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 10- Out of the Watersian Shadows & Into The Light!

As you might have guessed from my last Blog (Episode 9--Springtime in Baltimore, Springtime at Last!), lately I had been feeling that the absurdist, "Watersian" and "Seinfeldian" elements in my life had gotten more than a bit out-of-hand.

When I left town for a very brief overnight visit in NYC two weekends ago, before staying with my folks a few days in Rockland County, NY, I saw this as my big chance to briefly escape such things.

Silly me. I should have recognized that in a place like NYC, avoiding "Seinfeldian" or "Watersian" elements would be a nearly impossible thing for a strange artsy chic like myself to do. Really, how ridiculous--who could escape Seinfeld's spirit in NYC? Plus, what with the two Waters productions running also on Broadway (both "Cry-Baby" and "Hairspray") these days, John Waters' influence is pervasive there too.

Here was my first sign: a block away from a dinner party in the Village for one of my closest friends, I practically stumbled across the set of a new Woody Allen movie-in-the-making starring Larry David (co-creator, head writer & exec producer of Seinfeld, and creator & star of the Seinfeldian HBO show Curb Your Enthusiasm, for those of you who don't know).

If I really wanted to miss the Seinfeldian-inspired absurdities almost sure to follow, that would have been my cue to skip the party and head for my hotel. Or at least, cut out before the start of the comedy show I was to drop in on thereafter, at which a friend was scheduled to perform.

But I have never, in my life, deliberately skipped a friend's party; nor have I ever willingly missed a performer-friend's show. So really, I do not see what I could have done to avoid a sequence of super-"Seinfeldian" strangeness that did, thereafter, unravel before my eyes.

Even so, it has taken me a while to recover from the NYC stuff.

For a while to be honest, since returning to Baltimore, I have been laying low. Meanwhile, people all around me had been reporting "John Waters" sightings for weeks. In the last few days, these have been increasing to a fever pitch. And lately, so many folks I meet, hang out, or work on community projects with seems to be inextricably entwined not merely in my life, but also in JW's.

I have reason to be cautious. One might say that this is a sort of "Witching Hour for Watersian-inspired weirdness." This period, which started I'd say around April 22nd (John Waters' birthday), lasting at least through the end of Maryland Film Fest (which kicks off Thurs, May 1st & ends Sun, May 4th) is surely when JW's weird influence here is strongest - and when Baltimore is sure to be at its most bizarre.

Well, I have decided I must not hide from my strange Blog-life, or JW's legacy, or from "zany" Baltimore's influence generally, anymore. I could try hibernating at home, but I doubt it would do much good. Somehow, I think, Baltimorean, "Watersian"-inspired strangeness would find me, even hiding under the bed.

And no matter what, I would not miss the Maryland Film Fest for anything.

So I have decided: I will throw caution to the wind.

Rather than hiding, I will meet JW on his own turf: when he presides over his favorite film pick at The Charles Theatre on Friday for the FilmFest. It will be, appropriately enough, Story of Women, a "provocative" French film.

To mark the occasion, I will have with me a sort of posse of some of my favorite gal-pals & female Blog-Superstars. And we will meet and talk with JW, I suspect, of this strange legacy he has passed on to us, and also I would guess of many other queer and peculiar 'Watersian' happenings too.

All in all, I am quite sure the experience will be both Super-Blogworthy & Superstrange.

So please buy your tix early and stop by if you can. And definitely, keep "tuning" in for many more strange, weird, & zany 'Watersian' & 'Seinfeldian' adventures in & around 'artsy, grassrootsy, socially oriented Bmore' to come.

Copyright 2008 by Lois

The pic, as I mentioned, is one a friend took on 4/18 in NYC of Woody Allen directing his new (yet unnamed) movie starring Larry David. We celebrated & drank much wine at my friend Kal's birthday at Le Belle Vie (a really nice, & very reasonably-priced restaurant in the Village) while WA continued to direct & shoot the film about a block away.

So much is going on here in Baltimore right now. I will only try to mention a few important things coming up in the next few days.

First & foremost, there is Maryland's FilmFest. It kicks off with an opening shorts program, hosted by Bmore film legend Barry Levinson, tomorrow night (Thursday, May 1st).

Friday, May 2nd, movies run from 11 AM to 10:30 PM in three locations (Charles Theatre, UB Student Center, & MICA Brown Center) in Mt. Vernon, Baltimore. John Waters will be there to present his "film pick" at The Charles, which will be shown starting at 7 PM. I was there last year for his last pick; that film was phenomenal, and John was charming, easy-going, and incredibly funny. So I have high expectations for this Fri. Buy your tix in advance, I would be surprised if they didn't sell out. Ticket cost: $10.

More wonderful films run Sat & Sunday May 3-4th. To check shedule, view film descriptions, and order tix, go to the MD Film Fest main site. For reviews and more info, visit The City Paper's spread here.

Other big weekend things on my radar:

1) Fri, May 2nd - Sat, May 3rd (11 AM - 8 PM both days) is Flowermart, as usual at Mt. Vernon around the Washington Monument, Baltimore's 91st! For more details see the main site. Stop by & see my GreenCityBaltimore partner Doug Retzler's Paisley Green Roof display at Parks & People's Urban Forest (S of the Washington Monument).

2) Fri, May 2nd (7-10 pm)- "Bicycle/ tricycle art" & live music event at Velocipide Bike Project Opening Reception. "A Study of The Trike" at 4 Lanvale Street, Baltimore. (Exhibit runs May 2-25th.) With performances by Yeveto & Orion Rigel Dommissee. $5 Donation suggested. More info at: http://www.velocipedebikeproject.org/

3) Baltimore's 10th Kinetic Sculpture Race- Sat, May 3rd - race starts with opening ceremonies at the American Visionary Art Museum, on the shore of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor in central Maryland. The eight-hour race covers 15 miles—mostly on pavement, but also including a trip into the Chesapeake Bay and through mud and sand.

4) Sat, May 3rd (10 am - 6 pm) & Sun, May 4th (10 am - 2 pm) - Rock Fight Against Lymphoma & Leukemia - 25 bands - music/ charity event at Huckas at 2324 Boston Street, MD. For more info see: http://www.myspace.com/rockfightpattersonpark (note, event venue no longer at Patterson Park anymore). Donations (I think of $10 pp) recommended.

5) Sat, May 3rd (7 pm) - Baltimore Songwriter's Association showcase of recently released juried CD "Songs from a Charmed City" - a Baltimore Live Music Meetup event at the Unitarian Unviersalists of Fallston! For more info or to sign up, click here.

**Check out our Flickr photos of Doug Retzler's "Visions of a Healthy City" Chalk-In project, one of his & GreenCityBaltimore's contributions to Baltimore's Ecofest (soon to be added to our photo sets here).

GreenCityBaltimore sponsored this to publicize Doug's "Art in Common/ Art for GreenSpaces" initiative, to build support for various eco-friendly & sustainable art projects in parks throughout Baltimore City. More info will be available in the future at www.artincommon.org . Upcoming GreenCityBaltimore events & "green" Baltimore info available at http://www.greencitybaltimore.org/ .

Ecofest on Sat, April 26th was HUGE this year BTW, thanks to all of the GreenWeek organizers, volunteers, participants & sponsors for making it such a great success! Baltimore Green Week events continue through Friday, May 2nd. More details at http://www.baltimoregreenweek.org/ .