PopSmart

MySpace. What’s it done for you lately? (Besides helping you remember to close your bedroom window?) As a matter of fact, it’s bringing Rainn Wilson’s (”The Office”) new movie, The Rocker, to Atlanta for a free sneak preview this Thurs., July 10, according to a press release we received yesterday afternoon.

The film follows Robert “Fish” Fishman (Wilson) as he tries to recapture his cock-rock glory days via his nephew’s high school rock band, A.D.D.
MySpacers were allowed to vote throughout June on which U.S. cities deserved the screening. Atlanta made the cut along with Oklahoma City, Phoenix, Dallas and Kansas City. Here’s the lowdown on how to get in for free:

To attend the screening, individuals need to visit MySpace and add the SONIC Red profile to their MySpace page. Print out the MySpace page with the SONIC Red profile on it, and bring it to the theatre. There are a limited number of seats available.

Showtime is 7:30 p.m. this Thursday at the AMC North DeKalb Mall (2050 Lawrenceville Highway). The Rocker officially opens Wednesday, July 30.

(Photo courtesy 20th Century Fox)

Kay Kallos has stepped down as the Contemporary’s executive director after 16 months in the position to relocate to Dallas, Texas. From Board President Baxter Jones’ press release:

Executive Director Kay Kallos, who has led the organization since March 2007, has resigned, effective July 7, 2008, for personal reasons … To continue her good work, the Board of Directors is pleased to announce that Curator Stuart Horodner and Gallery Manager Stacie Lindner will take on expanded roles. As Artistic Director and Managing Director, respectively, Stuart and Stacie will assume expanded roles to include fundraising, board relations, facilities and financial management, and program oversight. Insuring continuity of mission during this transitional period, staff members Michelle Frost, Alana Wolf, and Stan Woodard will continue in their respective roles as Bookkeeper, Events Coordinator, and Communications Director.

After 35 years, the Contemporary has become one of Atlanta’s most important resources for the visual arts. The arts center took home two CL Best of Atlanta awards under Kallos’ direction in 2007 for Best Out-of-Town Guests (Daniel Bozhov and Greta Pratt; see review here) and Best Gallery for Kids (although welcoming to families, see Felicia Feaster’s review on its gritty fall 2007 exhibitions featuring Harrell Fletcher, Nubar Alexanian and the group show Finding Form).

(Photo courtesy Atlanta Contemporary Art Center)

Want the power to nominate a candidate for higher office? Have a strong opinion about what’s truly the best of the best in Atlanta? Become an officially endorsed CL Super Delegate and give us your opinions.

For this year’s Best of Atlanta Raging Election edition, we are looking for independent voters to act as special CL critics. If your nominations are picked, YOU will be considered a CL critic and given the power to bestow a Critics Pick Best of Atlanta award for 2008. We are looking for picks in all categories, so send us a blurb about what you consider to be the Best of Atlanta and why. Send them to bestofatlanta@creativeloafing.com.

If you haven’t voted, what are you waiting for? And don’t forget to take our exit poll once you do!

We look forward to your nominations!

Want the power to nominate a candidate for higher office? Have a strong opinion about what’s truly the best of the best in Atlanta? Become an officially endorsed CL Super Delegate and give us your opinions.

For this year’s Best of Atlanta Raging Election edition, we are looking for independent voters to act as special CL critics. If your nominations are picked, YOU will be considered a CL critic and given the power to bestow a Critics Pick Best of Atlanta award for 2008. We are looking for picks in all categories, so send us a blurb about what you consider to be the Best of Atlanta and why. Send them to bestofatlanta@creativeloafing.com.

If you haven’t voted, what are you waiting for? And don’t forget to take our exit poll once you do!

We look forward to your nominations!

Want the power to nominate a candidate for higher office? Have a strong opinion about what’s truly the best of the best in Atlanta? Become an officially endorsed CL Super Delegate and give us your opinions.

For this year’s Best of Atlanta Raging Election edition, we are looking for independent voters to act as special CL critics. If your nominations are picked, YOU will be considered a CL critic and given the power to bestow a Critics Pick Best of Atlanta award for 2008. We are looking for picks in all categories, so send us a blurb about what you consider to be the Best of Atlanta and why. Send them to bestofatlanta@creativeloafing.com.

If you haven’t voted, what are you waiting for? And don’t forget to take our exit poll once you do!

We look forward to your nominations!

When Jon Reiss’ new graffiti documentary, Bomb It, showed up on my desk I was excited by its concept, a global look at graffiti art and culture, but immediately turned off by the cover art, which features a busty bleach-blond woman in a tube top holding a couple cans of spray paint. It turns out the cover model is L.A. artist DJ Lady Tribe, a no-bullshit female who earned her spot in the city’s hardcore scene hanging from overpasses and climbing billboards.

Personalities such as Tribe carry Reiss’ (Better Living Through Circuitry) and producer Tracy Wares’ enlightening and fast-paced film. Bomb It traces the art and its counter culture from its origins in 1960s Philadelphia to its current state around the world in cities such as Paris, London, Tokyo and São Paulo through the eyes of those who live it.

Bomb It was released on DVD May 27, and screens Sat.-Mon., June 7-9 at 8:30 p.m. at Eyedrum. Graffiti artist Zephyr is scheduled to attend the Saturday showing.

Click here for more info.

(Chaz Bojorquez’s artwork pictured; photo courtesy www.bombit-themovie.com)

Creative Loafing Atlanta is looking for a visual arts writer with the knowledge, wit and point-of-view to become Atlanta’s next great arts critic. We want someone who’s engaged in a variety of local scenes, can spot trends before they become trendy, and write intelligently about a variety of concepts with authority and personality. Depending on the circumstances, this could be structured as either a freelance or staff position.

Think you’ve got what it takes? E-mail cover letter, resume and three to five clips to: debbie.michaud@creativeloafing.com.

OR

Debbie Michaud
A&E Editor
Creative Loafing
384 Northyards Blvd., Suite 600
Atlanta, GA 30313
Please NO phone calls

“We all know that books are funny. First, they are made of paste and cloth, which is funny, as is the fact that people still buy and read them.”

– From John Hodgman’s (PC in the Apple commercials) introduction to The McSweeney’s Joke Book of Book Jokes (Vintage) due out Tues., April 1. Editors at the San Francisco-based book and magazine publisher McSweeney’s pulled together the book-related spoofs, sketches and letters from their snarky archives.

(Photo by Gary Noel)

In the late 1960s and into the ’70s, the Weathermen made a name for themselves as a group of volatile and reactionary leftists. They have become infamous in some respects for their extremist philosophies and actions, including bombing the New York City police headquarters and declaring war on the United States. Professional dancer David Dorfman was 13 during 1969’s Weathermen-instigated “Days of Rage” – too young to participate, he says on his website, but old enough to be “awed by [their] audacity.” Still inspired years later, he’s choreographed Underground, which features music from the Beatles, the Mamas and the Papas and Broken Social Scene. Dorfman brings his eponymous modern dance company to Atlanta for a series of performances at Emory, Thurs.-Sat., MARCH 20-22, at the Rialto Center for the Arts, Sat., MARCH 29. Emory: $5-$20. Thurs.-Fri., 8 p.m.; Sat., 2 and 8 p.m. Schwartz Center, 1700 N. Decatur Road. 404-727-5050. www.arts.emory.edu. Rialto Center: $26-$52. 8 p.m. 80 Forsyth St. 404-413-9849. www.rialtocenter.org.

(Photo © UniverSoul Circus)

Atlanta’s UNIVERSOUL CIRCUS, aka “Hip-Hop Under the Big Top,” continues its latest show “Jabulani: Joy, Happiness, Laughter” Sun., FEB. 17. Now in its 15th year, UniverSoul Circus emphasizes diversity in both its acts and soundtrack. Performances range from the more traditional clowns and trapeze acts to kid contortionists from South Africa and aerialists from New Zealand and Brazil. Through March 2. $10-$27. Wed.-Fri., 10:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m.; Sat., noon, 4:30 and 8 p.m.; Sun., 1, 3:30 and 6:30 p.m. Green Lot, Turner Field, 521 Capitol Ave. 866-448-7849. www.universoulcircus.com.