Join me on March 10, 2012 at Make it Right Foundations benefit. The evening of March 10 Brad Pitt and Ellen DeGeneres are hosting "A Night to Make It Right" at the Hyatt Regency, featuring a celebrity guest list.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Brad Pitt's Make it Right Foundation will benefit from perhaps the biggest single-night fundraiser in New Orleans history.

The $1,000-a-seat fundraiser will feature Randy Jackson, Josh Brolin,Djimon Hounsou, Spike Lee, Blake Lively, Bennett Miller, Chris Paul, Sean Penn, Wendell Pierce and Kevin Spacey.

Performers for the night will include Rihanna, Sheryl Crow, Seal, the Neville Brothers, and Dr. John and friends.

The event, presented by the Hyatt Regency New Orleans with sponsor Google+, is the biggest single-night fundraiser in New Orleans history.

The charity gala will raise more money for Pitt's Make It Right Foundation, which so far has completed 75 ultra-modern homes in the Lower 9th Ward to replace those wiped away by the levee failures following Hurricane Katrina. The foundation since has expanded to Newark, N.J., and Kansas City, Mo., to provide sustainable housing for disabled veterans and disadvantaged communities.

The New Orleans event will feature a four-course dinner coordinated by chef John Besh and prepared by chefs Giada DeLaurentiis and Emeril Lagasse.

An afterparty will be hosted by comedian Aziz Ansari. Tickets for that event only are $150. The $1,000 ticket includes entrance to the afterparty. Individual VIP tickets are $2,500 and include admission to a VIP reception and the afterparty.

To buy tickets or for more information, visit:  http://www.nighttomakeitright.com/

Please Note: Go to Home Page to view trailer for The House on Black Lake Novel/Screenplay, and music video.

 

NOIR CITY celebrates its 10th anniversary as the world's most popular film noir festival with a 10-day extravaganza featuring San Francisco treats, a Dashiell Hammett marathon, freshly preserved 35mm rarities, by-popular-demand encore screenings, surprises galore, and super special guest star ANGIE DICKINSON! Join us January 20-29, 2012 for what promises to be the darkest and most delirious incarnation yet of San Francisco's most popular classic film festival: NOIR CITY!

Among the rarities being presented this year: a brand new 35mm print of 1949's The Great Gatsby, starring Alan Ladd as F. Scott Fitzgerald's legendary lovelorn hero. The film has been buried for decades, but Muller's perseverance persuaded Universal Pictures to strike a preservation print for NOIR CITY. The studio also is providing a brand new 35mm print of 1954's Naked Alibi, starring noir's favorite bad girl, Gloria Grahame. The Film Noir Foundation has also funded a new 35mm preservation of the "lost" 1946 classic Three Strangers, which had no viewable prints and has never been released on DVD. NOIR CITY is also proud to have been chosen to premiere the Film Foundation's recently completed preservation of the superb 1950 Michael Curtiz film The Breaking Point, starring John Garfield.

Everyone Comes to Eddie's,
The NOIR CITY Nightclub

Swedish American Hall , 2174 Market St.
(within walking distance of the Castro Theatre!)

TO BETTER ACCOMMODATE OUR NOIR CITY PATRONS, THE TICKET PRICE FOR EVERYONE COMES TO EDDIE'S HAS BEEN REDUCED TO $40 PER TICKET BEGINNING WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25! WE WANT EVERYONE TO CELEBRATE NOIR CITY'S 10TH ANNIVERSARY ON SATURDAY NIGHT, JANUARY 28!

NOTICE: For those individuals who have already purchased a $75 NOIR CITY Nightclub ticket, the Film Noir Foundation will refund your $35 on Saturday night at the door to "Eddie's"

Swinging lounge tunes, torrid torch songs, classic burlesque, and a helping of neo-noir rock-and-roll is the bill of fare Saturday night, January 28, 2012, as the NOIR CITY film festival breaks out of the majestic Castro Theatre to present Everyone Comes to Eddie's, a swanky, sexy, and slightly sinister soiree in which the Swedish American Hall is transformed into a vintage 1940s-era nightclub. The one-night special event is an added celebration of NOIR CITY's 10th anniversary. Performances include the mid-century musical stylings of Mr. Lucky and the Cocktail Party with Ralph Carney, vintage noir-inspired torch songs from the luscious Laura Ellis, spectacular striptease from world-renowned burlesque beauty Evie Lovelle, and the dark, mysterious, and danceable sounds of Kansas City's The Latenight Callers, described as "the house band at David Lynch's pool party." Expect more surprises as the night unfolds! "People who make a point of attending all the films on the festival schedule need not fear," said impresario Eddie Muller. "We're running the same double bill that day and night at the Castro, so you can see films in the afternoon and party that night." Cocktail attire preferred.

Tickets for the show, a fundraiser for the Film Noir Foundation, are now priced at $40 each (as of January 25). Admission includes hors d'oeuvres and an open bar, plus entertainment. NOIR CITY Passports do not grant party admission. Separate ticket required. Sorry, no passes. Tickets are now available at the Castro Theatre or online through Brown Paper Tickets.

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The 2012 Edwardian Faire and Ball will be held in San Francisco on January 20-21,  I plan to attend to get inspiration for my  nearly complete new novel. "The Chamber of Curiosities" is a love story between a charismatic circus freak and a beautiful young trapeze artist set in carnival on a bastion overlooking the sea in land on the brink of revolution. 

More information about the event, including evocative pictures, maybe be found at:

http://edwardianball.com/2012-events

What, dare say, is The Edwardian Ball?

THE EDWARDIAN BALL is an elegant and whimsical celebration of art, music, theatre, fashion, technology, circus, and the beloved creations of the late, great author Edward Gorey. Set in “Edwardian” times, this multi-media festival has grown over the past decade from a small underground club night into an internationally recognized event, even earning the blessing of The Edward Gorey Charitable Trust.

Costumed and enthusiastic attendees, traveling from as far as Australia, Japan, and the UK, flock to this San Francisco tradition for a delightful blend of ballroom dancing, live music, riveting stage shows, DJs, fine art galleries, a vending marketplace, absinthe cocktails, steam machinery, parlour games, sideshows, and more. All ages are welcome and appropriate in this darkly humorous and elegant setting, where literary aficionados rub elbows with insect-like creatures parading on stilts… where historically-accurate Edwardian recreationists waltz by a steam-powered tea garden… where the only guiding rule is that you join in on the fun!

The Edwardian Ball has been called “the quintessential must-not-miss event of the year,” “a defining annual San Francisco tradition,” and “a literary circus of the highest caliber” for good reason… come see for yourself!

Please note: The House on Black Lake has been adapted to screenplay - go to Home Page to see teaser trailer