DEBATE AT LOLITA BAR: "Should Marriage Be Only Between a Man and a Woman?"

Jinx debate: Marriage should only be between a man and a woman.
Yes: Bernadette Malone
No: Richard Ryan
Moderator: John Carney
Host: Michel Evanchik

Wed., June 1, 8pm
downstairs at Lolita bar on the northeast corner of Broome and Allen on the Lower East Side of Manhattan (That’s one block south and three west of the Delancey F stop; free admission and cash bar.)

I, Todd Seavey, won’t be hosting this time but still have the following contributions to make to society:

This article, written just before the mostly-great and continuity-respecting Revenge of the Sith came out, describes every devoted fan’s fear of plot continuity errors, whether in films, TV shows, or comic books (you might say I’ve been researching since childhood to write this one):
http://metaphilm.com/philm.php?id=416_0_2_0_M

Oddly enough, most of the copious reader comments about the piece are over on this other site (which in turn noticed my piece because of a reference to it on the Liberty & Power blog):
http://www.reason.com/hitandrun/2005/05/whenever_you_no.shtml

And thanks to NYPost’s Kyle Smith, I got to see an advance screening of Sith and contribute one line (about the oddness of the film’s brief reference to an off-screen resurrection) to this article.

On a similar sci-fi note, here’s a brief piece of mine about the earthly relevance of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, ending with links to some other items of interest:
http://www.acsh.org/factsfears/newsID.550/news_detail.asp

If rock trivia’s more your bag, check out the site co-created by my predecessor as Brown Film Bulletin editor, David Kamp (and then buy the book):
http://snobsite.com/

In stranger entertainment news, I have to ask a slightly awkward question: does anyone out there know if Ruth Morrison, New Jersey-dwelling thirtysomething writer of some Wonder Woman and Batman material a few years back (and at one point girlfriend of comics artist Alex Ross), is still alive? Apparently, some of her comics industry acquaintances here can’t recall seeing her since 9/11, when we think she was working in the financial sector, though she is not on official lists of the dead. Apologies in advance if this question causes chaos, but it seemed worth asking (if I hear anything, it will be in the next mass e-mail).

In other slightly depressing news, this man needs a liver transplant if you know anyone who can help:

Date: Wed, 18 May 2005 06:29:51 -0700 (PDT)
From: Stephen Gruber
Subject: Medical Need

Liver transplant desperately needed for Dr, Michael Harris, chief of pediatrics hematology at Hackensack University Medical Center and a member of Congregation Ahavat Torah, Engelwood, N.J.

He contracted hepatitis C from a needle stick while treating one of his pediatric cancer patients. He needs a cadaver liver blood type A or O.

If you can help at all with this great Mitzvah please call Joel Budin, M.D. at 201-567-4891 or Annette Jotkowitz, R.N. at 201-692-1861 or cell# 201-446-1274.

He has devoted his life to the care of pediatric cancer patients with love and compassion and now it behooves all of us to help him.

Please feel free to pass this on to your friends and other email lists.

P.S. Want to debate in or suggest a topic for one of these monthly Jinx Athenaeum Society meetings? Best to do so well in advance of the day, so e-mail me (and others who may want to be involved) your suggestions.

(NOTE: The above was sent as a mass e-mail in the days prior to the debate and was posted on this blog retroactively in April 2007. Click here for other Debates at Lolita Bar.)

DEBATE AT LOLITA BAR: "Does Poetry Still Matter?"

DEBATE: “Does Poetry Still Matter?”
YES: Francis Heaney, author of Holy Tango of Literature
NO: J.R. Taylor, of New York Press
MODERATOR: Richard Ryan, of Verse Theatre Manhattan

DATE/TIME: 8pm, this **Tuesday**, May 3
(NOTE: NOT THE USUAL WEDNESDAY THIS MONTH BUT **TUESDAY**–AND PROMPTLY, SO ONE OF OUR DEBATERS CAN ESCAPE QUICKLY AFTERWARDS)
PLACE: downstairs at Lolita bar, northeast corner of Broome and Allen St. on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, one block south and three west of the Delancey Street stop on the F train (free admission, cash bar)

To bridge the gap between the eras of print and electronic media, I, your host, Jinx Rational Agent Todd Seavey, will also do a reading from three of the Star Wars films’ opening scrolls.

For still more Star Wars, JOIN ME at 6pm on Thur., May 19, outside the Regal Union Square theatre in Manhattan, for the 7pm show of the final Star Wars movie, REVENGE OF THE SITH — tickets are already on sale on Fandango for that date, and I already got mine.

I also just saw an advance screening of the swell Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, the story of an ordinary man whose troubles begin when he discovers his best friend is not just a normal person from Guilford but in fact a space alien, so I recommend that, too — and on May 3 will also read aloud the bad poem used to torture the film’s heroes in one memorable scene.

For those who can’t make it, the poem is here:

http://www.englisch.schule.de/wiesmoor/Interpretation%20Vogon%20Poem.htm

(NOTE: The above was sent as a mass e-mail in the days prior to the debate and was posted on this blog retroactively in April 2007. Click here for other Debates at Lolita Bar.)

DEBATE AT LOLITA BAR: "Does the Whole World Need Western-Style Democracy?"

Is democracy spreading in the Middle East and elsewhere (thanks in part to Bush/U.S. efforts) — or has our habit of intervening overseas begun a “countdown to infinite crisis”? Discuss this and related topics at our next event:

DEBATE: Does the Whole World Need Western-Style Democracy?
YES: Alex Jacobson
NO: John Carney
Moderator: Richard Ryan

DATE/TIME: Wed., April 6, 8pm
PLACE: Downstairs at Lolita bar, n.e. corner of Broome and Allen St.s (one block south and three west of the Delancey F stop on Manhattan’s Lower East Side) — free admission, cash bar

P.S. (trying to provide at least some entertainment for those who can’t make it to NYC events): The night of 4/6 also affords a close-enough opportunity, wherever you are, to toast the sixteenth birthday of my parents’ dog, Uber, who entered this world on April Fool’s Day 1989 — just as an earlier wave of democratization began toppling socialism in Eastern Europe. Uber is now blind, deaf, arthritic, and living with five cats, but her sense of smell is uncanny, she still goes for long walks, her mind is no more vegetative than it ever was, and freedom marches on.

(NOTE: The above was sent as a mass e-mail in the days prior to the debate and was posted on this blog retroactively in April 2007. Click here for other Debates at Lolita Bar.)

DEBATE AT LOLITA BAR: "Do Women Naturally Belong in the Home?"

Three items, mainly for New Yorkers this time:
(1) I’ll now host the first-Wednesday-of-each-month http://JinxMagazine.com debates, so join me there monthly (and send me topic suggestions and offers to be a debater or the moderator — and check the site each month to see what the next topic will be):
DEBATE: Do Women Naturally Belong in the Home?
YES: Michel “The Brain” Evanchik, homemaker
NO: Heidi Reich, math teacher
DATE/TIME: Wed., March 2, 8pm
PLACE: Downstairs at Lolita bar, n.e. corner of Broome and Allen St.s (one block south and three west of the Delancey F stop on Manhattan’s Lower East Side) — free admission, unfree drinks
(2) Or watch Heaven war with Hell in CONSTANTINE (based on a comic book character from the DC Comics division my friend Scott Nybakken works for, though if it’s bad it’s not his fault) by meeting me in the lobby by one half-hour before the 2:45pm Sat. 2/26 screening at the Loews at 42nd and 8th (or the closest time to that at that theatre if the times change — and you should probably order your ticket in advance).
(3) And Jinx veteran Michael Malice is casting a new dating-documentary show. Contact the show if you’d like to participate, like so:
>Manhattan has the highest per capita population of single people in the world, yet making a connection can be an exercise in humiliation and heartbreak. But it doesn’t have to be that way. There’s a new documentary series for a major Viacom channel that examines how people find love in the greatest city in the world. We’re looking for interesting New York characters that have trouble fulfilling their romantic desires.
We’ll spend several weeks hanging out and talking about life and love with you. This is not a stupid dating show, but rather a fun and REAL look at people searching for–and sometimes finding–love. We want people you would not normally see on TV.
If you fit these criteria…
1) A great conversationalist
2) Pretty weird
3) Live in Manhattan or Brooklyn (or at least hang out there)
4) Are between the ages of 26 and 37
5) Ready to engage in a transformative journey
6) Having trouble dating in NYC
7) NOT a model/actor type
…we’d love to help.
>Send us your story and a pic to cgadtv[at]yahoo-dot-com
(NOTE: The above was sent as a mass e-mail in the days prior to the debate and was posted on this blog retroactively in April 2007. Click here for other Debates at Lolita Bar.)