We don't let St. Patrick's Day go so easily, around here.
We saved for today these excerpts from an essay the Irish writer Maeve Binchy wrote for the New York Times on her calling. Like James Joyce and others, she had to leave home to discover the treasure of her own voice.
I have extracted the excerpts rather freely - that is, cloddishly, for expediency. You can see the whole piece on the NY Times site simply by searching "Maeve Binchy." It was published on 4 November 2002.
The Irish don't really think about writing, it is just a natural extension of what we do all the time, which is talking. In Ireland talk was always great, any old kind of talk.
Why be anywhere unless you could say something? Why pause and wait for an important thought to arrive? Suppose it didn't arrive?
When I moved to England, I knew I presented a bit of a problem to them because of all this incessant talking. Particularly at bus stops. In Ireland it is discourteous not to greet your fellow travelers as you wait. In London it is something done only by the insane.
If you address people at a London bus stop, they think you are going to follow them home and live with them, and they begin to panic and move away. Similarly, if you wait in a line for theater tickets or to be served in a store, Irish manners would insist that you talk briefly to whoever is beside you. English manners demand that you stare ahead as if you were alone in the middle of a hundred-acre field.
Those amazing etiquette books that advise four talkers and four listeners at a dinner party have no place in this land. Where would you find the listeners? And why invite them anywhere?
#
We hope you had a good St. Patrick's Day with much laughter and talk. Any old kind of talk.
Stephen Patrick Burke
for Ithaca Blog
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Monday, March 16, 2009
"St. Patrick's Day Four" Film at Cinemapolis, March 17 & 18
Cinemapolis will screen "The Trial of the St. Patrick's Day Four," a documentary about the Ithaca peace activists Peter DeMott, Clare Grady, Teresa Grady, and Danny Burns, on St. Patrick's Day, Tuesday the 17th, at 7 pm.
With a large crowd expected following the untimely death of Pete Demott last month, a second screening was announced today, for the following night, also at 7 pm.
Stephen Burke
for Ithaca Blog
With a large crowd expected following the untimely death of Pete Demott last month, a second screening was announced today, for the following night, also at 7 pm.
Stephen Burke
for Ithaca Blog
Friday, March 13, 2009
Music in Ithaca, March 13 - 15 (and a bit beyond)
Friday 3/13: Andy Culpepper plays flamenco guitar at the Smart Monkey Cafe on Elmira Road. 6:30 pm.
Mu-Tron Warriors and Solstice play Afro-beat and funk staples and originals at Castaways, 9 pm.
* * *
Saturday 3/14: The return of alt-country rockers Hubcap, at the Chapter House, 9 pm.
* * *
Sunday 3/15: The George Reed Trio plays trad jazz at Maxies, 6 pm.
* * *
Heads-up for next week: a couple of non-Celtic bands try St. Patrick's Day music next Tuesday: the Hogwashers at Maxie's, 6 pm; and the Orbiting Art Ensemble at the Lost Dog Lounge, 9:30. For the tried-and-true, there is a Traditional Irish Session at the Chapter House, 7 pm.
Friday, 27 March, Tuvan throat-singers Alash come to the Lost Dog Lounge, with opening act (from considerably nearer) the Evil City String Band. Advance tickets are $15. Fewer than 100 are available for this intimate venue, so quick action is recommended. Tickets are available at Small World Music.
Steve Burke
for Ithaca Blog
Mu-Tron Warriors and Solstice play Afro-beat and funk staples and originals at Castaways, 9 pm.
* * *
Saturday 3/14: The return of alt-country rockers Hubcap, at the Chapter House, 9 pm.
* * *
Sunday 3/15: The George Reed Trio plays trad jazz at Maxies, 6 pm.
* * *
Heads-up for next week: a couple of non-Celtic bands try St. Patrick's Day music next Tuesday: the Hogwashers at Maxie's, 6 pm; and the Orbiting Art Ensemble at the Lost Dog Lounge, 9:30. For the tried-and-true, there is a Traditional Irish Session at the Chapter House, 7 pm.
Friday, 27 March, Tuvan throat-singers Alash come to the Lost Dog Lounge, with opening act (from considerably nearer) the Evil City String Band. Advance tickets are $15. Fewer than 100 are available for this intimate venue, so quick action is recommended. Tickets are available at Small World Music.
Steve Burke
for Ithaca Blog
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Two Questions About the Bathroom
Cleaning the apartment the other day brought forth two questions about household plumbing.
1. Why does the bathroom sink have an outflow slot to prevent overflowing, but the kitchen sink doesn't?
2. Why is "cleaning" the toilet no more than putting cleanser in the toilet, swirling it around and scrubbing with a brush, and flushing? It's better than nothing, but essentially you are trying to get something clean using toilet bowl water.
Why not heat up some water in the tea kettle and pour it into the toilet for this scrubbing? We use hot water to clean everything else - why not for the germiest thing in the house?
I talked to my friend JD and told her about this brain attack. She didn't wait too long before saying, "Now I know you are really crazy."
I don't think so. I know it is an odd thing to think about, but there was the toilet, and there was I, and there was the cold toilet water. And then there was the bathroom light bulb over my head.
I wouldn't have thought of it at all had I been thinking about the tax forms in the kitchen I was supposed to be working on. But of course generally no one cleans the house except when they're supposed to be doing something else they want to do even less.
Steve Burke
for Ithaca Blog
1. Why does the bathroom sink have an outflow slot to prevent overflowing, but the kitchen sink doesn't?
2. Why is "cleaning" the toilet no more than putting cleanser in the toilet, swirling it around and scrubbing with a brush, and flushing? It's better than nothing, but essentially you are trying to get something clean using toilet bowl water.
Why not heat up some water in the tea kettle and pour it into the toilet for this scrubbing? We use hot water to clean everything else - why not for the germiest thing in the house?
I talked to my friend JD and told her about this brain attack. She didn't wait too long before saying, "Now I know you are really crazy."
I don't think so. I know it is an odd thing to think about, but there was the toilet, and there was I, and there was the cold toilet water. And then there was the bathroom light bulb over my head.
I wouldn't have thought of it at all had I been thinking about the tax forms in the kitchen I was supposed to be working on. But of course generally no one cleans the house except when they're supposed to be doing something else they want to do even less.
Steve Burke
for Ithaca Blog
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Small World Music Featured In "Tompkins Weekly"
We're grateful at Small World Music for the article in the new issue of Tompkins Weekly that features our business - a local, independent music store.
(The picture of us was not the daffiest-looking they took, probably. We look a little Cheshire-catty, but we could look worse.)
As the article notes, "Burke makes sure to have music by artists performing shows in town, such as Sharon Jones and Emmylou Harris." Right now, that also includes George Thorogood and Joan Baez.
"At the same time," reporter Stephen Kimball continues, "he offers the latest releases. That includes recent Grammy-winners Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, and Pete Seeger." Right now, it also includes U2, Neko Case, Fleet Foxes, Animal Collective, and Van Morrison's new re-working of "Astral Weeks."
The article concludes, very simply, "Shop there." Nice!
Thanks again, Mr. Kimball, and photographer Skip Thorne.
Steve Burke
for Small World Music and Ithaca Blog
(The picture of us was not the daffiest-looking they took, probably. We look a little Cheshire-catty, but we could look worse.)
As the article notes, "Burke makes sure to have music by artists performing shows in town, such as Sharon Jones and Emmylou Harris." Right now, that also includes George Thorogood and Joan Baez.
"At the same time," reporter Stephen Kimball continues, "he offers the latest releases. That includes recent Grammy-winners Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, and Pete Seeger." Right now, it also includes U2, Neko Case, Fleet Foxes, Animal Collective, and Van Morrison's new re-working of "Astral Weeks."
The article concludes, very simply, "Shop there." Nice!
Thanks again, Mr. Kimball, and photographer Skip Thorne.
Steve Burke
for Small World Music and Ithaca Blog
Modest George Thorogood at State Theater Tonight
As noted here on a recent post, there have been a lot of benefit concerts in town lately, even for our perennially cause-oriented populace.
So tonight could be a good change of pace as veteran guitar-slinger George Thorogood comes to town with his band, the Destroyers, with no agenda other than loud but light-hearted rock and roll.
Thorogood and band - nee the Delaware Destroyers, from greater Wilmington - emerged from that smallest of states with modest ambition, entertaining bar crowds with covers of Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, and blues songs.
The landscape widened with a record contract and some hit songs, still heard on radio today. The first was an amalgam of two songs by John Lee Hooker. Another was a faithful version of Bo Diddley's "Who Do You Love."
Under pressure from his record label to write some material, Thorogood protested. "Why should I try to write songs when Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley already wrote them all?," he said.
When he tried, he had some success. The material sounds a lot like his mentors. But this is not unusual in art, nor commerce.
However modest his reach, he is good at what he does, and has been doing it a long time with essentially the same band he started with, 30 years ago.
The show comes to the State tonight at 8.
Small World Music is featuring GT & the DD's Greatest Hits CD, and CD/DVD, along with a number of the band's old LP's.
Steve Burke
for Ithaca Blog
So tonight could be a good change of pace as veteran guitar-slinger George Thorogood comes to town with his band, the Destroyers, with no agenda other than loud but light-hearted rock and roll.
Thorogood and band - nee the Delaware Destroyers, from greater Wilmington - emerged from that smallest of states with modest ambition, entertaining bar crowds with covers of Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, and blues songs.
The landscape widened with a record contract and some hit songs, still heard on radio today. The first was an amalgam of two songs by John Lee Hooker. Another was a faithful version of Bo Diddley's "Who Do You Love."
Under pressure from his record label to write some material, Thorogood protested. "Why should I try to write songs when Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley already wrote them all?," he said.
When he tried, he had some success. The material sounds a lot like his mentors. But this is not unusual in art, nor commerce.
However modest his reach, he is good at what he does, and has been doing it a long time with essentially the same band he started with, 30 years ago.
The show comes to the State tonight at 8.
Small World Music is featuring GT & the DD's Greatest Hits CD, and CD/DVD, along with a number of the band's old LP's.
Steve Burke
for Ithaca Blog
Thursday, March 05, 2009
Weekend Music, March 6 - 8
Friday 3/6: Joan Baez is celebrating 50 years as a performer with a tour and a new CD. Her State Theater show is her only appearance in upstate New York. It will be crowded. 8 pm.
"Iraqi Oud Masters Together" is a great example of thinking globally and acting locally. The show is a benefit for a local effort to help Iraqi refugees - particularly, Iraqis who acted as tranlators and interpreters for American forces in Iraq, and now need help extracting themselves and their families from danger there.
Yair Dalal and Rahim Alhaj play the oud, the classic stringed instrument of Middle Eastern music. The music is transporting in an aesthetic way - the cause in a practical way.
Tickets are $24 and all proceeds go to the Iraqi Refugee Assistance Connection of Ithaca. The show is at 8 pm, at the Unitarian Church downtown. Tickets are available at Small World Music and the Ithaca Guitar Works.
* * *
Sat. 3/7: Canadian folk band Tanglefoot are on a farewell tour after 25 years. They play at 8 pm at Sage Chapel at Cornell in a Cornell Folk Song Society show. Tickets are available at Small World Music, $15, or at the show for $17.
The Gunpoets create an original blend of hip-hop and reggae that plays out as energetic dance music. At the Chapter House, 10 pm.
* * *
Sun. 3/8: Ithaca Underground presents a triple bill at No Radio Records on E. Seneca Street: Why The Wires and Quietime from Ithaca, and Microwaves, from Pittsburgh. 7 pm. $5 cover.
The Johnny Dowd show (his band, Black Elastic) scheduled for Felicia's tonight has been cancelled.
Babik plied their gypsy jazz at the State Theater, previously. Tonight, they play around the corner, at the Lost Dog Lounge. 9 pm.
have fun -
Steve Burke
for Ithaca Blog
"Iraqi Oud Masters Together" is a great example of thinking globally and acting locally. The show is a benefit for a local effort to help Iraqi refugees - particularly, Iraqis who acted as tranlators and interpreters for American forces in Iraq, and now need help extracting themselves and their families from danger there.
Yair Dalal and Rahim Alhaj play the oud, the classic stringed instrument of Middle Eastern music. The music is transporting in an aesthetic way - the cause in a practical way.
Tickets are $24 and all proceeds go to the Iraqi Refugee Assistance Connection of Ithaca. The show is at 8 pm, at the Unitarian Church downtown. Tickets are available at Small World Music and the Ithaca Guitar Works.
* * *
Sat. 3/7: Canadian folk band Tanglefoot are on a farewell tour after 25 years. They play at 8 pm at Sage Chapel at Cornell in a Cornell Folk Song Society show. Tickets are available at Small World Music, $15, or at the show for $17.
The Gunpoets create an original blend of hip-hop and reggae that plays out as energetic dance music. At the Chapter House, 10 pm.
* * *
Sun. 3/8: Ithaca Underground presents a triple bill at No Radio Records on E. Seneca Street: Why The Wires and Quietime from Ithaca, and Microwaves, from Pittsburgh. 7 pm. $5 cover.
The Johnny Dowd show (his band, Black Elastic) scheduled for Felicia's tonight has been cancelled.
Babik plied their gypsy jazz at the State Theater, previously. Tonight, they play around the corner, at the Lost Dog Lounge. 9 pm.
have fun -
Steve Burke
for Ithaca Blog
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
March 21 March On the Pentagon: Bus From Ithaca
A march on the Pentagon is planned for Saturday 21 March to oppose more war in the Middle East.
On the sixth anniversary of the disastrous invasion of Iraq, Americans are awake to the futility and costs of war as a response to trouble in the region. Fewer than half of Americans who give President Obama favorable ratings approve of his plan to send 17,000 troops to Afghanistan. 82% of Afghanis oppose it.
A bus will make a round-trip from Ithaca to DC for the protest, leaving Ithaca at 4 a.m. and returning at 10 p.m. The cost is $60, subject to sliding scale.
More information about the trip is available at the web site www.tompkinsagainstwar.org.
Stephen Burke
for Ithaca Blog
On the sixth anniversary of the disastrous invasion of Iraq, Americans are awake to the futility and costs of war as a response to trouble in the region. Fewer than half of Americans who give President Obama favorable ratings approve of his plan to send 17,000 troops to Afghanistan. 82% of Afghanis oppose it.
A bus will make a round-trip from Ithaca to DC for the protest, leaving Ithaca at 4 a.m. and returning at 10 p.m. The cost is $60, subject to sliding scale.
More information about the trip is available at the web site www.tompkinsagainstwar.org.
Stephen Burke
for Ithaca Blog
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Something In Ithaca Loves A Benefit
There is something of the boulevardier mixed with benefactor in many Ithacans, loving to go out, and also loving to support good causes.
Saturday holds a mix of literature, music, and help for a worthy organization, with a book release party for Bob Proehl's "Gilded Palace of Sin." Music by Proehl's subject, the Flying Burrito Brothers, will be performed by Mary Lorson, Johnny Dowd, and others. Proceeds go to the Cancer Resource Center, on W. State Street. The event is at Castaways. Our understanding is that doors open at 8 for a scheduled 9 pm show; you might want to call. Castaways' phone is 272-1370.
On Sunday, GrassRoots Festival musicians play a benefit at the Rongo for Timmy Brown (see Ithaca Blog posting from Sunday 15 February for details). The show goes from 2 - 9 pm. The Rongo's phone is 387-3334.
On Friday 6 March, a Benefit For Iraqi Refugees presents Yair Dalal and Rahim Alhaj, master oud players and composers, whose own families are refugees of Iraq. All proceeds go to the Iraqi Refugee Connection Program, which aids former Iraqi translators and interpreters seeking refuge in the United States. Tickets are $24 ($16 in advance for students and seniors) and are available at Small World Music (256-0428) and the Ithaca Guitar Works.
Finally, as reported previously in Ithaca Blog, a benefit for the Ithaca Catholic Worker peace and justice group by Irish singer Karan Casey has been cancelled due to the sudden death of Catholic Worker member Peter DeMott, husband of concert organizer Ellen Grady. Support can be sent to Ellen Grady at 133 Sheffield Road, Ithaca NY, 14850.
Stephen Burke
for Ithaca Blog
Saturday holds a mix of literature, music, and help for a worthy organization, with a book release party for Bob Proehl's "Gilded Palace of Sin." Music by Proehl's subject, the Flying Burrito Brothers, will be performed by Mary Lorson, Johnny Dowd, and others. Proceeds go to the Cancer Resource Center, on W. State Street. The event is at Castaways. Our understanding is that doors open at 8 for a scheduled 9 pm show; you might want to call. Castaways' phone is 272-1370.
On Sunday, GrassRoots Festival musicians play a benefit at the Rongo for Timmy Brown (see Ithaca Blog posting from Sunday 15 February for details). The show goes from 2 - 9 pm. The Rongo's phone is 387-3334.
On Friday 6 March, a Benefit For Iraqi Refugees presents Yair Dalal and Rahim Alhaj, master oud players and composers, whose own families are refugees of Iraq. All proceeds go to the Iraqi Refugee Connection Program, which aids former Iraqi translators and interpreters seeking refuge in the United States. Tickets are $24 ($16 in advance for students and seniors) and are available at Small World Music (256-0428) and the Ithaca Guitar Works.
Finally, as reported previously in Ithaca Blog, a benefit for the Ithaca Catholic Worker peace and justice group by Irish singer Karan Casey has been cancelled due to the sudden death of Catholic Worker member Peter DeMott, husband of concert organizer Ellen Grady. Support can be sent to Ellen Grady at 133 Sheffield Road, Ithaca NY, 14850.
Stephen Burke
for Ithaca Blog
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
"Be joyful, though you have considered all the facts": A Poem From Peter DeMott's Funeral
Peter DeMott's daughters went to the pulpit at his funeral Monday and spoke of their father, and read one of his favorite poems, by Wendell Berry. The title, I believe, is "Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front."
Love the quick profit, the annual raise,
vacation with pay. Want more
of everything ready-made. Be afraid
to know your neighbors and to die.
And you will have a window in your head.
Not even your future will be a mystery
anymore. Your mind will be punched in a card
and shut away in a little drawer.
When they want you to buy something
they will call you. When they want you
to die for profit they will let you know.
So, friends, every day do something
that won't compute. Love the Lord.
Love the world. Work for nothing.
Take all that you have and be poor.
Love someone who does not deserve it.
Denounce the government and embrace
the flag. Hope to live in that free
republic for which it stands.
Give your approval to all you cannot
understand. Praise ignorance, for what man
has not encountered he has not destroyed.
Ask the questions that have no answers.
Invest in the millennium. Plant sequoias.
Say that your main crop is the forest
that you did not plant,
that you will not live to harvest.
Say that the leaves are harvested
when they have rotted into the mold.
Call that profit. Prophesy such returns.
Put your faith in the two inches of humus
that will build under the trees
every thousand years.
Listen to carrion - put your ear
close, and hear the faint chattering
of the songs that are to come.
Expect the end of the world. Laugh.
Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful
though you have considered all the facts.
So long as women do not go cheap
for power, please women more than men.
Ask yourself: will this satisfy
a woman satisfied to bear a child?
Will this disturb the sleep
of a woman near to giving birth?
Go with your love to the fields.
Lie easy in the shade. Rest your head
in her lap. Swear allegiance
to what is nighest in your thoughts.
As soon as the generals and the politicos
can predict the motions of your mind,
lose it. Leave it as a sign
to mark the false trail, the way
you didn't go. Be like the fox
who makes more tracks than necessary,
some in the wrong direction.
Practice resurrection.
- Wendell Berry
#
Stephen Burke
for Ithaca Blog
Love the quick profit, the annual raise,
vacation with pay. Want more
of everything ready-made. Be afraid
to know your neighbors and to die.
And you will have a window in your head.
Not even your future will be a mystery
anymore. Your mind will be punched in a card
and shut away in a little drawer.
When they want you to buy something
they will call you. When they want you
to die for profit they will let you know.
So, friends, every day do something
that won't compute. Love the Lord.
Love the world. Work for nothing.
Take all that you have and be poor.
Love someone who does not deserve it.
Denounce the government and embrace
the flag. Hope to live in that free
republic for which it stands.
Give your approval to all you cannot
understand. Praise ignorance, for what man
has not encountered he has not destroyed.
Ask the questions that have no answers.
Invest in the millennium. Plant sequoias.
Say that your main crop is the forest
that you did not plant,
that you will not live to harvest.
Say that the leaves are harvested
when they have rotted into the mold.
Call that profit. Prophesy such returns.
Put your faith in the two inches of humus
that will build under the trees
every thousand years.
Listen to carrion - put your ear
close, and hear the faint chattering
of the songs that are to come.
Expect the end of the world. Laugh.
Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful
though you have considered all the facts.
So long as women do not go cheap
for power, please women more than men.
Ask yourself: will this satisfy
a woman satisfied to bear a child?
Will this disturb the sleep
of a woman near to giving birth?
Go with your love to the fields.
Lie easy in the shade. Rest your head
in her lap. Swear allegiance
to what is nighest in your thoughts.
As soon as the generals and the politicos
can predict the motions of your mind,
lose it. Leave it as a sign
to mark the false trail, the way
you didn't go. Be like the fox
who makes more tracks than necessary,
some in the wrong direction.
Practice resurrection.
- Wendell Berry
#
Stephen Burke
for Ithaca Blog
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Karan Casey Concert Cancelled
Ellen Grady announced the cancellation of a concert by Karan Casey planned for next month in Ithaca.
The concert was planned for March 23. Ellen and Karan announced the show last Thursday. Ellen's husband, Peter DeMott, died suddenly later that day.
At present, there are no plans for re-scheduling.
The concert was planned as a benefit for Ellen and Peter's group, the Ithaca Catholic Worker.
Donations to the DeMott - Grady family can be sent to Ellen Grady, 133 Sheffield Road, Ithaca NY, 14850.
Stephen Burke
for Ithaca Blog
The concert was planned for March 23. Ellen and Karan announced the show last Thursday. Ellen's husband, Peter DeMott, died suddenly later that day.
At present, there are no plans for re-scheduling.
The concert was planned as a benefit for Ellen and Peter's group, the Ithaca Catholic Worker.
Donations to the DeMott - Grady family can be sent to Ellen Grady, 133 Sheffield Road, Ithaca NY, 14850.
Stephen Burke
for Ithaca Blog
Friday, February 20, 2009
Peter DeMott, Man of Peace, Rest In Peace
Peter DeMott of Ithaca died yesterday in an accident while working. He was 62.
Peter was a veteran of both the U.S. Army and Marines who became one of the leading anti-war activists in America.
Peter once told the New York Times he could not remember how many times he had been arrested for civil disobedience. "I usually round it off to a couple of dozen times," he said.
Most recently, Peter was imprisoned for participating in a non-violent protest on March 17, 2003, at the start of the Bush administration's invasion of Iraq.
The protesters, known as the St. Patrick's 4, included Peter's sisters-in-law, Clare and Teresa Grady, and Daniel Burns of Ithaca.
Peter leaves behind his wife, Ellen Grady, and their 4 daughters.
News of Peter's death was broadcast nationally this morning on the Democracy Now program.
A memorial service is planned for Sunday, from 3 - 7 pm, at the Women's Community Building. A funeral Mass will be held at the Immaculate Conception Church on Monday, at 12:45.
Stephen Burke
for Ithaca Blog
Peter was a veteran of both the U.S. Army and Marines who became one of the leading anti-war activists in America.
Peter once told the New York Times he could not remember how many times he had been arrested for civil disobedience. "I usually round it off to a couple of dozen times," he said.
Most recently, Peter was imprisoned for participating in a non-violent protest on March 17, 2003, at the start of the Bush administration's invasion of Iraq.
The protesters, known as the St. Patrick's 4, included Peter's sisters-in-law, Clare and Teresa Grady, and Daniel Burns of Ithaca.
Peter leaves behind his wife, Ellen Grady, and their 4 daughters.
News of Peter's death was broadcast nationally this morning on the Democracy Now program.
A memorial service is planned for Sunday, from 3 - 7 pm, at the Women's Community Building. A funeral Mass will be held at the Immaculate Conception Church on Monday, at 12:45.
Stephen Burke
for Ithaca Blog
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Irish Singer Karan Casey In Benefit Concert In Ithaca, March 23
[Please note: this concert has been cancelled, as explained in a subsequent Ithaca Blog posting. We leave this initial posting up, to clarify the chain of events.]
Irish singer Karan Casey will perform a concert to benefit Ithaca Catholic Worker, the peace and justice group, om Monday 23 March.
The concert was announced today by Ellen Grady of the Catholic Worker.
The event will be Ms. Casey's sixth performance in Ithaca to support peace and justice work. The first was as singer with the Irish group, Solas. Since then, she has appeared with her own quartet.
The concert will be in the auditorium of Anabel Taylor Hall at Cornell.
Ithaca Blog will report ticket details as soon as they are set.
Stephen Burke
for Ithaca Blog
Irish singer Karan Casey will perform a concert to benefit Ithaca Catholic Worker, the peace and justice group, om Monday 23 March.
The concert was announced today by Ellen Grady of the Catholic Worker.
The event will be Ms. Casey's sixth performance in Ithaca to support peace and justice work. The first was as singer with the Irish group, Solas. Since then, she has appeared with her own quartet.
The concert will be in the auditorium of Anabel Taylor Hall at Cornell.
Ithaca Blog will report ticket details as soon as they are set.
Stephen Burke
for Ithaca Blog
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Benefit Concert For Timmy Brown
Timmy Brown, #1 reclusive mainstay of the Ithaca music scene, suffered a brain aneurysm some months ago, and continues to recuperate in hospital in North Carolina, near the GrassRoots Festival outpost there.
A benefit concert has been announced to help with Timmy's expenses. Some of the biggest names in Ithaca music will participate, at the Rongovian Embassy in Trumansburg, on Sunday, 1 March.
Featured performers will include Sim Redmond Band, Jennie Stearns, Evil City String Band, Paso Fino, Chicken Chokers, and Who You Are.
The event is scheduled from 2 - 9 pm.
Steve Burke
for Ithaca Blog
A benefit concert has been announced to help with Timmy's expenses. Some of the biggest names in Ithaca music will participate, at the Rongovian Embassy in Trumansburg, on Sunday, 1 March.
Featured performers will include Sim Redmond Band, Jennie Stearns, Evil City String Band, Paso Fino, Chicken Chokers, and Who You Are.
The event is scheduled from 2 - 9 pm.
Steve Burke
for Ithaca Blog
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Hard Times At the Downtown Post Office
We don't blame the dedicated (and over-worked) staff there, but the paucity of service at the downtown post office is reaching critical proportions.
It's bad, and will get worse, with new shorter hours this month.
On a trip there Monday afternoon, the line was the length of the building, and would have gone out the building, except people turned around and left rather than wait outdoors. There were 20-plus people on line, and 2 clerks. The wait was over half an hour.
On a trip this morning, it was better, though not good: a 15-minute wait for service.
The only way to avoid this postal purgatory is to arrive after the last delivery truck leaves at 5:25 pm. This is kind of beside the point, of course, to go a day before your mail will move, but that's the way it is.
Now, however, this will no longer be possible, as the office will no longer stay open until 6:30, but will close at 5.
Of course, if you get there at 5, there is no guarantee you will be served before the 5:25 departure of the truck.
We guess the new cuts, and the usual short-staffing, has to do with the deficit the post office incurs. It is hard to imagine, however, that this particular branch loses money. It is understaffed by at least half, with captive customers who will stay and provide business even if it means wasting a significant part of their work day.
We think it's time for local officials and business leaders to talk with the bosses at USPS.
It's becoming a municipal issue, considering the loss of economic productivity caused by what is essentially a utility, or at least a vital public service.
Surely the USPS has figures that show the amount of business at this branch - our sole downtown facility - cannot be handled by two staffers (which goes down to one, when one goes on break).
In the meantime, we recommend you do like we do. We bring books. Big, big books. And crossword puzzles. (The Sunday puzzle. The dailies are too short.)
If the USPS bosses can't or won't do anything, maybe we can stave the losses to the local economy by creating some ancillary businesses out front: news stand, lunch wagon, shoeshine booth, watch repair? And inside, chair massages, ear piercing, tattoos?
Steve Burke
for Ithaca Blog (and Small World Music's mail order division!)
It's bad, and will get worse, with new shorter hours this month.
On a trip there Monday afternoon, the line was the length of the building, and would have gone out the building, except people turned around and left rather than wait outdoors. There were 20-plus people on line, and 2 clerks. The wait was over half an hour.
On a trip this morning, it was better, though not good: a 15-minute wait for service.
The only way to avoid this postal purgatory is to arrive after the last delivery truck leaves at 5:25 pm. This is kind of beside the point, of course, to go a day before your mail will move, but that's the way it is.
Now, however, this will no longer be possible, as the office will no longer stay open until 6:30, but will close at 5.
Of course, if you get there at 5, there is no guarantee you will be served before the 5:25 departure of the truck.
We guess the new cuts, and the usual short-staffing, has to do with the deficit the post office incurs. It is hard to imagine, however, that this particular branch loses money. It is understaffed by at least half, with captive customers who will stay and provide business even if it means wasting a significant part of their work day.
We think it's time for local officials and business leaders to talk with the bosses at USPS.
It's becoming a municipal issue, considering the loss of economic productivity caused by what is essentially a utility, or at least a vital public service.
Surely the USPS has figures that show the amount of business at this branch - our sole downtown facility - cannot be handled by two staffers (which goes down to one, when one goes on break).
In the meantime, we recommend you do like we do. We bring books. Big, big books. And crossword puzzles. (The Sunday puzzle. The dailies are too short.)
If the USPS bosses can't or won't do anything, maybe we can stave the losses to the local economy by creating some ancillary businesses out front: news stand, lunch wagon, shoeshine booth, watch repair? And inside, chair massages, ear piercing, tattoos?
Steve Burke
for Ithaca Blog (and Small World Music's mail order division!)
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
February 14 Alert
Okay, lover-men and -women, get moving. February 14 is 3 days away, this Saturday, and you don't want to suffer from procrastination.
Jewelry stores are like other stores - they run out of good stuff. Wait too long, and what you're likely to find are things you either don't like, or can't afford.
We recommend Mickey Roof's shop, the Jewel Box, as a place with interesting goods. They are neighbors of ours here at Small World Music, in the enthralling West End of Ithaca.
We would be remiss if we didn't mention beautiful music as a natural expression of romantic ardor. The new CD by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss is nice (and also just won the Grammy for album of the year). Small World Music also has sultry Jazz, lively Latin, and the proverbial Much More.
For you unsigned soldiers of love, let us recommend a way to turn this otherwise tough day into a day of opportunity. Go to the "search" function here on Ithaca Blog and type in Valentines Day to see our posting from last year, where we boost a scheme ("Valentines Day Tip For The Unattached"). It couldn't hurt.
Steve Burke
for Ithaca Blog and Small World Music
Jewelry stores are like other stores - they run out of good stuff. Wait too long, and what you're likely to find are things you either don't like, or can't afford.
We recommend Mickey Roof's shop, the Jewel Box, as a place with interesting goods. They are neighbors of ours here at Small World Music, in the enthralling West End of Ithaca.
We would be remiss if we didn't mention beautiful music as a natural expression of romantic ardor. The new CD by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss is nice (and also just won the Grammy for album of the year). Small World Music also has sultry Jazz, lively Latin, and the proverbial Much More.
For you unsigned soldiers of love, let us recommend a way to turn this otherwise tough day into a day of opportunity. Go to the "search" function here on Ithaca Blog and type in Valentines Day to see our posting from last year, where we boost a scheme ("Valentines Day Tip For The Unattached"). It couldn't hurt.
Steve Burke
for Ithaca Blog and Small World Music
Saturday, February 07, 2009
Movies For The Possibly Shallow (Three Cheers)
I had to tell my movie (and other) friend JDD today, no and Holy Toledo, I do not wish to go see this picture, "Let The Right One In."
I never heard of it, and didn't need to, once I saw the website. The decision process took 20 seconds, or as long as it took me to read the words "dark" and "disturbing," and to see the promo picture of a young woman looking haggard yet bored as blood trickles out her mouth.
No, thanks. I know movies are an art form, and I don't mind being edified, but I don't want to be horrified. In most circumstances, I will prefer to see people not bleeding, and in the best situation, making jokes.
As Bob Dylan wisely noted long ago, it takes a lot to laugh, and just a train to cry (they take people away; they blow lonesome - emblematic, see).
We saw "Frost/Nixon" last night, and that was smart and serious, yet without any torture (except maybe Nixon, of himself).
Life has plenty of darkness and disturbance for me without inventing more. "Let The Right One In" is an ironically good title. It ain't me, babe. Likewise, I will prefer good dreams over nightmares, tonight.
Steve Burke
for Ithaca Blog
I never heard of it, and didn't need to, once I saw the website. The decision process took 20 seconds, or as long as it took me to read the words "dark" and "disturbing," and to see the promo picture of a young woman looking haggard yet bored as blood trickles out her mouth.
No, thanks. I know movies are an art form, and I don't mind being edified, but I don't want to be horrified. In most circumstances, I will prefer to see people not bleeding, and in the best situation, making jokes.
As Bob Dylan wisely noted long ago, it takes a lot to laugh, and just a train to cry (they take people away; they blow lonesome - emblematic, see).
We saw "Frost/Nixon" last night, and that was smart and serious, yet without any torture (except maybe Nixon, of himself).
Life has plenty of darkness and disturbance for me without inventing more. "Let The Right One In" is an ironically good title. It ain't me, babe. Likewise, I will prefer good dreams over nightmares, tonight.
Steve Burke
for Ithaca Blog
Friday, February 06, 2009
Things To Do in Ithaca, Feb. 6 - 8
There's a lot to do, and possibly warmer weather for it.
Fri. 2/6: The Hogwashers at Felicia's happy hour, 5:30 pm.
The Small Kings, at the Community Center Cafe in Dryden, 7 pm.
Stars, indie pop from Canada, at the State Theater, 8 pm.
Bob Marley Birthday Celebration, with Kevin Kinsella. Castaways, 9 pm.
* * *
Sat. 2/7: Paint-Off Benefit for the Ithaca Festival. Instant masterpieces while-u-wait by area artists. Music by Eric Aceto, Kevin Kinsella, and Hank Roberts. Center Ithaca, 7 pm.
John Specker, GrassRoots Festival favorite, in performance for the Cornell Folk Song Society. McGraw Hall, Cornell, 8 pm. $15 advance tickets available at Small World Music; $17.50 at the door.
Candypants, with the Ones, Chapter House, 10 pm.
* * *
Sun. 2/8: Jennie Lowe (formerly Stearns), with Chris Seeds and Erin Arin, at Felicia's, 7 pm.
Long John and the Tights at Bound For Glory, Anabel Taylor Hall, Cornell. First set, 8:30 pm.
have fun -
Steve Burke
Fri. 2/6: The Hogwashers at Felicia's happy hour, 5:30 pm.
The Small Kings, at the Community Center Cafe in Dryden, 7 pm.
Stars, indie pop from Canada, at the State Theater, 8 pm.
Bob Marley Birthday Celebration, with Kevin Kinsella. Castaways, 9 pm.
* * *
Sat. 2/7: Paint-Off Benefit for the Ithaca Festival. Instant masterpieces while-u-wait by area artists. Music by Eric Aceto, Kevin Kinsella, and Hank Roberts. Center Ithaca, 7 pm.
John Specker, GrassRoots Festival favorite, in performance for the Cornell Folk Song Society. McGraw Hall, Cornell, 8 pm. $15 advance tickets available at Small World Music; $17.50 at the door.
Candypants, with the Ones, Chapter House, 10 pm.
* * *
Sun. 2/8: Jennie Lowe (formerly Stearns), with Chris Seeds and Erin Arin, at Felicia's, 7 pm.
Long John and the Tights at Bound For Glory, Anabel Taylor Hall, Cornell. First set, 8:30 pm.
have fun -
Steve Burke
Awesomeness in the Modern World
From what I hear around me, there is a surplus of awe in the world today that is practically phenomenal.
Almost every day, I achieve an act of awe. At least one. People tell me so.
It happened today at the store. The cashier told me what I owed, and I said, "I'll give you cash." And the cashier said, "Awesome." I got the same response the day before when I told the cashier I would pack my groceries in the bag I brought.
I'm not trying to awe people, which I think might hinder their duties or ability to concentrate, but it doesn't seem to, so I guess it's alright.
It's funny that so many people are so awed in an era when radical innovation is so commonplace, and the people who express the least awe are the ones who ostensibly should feel it most.
If my father, for instance, who still has a rotary phone, is awed by the fact that people today have private conversations in public spaces, including rest rooms, for example, on devices that can also take pictures, and are out and about in public rest rooms, he hasn't let on.
Maybe it is just younger people, who are naturally exuberant, although when I was younger, there still was not so much awe. I do recall there was a certain appreciation of "excellence," and maybe a surplus of that.
I do remember probably awing this kid Frankie DeRizzo, once, when a group of us were walking through the park, and I spat, in an arc in front of me, and kicked the expectoration with the toe of my boot into another arc of perhaps 25 feet. Frankie didn't realize that it was an ice cube, and not a gob of saliva, so the laws of physics and chemistry had not really been circumvented, as he thought. But he didn't say it was awesome. He said something unprintable, and then something incoherent, and I soon came to realize that his perception of the situation was affected by some plant matter he had smoked. I do, however, think he was pretty much awed, at least momentarily.
I don't mean to suggest that all these awed people are smoking plant matter. I hesitate to think what things would be like, if they did. Phantasmagorical, I guess.
Steve Burke
for Ithaca Blog
Almost every day, I achieve an act of awe. At least one. People tell me so.
It happened today at the store. The cashier told me what I owed, and I said, "I'll give you cash." And the cashier said, "Awesome." I got the same response the day before when I told the cashier I would pack my groceries in the bag I brought.
I'm not trying to awe people, which I think might hinder their duties or ability to concentrate, but it doesn't seem to, so I guess it's alright.
It's funny that so many people are so awed in an era when radical innovation is so commonplace, and the people who express the least awe are the ones who ostensibly should feel it most.
If my father, for instance, who still has a rotary phone, is awed by the fact that people today have private conversations in public spaces, including rest rooms, for example, on devices that can also take pictures, and are out and about in public rest rooms, he hasn't let on.
Maybe it is just younger people, who are naturally exuberant, although when I was younger, there still was not so much awe. I do recall there was a certain appreciation of "excellence," and maybe a surplus of that.
I do remember probably awing this kid Frankie DeRizzo, once, when a group of us were walking through the park, and I spat, in an arc in front of me, and kicked the expectoration with the toe of my boot into another arc of perhaps 25 feet. Frankie didn't realize that it was an ice cube, and not a gob of saliva, so the laws of physics and chemistry had not really been circumvented, as he thought. But he didn't say it was awesome. He said something unprintable, and then something incoherent, and I soon came to realize that his perception of the situation was affected by some plant matter he had smoked. I do, however, think he was pretty much awed, at least momentarily.
I don't mean to suggest that all these awed people are smoking plant matter. I hesitate to think what things would be like, if they did. Phantasmagorical, I guess.
Steve Burke
for Ithaca Blog
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
John Specker Fiddles In Town This Saturday
Another harbinger of yearly summertime fun at GrassRoots Festival (advance tickets go on sale at Small World Music and other locations on Valentine's Day) is a rare other appearance by festival favorite John Specker, this Saturday, for the Cornell Folk Song Club.
John is a mighty big man at GrassRoots, where he appears every year, from the enclave in Vermont which he rarely leaves, otherwise.
Usually it's just John, his fiddle, his chair, and his stomping feet, tapping the primordial to summon the sublime - the John Lee Hooker of mountain music. Sometimes, lately, he is accompanied by his two daughters, in whom he clearly delights.
The show is at 165 McGraw Hall at Cornell. We suggest getting tickets early. They are available at Small World Music now, for $15 ($17.50 at the show).
Steve Burke
for Ithaca Blog & Small World Music
John is a mighty big man at GrassRoots, where he appears every year, from the enclave in Vermont which he rarely leaves, otherwise.
Usually it's just John, his fiddle, his chair, and his stomping feet, tapping the primordial to summon the sublime - the John Lee Hooker of mountain music. Sometimes, lately, he is accompanied by his two daughters, in whom he clearly delights.
The show is at 165 McGraw Hall at Cornell. We suggest getting tickets early. They are available at Small World Music now, for $15 ($17.50 at the show).
Steve Burke
for Ithaca Blog & Small World Music
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