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Forward thinking
An entirely subjective look at the week ahead
Check out what's coming up
By COLETTE BANCROFT
Published March 21, 2005
COMING TO GRIPS
On Tuesday, acclaimed novelist Ian McEwan's latest book hits the shelves. Saturday focuses on a single day in the life of a London neurosurgeon, when his comfortable world is shattered by an accident that has unimaginable consequences. It's one of the first of a current group of novels that grapple with the events of Sept. 11, 2001, and their aftershocks; coming April 4 is Jonathan Safran Foer's Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, about a brilliant 9-year-old boy whose father died in the attacks.
THE ART OF POLITICS
Thursday is the latest in the long series of deadlines for the Tampa Museum of Art's planned $76-million new digs. Will the museum board crunch all those numbers just right and be able to break ground on Rafael Vinoly's snazzy design? Or will Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio, who has said she would like to change the whole downtown makeover's moniker from "cultural arts district" to "river district," manage to remake one of Dick Greco's pet projects in her own image?
NOT ANOTHER PEEP
For the sweet-toothed, Easter just wouldn't be Easter without Peeps, those marshmallow chicks and bunnies in an array of chemical pastels. Here at Forward Thinking, we'd rather not eat them, but we get a kick out of the work of artist David Ottogalli, whose Web site, www.peepsshow.com is an ode to all things Peeps. His works include Peeps Shrine, Peeps Wedding and Peeps Spangled Banner. You can catch him this week on CBS Sunday Morning at 9 a.m.
NO OPENING PRAYER
Fundamentalists won't know where to picket this week. Starting Friday, the Atheist Alliance holds its three-day international convention in Los Angeles, presenting an award to magicians Penn and Teller for "outstanding work in the cause of atheism" and welcoming evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins. Meanwhile, the 31st annual American Atheists convention takes place over the same three days in Philadelphia, with speakers ranging from anthropologist David Eller to the satirical Pastor Deacon Fred, who was reputedly expelled from Jerry Falwell's Liberty University.
NEVER OUT OF STYLE
Tuesday marks the 33rd anniversary of the day Congress sent the Equal Rights Amendment to the states for ratification. Three more states must ratify it to make it law. Supporters are targeting Florida, Georgia and Illinois as most likely to do so this year. Gov. Jeb Bush said in 2003 that the ERA was as dated as "wearing bell-bottoms." Guess he hasn't been to the mall lately.
WOMEN WITHOUT EQUALS
On Friday, Aretha Franklin, who demands Respect, is 63, and Ms. magazine co-founder Gloria Steinem is 71. On Saturday, Erica Jong, author of the lusty Fear of Flying, is 63, and Sandra Day O'Connor, first woman named to the U.S. Supreme Court, is 75.
- COLETTE BANCROFT, Times staff writer, 727 893-8435 or bancroft@sptimes.com
[Last modified March 18, 2005, 14:59:25]
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