Fresh Loaf

It’s that time of year again folks – Fiction Contest time! And we know that given the current economic situation (there’s some serious cash at stake here people), there are more starving artists out there than ever.

So, submit a manuscript of no more than 3,000 words either as a hard copy to our offices or online. All works of fiction must in some way incorporate the word “pop” — as a theme, a metaphor, whatever. You can use the word as any way you like; just use it well. Originality is encouraged, and the word count is enforced.

Click on the image below for more details or to submit an entry.

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After two years of labor-intensive restoration efforts, SCAD reopened Atlanta’s historic Peters House, aka Ivy Hall, on Oct. 3. The mansion, located at 179 Ponce de Leon Ave., dates back to 1883 and was home to one of the city’s founding families. Its Queen Anne-style design is the “best and earliest surviving example of residential architecture from Atlanta’s post-Civil War era,” according to the National Register of Historic Places. It also housed the Mansion restaurant for nearly 30 years until a fire in 2000.

PBA 30 continues airing the locally produced five-part series documenting the restoration process Nov. 1, 8, 15 and 22 at 6:30 p.m.

(Photo courtesy www.scad.edu)

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Local grassroots arts organization Idea Capital has tapped Shana Robbins, Jason Kofke and Rory Golden as its fall 2008 awards recipients. Robbins will receive a cool grand, and Kofke and Golden will get $500 and $250, respectively, to pursue experimental art projects.

From today’s press release:

Ms. Robbins will use the cash to fund a multi-media performance-based work
dealing with the “Monstrous Feminine,” while Mr. Kofke has proposed a city-wide
street art campaign titled “Everything Will Be OK,” which includes both permitted
and guerilla art tactics. Mr. Golden will create a fictional visual narrative
installation titled “You Think I Can Eat All That Chicken Here?” which includes a
150-year-old ex-slave, food addiction, and an extreme religious conversion.

Idea Capital was founded by Susan Todd-Raque, Stuart Keeler, Pam Rogers, Louise Shaw, and Cinqué Hicks “to encourage experimentation and investigation with funds designed to give artists permission
to pursue new ideas.” Visit the group’s website for more info on membership, donations and future grants. See examples of their art below.

Full disclosure: Hicks is CL’s freelance visual arts critic.

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When Atlanta native and former editor of American Jewish Life Benyamin Cohen felt his Jewish faith faltering, he did what any other lost soul in the Bible Belt would do – he went to church.

The son of an orthodox rabbi, Cohen spent a year going from Christian rock festival to megachurch service to Catholic confession on a quest for higher learning. He chronicles his experiences in the funny and insightful memoir My Jesus Year. Cohen appears at the Barnes & Noble in Buckhead this Sunday and again at the MJCCA’s 17th annual Book Festival in November.

I was particularly intrigued by the following quote of yours: “What are they [Christians] doing so right that we Jews are doing so wrong? Is their church experience simply more fun?” Would you describe your pre-book perceptions of Christians and modern Christianity and explain what you mean by “right” and “wrong” in the above statement?

Wow, that’s a tough question. I never looked at it like that. I certainly don’t see one religion as being right and another as being wrong. What I do think, though, is that there are a lot of aspects – in any religion – that has room for improvement. Judaism may be thousands of years old, but that doesn’t mean we can’t improve on, say, how we reach out to newcomers. Churches do an amazing job of outreach and marketing themselves to new visitors. In the book, I tell a story of how I got preferential treatment (first-time visitor parking in the front next to the handicapped spots) at a megachurch in Lithonia. Once I walked inside, I was treated like a rock star. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same thing when a wandering Jew walks into a synagogue for the first time. That’s my long way of saying we’re doing something “wrong” and Christians are doing something “right”. (more…)

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Atlanta’s nothing if not a maze of idiosyncratic neighborhoods.

SAND (South Atlantans for Neighborhood Development), whose neighborhoods include Benteen Park, Boulevard Heights, Glenwood Park, McDonough-Guice, North Ormewood, Ormewood Park and Woodland Hills, hosts its annual tour of homes this Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m.-5 p.m.

Tickets are $12-$15 and proceeds benefit the neighborhood’s public safety initiatives, neighborhood watches, beautification and public areas maintenance, and various neighborhood committees and public events.

Check out SAND’s website for details.

(Photo courtesy www.sandatlanta.org)

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It used to be that Wednesday night couldn’t come fast enough. It used to be that “Project Runway” was a glorious train wreck of attitudes and outfits you loved to hate and hated to love. It used to be that people actually gave a crap who won. Not so much with season five.

I was rooting for Leanne (in addition to having a tiny girl crush on her), but I can’t say that I was gossiping rabidly about it, creating pools with my coworkers or pulling my hair out anticipating a twist in the weeks leading up to last night’s finale. So, yeah, Leanne won and I think she deserved it. But am I salivating for season six? Meh.

Season four’s designers rated slightly higher on the fabulous scale thanks to Chris March, Ricky Lizalde and Jack Mackenroth (sorry folks, you’ll have to look elsewhere for a diehard Christian Siriano fan). Unfortunately, Jack had to leave the show early due to health complications. He’s been HIV positive for 20 years and a bacterial infection that caused his lips to swell posed a serious threat.

Jack’s in Atlanta this weekend to participate in AIDS Walk and host a coming out of sorts for his new educational campaign Living Positive by Design. I spoke with him this morning and got him to dish about J. Lo’s absence, Leanne’s win and his new “project.” (more…)

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This week CL Charlotte’s Matt Brunson discusses the DVD releases of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, The Strangers and more.

INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL (2008). Let’s try to put this in perspective, shall we? On the Scale of Cinematic Achievements, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull places dead last among the four big-screen Indy adventures. Given the quality of its predecessors, however, that can hardly be construed as a smackdown. Read the rest here.

(Photo by David James/Paramount & Lucasfilm)

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Billed as “a childhood memoir,” the complete title of Wilson’s novel is Holy Roller: Growing up in the Church of Knock Down, Drag Out; or, How I Quit Loving a Blue-Eyed Jesus. Phew. That’s almost as tricky to say/type as it is for a 9-year-old to sit still in church while the preacher hollers fire and brimstone.

Or so I gather from Wilson’s story. She was raised a Rapture-fearin’ Pentecostal, while I grew up in the Cult of Mary (aka Catholicism). Wilson’s 9- to 10-year-old self chatterboxes through her childhood narrative, sometimes meandering into stream-of-conscious monologues, but always capturing the guilt-inducing push and pull between curiosity and indoctrination.

But being an author is more of a side project for Wilson, a fourth-generation Texas fisher(wo)man and co-founder of Code Pink who’s made headlines as an environmental activist keen on hunger strikes and nonviolent disobedience (she’s been arrested around 29 times). She also inspired the award-winning documentary Texas Gold, which screens periodically on the Sundance channel.

Wilson appears tonight, Tues., Sept. 30, at 7 p.m. at the Existentialist Congregation of Atlanta, 470 Candler Park Drive. 404-378-5570. www.acappellabooks.com. Georgia for Democracy, the Atlanta chapter of WAND and A Cappella Books are sponsoring the event.

(Photo courtesy Chelsea Green)

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While the Beltine mucks through the financial and political bogs holding back its progress, photographer Meryl Truett opens her exhibit Picturing the Beltline this Fri., Oct. 3 at Barbara Archer Gallery.

Truett brings her sleepy Southern aesthetic to a series of photos documenting summer and early fall along the neglected set of tracks that encircles the city.

Artist’s reception Fri., Oct. 17, 7-9 p.m. Through Nov. 1. Free. Thurs.-Fri., 11 a.m.-6 p.m.; Sat., 11 a.m.-5 p.m. 280 Elizabeth St., #A012. 404-523-1845. www.barbaraarcher.com.

(Photo by Meryl Truett)

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Here’s a list of films playing at a theater near you tonight. I Served the King of England gets an extra mention because Curt Holman awarded the film 5 stars in his review — a rare occurrence.

ANOTHER GAY SEQUEL: GAYS GONE WILD (NR) In the sequel to Todd Stephens’ Another Gay Movie, Andy, Nico, Jarod and Griff go to a resort in Fort Lauderdale and compete to see who can get the most notches in his bedpost over spring break.

BEAUTIFUL LOSERS (NR) A documentary about the emergence of do-it-yourself art in the early ’90s, focusing on 10 artists — self-proclaimed nerds and freaks — with a unified aesthetic.

CHOKE 2 stars (R) Character actor Clark Gregg has written and directed an often clever adaptation of the novel Choke by cult author Chuck Palahniuk. Choke’s antihero, Victor Mancini (Sam Rockwell) is a sex addict with little apparent commitment to the recovery process.

THE DUCHESS 3 stars (PG-13) According to the gossipy English period piece The Duchess, the Duke of Devonshire (Ralph Fiennes) had only met young Georgiana Spencer (Keira Knightley) twice before they became engaged in 1774. Given a rich, powerful husband and all that England has to offer, Georgiana must only provide the duke with a male heir. When she finds herself unable to fulfill that part of her job description, The Duchess becomes a juicy drama of domestic power struggles.

EAGLE EYE (PG-13) Two strangers (Shia LaBeouf and Michelle Monaghan) are thrown together when they receive calls from a mysterious woman and are forced into dangerous and illegal situations.

I SERVED THE KING OF ENGLAND 5 stars (R) An elderly Czech ex-con (Olrich Kaiser) reflects on his past as a waiter, lover and pawn of European history in this superb film from director Jiri Menzel. Ivan Barnev plays the character as a young man and demonstrates the physical humor and sad-sack sympathy of a silent film-era star. In its celebration of both physical comedy and physical beauty, the film presents a feast for the eyes, even as it builds to a stealthy but stinging critique of moral blindness.

THE LUCKY ONES (R) Three Iraq war veterans (Michael Pena, Tim Robbins and Rachel McAdams) embark on a road trip, which turns out longer — and more meaningful — than they expected.

MIRACLE AT ST. ANNA (R) The latest endeavor from Spike Lee tells the story of four soldiers from the all-black 92nd Buffalo Soldier Division stationed in Tuscany in World War II, and how a young boy changed everything.

NIGHTS IN RODANTHE 2 stars (PG-13) Single mom Adrienne (Diane Lane) considers reconciling with her estranged husband, Jack (Christopher Meloni), while sharing a coastal Carolina bed-and-breakfast with Paul (Richard Gere), a testy plastic surgeon shaken by personal problems. Will the threat of a hurricane — and The Notebook author Nicholas Sparks — bring these lost souls together?

WHAT WE DO IS SECRET (R) Shane West stars in this biopic of Germs’ frontman and L.A. punk icon Darby Crash, who committed suicide in 1980.

Click here for a complete list of films showing in the Atlanta area.

(Photo from I Served the King of England by Martin Spelda/© 2007 Courtesy Sony Pictures)

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Tonight the SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Health Collective, a reproductive and sexual health rights activist group, hosts a film screening at Landmark of Orgasmic Birth, a documentary by “birth activist” Debra Pascali-Bonaro that asks the question, “What would happen if women were taught to enjoy birth rather than endure it?”

I might be a bit more open to the idea of having kids if it involved 36 hours of, ahem, “enjoyment.” Of course that’s not the only reason I’m not interested in giving birth, but the prospect of labor certainly doesn’t help.

You can watch a clip on the film’s website, but just so you know, it’s probably not “work appropriate.”

Movie starts at 7 p.m. and is followed by a discussion at 8:30 p.m. with local birth activist, Piper Lovemore, among others, about natural childbirth and midwifery.

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Each week, CL’s Duly Noted section of Film Clips makes note of off-the-radar screenings. Today’s best bet is:

QUEEN KELLY (1928) (NR) Erich von Stroheim’s classic grim romance, in which a betrothed playboy prince (Walter Byron) falls for a convent girl (Gloria Swanson, who also produced). Free. Wed., Sept. 24. 8 p.m. White Hall, Room 205, Emory University. 404-727-6761. www.filmstudies.emory.edu.

Check out more of this week’s Film Clips here.

(Photo courtesy Amazon.com)

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The Atlanta Ballet announced yesterday that a live orchestra will accompany a selection of its 2008-09 performances. The ballet made the switch to digital music in 2006 to save money. According to the press release:

Swan Lake, the October season opener, February’s Dracula, a favorite of Atlanta audiences, and the May world premier of John McFall’s Don Quixote will feature live music at every performance. Atlanta Ballet’s Nutcracker will feature the orchestra during its opening weekend, December 5th, 6th and 7th.

Dan Allcott, music director and principal conductor for the Atlanta Ballet from 2000-2006, returns for the current season. Check out the Atlanta Ballet’s website for more.

Swan Lake (pictured) opens Thursday, Oct. 23, at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre.

(Photo by Charlie McCullers)

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“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” the FX series that follows a selfish scheming fivesome, returns for its fourth season tonight.

The warped squad of frenemies also known as “the gang” includes Frank (Danny DeVito), brother and sister duo Dee (Kaitlin Olson) and Dennis (Glenn Howerton), and childhood friends Charlie (Charlie Day) and Mac (Rob McElhenney). They all “work” at Paddy’s, a shabby Irish pub in Philly co-owned by Frank and Charlie.

Each member of the gang is shamelessly self-absorbed, and the plot lines revolve around get-rich-quick plans or general ways to make their lives easier: Dennis and Dee get hooked on crack and feign mental retardation so that they can collect welfare; Frank runs an Asian gambling ring in Paddy’s basement; they find a dumpster baby and try to turn it into a child star.

“Sunny’s” website doesn’t give away much about the new season, but I’m hoping for more of the naughty, drug-fueled, incestuous hijinks that made the first three seasons so special.

In honor of the upcoming election, here’s Charlie’s America song:

“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” airs Thursdays at 10 p.m. on FX.

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The Internet Movie Database now has full-length movies and TV shows available for free on its website. And that doesn’t just mean grainy “Mama’s Family” reruns, they’re talking brand new episodes of popular shows such as “24″ and “30 Rock,” as well as classic films, and more recent fare such as Master and Commander. Read the Washington Post story about it here.

The website’s database isn’t exhaustive: It boasts a library of 6,000 titles, while DVD home-delivery service Netflix has more than 100,000.

Should you feel tempted to screen Some Like it Hot on your iPhone, don’t forget David Lynch’s 2 cents on watching movies on your “telephone:”

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Who wants to think about war and suffering when we’ve got Heidi Klum’s leggy “Project Runway” to distract us?

Martha Rosler does, and you’d be hard-pressed not to as well after a look at her Bringing the War Home series. Rosler’s cutting photomontages layer media clippings of iconic American images with scenes of social and political unrest.

It’s a challenge to chew on the issues our self-indulgence would keep us from thinking about.

The Emory exhibit includes work from the original Bringing the War Home (1967-1972), a commentary on the Vietnam War, and its contemporary counterpart Bringing the War Home: House Beautiful (2004), in response to the Iraq War and Bush administration.

The show opens tonight with a reception that lasts until 7:30 p.m.

Bringing the War Home. Through Oct. 17. Free. Mon.-Fri., 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; Sat., noon-4 p.m. 700 Peavine Creek Drive. 404-712-4390. visualarts.emory.edu/events/index.html.

(Photo “Hooded Captives,” 2004, by Martha Rosler)

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Atlanta photographer Michael David Murphy headed to Jena, La., in June 2007 to observe and document the turmoil brewing around the Jena 6.

Murphy posted his photos and writings from the Sept. 20, 2007, protests in Jena on whileseated.org, as well as in a slideshow on YouTube. People flocked to the websites and commented profusely. He mined the more than 3,000 responses and fused them with his photographs to create a multimedia study on race and the kind of “conversation on race” that the uninhibited speech of the blogosphere can cultivate.

The Jena Project opens at Little Five Points’ Opal Gallery Fri., Sept. 12, 7-9 p.m., runs through Sept. 27, and includes a panel discussion at the Hammonds House Museum Sat., Sept. 20 at 2:30 p.m.

(Photo by Michael David Murphy)

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In October 2007, Scott Freeman wrote a cover story about Morganton, Ga.’s, Gorilla Haven, a kind of foster home for gorillas in need:

Traditionally, zoos have had to separate gorillas such as Oliver that don’t neatly fit into their outdoor habitats. And because of space limitations, they’re often housed in less-than-ideal conditions. But Oliver is among the fortunate ones; nestled in the mountains about 90 minutes north of Atlanta is a one-of-a-kind facility called Gorilla Haven that was built with gorillas like Oliver in mind. It is a place that few outside the primate world know about because it’s not open to the public.

Not open to the public — until now. Gorilla Haven’s holding a series of limited tours this fall on Sat., Sept. 13, Wed., Oct. 8, Sat., Oct. 11 and Sat., Oct. 18 from noon-2 p.m. (The Oct. 18 tour is already sold out, but a waiting list is available.) The tours will serve as fundraisers for the sanctuary, which has struggled financially since the economy took a nosedive.

According to the event press release, Gorilla Haven receives “no revenue from the government, zoos or grants. Until now, everything has been funded by [owners Jane and Steuart Dewar].” The couple operates the facilities through the Dewar Wildlife Trust, Inc.

A donation of $50 is suggested per person, $25 for additional family members. Contact Emily Moreland at 706-851-9440 or angelofahhs@live.com for reservations. Info can also be found on Gorilla Haven’s website, www.gorilla-haven.org.

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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On Aug. 26, a Grady Memorial Hospital surpervisor’s car busted through the front of Cabbagetown Clay & Glassworks. The nonprofit artists’ co-op’s front end and part of its roof were completely demolished.

A spaghetti dinner fundraiser takes place tomorrow, Saturday, Sept. 6 to help get the studio off the ground — literally. The group doesn’t receive any outside funding, says resident artist Heather Cunningham. “We share the space equally, share the rent and utilities and we will do the best we can to keep the organization together,” Cunningham stated in an e-mail.

In the interim, the building’s landlady has made the vacant space next door available to the artists.

Event info: $15.50. 6-9 p.m. Stone Soup Kitchen, 584 Woodward Ave. 404-524-1222. ccgw.eventbrite.com/.

For more info about the event and donations, contact Cunningham at 404- 444-0534 or heather@artreverie.com.

(Photo by Heather Cunningham)

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Sometimes it’s hard to tell when the seasons change down South. If the thermometer were your only guide, it might not feel like autumn until Thanksgiving. Luckily, Atlanta’s cultural scene is rich enough to draw the line between summer and fall. From state fairs to Swan Lake, Oktoberfest to Halloween, David Byrne to James Bond, this season has something for the high-culture lover in you, as well as its beer-chugging doppelganger. Check out our top 30 picks here.

(Image courtesy North Georgia State Fair)

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This week, CL Charlotte film critic Matt Brunson reviews stoner comedy Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, the Larry McMurtry classic Lonesome Dove, and British coming-of-age story Son of Rambow, which first caught our attention last spring at the Atlanta Film Festival.

HAROLD & KUMAR ESCAPE FROM GUANTANAMO BAY (2008). 2004’s Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle looks better with each passing year, but it’s pretty much guaranteed that Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay won’t be enjoying a similar critical ascension in the future. That’s largely because the satire is less subversive and more overt, meaning that what you see is basically what you get. Kal Penn and John Cho are again an engaging team, and here, the plot requires their characters to get mistaken for terrorists, leading to an interrogation by a moronic Homeland Security honcho (Rob Corddry) who decides to send them to Guantanamo Bay to enjoy a steady diet of “cock-meat sandwiches.” Read the rest here.

(Photo by Jaimie Trueblood/New Line Cinema)

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The “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” host has backed out of the DBF because of “scheduling conflicts,” according to a festival press release. Pennington and his show recently made headlines when one of its projects, a colossal construction for a Lake City, Ga., family, was foreclosed upon and scheduled for auction Aug. 5.

Check out the festival’s website for updated schedules and details on author appearances.

(Photo courtesy www.typenningtonstyle.com)

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Remember how we told you that Wordsmiths Books could be shutting its doors soon? Well a fundraising blitzkrieg the past couple of weeks helped the indie bookstore collect enough dough to remain in operation, at least through the fall.

Owner Zachary Steele elaborated in a press release sent earlier this afternoon:

We asked for your help. We asked for the chance to take this business and turn it forward. …And you responded…thanks to you all, we are still here. …There is still much for us yet to do. We have operating expenses caught up and have made some traction into tomorrow, but we will still be working on paying down our debts for the foreseeable future. I would be remiss to state that all is well and that we are completely in the clear, though we are at least now in a position to address our concerns. I am still working to secure the long-term future of the bookstore.

Down, but definitely not out.

(Photo by Dustin Chambers)

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Wordsmiths Books could be shutting its doors soon.

The Decatur bookstore responsible for scores of literary workshops, quirky local music showcases and inventive author events can’t pay the bills. Debt left over from its former location on W. Trinity Place (it’s now located around the corner in the old Sun Trust building on N. McDonough Street) and an unprofitable recent event have left owner Zachary Steele in the red.

From a blog by Steele:

The reality of Wordsmiths is that, though it began with a great push, it did so in the wrong location. That location drained its resources and left a lagging parachute of debt … to compound our difficulties, we handled the sales for a large scale event recently that did not return the investment that we were required to pay up front. Such is the way, I could say, but the timing was incredibly poor.

For the next couple of weeks, Wordsmiths will be collecting donations to help pay off the debt and keep the store open. The fundraising push culminates Aug. 15-17 with the Saving Bookstores is AWESOME!!! Night of AWESOME!!!! in conjunction with PASTE magazine and BabyGotBooks.com. The event features local fave Jack Pendarvis and his new robot-love novel Awesome, a performance from Atlanta indie outfit the Sealions, and a silent robot art auction. E-mail Wordsmith’s director of marketing Russ Marshalek (russ@wordsmithsbooks.com) about creating and donating a robot for the auction.

The shop’s also accepting donations of all sizes at its website or mailed to 545 N. McDonough St., Decatur, GA 30030. It wouldn’t hurt to visit the store and buy some books either.

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Blayne’s words not mine. The tank-topped tanorexic likened Klum to the Star Wars villian by saying “She’s shiny on the outside and crazy on the inside.” Huh? She’s way more fembot than Vader.

Other memorable quotes from last night’s “green” episode:

Jerell: “I am saucy!” (after Jennifer “snatches up” his model).

Tim (to the group): “How is everyone?”
Suede: “Dandelions.”

Natalie Portman guest judged last night’s challenge, which included sending the models to Mood for environmentally friendly materials (Portman recently launched a vegan shoe line). Wesley’s, Leanne’s and Joe’s models all returned with the same shiny brown satin (dubbed “team ugly brown fabric” by Jerell) that landed both Wesley and Leanne in the bottom three with Korto. Wesley was sent home — ack! Only the second episode and I’ve already got strike one against my final three prediciton.

The episode’s premise was well-intentioned, but I think it would’ve been more ineteresting and effective to have the designers repurpose used clothes from Goodwill or vintage shops instead of buying brand new materials.

My personal favorite was Terri’s belted midnight-blue dress, but Suede’s criss-cross tutu won.

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