Spring Break
THE TOY AND MINIATURE MUSEUM is now home to what is believed to be the largest marble collection in the world. The permanent display features early handmade marbles from Europe and the United States, a hand-sculpted marble maze, and old advertisements and memorabilia.
A Christmas Story," currently playing at American Heartland Theatre at Crown Center, is quickly becoming a holiday classic. At the top of the list next to "It's a Wonderful Life" and "A Christmas Carol," Jean Shepherd's humorous and sentimental story was brought to national attention in 1983, when he wrote his first feature film.
Break it Down Lydia Davis High Risk Books $12.99 In this collection of short stories, Davis' first, she proves herself to be a pro in the field. The 34 stories within range in length from 14 pages down to as little as a paragraph. Davis is capable of telling a moving, meaningful story in just a few lines, whereas some authors require dozens of pages to accomplish the same task.
I think the stars were in beatnik mode today. Or maybe they've been watching too many reruns of "Dobie Gillis," 'cause I'm either hearing from Jack Kerouac or Maynard G. Krebs. Aries (March 22 - April 20): Cool it, baby. Don't blow your top, daddio.
On DVD - "Ma Barker's Killer Brood," 1960, Directed by Bill Karn As the title reveals, this is a (highly fictionalized) account of the exploits of Katherine Barker and her criminal offspring. Director Karn makes the most of his meager budget. The fast pace, overheated (to the point of boiling) dialogue and surprisingly extreme violence make this gritty crime drama from Alpha Video a winner.
A couple of semesters ago I was enrolled in a class in Westport. Every Tuesday and Thursday I attended the venerable "Silver Screen and the American Dream" cluster course in the vaunted Tivoli Theatre in Manor Square. Besides getting to watch movies for class credit, the coolest thing about that course was the obscene ease with which one could have lunch for a bargain-basement price, which I did every single class day.
UMKC theater alum Connor Trinneer, now on the TV series "Star Trek Enterprise," spoke to a standing-room-only crowd last week. Students and fans gathered at the little-publicized appearance, which was free and open to the public. Despite the fact that invited TV news crews and photographers did not choose to cover the event, the crowd listened attentively.
