Mummy's the Word

TUE 8/5You know that feeling when you come home from work and your house is a complete mess? You think to yourself, "Where the heck do I start?" That was the task of Thomas Hoving in 1967 when he was appointed director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Hoving had a much bigger house to clean, though. Upon hearing of Hoving's appointment, Mayor John Lindsay said, "Have you considered the boredom? Seems to me the place is dead. But, Hoving, you'll make the mummies dance." And indeed, he did. He recounts his sweeping reorganization and revolution of the museum during his ten-year stint in his memoirs, Making the Mummies Dance.He also takes the reader inside the high-society art scene: snobbish gallery owners, dilettantes, socialites, wealthy patrons and trustees, jealousy and intrigue, and all the juicy details of stuff you never knew went on at museums. At the end of his book, Hoving sums up his life's work: "The Met, once an elitist, stiff, gray, and slightly moribund entity, came alive. The mummies did dance." Discuss the book as part of the Palm Beach Institute of Contemporary Art's ABC Art Book Club meeting at Lake Avenue Chocolate Co. (609 Lake Ave., Lake Worth). Starts at 5 p.m. Call 561-582-0006, or visit www.palmbeachica.org. -- Audra SchroederSUN 8/3On the Cheap

These mummies don't belong in a museum

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• Thomas Hoving
• The Salvation Army
• John Lindsay
• Illegal Drugs
• Auctions

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Salvation from expensive car and boat prices

Usually, when one frequents car and boat auctions, the vehicles to be purchased have been repoed, confiscated, or in some other way taken from miscreants. What else are you going to do with that fleet of sports cars after the drug kingpin has been locked up? But rather than benefit from a drug dealer's loss, why not help those trying to get clean? The Salvation Army's (1901 W. Broward Blvd., Fort Lauderdale) car and boat auction, held at 8 a.m. Sunday, relies solely on vehicles donated for the cause. All proceeds from the auction fund the Salvation Army's Adult Rehabilitation Center. A refundable registration fee of $100 gets you in the door, and a title company will be on hand so that anything you buy goes home with your name on it straight away. Call 954-463-3725. -- Dan Sweeney