Showtime

These poets know wit, whimsy

Poets Silvia Kofler and William Trowbridge both write verse with plenty of sharp humor. Kofler, the author of From the Suburbs With the Wedding Dress in its Coffin, and Trowbridge, author of The Complete Book of Kong, will share a stage at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 21, at Johnson County Central Resource Library, 9875 W. 87th St. For more information, call 913-495-2466. If you think most poetry is stuffy and you're looking for a change of pace, this reading's for you.

"Thor" strikes Hollywood

From E! Online:

The hammer-tossing superhero is the latest star from the comic-book vault to get in line for big-screen treatment, with Marvel Studios lining up British auteur Matthew Vaughn to direct Thor, based on the Stan Lee-created character.

Marvel is hoping to get production in progress by this winter. Mark Protosevich, whose latest project was the apocalyptic Will Smith thriller I Am Legend, will pen the screenplay.

The new trailer for "The Dark Knight"?

There are tons of fake trailers to the upcoming Batman film "The Dark Knight" posted on YouTube, but this is supposed to be the real deal.

Meanwhile, below is what some are saying is a pic of Heath Ledger as the Joker menacing Maggie Gyllenhaal, who took over for Katie Holmes.

KC Symphony CD fares well with critics

The Kansas City Symphony's new Naxos recording of the music of Taiwanese composer Gordon Chin has scored a rave review in the July/August issue of prestigious Fanfare magazine.

Philip Scott describes the CD, with violinist Cho-Liang Lin, cellist Felix Fan and conductor Michael Stern, as "a rewarding disc, featuring superlative performers and the work of a first-rate composer."

Scott continues thus: "With performers of this caliber—and I include conductor Michael Stern—you would expect the music to be special, and it is. Chin's Double Concerto for violin and cello is, to my ears, the finest in that form after Brahms. ... Stern leads the excellent Kansas City Orchestra [sic] with vigor and commitment."

You can read the whole review on the Naxos site here (click on Reviews). Buy the disc there or at amazon.com, or for $2 cheaper at cduniverse.com.

Pink Floyd's "Piper" calls again

Pink Floyd's debut album, "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn," will be re-released in a deluxe 3-CD edition on Aug. 28 to celebrate the disc's 40th anniversary.
According to www.pinkfloyd.com, "Discs 1 and 2 will contain the full 'Piper' album, represented in both stereo and mono versions. Both have been newly remastered by James Guthrie. Disc 3 includes bonus tracks, including the following: all the Pink Floyd singles from 1967, ('Arnold Layne', 'See Emily Play', and 'Apples And Oranges'), plus the B sides 'Candy And A Current Bun' and 'Paintbox'. Other tracks are a version of 'Interstellar Overdrive' - Take 2 of the original recording sessions, previously only available on an EP in France - and the 1967 stereo version of 'Apples And Oranges'. "

Cynthia Tucker in KC

Cynthia Tucker, syndicated columnist and editorial page editor of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, will speak at noon Wednesday, Aug. 8, in Pierson Auditorium, University of Missouri-Kansas City, 5100 Rockhill Road. Admission to the luncheon costs $16.50. Call the Central Ticket Office, 816-235-6222.

'Scuse us while we read this, guys

Book Review: Kiss the Sky: Fiction and Poetry Starring Jimi Hendrix, edited by Richard Peabody
By G.W. CLIFT
Richard Peabody is an experienced editor. He has proved proven he can put together an interesting anthology of tangentially literary short fiction and poetry to celebrate nearly any topic in pop culture.
While more than a few readers will think of him as the editor of the readable Washington, D.C., magazine Gargoyle, he is even more widely known as editor of collections such as like Mondo Barbie, Alice Redux, and Mondo Elvis.
His latest anthology is Kiss the Sky: Fiction and Poetry Starring Jimi Hendrix. The book contains commentary about Hendrix’s life and career, fictitious interviews with the guitarist, and contributions from a number of recognizable writers.

Kansas City's DiDonato nominated for Gramophone top award

By PAUL HORSLEY

With Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, Paris, and Covent Garden debuts long behind her, what's next for Prairie Village native Joyce DiDonato, the hottest mezzo-soprano in the world right now?

She's one of 10 nominees for the Gramophone Magazine's 2007 Artist of the Year award, that's what. Each year the prestigious British journal of recorded music gives the prize to the artist its editors and readers believe "has made the most significant impact on the classical music scene in the past 12 months."

Ever wonder who famous opera singers get to hang out with? Here's Kansas City's Joyce DiDonato with some dude she ran into at a party. Photo from joycedidonato.com.

John McCain coming to KC

John McCain, U.S. senator from Arizona, Republican candidate for president and author, will be in Kansas City this August to sign and discuss the new book he co-wrote with Mark Salter.
McCain will appear at 7 p.m. Aug. 19 at the Uptown Theater, 3700 Broadway. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. McCain’s latest book is Hard Call: Great Decisions and the Extraordinary People Who Made Them, and it concerns just that. His subjects include Henry Ford and baseball’s Branch Rickey, who brought Jackie Robinson to the major leagues.
Admission costs $25.99 and includes a copy of the book plus two tickets. Call Rainy Day Books at 913-384-3126.

COMIC-CON DAY TWO & THREE: WHO NEEDS THE EISNERS WHEN WE HAVE THE SIMPSONS!!!

Sorry for the lack of daily updates, but the show on Friday didn't really offer much, (to my interests anyway) aside from the Eisner Awards! You know, come to think of it, even that kind of sucked because Kansas City natives Josh Cotter and Chris Grine both lost. So let's just forget Friday even happened and focus instead on Saturday!

I woke up early on Saturday because if the LOST panel on Thursday taught me anything it's that these panel things fill up insanely fast! Not only that, but in between panels, they do NOT clear the rooms. So, if you wanted to get a good seat to the HEROES panel at 3 in the afternoon, you might as well get there when they open the doors at 9am for THE SIMPSONS panel.

Even getting there 45 minutes early wasn't enough to ensure me a seat anywhere close to the stage, but lucky for me there's these giant screens every 50 yards feet to snatch photos off of...er...or not...