February 09, 2007
Love may be something to sing about, but what if you can’t carry a tune? Hire someone to do the serenading for you. Singer-songwriter Corey Dargel will write and perform a 3-4 minute, custom-built love song for your lover, friend, family member, pet, whomever. Kurt finds out how Corey creates his commissions – and he announces a contest in which listeners can win their own custom, musical valentine.
Love songs aren’t just for lovers. Corey Dargel writes tributes for family members too – like this one, for a friend whose mother was suffering from Alzheimers.
There’s something of a formula to Hollywood’s most successful romantic comedies – it includes a scene screenwriters call the “meet cute.” That’s when “boy meets girl,” often in a surprising, memorable way that could only lead to true love. Produced by Jonathan Mitchell.
Millions turn to online dating sites for the perfect match. But with so many people looking for love online, some people want extra help to give their profiles an edge. Enter screenwriter Evan Katz. He turned his talent for writing plausible, lovable fictional characters into a for-profit business getting real dates for real people. He calls his business E-Cyrano, as in Cyrano of Bergerac. Although Katz doesn’t have the giant nose. Lori Gottlieb tells the story.
In a poetry class at an adult learning center on Chicago’s North Side, the teacher Susan House usually keeps things fairly subdued. But when former gang member Sifredo Torres walked in, his eyes met those of Diana Giraldo, and sparks flew. From that moment on, every word Torres wrote expressed devotion. Produced by Amy Dorn and Alex Kotlowitz.
Avant-garde composer and vocalist Diamanda Galás brings her “Valentine’s Day Massacre” to the Knitting Factory in New York City later this week. The concert is billed as a “spellbinding night of tragic and homicidal love songs.” Enough said. Produced by Trey Kay.
In 2000, Dave Eggers became the literary voice of his generation with the memoir A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. But in his latest work, Eggers chose to channel a very different voice. What is the What tells a fictionalized version of the real life of Valentino Achak Deng, a young man who fled the Sudanese genocide. Kurt talks with Deng and Eggers about their collaboration.
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