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
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
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
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
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
"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
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
Saturday, July 17, 2010
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
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
Wednesday, July 07, 2010
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
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
Monday, July 05, 2010
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
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
Sunday, June 27, 2010
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
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
Saturday, June 19, 2010
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
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
Wednesday, June 09, 2010
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.
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.
Tuesday, June 08, 2010
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
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
Sunday, May 30, 2010
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
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
Sunday, May 23, 2010
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
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
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
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
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
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
Monday, May 17, 2010
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
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
Saturday, May 15, 2010
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
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
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
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
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
Monday, May 10, 2010
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
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
Wednesday, May 05, 2010
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
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
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
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