Tuesday, crossroads of culture

The World Series starts Wednesday, and as our loins quiver in anticipation of a Philadelphia Phillies championship we can bide our time indulging in a rich cultural Tuesday around the Beach.

You can begin your evening at the North Beach Library, where poets Neeli Cherkovski and Bill Berkson will read from their work as part of the library's regular Tuesday night poets' program. Cherkovski, who is also an editor, is the biographer of both Charles Bukowski and Lawrence Ferlinghetti. Berkson, a teacher and critic, has published 16 books and pamphlets of poetry.

Now you're warmed up to swing by Live Worms Gallery for something completely different. Eclectic artists Torrey Nommesen and Scott Blake are moving in for a one-night-only show, Nommesen displaying his Lego mosaics and Blake featuring his Bar Code installation. The show runs from 5 to 10 p.m., so you can hit 'em before the library reading, if you prefer. Rather than attempt a feeble description of what to expect, go to Nommesen's blog and check it out for yourself. You can also find out about Nommesen's other upcoming North Beach appearances. This guy's all over the map artistically, so each show is different from the last.

Then cap things off at Specs, the venerable North Beach watering hole, where the city's most recent poet laureate, Jack Hirschman, will be celebrating the publication of his latest work, Look a Hear, a collection of jazz poems. That one starts at 8:30, and there is alcohol on the premises.

Thus sated, you can plop yourself guilt-free in front of the TV beginning Wednesday and watch the Fightin' Phils toy with the hapless representative of the Designated Hitter League.