other spots are not something you see everyday. Today the Alton Area Landmarks Association is having a house tour from noon-6pm that I might hit.

Here is a calendar of events to check out if you find yourself in the mood for a ride. http://www.greatriverroad.com/all/allcalendar.htm

The Trade, On Hiatus

Word from a good source indicates that The Trade, located in the Complex and run by a group of former Hi-Pointe mainstays, has shuttered. The ownership group is apparently looking for a new venue for the (relatively) new venture, which mixed rock'n'roll and cheap beer in a very different kind of industry space, the Complex.

We'll be curious to hear about the next steps.

Ed Begley Jr. Hits Town Tomorrow to Talk Green

Ed Begley Jr., star of numerous television shows and movies (including one of my secret favorite movies She-Devil), hits town tomorrow for Living and Building Green. Mr. Begley, Jr. has long been an advocate for and practitioner of green living, and tomorrow at Forest Park Community College he will be on hand at this event to discuss "residential green building strategies for new and remodeled homes". Also on hand will be architects, builders, and designers who can answer questions and offer guidance.

For more information about Living and Building Green, go to www.mygreencottagestl.com

The Banks Mess, According to Xplane

The Mayor Wins a Kick Ass Award

Though I'm right in the middle of the KDHX pledge drive - and, seemingly, co-hosting every show of the late week - I can't help but indulge in my fix for a bit of sports talk with The Fox Hole. After listening to the show today, it made me convinced that the Fox Hole-rs were deserving of a Kick Ass Award. And, to my surprise, ringleader Martin Kilcoyne was kind enough to accept the nomination.

If you've not heard the show, you can catch it on KSLG 1380 AM, weekdays from 10 a.m. - noon. You can also stream the show live at the station's website, which could be the poorest site you'll ever lay eyes upon. (Note: the show now airs at 10, rather than noon, so don't believe the site's info, as it appears today.)

By the by, the provocative headline might be a misleading - in spirit - but it's not in actuality, as Maurice "The Mayor" Drummond: is a regular co-host of the show; is known as "The Mayor" (we've said so twice in just this sentence); and is arguably the greatest Ed McMahon-like sidekick since the original.

Could we be more pleased with this year's Awards? Nay. We are pleased.

Kick-Ass Awards: It's Official

The fifth annual Kick-Ass Awards are officially in play, as we've received confirmation from our first recipient. She's a ubiquitous local blogger, actress, bon vivant, arts supporters and GPP (generally positive person). She's Lori E. White.

We look forward to announcing some winners soon, with the event slated for Thursday, November 13 at Joe's Cafe, with a 7 p.m. curtain.

Congrats to Lori White for kicking ass.

More to come.

The Last Laugh

Last year I had the immense pleasure of catching the band Rats & People Motion Picture Orchestra at Off Broadway performing the soundtrack live to the Buster Keaton film “Go West”. It was the most memorable local show I attended last year and still leaves me in wonderment of how amazing the band not only performed but sounded playing in the upper level of Off Broadway while the film was shown on center stage. The attention and timing needed to accomplish something like this should not be taken lightly. This Saturday the R & P are at it again only this time at the cozy confines of Webster University.

As part of the Webster Film Series, Rats And People will perform live their score for the film “The Last Laugh” (Der Letzle Mann)
(F.W. Murnau, 1924, Germany, 91 min.)

Matthew Pace of Rats and People was kind enough to answer some questions for 52nd City.

52nd City - How did this film come to your attention?
Matthew Pace - Michael Steinberg, the dude who ran the Webster Film Series saw another movie we'd done the soundtrack for (Silver Spurs) and asked if we wanted to do Go West (that Buster Keaton flick) last year. Then that went over real well, so he gave us our choice of a few German Expressionist movies for this year, and this one seemed like the best for makin' some real sad music.

52C - What are the challenges in doing a live score to a film?
MP - You can't mess up. And then if you do, you have to keep going. Also, we write and learn to a DVD that probably uses a different print of the movie than the one at the show, so the timings are a little bit off. At least in Go West they were the first time we did it. The title cards were up for different lengths of time.

52C - Who is producing this event?
MP - Webster U Film Series.

52C - Are these live performances being recorded?
MP - We did record the Buster Keaton one, we will probably get this one too. But then we actually did a studio-ish recording of Go West, that hopefully we will have mixed and ready to sell this Saturday. It will be all timed out so you can get the DVD, get the CD, hit play on both, and enjoy the film.

Saturday, Oct 11th @ 8 p.m.
$6
Winifred Moore Auditorium
Webster University
“The Last Laugh” (Der Letzle Mann)
(F.W. Murnau, 1924, Germany, 91 min.)
Live Score performed by The Rats and People Motion Picture Orchestra

Brien and Matthew from Rats and People performing at Off Broadway

Save the Date: 5th Annual Kick-Ass Awards

While much more will be revealed in coming days, we'd invite folks to save the date: Thursday, November 13. On that evening, we'll give out the Fifth Annual Kick-Ass Awards, with a program slated for 7 - 9 p.m. The venue will be Joe's Cafe, the wonderful, artistic speakeasy crafted by Bill Christman, a recent K-A winner.

Recipients of this year's Awards and other details to come. Would suggest this space as the best bet on where that info will be released.

Luche, Down

Peat's penal piece is penalized.

BBC @ the Royale -- POST #1,000

Whoa, post #1,000. Seems like we should be at least 1,130, but the stats counter don't lie.

At any rate, there's a piece on the BBC site, a video visit to the Royale for the viewing of the Vice Presidential debates. Some people you know may very well be i the piece. It's here.

Also there: what Poplar Bluff is thinking about the election. Which is actually more important to consider than we'd like to admit.

"Abandoned Cars"

Whoa! Only slightly late in adding this information!

Can say that Timothy Lane's book is a beautiful piece of work. Though I've not bought a copy, I picked one up at the Royale last week and flipping through it was a real treat. The accompanying work hanging at Subterranean Books will be there for a few weeks, so enjoy at your leisure:

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This e-mail is to invite you to the book release of Abandoned Cars, by Tim Lane, at Subterranean Books this Friday night in St. Louis. The show opens on Sept. 26th, 7-9PM and goes through Nov. 9th.

Subterranean Books
6275 Delmar Blvd
St Louis, MO 63130

Below is a review from Print magazine:

Forget about Marvel's Secret Invasion or DC's Final Crisis. The real comic book event of the summer comes in the unassuming guise of a hardcover collection of illustrated short stories. Abandoned Cars (Fantagraphics) is the breathtaking debut book by St. Louis writer/illustrator Tim Lane. Lane drew on a number of inspirations—everything from "pre-Comics Code" comics like Will Eisner's The Spirit to Bruce Springsteen's concept album Nebraska to inform this collection of atmospheric tales about the human condition.

"Over technique, over stylization, more important than anything else is emotional impact," he says. This isn't to say that the book lacks either technique or style, but that for all its visual dazzle, there's an emotional tug, sometimes sympathy, sometimes revulsion. Refreshingly, the book isn't slavishly devoted to genre or to its inherent comic book-ness (no tights or monsters). So why not just write a straight-up short story collection?

"The stories I like to tell are conducive to comics," he says.

The book signals the arrival of a major new voice on the American literary landscape, with or without the illustrations.

More Light (Project)

Reader Michael Morgan sends along this note about some Pulitizer Light Project videos. Thanks M-squared:

The Light Project site (http://lightproject.pulitzerarts.org) has several videos (http://lightproject.pulitzerarts.org/artists/2008/09/10/september-4-footage/). I, too, was at the opening (http://morgan.saint-louis.mo.us/blog/?p=928). It is a wonderful project.

Virtual St. Louis

I have enough issues with the real St. Louis, but...

A reader recently sent along word of a St. Louis Business Journal article, discussing some second life activities* regarding our hometown.

Here's the piece.

* Is this even the right phrase? I do not know!

City Art Supply!

Occasional 52nd City blog contributor Dana Smith has opened an art concern, on the continuing-to-add-cool-things block of Cherokee. The store's starting to kick in hours and since D.'s apparently too modest to do a bit of self-promotion here, we'll go ahead and hoist the flag for this neat, much-needed business for the city:

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We've been working diligently to catalog and price all our items with the hope that we can open our doors this weekend. Whether or not everything is priced and in our computer we're still going to open our doors this weekend.

Sat 10am-6pm
Sun 11am-4pm

If you're in the neighborhood, stop on by and say hello.

Next week we'll start up with our regular hours and will be ready for business.

Wed-Fri
10am-8pm
Sat
10am – 6pm
Sun
11am – 4pm

Currently in stock (with more on the way)
Paint – oil/acrylic/watercolour
Brushes/painting knives
Canvases (stretched and panel)
Pastels and Charcoal
Oil mediums
Various printing/cutting items
Limited paper and paper pads
Pencils
Sharpies

Our official grand opening will be the weekend of Nov 7 which will include a small informal opening for the artist Jessica Russo on the evening of Nov 7.

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5018279

Atten Artists – if you have prints, postcards and or t-shirts of your work and are looking for a place to have these items available, please come in and talk with me.

Thank you.

Dana Smith
City Art Supply LLC
3215 Cherokee St
St. Louis, MO 63118
314-771-5375
http://www.cityartsupply.org