2005 Damfino Convention News

From: PatriciaTobias RemoveThis @aol.com
Date: Wed, 24 Aug 2005 10:34:39 EDT

Wake up, jazz babies!  The Damfinos are proud to present the 11th
Annual International Buster Keaton Society Conference (aka the Damfinos
Convention), October 7th & 8th, 2005!  This year we'll return to beautiful
Muskegon, Michigan, and
the inviting Shoreline Hotel, for a weekend of laughter & learning.

After registration at the Shoreline on Friday from 10am to 12:30pm, the
Conference will open at Muskegon's historic Union Depot--the train station
from which the Keaton family themselves arrived in town for the vacation
season.  Following the Welcome Reception will be a group tour of Bluffton,
the former Actors' Colony founded in part by Joe Keaton, where the Keatons,
Joe Roberts, and others kept summer homes.  Weather permitting, we'll also
have a little bit of baseball to warm us up and get us into the Buster
spirit!

After supper, we'll reconvene for some unusual Keaton clips: television
appearances, and other surprises.  But watch out, all you night owls; the
Saturday schedule is packed with presentations and more rare Keaton,
beginning at 9am.  Giving talks this year will be Eryn Merwart on Buster
Keaton in Canada; David Pearson on "Dogs, Detectives, and Dreams": some
on-going mysteries of the Keaton silent classics; costume designer Peggy
Rosefeldt with an analysis of women's costuming in
Buster Keaton's films--and David Macleod with a surprise discussion.

Following the presentations will be the annual Damfinos auction of rare and
one-of-a-kind Keaton film memorabilia, books, art, and more.

Then it's time to dress for the evening: a Banquet will be held in the
Gallery of the Frauenthal Arts Center, after which we'll cross the lobby to
the glorious, restored Frauenthal Theatre itself for the
night's films on the big screen.  This year, in conjunction with the
Muskegon Arts & Humanities Festival theme of Technology and Humanity, we're
celebrating the range of BK's silent career: showing "The Butcher Boy"
(1917)--his first film, and, of course, first silent, before jumping ahead
an amazing twelve years to "Spite Marriage" (1929)--his last silent movie.

After the films, and once the Theatre empties out, the stage is ours for the
annual Speakeasy party!  Dance until midnight, sing around the Steinway
concert grand piano, have a glass of wine or beer, bid on silent auction
items, or just take in the huge, brilliant, antique atmosphere while talking
with fellow scholars.

Please join us for a spectacular weekend in Muskegon!

Don't forget: A late fee of $25 is charged if you register after Sept. 1

Download a registration form from the NEWS page on www.busterkeaton.com.