http://bhamweekly.com/birmingham/articles.sec-1-1-arts-culture.html Finally, we managed to access the hidden unit and ride an elevator to the second floor where the members of BFAL were waiting for us. They were working on their own film project tonight, entitled “The Audition,â€� and David and I were along for the ride.]]> During the 7th Annual Holiday Craft Bazaar in the Avondale and Forest Park neighborhoods, there will be arts and crafts everywhere, from Naked Art to the Beloved Community Church. On the opening nig]]> Dragons and Lotus Blossoms: Vietnamese Ceramics from the Birmingham Museum of Art..]]> Thanksgiving is the number one day for movie going. And this holiday season there is a chance to take a little road trip to see the number one movie of all time worldwide.]]> With hopes held high for a George Clooney directed drama about the devious nature of the politics, audiences have to settle for a script that falls short with an anticlimactic feel and a transparent conclusion.]]> Who doesn’t like a good film? Ok, who doesn’t like a weekend of good films?]]> Birmingham SHOUT Gay + Lesbian Film Festival, the only such festival in Alabama, returns to the Magic City Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 27 & 28, at various downtown locations.]]> After Tim Burton’s unfortunate Planet of the Apes remake from 2001, I doubt that anyone was particularly hankering for another movie in the franchise, let alone a prequel, but Rise of the Planet of the Apes proves to be a smart, character-driven science fiction story that has both exciting action and an engaging emotional core.]]> People going to see a movie called Cowboys & Aliens may be expecting something comedic, or maybe just plain silly. Perhaps in response to this, the filmmakers have played the premise straight, but in making sure the movie wasn’t too jokey, they managed to remove all the fun as well. ]]> We’ve certainly seen plenty of superhero movies this summer, but the new film Captain America is a very enjoyable, unabashedly old-fashioned action-adventure story that is full of two-fisted fun and isn’t afraid to be earnest, even a little corny. It’s an interesting departure for Marvel Studios, in both tone and manner of storytelling, and it’s one of the best films they have made. ]]> After more than a decade, seven books and eight films, J.K. Rowling’s beloved saga comes to a close with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, which provides an exciting, emotional and satisfying conclusion to the series while also showcasing exactly how dark and somber the story has become since its wide-eyed beginnings.]]> Who among us hasn’t had a horrible boss, and thought idly from time to time how life might be easier without him or her in it? The new dark comedy Horrible Bosses knows this and gets a lot of mileage from its universally understandable premise.]]> All I really hoped for from Transformers: Dark of the Moon was that it would be better than the previous film in the series, Revenge of the Fallen, and thankfully it is.]]> Mix my martini, fast: it's back to school in the Magic City. As summer slowly folds up like the last beach umbrella at sunset, we shake the sand out of our sandals, dust off the Mary Janes, and brace ourselves once again for the sheer horror of what lies ahead: the back to school ride through hell.]]> As another summer blazes through the Magic City (a town which might just as well have been built directly on the face on the sun), your very own Scarlet has taken to the porch swing at the Villa to watch the neighborhood parade, thoroughly...]]> June is once again upon us, and this sleepy Magic City slips slowly into its annual summer coma like the quiet summer rain on our rooftop as darkness falls. Awaiting the advent of football season, we slumber in our hammocks, up to our eyeballs in homemade peach cobbler, while visions of quarterbacks dance in our heads.]]> Mix your mimosa and settle into your hammock, the lazy days of summer have arrived. June is once again upon us, and this sleepy Magic City slips slowly into its annual summer coma like the qui]]> Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water again, it’s “Divorce at the Beachâ€�. More ominous than a shark attack, the beginning of summer heralds into San Destin an entourage of Birmingham’s illustrious divorce attorneys for their...]]> Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water again, it's "Divorce at the Beach". More ominous than a shark attack, the beginning of summer heralds into San Destin an entourag]]> This curious southern ritual, while oddly entertaining, has always baffled me inasmuch as southerners seem to know quite well , at any given time, the intimate goings on of one another's personal affairs, and one is left to wonder just what remains to be discussed over the roast quail.]]> Don your frocks, tie your bowtie, and break out the Valium--it is time once again to penetrate one of the most charmingly deceptive veneers of southern graciousness: The Dinner Party. This cur]]> Longer languid days, wisteria, and barbeques herald in once again the beginning of one of the most curiously intriguing and oddly entertaining of southern phenomenons: dating in the south. No one rivals a southern woman in her expertise in the hunt, capture, and inevitable destruction of her prey, as evidenced by the steadily increasing pile of wedding invitations on Scarlet's desk.]]> One must always listen carefully to a southern woman, because even the most stinging insults are served up with so much honey that an unfortunate non-native, such as Scarlet, can be caught completely off guard. Like a snake bite, the gracious southern woman swiftly renders her victim paralyzed and defenseless.]]> Palo Pallas is fascinated with transformation: most particularly in how transformation relates to individuals and life experience. Pallas also believes that thought is energy and as energy cannot only be transformed but transferred. These concerns are the basis for an exhibit of the artists' work at Avondale Bricks Gallery opening August 30.]]> She doesn´t mean to disprove the adage, "You are what you eat." After all, the food we eat is the source of the energy that produces our thoughts, if not the energy produced in turn by them..]]> Olympya Ortiz lives in a modest section carved out of one of the former middle class homes in the Vedado (which means sequestered or forbidden) section of Havana.]]> It is hard to tell whether the works of Cuban painter and collage artist Vladimir de Leon reflect a mind within a maze or a maze within a mind. Whichever the case, Vlado is working his way into and out of the images like a miner. The trail of the labyrinth he leaves behind is as notable as the end destination.]]> We’d like to welcome you to the first exhibition of the Avondale Bricks Gallery, EN CADA BARRIO REVOLUCIÓN. The Birmingham Weekly sponsors all exhibitions at the gallery. The first exhibition is a collection of Cuban art brought back by Stephen Humphreys from his friends in the country over the course of 15 years.]]> We'd like to welcome you to the first exhibition of the Avondale Bricks Gallery. The Birmingham Weekly sponsors all exhibitions at the gallery. The first exhibition is a collection of Cuban art brought back by Stephen Humphreys from his friends in the country over the course of 15 years.]]> Swann often includes weapons in the hands of the figures in his oil paintings. "The hammers and knives represent tools used to build or destroy human relationships,"� he said. "These tools actually represent relationships, which you're either building or destroying."]]> I had a great time talking to the Mountain Brook Art and Music Club on the subject of Cuban art that will be in the first exhibition sponsored by the Birmingham Weekly at the Avondale Bricks Gallery. When we looked at various paintings I told Mrs.]]> I had the pleasure of popping into the studio with my friend John Lytle Wilson, an artist with an international exhibition record. Strewn about the floor and wall are in-process pieces from past shows and shows to come. His style, like his personality, is unpretentious and easygoing.]]> Sweet tea, smothered pork chops, fried green tomatoes, blackberry cobbler, okra, lima beans, hopping john, chow-chow pickle, tea cakes... these are only a few of the tasty delights you might find on a hunt for bon-a-fide southern cuisine. The list goes on and on.]]> What the discovery of the particle is supposed to reveal is existence of an invisible energy field that switched on a trillionth of a second after the big bang and provided the resistance that kept some bits of matter from moving around as freely as...]]> After four tries my Sunday school class finally made it through Genesis Chapter One, albeit with several mysteries unsolved in our wake.]]> Our adversary ´mindset´ has become a way of life. We think of "us" verses "them" within our relationships between countries, between Republicans and Democrats, and between other competing segments of society. We celebrate these differences and revere debate as a method of communication and entertainment.]]> The son of a school teacher and bank cashier, he was the oldest of three red-headed boys. Cuba was the perfect place for adventure, exploring and experiencing life in an oldfashioned way.]]> At some point in all our lives, if we live long enough, we come to a point where we realize we are not ourselves. That we are living a life that falls squarely on the path that we thought we were supposed to be traveling. One that well-meaning parents and five (or more or less) years of college and the desire for more and more stuff paved for us.]]> You don´t usually come across a personal stylist and esthetician (that´s Greek for skin care treatment specialist) who happens to be a youth pastor on the days she´s not on set for TV serving as a hair and makeup artist. You don´t find that person often and not usually in Birmingham.]]> She went into 2012 with this single thought in mind...To be in the season I'm supposed to be in, in the season I'm supposed to be in it ~A friend once told her as she was about to turn 30, "You]]> In a celebration of India with its roots in the old Festival of Arts at Boutwell Auditorium that, like the Alabama School of Fine Arts, was originally orchestrated by Mrs. Edwin A. "Bill"� Rose, Supervisor of Speech Arts of the Birmingham Public Schools, the religion of India was highlighted at the Hindu Temple and Cultural Center in Pelham.]]> Did you ever dream of ships sailing by unattainable ancient cities in a lonely universe? Close your eyes, open them again, and find yourself in Cuba. ]]> You can make it, you can do it! I´ll be here cheering watching you get through it! It doesn´t matter what you do or don´t do, I love you anyway, I love you just because your you!!!.]]> Proclaiming progress and success in the face of our fears and terrors. Preparing the way for generations to come,.]]> Recognize the chemistry and stay/away from explosive combinations/Learn your algebra, life brings a/series of mathematical equations./Problematic biological creations./Ongoing unresolved situations./Several episodes will require/literary interpretations.]]> First having read the book of myths, and loaded the camera, and checked the edge of the knife-blade, I put on the body-armor of black rubber the absurd flippers the grave and awkward mask. I am having]]> I ride the city bus. Hold your applause! No autographs, please! I’ve ridden the bus in Birmingham all my life. “Unnatural,” you say? “Unheard of,” you say? Well, wait for this shocker. Hold onto your hat, assuming you’re wearing a hat while reading this. ]]> (A hypothetical scenario that may or may not happen to any politico, local or otherwise. There’s no actual evidence that these conversations ever took place...but we sure hope they did.)]]> Prizes, from the Oscars to the Heisman Trophy to the Nobel, matter not at all to me, which is perhaps why I was surprised to find that so many of my friends were surprised last October when Mario Vargas Llosa was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. ]]> Hi, kids. I’m back. It’s Syd. What up? After a long, strange trip from L.A., I’m in New York, chilling in Gramercy at the Carlton Arms.]]> What may prove more elusive than the nature of the Higgs Boson is the quest to find how can curly hair be controlled. Just as the inner nature of things be revealed in art (Instudio), it is much the same with curls, according to Todd Kelly of Arlington Salon, who explored both sides of the equation, keeping curls intact and taming them.]]> Do you regret eating that last cupcake? I do, too. I know I'm a little off the subject, but my mind is detouring through the sixties (I see Marilyn, and she's a little pudgy, in fact), through the seventies (I thought about getting paisleys and peace signs for my de rigeur tattoo and navel ring before I decided, no, that truly is a stupid idea).]]> The Birmingham Weekly once again settles the question whether anyone can be a master or slave to fashion. Shlomi Dadon even transformed our publisher from a picture of doggerel verse to eglantine refinement, and everyone remembers that picture of shirtless savagery from the last makeover.]]> David Ramirez is an Austin-based singer/songwriter who has put out two full-length albums and one EP of achingly introspective Americana, folk, rock and country. He has received accolades from publica]]> On Thursday, September 27, three great bands with ties to Birmingham will each play a set at Avondale Bricks Gallery to preview their upcoming shows in the neighborhood. On September 27, The Great B]]> Jon Black has been one of the staples of the Birmingham music scene over the last several years. But recently he has transformed from singer/songwriter to Fort Atlantic, an act that pushes the envelop]]> The Athens, AL-based Alabama Shakes have become one of the bands to watch for 2012. Numerous performances have shaped their blossoming career such as a stint on Conan and a string of critically acclaimed shows at South by Southwest. Their debut album, Boys & Girls, dropped April 10th.]]> Wednesday, March 28th, two friends and I convened at the Spring Street Fire House in Avondale for the much anticipated Bomb the Music Industry! concert. We expected an excellent show, and were by no means disappointed. However, the opening band, Wisdom Teeth, was a highlight of the night.]]> "God don't make nobodies. He gives us a choice we must make carefully; each person in this world has the chance to be somebody."� This line from Catherine Shepard Smith's song "Nobodies"� on her first album, Heart to Heart, is one she seems intent on living up to.]]> Breaking laces is a threepiece rock band out of Brooklyn, New York and their current tour led them all the way down to Birmingham to play at The Nick last Tuesday. I'd like to say that it wasn't a waste of gas, but gas is pretty pricey these days and a stellar crowd of nine people won't get you a half tank.]]> I know that some of you were not born yet before my friend Yvonne was blinded by Thomas Dolby´s science in highs school in the '80s. Dolby started in London´s punk scene that was raging at the time--with authentic, not fake like some current bands we will not name, appropriated punk ethic.]]> Comedian Brian Regan has appeared on the David Letterman Show 25 times, which tells you something about his gourd, along with 207,000 likes on his Facebook page. He talked to our editor about his perf]]> Darlings, you all know how I love nothing more than dinner and the theatre, (except for a good laugh, of course, and this show has that, too!) and I am thrilled beyond belief to tell you about a wonderful show that is running at Terrific New Theatre, and you simply do NOT want to miss it!.]]> I hate Valentine’s Day. Call me the Love Grinch if you will, but as far as I’m concerned, never has there been a more loathsome, extraneous and humiliating holiday than the orgy of consumerism known as Valentine’s Day. ]]> Dancing. We all do it, whether we trot our stuff on the dance-floors of Birmingham’s local clubs or wiggle to a favorite mix in the privacy of our own bedrooms. Even the most bumbling wallflower has surely tapped a toe to a good beat now and then. Dancing is a part of human nature, the physical embodiment of our urge to express emotion through movement.]]> The smell of death is all around us, and it is rather pleasant. Or rather, one of the signature smells of fall, that of decaying leaves, has begun to permeate as the trees finally begin to drop the brittle carcasses of their foliage.]]> Something different and unexpected was what Sanspointe Dance Company’s Artistic Director Shellie Chambers had in mind when organizing “Kinetic Canvas,” a dance installation inspired by the works and space at the Birmingham Museum of Art (BMA).]]> The marriage of art and literature with beer is commonplace, with one frequently crossing into the realm of the other.]]> The holiday festivities are over, the crimson velvet mailbox bows have been put away, and now-like a feeding frenzy at a hen house-the well heeled ladies of Birmingham are eagerly disseminating this years list� of the years marital fatalities.]]> Reserving judgments is a matter of infinite hope. -F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby How do you capture, visually, a shiny, vaguely self-blinded reflection--of a shiny, vaguely self-blinded ref]]> Dragons and Lotus Blossoms: Vietnamese Ceramics from the Birmingham Museum of Art..]]> Fishermen trawling for fish accidentally discovered the shipwreck in the early 1990s, and in 2000, the Birmingham Museum of Art bought some of these treasures at a San Francisco public auction.]]> OK, so it’s not in a studio, but the weather was too nice to stay inside and a day trip to Bluff Park is almost like going to a different world and time, which makes it worth the excursion. ]]> Frank Fleming learned to express himself the hard way, and some might say in another world, which shows up in his work today.]]> DeeDee Morrison is achieving her dream of being an artist the unconventional way. Instead of attending SCAD or Rhode Island School of Design, she signed up as the only female in a class of 19 in a welding class at Bessemer Tech.]]> Woody Allen has been quoted as saying that “Ninety percent of success is showing up” and Rowland Scherman is a living testament to those words. In 1961, photographer Scherman showed up when a volunteer group called the Peace Corps came into being under the John F. Kennedy administration.]]> Once upon a time two boys went to the old ball game. We had giant snow cones that were bubblegum flavor and were great. ]]> At this point, I think it’s pretty clear that I think graffiti is art. We’ve featured Birmingham graffiti in our SEEN section and on our cover on more than one occasion, and in an artistic context. What wasn’t clear to me until recently, however, was that the status of graffiti as art was in question at all.]]> When I arrived at Bare Hands Gallery downtown on a recent Saturday to talk to artistic director Wendy Jarvis, I came bearing tape recorder, notebook and list of questions. In return, Jarvis and Rachel Staggs, an artist and volunteer, offered me a cup of strong tea, refreshing on a cold afternoon.]]> North and the surrounding blocks will turn once again into the bustling art show known as Artwalk, now in its ninth iteration. In recent years, Artwalk has blossomed into a premium event, featuring scrumptious vittles, live music, wandering street acts, work by over 100 artists to peruse and all at the cost of nothing.]]> Martin Hames left us ten years ago in November. After a conversation I had with a friend and fellow Trustee Board member, we agreed that even years after his death, our Altamont/ B.U.S./ Brooke Hil]]> The extensive woodlands that house deer and even a wild boar population, used to be forbidding to all but a few humans willing to dare the expanses of kudzu and poison ivy.]]> ABC, CBS, NBC and other news stations are proudly welcoming our soldiers home from Iraq with a "Thanks for your service."� It is great and refreshing to hear good news on the TV. Many families are thrilled and filled with gratitude to have their loved ones coming home.]]> I remember him telling how his father, John W. McDonald, nearly lost his plantation because he countersigned a note for a friend who skipped off to Alabama with his debts unpaid. As Papa further described it with a great westward sweep of his arm, that remote fastness "might as well have been the end of the world at that time.]]> Creek Indians and other Alabama refugees from Georgia Charles Franklin McDonald, my maternal grandfather, otherwise known as "Papa," was a landowner in Meriwether County, Georgia--but jus]]> Here is it is, graduation time again, and have I had my share of graduations! The first one I remember, at age 5, was being with my Uncle Glenn when my mother -- who had finished at Livingston State Teacher´s College in about 1916, at the ripe old age of 15 -- graduated again from Howard College in 1937.]]> Every time that I drive into the city limits of Birmingham my heart literally picks up a pace and I start remembering. As I think back on growing up in the "Magic City"� I realize just how magical my childhood was in a city that I just took for granted.]]> Like most men born and raised in the Deep South, Fred Shuttlesworth knew and loved good food. And although he credited his successful weight management on the fact that most of his life he ate only two meals a day, breakfast and dinner, he wasted no time or food at mealtime.]]> The Rose family often moved very long distances, especially for the times. I never found out why but assumed it had something to do with deaths in the family. I know my dad lived in Ensley Highlands in 1918 when two of his older brothers died and he was a teenager.]]>