Confucius: the Golden Rule is a biography of the ancient philosopher, Confucius. Although Confucius never wrote down his thoughts, followers recorded his teachings which are still relayed today. The French artist Clément’s elegant paintings of towns, temples and the bucktoothed Confucius himself have an ancient feel that perfectly sets the story.

Jada Pinkett Smith's poem Girls Hold Up This World comes alive with photographs of women and girls from all walks of life. The tender poem highlights the balance of feminine strength and compassion.

"The term 'outside artist' has never been so apropos, or so wistfully sad, as it is in the true case of Henry Darger, who spent his childhood in a home for 'feebleminded children' and his adulthood in near seclusion, working as a janitor and, in secret, on a 15,000-page epic novel with accompanying illustrations. Even those closest to him, relatively speaking--his landlady and a neighbor--did not know about his creative output until his death at the age of 81, after which his fantasy world came to light. Jessica Yu's In the Realms of the Unreal is an extraordinarily respectful documentary portrait of this strange, childlike man....highly recommended." (Video Librarian) Nominated for the 2004 Grand Jury Prize, Sundance Festival.

All Jacked Up by Gretchen Wilson is this week's no. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart and it is also no. 1 on Billboard's Country Albums chart. All Jacked Up topped her first cd Here for the Party in number of cd units sold the first week of sales.

In the no. 2 spot on this week's Billboard 200 chart is Wildflower by Sheryl Crow. Her 2002 title C'Mon, C'Mon also opened at the number two spot on the Billboard 200 Chart at the time of its debut.

Andre Anderson is the hoopster; he plays with skill and style. He also interns at a magazine, with aspirations to become a fulltime writer someday. When he writes an article on the topic of racism, he is praised and rewarded at work for his insights, but an extremist group takes offense and brutally attacks Andre. He struggles to re-group, heal and deal with his anger. JD Jackson narrates Andre's story with a dramatic flair. The author, Alan Lawrence Sitomer teaches English at an inner-city school.

What is the future of gas prices and gas availability?
Read these books to try to understand the situation.

Deffeyes, Kenneth Beyond Oil: the View from Hubbert’s Peak

Goodstein, David Out of Gas: the End of the Age of Oil

Heinberg, Richard The Party’s Over: Oil, War and the Fate of Industrial Societies

Klare, Michael Blood and Oil: the Dangers and Consequences of America’s Growing Petroleum Dependency

Roberts, Paul. The End of Oil: On the Edge of a Perilous New World

Simmons, Matthew Twilight in the Desert: the Coming Saudi Oil Shock and the World Economy

Develop an appreciation for the tree rats in your yard by reading these lovely accounts. Such Agreeable Friends: Life with a Remarkable Group of Urban Squirrels by Grace Marmor Spruch records her observations of the squirrels in Washington Square Park and of the one climbing the rubber plant inside her Greenwich Village apartment. Eugene Kinkead's Squirrel Book has wonderful squirrel stories that may convert us all to squirrel fanciers.

Fiona Apple released her third album this week titled Extraordinary Machine. So far it has gotten good reviews and is a #1 seller on Amazon.com. The CD is on order now, so get on the hold list!

Finally! You've waited years and now they're here. Critics generally give Swing Time the edge, but my favorites are Shall We Dance (if only for the Gershwin score and that goofy roller-skating routine) and Top Hat. The latter film also gets my vote for the best all-time dance sequence with "Cheek to Cheek": Fred's delivery, the choreography and that feather dress (see left) all conspire for a sequence of cinematic bliss so purely escapist it even features as a plot point in other films such as The English Patient, The Purple Rose of Cairo, and The Green Mile.

Even if you can't make the fifth annual Open to Art walk this weekend, there's plenty to ponder during a casual lunch-hour stroll downtown. Less than a block from the bus station on 4th Avenue, in "The God Show" at Gallery Project, you can catch a huge oil on canvas titled "American Fundamentalists (Christ's Entry into Washington in 2008)", artist Joel Pelletier's update of James Ensor's 1888 Christ's Entry into Brussels in 1889. Or, just across the street at the WSG Gallery on Liberty St., you can catch Death playing chess from Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal in Alvey Jones's "As Time Goes By: Scenes from Famous Motion Pictures".