Archive for the 'Store Events' Category

Page 126 of 205

Kevin Christensen Signs The Chair at Quimby’s

Published on April 11, 2009 0 Comments
May ’09
9
1:00 pm

chair_

A psychological thriller set on death-row, THE CHAIR focuses on Richard Sullivan, an inmate that has spent the past 10 years awaiting execution for crimes he claims he never committed. But lately strange events have started occurring in the prison, including a piling body count of tortured inmates, a viciously sadistic warden, and enough twists and turns to make Sullivan question his own sanity.  At its core, THE CHAIR is a book about the choices we make in life and how they can affect everything and everyone around us. Written by PETER SIMETI
Artwork by KEVIN CHRISTENSEN and PETER SIMETI.

Kevin Christensen is a freelance cartoonist, currently living in Chicago, Illinois. He graduated from The Savannah College of Art and Design with a BFA in Sequential Art in 2004, and is currently pursuing a second bachelors degree in art education, from the University of Illinois at Chicago. THE CHAIR is his first graphic novel.

Go to www.alternacomics.com for more information.
FREE EVENT

Tags: , , .

Book Release Party With Joe Meno & Friends For Meno’s New novel, The Great Perhaps!

Published on April 9, 2009 0 Comments
May ’09
7
7:00 pm

greatperhaps

In his new novel, The Great Perhaps, local Chicago writer Joe Meno continues to employ his keen observations of human nature, this time exploring the tumultuous landscapes of a contemporary Chicago family. The narrative rotates between members of the Casper family, giving each time and space to dig into their respective quirks. Jonathan, the father, is a scientist caught in a quest for a prehistoric squid and is prone to seizures at the sight of clouds. Madeline, Jonathan’s wife, also a scientist, studies the behavior of her murderous lab pigeons and is distressed by the growing distance between family members: elder daughter Amelia is a teenage anticapitalist crusader already becoming weary of the fight; youngest daughter Thisbe’s desire to find God is met with much concern from her atheist parents; grandfather Henry’s sole desire is to make himself disappear. As the family’s preoccupations rattle on and bang up against one another, the recently begun war in Iraq provides background noise and another dimension to the intricate and intimate tale. Meno’s handle on the written word is fresh and inviting, conjuring a story that delves deeply into the human heart.

Joe Meno is the best-selling author of the novels Hairstyles of the Damned, The Boy Detective Fails, How the Hula Girl Sings, and Tender As Hellfire. He was the winner of the 2003 Nelson Algren Award for short fiction and is a professor of creative writing at Columbia College Chicago.

Also performing: Jonathan Messinger, Timeout Chicago Books Editor and author of Hiding Out! Jon Resh, author of Amped and musical accompaniment by The Astronomer!

Tags: , , .

Handmade Electronic Music – The Art of Hardware Hacking Release Party with Nic Collins at Quimby’s!

Published on April 4, 2009 1 Comment
May ’09
2
3:00 pm

workshop-tokyo

Handmade Electronic Music: The Art of Hardware Hacking provides a long-needed, practical, and engaging introduction to the craft of making – as well as creatively cannibalizing – electronic circuits for artistic purposes. With a sense of adventure but no need for prior knowledge, the reader can subvert the intentions designed into devices such as radios and toys to discover a new sonic world. At a time when computers dominate music production, this book offers a rare glimpse into the core technology of early live electronic music, as well as more recent developments at the hands of emerging artists. In addition to advice on hacking found electronics, the reader learns how to make contact microphones, pickups for electromagnetic fields, oscillators, distortion boxes, and unusual signal processors cheaply and quickly.

This revised and expanded second edition is extensively illustrated and includes a DVD featuring 87 video clips and 20 audio tracks by over 100 hackers, benders, musicians, artists and inventors from around the world, as well as 13 video tutorials demonstrating projects in the book. Further enhancements include additional projects, photographs, diagrams, and illustrations.

What might happen at this event? Maybe some and/or all of the following: an anarchic hacking orchestra composed of multiple uncoordinated performances distributed around the store, each performer using individual small sound systems? Speakers amplifying bent toys, battery-operated mini-amps, video, and demos of a few projects? Who knows?

Nicolas Collins, an active composer and performer of electronic music, and has worked with John Cage, Alvin Lucier, David Tudor, and many other masters of modern music. Dr. Collins is Professor of Sound at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and has led hacking workshops around the world. Since 1997 he has been editor-in-chief of Leonardo Music Journal. For more info: http://www.NicolasCollins.com

Tags: , , .

A Night of Bizarro Fiction

Published on March 20, 2009 0 Comments
Apr ’09
18
6:30 pm

Join four authors from the Bizarro fiction movement: D.Harlan Wilson, Andersen Prunty, Eckhard Gerdes and Garrett Cook as they read from and sign their books. The material is sometimes profane, sometimes funny, but always weird and engaging.

D. Harlan Wilson is an award-winning novelist, short story writer, literary critic, screenwriter, and assistant professor of English at Wright State University-Lake Campus.  His recent books include a novel, Blankety Blank: A Memoir of Vulgaria (Raw Dog Screaming Press 2008), a novella, Peckinpah: An Ultraviolent Romance (Shroud 2009), and a book of cultural theory, Technologized Desire: Selfhood & the Body in Postcapitalist Science Fiction (Guide Dog Books 2009).  Visit him online at www.dharlanwilson.com

Andersen Prunty is the author of The Overwhelming Urge, Jack and Mr. Grin, Zerostrata, Market Adjustment and Other Tales of Avarice, and The Sorrow King (forthcoming). He naps in Dayton, Ohio. You can call him Andy and visit him on the web at www.andersenprunty.com

Eckhard Gerdes is the author of several unusual novels, including My Landlady the Lobotomist (a top-five selection for novel of the year in the Preditor’s and Editors Poll), The Million-Year Centipede (a top-ten selection the year prior and a nominee for the Wonderland Award), Przewalski’s Horse (which won the Bissell Award), and Cistern Tawdry (nominated for the Georgia Author of the Year Award). He teaches at Lake Forest College, DePaul University, and Triton College. He has three sons and lives in the Chicago area.

Garrett Cook is a Bizarro, horror and crossgenre novelist currently residing in Warrenville, IL. While he is not reading submissions for Evil Nerd Empire publishing (www.evilnerdempire.com) or dealing with his duties as Associate Editor of Bust Down the Door and Eat All the Chickens magazine, he is promoting his book Murderland Part 1: H8.

Other info: find out more about Bizarro fiction at www.bizarrocentral.com