Episode 13--2 World-Famous Michaels, 30 Film-makers & Many, Many 'Scary' Sarah Palins in the Parks

So many chaotic & bizarre things going on these days across the country & the world...I can barely keep up.

Mostly, these things have been a blur...I've just been so busy these last few wks promoting, & helping to coordinate, the Baltimore Women's Film Festival ("BWFF"), I can focus on little else.

The BWFF is a really significant 4-day event coming up this week, from Thurs, Oct 23rd through Sun, Oct 26th. It will feature more than 100 very diverse films for women, &/or by women...over 30 fimmakers will attend, from the US, the Czech Reputblic & the UK. Tix are $10 pp, $80 for VIP pass; 50% of all sales go to benefit breast cancer survivors & research locally through the Johns Hopkins Avon Foundation Breast Center. (To hear a really cool, live interview w/ 3 of our filmmakers, visit our spot on the Mike-Michelle Blogtalk radio show here.)

The BWFF will also feature special events including a Live Music Showcase opening night (10/23) with stand-out local Batimore singer/ songwriters Acacia Sears, Ellen Cherry, & Dionne; parties; a silent auction; and a book signing & sushi reception on Fri, 10/24 with world-acclaimed actress/ playwright Lynn Redgrave.

I've been so busy promoting this film fest lately, I've missed a lot of impt local events. Including the 2 Bmore celebrations in Towson & at Fort McHenry in early Oct for our larger-than-life Olympian & hometown hero, Michael Phelps.

Although I have not lately run across Phelps, or any other Olympians, I did happen across a 'literary' locally-based celebrity, also named Michael, a couple of wks ago on a train ride btwn Bmore & NY. When I met him, Michael Kimball, an internationally-known writer who's been getting a lot of critical acclaim for his third novel, Dear Everybody, was heading out for a reading at a book festival in NYC.

Michael K--a stand-up, friendly guy who helped me hoist my luggage onto the overhead bin of the Amtrak--also co-hosts the 510 Reading Series, held every 3rd Sat at Minas Gallery & Boutique, in Hampden. And Michael K. recently wrote his first screenplay...check out the trailer for the movie about people who smash things ("I WILL SMASH YOU") here.

Speaking of people who SMASH things, & other creatures who do equally scary stuff: Halloween is fast approaching. So are two cool, 'ghoulishly'-inspired park events, the Great Halloween Lantern Parade on Sat, 10/25th, starting 7 PM in Patterson Park, & ZooBoo on Fri, Oct 24-Sun, Oct 26th at the MD Zoo in Druid Hill Park.

Since I will be at the Baltimore Women's Film Festival throughout most of Thurs, Oct 23rd-Sun, Oct 26th, I will probably miss them.

Hopefully, some of you will get some good pics & vids for me. Really, I wonder if Bmore will have seen anything quite so strange as so many Sarah Palinesque look-a-likes as I expect to be parading this wkend in Patterson and Druid Hill Parks, this Halloween. Brrr! Just imagining it gives me the chills...

Copyright 2008 by Lois

This week's pic, taken at last yr's 'Media Sprout Fest,' in 'witchy' Leakin Park, comes courtesy of long-time community artist/ activist, photographer, special effects desinger/coordinator and GreenCityBaltimore co-founder Doug Retzler. In it, I am peering through a kaleidoscope from a 'Kaleidoscope Tree' which Doug created for the event.

I call Leakin Park a 'witchy' park, since it was the set of the film Blair Witch 2--Book of Shadows, for which Doug coordinated special effects some 10 or so yrs ago....And also the site of so many 'enchanted' art events & cool happenings today.

This year's Media Sprout Fest, which took place yesterday, 10/18, actually featured a high-tech 'kaleidoscope' demonstration by the 'artsy,' DC-based magician, David London. It also featured sundial demonstrations of Doug's, and a host of performances by many talented, multi-media artists.

It took place amidst the backdrop of 'Art on the Trail,' an environmentally-sensitive art exhibit featured in Leakin Park through 11/22. For directions to Leakin Park, click here. I expect to link to photos, & perhaps some video, from this yr's Media Sprout Fest soon.