We are sure that the warm weather will return in time for Festifools when we team up with our awesome partners at 826michigan for a robot invasion! Join us at the Downtown Library this Sunday, April 1 at 2:00-3:45 to make a ridiculous costume and then we will parade down Liberty and meet up with the giant puppets in the alley. The foolery begins at 4:00 pm and we will be right in the middle of it all! Happy spring!

The Taubman Health Sciences Library at the University of Michigan will host the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s traveling exhibition, Deadly Medicine: Creating the Master Race. The exhibition illustrates how Nazi leadership enlisted people in professions traditionally charged with healing and the public good, to legitimize persecution, murder and, ultimately, genocide.

Internationally acclaimed poet Anne Waldman, co-founded with Allen Ginsberg, the celebrated Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado and is the author of more than 40 books. On April 13th and 14th, Waldman will be visiting Ann Arbor on behalf of the One Pause Poetry Series. The events will take place at METAL, at 220 Felch Street in downtown Ann Arbor.

Waldman, active in the Beat Poetry, New York School, and Black Mountain movements, is an integral member of the "Outrider" experimental poetry community, a culture she has helped create and nurture for over four decades as writer, editor, teacher, performer, magpie scholar, and cultural/political activist. Her work is energetic, passionate, panoramic, and fierce at times. Publishers Weekly recently referred to Waldman as "a counter-cultural giant." Waldman will be reading from The Iovis Trilogy: Colors in the Mechanism of Concealment (Coffee House Press, 2011), a 25-year project in the making.

The schedule for the events is as follows:
April 13, 7-9pm: Reading with Anne Waldman. Reception and book-signing to follow.
April 14, 10:30am-noon: Conversations with Poets: Anne Waldman. One Pause Director Sarah Messer interviews Anne Waldman on her approach to poetry. This interview will be recorded and archived as a part of the One Pause Archive Project.

All readings and conversations are free and open to the public.

One Pause Poetry is part of the nonprofit arts organization Copper Colored Mountain Arts, which serves Southeastern Michigan and is sponsored by the Michigan Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation.

For half a century now, the end of March has meant one thing to Ann Arbor: the Ann Arbor Film Festival. This year's 50th festival will be both a celebration of that half-century history and the opportunity to see the latest in experimental and independent cinema that AAFF has always been. In this podcast, AAFF Executive Director Donald Harrison talks with us about the process of planning the 50th, deciding what films to highlight from the festival's history and what artists to bring back. We also talk about the new work on offer this year and some of the events around town that Ann Arborites can look forward to. The 50th Ann Arbor Film Festival runs from March 27 - April 1, 2012.

To learn more about the history of the Ann Arbor Film Festival, visit the Ann Arbor Film Festival Archive, a collaboration between AADL and AAFF that brings historic festival programs, posters, flyers, newspaper articles, and photos together with contemporary interviews to tell the story of AAFF's first 50 years.

Two exciting theater productions are opening this spring. At Purple Rose in Chelsea, check out White Buffalo a world premiere by Don Zolidis running March 29 - June 2. Directed by Guy Sanville, the play follows the spiritual outpourings and moral choices brought on by the Sioux-prophecy-fulfilling birth of a white buffalo on a farm. There is adult language and content in this story of forgiveness, hope, and belonging.

At Performance Network, check out The Michigan premiere of "Red" by John Logan which runs April 19 - May 27. The Tony-winning play is about the fiery abstract expressionist painter Mark Rothko and his struggle to bring forth what would ultimately be his life's greatest achievement. Bravo!

Jennifer Holm is the author of several critically acclaimed books for children and young adults, including three novels that have received the prestigious Newbery Honor: Our Only May Amelia, Turtle In Paradise, and Penny From Heaven. Holm is also recognized for her popular youth graphic novel series, Babymouse.

Holm will be participating in the Sarah Marwil Lamstein Children's Literature Lecture as a part of the Zell Visiting Writers Series on March 29th, 2012. The event starts at 5:10pm and will be located in the The Helmut Stern Auditorium on the ground floor of the University of Michigan's Museum of Art (UMMA) at 525 South State Street on the U-M's Central Campus.

Admission is free and open to the public.

Joel Salatin, the well-known organic farmer, will be coming to Ann Arbor's Michigan Theater on Tuesday, April 24th by way of the People's Food Co-op of Ann Arbor (PFC), to "share how his farm serves as a prototype to the way local food can lead to our agricultural, environmental, and nutritional salvation. Noting that our food system now faces challenges in biosecurity, food safety, energy, integrity, and humane animal husbandry, he will explain how local production, processing, distribution, and patrons in the Ann Arbor area can reshape our food future."

Salatin's ideas and progress in the world of sustainable farming have been featured in Michael Pollan’s bestselling book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, in the documentary films Food, Inc. and Fresh, and also in his very own books, Folks, this Ain't Normal and Holy Cows and Hog Heaven. "Since his cutting-edge sustainable farm, Polyface Inc., began inspiring people throughout the world, his charismatic nature and ability to produce provocative and poignant proclamations about the unfortunate state of our food system have made him one of the most influential voices in the sustainable food movement today."

The event will take place at the Michigan Theater in Downtown Ann Arbor on Tuesday, April 24th, 2012 from 8pm to 10pm. Tickets are $15 for the General Public, and $13 for Students & PFC Members. Available at ticketmaster.com or surcharge-free at the People's Food Co-op of Ann Arbor.

Craving LEGOS? Join the community of Ann Arbor for some FREE Lego fun at the 2012 Brick Bash!

The event will feature displays of Lego creations crafted by talented Lego hobbyists from near and far! Even you can get in on the fun - there will be tables piled high with thousands of LEGO, Duplo, and Bionicle pieces for you to craft your very own creations. In addition, Bricks for Brains will have fun and educational building projects for everyone to take part in. For more information, see the list of featured exhibits and activities.

The event will take place at Morris Lawrence Building on the campus of the Washtenaw Community College in Ann Arbor, Michigan and last all day Saturday, March 24th from 11am to 6pm. Both admission and parking are free!

To better assist patients and their families and friends, the University of Michigan Health System has created a phone line to help connect people to memory loss and dementia services and information. The phone number for this new service, the U-M Memory Connection, is (734) 936-8803. Trained professionals who understand conditions related to memory and/or thinking changes such as Alzheimer’s disease, Lewy Body disease and vascular dementia are available to answer calls Monday through Friday, 8:30 am to 4:00 pm.

Saturday March 17, 2012: 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm -- Downtown Library: Multi-Purpose Room

It's almost time for the FestiFools parade, Ann Arbor's annual downtown street party filled with "huge-mongous" papier-mâché puppets, foot stompin' music, roaming robots, and a whole lot of fun. FestiFools is a local organization bringing students and community volunteers together to create unique public art that is free and accessible to everyone.

This year, FestiFools needs your help! Head to the downtown library this Saturday to help put the finishing touches on Barrie, FestiFools' super long Bookworm! Please be ready to get messy and have a good time. Once Barrie is constructed, help us bring him to life at the FestiFools parade on Sunday, April 1.

Need some inspiration? Visit the FestiFools website!

This event is for grades K-5.