8 PM, Fri. & Sat. April 1 & 2
THE GREEN HORNET
A Staged Radio Play
With Gwen Owens, Laurence Mintz, Mike Harvus, Peter Yao as Kato, and Carlyle Owens as the "Hornet."
ALL AGES!
The Green Hornet is an American radio and comic book masked vigilante created by George W. Trendle and Fran Striker. Distinguished by its use of classical music, not least "Flight of the Bumblebee" for its title theme, it was one of radio's best-known and most distinctive adventure shows. Since his radio debut in the 1930s, the character has appeared in film serials (in the 1940s), a network television program (in the 1960s), multiple comic book series (from the 1940s on), and, just this past January, a feature film starring Seth Rogen. The Hornet is the alter ego of newspaper publisher Britt Reid. He is accompanied by his similarly masked partner, confidant, and chauffeur, Kato, who drives their technologically advanced Studebaker, the "Black Beauty." SOUND FX! COSTUMES! THEATRICAL LIGHTING.
8 PM, Thurs. April 7
CHARLIE STELLA
Reading/Signing
JOHNNY PORNO
With seven crime novels under his belt, Stella has received six starred industry reviews, has made two best-of-year-mystery lists (Publisher’s Weekly & Booklist, 2003 for Charlie Opera), and has been compared favorably to Elmore Leonard on sixteen occasions. His novels are hard-boiled, dialogue driven, and linked by recurring members of the Vignieri crime family. He's written countless short stories for such collections as Hard Boiled Brooklyn, Dublin Noir, and Bloodlines: A Horse Racing Anthology. His most recent book, the bluntly titled Johnny Porno, is set in New York circa '73, the same week a criminal court banned the adult film, Deep Throat. His books have been published here, the UK, Italy and Russia. Stella is also a screen writer, sometime jazz drummer, playwright, semi-pro powerlifter, opera buff, and every bit the raconteur. FREE! Comp wine. Books on sale at the event.
8 PM, Sat. April 9
D'MEITZ & ILUSHA
Live Music
Detroit's D'Meitz has won freestyle rap battles in Cleveland, Detroit, New York City, Atlanta, Baltimore, and Washington D.C. He is a regular competitor in GrindTimeNow, the world's largest Rap Battle league. D'Meitz is currently enlisted active duty in the United States Marine Corps and served in Iraq in 2008. While traveling with the Corps he released his first LP record in Japan, "Chivalry,Solemnity, and other bad ideas." He then teamed up with world famous DJ Mick Boogie to release "To Those with Wings," a free mixtape made available for download in November 2009. His just released full length LP, "Mortal" (April 1, 2011), is a collaboration with the multi-talented Modlovan pianist, Ilusha, who joins D'Meitz on his country-wide tour and performs with him (on our in-shop pub piano) tonight. W/Special guest.FREE! Comp wine. CDs on sale at event.
8 PM, Tues. April 12
DAN NATURMAN
Stand Up Comedy
Naturman was the favorite of celebrity judges Drew Carey and Brett Butler on Last Comic Standing Season 2 and has performed on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn, The Late Show with David Letterman, and both The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien and Late Nite with Conan O’Brien. He is a regular at both The Comedy Cellar and Comic Strip Live! in New York. $5.00. Comp wine.
8 pm, Sat. April 16
BENEFIT FOR JAPAN
DAVID HEINLEIN & KYO MORISHIMA
Shodo/Photography Exhibit/Reading
Raising Funds for Earthquake Relief through Documentary Photographs and Shodo Calligraphy
David Heinlein will exhibit fifty of his Shodo works on ancient wood and mulberry paper, and read poetry in Japanese (with subsequent translation) from his book, "Wild Seeds." In 1969, at 22, Heinlein first went to Kyoto on The Amherst-Doshisha Fellowship. He became an Instructor of English at the university and traveled extensively in Japan and throughout Southeast Asia as well as in the Okinawa Islands. His first book, "Wild Seeds," bi-lingual essays and poems in English and Japanese, was written and published in 1984 while Heinlein, after a brief return to the US, was again working in Japan. In 1992 he began teaching Japanese at Middlesex and Union County Colleges. Heinlein is a Black Belt Third Degree in Martial Arts of Japanese Origin and has been doing Japanese calligraphy for more than twenty-five years.
“I take hundreds of pictures of quiet, personal, simple moments whenever I return home to Japan," says photographer Kyo Morishima. "At a time now when the word 'Japan' evokes a monumental tragedy and disaster, I thought the images of children playing, monks sweeping, people going about their everyday business would be a humanizing counterpoint to the headlines.” Morishima was a college student in the United States when the Kobe earthquake struck in 1995, destroying his parents' house and large swaths of his hometown.
Morishima will sell framed prints and Heinlein will sell books of Japanese poetry. Both will donate 100% of the proceeds for Japanese earthquake victims. Heinlein will also sell his Shodo work and donate a percentage to benefit Japan. Comp wine.
8 PM, Thurs. April 28
EAST CACKALACKY FREE! Comp wine. CDs on sale at event.
8 PM, FRI. APRIL 29
MIRANDA KENNEDY
Reading/Signing
SIDEWAYS ON A SCOOTER: LIFE & LOVE IN INDIA
In the early aughts, Miranda Kennedy, a young reporter living in New York City, relocated to India, where a British great-aunt had served as a missionary and where her own parents had lived during the early years of their marriage. She stayed for half a decade, becoming a foreign correspondent for American Public Media’s Marketplace and National Public Radio. During her time there, Kennedy is drawn into the lives of several Indian women, including her charismatic friend Geeta—a self-described “modern girl” who attempts to squeeze herself into the traditional role of wife and mother; Radha, a proud Brahmin widow who denies herself simple pleasures in order to live by high-caste Hindu principles; and Parvati, who defiantly chain-smokes and drinks whiskey, yet feels compelled to keep her boyfriend a secret from her family. In her effort to understand the hopes and dreams that motivate her new friends, Kennedy peels back India’s globalized image as a land of call centers and fast-food chains and finds an ancient place where, in many ways, lives have scarcely changed for centuries. "If you liked Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat Pray Love, you have to read this book.” Susan Cheever, author of Home Before Dark, a memoir about her father, John Cheever
Miranda Kennedy's articles have appeared in The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, and The Nation, and on Slate. Before moving to India, Kennedy worked as a magazine editor and a public radio reporter in New York, where she covered, among other things, the September 11 attacks. She recently moved to Washington, D.C., to work as an editor at National Public Radio’s Morning Edition, and returns frequently to India. FREE! Comp wine. Books on sale at event.
2 PM, Sat. April 30
MUTTS Creator PATRICK MCDONNELL
Chalk Talk/Reading/Signing
In 1994, McDonnell created the award-winning comic strip Mutts, which now appears in more than 700 newspapers in 20 countries and has been anthologized in books all over the world. It was described by Peanuts creator Charles Schulz as "one of the best comic strips of all time." A coffee table book of his life and work, Mutts: The Comic Art of Patrick McDonnell, was published in 2003. In 2005, McDonnell wrote his first children's book, The Gift of Nothing, which was a New York Times best seller. The Guardians of Being, a collaboration with Oprah endorsed spiritual teacher Eckart Tolle, was published in Oct 2009. Join Patrick as he reads from his eighth children's book, ME...JANE, the story of the young Jane Goodall and her toy chimpanzee Jubilee, and sketches Earl, Mooch, and dozens of other characters on a giant architect's pad, chronicling their creation and answering questions as he draws. Books on sale at the event. FREE! Books on sale at event.
8 PM, Sun, May 1
MISHA ANGRIST
Reading/Discussing/Signing
HERE IS A HUMAN BEING: At the Dawn of Personal Genomics
Once considered a fanciful topic confined to speculative fiction, DNA-based science has blossomed in the last decade to encompass a wide range of real world technologies. DNA technology has already changed our health care, the food we eat, and our criminal justice system. Unlocking the secrets of our genomes opens the door not only to helping us understand why we are the way we are and potentially fixing what ails us but also to many other concerns. What exactly will happen to this information? Will it become just another marketing tool? Can it help us understand our ancestry, or will it merely reinforce old ideas of race? Can personal genomics help fix the U.S. health care system? Angrist, a Duke University genetics professor with the added pedigree of an MFA in writing, is ideally suited for probing and explaining this often-befuddling field in crisp, accessible prose. His chief focus here is on the slice of DNA tinkering known as personal genomics and Angrist’s own participation in a Harvard-funded project to map the entire genomes of its human subjects. Along with providing a fascinating close-up view of cutting edge science, Angrist explores the many thorny questions provoked by genome sequencing, such as whether humans really want to know about their future infirmities, and whether everyone’s DNA blueprint should be freely posted on the Internet. A vitally important and timely study of a society-changing technology. FREE! Comp wine. Books on sale at the event.
