Dan Webster

If you're not doing anything else at 9:30 a.m. all through this summer, you might want to take in some free movies at the Garland Dollar Theater. The discount movie house, located at the corner of Monroe and Garland, is offering a series of morning movies that begins on Monday with the Oscar-nominated feature "Babe" and continues through Aug. 30.

Matt Frewer protrays the computer genius Jobe in "Lawnmower Man 2." Photo by Robert Zuckerman/New Line Cenema

"Babe" will open the Garland Theater's free-movie program.

"Trainspotting" stars (from left) Ewen Bremner, Ewan McGregor and Robert Carlyle. Photo by Associated Press

In the literature of geography, Kim Barnes could be called the poet laureate of the Clearwater River. Then again, that's just the kind of overheated imagery that tends to give poets a bad name. Whatever, there's little of the overheated feel to Barnes' book "In the Wilderness: Coming of Age in Unknown Country" (Doubleday, 258 pages, $22.50), which she will read from in Spokane on Monday (see Reader Board below). It is a memoir tied very closely to the rural forest lands adjacent to (and including) Lewiston.

Nicolas Cage and Elizabeth Shue star in "Leaving Las Vegas."

As a fitting end to Spokane's Gay Pride Week, the annual Gay Pride Parade will be held at noon Sunday in downtown Spokane. Parade participants should gather in the parking lot of the Spokane Civic Theatre at 11 a.m. The march will end in Riverfront Park.

Hanna Ippisch, author of "Sky, a True Story of Resistance During World War II," will read from her book at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Children's Corner Bookshop, 714 W. Main (on the Skywalk level). Ippisch, who runs a bed and breakfast in Missoula, was just 17 when she joined the Dutch Resistance to fight against German occupation. Her book reads like a young girl's diary, complete with photos of family and friends.

In a summer season that depends on the bing, bang and boom of special effects, it's fitting that Disney should bring back last winter's computer animated "Toy Story." But instead of killer tornadoes, killer spies or just killers, period, "Toy Story" is a kid's adventure tale that invites you to take it just as seriously, or as childishly, as you want.

1. Elaine Gere and her two sons, Joe, left, and Mike are part of Jack Olsen's new book "Salt of the Earth" about Brenda, Gere's oldest child, who was murdered. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review 2. Jack Olsen will read from his book "Salt of the Earth" at 7:30 tonight at Auntie's Bookstore, Main and Washington, Spokane.

Imagine, if you will: You come to work one morning and, even before you take your first sip of coffee, a guy in your office tells you that one of your mutual coworkers has died. The news hits you hard. In fact, you seriously consider going home sick. But, no, there's work to be done. The Monday report is due, and there's that group project your boss has been asking about with growing impatience. Going home is impractical, if not downright foolish.

(Photo from film)

It was one of those beautiful Spokane late afternoons - sunny, blue sky dotted with a billowing cloud collage, just enough of a nip in the air to remind you that these are, indeed, the northern latitudes. It was beautiful and, let's face it, somewhat atypical for the first of June.

If you watched the television version of Jess Walter's book "Every Knee Shall Bow," you've got the movie producers' view not only of what happened but also of what the characters looked like. As if Laura Dern and Randy Quaid, both of whom would tower over the average person, could ever pass in real life for the diminuitive Randy and the late Vicki Weaver. No matter how close the movie comes in many respects to what Walter wrote in his book, the book still is the most comprehensive and accurate record of what went on during the violent standoff that occurred on a remote North Idaho mountaintop.

(Photo of Marleen Gorris)

Pierce Brosnan is 007 in "Goldeneye."

With Memorial Day weekend coming, there's no better time to visit Seattle. And there's no better time to take advantage of the 22nd Seattle International Film Festival. The month-long event, which kicked off May 16, will offer 48 different movie screenings Saturday through Monday. Add five more if you can get there by 9:30 tonight. Following are a few highlights: "I Can't Sleep" (tonight, 9:30 and Sunday, 12:30 p.m., Harvard Exit Up theater) - This French study of a serial killer by Clair Denis was called "one of 1995's 10 best" by Village Voice critic Georgia Brown.

(From For the Record, Friday, May 24, 1996:) The Salsapalooza Latin Jazz Festival will be held Sunday from noon to 10 p.m. outside the library at Spokane Falls Community College. The date was wrong in an IN Life story Thursday. Poncho Sanchez headlines the Latin jazz festival.

"Bodystat: How to Reset Your Fat Thermostat Permanently" (Viking, 386 pages, $22.95)

Senior citizens enjoy a lot of benefits, thanks to the seniors program run by the Community College of Spokane's Institute of Extended Learning. On Wednesday and Thursday, for example, two full days worth of senior-oriented talks, workshops, demonstrations and presentations will be held at the RSVP Fair at the Convention Center. Among the events offered, several will be author-related, including: Florence Boutwell will present her two-volume history of the Spokane Valley at 10:15 a.m. Wednesday.

In the June issue of Men's Health magazine, writer Greg Gutfeld sets out to debunk several of what he calls myths that have been passed on as contemporary cultural truths. Among them: 1, Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. "Really?" Gutfeld asks. "Then please tell us why Playboy playmates are surprisingly uniform in shape and size." He goes on to quote Dr. Michael Cunningham, a psychologist from the University of Louisville.

1. Arnold Schwarzenegger is armed for action in "The Eraser," coming to theaters on June 21. Vanessa Williams plays the damsel in distress. 2. Emanuelle Beart and Tom Cruise are sure to bring box-office paybacks with "Mission: Impossible." 3. Get your sci-fi thrills with "Independence Day." 4. Demi Moore stars in "Strip Tease."

James Stewart was up against political chicanery in "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington."

1. Katie Montoya makes the most of plastic shower curtain rings. 2. Velma L. Smith found an easy way to flavor coffee. 3. Alive N. Norland is quick to polish white canvas shoes after they're washed. 4. Sharon Enterline always can find a safety pin in a pinch.