Kafka

Steven Soderbergh's "Kafka" isn't about Kafka the man or Kafka the writer. It's about Kafka the concept.In fact, if you've never heard of Franz Kafka -- much less read word one of the Czech writer's limited but seminal output -- but you've been using the all-purpose adjective "Kafkaesque" to describe anything complex yet bizarre, then you'll love "Kafka" the movie, which opens today at the Charles and runs through Sunday.Soderbergh's "gimmick," to use a crude word, is to put a Kafka-like character into a mystery-adventure in Prague in 1919 that will teach him exactly the lessons and the meanings of the word Kafkaesque.

theater 'The Seafarer': Irish playwright Conor McPherson is the king of bleak humor. A slate of the area's finest actors (Edward Gero, Floyd King and Billy Meleady) combine forces for The Seafarer, a tale of four friends - one blind and the rest blind drunk - who play a climactic game of poker with the devil. Through Feb. 22 at Studio Theatre, 1501 14th St. N.W., Washington. Showtimes vary. Tickets are $34-$61. Call 202-332-3300 or go to studiotheatre.org. Mary Carole McCauley art 'So Many Organs': Photographer Liz Donadio, painter Ryan Syrell and multimedia artist Dina Kelberman present their work in So Many Organs, an exhibit that opens tomorrow and runs through Feb. 13 at Current Gallery, 30 S. Calvert St. There's a reception with the artists 7 p.m.-10 p.m. Jan. 30. Go to currentspace.

Steven Soderbergh's "Kafka" isn't about Kafka the man or Kafka the writer. It's about Kafka the concept.In fact, if you've never heard of Franz Kafka -- much less read word one of the Czech writer's limited but seminal output -- but you've been using the all-purpose adjective "Kafkaesque" to describe anything complex yet bizarre, then you'll love "Kafka" -- the movie, which opens today at the Charles.Soderbergh's "gimmick," to use a crude word, is to put a Kafka-like character into a mystery-adventure in Prague in 1919 that will teach him exactly the lessons and the meanings of the word Kafkaesque.

Cultural Amnesia: Necessary Memories from History and the Arts Clive James W.W. Norton / 876 pages / $35 In Cultural Amnesia, the prodigious critic Clive James succumbs to a mighty ambition: In 100-plus alphabetically arranged essays, he pays homage to the vast Western humanist enterprise (writing, filmmaking, music, philosophy, theater), defending it from myriad enemies. I don't fault his intelligence or erudition: This Australian omnivore has read, traveled and thought more than perhaps any critic alive.

Freshman goalkeeper Julie Kafka is described by her Lehigh coach as "5-6 on a tall day." However, the former McDonogh standout towered over many keepers around the country this season as she recorded a school-record 12 shutouts and had Division I's second-best goals-against average (0.25) and save percentage (.955) entering postseason play last weekend. Kafka also was chosen the Co-Goalkeeper and Co-Rookie of the Year in the Patriot League as she helped lead the Mountain Hawks to their most successful regular season in school history (14-2-1 and a final 14-3-1 overall record)

Connoisseurs of the surreal, the grotesque and the absurd are hereby urged to repair to the Orpheum in Fells Point for a tangy repast of unimaginable delight. Others are advised to steer clear; this dish is for the cognoscenti.The movie is "Faust," by the Czech surrealist animator Jan Svankmajer, as much out of Kafka as out of Goethe and Marlowe. It reiterates the classic story of the necromancer who makes a deal with His Satanic Majesty in order to enjoy sublime power and sensation on Earth but who must, in the end, give the devil his due.However, this "Faust" is a mad mixture of mediums, yielding images largely unseen anywhere outside the most recondite animation emporiums.

Two local summer theater festivals kicked off their silver anniversary seasons last weekend with shows that could not be more different. One is frothy, the other fraught with levels of meaning. Laura Ridgeway's Turn Your Head and Kafka -- a complex examination of love, oppression, injustice, absurdity and Franz Kafka -- got the 25th annual Baltimore Playwrights Festival off to an impressive start. Interweaving excerpts from the Czech writer's unfinished novel, The Trial, with text from his correspondence with journalist Milena Jesenska, Ridgeway has created a layered script in which fact and fiction comment on each other.

On April 4, 2005 FRANCES JACQUELINE "JACKIE" NASH (nee Friedel) beloved wife of Robert W. Nash; dear mother of Barbara L. Kafka; dear grandmother of Charles S. "Chip" and Matthew R. Kafka; devoted sister of Patricia Lyons, Donald Friedel and the late Douglas and Thomas Friedel. Also survived by nieces and nephews. Friends may call at the family owned Mitchell-Wiedefeld Funeral Home, Inc., 6500 York Road (at Overbrook) on Wednesday 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. A Funeral Mass will be offered Thursday 9:30 a.m. at St. Joseph Church, Cockeysville.

Polock Johnny's, the Polish sausage chain that taught Baltimore to love heartburn, has apparently sold its last "un-Burger."Politically incorrect to the last, the restaurant chain and sausage-making operation named for John C. "Polock Johnny" Kafka filed for Chapter 7 liquidation in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Baltimore last Friday.The filing brings to an end a colorful 49-year history that began in 1944 when the original "Polock Johnny," now retired and in his 90s, set up a hot dog stand in an arcade on The Block.

On December 22, 2003, DOROTHY Y., of Upper Marlboro, MD; beloved wife of the late Col. Paul John Basile; mother of Darlene R. Brown; sister of Mary Douglas Ross, and John C. Dyke Jr.; grandmother of Sgt. Paul John Kafka, (Jenny); great-grandmother of Sierra, Josh, Jacob and Sammy. Relatives and friends may call at the BEALL FUNERAL HOME, 6512 N.W. Crain Highway (route 3 south), Bowie, MD on Friday, December 26, 2003, from 10 A.M. to 12 noon, where Funeral Service will begin at 12 noon. Interment in Arlington National Cemetery, January 2, 2004.

Creationists: Selected Essays 1993-2006 E.L. Doctorow Random House / 192 pages / $24.95 In the U.K. the word "brilliant" has long been slang for pretty much anything fun, exciting, delicious, good, enjoyable - you name it, it's covered by the term. In America, the word brilliant is repetitively overused as well, although with a more hifalutin' clarity of objective: This writer is "brilliant," this artist is "brilliant." At least the British have it right - the appellation of brilliance has long since become pointless.

Two local summer theater festivals kicked off their silver anniversary seasons last weekend with shows that could not be more different. One is frothy, the other fraught with levels of meaning. Laura Ridgeway's Turn Your Head and Kafka -- a complex examination of love, oppression, injustice, absurdity and Franz Kafka -- got the 25th annual Baltimore Playwrights Festival off to an impressive start. Interweaving excerpts from the Czech writer's unfinished novel, The Trial, with text from his correspondence with journalist Milena Jesenska, Ridgeway has created a layered script in which fact and fiction comment on each other.

THEATER PARADE OF PLAYS The 25th anniversary Baltimore Playwrights Festival gets off to a weighty start this weekend with Turn Your Head and Kafka by Laura Ridgeway. Produced by Run of the Mill Theater and directed by its new artistic director, Jenny Tibbels, the play intermingles elements from Franz Kafka's novel The Trial with his correspondence with his mistress, journalist Milena Jesenska. Brian Oakes and Julia Brandeberry star. The silver-anniversary season also features five other productions, including three bills of one-acts.

Freshman goalkeeper Julie Kafka is described by her Lehigh coach as "5-6 on a tall day." However, the former McDonogh standout towered over many keepers around the country this season as she recorded a school-record 12 shutouts and had Division I's second-best goals-against average (0.25) and save percentage (.955) entering postseason play last weekend. Kafka also was chosen the Co-Goalkeeper and Co-Rookie of the Year in the Patriot League as she helped lead the Mountain Hawks to their most successful regular season in school history (14-2-1 and a final 14-3-1 overall record)

On April 4, 2005 FRANCES JACQUELINE "JACKIE" NASH (nee Friedel) beloved wife of Robert W. Nash; dear mother of Barbara L. Kafka; dear grandmother of Charles S. "Chip" and Matthew R. Kafka; devoted sister of Patricia Lyons, Donald Friedel and the late Douglas and Thomas Friedel. Also survived by nieces and nephews. Friends may call at the family owned Mitchell-Wiedefeld Funeral Home, Inc., 6500 York Road (at Overbrook) on Wednesday 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. A Funeral Mass will be offered Thursday 9:30 a.m. at St. Joseph Church, Cockeysville.

Kafka on the Shore By Haruki Murakami. Alfred A. Knopf. 480 pages. $25.95. Kafka on the Shore is a wildly inventive modern epic by Japan's most popular novelist. In his native country Haruki Murakami has millions of fans who treat him more like a rock star than a novelist and eagerly await each new book. This is his 11th, and - like much of his fiction - it offers settings that are both grimly realistic and surreal, a labyrinthine plot, and lovably bizarre characters who can't get enough of life's strangeness.

No Conflict, PleaseThere was a time when good government meant good planning. Economical government, regional cooperation, employment and cultural diversity were the goals.Your editorial on "Cloisters Rezoning" savages most of those principles. Unquestionably, suburban and exurb residents should support city profit and non-profit culture. We do benefit from culture.Likewise, the entire region has benefited and does benefit from open space, close in; the Baltimore greenbelt. Not simply the county taxpayers, but the entire region benefits from orderly planning, in this instance, the greenbelt.

Some quick thinking by All-Metro forward Brittany Tegeler and the quick hands of goalkeeper Julie Kafka helped No. 2 McDonogh to a 1-1 overtime tie against No. 7 St. Mary's yesterday in Annapolis. The Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference showdown had a little bit of everything in the 100 minutes played, but consecutive minutes in the middle of the first half stood out the most. After the defending league champion Saints (6-1-1, 0-1-1 in the league) opened the scoring on a header from Jamie Latta, set up by an ideal cross from Alison Reinhart in the 20th minute, Tegeler wasted no time to reply to get the Eagles (7-4-1, 1-1-1)

On December 22, 2003, DOROTHY Y., of Upper Marlboro, MD; beloved wife of the late Col. Paul John Basile; mother of Darlene R. Brown; sister of Mary Douglas Ross, and John C. Dyke Jr.; grandmother of Sgt. Paul John Kafka, (Jenny); great-grandmother of Sierra, Josh, Jacob and Sammy. Relatives and friends may call at the BEALL FUNERAL HOME, 6512 N.W. Crain Highway (route 3 south), Bowie, MD on Friday, December 26, 2003, from 10 A.M. to 12 noon, where Funeral Service will begin at 12 noon. Interment in Arlington National Cemetery, January 2, 2004.

Some quick thinking by All-Metro forward Brittany Tegeler and the quick hands of goalkeeper Julie Kafka helped No. 2 McDonogh to a 1-1 overtime tie against No. 7 St. Mary's yesterday in Annapolis. The Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference showdown had a little bit of everything in the 100 minutes played, but consecutive minutes in the middle of the first half stood out the most. After the defending league champion Saints (6-1-1, 0-1-1 in the league) opened the scoring on a header from Jamie Latta, set up by an ideal cross from Alison Reinhart in the 20th minute, Tegeler wasted no time to reply to get the Eagles (7-4-1, 1-1-1)