Dan Webster

Ursula Hegi

1. "I wrote the book to preserve the voice of miners," says "Fire in the Hole" author Jerry Dolph. The book includes stories and photos of area hardrock mining. Photo by Dan McComb/The Spokesman-Review 2. After hauling in a cap on a timber-truck, a nipper prepares to raise it up the timber slide to waiting miners.

It's a chilly evening, but the room feels cozy. Wine and coffee are flowing, flames flutter in the woodstove and a nearby table features edible treats of all shapes and tantalizing scents. The eight women who have gathered in this comfortable Deer Park-area home drink, eat and engage in conversation, not always in that order. When they talk, they speak of careers, relationships, world affairs, the fluffy puppy that shambles in from the cold - all the minutiae that constitute their daily lives.

Two regional writers who boast contrasting careers, not to mention styles, will read from their most recent works in separate Spokane appearances on Saturday. Spokane novelist/family therapist Chris Crutcher, whose most recent young-adult offering is "Ironman," will read at 10 a.m. at the Children's Corner Bookshop, on the skywalk level of River Park Square.

Dustin Hoffman and Rene Russo in 'Outbreak.'

Meryl Streep and Kevin Bacon in "The River Wild."

Take the men's movement, mix in a dose of biblical scripture, and you have the spiritual phenomenon known as Promise Keepers. Formed in 1991 by former University of Colorado football coach Bill McCartney, Promise Keepers is an increasingly popular ministry that preaches the need for men to take responsibility for what, in a more political context, would be referred to as simple family values.

Melanie Griffith stars in "Milk Money."

It sometimes seems as if this is the Auntie's Bookstore publicity corner - at least it does where literary events are concerned. There's good reason for that perception. We do print more items relating to Auntie's than most other stores combined. It just so happens that Auntie's holds more readings, book-signings and other assorted book-related functions than anyplace else in the immediate region. But Auntie's doesn't own a monopoly on book news. For example, Spokane's Children's Corner Bookshop, which is located on the skywalk level of River Park Square, sponsors its own series of seasonal story-telling, book-signing and reading programs.

A recent issue of a national magazine (whose name now escapes me) invited readers to meet a few members of the august Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The good news: Rodney Dangerfield was not among them. The bad news: Mickey Rourke and Don Rickles were.

"The Lion King" is in the Disney tradition of great animation.

Following is a familiar scenario from your typical relationship. It's taken from "Men & Women: Enjoying the Difference" by psychologist Larry Crabb. "A good friend recently told me about the time he and his wife were taking a walk in the woods," Crabb writes. "He was carrying their infant daughter in a backpack. As he approached a steep hill, his wife, walking a few feet behind, called out, `Be careful!' "He felt instantly irritated." Why irritation? Any man could tell you in an instant.

Collections of newspaper columns are usually a good cure for insomnia. The reason: Removed from the immediate issues that inspired them, most columns have the shelf life of shellfish. But for 10 years now, Lewiston Tribune roving reporter David Johnson has been writing a column that is as readable now as it was the first time it appeared in print

Beat poetry is alive and well in Spokane. At least it will be at 7 p.m. Sunday when Terry Trueman and three Spokane Falls Community College colleagues perform an event titled "October, The Night Beat Was Born" at the Anaconda Restaurant, S510 Freya. Commemorating the first public reading of the poem "Howl" by Allen Ginsberg, which took place on Oct. 7, 1955, Sunday's event will feature the four performers reading in character.

Artist-turned-gallery owner Jennifer Salmi will celebrate the opening of Galaxy Gallery tonight with a public reception from 5 to 9 at the gallery, located on the third level of Auntie's Bookstore, Main and Washington. Beverages, hors d'oeuvres and live music will be featured. The reception is free and open to the public.

For discriminating filmgoers, the Northwest is a cinematic paradise. Take, for example, what's on the menu of the 18th Portland International Film Festival, which runs through March 5. You'll find Oscar. Foreignlanguage entries "Before the Rain" (Macedonia) and "Strawberry and Chocolate" (Cuba) are both Academy Award nominees. You'll find diversity. Of the 50-some films scheduled to show over the festival's 16-day run, 33 countries are represented, and that's not counting the several to-beannounced showings.

Samuel L. Jackson stars in "Fresh" with Sean Nelson.

"The Brady Bunch Movie" is all about kids.

(Cover of "Field Guide to Mysterious Places of the West")

Helen Mirren, Nigel Hawthorne and Amanda Donohoe star in "The Madness of King George."

Adam Sandler stars in "Billy Madison."

"Barcelona" stars, from left, Taylor Nichols, Tushka Bergen, Chris Elgeman and Mira Sorvino

1. Jennifer Salmi stands in front of Jason Morrell's painting "And the River Ran Dry" at her Galaxy Gallery soon to open above Auntie's Bookstore. Photo by Sandra Bancroft-Billings/The Spokesman-Review 2. In addition to the work of other artists, Jennifer Salmi's Galaxy Gallery will feature her own painted furniture.

In the view of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, life really is like a box of chocolates. Mixed in with all those caramel-peanut clusters is the obligatory cherry-slug surprise.