A Bit More Quiet Time

Sorry, folks, I'm in the midst of cleaning house right now. I'm also doing a major purge of my book collection; there's lots of stuff I've loved in the past but no longer has much appeal for me. There's stuff I've outgrown and lost interest in, stuff I've picked up here and there and started to read but found I couldn't stand it, and stuff I just have no plans to revisit. There's also a number of books that I've loved in the past, but I know I'm not likely to ever have a chance to read them again. There's certain authors whose books I'm hanging on to; people like Sharyn McCrumb, Sax Rohmer, Peter O'Donnell, and Leslie Charteris, for instance.

I'm also proving a point to myself: that I'm not a hoarder. I got a little worried that I was turning into a book-hoarder, but it was actually quite liberating to turn them over to charity. Plus it makes more room in my apartment, makes it less cluttered, and it'll be less to move when I relocate to Baltimore, likely in early 2013.

And, well, it feels kinda nice to think that someone else will be picking up a book I once loved, and will lose themselves in it, and see my markings in it and wonder who I was. (There's a story there, that I'll tell someday.) Too bad I don't have labels that say, "Courtesy of Dust & Corruption" to put in each one! Maybe I'll do that with future books I donate. Especially ones that I've reviewed here, or are in the spirit of the blog.

My books are being donated to the Friends of the Montgomery County Library, at their book sale in the basement of the Wheaton Library, so if you're in the DC area and in the mood to scour for used books, head over there soon and maybe you'll pick up one of mine.

This is great inventory control, though. I should do this on a yearly basis. Anyway, back to the regular grind before too long!

A Steamy July Night at the Movies!

Quick! Get inside! The air conditioning is working in the theater, and it's still in the nineties outside! When will this horrible heat ever let up?

It's our monthly night out, and we're gathering at our favorite cinema for some vintage thrills. First up is an eerie comedy from 1908, Segundo de Chomon's "Diabolical Pickpocket"!



And then it's one of the great overlooked silent horrors, the dark comedy The Monster, a film from 1925 that set many of the horror cliches...



It's still warm as we leave, hastening to the cafe up the street for something cold....

Dust & Corruption Calendar for July 2012

It's been a brutal month so far; if it hasn't been thunderstorms and power outages, it's been the record heat here in DC. I figure I better get SOMETHING out before there's another outage. Yeah, it's been that bad.

7/11 - Moonshine Cabaret, with comedy, music, sideshow and burlesque. Hosted by Richmond's own Mark Slomski and featuring my pal Rev. Valentine. The Red Palace, 1212 H St NE, Washington DC. Doors 8:30, $10.

7/12-29 - Capital Fringe Festival, DC's annual celebration of performing arts, with tons of plays, dances, and whatnot. I'll probably be doing my usual running around catching as much as I can, as this is likely to be my last festival as an area resident. Schedules and ticket info here.

7/12 - Hot Todd Lincoln's Sizzling Summertime Show. Burlesque and comedy, hosted by my pal Hot Todd Lincoln. Red Palace, 8:30, $10.

7/13 - "Anatomical Venuses, the Slashed Beauty, and Fetuses Dancing a Jig." An illustrated lecture by Joanna Ebenstein, featuring her own research into medical collections and museums. The Observatory, 543 Union St, Brooklyn, NY. 8:00, $10.

7/13 - Pasties of Perversion: A Burlesque Tribute to John Waters. Baltimore's Pope of Trash is honored with a crew including Nasty Canasta, Go-Go Harder, Kay Sera, Rev. Valentine, Maria Bella, Gigi Holliday, and Lauren Marleaux, hosted by Natasha Carrington. The Windup Space, 12 W. North Ave, Baltimore, MD. 9:00, $15.

7/14 - French Festival. Featuring 18th-century dance, and lessons in courtly manners, along with baroque music, pantomime, art & craft demonstrations, and talks on French art. Hillwood Estate, 4155 Linnean Ave, Washington, DC. 10-5, tickets available here. 

7/14 - Diabolical Delights. Sideshow, burlesque, and magic, hosted by sexy magician Albert Cadabra and featuring Angie Pontani, Dangrrr Doll, and Joel Jeske. Red Palace, 9:00, $12 advance, $15 at the door.

7/18 - 18th Century Taverns and Ales. Sample ales based on 18th century recipes, and listen to a discussion of tavern life of the era. Anderson House, 2118 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington, DC. 6-8, tickets available here. 

7/19 to 8/31 - "Bone," a collection of art reflecting bones and skeletons, on display at the Florence Nightingale Museum,  2 Lambeth Palace Rd, London, UK.

7/20 - Bosley's Burlesque Cabaret! Burlesque & fun with Gigi Holliday, Cherokee Rose, Roma Mafia, and Sophia Sunday. The Strand Theater, 1823 N. Charles St, Baltimore, MD. 9:00, $10.

7/26 - Staxx Burly-Q Review Presents It's Only Burlesque But I Love It! DC's own burlesque artists Shortstaxx hosts her own presentation saluting the Rolling Stones. Red Palace, 8:30, $10.

7/27 - Lost Waterfronts of New York. Illustrated lecture with photographer and filmmaker Nathan Kensinger showing photos that document the changing landscape of New York's riverside landscape. The Observatory, 7:00, $12; advance tickets recommended and available here.

7/28 - The Tilted Torch presents: Play Date! This evening of burlesque and light-based dance performances will also be a fundraiser for Figment, a DC community arts festival in September. Red Palace, 8:30, $10 advance, $12 at the door.

7/29 - The Rhinestone Follies. This New York-based troupe promises an opulent 50's style burlesque review. I've never seen them before, so this should be fun. Red Palace, 8:30, $10 advance, $12 at the door.

OK, I think I've got enough up, and it's thundering again. Best get this up before my power goes out.

The Phantom Serenade: A Mad Genius

The deranged Prof. Lipsius is on the loose again, having strangled six prison guards. He's surrounded himself with his cult of wild diabolists and is back to his habits of bizarre art thefts and grisly murders. We've followed him to the mansion where he once had his headquarters, hoping for some sort of confrontation, as after all we are a troupe of dashing adventurous sorts. But alas, we've been captured and tied up in the huge basement laboratory, as the mad genius builds up a frenzy with his followers by playing one of his original compositions...



(This is actually a piece by Greek-born composer Iannis Xenakis, an avant-gardist of the first order whose organ compositions are full of dark horror. And a random sampling of his work sounds like Dr. Phibes' songbook.)

Happily, Lipsius is so absorbed in his playing that we're able to shimmy out of our bonds and escape with some of the Russian treasures he'd stolen recently; we're too outnumbered to capture him. But at least one of his lairs is known to us and he won't dare to come back...but will he be after us?

(And obviously, I'm back. My power was restored late Tuesday but I haven't had time to blog until tonight...)

Taking an enforced break

The DC area was hit by huge thunderstorms this past Friday night, so bad that most of the area is dark. My home is without power (I'm posting this from work) and the local power company is not anticipating having everyone up and going until Friday. So this blog will be quiet for a while as I join the others ranting and raging at the power company. And if I'm not doing that, I'll be scrounging the area desperate for ice. Happy freakin' 4th, folks.