New Directions

The current exhibition at Lawrence Oliver Gallery exemplifies the kind of work one so often encounters at this gallery, which specializes in artists striking out in new directions. Tim Rollins, whose painterly interpretations of Franz Kafka's novel Amerika made up the cover story last month in Artforum magazine, here displays newer work relating to Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter and Herman Melville's Moby-Dick. By featuring added paint touches over paste-ups of book pages, these works provide an exciting contrast of artistic expression and literary undertone.

New Year's Day is my favorite holiday. It's the day that commands everyone's attention, the dawning of a brand-new year. Starting with the frenzied and electrifying countdown before midnight, we launch ourselves forward, relinquishing all thoughts of the past. We express renewed hope for a bright future and wonder what the year - 2008 this time - will hold for us. Our body clocks signal thoughts about new projects, fresh starts or new directions. Some people develop ingenious resolutions, which eventually fizzle out. Other folks set goals, begin diets, and sign up for gym memberships, which often go by the wayside.

With a cast of talented comic performers presenting shrewdly selected humorous material from the past, 1812 Productions is again making this the season to be jolly. In the last two seasons, the local troupe offered Big Time: Vaudeville for the Holidays, a show that had very little to do with the holidays, but was loads of fun for the audiences who flocked to The Adrienne to see it. This season's new production, Like Crazy Like Wow: '50s Humor With a Holiday Twist, has just about as little to do with the season as its predecessors, is just as much fun, and should prove just as popular.

By Roberto Bolaño New Directions. 144 pp. $22.95. By Roberto Bolaño New Directions. 96 pp. $15.95. By Roberto Bolaño New Directions. 208 pp. $23.95. By Roberto Bolaño New Directions. 176 pp. $22.95. Reviewed by John Timpane 'An extraordinary malaise was lurking in the most trivial details. " This perplexing, frightening thought, in the mind of a love-smitten hypnotist as he walks the streets of late-1930s Paris, is from Monsieur Pain , a short novel written in 1982 by the Chilean (and sometimes Spanish, and sometimes Mexican)

Police yesterday were investigating the death of a 14-year-old boy who died at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia less than an hour after being taken there from a group home in West Philadelphia for children with severe mental and behavioral disabilities. Donderey Rogers was pronounced dead at 5:38 p.m. Tuesday following a physical encounter with four members of the staff of a New Directions group home at 4251 Walnut St., police said. Police and representatives from the Philadelphia Department of Human Services, which had custody of the boy, said initial information indicated Rogers had been held down by four staff members after an aggressive outburst and had stopped breathing while under restraint.

We will have discipline, patience, devotion and courage. We will live as models to provide new directions for our people. We will be free and self-determining. - The African Pledge SIXTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS For a child is born to us, a son is given us; upon his shoulder dominion rests. They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-forever, Prince of Peace. - Isaiah 9:6 Suggestion: Today might be a good day to gather the good memories of the year gone by. Create a scrapbook of the year or a journal.

Within the United States and the Soviet Union, the challenges of urban development are strikingly similar. Decaying infrastructures, limited resources and bureaucratic ineptness all combine to place cities, and nations, in crisis. The need to bring governmental decision-making closer to residents is critical in both countries. The role of leadership is equally vital, providing the impetus for new directions and more responsive governmental service. While the challenges are fundamental, differences in systems, economies and experiences suggest that the paths to reform in each country will vary.

The Democratic Policy Commission, which has spent the last year trying to figure out what it means to be a Democrat in the 1980s, held its last meeting here this weekend. There was not a hint of bitterness among the participants. There was hardly any debate. One reason is that the policy commission's report, which is still being drafted, is expected to be extremely general, providing little cause for argument. A second reason is that most of 100 commission members, nearly all of them elected officials, did not attend.

To reduce the number of unintentional pregnancies, the federal government is asking that the directions for taking birth control pills be simplified and standardized. About 250,000 of the 10.7 million women who take oral contraceptives in the United States become pregnant each year, mostly because they fail to take their daily dose or use backup precautions when initiating treatment, according to the National Academy of Sciences. "A surprising number of women face unwanted pregnancies each year simply because they were confused by the instructions or did not read them," said Linda Potter, senior researcher at Family Health International.

For those hardy souls eager to buy and restore an old house, the Preservation Coalition of Greater Philadelphia has just the thing to help you over the hurdles. It's called "Your Old House: Researching, Maintaining, Financing and Protecting Your Investment. " It's a folder chock-full of useful and timely information for those who believe that older homes are worth every minute and every penny you put into them. The booklet covers everything from finding out how old the house is to where to buy the plaque for the front door when you're finished.

TRIPOLI, Libya - Members of Libya's interim ruling council are trying to work out the makeup of a new government after deciding to remove the country's cabinet just five months after it took office, members said Friday. Leadership of the National Transitional Council appeared hesitant and shaken, as it failed to come up with an official announcement over the ouster of the cabinet. The council's spokesman, Mohammed al-Hareizi, denied that the NTC had sacked the government, while other members said the decision has been made but it is pending an agreement on replacing the cabinet.

Question: I'm hoping you could share your thoughts on using gifts as a platform to give a well-meaning nudge in a new life direction. My adult daughter (now in her 30s) has been something of a disappointment in terms of her career development. Most other members of the family of her generation are extremely successful doctors, lawyers, executives, etc. She is a midlevel manager, and, although she has a good income and clearly enjoys her job, she doesn't seem terribly ambitious.

Too many writers bank on early success and never expand their literary boundaries. Madi Distefano sprang onto the nascent Philadelphia theater scene in the mid-1990s and for a dozen years slashed her pen across the page in epic, edgy scripts about burnt-out youths chasing dreams of punk superstardom. Fifteen years later, she's set a different task. After staging small-cast, quick-costume-change shows like Greater Tuna and The Mystery of Irma Vep , Distefano has penned a quick-changer of her own in Meanwhile ... , now in its world premiere with Brat Productions.

ARIES (March 21-April 19). Your dilemma seems serious to you. Make notes about what you are going through now so that you may avoid the same situation later. TAURUS (April 20-May 20). You'll prepare for an upcoming presentation. It seems that every time you practice your pitch, it gets better. GEMINI (May 21-June 21). You read the body language of those around you. When they want to talk, you're a listening ear. And when they want to be alone, you give them space. CANCER (June 22-July 22)

If you're the type who has followed Philadelphia thespians around the local theater map, you've noticed one actor very nearly stuck - happily - in one location for 11 years: Fran Prisco. Though he made his Walnut Street Theatre debut in the 2000 production of Singin' in the Rain , it's within the last several years that Prisco truly has become the genial face of America's oldest theater with a series of handsomely reviewed comic roles. "From the singing Hitler wannabe in The Producers , to the not-so-suave chief of police in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels , to the small-time gangster in Born Yesterday , Fran has really lit up our stage in roles large and small," says Kate Galvin, the Walnut's casting director for the last six years.

The civic organization founded, funded, and then ripped off by disgraced former State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo will live on. Created by Fumo under the name Citizens' Alliance for Better Neighborhoods, it emerged Tuesday with a new name, a new executive director, and a renewed commitment to assisting fast-gentrifying Passyunk Avenue, east of Broad Street. The renamed Passyunk Avenue Revitalization Corp. will be headed by Sam Sherman Jr., an experienced housing developer who is to be paid $77,800 yearly and work a four-day week.

By Roberto Bolaño New Directions. 144 pp. $22.95. By Roberto Bolaño New Directions. 96 pp. $15.95. By Roberto Bolaño New Directions. 208 pp. $23.95. By Roberto Bolaño New Directions. 176 pp. $22.95. Reviewed by John Timpane 'An extraordinary malaise was lurking in the most trivial details. " This perplexing, frightening thought, in the mind of a love-smitten hypnotist as he walks the streets of late-1930s Paris, is from Monsieur Pain , a short novel written in 1982 by the Chilean (and sometimes Spanish, and sometimes Mexican)

The latest painting show, "Jan Lipes 2010," at Gratz Gallery defines a new direction for the Bucks County artist. Lipes, a former emergency-room physician at Doylestown Hospital, developed a considerable following among art collectors in the region. He became a full-time artist to support his family after he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, and clinical work became impossible for him. For three years, the artist has put aside his popular, once-a-year solo shows to explore art's adventurous side.

The aim of medicine is, above all else, to do no harm. But one must wonder if that will be the case with a new medical recommendation on the detection of breast cancer. For years, experts widely agreed that mammograms beginning at age 40 provided the best way for early detection of breast cancer. But new guidelines released this week by an important federal task force recommend a drastic change and raise new questions about the benefits of testing and exams. The panel says women don't need mammograms until they're 50 and then only every other year, not annually.

David Gray says he knew something was amiss with his career when "the best job you could ever wish for" - that of a successful singer-songwriter - left him feeling "a bit jaded. " "I needed to make some massive changes," Gray, 41, said by phone recently. "I had to take a wrecking ball to what was there and start again. " Despite the financial and creative freedom that came in the wake of his recorded-at-home breakthrough album, 2001's White Ladder, Gray said he found himself in a psychological "hall of mirrors.