Episode 11--Summer-Hons, Film Stars & Artists Attack!!!

Summer's rolled around, and again I've gotten really behind in blogging (2 months behind, I'm ashamed to say).

Aaargh....Sorry. Wish I were better at keeping up. Like everyone else here in Bmore, I'm constantly juggling. ...Not half as successfully as many of the local artists, musicians, leaders & activists I admire, unfortunately.

I've had some cool experiences in 'indie, artsy Bmore,' though I don't know I'd call them 'sitcom-inspired adventures' per se.

Met John Waters briefly at the MD Film Fest in early May, and "snapped" him with one of my Blogstars, Alex (Episode 6). Hung out at Honfest with a couple of friends recently, though Waters himself was boycotting.

And I dropped in on a couple of local poetry and music events, and met some new poets and musicians along the way. ...All in all, I'd describe this time as pretty peaceful. A little break from all the weird drama I've faced earlier this year which, no doubt, will do me a world of good.

Still, this is Bmore--the place where mischief and strange occurrences reign supreme--so I will not get too used to the lull.

They just started filming the big Zellwegger movie, "My One and Only," here in Btown two weeks ago. While I haven't yet run into the film's cast [Sex & the City's heart-throb "Mr. Big" (Chris Noth) among them, and I heard Kevin Bacon just signed up too] or crew, filming runs through July so there's still plenty of time for that.

Plus, there's bound to be tons of locals and out-of-towners, far more intriguing and strangely seductive than any Hollywood filmstars or crew, showing up at our world-renowned summer arts events, of that I'm sure.

Artscape, "America's largest free public arts festival," fast approaching on July 18-20th, is sure to draw plenty; and the "Baltimore Erotic Arts Festival" (July 1-31st) at The Load of Fun Gallerie is sure to attract more such folk, too.

I'll keep my eyes and ears open, and report back more frequently, now that summer's on. If you're a veteran of Bawlmorean artsy-inspired summer strangeness, you'll stay wary & alert, too!

Copyright 2008 by Lois

The lovely "Hons" in this episode's pic (exhibiting their won'erful sense of kitchy "Hon-style" on the Avenue June 15th during Honfest, of course) are Jeannie, Kathy, and Cheryl (clockwise from left).

To view more cool pics incl the one I snapped of John Waters and my friend and Blogstar Alex (Episode 6) at the May 2nd airing of his FilmFest pick at The Charles, visit my LoisLife photosets on Flickr.

Alex, a wonderful local actress, performs next in Nonstop Realism. The play, part of the Baltimore Playwrights Festival & billed as "an evening on nonsense no-nonsense humor," shows at the Strand Theatre, 1823 N. Charles Street, from July 17th-Aug 3rd. The BPF runs now through Aug 31 at various local theatres. It showcases plays by Maryland and Washington, DC playwrights (NR is by Bmore playwright Tim Paggi).

This wkend Bmore hosts the African American Heritage Festival, and about a zillion other things. To keep up with it all this summer, follow the LL Fun Tips on the right side of my blog. Check the "Favorite Bmore Social, Networking, & Event-Planning Groups/ websites" links a bit farther down, too.

Tomorrow night (Fri, June 27th) at 9 PM, I'll be at El Rancho Grande, a coffeehouse in Hampden (3608 Falls Road, Baltimore), for a live music event with wonderfully gifted Bmore musician (and LL friend/ Blogstar) Ellen Cherry. Ellen will be performing with two terrific out-of-town musicians she discovered at a songwriting event in Wisconsin, Chris Simmons (UK) and Danielle Gasparro (NYC). To learn more, go to the Baltimore Live Music Meetup site.

On Sunday, June 29th, from 4-6 pm, I'll be at Joe Squared Pizza and Bar, 133 W. North Avenue (across from The Load of Fun) for a musical tribute to Jonathan Gorrie. He was the Bobwhites' guitarist, and only 38 when he died recently and quite unexpectedly of what appears to have been a heart attack.

Jonathan was much loved, and will be deeply missed. To learn more about Jon, view the Friends of Jonathan Gorrie Blog set up in his memory; his bio; and the obit in the Baltimore Sun.

Sadly, John Waters (Jr.)'s father passed away recently, too. John Waters, Sr. was 91 when he died.

"He made us always feel safe," John Waters, Jr., said of his Dad, who founded a commercial fire-extinguisher business, and won a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Association of Fire Equipment Distributors, a group he helped found. "Is that not the most important thing a parent could do for his children?" To view the full obit, click here.

Episode 6- Baltimore Barbies, Alcohol, & MLA Launch Parties Don't Mix!

Woke up exhausted this morning after the big (and very well-attended) "Maryland Lawyers for the Arts"- Arts Brief Launch party at Lemongrass and Tsunami (hosted by Smalltimore Events) last night.

Not that I'd had all that much to drink really, but I'd been running myself ragged for 2 weeks straight so I guess 2 'orange crushes' on too little sleep was just enough to do the trick.

I was feeling just a wee bit 'off' when I first arrived at the party actually. Under most circumstances I am really not shy, but occasionally I feel a bit lost when surrounded by too many 'towering' fashionably-dressed people in strange settings (it can be easy to see people as 'towering' when you yourself are not quite 5 feet).

This effect tends to be heightened by sleep deprivation and hunger, so it took me a while to get my bearings last night. Then I found the free buffet, and this helped to improve my mood to a wonderful extent.

After a decent period of scavenging I felt much less cranky & started talking to people, and then I found a few I recognized and some who, for that matter, recognized me.

Among these were Annette, an artist, wife, and publicity agent of one of the Bobwhites (a cool 'art rock' & swing Baltimore band); Jonathan, a MICA student who dreamed up and is directing this fabulous 'Baltimore Sweep Action Parade' March 29th, as well as his Assistant Director, Anna Page; and Natalya, a law student I met at City Paper's 2007 Valentine's masqueRED Ball at Sonar, a cool party with lots of great people, fun music & many interesting 'party favors' of the 'public health' variety (it was to benefit Chase Brexton Health).

Then I met up with Alex, this really positive, energetic & wonderfully imaginative psychotherapist/ teacher/ actress, and we got to talking for a while till we both decided it was time to leave.

When I got home I jumped into bed almost immediately looking forward to a good night's sleep.

I guess all this running around must have affected me strangely, for I had these very peculiar, 'larger-than-life Barbie-filled' dreams. I can't relate too much about these noctural wanderings other than that they were filled with many statuesque, impressively-clad, adult human-size yet also doll-like Barbies, clinking glasses of what I presumed to be alcohol in darkly green-filtered surroundings, speaking to one another in high flute-like voices throughout the night.

When morning broke I struggled but was unable to remember much else, though the source of such dreams is really not hard to place.

When I first saw Alex she was playing the role of a Barbie doll-come-to-life in this truly bizarre, but very emotionally-engaging play at the Fells Point Corner Theatre as part of last year's Baltimore Playwrights Festival. In it Alex, one of two featured 'Barbies,' narrated tales of many child-inflicted tortures suffered, alongside her male counterpart (the similarly-abused 'Ken'), over the years in a really compelling and rather gut-wrenching way. YouTube video of Alex in her 'Barbie' role can be viewed here & on the right side of this Blog.

As a child I never subjected my own 'Barbies' to such abuses. I bought many of them after all with my own money, and treasured them very much in my way. Still I admit that I cast them, at least mentally, in some rather sketchy adult-type 'creative fantasy role-play' scenarios of which Mattell would simply never have approved.

I will say that my Barbies seem to have survived it all in relatively healthy good spirits, as you can see from the photo of one I've included with this Episode.

Normally I don't keep my Barbies in my apartment--not that I don't have my eccentricities, but my apartment is already cluttered enough with miscellaneous 'artsy' ecclectic stuff. For the last 3 decades or so they lived in my parents' basement in Rockland County, NY but lately they (my parents, not the Barbies) have talked of moving so they insisted I keep the Barbies here, in my own storage space.

But as you might observe, 'Golden Dream Barbie' (my childhood favorite) seems to have found a comfortable niche by my window just now hanging out with my jade plant (which is not at all menacing or even fashion-threatening like the ficus I wrote about in Episode 1--the Man Eating Plant, or commented on in Episode 4--Lois Finds Love at The Ottobar with Trixie Little, The Evil Hate Monkey and Scotty The Blue Bunny). She is also hanging out near the 'green Lois' bottle which my cousin Lori found for me a few weeks back. So I might just let her hang out here a while longer, so long as she doesn't see fit to keep 'haunting' my mental meanderings at night.

The 'Bobwhites' will be performing, and some of the band will also be reading poetry (along with some other well-known poets) at a spoken-word CD release event called 'Words on War' Friday, March 7th from 7 pm- 12 am at the Load of Fun Studio (120 W. North Ave). More details at Load of Fun's event calendar here.

Other events of note to take place March 7th include a 'Girls' Night Out' concert, sponsored by the recently-turned-two years' old Maryland indie music community networking organization Static Chain, featuring wonderful Baltimore-based female folk artists (Sahffi, Teporah, Clarissa and Toni Sicola) at Tyson's Tavern from 8 pm- 12 am. For more info, click here.

And two of my condo building-mates are putting on a Choreographer's Showcase event that same night (March 7th) from 8-10 pm at the Constance R. Caplan Dance Studio, Room 163, Mattin Cultural Arts Center at Johns Hopkins (North Charles Street at 33rd Street), it is completely free and all are invited.

More details about the Baltimore Sweep Action Parade to take place March 29th (4 teams 'sweeping' debris from 4 separate Bmore neighborhoods to converge on Mount Vernon Place 3/29, resulting in a public sculpture display to remain in Mt. Vernon Park until 5/20 as part of the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance's Festival of Maps exhibition) will be found at http://www.baltimoresweepaction.org/ and will soon be posted to GreenCityBaltimore's Blogsite (http://www.greencitybaltimore.org/) and yahoo group space ( http://groups.yahoo.com/group/greencitybaltimore/ ).

Copyright 2008 by Lois