by Glen Weldon
National Public Radio's Monkey See blog December 1, 2010
http://www.loc.gov/today/pr/2010/10-254.html
Noted writer, illustrator and designer Maira Kalman's year-long investigation of democracy and how it works has resulted in her newest book, "And the Pursuit of Happiness" (Penguin, 2010), which is also the name of her popular blog at NYTimes.com.
Kalman will discuss and sign her book on Tuesday, Nov. 30, at noon in the Montpelier Room on the sixth floor of the James Madison Building, 101 Independence Ave. S.E., Washington, D.C. This Books & Beyond event, co-sponsored by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, is free and open to the public; no tickets are required. The two institutions are planning additional co-sponsored programs.
"And the Pursuit of Happiness" combines words and pictures in an illustrated essay that is both probing and lighthearted. Beginning in 2008, Kalman traveled to Washington, D.C., launching a national tour that would take her from a town hall meeting in Newfane, Vt., to the inner chambers of the Supreme Court. She imagines making a home for herself in the center of the Lincoln Memorial, ponders Alexis de Tocqueville's America, witnesses the inner workings of a Bronx middle-school student council, takes a high-speed lesson in great American women in the National Portrait Gallery and considers the cost of war to the brave American service families of Fort Campbell, Ky.
Kalman is widely renowned for her contributions to The New York Times, The New Yorker and other major publications. Her book is also the subject of a discussion on Facebook. The new Books & Beyond Book Club is available at www.facebook.com/booksandbeyond/. Here readers can discuss books, the authors of which have appeared or will appear in this series. The site also offers links to webcasts of these events and asks readers to talk about what they have seen and heard.
Since its creation by Congress in 1977 to "stimulate public interest in books and reading," the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress (www.Read.gov/cfb/) has become a major national force for reading and literacy promotion. A public-private partnership, it sponsors educational programs that reach readers of all ages, nationally and internationally. The center provides leadership for 52 affiliated state centers for the book (including the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands) and nonprofit reading-promotion partners and plays a key role in the Library's annual National Book Festival. It also oversees the Library's Read.gov website and administers the Library's Young Readers Center.
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PR 10-254
11/09/10
ISSN 0731-3527
Capicons Comic Book & Pop Culture Con
Sun, Dec. 5, 2010
10 am - 3 pm
Dunn Loring Volunteer Fire Hall,
2148 Gallows Rd, Dunn Loring, Virginia
Admission $3 - Kids FREE!
Open to the public from 10 am - 3 pm. Buy, sell & trade: Gold, Silver, Bronze Age comics; Indie & Modern comics, Publishers & Creators, TV & Movie Collectibles. Non-sport cards; Videos & DVDs; Horror/Sci-Fi; figures, toys; Star Wars & Star Trek memorabilia; original artwork, posters and other comic-related collectibles.
FEATURING:
John Gallagher of Sky-Dog Comics (Buzzboy, Roboy Red)
Steve Conley (Star Trek, Astounding Space Thrills, Bloop, Kid Knight)
Andre Campbell and Tyran Eades of Heritage Comics HSQ
Dan Nokes, 21st Century Sandshark
Chris Flick, Capes & Babes
Rob Anderson, Panda Dog Press
Directions to DLVFRD:
Take I-495 (DC/Capital Beltway) to Exit 47A (Rt. 7 West). Go 1/2 Mile, Left on Gallows Rd. 1 mile to 2148 Gallows Rd
November 23, 2010
U2'S BONO AND THE EDGE SAY WORKING ON
"SPIDER-MAN" WAS THE SOME OF MOST FUN
THEY'VE EVER HAD – "60 MINUTES" SUNDAY
Lesley Stahl Gets the First Look at "Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark"and its Aerial Effects and Also Talks to Director Julie Taymor as She Works to Complete the Most Expensive Musical Ever
U2 band-mates Bono and The Edge have been having fun helping to create what will be the most ambitious and expensive musical ever staged on Broadway. Lesley Stahl and 60 MINUTES cameras have been following the production for more than a year and a half and will offer the first look at the much vaunted aerial effects and the U2 stars' music sessions on 60 MINUTES, Sunday, Nov. 28 (7:00-8:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.
"It has been one of the funest (sic), more joyful rides of our artistic life, for sure," says Bono. "We've moved out of the rock 'n' roll idiom in places, into some very new territory for us," he tells Stahl. "There's big show tunes and dance songs." The Edge said working with Julie Taymor was "like being a student in a master class of musical theater and opera." Watch a clip.
"Julie Taymor is definitely a magician. I think that's what you call a person, who, even though they put the rabbit in the hat, is really surprised when it comes out," Bono tells Stahl.
The show's first preview is scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 28, after delays due to money woes, the complicated staging and flying effects that injured two actors. The show cost more than $60 million to make, and critics wondered if it would ever open. But Taymor, with a string of stage and film successes, tells Lesley Stahl danger and risk make for a creative success. "I love it when people say 'What a horrible, lousy idea.' I think that's great," Taymor says with a laugh. "I hate the comfort zone…I don't think that anything that's really creative can be done without danger and risk," says the two-time Tony winner, whose spectacular staging of "Lion King" is still playing in theaters after 13 years.
On Sunday, 60MinutesOvertime.com will feature a special, in-depth look at how Bono and The Edge collaborated with Taymor to write and play the music that defines the show's villains and heroes and drives its stunning special effects.
