New Year's Eve, Party?

Ithaca Blog gets a lot of hits in December by people searching for "New Year's Eve party."

It's hard to accommodate these seekers of seasonal fun, because NYEve is an amorphous time in Ithaca.

All bars and clubs are open, of course. For the most part, however, they don't have A-list entertainment.

A-list entertainers want pay, and there is no incentive for bars and clubs to pay large coarse notes on 12/31, as patrons will come out anyway.

Even if the pay were good, it is a hard night for musicians, as people are listening to them even less than usual. The people are howling for beverages, as it is a night when, shall we say, giddiness, is not a source of opprobrium, in a public that is less than observant.

Against the odds, anyway, local big guys The Sim Redmond Band will have a show at Castaways, and it will be the largest event of the night. Opening is Sunny Weather, old Ithaca favorites in reunion.

SRB does it every year, so it must work for them, and one and all. It also sells out, so if interested, you should get ticketed by Castaways soon.

Overall, the party line is this: anyplace will do tonight, if you are interested in being among the drunk, disorderly, and disoriented. Every place you can think of will be packed.

Personally, what we like to do on New Year's Eve is meet some friends and eat sushi and drink champagne. Then, even if nothing else good happens all year, at least you had sushi and champagne.

Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

Not Much Christmas Spirit At The Mall

We have the kind of lifestyle where we are not obleejed to do much Christmas shopping, just a little, so we planned just one trip for the season to the malls in Lansing.

We went on Monday, in the afternoon, when we figured it might not be too fierce, and maybe actually friendly. Wrong.

For one thing, the weather is bad up there, in a hilltop micro-climate, and driving turned from safe downtown to slightly treacherous, with light snow turning to squall, and very poor seeing-action.

The traffic was nuts, with a convoy of cars trying to make a left at the Triphammer Road exit, and the exit lane on Route 13 was not lane, but line, a good ways down the highway.

Inside the mall, I can tell you briefly, I did not find a good quality in any of the things I wanted. It was also, not vaguely, harried and grim. So I sure split.

But the splitting was rough, indeed, with all roads clogged, and any semblance of driving civility subsumed, by people refusing entry to the roads to mall-leavers; running signals and signs; cutting and blocking, honking and glaring and mouthing stuff, etc.

What world is this, I wondered?- trying to keep my cool, and my spirit of giving, which was my reason to be there in the first place.

I came downtown and went to the Commons. I mean, all along, I had intended to patronize both venues, as a generous Santa and a guy trying to spread the money action around. But I can tell you, next year I don't think I'll bother with the mall.

I am partisan, as an owner of a business on the Commons (Small World Music, CD's and LP's, shameless plug; hello to all our fans who still don't know we have moved from our old place to the basement of Autumn Leaves Books, joining Angry Mom Records there).

I found the good-quality things I wanted at Benjamin Peters clothing store. I also found some nice things at Now You're Cooking and Ten Thousand Villages. That's the main thing. But another thing is that I had a pleasant time.

The traffic downtown was busy, but easy, and not heated with hate. I parked for free in the Green Street garage. My fellow shoppers were relaxed and smiley. The store people were cool and nice.

I can tell you, as one of those store owners, we are nice because we really appreciate your business, and if I did not think it was hokey, or bad reading, I would insert that word "really" four or five times or more.

At the mall, God bless the workers there, but they really have no incentive to be nice. The small business owner, on the other hand, thinks of you as great sweetness.

The clerks at the mall don't care if they never see you again - and actually, as you simply represent more work, without attendant compensation, they'd prefer not to. But independent business owners and workers consider your very presence a success, an event, and a blessing. If you think I'm overstating it, ask one.

So: I wish you luck with your gift-giving. This is really a great time of year, an affirmation of humanity, when people give and act for each other, and say charmingly nice things even just in passing: "happy" this, "merry" that. "Merry" - you know? That in itself is a great idea and goal.

In the dead of cold and dark, we strive to bring joyful life to our loved ones and the world. Not bad.

Local First Ithaca and other community groups are doing a great job emphasizing how important it is, economically, to shop at home-grown businesses. I guess here I am trying to note how much easier and more fun it can be.

All the best - and much merriment! - to you and yours for the season.

Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog
and Small World Music/Angry Mom Records

Captain Beefheart, Christmas Music, 2010

Captain Beefheart, the singer and composer, died this past week, and due to social media, his music is all around, at least among my facefriends.

It is a pointed counter to the seasonal music one hears all around at Christmas, which even if well-meaning, is mostly insipid and pretty bad. Beefheart's music can be pretty bad, too, but in a different way: interesting, if not actually crazy.

He always seemed to me a few steps from living in a lot. But he was lucky, as well as talented (he probably earned more life-time from his paintings than his records), and he had a productive career, and seemed to live as he wanted.

We presume his music is available all over Youtube; but haven't checked. See if you can find "The Dust Blows Forward" from the "Trout Mask Replica" LP of 1970 or so. It is a poem, or a lyric unaccompanied by music; and it is funny.

Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

Benchwarmers Restaurant Closed

We were scheming a semi-promptu meeting with some friends who, like us, are big fans of the New York Jets football team, which meets its arch-rival NFL club, the New England Patriots, in a large, nationally-televised contest tonight.

Benchwarmers Restaurant on the Commons is generally an excellent venue for such a meeting: a sports joint with lots of TV's, a sports-and-TV-appropriate menu, and swell crowds when big games are going.

But we walked past yesterday, and saw sheets of brown paper covering the windows, and a small sign that said, "Closed For Rennovations."

Well, maybe, if "rennovations" is a synonym for "evver." That was our immediate wise-guy thought.

Our second thought, or maybe first feeling, was sympathy for a good business that we guess hit hard times.

We're sorry to see them go and will miss them. So will downtown in general and the Commons in particular.

Good luck and best wishes to the Benchwarmers crew.

Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

Weekend Out, 12/3,4,5

The weekend is supposed to be relatively warm, or warmer than subsequent weekends will be, so it is a good weekend to go out, also before you get too busy and all. There is good music in town all weekend.

On Friday, David Bromberg returns to the State Theater. Bromberg was one of those young hotshots - though always a funny, self-deprecating one - who now is an elder statesman of American acoustic music. 8 pm.

On Saturday, the Suffer Jets roller derby team joins No Radio Productions for a "Derby Disco" night at the lounge above Delilah's (formerly Wildfire's), 106 S. Cayuga Street. No doubt it will be funky. 9 p.m.

Also on Saturday, Johnny Dowd presents his new program, Songs For Lovers, at Castaways. With alt-country rockers, Hubcap. 9:30 p.m.

On Sunday, Jennie Lowe Stearns plies the intimate confines of Felicia's, from 7 - 9 p.m. Then, at Castaways at 9 p.m., Langhorne Slim, a singer-songwriter out of Brooklyn with some grit.

have fun
Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

Our Friend's Cold

Our friend C. wrote on Facebook about her terrible head cold, and we might think this is a rather slight matter for someone to write about, except we have this same head cold, and know it is dire, and a great issue indeed, if you will pardon the pun.

It has lasted two weeks and shows no signs of abating. One tries to hurry and get better before Thanksgiving, when traveling to see family, but that might be like trying to fall asleep fast because you have to get up early. It doesn't work.

This cold has us thinking about the nature of mucus, because we have produced more of it lately than an elephant, and realize now that mucus is not finite.

If you can't write about a head cold to your innocent and unsuspecting friends, what malady can you? You can't just casually write about some real chronic disease you have. That's too serious. And no one wants to read about anything that involves, let's say, inside your pants. Forget that.

So, head colds it is for the Internet. We have been eating a lot of soup lately, and saltines. When shopping, we noticed a variety of saltines that is unsalted, which seems really wrong. It should have another name.

feel better -
Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

Free CDs For You Today at Angry Mom Records/Small World Music

Here we are at Angry Mom Records/Small World Music, in the basement of Autumn Leaves Books, on the only day of the week when we staff the store ourselves. And we realize it has been a while since we publicized the place, in which we have keen interest.

So, as we have done before, we make this special offer to Ithaca Blog readers: come in today, and pick out not one, not three, but two free CDs for yourself from our extensive selection of used, bargain-priced CDs from the $5-and-less shelves. Totally free - like, no purchase necessary.

We know it's short notice, but we just thought about it. The offer is good today only, while Steve works. Tomorrow, with George and Lee, it would confuse them. You have til 8 p.m.; the rain is not so bad.

See you soon!
Steve Burke
for Small World Music & Ithaca NY Blog

Chevron Spends $4 Billion For Shot at Hydro-Fracking

The Chevron Corporation has purchased the Atlas Energy company of Pennsylvania to obtain a stake in the natural gas fields of Pennsylvania and New York.

The deal is worth over $4 billion in stocks and cash.

The gas fields in Pennsylvania, New York, and elsewhere in the eastern U.S. have only recently become accessible, through a controversial process called hydro-fracking, which pumps toxic chemicals into the ground to free the gas.

Concerns for water safety have led to popular and political opposition to hydro-fracking, including calls for outright bans.

Chevron, ExxonMobil, and other corporations are spending billions for the chance to drill even though the price of natural gas, and the demand for it, are low.

Opponents to hydro-fracking say that citizen protest can add to the cost of operation, and derail potential profits. In Ithaca, the Shaleshock organization is a leading voice of opposition: www.shaleshock.org.

Stephen Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

Marathoners Run Fast

It was a beautiful day in the city yesterday for the running of the New York Marathon.

Nobody seems to mind that a lot of the city shuts down for the race. Most New Yorkers are running from something, and admire people who can run away from their problems, if just for a day.

The winner, Gebre Gebremariam, ran the course in 2:08:49. This is less than 5 minutes per mile, for 26 miles. He had to pull away from his nearest competitor in the final mile. This means he was still going fast.

This is also what it means. I go to the gym, but I can't run a 5-minute mile. So if Gebre Gebremariam and I were to race each other 26 miles, and he spotted me the first 25 miles, letting me sit in a beach chair with my feet up at the 25-mile mark until he showed up after running that distance, he would still kick my ass.

I'll go to the gym today anyway. Congratulations to all marathoners.

Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

Kristallnacht Remembrance at Cornell, Sun. 7 Nov., 1:30 P.M.

Kristallnacht, or the Night of Broken Glass, was a series of attacks against Jews in Nazi Germany and parts of Austria on November 8 - 9, 1938.

Virtually every synagogue in Germany was set on fire. Graves were uprooted. Homes were invaded and people beaten to death in the streets. Businesses were robbed and destroyed. 30,000 Jewish men were abducted and sent to concentration camps.

Today at 1:30 p.m., , Cornell hosts "Commemorating the Holocaust - Affiriming Community,"
in the auditorium in Sherman Hall, in the Veterinary School, on Tower Road.

President David Skorton will speak.

Cornell Plantations is the site of a sculpture by Andy Goldsworthy called "A Garden of Stone - A Holocaust Memorial." Goldsworthy uses natural and found materials to make site-specific sculptures. His work is known world-wide.

Stephen Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

Land Grab By Gas Company

Chesapeake Energy Corporation announced a deal to buy mineral rights to half a million acres in the Appalachian basin, to drill for natural gas.

The purchase includes parts of Tompkins County.

The dangers of the drilling process called hydro-fracking have been publicized in the documentary film, "Gasland", and by a local grassroots group called Shaleshock.

The language of Chespeake's chief, Aubrey McClendon, is eerily telling about the company's huge financial resources (the purchase was for almost a billion dollars) and casual attitide towards environmental stewardship.

"We've been poking around and we saw something we liked and we bought it," he said.

Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

James Carville at IC, Monday 1 Nov.

On the night before Election Day, Ithaca College presents James Carville, ex-political operative and current commentator.

We want to go, to see if Carville retains walloping significance, which we doubt, and to see if he is turning into a caricature of the caricature of him presented regularly on Saturday Night Live (last night, in fact).

The event is free.

It takes place at 7:30 in the Emerson Suites, address unknown at Ithaca College, the School Without Streets.

Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

Music on Halloween

Dead people can't enjoy music, or at least not live music, so on Halloween, we recommend you do, before it's too late. Eventually it will be.

How is that for Irish fatalism, in the spirit of the thing?

The Grady Girls will do a lively set at Felicia's, at 7 p.m.

The big show in town is at the State Theater: Sim Redmond Band, Donna the Buffalo, and Railroad Earth. Doors open at 6:30, says the publicity; music starts at 7:30, and goes all night.

Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

Lexicon And On

We watched David Letterman tonight, as we do sometimes because we work late, and dopey stuff helps us relax.

(You will see that we keep late hours sometimes if you notice the time of this posting.)

Anyhow, Mr. Letterman was interviewing a snow-boarding dude. (We assume most guys such as this, who have long hair and snow-board for a living, are dudes.)

In the course of the conversation, Letterman alluded to their differing life experiences, as reflected in their language.

"You know, I feel like I'm missing something," Letterman said about his life: "I'm 62 years old, and I've never been 'stoked'."

Neither have we. We don't even think we were even ever "psyched," although we remember when this was common.

A similar phenomenon, which we have noted here before, is that we have never found much to be "awesome," at least that we would talk about, rather than ponder; but people today do, pretty frequently.

Of course, it is all a matter of lexicon, which delights us, personally. We wonder, as "psyched" has turned to "stoked," what's next in line. "Awesome" has, in our memory, lasted a real long time, and we wonder if it will go on. It seems to have legs. And when did that expression start? And, stop?

We bid you goodnight now, as we hit the hay; crash; and, our personal lexicon favorite, geeze.

Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

Stressed? Zag With Your Friends

Our friend Catherine Saar, who runs an enterprise called Saar Coaching (Google it, or find it on Facebook), posted a reprint today of a piece on how to be happier at work.

The strategy that most impressed us was called "Invest in your social network."

The basic idea is that, when or over-worked or -whelmed, often our impulse is to retreat, to close ourselves off, and to approach work (and life) with a bunker mentality; and that this is the exact wrong approach.

Focus on the work, sure. But also make sure you spend time - keep time; make time - to enjoy friends. This helps keep things in perspective. It helps us enjoy life, which should be part of one's everyday routine. All this is likely to help you achieve your work.

We generally like zagging when common wisdom says zig. Thank you to Ms. Saar for the good advice.

Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

Stephanie Miller Event: Sold Out

Well, our instincts in the previous post were sort of correct about the possible popularity of the Stephanie Miller/Bill Press appearance at the Hangar Theater this Saturday.

We contacted the Hangar and found it is sold out.

Try Craigslist for tickets?

Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

Stephanie Miller and Bill Press at the Hangar Theater, Sat. 23 Oct.

Two stars of lefty talk show radio, Stephanie Miller and Bill Press, appear at the Hangar Theater this Saturday night for an evening of commentary and, we imagine, comedy, of the political sort.

This kind of fare is generally irresistible to the typical Ithacan. The ticket price, a mere $10, is likewise nicely likeable in a town where people are used to cheap entertainment all the time.

We're a little surprised the event is not in a bigger venue for more money. We recommend getting tickets asap.

Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

Cayuga Beans in NY Times Magazine

The Sunday New York Times magazine today features a piece on Cayuga Pure Organics, our local growers of beans and grains whose products are the rage of restaurants and farmers markets in the big city.

We've written about CPO before here. Their products are amazingly good, and available in Ithaca at GreenStar Co-op.

The co-op gets a generic mention in the Times piece, as does a particular local tacqueria that orders 500 pounds plus of CPO's beans per week.

Congratulations to Dan, Adrian, Anne, Eric and Tycho, and thanks for the great work.

Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

Wednesday Morning: Fire on the Commons

There was a fire this morning on the Commons, in the Petrune building on the north side of the middle of the mall.

We are directly across from the building. Reports are there are no injuries. Exterior damage is minimal. Interior is probably moderate, mostly smoke damage.

At the moment, the middle of the Commons is closed, but fire crews are packing up and preparing to leave, so re-opening is probably imminent.

Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

Happy Birthday

As you might have noticed, Google noticed, and much of the world remembers, it seems, that today is John Lennon's birthday. He would have been 70.

Of course, he is noted for his music, his peace activism, and his energy and humor, all great. For us, though, one of the most important things about him was his writing.

Lennon wrote two books in the mid-1960s: "In His Own Write" and "A Spaniard in the Works." They were books of short comic vignettes, absurd and playful, with drawings. They showed influences of Lewis Carroll, James Thurber, and even James Joyce.

They were the first books I ever owned. I got them when I was 10 or so. I had to send away for them. Maybe there were bookstores in Manhattan that sold them, but there weren't in East Flatbush, Brooklyn.

I treasured them, I guess. I enjoyed them and learned from them.

Lennon was a big inspiration to me. I started a newspaper at school in 6th grade because I knew he had.

I imagine his was better. I remember reading a weather forecast he wrote for it. "Today will be Muggy," he wrote. "Followed by Tuggy, Wuggy, Thuggy, and Fuggy."

Stephen Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

Fighting Cancer Locally, at the Cancer Resource Center's Walkathon/Race

Most of us, probably, have had our lives touched by cancer.

In Ithaca, we are blessed to have the Cancer Resource Center of the Finger Lakes, a not-for-profit group offering services to people with cancer.

One of the best ways to help the Cancer Resource Center is to support their annual Walkathon/5K Race. The 17th annual event happens this year on Saturday 23 October, in Cass Park.

Pre-registration is available on-line at CRC's web site, www.crcfl.org. Registration the day of the race, at 10 a.m., is at 9 a.m. The event happens rain or shine.

If you are not a runner, or even that much of a walker, there will be music and other activities at the site. You can sponsor runners. You can buy a t-shirt. Or you can simply make a donation.

Please contact the Center for more information on how to help.

Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

Apple Harvest Festival, Ithaca Commons, Fri. 1 Oct. - Sun 3 Oct.

A reminder that agriculture is Tompkins County's second-largest industry comes this weekend with the 28th Annual Downtown Ithaca Apple Harvest Festival.

The festival stretches from Friday noon til dusk on Sunday.

Favorable weather this season has produced a crop with exceptional flavor, growers say. Dozens of varieties will be available for sale on the Commons, along with cider and pies.

The family-friendly festival also includes amusements such as magic, belly dance, an Iron Chef competition, pie-eating contests, and a Ferris wheel.

Over a dozen bands provide music. On Saturday, at Dewitt Park, a First People's Festival celebrates Iroquois and other indigenous culture of the region. The State Theater hosts a concert by children's performer Dan Zanes , at noon.

More information is available from the Downtown Ithaca Alliance at www.downtownithaca.com.

Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

Commons Finds You Can't Partly Quit Smoking

Six weeks after its start, the city of Ithaca has declared the partial ban of smoking on the Commons a failed experiment, and decided to ban smoking on the pedestrian mall entirely.

The partial ban prohibited smoking in the center of the Commons, near the pavilion and the playground. But the result was not to reduce smoking, only to relocate smokers into smaller areas, intensifying second-hand smoke in these areas to intolerable levels for passers-by and adjacent businesses.

Outdoor dining in the smoking areas fell off to next to nothing. Businesses in the smoking areas were forced to keep doors closed. Fights between non-smokers and smokers - about the borders and other issues - were daily, if not hourly, and spirited, when not vituperative or even violent.

Our business, Small World Music, inside Autumn Leaves Books, is on the border of the smoking/non-smoking areas. Originally we supported the partial ban (see our July 28 post here on Ithaca Blog), but can attest first-hand to the failure.

We support the ban, and commend city officials for so quickly recognizing and fixing the failed policy.

Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

New York Pizzeria and the NFL

We went to Trumansburg today to help out at a benefit there, but with another, non-altruistic motive: to bring home a pie (large, of course) from New York Pizzeria.

Of course there is plenty of pizza in Ithaca and we like all of it nicely, but NY Pizzeria's is the best in the region, we think. We looked forward to stocking our freezer with a box of this rarefied product.

Imagine our shock and chagrin to find, at 2 p.m. (on our way home), that NYP does not open until 4 p.m. on Sundays.

We understand about day of rest, and all that. Still, we wonder what gives - this time of year, when the NFL provides televised spectacles all Sunday, starting at 1 p.m.

It seems to us that Sunday starting at 1 p.m. is probably the prime pizza-buying time of the week.

Not that we sit around and watch the NFL much, although we wish we did. But we look at it a little, and when we do, see plenty of ads for Papa John's pizzeria, and also frozen varieties.

It's bad enough that you have to watch these cheesy (ha) ads, but then not to have a flavorful and authentic alternative to their cruddy products? It's unfortunate.

Not for us to tell the NYP people how to run their shop. But they do name themselves after the city that never sleeps. Where is the "if I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere" spirit when it comes to day-long game-day pizza?

As a non-resident of the famously proud town, I'll keep my nose out of T-burg's business, beyond this. But I think it is time for a sit-down, or even a walk-and-talk over there, you know what I'm saying?

Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

Seeing Signs For No Fracking

We had some friends from Brooklyn here for the weekend. Sunday we enjoyed the Porchfest in Fall Creek.

Most Ithacans probably take for granted the creativity behind such an event. Our friends didn't. They were impressed by the do-it-yourselfness and sociability.

As we strolled the neighborhood, what also came to light is the political activism in Ithaca. Alongside the "Porchfest" signs on many porches were "No Fracking" signs on lawns.

Our friends didn't know what this was. A quick explanation brought no flicker of recognition. But the next time they hear of it - which they inevitably will, downstate - they will remember.

The signs are a good way to spread the word about the dangers of hydraulic fracturing in our area. They are available for a $5 donation from the Shaleshock group organizing opposition to fracking.

Shaleshock's office space is in the Peace and Justice Center, on the 3rd floor 115 The Commons (in Autumn Leaves Books).

Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

Rhinefest and Porchfest Weekend, Sept. 11 & 12

Ithaca is a festive place, and this weekend brings two newish but seemingly entrenched celebrations of Ithaca neighborhoods, one past and one present.

On Saturday, the 2nd annual Rhinefest honors the historic West End waterfront district, once a rough and tumble area known ironically as the Rhine. The festival features costumed street theater, a silent movie hall, an antique car show, and lake cruises. In the evening there is a "speakeasy" recreation at Castaways, featuring musical group the Bill Murray Experience.

On Sunday, the 4th annual Porchfest brings local musicians out of their houses and onto their porches for performance. More than 70 musical acts participate in the event, scheduled from 1 to 5:30 p.m., in the Fall Creek and Northside neighborhoods.

After the ambulatory listening, there will be picnics, and more music, in the Auburn Street triangle park.

Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

Labor Day Picnic at Stewart Park

The Tompkins County Workers Center sponsors its 27th annual Labor Day picnic at Stewart Park next Monday, 6 September, from 11 a.m. - 3 p.m.

TCWC provides beverages, ice cream, and a cook-out that includes vegetarian fare.

There are speakers, awards, games for children, and music by local hip-hop artists, Gunpoets.

For more information, call the Workers Center, 269-0409.

Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

Cuomo Wants It Both Ways, Three Ways

Andrew Cuomo, the Democratic candidate for New York governor, came to Ithaca last week and proved a politician, but no leader.

At least two hundred people turned out for his appearance, on a weekday morning. The main issue was the proposed drilling for gas with toxic chemicals, called fracking, in our area by corporations such as Halliburton.

Cuomo tries to have it both ways on the issue. He does not oppose fracking. Unless, he says, it is unsafe. But he does not say what he thinks about safety issues, nor what he would do to ensure safety.

Mr. Cuomo met some boistrous criticism here in activist Ithaca. On the issue of activism, he also tries to have it both ways. He lauded his critics. Activism is "so important," he said. But not important enough to let anyone speak at his meeting - not even to ask a question.

That is the third way Mr. Cuomo tries to have it both ways. He styles himself an anti-politician, while his tactics are those of the ultimate hack.


Stephen Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

Independent Record Label In Ithaca

Angry Mom Records, Ithaca's independent vinyl and CD store, is creating a record label for local artists of note.

The new label celebrates its first releases with a concert by its artists at the Chapter House, Saturday 21 August.

AwesomeAwesomes, BLOW!, and Johnny Dowd will perform.

The event begins at 9:45 p.m.

More details are available on Angry Mom's page on Facebook, and in this week's Ithaca Times.

Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

Andrew Cuomo Meeting (Demonstration?), Thurs. 19 August

Danny Burns, a prominent community activist in Ithaca, reports that Andrew Cuomo, candidate for governor in New York, is a supporter of chemical gas drilling in upstate New York, and that Cuomo will visit Ithaca on a campaign tour on Thursday, 19 August.

It is a good opportunity for upstaters to demonstrate their opposition to the drilling planned by Halliburton and other energy corporations.

According to Danny, Cuomo's visit is scheduled for 10 a.m. in the Women's Community Building.

Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

New Poetry Magazine For Ithaca?

Recently we read again, after many years, a book of poems by an old teacher of ours at Cornell, and realized after a while that the poems stunk, although we still like the guy all right.

We figure everyone has bad as well as good poems in them, and it is good to get them out, either way.

Our old teacher might have been suffering compared to Yeats, whom we had been reading, and is always good, whether you know Irish mythology or not. We don't, but admire how his poems sound, and the fact that he seems to be trying to say things, not hide things.

We have a friend in Ithaca who is a serious poet, by which we mean hard-working, and he is planning a new poetry magazine, which is laudable, and while it might seem anachronistic, we hope and trust it isn't.

We think that poetry is poised to make a comeback, as peoples' attention might swing back from the Internet. The Internet is not going away, and is fine, but it tends to favor and feature the new and immediate, rather than the lasting.

Poetry lasts. It does not need a link. Its link is the mind.

We don't want to jinx our friend's project any more than we already have. We will keep you posted on the prospects for the new magazine as they come around.

Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

Roller Derby "Wheel-A-Thon" Benefit, Sat. 31 July

Women's roller derby returns to Cass Park this Saturday with a benefit bout featuring Ithaca's new BlueStockings team, mentored by the veteran Suffer Jets.

So far this season, Ithaca teams have played their home bouts in Cortland. Renovations to their true home in Cass Park are now complete.

Special pre-bout events include a group jaunt from the Waterfront Trail, at 5 pm, to Cass Park, with the squads. Bike, skate, roll or stroll with the teams, their publicity says.

At 5:30 there's a Chicken BBQ Tailgate Party. Your $10 donation for dinner benefits the Meals On Wheels program, distributing food to the elderly and housebound.

Music is provided by the Johnny Russo Trio.

Angry Mom Records/Small World Music, 115 The Commons (in the basement of Autumn Leaves Books) are proud sponsors of the Suffer Jets and BlueStockings. We are exclusive sellers of their wide array of fine merchandise.

For more information, see www.ithacarollerderby.com.

Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog and Small World Music

Outdoor Bans on Smoking Start August 1

Beginning this Sunday, 1 August, the city of Ithaca begins a ban on smoking on central areas of the pedestrian mall Commons, and in Cass and Stewart Parks.

We own a business on the Commons (Angry Mom Records/Small World Music, in the basement of Autumn Leaves Books), and applaud the move. We think it's the right thing to do, in terms of creating a clean environment and promoting health.

We don't think it will hurt business any. You can't smoke in the Pyramid Mall, either.

We are happy with the idea of no cigarette butts littering the Commons. We once heard that it takes 7 years for a cigarette butt to disintegrate, although we do not know who watched it.

A few years ago, our friend Rafiki was helping us move. We got out of the car and went to my building. Rafiki stopped at the entrance.

"You go ahead. I'll be right up," he said. "I'm going to smoke."

"It's alright," I said. "You can smoke inside. It's February." It was cold.

"That's alright," he said. "I'm used to smoking between buildings and cars."

Now, in Ithaca, it gets a little harder. But a little better.

Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

"GrassRoots Preview" on Ithaca Commons, Wed. 21 July

Keith Frank and the Soileau Zydeco Band will perform free on the Ithaca Commons as a "GrassRoots Festival Preview."

The performance is scheduled for Wednesday 21 July, from 6 - 8 p.m.

Keith Frank, from Lafayette, Louisiana, a leading figure in zydeco music, is a stalwart of the GrassRoots Festival, now in its 20th year.

Mr. Frank first performed at GrassRoots 19 years ago, as a young boy playing guitar in a band lead by his father, accordionist Preston Frank.

Keith Frank has returned to GrassRoots each year since. As a young man he took up accordion, the lead instrument in zydeco, and began fronting his own ensemble.

Mr. Frank will appear multiple times throughout the four days of the festival, from Thursday through Sunday.

Other performers of note at the festival include Merle Haggard, on Thursday; African musician Oliver Mtukudzi, on Friday; and reggae legend Burning Spear, a contemporary of Bob Marley, on Saturday.

Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

Last Few Days For Cheaper GrassRoots Tickets

Online ticket sales for the GrassRoots Festival have ceased.

Advance tickets, which are cheaper by about $20 than tickets at the gate, will be available for the next few days at Autumn Leaves Books, Ithaca Bakery Collegetown Bagels, Ithaca Guitar Works, and a couple of other places that don't come to mind, but you can find at GrassRoots web site.

Don't wait, because if a particular locale runs out, they will probably not be replenished at this late date.

Outlets will generally not reserve tickets for you via a phone call. First come, first served, is generally the rule.

Also, you will need to pay by cash or check; not charge card.

Of course, the benefit is cheaper price than at the gate ; plus, avoiding a long line there.

See you at the show -
Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

New Radio Plays on the Commons, Friday 9 July

WITH-FM radio, 90.1 on the dial, continues its evolution into Ithaca's own public radio station, after years for 90.1 as a re-transmission site for Geneva's WEOS.

WITH will broadcast live from the Ithaca Commons this Friday, 9 July, starting at 9 a.m., into the afternoon.

The broadcast will feature live performances by members of Donna the Buffalo, at noon; Mary Lorson, 12:30; Dave Davies, 1:15; and Johnny Dowd and Hubcap, after 4 p.m. (The station will interrupt the Ithaca fun for its regular broadcast of World Cafe from 2 til 4 p.m.)

Festivities will include a drawing for tickets for the GrassRoots Festival, wines from local vineyards, and food from local farms and businesses.

Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

My Final Childhood Complaint About the Weather

When we were kids, in the midst of heat-wave days like today, we would moan, as kids will about things they don't like and can't control, which is many or most things, of course.

Something like hot weather is a wonderful topic, because your parents don't like it either, and your complaining makes it worse, which helps you a little.

I'm thinking about this as I am trying to write (have been writing) about growing up in postal zone 3, Brooklyn, New York.

To my friends here in Ithaca I can say that as bad as the heat might be here today, it is much, much worse in inner-city New York (or inner-city anywhere, I guess), where there are few trees for shade, little open space, and certainly no water; and concrete and asphalt, which comprise your natural environment, store heat all day and release it at night.

It is a perfect setting for a child to splay on a couch, or a living room floor, and moan. "Mom, it's so hot" is wonderfully evocative and little embellishment is needed.

In our house, however, it was not as fun as it could have been, as my parents were such succinct debaters. "Stop whinging," my mother would say, disarming you with her command of language not strictly English, so far as we knew.

My father, in my recollection, was worse. My mother's parents were from Ireland (thus her enriched vocabulary), but my father was just as robustly Irish-Catholic.

"Dad, it's so hot," I said to him one day.

He looked at me thoughtfully but with utter lack of emotion. And he said,

"It's hotter in Hell."

They gave me pause to think, those two, and as you see, still do.

You can see further at another blogspot here on Blogger.com, called brooklyn3newyork.blogspot.com.

Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

Obama's Vietnam Starts Now

This week, tens of thousands of Americans soldiers are leaving for Afghanistan to fulfill the Obama's administration's planned surge there.

It is wrong, strictly, to speak of a plan. Events of the last week have shown that at the highest levels of the government and military, there is no plan whatsoever.

It seems hackneyed at this point, or at least painfully obvious, to draw comparison to Vietnam. Yet the case is exactly the same.

The only thing different is the volunteer army. This is the sole lesson the government learned from Vietnam. Make sure only poor people die. That will quell dissent.

Last week, addressing the nation about the oil leak, President Obama asked Americans for prayers. He hasn't asked for any for the war. Here his hope is for silence.

Stephen Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

Little Kids Don't Wear Watches

Little kids don't wear watches and they don't use calendars, because they are not interested in the passage of time. They haven't experienced enough time yet to notice or care.

We overheard a conversation today between a 7-year old and one of those adults who don't know how to talk to kids very well. This type of adult struggles to think of interesting topics for kids - or, worse, doesn't, and either talks to the kid as an imbecile, or as another form, like a larva, rather than as a real person with proclivities.

These adults will fall back on the passage of time as a topic.

"What grade are you in at school?," we heard this well-meaning adult ask a kid out in public today.

"Second grade."

"Uh-huh," the adult says. A long pause. "Well. Do you know what's really scary? I can remember when I was in second grade."

Another pause, as the kid waits - patiently, but to no avail. Finally, he asks: "What happened?"


Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

First Annual Peter DeMott Trot, Sunday 20 June

The inaugural 5K "trot" to honor the memory of peace activist Peter DeMott will be held on Fathers Day, Sunday 20 June, at the Cornell Plantations. We excerpt a statement about the event from the Ithaca Catholic Worker group:

When Ithaca peace activist Peter DeMott died suddenly on February 19, 2009, the community and the nation lost one of our greatest advocates for peace and justice. Peter died while working in a tree. He left behind his wife, Ellen Grady, and their four daughters, Marie, Kate, Nora, and Saoirse.

Peter did not run competitively, but was an avid distance runner. To honor Peter's memory, his friends and family from Ithaca and beyond will gather on Father's Day, June 20, on the Cornell campus for the first annual "Peter DeMott Peace Trot," a non-competitive 5K race that will serve as a fundraiser for the Ithaca Catholic Worker group.

The event begins at 1 p.m. in the '64 Grove of the Cornell Plantations. Registration begins at 11 a.m. Those wishing to register in advance can go to www.myspace.com/peterdemottpeacetrot.

T-shirts to honor Peter's memory will be available to all entrants. The winners in the men's and women's divisions will receive a carpenter's hammer to disarm any weapon of war or for construction purposes.

For more information, call 607/277-6932 or email demottgrady6@gmail.com.

Energy Spills, From La. To Pa.

First Louisiana, now Pennsylvania.

In Harrisburg, the Pennsylvania state government ordered a halt to all natural gas drilling in the state by a Houston-based company whose "out-of-control well" spewed explosive gas and polluted water in plumes 75 feet high.

The company, EOG Resources, is hydraulically fracturing about 70 wells in Pennsylvania.

EOG did not notify county officials until three hours after the blast. A 911 dispatcher reported being told by the company of "a small problem and it was being handled."

The well remained uncapped for 16 hours.

State officials ordered electric service cut in the area to prevent the gas from catching fire.

About 35,000 gallons of polluted water have been collected. Monitors in a nearby spring show signs of the toxic solution.

The day before the blast, EOG reportedly performed a test of the well's safety mechanism, which it called successful.

Stephen Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

Ithaca Festival Inside, A First This Year

Ithaca Festival is unofficially, and informally, but fervidly, expanding into a nighttime event, too, with many clubs and other public spots hosting music and arts events after the free daytime events on Friday and Saturday.

An easy way to partake of the gamut, called "Ithaca Festival Inside," is with a pass that provides admission to all dozen-plus events for one low price of $20.

The passes are laminated ducats on a lanyard you wear around your neck, so you get to feel like a V.I.P., which of course you are.

The passes are available at Angry Mom Records, in the basement of Autumn Leaves Books, on the Commons. They are also available online at theithacapost.com.

Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

A Catholic Way to Diet?

I went to Farmers Market this morning with my friend JD and her daughter Emily, who is 20. They told me they are on a diet, together, for support.

They told me they are allowing themselves a restricted amount of calories daily, which they will tabulate loosely, but no junk food, and no eating between meals, except healthful things like produce, and dessert just once a week.

They said one aspect of the togetherness thing is that if one goes off the diet, they have to tell, and then the other gets to go off, for the same amount, or thereabouts, and then they start over.

I had to think about it but I knew right away something was wrong with this strategy. Then I realized what.

"That's no good," I said. "It should be that if one of you goes off, you have to tell, but then the other one gets denied that amount of food or calories. So say Emily has a second dessert this week. She has to report it, and the consequence is that J. gets no dessert. Emily ate yours. Or if J. eats Doritos or donuts in the afternoon at work, Emily gets kale for breakfast, and has to run three miles. Something like that."

Probably there are lots of good ideas that stun listeners into silence. That happened here.

"What is wrong with you?," J. said.

"Hmm," I said. I had to think. "Catholic school, I guess. But let's say, what is different about me, shall we?"

You have to admit, this Catholic way, if that's what it is, would work much better. But some people don't react well to guilt, or even the idea of it. At the Market, I bought a bag of lettuce. They bought a burrito.

Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

GrassRoots Fest 2010 Announces Schedule

The schedule for GrassRoots Festival 2010 has been posted on www.grassrootsfest.org.

Highlights include Merle Haggard on Thursday, Rusted Root and Oliver Mtukudzi on Friday, and Burning Spear on Saturday.

Advance sale tickets are available at the web site, or at various locations in Ithaca, including Autumn Leaves Books, home of Small World Music, where you can find recorded music of many GrassRoots musicians and their ilk(s).

Small World Music shares space in Autumn Leaves' basement with Angry Mom Records, and opens at noon, 7 days a week.

Steve Burke
for Small World Music and Ithaca NY Blog

Bonus Day Today at Small World Music

It's Wednesday, and we don't know what that means to you, but to us it means the day we staff Small World Music/Angry Mom Records, in the basement of Autumn Leaves Books, at 115 The Commons.

Last week we made an offer we reprise today. Come in today, Wednesday, and pick up not one, not three, but two free CDs from our table of used bargain bin CDs. No purchase necessary. See details at last week's posting, if you must, because you don't believe the magnanimity of this gesture, and need more confirmation.

Then, come in! We're here til 8 p.m.

Steve Burke
for Small World Music/Ithaca NY Blog

Waffle Frolic Pleases

We finally made a trip this weekend into Waffle Frolic, the new eatery on the Commons, and happily issue a report of good favor.

The place offers homemade waffles in variety (classic buttermilk, buckwheat and hemp, etc.), with toppings a la carte you order specially.

We had had a light and healthy breakfast, and no lunch, so we had some nutritional room to manoeuvre by late afternoon, which meant we felt fine going for the most dietetically border-line combo we could contrive, the buttermilk waffle with whipped cream and chocolate chips.

The ingredients (also, the coffee) were fresh and first-rate. The prices reflect this but are not onerous and, you know, there's that old saw about knowing not just the price, but the value, of things. We were happy to pay what we paid for fun, fine food in a nice, clean spot that we are delighted to have unvacanted on the Commons by a bright and pleasant crew who laughed at our jokes, which of course is the simple but salient barometer of good service, all you people thinking about starting your own business.

Our friend had a panini-style sandwich, also great.

We hear there are further menu developments coming, such as chicken and waffles, which is a classic of southern cuisine, and we think would be a first on any menu in Ithaca.

Congratulations and good luck to the nice people at Waffle Frolic.

Steve Burke
for Ithaca Blog

I Could Be An Oil Technician

The oil industry guys trying to stop the geyser they made in the Gulf of Mexico remind me of me. I can't fix anything, either.

The NY Times today reports, "Companies will try a method that involves pumping items like plastic cubes and knotted rope into the well's safety device."

They got that one right out of my book. That's pretty much how I try to fix anything that's leaking, too, whether it's a car or household plumbing. I never thought to refer to it is a "method," but I will from now on.

What I would like to know is how did they decide on plastic cubes and knotted rope. But I think the answer is in the phrase, "items like." In other words, "any scheiss we have laying around, of which plastic cubes and knotted rope is at the moment the most plentiful."

Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

Free CDs For Fans Of Ithaca Blog/Small World Music

Ithaca Blog operates largely out of 115 The Commons, in the basement of Autumn Leaves Bookstore, while we keep shop for Small World Music, our other enterprise.

You might remember Small World Music from 614 W. State St., in a stylish garage. Well, we've moved on up, while also down (basement), but we're doing very good in this new space, which we consign with (from?) the best place around, by far and even farther, for music on vinyl: Angry Mom Records.

But not everybody knows we're here. We want everybody. We want you.

We have so much to offer. Oh, yes indeed. All the best newest releases: Pat Metheny, Shelby Lynne, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Drive-By Truckers, Yeasayers, Gil Scott-Heron, David Byrne, music from the upcoming Doors movie soundtrack (with Johnny Depp), Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard (of GrassRoots Festival, this year), and the proverbial much more.

Busy Steve Burke of Ithaca Blog/Small World Music currently serves the store's public - that is, personally staffs the store - only on Wednesdays. That's today. So:

Come to the store today, and pick up a used CD, from our bargain bin containing hundreds for $5 and less, Absolutely Free. Tell you what: pick up two.

Where else you going to go today for an offer like this? Are you kidding me? Nowhere.

Come on in. It will be fun.

Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog & Small World Music

Cavs May Put LeBron on Rondo

The headline above is not original, and does not pertain to anything here.

It's a headline I saw in a paper today and really liked, because it means someone got a headline past an editor that many people will not understand one bit.

Tomorrow's lead story: It's Crackers To Slip a Rozzer the Dropsy in Snide.

Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

New Era For Car Sharing?

Everyone but Geico agrees that there are too many cars in the world. Too many for the ozone layer. Too many for the roads. Too many for safety.

Or even for nice attitudes. Usually in my life I never utter the words "Way to go, douche bag," but I did yesterday. When driving, of course. It can turn Jekylls into Hydes.

Car sharing efforts have developed in the past decade to help people let go of extra cars. It's good, but it's not enough.

Such operations tend to be in larger cities. Ithaca is among the smallest cities to have one, largely due to participation of the colleges.

A new era in car sharing is, perhaps, about to begin. The idea is to let individuals share cars they own, on their own, as an alternative to car sharing businesses.

The main hurdle is insurance regulations. As things stand, there is no legal provision for sharing a car that is not registered for commercial use.

Legislators in California are trying to change that now.

There may be a leadership role for us here in Ithaca, too, as there has been in car sharing already.

Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

Lack of Big Mac Downtown Draws Film Maker Note

From Europe to Ithaca came a guy last week making a documentary on these global economic issues.

He had been in Boston, to talk to Noam Chomsky, and was going to Princeton, to talk to some cat there, whose name we didn't quite catch.

He was in Ithaca to film a segment on Ithaca Hours, and to ask questions about local currencies in the wide, wide world, and whether they could do any good. It was us he was asking. We're on the Hours Board of Directors.

Our position, in sum, was that the world might come around. You know, there aren't many sharp places to go, these days. Goldman Sachs turned out to be not so great.

We mentioned buy-local movements, and the locavore phenomenon, as indications that people were investing and spending explicitly within their communities as a way forward.

We mentioned the fact that there is no McDonald's in downtown Ithaca, although there used to be, right on the Commons.

This he found to be the most amazing thing of anything we discussed.

"On this Commons was a McDonald's? And it close?"

"Yeah," we said.

"But that is impossible. McDonald's opens. It does not close."

"Yeah, but here it did."

He looked around furtively, like he had just found out a big secret, and he didn't want anyone to hear.

"Listen," he said. "You are absolutely sure of this fact?"

"Sure," I said. "It was right: there," and I pointed.

"Why do they close?"

"Nobody went there."

"Why do they not?"

"It's no good."

"If you can assure me with your personal guarantee of this knowledge," he said, he was going to make this a big part of his film. So I did.

Then I took him to the Gimme Coffee outpost on Green Street. I waited til he took a sip of his drink to tell him that, in downtown Ithaca, Gimme Coffee outnumbers Starbucks three to one. I wanted to see if this knowledge would provoke a spit-take. It didn't. But maybe it will provoke another segment for the movie.

Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

Our New Blog, Maybe Book

Our postings on Ithaca Blog have slowed lately, as we scheme on a new writing project we hope will eventually become a book.

Our idea is to use Blogspot for first inklings, as Nabokov used index cards.

The subject will be Brooklyn, a large metropolis and frequent literary subject. Some might say too frequent, and we're not sure that's not true.

Many recent books mythologize the place. Born and raised there, we know we lived no myth. We would like to write about the place and the people realistically. We wouldn't mind writing a book degreed people would read, but more than that we would like to write one that our family, friends, and old neighbors would appreciate. Them, and maybe Jimmy Breslin.

It's called "Brooklyn 3, New York", and the URL is brooklyn3newyork.blogspot.com.

Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog, etc.

Earth Day Resolutions

Earth Day is a little like New Year's, in that we think about ways to make our lives healthier and better.

We saw a piece in the Huffington Post today that emphasized "real" (i.e., big) things you can do, along with turning out the lights, etc.

Three of these things impressed us as things that are part of the Ithaca lifestyle already, so hitting them a little harder now and in the future might be relatively easy, with support
around.

1. Use cars less. Actually, HuffPost advised "give up your car," which of course is easy to say. But in Ithaca, reduced car use is easier than in most places, with the Carshare organization, and a good public transit system in TCAT.

2. Eat more vegetables. HuffPost emphasizes the amount of water used, and waste created, in meat production. Ithaca is about as friendly a vegetarian town as exists, with the Moosewood restaurant, and the Giving Tree (the new ABC Cafe), and Food For the Planet, plus vegetarian options at almost every eatery; and with no Golden Arches nor any other fast-food burger chain downtown. And, of course, there is GreenStar Coop, which emphasizes healthful vegetarian eating, and the Farmers Market.

3. Buy local. It helps your neighbors, and it helps the planet in reducing the use of fossil fuels to bring you apples, books, CDs, dentifrices, eggs, fans, gum, hats, etc. Ithaca has organizations promoting this concept, in Local First Ithaca, and the Ithaca Hours local currency system.

Keep your resolve, and enjoy you planet and your life!

Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

Big Day on the Commons

At Angry Mom Records/Small World Music, we generally open at civilized noon. Today it was 10, specially for National Independent Record Store Day. We were pleasantly surprised, arriving at about 9, to find a line of dozens of people waiting for opening. (We let them right in, of course, as "getting that party started" is our philoso-phee, generally.)

It was a big day all over the Commons, with the Cornell Marching Band visiting. They were right outside our store and chances are people thought we hired them. We do think they should record. We like the very specific marching band kind of repertoire ("Jesus Christ Superstar", "You Can Call Me Al").

We were too busy to visit, but 2 new stores opened today - one, in the old Juna's Cafe, featuring coffee and waffles; another, a few doors from there, featuring, we guess, high-end lifestyle accoutrements. All we know right now is what we heard from a customer, that they had a smoking device made from the jaws of a pirhana, that was quite striking and cost $500. He might have had it wrong, though. We will do our own research soon - of a limited variety, to be sure - and report it here.

We hope you had a good day, wherever you were, and if it wasn't here, that it will be soon.

Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog
and Small World Music (in the basement of Autumn Leaves Books, with Angry Mom Records)

Free Coffee, Music, at 115 The Commons, Sat. 17 April

Maybe you are not the kind of person who needs a week's notice for free coffee.

But that's what the Owl Cafe, in Autumn Leaves Books, is offering on Saturday 17 April, to celebrate their new ownership.

April 17 is also National Record Store Day, and Angry Mom Records/Small World Music, also inside Autumn Leaves Books, will have plenty of specials and activities to celebrate, including sales, new releases, and live music.

All this takes place at 115 The Commons. Opening time is 10 a.m.

Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

Anti-War Activist Cindy Sheehan in Ithaca Tonight

Cindy Sheehan, among the most strident and uncompromising of American anti-war activists, speaks in Ithaca tonight, at the Women's Community Building.

Ms. Sheehan's activism is personal. It began with the death of her soldier son in the line of duty in Iraq.

It continues, past George Bush, into the Obama administration.

Sheehan went to Norway to protest the Peace Prize award to President Obama. Last month, she created an encampment at the Washington Monument to protest continuing American presence in Iraq, and increased military action in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

More than twice as many Americans - 332 - have been killed in Afghanistan as in Iraq in the past year. The number is expected to escalate drastically as most of the 30,000 troops President Obama ordered to Afghanistan will be sent this summer.

Is it possible to be too strident against war? Decide for yourself tonight, at 7 pm.

Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

Alan Greenspan Says It's A Funky, Funky System

The Financial Crises Inquiry Committee met this morning in Washington to focus on the subprime mortgage crises and the attendant collapse of many banks and other institutions, and the financial ruin for untold numbers of Americans.

Alan Greenspan, the former Federal Reserve chairman who presided over the whole thing, was there to make plenty of sense of it.

But he fell a little short of expectations.

The NY Times summed up his statements thusly: he "warned that preventing future crises would be nearly impossible."

How many degrees does a guy need to come up with a prescription like that?

It makes us wonder who ghosted his initial job application, way back when.

One lesson for us is not to trust experts who run big institutions. In the event they even know the right thing to do, they probably won't do it anyway, if it closes any doors on fast profit.

Instead, cast your lot with people you know and can trust. In Ithaca, we are lucky to have such opportunities, in the Alternatives Federal Credit Union, and the Ithaca Hours currency system. Check them out on the web. And put some good distance between yourself and guys like smart Al.

Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

Spotlight in Ithaca on Women Political Writers

Naomi Klein, columnist for the Nation magazine and author of "The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism" and other political works, speaks at Ithaca College on Wednesday 7 April, 7 p.m., in the Emerson Suites.

Cindy Sheehan, who began speaking and writing against war in the Mid-East after the death of her soldier son, will be at the Women's Community Building on Saturday 10 April, at 7 p.m. The program also features music by the Grady Girls.

The Ithaca Journal announced today that it will begin regularly publishing the syndicated column by Amy Goodman, the host of the "Democracy Now!" radio and TV broadcast.

Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

Grassroots Festival Announces 2010 Performers

The Grassroots Festival maintains its reputation for diverse offerings with its two headliners for 2010, Burning Spear and Merle Haggard.

The festival is from Thursday 22 - Sunday 25 July.

Tickets are available at Early Bird prices (through May 1) at www.grassrootsfest.org.

Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

Frida Berrigan in Ithaca With Nuclear-Free Efforts

The Obama administration has announced a new nuclear disarmament agreement with Russia. The pact is called the most significant advance in the past two decades.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, nuclear-free activist Frida Berrigan comes to Ithaca with a Walk for Nuclear Free Future.

No doubt Ms. Berrigan will have insights on the new agreement, and ideas for future progress.

On Tuesday, there will be a talk at the Unitarian Church, from 7 until 9 p.m. On Wednesday, there will be an interfaith service at the Baptist Church, at 7 p.m.

Stephen Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

P&C On Hancock Street To Close

Tops Supermarkets, the new owner of the bankrupt P&C chain, plans to shut the P&C store on Hancock Street.

The closing is set for April 18.

Only one other store, in Cortland, has been designated for closing.

The Ithaca closing will leave downtown without a full-service, mainstream market - a hardship for city families in general, and the elderly, poor, and working-class in particular.

Stephen Burke
for Ithaca Blog

Some Nice, Cheap, Produce at GreenStar

Andy, produce manager at GreenStar Co-op, is sure doing something right. He finds great, organic produce, and prices some at less than other stores charge for much inferior stuff.

Right now, organic navel oranges and grapefruit are 99 cents a pound. Cheaper than commercial at Wegman's.

The oranges are great; I've eaten two today. I haven't eaten a grapefruit yet from Monday's shopping trip. They are smallish and thin-skinned. Smallish is not a problem because, let's face it, grapefruit is great, but it's not sushi or shrimp, where you probably can't afford the humongous pile you are surely capable of eating, and it wouldn't be good for you, anyway. With grapefruit, you can. The thin skin I am taking as a good sign, that the fruit has not been bred or sprayed to develop Naugahyde for profitable shipping.

Best of all are the organic avocados, at 99 cents each. Avocados approach sushi/shrimp status, for me.

Thanks to Andy at GreenStar for helping us strive for five so nicely.

Steve Burke
Mr. Lifestyle
for Ithaca NY Blog

The Unknown Noun, Now Known

Our magna cum laude readership has provided the answer to our last post's ringing question: as seeing is to sight, speaking is to speech, and feeling is to touch, hearing is to "audition."

We had to look it up, because to us, "audition" is something our band did in high school and got laughed at. But, sure enough: audition is "the act or sense of hearing."

Audition is Latinate, and not a nice, tight word like sight, speech, or touch. But it's better than smell and olfaction, we guess.

Thanks to our erudite readers!

Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

Unknown Noun

Okay, here's one for you smarty-pants people who miss school tests, and listen to NPR for quiz satisfaction, etc.

We think of it as our friends' kids took SAT's today.

We also think of it, we admit, from being in a bar tonight, with loud, loud music.

The bartendress told us she had lost her hearing. We had to order in sign language.

It made us think this:
seeing involves the power of sight.
speaking involves the power of speech.
hearing involves the power of ... ??

Know what we mean? Fill in the blank in our head, if you can.

Hey, by the way: no gerunds. Nouns!

Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

A Word From Our Sponsor, And Free CDs For You

It's been a while since we've boosted Small World Music, physical home of Ithaca Blog, so here goes.

As you might be aware, the store has moved to the basement of Autumn Leaves Books on the Commons, sharing space with Angry Mom Records. Angry Mom does vinyl, and Small World does CDs.

There are plenty of great new releases in stock. Here are a few.

In Rock and Pop: Peter Gabriel, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Galactic, John Hiatt, Dave Matthews, Joanna Newsom, David Rawlings Machine, Spoon, Swell Season, U2, and Tom Waits.

In Country: Johnny Cash's "American VI: Ain't No Grave," Lady Antebellum.

In Gospel: Holmes Brothers' "Feed My Soul."

In Jazz: Jamie Cullum, Corinne Bailey Rae, Gil Scott-Heron.

We also have many hundreds of used CDs, including a table and bins with CDs priced from $1 - $4.95. Our little gift to you, dear reader and desired shopper, is to come in and take not one but TWO of the bargain area CDs for free, no purchase necessary!

If Steve is not minding the store, just remind the helpful staffer (George, Lee, or Mason) of this Ithaca Blog offer, and you will receive smiling solicitude with your nifty nab(s).

Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog and Small World Music

Community Meeting on Fatal Shooting By Police, Tuesday 9 March

The Southside Community Center is hosting a community meeting on the shooting death of Shawn Greenwood in a police operation late last month.

The meeting is from 6 - 8:30 p.m, Tuesday 9 March.

Mayor Caroline Peterson and district attorney Gwen Wilkinson are scheduled to attend.

Southside Community Center is at 305 S. Plain Street.

Stephen Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

Howard Zinn Film on Sunday 7 March

The Tompkins County Workers Center is having a fund-raising showing of "You Can't Be Neutral On A Moving Train," a documentary on historian Howard Zinn, at Cinemapolis this Sunday, March 7, at 2 pm.

Zinn passed away last year. In 1980, he wrote the million-selling "A People's History of the United States," a progressive view of U.S. history.

Admission is $5 for Workers Center members, $10 for others.

The film will be followed by a discussion with historian Richard Polenberg and others.

Stephen Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

Todd Saddler: "I'm Going To Live A Hundred Years"

We recently ran a poem by our friend Todd Saddler here on Ithaca Blog, about Haiti.

Here's another, more generic, called "I'm Going To Live A Hundred Years."

* * *

I'm going to live a hundred years
out of pure spite and defiance

Long enough for medical science to cure all my ills
and long enough to see universal health care in the United States of America

Long enough to watch people tooling around on Mars
possibly even long enough to see farm workers get their rights enshrined in law

Long enough to celebrate the end of the last war
and surf on the wave that washes ashore when the last mighty empire falls into the sea

I'll attend the funeral of corporate personhood
and join the choir as we sing "the quiet joys of anarchy"

My wife and I will celebrate our 66th wedding anniversary by walking across the dry river bed
of what used to be Niagara Falls (Canadian Side), the water evaporated, the nations retired,
the border dissolved at last

And for my one hundredth birthday I'll celebrate by drinking my age in pints of beer
Why don't you join me? Consider yourself invited

Then we'll finally have time to toast the downfall
of every principality and power that ever we railed against

To shed a tear for every species that went extinct during our glorious lifetime
and to throw a bushel of rose petals from the top of a space elevator

And when I slice off my ear building a piece of furniture
out of oak that I myself handled as an acorn
then a zero emissions ambulance will swing low and sweep me to the hospital
where that ear will be mended almost as well and fast
as if Jesus himself took pity on me in spite of everything I've been accomplice to

And when my ear is thus restored I'll whistle high and wee
and saddle up my donkey for the ride home

Yes, if we will but endure and hold true we will see all this and more:
All bad things must one day end.

- Todd Saddler

Beckett at the Baseball Game

THE OTHER GUY: All right!

SAMUEL BECKETT: What happened?

THE OTHER GUY: Guy hit a home run.

SAMUEL BECKETT: So what?

THE OTHER GUY: Yeah, so what.


* * *
Thank you.
Nevertheless, spring training has begun.
My father called this morning to discuss the second-string catcher the Mets just signed.

cheers
Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

Vermont Demonstrates Democracy With Anti-Nuke Vote

Vermont's senate has voted to close the state's Yankee nuclear power plant when its license expires in 2012.

The vote follows revelation of lies by plant operators to regulators about safety and structural issues.

Nuclear industry officials express dismay that state representatives are superseding federal officials.

Vermont gave itself that power in the original license, with a provision to opt to renew, or not, in 2012.

Stephen Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

Sign On For Ithaca Money, Tuesday 23 Feb.

Ithaca Hours, the country's oldest local currency system, holds its 19th annual membership meeting on Tuesday 23 February, 6 - 7:30 pm, on the 3rd floor of Autumn Leaves Books.

Start or renew a membership at the meeting for one Ithaca Hour, or $10, and receive 4 Ithaca Hours, worth $40.

Members get a listing on www.ithacahours.org to advertise goods or services they will provide for Ithaca Hours, or (most frequently) a combination of Hours and dollars.

The membership includes hundreds of businesses and individuals, including accountants, carpenters, computer repairers, contractors, gardeners, general laborers, graphic designers, massage therapists, painters, web site designers, and yoga teachers.

Prominent businesses accepting part Ithaca Hours include the Alternatives Federal Credit Union, Angry Mom Records/Small World Music, Autumn Leaves Books, Cayuga Medical Center, GreenStar Coop, Ithaca Bakery, Ithaca Health Alliance, Lightlink (internet service providers), and the public library.

Come for any or all of the meeting. See the Hours web site for more details.

Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

Chili Cook-Off Traffic Alert

If you are planning to attend the Chili Cook-Off on the Commons today, and are driving, we recommend taking the first parking spot you see.

Mild weather has brought the crowd to extravagant size.

The Chili event always does well, anyway, with Ithacans mad to conquer unfriendly weather getting together to eat outside in February.

There is plenty of music, and tabling by do-gooder groups, along with the food and drink.

Autumn Leaves Books has a live mannequin display of members of the roller derby Suffer Jets posing in the front window.

The Jets are promoting merchandise to fund the team. It's on sale at Angry Mom Records, in the basement of Autumn Leaves, which is also the new home of Small World Music, which is also the home of Ithaca Blog.

Stop in and see us!

Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

Mardi Gras (In Ithaca) Means Maxie's

Today is Mardi Gras, and of course we wish tonight we'd be at the Maple Leaf Bar on Oak Street in New Orleans, where we used to be.

In Ithaca, we will be at Maxie's instead.

All the time, Maxie's has a New Orleans feel, and clear inspiration. We don't know if they are doing anything special tonight. We guess yes. But it doesn't matter, we'll be there.

Maxie's reminds us a little of the Maple Leaf, just cleaner. Pressed tin ceiling. Better-looking staff.

We'll have a Turbo-Dog draft so some of our tab will go back to the Big Easy.

have fun -
Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

Live Music in Ithaca, Thurs. 11 - Tues. 16 February

A sense of nepotism leads us to do a listing of weekend music, which we sporadically do, and to start it early, in order to squeeze in a Thursday show that we like to promote pretty nicely.

Also, there seems to be lots to do in the recent future, with Valentines Day on Sunday, and Mardi Gras on Tuesday.

Thurs. 2/11: Burke, Burke, and Bone's Three Night Stand, Part 1, at the Wildfire Bistro, 106 S. Cayuga St. We know the band, but don't get the title. Nobody in this family ever tells us anything. Country blues, and fun. 10 pm.

* * *

Fri. 2/12: Johnny Dowd Band, at the Rongo in T-burg, 8 pm.

* * *

Sat. 2/13: Sim Redmond's Annual Valentine's Show, Wildfire Bistro, 9 pm.

Nate and Kate's Valentine's Show, at the Giving Tree Cafe, 306 Stewart Av. A good occasion to visit the new place in the old ABC Cafe.

Hubcap, with Papership, at the Chapter House, 10 pm.

Haiti Benefit at the Nines, 10 pm. The entertainment is DJ Josh and the cunningly un-PC named Everybody Here Gets Laid Tonight.

* * *

Sun. 2/14: The Grady Girls at Felicia's, 7 pm.

Mustard's Retreat at Bound For Glory, Anabel Taylor Hall, Cornell, 8:30 pm. Arrive early for (free) seating.

* * *

Mon. 2/15: The Grady Girls again, at the Shop coffeehouse, 312 E. Seneca St.

* * *

Tues. 2/16: Mardi Gras parties at Maxies, with The Bicycle Thieves of Berlin - we like that name, too - 6 pm; Oasis, with Blue Sky Mission Club, 6 pm; and the Haunt, with Dixie Cats, 8 pm.

have fun -
Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

A Poem of Haiti, By Todd Saddler

Todd Saddler is married to Laurie Konwinski, whose advice about donating to Haiti we recently posted. Todd and Laurie met while working in Haiti.

Last week at a community meeting Todd read a poem he wrote in Haiti in 1991, when he left Haiti after his first stay. We asked him if we could post it. It is titled "Voodoo Ceremony".

#

Carrying a pot out to the rear of the shrine,
I was silent.
When the women and children congregated for the cooking of the yams,
I was there.
I held little Sadya on my knees while Florence gathered mango twigs and coconut husks
for the fire.
Lwisna was sent to find a burning coal.

Flo squatted by the yams and began to peel them with an old broken blade.
She said I was happy to be leaving them in Haiti.
No; I am hidden on a mountain of sorrow.

The fire licked the scorched pot full of water which sat on three large stones.
"A white person licking a Haitian's ass," Flo said.
"Fire under a pot," I answered.
Verline grinned at the riddle and threw salt into the water.

The flame became the focus of our group
as the night thickened around us.
For almost the last time I enjoyed the deep color
of the skin stretched over their elegant frames.
The yams went into the pot.

Polson pulled out a burning twig and traced fire snakes in the air.
I wanted to speak but it was too big; words wouldn't go around it.
They still won't go around it today.
Can you see it in my eyes?

At any rate, the yams got done.
Poor Verline whimpered as she lifted the pot off the fire with the heels of her hands
and set it aside.
The children laughed and slapped their thighs:
"Did you burn yourslf, Verline?
Look, she's crying!"

I accepted the yams they gave me.
I accepted my hiding place.
I swallowed my yams.

Help For Haiti On Local Levels

Over many years, Laurie Konwinski of Ithaca has lived and done development work in Haiti.

We asked Laurie about Haitian groups she would recommend for donations from people looking to support Haiti's infrastructure, along with immediate relief efforts.

We excerpt her reply (and hope she will not mind the editing) :

(Laurie writes):

I co-directed a group called Beyond Borders. They are involved in putting together an emergency medical team. They have a special focus on children, and are planning a system to reconnect kids with their parents in the midst of the chaos. http://www.beyondborders.net/

Fonkoze is a bank that serves the poor, in places the commercial banks wouldn't dream of going. They set up savings accounts, make loans, and run business skills and literacy programs. They are also a safe, inexpensive way for Haitians abroad to send money home. http://www.fonkoze.org/

Partners in Progress supports an amazing small farmers organization in Fondwa, a rural community outside Jacmel. They fund agricultural training programs, and a school. Their buildings have been decimated. http://www.piphaiti.org/

Although I provided web sites here, I would like to make a pitch that, if you're donating, do it by check. This avoids fees to the credit card companies - the groups will get more of your donation.

This is a culture and a people of resistance. Do not pity them. Just be in solidarity with them with your thoughts, prayers, and sharing from the abundance that we have in this country.

#

Thank you, Laurie -

Stephen Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

Key To Ithaca: Galumpha at the State Theater

If it is possible to learn what a place is like by what it likes, one can learn a lot about Ithaca by seeing Galumpha, the dance/acrobatics/joke troupe, at the State Theater on Saturday, 20 February.

Galumpha has performed at the State many times;, the GrassRoots Festival, too.

They have also performed their death-defying Velcro hat routine on the David Letterman show.

Their art is serious enough for adults, and whimsical enough for children. Or vice versa.

The show at the State is family-friendly, starting at 3 pm, with tickets $15 for adults, and $10 for children.

Find out more at the web sites for the State, and for Galumpha.

Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

"Benefit Jam" For Haiti Tonight

Samite, Richie Stearns, and Nate Richardson are performing a "Benefit Jam" tonight for relief for Haiti.

The event is at Gimme Coffee, 506 W. State St., from 7 - 9 pm.

Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

Thanks For The Pepperoni, J.D. Salinger

J.D. Salinger sought the private reader, who "read and ran."

His work was like his character Bessie Glass's chicken soup: consecrated, for the spirit in which it was offered. Nothing to be analyzed. Only drunk.

We liked his work very much.

Now, must run.

Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

Give to Doctors Without Borders For Haiti

Laurie Konwinski of Ithaca has lived and worked extensively in Haiti over many years as a development volunteer.

Ithaca Blog has asked Laurie to share her insights on the situation in Haiti. She has responded, and we await word for publication.

In the meanwhile, Laurie endorses Doctors Without Borders as a seminal relief group for donations.

Stephen Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

Supreme Court Jesters

Now that the Supreme Court has decided that corporations are people, what if one drives another out of business? Is it murder?

Can corporations get married?

What if they're gay?

The Supreme Court shows itself to be a politicized joke, so you might as well laugh.

Maybe the sensible thing, anyway, is to make it illegal for politicians to take bribes that corporations are now allowed to offer.

Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

Ithaca Musicians Raise $5,000 For Haiti

A benefit concert on Sunday by Ithaca musicians raised over $5,000 for relief efforts for Haiti.

The money will be donated to the Doctors Without Borders organization.

Thanks and congratulations to the performers and organizers, especially Mike Stark, Jennie Lowe, Castaways bar, and the Suffer Jets roller derby team.

Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

It's Your Bet, Barack

Chances are that when candidate Barack Obama promised change, he didn't mean changing historically Democratic seats in the Senate to Republican.

But this is what he's delivered, by going from the candidate of change to the incumbent of compromise.

Voters in Massachusetts showed they are upset with the lack of progressive change, and even conviction, from a Democratic party that has held all the cards in Washington for a year, but folded time and again.

The message is that if Obama won't act, the electorate will.

As the song says, "I never saw a winner that didn't bet." It's time for Obama to take back the deal.

Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

Concert for Haitian Relief, Sunday 17 Jan.

The Ithaca music community is reacting swiftly to the tragedy in Haiti.

There will be a Haitian Earthquake Relief Benefit this Sunday, 17 January, at Castaways.

Among the dozen or so performers are some of the biggest names locally, including Sim Redmond, Jennie Stearns, Mary Lorson, Johnny Dowd, and Hank Roberts.

The concert starts at 6 pm.

Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

Martin Luther King Day(s) in Ithaca

On Saturday 16 January, the Greater Ithaca Activities Center (GIAC) hosts its annual Martin Luther King Day breakfast, from 9 - 10:30.

Derrick McQueen of Union Theological Seminary in New York City will speak on eradicating poverty. Community members will entertain with poetry and song.

The breakfast is $3 for adults, $2 for seniors and students, $10 for families of 4 and more.

For details or to volunteer, call GIAC at 272-3622.

On Monday 18 January, GIAC and other organizations from downtown and the colleges host free workshops and a lunch at the Womens Community Building. Workshops are from 9 - 11 and lunch is from 11:30 to 1:45.

Find more information at mlkdayithaca.com.

Flours From Finger Lakes Wow NYC Foodsters

A new line of fresh ground flours from our area are garnering big sales among foodsters at farmers markets in New York City, and notice in the New York Times.

Farmer Ground Flours are organically grown on Finger Lakes farms, and milled in Trumansburg. The grains - corn, spelt, and wheat - feature heirloom varieties.

The New York Times says, "to the delight of professional and amateur cooks and bakers... the flours are fresh, and have not sat for months in warehouses."

Farmer Ground Flours are sold at NYC Greenmarkets by Cayuga Pure Organics, a partner in the project. Cayuga Pure Organics has previously attracted notice from the Times for its dried beans, which are also sold immediately after processing, rather than stored.

Cayuga Pure Organic beans are sold locally at GreenStar Co-op, in the Bulk department and for considerably less than in Manhattan and its environs. We imagine the flours are at GreenStar, too, or shall be soon.

Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

Big Changes at TCAT Will Include Partial Acceptance of Ithaca Hours

TCAT, the county's bus system, is implementing major changes in routes and in fare collection.

Computerized, renewable passes will replace disposable, paper ones.

TCAT is also planning to accept Ithaca Hours, the local cash currency, in partial payment for passes.

Details about Hours acceptance are still under review, but the new passes are available now, and their use will be fully implemented by Monday 18 January.

Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog

New Years Eve Style Party on January 8

For those still smarting from the paucity of party opportunities on 12/31/09, a wang-dang-doodle type affair has been announced by Angry Mom Records, right on the heels of New Year's.

The 3rd Angry Mom Dance Party is scheduled for Friday 8 January, 10 pm, at the Chanti Lounge, above the Chanticleer Bar, on the corner of W. State and S. Cayuga Streets.

The motif for party #3, says co-ordinator Lee, is Afrobeat/dub/reggae.

More details are available at Angry Mom's page on Facebook.

Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog