Dan Webster

As a Vogon poet might say, "O Frettled Gruntbuggly, thy micturations are to me, As plurdled gabbleblotchits on a lurgid bee." Or something like that. Hearing such jabber is the fate of the more unfortunate characters in Douglas Adams' radio play/BBC miniseries/novel series and now big-screen motion picture, "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy."

The last poem has been read, the last workshop taught, the last toast offered up and the last special guest given a round of applause. Yes, Get Lit! is over for another year. The annual Inland Northwest Literary Arts Festival has done a lot for the regional literary scene, bringing in writers such as Kurt Vonnegut and Salman Rushdie, David Sedaris and Sarah Vowell to read from their respective works. But what about the rest of the year? Does Spokane, this central part of that amorphous mass we call the Inland Northwest, have what it takes to attract the best-known writers on a regular basis?

On any list of the top action stars in Hollywood history, Errol Flynn has to rank at or near the top. From the beginning of his career, which actually started in his sixth film, 1935's "Captain Blood," the 26-year-old Australian-born Flynn displayed the looks, the cockiness, the ability with a sword and, most of all, the charisma that an action star needs.

Vince Camden is someone we all know. He may bag our groceries, rotate our tires, mow our lawns or serve us doughnuts. Whatever he does, he's one of the faceless guys who is part of our life without our even noticing.

As in the past seven years, entries to the 2005 Spokesman-Review Limericks Contest came from just about everywhere. They came from Grand Coulee and Oakesdale, Ione and Tekoa, Kettle Falls and Otis Orchards, Priest River and Coeur d'Alene. One entry came from Elmer City, Wash., a town just north of Coulee Dam, while another came from as far away as – no kidding – Baton Rouge, La. They came from second-graders and grandparents. They came both from self-professed experts on limerick style and those who took on the task just for the fun of it. They came from veterans of past contests and from first-timers. Since this year's topic involved food and the Inland Northwest, there were lots of references to local eateries. But the entrants also managed to hit other popular topics: mad cow disease, meth labs, Pig Out in the Park, lentils and Beano, huckleberry hunting and the dangers posed by bears, Division Street strip malls and, as always, former City Councilman Steve Eugster. As an act of kindness, we've decided to leave brother Eugster in peace. There were only 157 entrants this year, far below last year's record 371. And the 304 limericks they composed can't compare with the 716 coughed up in 2004. But as any quick look at Hollywood box-office numbers will show, quantity isn't necessarily tied to quality. And so we'll let the work created by this year's top finishers speak for itself.

When it comes to the annual Spokesman-Review Oscar contest, once a winner, always a winner. At least that's true when it comes to Spokane's Megan Albertus.

Pete Fromm is a Montana writer who isn't from Montana. That was clear the first time someone talked to him about needing to cut "cords" of wood.

HERE IS WHAT the Spokane International Film Festival, which continues its eight-day run tonight at the River Park Square Cinemas, is not. It's not Sundance. It's not Cannes. It's not Toronto nor Berlin. What the SpIFF is, though, is a festival that boasts a 15-film lineup good enough to compete with any of the festivals listed. It's easy to navigate, it's easy to get tickets for, it plays in a theater that boasts comfortable seats with good sight lines and, maybe most of all, it's a sign that Spokane may have grown up culturally – at least in terms of filmgoing.

Boasting films from as far away as India, with themes as diverse as young love to capital punishment, the Spokane International Film Festival begins its eight-day run today at the River Park Square Cinemas. This year's festival, which is sponsored by the Contemporary Arts Alliance, boasts 15 feature films and eight shorts, making this the biggest event in the festival's seven-year history.

When you "Meet the Fockers," which you'll have the chance to do on Wednesday, you'll experience a clash between two families – one headed by former CIA operative Jack Byrnes (Robert De Niro), the other featuring Jack's soon-to-be son-in-law Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) and his eccentric parents, Bernie and Roz (Dustin Hoffman, Barbra Streisand). –Dan Webster, staff writer