James Joyce

Dublin - The two men drink standing near the back of the long bar at Davy Byrnes, one of the many watering holes in this city that, in the words of writer Samuel Beckett, who once lived upstairs, have been known to house "broken glass and indiscretion." In the back, because that's well away from the "whippets" and "blow-ins" who tend to wander in, armed with neither intellect nor wit, if one distinguishes between the two, settle on the first available stool and ask for a "Boodweiser" from the barman.

One of my long-standing life questions is, What makes an Irish Pub an Irish Pub? Is it dark, moody shadows peopled by whispering conspirators nursing black pints amid the rhythmic phthwacking of darts hitting corkboard? Or is it any old joint that serves shepherd pie, taps Guinness, and cranks out a Van Morrison number every half hour or so? Probably Irish pubness is like art: a whole lot easier to recognize than define. 12:30 p.m. We enter James Joyce after a 25-minute walk.

Nov. 26 1933 A judge in New York ruled the James Joyce book Ulysses was not obscene and could therefore be published in the United States.

Bourdain is back, James Joyce turns 10, and more upcoming Baltimore dining events: Thursday - James Joyce Irish Pub and Restaurant is throwing a 10th anniversary party with music by O'Malley's March. The public party starts at 8 p.m., preceded by an invitation-only happy hour at 6 p.m. Thursday - RA Sushi celebrates its 15th anniversary with a 1990s-themed party. The first RA opened in 1997 in Old Town Scottsdale (Ariz.), and now has 25 locations. The RA Sushi in Harbor East will donate 15 percent of all of its profits to the Maryland Food Bank, and all guests will get a 15 percent discount.

History, wrote James Joyce, is "a nightmare from which I'm trying to awake." After reading these sentences from student papers collected by history teachers across the nation, you might understand why: "John Brown was a rabbit abolitionist.""The president uses the old reliable veto power, and -- viola! -- no more bill.""To suppress criticisms of his policies, President Adams passed the Alien and Sedation Acts.""Jefferson sought to enlarge the boarders of the nation by expanding westward.""Many people started to condom Hoover's policies."

Joyce's `Dead' opens at Kennedy Center Adapted from a story in "The Dubliners" and featuring the Broadway cast, "James Joyce's The Dead," a best-musical nominee for the 2000 Tony Awards, opens a three-week run at Washington's Kennedy Center tonight. The story focuses on a pair of maiden-aunt music teachers (Sally Ann Howes and Marni Nixon) whose annual Christmas party serves as a showcase for their students. The party guests include the teachers' nephew (Stephen Bogardus) and his wife (Faith Prince)

Samuel Beckett, 1906-1989;Born to a prosperous Protestant family in the Dublin suburb of Foxrock, Beckett attended Trinity College, Dublin, where he studied modern languages. He traveled widely in Europe in the 1930s before settling in Paris, where he became a close disciple of James Joyce.Beckett wrote many novels, including "Murphy," which Dylan Thomas called "Freudian blarney," and "Molloy," which explores a mysterious Jekyll and Hyde relationship between two men, Maron and Molloy.He considered himself to be primarily a novelist, but it was with his play "Waiting for Godot" in 1954 that Beckett gained celebrity status.

Had a considerable influence on the development of 20th century poetry, as both poet and critic. He is best known for "Homage to Sextus Propertius" and "Mauberly," (1920). His great life's work is the lengthy, "Cantos." Born in Hailey, Idaho, and reared on the East Coast, Pound spent most of his career in Europe where he wrote, lectured and produced publications, including Vorticism and two issues of its manifesto, Blast, in 1914 and 1915. A champion of great writers like T.S. Eliot, Wyndham Lewis and James Joyce.

Harbor East restaurants like Talara, Taco Fiesta, Lebanese Taverna James Joyce and Fleming's will be offering selections of their menus at Harbor East's Fall Harvest Fest on Saturday. Taco Fiesta will be bringing chips, guacamole, salsa and burritos; Lebanese Taverna will have chicken shazam and hummus; Fleming's will be serving lamb chop lollipops and Talara will show up with smoked pulled pork brisket sandwiches and red cabbage slaw. They're all bringing booze, too. The Harbor East Fall Harvest Fest will also feature live music and strolling entertainment.