Tasted A Good Book Lately?

photo by Rakka

An entry for the Edible Book Festival.

We Will Test Your Lies

Benn got himself a polygraph machine!

So, who's up? Did you really read McSweeney's 13? You really liked the Da Vinci Code, didn't you? Did you finish The Dark Knight Returns for this Wednesday, LISA??

IMook

Blogs that become books, Blooks, are a new genre? They even have their own awards now?

Well, what about books made from Instant Messenger conversations? IMooks, I just invented the genre! Where's my award?

Enter Sandman

Occassionally, authors put out music CDs. And sometimes they help bands make music for a project. But a tribute CD for an author (this is for you, Cat)?

Who's next? Warren Ellis??

We Like To Call It Charm

I don't know if you know this, but people think we're weird.

Hipsters Don't Read

But Goths do.

Tarantula Hill Benefit

The True Vine is hosting a series of benefits for Carly Ptak and Twig Harper:

Many of you know that for the past five years Tarantula Hill has been the home of Carly Ptak and Twig Harper, the venue which has hosted dozens of the best shows this town has seen, a recording studio, and the homebase of the HereSee Record Label. It was central to the lives of many Baltimorians, and Harper and Ptak had become two of the most important cultural workers in our city.

Friday afternoon, there was a fire on the first floor on Tarantula Hill. Harper and Ptak were in New York at the No Fun Fest. When they returned on Sunday, they found that their cats were dead, a great deal of their artwork equipment and archives were lost, and their house was severly damaged by smoke, heat and water. We are forwarding below the announcement they made about the whole situation.

This store is begining a series of shows to benefit Twig and Carly. Anyone who wants to play on any night OTHER THAN a Friday night over the next month and is willing to promote their show and donate all of the proceeds to Twig and Carly is welcome. Please contact me at nagoski@berndtgroup.net with a date you want to play. Our hope is to raise as much money as possible through sustained energy release through the city.

As of now, the 100% of the sales of all HereSee releases at the True Vine will go to Harper and Ptak.

THURSDAY March 23, 9PM
Snacks
John Berndt
Caleb Johnston
Nick Becker
Kate Porter
Mugwump (?)
Andy Hayleck and Bonnie Jones
and many more

TUESDAY March 28, 9PM
Jack Rose

Dealers

Sure, Rose seems like a nice enough lady. What could be evil about a woman who bakes cookies and cakes all day?

But then you realize that you've become completely addicted to her sweet concoctions. And then it hits you in the gut - she's enslaved the whole Avenue!

Tomorrow the world.

Kiss & Make Up

There are many exciting developments on the Avenue lately. A bevy of new stores!

Kiss & Make Up just opened. They carry beauty supplies for men and women, including the somewhat hard to find and truly excellent Yu-be!

I don't have a lot of info on this next venture, but who wouldn't be all over a noodle stand in Hampden?

Spring Has Almost Sprung!

Our Spring Calendar of Events is up! Sam Tracy, Michelle Tea, Found Magazine Vs. Postsecret and there's a good chance that the Yard Dogs will be back for an event with the latest Shocked & Amazed.

Superhero Comic Fans Are Like Junkies

No matter where you go or what you're there for, comic geeks will be taking time out to buy comics if you're there on a Wednesday.

If you ever rent Comedians of Comedy (seems to be a netflix exclusive) you'll see them going to comic book shops on their tour. In the bonus features on the DVD you'll see clips of when Oswalt and Galifianakis were in Baltimore, and some shots of Frazier's when we had them stop by for our 3rd Anniversary show (very brief scenes). God, comedians are funny! It was a great show.

We are not a comic book shop. All you have to do is go to a real one and realize that. Oswalt wanted to stop by our store after the show to pick up the comics he missed that week, but Benn had to tell him that we didn't have those kinds of comics. He looked a little confused but continued on with his night, drinking his funny juice.

Power Issues

Still having BGE problems today. All the banks on the Ave are closed.

We'll be here as long as there's daylight and I still have battery life on my laptop!

Is there really a worldwide solar panel shortage or is that just something I read on the internet?

But Will Service Be 72% Better?

We closed early today due to power outages.

Pedal Power

We're about to get a major price hike in our electric bills here in MD. A whopping 72% increase in Baltimore this Summer.

Now is the time to think about using some pedal power.

Perhaps you'll find that "Lost" isn't worth biking 2 hours for...you know, you can always read a good book.

Attention Hampden/Remingtonites

photo by Superchou

Sucked In

They say that Black Hole is being made into a movie. I'm not talking about the third movie I ever saw in a theater.

When you hear about a comic or a book being made into a movie, do you die a little? Is it just me? Do you really need your stuff made into a movie for validation? Is that the progression of self expression these days? Comic then book then movie? Then retail outlet/theme resturant?

Now, a tv show on the other hand, now that I can get into.

Ride For The Feast

Atomic's main charity is Moveable Feast, an organization that provides and delivers nutritious meals for people living with HIV/AIDS.

Ride for the Feast is their annual bike ride event, where this year our friends, Team Atomic, will ride 140 MILES because they are insane. I mean, it's for a good cause.

Also, please join us April 13th when we'll have bike guru Sam Tracy here for his latest book Bicycle! And from now until the Ride, we'll donate a portion of our profits of the book to Moveable Feast.

A Handwriter's Tale

If a writer doesn't actually physically touch your book, is it a real autograph?

Wait, is phone sex real sex?