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Showing posts from August, 2005

NoLa - No Bookfair?

We'd been thinking about heading down to New Orleans for the Bookfair in October, but Katrina may have messed that up . UPDATE: Pretty sure it's a no go. From Kyle Bravo : Bookfair friends, I'm sure most of you have heard about the hurricane by now. New Orleans is destroyed. I have no idea what this means for the bookfair, but at this point, the bookfair is the least of our concerns. Right now, what we're most worried about is friends, neighbors, and family who were left in the city when the storm hit. If anyone has any news - if you've heard from anyone at all from New Orleans, please let us know. Jenny and I are safe. We left for Alexandria, which is NW of New Orleans, before the storm hit. But we've been unable to contact anyone from the city since we've left. Phones are out, so we can't call anyone. The city is underwater and blown apart, so we won't be able to get back in for quite some time. In the meantime, we're worried and scared ab

High Jinx

It's almost time for the High Zero Festival , the annual Baltimore experimental music festival (September 22nd to the 25th). But around the festival is High Jinx : These events are impromptu, non-permit, street performances that involve any number of musicians and non-musicians. Many of these events have been some of the greatest public art performances I've seen in Baltimore. Some of this year's plannings: invented instrument bands, all animal chorus, karaoke at the Korean festival, musical bike ride. public use musical instruments. There are far too many events planned for a small group to execute. We need your help to make them happen.

What Would Lulu Listen To?

Largehearted boy lets you know. Owning BTVS dvd sets is certainly a way to get Lulu into bed, although she won'y actually do anything in there, because Buffy will be on. Lulu doesn't really talk too much about music, because then everyone will know how much she likes Billy Joel. Ok, how much I like Billy Joel. Yeah, I said it. You hear me? I LIKE BILLY JOEL.

Geek Wanted

Bookslut is in need of a new comic columnist in October. Excelsior, True Believers!

Carnaval Noir

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I hate waiting! But now the wait is over! I couldn't resist this new line of scents by Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab . Fire Eater? Geek? Which one should I smell like first?? It must be a freaky gothy kind of day because this just arrived as well. But what we really want is the new Shocked & Amazed Volume 8 . Which should be here today? Tomorrow? I hate waiting!

Ninjalicious Has Passed Away

The founder of Infiltration dies at 31. A note from Liz : But most of all, Jeff would have wanted people to take a new knowledge and understanding of the importance of organ donation from his incredible experiences. Without a transplant, we would have lost him years ago. Organ donation is an incredible gift that saves lives -- in North America, countless people waiting on transplants die every day because the amount of organ donors is just so embarrassingly small. For people who are not already registered as organ donors wherever they live, they can find some information here: Canada http://www.givelife.ca/index2.cfm USA http://www.organdonor.gov/signup1.html

Oh Thank God

They've come to their senses! The Funk Box is going back to it's original name: 8x10 And will not be turned into a dance club: When Rather decided to sell the business this year, he said he turned down offers to turn it into a dance club. "I'm happy that the place is gonna stay live music," Rather said. "I'm glad Tim was able to pull together to buy it, because I think he's going to do the best job with keeping it live music. For Baltimore and Federal Hill, that's a good thing."

The Numbers Game

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We tried Amazon as an experiment. How many books does it take to get up the ranks? How does that translate into numbers? Surprisingly unsurprising, it doesn't take much. Anyone who's worked in a bookstore or works with books knows how few of a single title really sell in a day. Harry Potter is a phenomenon, as are most bestsellers really, absolutely not the way most books live their lives in the world. Ok, enough about our book! We love all of the books in our store equally! Benn gave them all a little talking to last night in case any of them were feeling insecure. Except that one. He knows who he is. He hasn't been pulling his weight around here.

Hampdenfest 05

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It's almost that time! Hampdenfest , Hampden's Fall Festival, Sept 17th, 11am-7pm, featuring tons of great local bands, artists, restaurants, merchants, Brewer's Art Microbews and the first Hampdon Idol Karaoke contest hosted by Keyboard Man . Email me if you have questions about tables, booths or if you have any interest in being a part of the Shank Swap Meet Booth (flea markety thing). UPDATE: Whoops! Email correction! It's for real now.

Invasion

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photo by Gaara_SunaOji Downtown Baltimore has been taken over ! The event is sold out so you'll have to just keep checking flickr to gawk.

She Wolf Magazine

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A new women's art magazine . It comes with pussy stencils!!

Holy Shit List!

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Um...yeah. It's for real. Our book is #1 on the Entertainment Weekly Must List this week. Does this mean the world is about to end? Everyone loves Emily!

Atomic Books Vs. Quimby's

Flickr Tag Fight!

Books and More Books

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We get shipments every day and every day is a little like Xmas here at Atomic Books (well you know, without the food and the family and the baby jesus parts). Mostly because sometimes we forget what we order (easy to do when you order months in advance). See, we're easily surprised. Usually it's a pleasant experience.

You Could Be In The Next Gaiman Novel

Or King, or Eggers, or Allison, or... All for a good cause ! And you know, kicks.

Zine Library Opening Reception

October 13th is the opening for the zine collection at the Cockeysville Library (9833 Greenside Dr. in Cockeysville, near the intersection of York and Padonia Roads). Starting at 6:30pm, local zinesters will be reading: China Martens , Sean Stewart , Davida Gypsy Breier , William P. Tandy , and Dan Taylor . Over 200 zines are available for check-out and refreshments will be served.

Bringing Up Baby

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Congrats to Davida and Patrick on their latest project...a baby! Davida swears that Leeking Ink won't turn into a mamazine. Just remember that folks. We'll see how she feels in 6 more months.

Geekend

Coming up this weekend are two great BIG conventions here in Baltimore: Horrorfind and Otakon ! The whole cast of The Evil Dead , Puffy AmiYumi, Otaku Idol?? And speaking of geeky things, tonight, at the Golden West Bar (across the street), Buffy Night! Come by and gulp down a Slayer! Starts at 8pm. (Oooo, and Darla [Julie Benz] will be at Horrorfind, too).

105

That's the high expected today with the heat index. WHEW! Stay inside in air conditioned places. Perhaps at The Senator ? Which was just placed #4 in Entertainment Weekly's list of 10 Theaters Doing It Right. (I'd link to it but they only let subscribers read online, which is dumb.)

Document

You know I have a thing for the minutia of daily life . And so do a whole lot of other people these days. Who would have thought the web would be perfect for documenting all the things you probably would never remember or reflect upon or keep straight ? Or that it would become such an essential part of our daily routines? And thus other people's routines have become a part of mine: Here you can check on Kate's drawings of her credit card statements. She'll keep with that until they're paid off. Only a month left on a year of dinners ! Largehearted Boy's 52 Books is going well. And here's a brand new one .

Prices May Vary

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Books go in and out of print and new editions come and go. Russian Criminal Tattoo is back but it's now $25 and the new edition of 1000 Tattoos is now only $12.99!

Xmas in August

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New Big Spender winners: Pat "F'ing" Smith Amber Thurman Chris Clabbers Jess Morgan Craig Hankin Doug Parsons Tim Kabara Brent Garland Tom Patterson and a mystery person that I only have an email for Come on down for your prize!

Are They Saying What I Think They're Saying?

The Sun has an article about our hood and some changes we've been going through. "For many years, Hampden was virtually all white and hostile to integration. So, it is no surprise that some residents are resisting the new newcomers whose main difference is their income - not their skin color." Um, I think the residents have more reason to dislike yuppies and how they'll affect their lives then mere xenophobia. Where do people fish in Hampden??

It's All About The Monkey

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Some pics from last night's book party.

Emily TV

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Emily Flake Live! UPDATE: It's over. But here's Emily and Scott Sugiuchi, the book designer, meeting at last.

WE ARE OUT OF TICKETS!!

Please check missiontix.com for tickets to the Fluid Movement performances this weekend. WE DO NOT HAVE ANY MORE TICKETS FOR ANY SHOWS. Just because we're sold out doesn't mean the shows are sold out, though. It's possible to buy them online or at the door. But don't take my word for it. You snooze, you lose.

We're Awesome!

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photo by defekto The Baltimore Flickr Group is going to be meeting up this Sunday, at Ding How, in Fells Pt. Check out this topic for more details. I won't make it this weekend (bad admin, bad admin!) but it looks like it'll be a standing meeting time so I'll make it one of these Sundays and we'll get this show on the road!

Flash Mob

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Suddenly the store was full of Japanese exchange students!

Twins Are Fun

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We knew they were creepy, especially in the art world, but now they're a memory game... book ...thing!

Return of the Web Cam

I'm reluctant to announce it...but I think the web cam is back. But now that I've posted that, it'll probably go down again.

Pesky Numbers

Laura Lippman, Baltimore's best mystery novelist, tells the truth about book readings . How does she feel about an audience of sixteen people? I count that turnout a success. I count anything above nine a success. Five-to-nine, perfectly respectable. Two-to-four, an intimate gathering. Zero: a misprint in the schedule has kept my public away. The only thing that bums me out is one. And then only because I feel sorry for the poor stranger who now feels obligated to stay and listen. She should keep up the blogging, don't you think? I wonder why the book world has such issues with numbers (how many books sold does it take to make a bestseller, how many copies of a book have been printed, etc - all mysteries or half-truths) Is it because they're not good at the math? Or will it just be all too embarassingly obvious that people don't buy books?

We Got Book

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Paint By Number Contest

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Common Ground, the uncommon coffeeshop up the street, is having a Paint By Number Painting Contest! The winner receives $200 and a free monthly pound of coffee for a year. And around the same time as they announce the winner, we'll have the Paint By Number Book/Kit in!

Lulu Eightball

The CityPaper has an amusing interview with gal of the hour , Miss Emily Flake: CP: Does the name have any significance? EF: I like the way it sounded, and "Lulu" was actually a pet name my parents had for me when I was little. It sounded a little sassier and more attractive than I was. And "eightball" comes from the fact that I always wish I was better at pool. I like watching pool even though I'm terrible at it. I like the sound of - I was about to say, 'I just like the sound of balls smashing together.' You're going to print that, aren't you? And the name has nothing to do with Lulu or Eightball ! Can you believe that? Nothing to do with those comic classics. Nothing.

Darger on POV

Tonight is the premier of In The Realms of the Unreal on POV (check your local listings! MPT won't have it for another week and then only seems to play it in the early morning hours, so set your TiVo, Dug). The film is about Henry Darger , the Chicago janitor by day, visionary artist by night. And people say Baltimore has freaks. Well, we do have a whole museum for them.

Gift Horse

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So Liz Mason, of Quimby's , was here the other week on her tour for the Bad Lyrics Project . It was a good time. We traded some bookstore stories, Chicago and Baltimore philosophies and yaddayaddayadda. We got this "present" from her in the mail this week. Think she's trying to tell us something?