Movies for Locals Only

Green Apple is pleased to be offering two new DVDs that you won't find on Netflix. These are truly local stories.

First is the awe-inspiring story of several Lakota people's journey From the Badlands to Alcatraz. Local swimmer and pediatrician Nancy Iverson, inspired by the terrible public health on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota, launched a program to help them reclaim their health and spiritual power by swimming from Alcatraz. They have a mere six days to train. One of them has never been in the water before. . . .

The movie is a well-done documentary, moving and inspirational. You will likely reconsider your limitations after seeing this film. $19.95 in-store only.

Next up is Remembering Playland at the Beach, the story of the Fun House (remember that slide?), Laffing Sal, the Diving Bell, and, of course, the Big Dipper. This film showed to packed houses at the Balboa Theater recently, and we sold out of our first shipment, but reinforcements should be here shortly. Take a trip to the foggy west end of yesteryear in San Francisco. $19.95 in-store only.

Signed Copies of our "Book of the Month" in stock!

Tom McCarthy whirlwinded by the store today to sign copies of his Man Booker Prize-shortlisted and, more prestigiously (ahem) Green Apple-selected "Book of the Month," C this afternoon. Come get yours before they're gone!

Calendars are here

It's officially fall.

While we're still organizing them and need to tidy up the rest of the mezzanine, we have about 1,000 2011 calendars for your perusal. It's annually the best selection in San Francisco. But the best calendars sell out first, so come while the pickin's are ripe!

Poem of the Week by Zbigniew Herbert

It's the last week of summer (and the fog has burned off on Clement Street); let's start the week off with a few prose poems from The Collected Poems of Zbigniew Herbert (Ecco Press, 2008).

CAT

It's completely black, but has an electric tail. When it sleeps in the sun it's the blackest thing you can possibly imagine. Even in its sleep it catches frightened little mice. You can tell by the claws that grow from its paws. It's terribly winsome and wicked. It swipes nestlings from the tree before they're ripe.

SEAMSTRESS

It has been raining all morning. The woman from across the street is to be buried. The seamstress. She dreamed of a wedding ring but died with a thimble on her finger. Everyone thinks this is funny. Respectable rain is darning the sky to the earth. But nothing will come of that either.

MOON

I don't understand how you can write poems about the moon. It's fat and slovenly. It picks the noses of chimneys. Its favorite thing to do is climb under the bed and sniff at your shoes.