Ithaca Blog

Monday, August 30, 2010

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

Sunday, August 22, 2010

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

Friday, August 20, 2010

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

Saturday, August 14, 2010

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

Saturday, August 07, 2010

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