Ithaca Blog

Sunday, March 28, 2010

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

Saturday, March 27, 2010

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

Friday, March 26, 2010

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

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

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

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

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

Sunday, March 14, 2010

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

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

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

Monday, March 08, 2010

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

Friday, March 05, 2010

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