Quote of the Week- August Wilson

While he is known primarily for his playwrighting, August Wilson (1945-2005) was also an accomplished poet. He is best known for his 'Pittsburgh plays," including "Jitney," "The Piano Lesson" and "Fences." The later two were Pulitzer Prize winners.

Syracuse Stage in Syracuse, NY, will be performing "Fences" from May 5-30 (phone 315-443-3275). There is also an August Wilson Center, which is a performing arts venue, in Pittsburgh. Though he lived in Seattle during the last years of his life, Wilson remained devoted to his home city of Pittsburgh throughout his career.

Another poet who is better known for being a folk singer Bruce Piephoff, my good friend here in the Triad, will be performing at the Grove Winery in Gibsonville, Nc, just outside Greensboro on Friday.

Here is our quote from Wilson in honor of National Poetry Month:

"All art is political in the sense that it serves someone's politics."

Special Screenings_ "The Big Lebowski" and "The Dark Crystal"

One my favorite things to do on my blogs is to promote special movie screenings whenever I get notice of them. Since I reside in a fictional town in North Carolina, I generally promote screenings in the Tarheel State, but since I proudly hail from Roanoke, Va., I also like to mention film screenings at the historic Grandin Theatre which almost makes my hometown seem hip.

We start with a special screening of "Death Race 2000," a '70s cult film that was recently remade into a bad Vin Diesel vehicle, that will take place at the Colony Theatre in Raleigh on Wed., Aug. 12 at 8:00. The admission fee is five bucks (whoops! I forgot to check that for the other films).

Just down I-40 in Greensboro, my friend Joe Scott is putting together a special screening of "The Big Lebowski" which kicks off the Mixed Tape series sponsored by UNC-Greensboro's college radio station WUAG 103.1 FM, which features a movie show hosted by Scott. The best bowling movie ever made (apologies to those who somehow favor "Kingpin") will show on Wed., Aug. 26 @ 7:30 p.m. Afterward, there will be a bowl-a-thon @ Brunswick Triad Lanes on 21 Oak Branch Road, where White Russians will be served! Jeff Bridges and John Goodman would be proud.....

And, lastly, The Grandin Theatre in Roanoke, Va., the cinema where I originally saw "Lebowski" when it first came out is showing a midnight screening of "The Dark Crystal" at midnight on the nights of Aug. 28 and Aug. 29. This movie was made in 1982 when I was 12 years old! Incidentally, that was the same year that "Tron," another cult classic with Bridges came out. Supposedly, a sequel to that film is coming out next year. Are they actually remaking "Clash of the Titans" too?

Anyway, if you need directions to any of these venues go to Mapquest (or the official web sites of these places), and hopefully you won't get freaking lost!