Buzz Bin

That's a Rap


All those trucks and trailers in the Logan neighborhood last week? It was Snoop Dogg et al. filming The Golden Door, a doorman-and-girl-in-New-York-meet-cute movie that releases next June.





In one sequence, Snoop was one of four people staring through a picket fence right at... a green screen that blocked out Spokane's urban outlines in favor of what movie magic will no doubt transform into a Manhattan skyline. At scene's end, Snoop was joined by a couple of bodyguards and his "spiritual advisor" Don "Magic" Juan, sporting a teal zoot suit and drinking out of a golden chalice -- just as Mr. Juan does on the cover of his hip-hop debut, Green Is for the Money, Gold Is for the Honeys. Good thing, then, that Snoop gave up pimping to spend more time with his family -- no, for real -- and on the advice of other pimps. Meanwhile, the columns of the Masonic Temple are apparently going to stand in for some Gotham financial palace or other.





We're pretty sure that The Golden Door marks the first time that Calvin Broadus Jr., an ex-Mrs. Tom Cruise (Mimi Rogers) and Ellen Travolta have ever appeared together (well, in the credits).





Points for Artistic Merit


On Monday night, the Spokane Arts Commission presented Spokane Arts Awards to Peter Hardie (individual artist), Inland Crafts (arts organization), Get Lit! (arts in education), Sue Bradley (individual benefactor), Spokane Teachers Credit Union (business benefactor), Troy Nickerson (arts community leadership), and Peter Thomas (special achievement... in dinosaurs!). Congratulations to all.





Poetry Slam


Spit your rhymes (well, of the hip-less and hop-less variety) at Empyrean's Poetry Slam next Thursday, Oct. 11, starting at 7 pm. Just $5 to enter, and you might win eight times that amount. Call 838-9819.





Desolate, Untouched


Donald Revell, a poet who lives in Las Vegas but teaches creative writing at the University of Utah, is coming to GU's Cataldo Hall Globe Room on Tuesday at 7:30 pm. His poem "My Mojave" takes a bleak desert scene and, in breathtaking fashion, transforms it into a symbol of the soul's longing for God. Call 323-6681.