On Sunday, May 18, 2008, Birmingham AIDS Outreach will host its annual Arty Party fund raiser at B&A Warehouse from 3-6 p.m. Nearly two dozen hats made by members of the Mystic Krewe of Apollo Birmingham will serve as centerpieces at the annual celebration. Go to www.bradbrad.com to check out a slideshow of the hats being modeled by former Birminghamian Amy Cleckler.
Arty Party will also include live and silent auctions featuring more than 200 works of art donated to BAO by local and regional artists. This year’s featured artist is Veronique Vanblaere of Naked Art Gallery. The honorary chair of this year’s Arty Party is Patty McDonald.
“If you’re lucky, you will hear parts of your life
played out on a golden harp.”
– Sharrif Simmons
Saturday, May 10, marks a year to the day since Sharrif Simmons was shot at point-blank range during an armed robbery on University Blvd. On the anniversary of the assault that nearly ended his life, the Birmingham-based spoken-word artist and songwriter performs at Bailey’s Irish Pub.
“.. even after April by God there is no excuse for May,” which is to say, it doesn’t have to be National Poetry month for we Weeklies to be psyched about poems and the people that make them. To wit: we’re as-a-clam happy about the Premiere Open Mic event on Friday, May 9, at Greencup Books.Read the full story
In terms of participating in internet commerce, I’m something of a Luddite. I have only purchased four items on Amazon ever and I’ve never participated in a single eBay auction. But my life as an online consumer is about to change dramatically now that I know about Etsy.com. The website is a showcase for handmade goods of every sort — paintings, paper goods, clothing, candles, crochet and knitted items, jewelry housewares and all manner of useful eye-candy. Etsy’s explicit mission is “to enable people to make a living making things, and to reconnect makers with buyers.” The point, they say, is to build a new economy and make it possible to “Buy, Live and Sell Handmade.”
Perhaps the most dazzling feature of Etsy’s super-intuitive site design is the Geolocator, which lets you shop for local handmade goods. At present, there are a total of 66 Birminghamians hawking their wares, including Veronique Vanblaere, Kate Merritt Davis and Weekly contributing artist Daisy Winfrey (Bonus! here’s an awesome song titled “I’m Callin’ Daisy” by the blues legend Brownie McGhee!).
A lot of the local artists on Etsy are also on the awesome local artist marketplace run by the Cultural Alliance of Greater Birmingham. The purpose of Ask Artie is to create connections between individual artists and arts professionals, arts/cultural organizations, venues and galleries plus a wide variety of resources and services of interest to the cultural sector.
EVERYBODY IN THIS SICK CITY could learn a thing or two from seeing SiCKO, the much-ballyhooed Michael Moore documentary that played for all of 12 days in local theaters (and way out in Trussville at that). The film will be shown at 6:30 p.m. this Friday, Jan. 11, during a benefit for Alabama Arise, a statewide coalition of 155 faith and community organizations who promote policies that help low-income populations. The free screening takes place at the Church of the Reconciler, 112 14th St. North. For more information, call 800-832-9060 or visit www.arisecitizens.org.
WE ARE WHAT WE EAT & ALWAYS HAVE BEEN: Birminghamians are obsessed with food, with eating, with cooking, with restaurants. It didn’t start with the current crop of fine-dining establishments but rather with the workaday places that brought Birmingham into being in the first place – the iron and steel manufacturers.
Way back in 1927, right around the time that the Sloss-Sheffield Iron & Steel was modernizing its methods of pig iron production, the company launched a marketing inititative called Pig Iron Rough Notes. The mini-magazine consisted mostly of metallurgical matter, but also included a recipes page called “Gentleman Cooks.” These delicious formulas are the subject of a new book titled Man Food, as well as this week’s cover story.
Elsewhere in the paper we’ve got less appetizing news: Alabama Democratic Conference Chairman Joe Reed is all for black candidates – except the one running for president. But then again what do primaries matter in the age of making playlists?
In the New Year, the living is easy, at least for J’Mel Davidson. That guy means to live right in his own inimitable style.
The New York-based wind quintet Imani Windsexpands the musical boundaries
of traditional wind music. Taking its name “Imani” from the Swahili term
for “faith,” the ensemble has received a Grammy nomination and has served
as the ensemble in residence at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln
Center. On Thursday, Jan. 10, Imani Winds will give a 7:30 p.m.
performance in the Sirote Theatre at the Alys Stephens Center. The concert
is presented as part of the Dr. Chandler Smith and Jane Paris-Smith
Birmingham Chamber Music Society Series.
Featuring members Valerie Coleman (flute), Toyin Spellman-Diaz
(oboe), Mariam Adam (clarinet), Jeff Scott (French horn) and Monica
Ellis (bassoon), Imani Winds has toured worldwide while sharing the
stage with Wynton Marsalis and Cassandra Wilson among others. Since
forming in 1997, the group has built an international following
through its adventurous blend of classical, jazz, Latin and chamber
music. Recently, the group’s musical tribute to Josephine Baker was
received with tremendous critical acclaim. Tickets are $25 (package
price $80) and can be purchased by calling 975-ARTS or at http://main.uab.edu/Sites/ASC.
Halleleujah, I am happy to hear about the advent of Greencup Books. Scheduled to open on Feb. 15, Greencup is the brainchild of once-and-future Weekly contributing writer Russell Helms: a community space located downtown whose explicit mission is “to propogate CREATIVITY.”
Besides selling new and used (!!) books, Greencup will offer eight-week writing and art classes year-round and provide a venue for art openings, yoga classes, community meetings, readings and other literary events.
Located at 105 Richard Arrington Blvd. South (right next door to Bare Hands Gallery) Greencup will be open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Events already on the bookstore’s calendar include a Feb. 8 reading and release party for Stories from Real Life, a collection of short fiction by Tony Crunk paired with art by Peter Wilm. Feb. 13 marks the start of two eight-week courses being taught at Greencup: “Writing the Memoir” with Tony Crunk and “Publish Your Book” with Russell Helms.
As one of the last superpowers left in the world, to liken the United States to the Ancient Roman empire. Some of the more conspiracy theory-minded individuals among us may even say if the United States is not careful it could end up in ruins, as well. The Birmingham Museum of Art together with the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute present “Are We Rome? Fall of an Empire, Fate of America” on Wednesday, Jan. 9 at 6 p.m. Cullen Murphy, author of the book by the same title, and editor-at-large for Vanity Fair, will discuss similarities shared by present day America and ancient Rome. The lecture is also the last event in conjunction with the ongoing exhibit “Pompeii: Tales from an Eruption.” Are We Rome? will be held at the Birmingham Museum of Art. Admission is free. For more information call 254-2565, or visit www.pompeiibirmingham.com.
Forget the suits, dresses and other formal wear; ballet has gone casual. Join the Alabama Ballet for its 2nd Tuesday program on Tuesday, Jan 8. Take part in an informal chat with Artistic Director Tracey Alvey and get a behind-the-scenes peek at the 2007-2008 season of the Alabama Ballet, featuring the company’s up and coming dancers. This event is free. Refreshments and wine, provided by V. Richards, will be served at 6 p.m. and the program starts at 6:30 p.m. For more information, call 322-4300 ext. 33 or visit www.alabamaballet.org.
On Sunday, May 18, 2008, Birmingham AIDS Outreach will host its annual Arty Party fund raiser at B&A Warehouse from 3-6 p.m. Nearly two dozen hats made by members of the Mystic Krewe of Apollo Birmingham will serve as centerpieces at the annual celebration. Go to www.bradbrad.com to check out a slideshow of the hats being modeled by former Birminghamian Amy Cleckler.
EVERYBODY IN THIS SICK CITY could learn a thing or two from seeing SiCKO, the much-ballyhooed Michael Moore documentary that played for all of 12 days in local theaters (and way out in Trussville at that). The film will be shown at 6:30 p.m. this Friday, Jan. 11, during a benefit for 
As one of the last superpowers left in the world, to liken the United States to the Ancient Roman empire. Some of the more conspiracy theory-minded individuals among us may even say if the United States is not careful it could end up in ruins, as well. The Birmingham Museum of Art together with the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute present 
