Friends,
San Francisco (1955 Cinemascope film) [Free Download]
Keith Olbermann Special Comment On Gabrielle Giffords ShootingVIDEO: In Performance at the White House: Red, White and Blues
Below are some great events coming up at the Book Smith at 1644 Haight St. between Clayton & Cole (863-8688)
Thursday, April 4 7:30 PM
LALEH KHADIVI / THE WALKING
Within borders, across them, from rural to urban centers, humans are more mobile, and displaced, than they have ever been. As a twenty-first-century migrant, Laleh Khadivi has spent a great deal of time wondering what this great motion, these leaps of faith and desperation, do to the human souls that make them. How do we know who we are, who we were, if we are in constant motion? In her new novel The Walking, Khadivi explores these questions through Saladin and Ali, two brothers from a small Iranian mountain village. Set during the tumult of the Iranian Revolution, the brothers are forced to flee for their lives in the aftermath of a political killing. Read more:http://www.booksmith.com/event/laleh-khadivi-walking
NEW INFORMATION: Friday, April 5 6:30 – 9:30 PM
BOOKSMITH BOOKSWAP: Home Edition
Go ahead, click your heels together three times. There's no place like home! There's no place like home! There's no place like home!
Home. Where is it? What does it mean? Is it the place you were born? Is it the first place you ever lived on your own? Is it some nebulous idea you've yet to find? For April's Bookswap, bring a book about Home, whatever the concept means to you.
Special Guest: D.A. Powell, poet, professor at USF, and the author of Useless Landscape, or A Guide for Boys, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award in 2012. One student on the website Ratemyprofessors.com describes him as "a god among men! Not only is this man a genius, but he is adorable, looks sexy on the back of his books, and is the greatest teacher in all of academia land! He has great fedoras that match his suits, and knows everything about film, literature, and mankind." That said, he's only rated 2.3 for "easiness", so you'd better bring your A game.
Dinner, open bar, free books, author conversation and MORE for $25.
Bookswap. Get Lit!
Tickets in the store or online at Brown Paper Tickets (or 800-838-3006)
LAUNCH PARTY!
Tuesday, April 9 7:30 PM
CAROLINE PAUL and WENDY McNAUGHTON / LOST CAT: A True Story of Love, Desperation, and GPS Technology
Technology and cats are two words that don’t often go together. But in the case of Tibia, the beloved cat of San Franciscans Caroline Paul and her partner Wendy MacNaughton, the combination brings a funny, quirky, and heartwarming tale that any pet lover can relate to. Learn just how far one woman will go to keep an eye on her surprisingly adventurous cat...Read more:http://www.booksmith.com/event/caroline-paul-and-wendy-mcnaughton-lost-cat-true-story-love-desperation-and-gps-technology
Wednesday, April 10 7:30 PM
RACHEL KUSHNER / THE FLAMETHROWERS
The author of the celebrated Telex from Cuba returns with a story of fakes, narcissists and dreamers, and a 'sentimental education", sexual, intellectual, and aesthetic, in a a realm where factory politics, speed, leftists and subversion form a dangerous nexus.Rachel Kushner’s debut novel, Telex from Cuba, was a finalist for the 2008 National Book Award and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, winner of the California Book Award, and a New York Times bestseller and Notable Book. Her fiction and essays have appeared in The New York Times, The Believer, Artforum, Bookforum, Fence, Bomb, Cabinet, and Grand Street. A former San Franciscan, and graduate of UC Berkeley, she lives in Los Angeles. Read more: http://www.booksmith.com/event/rachel-kushner-flamethrowers
A Literary Double-header:
Thursday, April 11 7:30 PM
STEPHEN BEACHY and ALVIN LU
Stephen Beachy reads from and discusses SOME PHANTOM / NO TIME FLAT, two novellas. Beachy is the author of The Whistling Song and boneyard; he teaches at USF's MGA in Writing Program. Read more: http://www.booksmith.com/event/stephen-beacy-alvin-lu-literary-double-header
Alvin Lu is the author of the novel The Hell Screens, about which The New York Times wrote “This devilish puzzle of a novel ... will appeal to anyone who loves the cat-and-mouse games of Nabokov, the playful elegance of Borges or the rarefied dreamscapes of Calvino.” Lu’s writing also appears in the anthologies San Francisco Noir and "It's a poor sort of memory that only works backwards": On the Work of Johan Grimonprez.
Calling All Young Writers – and Their Adults!
Sunday, April 14 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM
KIDS, TRANSLATING POETRY? You bet! An Interactive WorkshopPoetry Inside Out is a program of San Francisco-based Center for the Art of Translation. Its certified instructors teach in schools throughout the Bay; its professional development component is implemented in a number of major cities around the country. Because it’s sometimes hard to find that little spark of inspiration that gets kids creating, PIO has a new, exceptionally engaging book, Poetry Inside Out: A Creative Writing Workbook – a terrific addition for rainy day or after-school activities. We’ve invited PIO staff to give an interactive workshop – for kids age 9 and up, and their adults. We’ll find out how to translate poems from different languages (no foreign language skills required!) with really fun brainstorming and word games (all material provided). Kids translating Basho, Lorca, Dante? Absolutely. Space is limited. There is no cost to attend, but RSVPs are necessary: email events@booksmith.com to reserve your spot! Read more:http://www.booksmith.com/event/kids-translating-poetry-you-bet
Wednesday, April 17 7:30 PM
ELIZABETH SCARBORO / MY FOREIGN CITIES
In a much discussed Modern Love piece for The New York Times three years ago, Liz Scarboro eloquently and without regret addressed being a new bride while facing the specter of young widowhood.In MY FOREIGN CITIES, she delves further into the repercussions of marrying a man with a degenerative illness and poor prospects of living past his 30s, asking what would any of us do for love?A memoir in the tradition of Fracisco Goldman’s Say Her Name, MY FOREIGN CITIES is a portrait of approaching mortality with reckless abadon, gleefully outrunning it for as long as possible.Read more: http://www.booksmith.com/event/elizabeth-scarboro-my-foreign-cities
Thursday, April 18 7:30 PM
FIONA MAAZEL / WOKE UP LONELY
Fans of Sam Lipsyte, Jennifer Egan, Lauren Groff, and Karen Russell will find much to love in Woke Up Lonely, which is by turns comic, lacerating, heartbreaking, and wholly unpredictable. The novel is centered around Thurlow Dan, the charismatic founder of the Helix, a cult based on the idea that everyone is lonely and that the only way to avoid emptiness is through connection. As a result, the Helix sponsors speed-dating, rallies, communes, and a Facebook-like website designed to prevent loneliness via oversharing. But Thurlow, camped out in his Cincinnati headquarters, is lonely. And his ex-wife, CIA covert agent Esme, is the only one he wants. Through a series of well-intentioned missteps in the name of earning back Esme’s love, Thurlow finds himself at the center of a hostage situation with nowhere to run. Fiona Maazel takes us down the rabbit hole of what it means to be lonely in the age of the Internet, in which none of us are ever truly alone. Read more: http://www.booksmith.com/event/stephen-beacy-alvin-lu-literary-double-header
Sunday, April 21 2:00 – 5:00 PM
MOTHER-DAUGHTER CREATIVE WRITING ADVENTURE!
(or aunts and their nieces, grandmothers and their granddaughters...)
Our adventure with pencil and paper for mothers and their daughters will lead both of you to little-explored places and give you the satisfaction that comes from creating something new.For mothers of any age and daughters ages 8 – 11 / $99 per pair; pre-registration required via Brown Paper Tickets / Another fabulous adventure with Take My Word for It! Read more: http://www.booksmith.com/event/mother-daughter-creative-writing-adventure
JUST ADDED:
Monday, April 22
7:30 PM
REVEREND BILLY
THE END OF THE WORLDChildren: hurricanes swamp our coasts! Fracking poisons our drinking water! Mountain tops are bulldozed into streams! The end of the world is nigh!
In pages that crackle with the lightning of an electric storm, the Reverend Billy, messianic leader of the Church of Stop Shopping, thunders from his pulpit, sounding the tocsin on the toxins that are poisoning our planet.
"The End of the World is so astonishingly brilliant that it almost hurts to read it, but at the same time so wise and loving and full of yearning..." -- Barbara Ehrenreich, author, Nickel and Dimed
"Here's why God invented fire and brimstone to begin with: to help humans avert personal and collective apocalypse. In a heartfelt book short enough to read under the light of your last set of AA batteries, my friend and pastor Billy Talen shows how the more we buy, the more distance between us we create, and thus the more we need to buy, ad infinitum. Life or death, love or stuff: the choice may still be ours." -- Douglas Rushkoff, media theorist and Saint, Church of Stop Shopping
"Reverend Billy's The End of the World is the beginning of wisdom. Its comedy is just camouflage for its truths, which are dead earnest -- that is to say, if we don't take them dead seriously, we may end up seriously dead." -- Benjamin Barber, author, Jihad vs. McWorld
"The Rev. Billy leads his congregants through programs of blazing testimonials, uplifting gospel music and fervid rituals (throwing away credit cards is a favorite) that blur the lines among theater, protest action and religious ceremony." -- The Los Angeles Times
"The zeal of a street-corner preacher and the schmaltz of a street-corner Santa." -- The New York Times
"The collar is fake but the calling is real." -- The Village Voice
Bill Talen, aka The Reverend Billy, is the author of What Should I Do When the Reverend Billy Is in My Store? and (with Savitri D) The Reverend Billy Project: From Rehearsal Hall to Super Mall with the Church of Life After Shopping. He lives in New York City where he street preaches (and is arrested for doing so) on a regular basis. You can find him at revbilly.com.
Wednesday, April 24 7:30 PM
OWEN EGERTON / EVERYONE SAYS THAT AT THE END OF THE WORLD
Actor and screenwriter Owen Egerton returns with a darkly hilarious meditation on the last days of life on earth, a meditation in which we follow the adventures of a slacker couple expecting thier first child, a shockingly arrogant television actor seeking redemption, and a prophetic hermit crab on a cross-country quest. As massive underwater volcanoes erupt, turning the oceans into fish soup, and trees burst into flames like giant birthday candles, inter-dimensional time travelers, Jesus clones, and prosthetic limbs also play a role in the events leading to the planet’s demise. And unlike those other books and movies about the apolalypse, this time, the world really does end! Read more: http://www.booksmith.com/event/owen-egerton-everyone-says-end-world
Thursday, April 25 7:30 PM
HELENE WECKER / THE GOLEM AND THE JINNI
An immigrant tale that combines elements of Jewish and Arab folk mythology, Helene Wecker’s goregous debut novel tells the story of two supernatural creatures who arrive separately in New York in 1899. The woman is a golem created out of clay in Poland by an aged dabbler in the dark Kabbalistic arts to be the wife of a man who then dies at sea, leaving her unmoored and adrift as the ship comes into New York harbor; the man is a jinni, a being of fire, who is trapped by a Bedouin wizard in a copper flask and released accidentally by a Syrian tinsmith in Lower Manhattan. Read more: http://www.booksmith.com/event/helene-wecker-golem-and-jinni
Monday, May 6 7:30 PM
MICHAEL POLLAN / COOKED: A Natural History of Transformation
Fire, water, air, earth -- our most trusted food expert recounts the story of his culinary education.
The Booksmith at 1st Unitarian Universalist Center SF. Tickets required. Read more: www.booksmith.com/event/michael-pollan-cooked-natural-history-transformation
The girl who silenced the world for 5 minutes
http://media.causes.com/510213?p_id=44401190Tired of Talking to a Voice Robot? Want to Talk with a Human?:
Dial A Human - http://www.dialahuman.com/Women In The Arts - [Video] - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUDIoN-_Hxs
World Clock: http://www.poodwaddle.com/worldclock.swf
Dear World:
We, the United States of America, your top quality supplier of the ideals of liberty and democracy, would like to apologize for our 2001-2008 interruption in service. The technical fault that led to this eight-year service outage has been located, and the software responsible was replaced November 4.
Early tests of the newly installed program indicate that we are now operating correctly, and we believe it to be fully functional as of January 20.
We apologize for any inconvenience caused by the outage. We look forward to resuming full service and hope to improve in years to come.
We truly thank you for your patience and understanding,
Sincerely,
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICAJUKEBOX - http://www.bobforrest.com/JukeBox.htm
[HUMOR/ETC. - LOCATED NEAR BOTTOM OF PAGE]
SOME INTERESTING GEOGRAPHY
Alaska
More than half of the coastline of the entire United States is in Alaska .Amazon
The Amazon rainforest produces more than 20% the world's oxygen supply. The Amazon River pushes so much water into the Atlantic Ocean that, more than one hundred miles at sea off the mouth of the river, one can dip fresh water out of the ocean. The volume of water in the Amazon river is greater than the next eight largest rivers in the world combined and three times the flow of all rivers in the United States .Antarctica
Antarctica is the only land on our planet that is not owned by any country. Ninety percent of the world's ice covers Antarctica . This ice also represents 70% of all the fresh water in the world. As strange as it sounds, however, Antarctica is essentially a desert. The average yearly total precipitation is about two inches. Although covered with ice (all but 0.4% of it, i.e.), Antarctica is the driest place on the planet, with an absolute humidity lower than the Gobi desert.Brazil
Brazil got its name from the nut, not the other way around.Canada
Canada has more lakes than the rest of the world combined. Canada is an Indian word meaning ' Big Village .'Chicago
Next to Warsaw , Chicago has the largest Polish population in the world.Detroit
Woodward Avenue in Detroit, Michigan carries the designation M-1, so named because it was the first paved road any where.Damascus , Syria
Damascus, Syria, was flourishing a couple of thousand years before Rome was founded in 753 BC, making it the oldest continuously inhabited city in existence.Istanbul , Turkey
Istanbul (AKA Constantinople), Turkey , is the only city in the world located on two continents.Los Angeles
Los Angeles' full name is El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de los Angeles de Porciuncula -- and can be abbreviated to 3.63% of its size: L.A.New York City
The term 'The Big Apple' was coined by touring jazz musicians of the 1930's who used the slang expression 'apple' for any town or city. Therefore, to playNew York City is to play the big time - The Big Apple.There are more Irish in New York City than in Dublin, Ireland; more Italians in New York City than in Rome, Italy; and more Jews in New York City than in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Ohio
There are no natural lakes in the state of Ohio, every one is man made.Pitcairn Island
The smallest island with country status is Pitcairn in Polynesia , at just 1.75 sq. miles.Rome
The first city to reach a population of 1 million people was Rome , Italy in 133 B..C. There is a city called Rome on every continent.Siberia
Siberia contains more than 25% of the world's forests.S.M.O.M
The actual smallest sovereign entity in the world is the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (S.M. O.M.). It is located in the city of Rome, Italy, has an area of two tennis courts, and as of 2001 had a population of 80, 20 less people than the Vatican. It is a sovereign entity under international law, just as the Vaticanis.Sahara Desert
In the Sahara Desert , there is a town named Tidikelt, which did not receive a drop of rain for ten years. Technically though, the driest place on Earth is in the valleys of the Antarctic near Ross Island . There has been no rainfall there for two million years.Spain
SPAIN literally means 'the land of rabbits.'St. Paul, Minnesota
St. Paul, Minnesota , was originally called Pig's Eye after a man named Pierre 'Pig's Eye' Parrant who set up the first business there.Roads
Chances that a road is unpaved in the U.S.A: 1%, in Canada : 75%.Texas
The deepest hole ever made in the world is in Texas . It is as deep as 20 empire state buildings but only 3 inches wide.United States
The Interstate System requires that one-mile in every five must be straight. These straight sections are usable as airstrips in times of war or other emergencies.Waterfalls
The water of Angel Falls (the World's highest) in Venezuela drops 3,212 feet. IT is 15 times higher than Niagara Falls
It has been said that one should learn something new every day.
Unfortunately, many of us are at that age where what we learn today, we forget tomorrow. But, give it a shot anyway!.All My Faves - http://www.allmyfaves.com/
FactCheck.org
Recent Postings - http://www.factcheck.org/just-the-facts/index.htmlTRIVIA
A friend of a friend of mine sent me this. Some interesting bits of trivia. Cheers, Marliese
Buddy Holly's backup band, the Crickets, got their name by flipping through the 'Insects' section of an encyclopedia. One of the names they rejected was 'The Beetles'. The Beatles chose their name in honor of The Crickets. And The Hollies chose their name in honor of Buddy Holly. And Badfinger's original name, The Iveys, was in honor of The Hollies.
Led Zeppelin's original name was "The New Yardbirds". Guitarist Jimmy Page had briefly been a member of the Yardbirds, and the band sprang out of an attempt to reform the band with new members.
Lynyrd Skynyrd named themselves after their high school athletic coach, Leonard Skinner, who'd told them that they'd never amount to anything.
"Mr. Mojo Risin'" (a phrase used in The Doors' song " L.A. Woman") is an anagram for Jim Morrison.
The Aerosmith hit "Walk This Way" was inspired by a gag in Mel Brooks' "Young Frankenstein"
The band Nirvana was originally called "Skid Row", the members somehow unaware of the very popular heavy metal band by that name. When they finally heard of the band, they changed their name to "Nirvana", and were promptly sued by the members of a practically unknown sixties band that had gone by that name.
-First choice for Terry Doolittle in "Jumpin' Jack Flash" was Shelly Long. Whoopi Goldberg got the part.
-First choice for Bernie Rhodenbarr in "Burglar" was Bruce Willis. Whoopi Goldberg got the part.
-First choice for Rita Rizzoli in "Fatal Beauty" was Cher. Whoopi Goldberg got the part.
-First choice for Deloris Van Cartier in "Sister Act" was Bette Midler. Whoopi Goldberg got the part.-First choice for the title role in "Carrie" was Carrie Fisher. Sissy Spacek got the part.
-First choice for Princess Leia in "Star Wars" was Sissy Spacek. Carrie Fisher got the part.The Professor on 'Gilligan's Island' was named Roy Hinkley. The Skipper was named Jonas Grumby. Both names were used only once in the entire series. Gilligan's full name was never revealed (even Bob Denver, who played Gilligan, was never told his full name, nor was he sure if Gilligan was his first or last name), though some insiders claim his name was supposed to be Willy Gilligan. And Mary Ann's last name was Summers, and Mrs. Howell's maiden name was Wentworth.
Hot water weighs more than cold water.
If a pin was heated to the same temperature as the center of the Sun, its heat would set alight everything within 60 miles of it.
If the Sun's energy output would decreased by one-tenth, the entire Earth would be covered in ice one mile thick; if the Sun's energy increased by 30 percent, all life on Earth would be burnt to a cinder.
If something were to happen to Washington, D.C., the city of Port Angeles, WA, would become our nation's capital.
If you ever need to call someone in Antarctica, the area code is 672.
In medieval England, beer was often served with breakfast.
Beetles taste like apples, wasps like pine nuts and white worms like fried pork rinds.
John Larroquette was the narrator of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre"
Leonardo DiCaprio's acting debut was on TV's 'Romper Room'.
Roald Dahl, the children's writer who wrote "Charlie And The Chocolate Factory" and "James And The Giant Peach", wrote the screenplay for "You Only Live Twice", the fifth James Bond Movie.
Female wrestlers are called "siffleuses"
Most tropical marine fish could survive in a tank filled with human blood.
Spiders never spin webs in structures made of chestnut wood. That is why do many European chateaux were built with chestnut beams - spider webs on a 50-foot beamed ceiling can be difficult to clean.
>From the same list with my own addition:
What do Jerry Garcia, Jimi Hendrix, Kris Kristofferson, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Marvin Gaye, Michael Nesmith (of The Monkees), Bill Wyman (of The Rolling Stones), The Everly Brothers, and Gene Vincent all have in common that Rush Limbaugh, Bill Kristol, Dick Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz, Scooter Libby do not? They're veterans of course.
Underground Hour
Tuesdays 7 to 8 p.m.
http://ksfs.sfsu.edu/
MUSIC by MiKo
Paper Mill Creek Saloon, Forest Knolls, CA, - FREE - EVERY Tuesday, 8-11 PM, West on Sir Francis Drake, turn left at the Forest Knolls intersection (before Lagunitas). Thought for the day: Q What is the only food that doesn't spoil? A Honey ..via Michael Welch
