Charlie's Innerart Bits

Bungalow Jazz presents George Delancy Quintet, a House Concert

2010-03-10T11:59:00.001-05:00

Next Concert: George Delancey Quintet, Friday March 12th

Join Becky Ogden and a cozy crowd for BUNGALOW JAZZ, an occasional series of combo jazz performances in the intimacy and warmth of Becky’s unique East Columbus home.

Becky’s big old 1910 bungalow sits on an acre ravine lot on East Fifth Avenue (it’s a little hard to find: See the directions!) Deeply connected to Columbus’s jazz community, Becky has long opened her house for friendly musical gatherings. Since closing her Columbus Music Hall, she still sees the need for venues where musicians and their audiences can mingles. Hence, Bungalow Jazz, the casual “house concert” venue.

The fabulous seven-foot Mason Hamlin piano sits in the living room, waiting for artists like Mark Flugge to bring out its warm and beautiful sound. After a post-jazz festival session, Wes “Warmdaddy” Anderson said, “I LOVE this room!”

The combined first-floor space seats about fifty people with overflow in the dining room (home to the English pub bar familiar to denizens of the Firehouse).

Every event is BYOB, with free snacks, desserts, soft drinks and coffee furnished by your hostess. BYO goodies too, if you want to contribute to the munchies.

And by all means, bring your own children: The atmosphere is family-style and welcoming.

More info? Check out: http://www.facebook.com/l/f2281;www.bungalowjazz.com

CCAD now offers MFA gradutae degrees

2010-03-03T15:46:00.003-05:00

Rick Petry, Director of Graduate Programs at Columbus College of Arts and Design (CCAD), sugested that I pass this info on. -charlie

Master of Fine Arts

Program Overview

Click to Play

CCAD is now accepting applications for its inaugural graduate program, the Master of Fine Arts in Visual Arts: New Projects.
Utilizing a structure rare in the United States, this exciting new program draws its inspiration from the way artists actually work. The project-based, multidisciplinary program is designed to develop not just candidates’ artistic skills, but also their skills in planning, communications, and leadership.
For a complete overview of the program, download the MFA Guidebook pdf (1MB)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLqJifkQhlw

Cost

Tuition costs for 2010/2011 is $24,864.

Pictures at the Opening! Chris Steele Exhibits a Fabulous Collection of Antique Penny Scales

2010-02-19T17:03:00.001-05:00

My eccentric friend Chris Steele is an artist, designer, model maker, inventor of of odd contraptions, spin-art virtuoso, founder of Citizens for a Better Skyline (pioneering the first murals to appear in the Short North), photographer, ceramist, and accumulator of assorted weird stuff. I first met him in 1972 when we opened Benchworks, a fine crafts collective in German Village. He brought an enormous old penny scale he had rescued from the then recent demolition of old Central Station. I agreed to let him place it at the entrance of our store and he came around regularly to collect his coins. The many scales he has kept on collecting throughout these past 4 decades now make part of the largest private collections of these once ubiquitous marvelous objects, sought by museums, history buffs and collectors all over the world. Find out how you can see that amazing collection by reading below.

-charlie

The American Weigh: Christopher Steele Collection

The Ohio State University Urban Arts Space

50 W. Town St., Columbus, Ohio 43215

Phone: 614-292-8861

Show opens February 2 - closes March 7, 2010

Reception: Friday February 26, 2010 5-7pm

Hours: Tuesday–Saturday: 11 am to 6 pm

Thursday: 11 am to 8pm

Free Admission

Special Arnold Sports Festival Hours

Sunday March 7th 11am to 6pm

(Closest Arnold Shuttle Stop: #5)

The American Weigh: Christopher Steele Collection

For a half century, Americans relied on penny scales to watch their weight.

At their peak, over 10 billion pennies were dropped into these colorful machines annually.

“The American Weigh” spotlights 50 different penny scales and spans

100 years of industrial design.

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Pictures at the Opening Reception

Penny scale detail

Chris with a scale

Welcoming guests

Scales in-a-row

With good friend Candy

These functional, attractive scales were, at one time, as common as finding a wi-fi spot today. Who ever predicted they would become art pieces shown in galleries, museums or private collections?

"Gotta love them scales!" Chris and Trina each hugging a favorite.

Ceramic Artists Tom Radca & Brenda McMahon updates

2010-02-19T11:37:00.001-05:00

my friends Tom & Brenda are in Florida for the next few months, doing art shows, gallery openings and conducting ceramic (clay) workshops. Drop by for a visit or take a class! -charlie

Gallery Opening Reception This Friday.

On Friday night, I will celebrate the Opening Reception of a month-long ceramic exhibit at St. Petersburg Clay Company in Florida with Brenda McMahon. Our Opening Reception begins on Friday, February 19th from 7pm - 9pm. The show of platters, vessels & tiles runs from February 19 thru March 27th.

This exhibit is a preview of what you'll learn about if you sign up for our Southern Version of "Large & Loose, Polished & Poetic" at St. Pete Clay Company. There are still spaces available. Call St. Pete Clay Company at 727-896-CLAY for more information.

There's Still Time to Sign Up For Our Two-Day Workshop.

Large & LOOSE, Polished & Poetic is gearing up for our Florida debut and there are still spaces available. On February 27 & 28 our 2-day firing intensive and demonstration workshop will be held at St. Petersburg Clay Company. The workshop runs from 10am - 5pm. Here's a sneak peak of what you can expect.

During the weekend, I will teach participants how to increase the amount of clay they can throw and how to loosen up while doing it. Brenda McMahon will open her 'toolbox of skills' and teach students everything they need to know about saggar firing. Bring 1 to 6 pots for the saggar firing...but if you don't have pots made, Brenda is making a bunch of spares for you to fire and take home. This workshop is open to students of all skill levels. The cost is $250. Call 727.896-CLAY or email St. Pete Clay Company to register today! For a more complete description, click here.

Snowscape Reality

2010-02-15T17:26:00.001-05:00

Desolate snowed in street. Shot with iPhone

Looks deceivingly peaceful! Just found out about a 40 car pile up on the major freeway. Scary. The snow is so fine you can hardly see it falling, but each hour adds about an inch and it won't stop snowing until morning. Then comes the wind and high drifts. Oh what fun.

(It is kind of neat how the iPhone created sort of a fisheye-motion effect. )

This beautiful picture of Stan's house was shot with an iPhone again. The real story is: the white car in front right corner, barely visible, is the same car I had been hopelessly trying to move out of that parking spot. Gave up after trying for about one half hour and walked home. It looks calm but the white light is because the air being saturated with millions of the tiniest sow flakes that have been falling like that for hours. The weatherman promises no let up until morning. Our cars may not be able to move for days. Anyone out there with spare cross-country skis, snowhoes, or a snow cat?

Our Founders Were NOT Fundamentaists -

2010-02-14T21:48:00.001-05:00

by Harvey Wasserman | February 13, 2010 -

"God made the idiot for practice, and then He made the school board."
--Mark Twain
The New York Times Sunday Magazine highlights yet another mob of extremists using the Texas School Board to baptize our children's textbooks.

This endless, ever-angry escalating assault on our Constitution by crusading theocrats could be obliterated with the effective incantation of two names: Benjamin Franklin, and Deganawidah.
But first, let's do some history:

1) Actual Founder-Presidents #2 through #6 -- John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe and John Quincy Adams -- were all freethinking Deists and Unitarians; what Christian precepts they embraced were moderate, tolerant and open-minded.

2) Actual Founder-President #1, George Washington, became an Anglican as required for original military service under the British, and occasionally quoted scripture. But he vehemently opposed any church-state union. In a 1790 letter to the Jews of Truro, he wrote: The "Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistances, requires only that they who live under its protection, should demean themselves as good citizens." A 1796 treaty he signed says "the government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion." Washington rarely went to church and by some accounts refused last religious rites.

3) Washington was also the nation's leading brewer, and since most Americans drank much beer (water could be lethal in the cities) they regularly trembled before the keg, not the altar. Like Washington, Jefferson and Madison, virtually all American farmers raised hemp and its variations.

4) Jefferson produced a personal Bible from which he edited out all reference to the "miraculous" from the life of Jesus, whom he considered both an activist and a mortal.

5) Tom Paine's COMMON SENSE sparked the Revolution with nary a mention of Jesus or Christianity. His Deist Creator established the laws of Nature, endowed humans with Free Will, then left.

6) The Constitution never mentions the words "Christian" or "Jesus" or "Christ."

7) Revolutionary America was filled with Christians whose commitment to toleration and diversity was completely adverse to the violent, racist, misogynist, anti-sex theocratic Puritans whose "City on the Hill" meant a totalitarian state. Inspirational preachers like Rhode Island's Roger Williams and religious groups like the Quakers envisioned a nation built on tolerance and love for all.

8) The US was founded less on Judeo-Christian beliefs than on the Greco-Roman love for dialog and reason. There are no contemporary portraits of any Founder wearing a crucifix or church garb. But Washington was famously painted half-naked in the buff toga of the Roman Republic, which continues to inspire much of our official architecture.

9) The great guerilla fighter (and furniture maker) Ethan Allen was an aggressive atheist; his beliefs were common among the farmers, sailors and artisans who were the backbone of Revolutionary America.

10) America's most influential statesman, thinker, writer, agitator, publisher, citizen-scientist and proud liberal libertine was -- and remains -- Benjamin Franklin. He was at the heart of the Declaration, Constitution and Treaty of Paris ending the Revolution. The ultimate Enlightenment icon, Franklin's Deism embraced a pragmatic love of diversity. As early America's dominant publisher he, Paine and Jefferson printed the intellectual soul of the new nation.

11) Franklin deeply admired the Ho-de-no-sau-nee (Iroquois) Confederacy of what's now upstate New York. Inspired by the legendary peacemaker Deganawidah, this democratic congress of five tribes had worked "better than the British Parliament" for more than two centuries. It gave us the model for our federal structure and the images of freedom and equality that inspired both the French and American Revolutions.
It's no accident today's fundamentalist crusaders and media bloviators (Rev. Limbaugh, St. Beck) seek to purge our children's texts of all native images except as they are being forceably converted or killed.
Today's fundamentalists would have DESPISED the actual Founders. Franklin's joyous, amply reciprocated love of women would evoke their limitless rage. Jefferson's paternities with his slave mistress Sally

Hemings, Paine's attacks on the priesthood, Hamilton's bastardly philandering, the grassroots scorn for organized religion -- all would draw howls of righteous right-wing rage.

Which may be why theocratic fundamentalists are so desperate to sanitize and fictionalize what's real about our history.

God forbid our children should know of American Christians who embraced the Sermon on the Mount and renounced the Book of Revelations...or natives who established democracy on American soil long before they saw the first European...or actual Founders who got drunk, high and laid on their way to writing the Constitution.

Faith-based tyranny is anti-American. So are dishonest textbooks. It's time to fight them both.

HARVEY WASSERMAN'S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES is atwww.harveywasserman.com, along with PASSIONS OF THE POTSMOKING PATRIOTS by "Thomas Paine." This article is written in honor of the spirit of Howard Zinn.

The House Jazz Series 2010! Sunday, Feb. 21's the next one...

2010-02-13T16:33:00.001-05:00

Greetings of the New Year from Annette and Dave! (Well, belated New Years' greetings, seeing that this is the middle of February!)

Hope this finds you all well!

We've missed everybody, since it's been a while (December 27) since the last House Jazz Series.

WE HOPE TO SEE YOU ALL SOON!

Lots of stuff happening - GREAT NEWS!!

FIRST - The next House Jazz Series will be Sunday, February 21 from 5 PM - 9PM.

DP on piano, Chris Berg on bass, Louis Tsamous on drums...

Also, another e-mail notification will go out early next week with other confirmed House Jazz Series dates for 2010.

SECOND (should be first!) - 2 NEW CD RELEASES!! Available by Feb. 19...

"THE HOUSE JAZZ CONCERT SERIES, VOLS. 1 AND 2" Check out the pics above.

There was so much music recorded last year. Some was great, and some was not so great, but there was definitely lots of energy, creativity and enthusiasm in the performances, thanks to you and you and you and...

There will be more CD releases coming up later, too. Volumes 1 and 2 just barely scratch the surface of all the great music done!

THIRD - Dave will be featured with the Columbus Jazz Orchestra in a tribute to Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong on Feb. 24 thru the 28th at the Southern Theatre. Dave won't be doing the Ella (Carmen Bradford) or Louis (Byron Stripling) stuff - mostly people that sang with Louis like Sammy Davis, Jr., Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye and Perry Como. It's going to be lots of fun, so come on out!

You can get more information at www.jazzartsgroup.org

We hope to see you on Sunday, February 21st!!!

Annette and Dave

GENERAL INFORMATION AND DIRECTIONS:

The House Jazz Concert Series 5:00 PM - 9:00 PM

Music by the Dave Powers Trio plus an occasional special guest 5:30 PM - 8:00 PM

Light appetizers and non-alcoholic beverages provided.

Bring your own favorite favorite bottle of wine if you like.
Minimum suggested donation $15.00

4320 Scenic Drive, Columbus, OH 43214 (across from Whetstone High School, next to the Park of Roses)

Rt. 315 to Henderson Road - go east towards High St. Turn south on Olentangy Blvd., take the first right at Overlook.

Overlook to Scenic. Left on Scenic. Plenty of parking in front...

We draw a great crowd of people and of course the music is awesome!

Hope to see you Sunday for great music and great people!
Annette & Dave

FreePress Second Saturday Salon

2010-02-12T11:12:00.001-05:00

You are invited to the:

Second Saturday Salon

February 13 - 6:30pm (until midnight)

The band Miller-Kelton will play "on the stairs" at 8pm. Hear and read about the origins of the Free Press in honor of our 40th anniversary year. Art, refreshments and progressive political networking. Meet new friends.

1021 E. Broad St., side door, parking in rear.
253-2571, truth@freepress.org

A Recent iPhone Snowscape. Now, can we call off winter?

2010-02-08T16:58:00.001-05:00

The iPhone is just-so-always-there. Sometimes, the "bad" pictures turn out to be the best.

MultiCordy

2010-02-06T18:15:00.001-05:00

Cordy's toy kaleidoscope hand-held in front of iPhone camera lens.

The Arts Upstairs "Art and Soul" exhibition

2010-02-06T12:27:00.001-05:00

My good friends Alan and Lynn Fliegel, live in Phoenecia, NY, upstate in the mountains, 10 minutes from Woodstock. The area has long been a refuge for many artists who have traded the hussle of the big city for the calmer, mellower life style found here. The monthly art openings at The Art Upstairs have become an important part of the arts and social scene in that enchanted part of the world. It is now also a successful art venue featuring talented and varried artists. The concept is very simple. Any artist can bring on or more pieces for exhibit and pays a very moderate entry fee per piece. A part of each sale goes to maintain and keep the gallery open. This time of the year the mountains are beautiful and an art outing promises a terrific adventure. Go! -charlie

The Arts Upstairs will host an Art lover's love-in in honor of Valentine's Day. The theme is heArt and Soul. Opening Saturday, February 20th at 6 PM, with a romantic array of goodies and emboldening thirst quenchers. The solo room featured artist is Verna D'Alto.

The Arts Upstairs, 60 Main Street, Phoenicia 845-688-2142 info@artsupstairs.com

"Sky Dance" By Verna D'Alto

Dancing at Lughnasa performed by Bread and Circus Theatre Company

2010-02-05T10:27:00.001-05:00

Bread & Circus Theatre’s Latest Production,

Dancing at Lughnasa,

is All about Love, Family, and Memories

February 5, 2010 Hilliard, Ohio – Love and family, and the entanglements of the two, are the themes intertwined throughout the Bread and Circus Theatre Company (BCTCO) production of Dancing at Lughnasa, by Brian Friel, which will be performed Fridays and Saturdays, February 12, 13, 19, and 20 at 8 p.m., and Sunday, February 14, at 2:30 p.m. at the Harmony Artistic Center, 3979 Parkway Lane, in Hilliard. Tickets are $15 for adults and $12 for students and seniors. For reservations, call 614-470-4895, or visit www.bctco.org.

The Cast

Kate is played by BRITT KLINE, a veteran of numerous local productions, and recently seen on the BCTCO stage in last season’s The Chalk Garden. Playing Maggie is KATHY HYLAND, well known to Little Theatre Off Broadway audiences and artistic director of BCTCO’s Buckeye Youth Theatre. The roles of Agnes and Rose are being played by BCTCO newcomer CARLA CARPENTER and JESSICA JONES, last seen at BCTCO in The Chalk Garden. CATHY RINELLA, who last appeared with BCTCO in Little Women, plays Michael’s mother, Christina.

The men woven into the lives of the Mundy sisters are Father Jack, played by BCTCO veteran PETE SWINGLE, last seen in Major Barbara; Michael’s father, Gerry Evans, played by SAM BLYTHE; and, of course, ALLEN TALISIN, last seen at BCTCO in Little Women, who plays Michael himself, the young man whose memories bring this rich Irish tale to life.

Dancing at Lughnasa is directed by JASON SPEICHER, a BCTCO regular, who was last seen on stage in the season opener, Right Ho, Jeeves. Jason also directed BCTCO’s popular Alice in Wonderland and Little Women.

Bill Cohen's Free Concert Valentine Eve

2010-02-02T11:36:00.002-05:00

“Love’s Many Faces”

When: Valentine’s Eve Sat. Feb. 13 from 7 to 9 p.m.

Where: Areopagitica Book Store 3510 N. High.
1 block N of North Broadway

For more info, call bill 263-3851

Playing guitar and piano, Bill Cohen will sing love songs from the past several decades. Songs made famous by folks like John Denver, Simon & Garfunkel, Bob Dylan, Gordon Lightfoot, Judy Garland, Jimmy Buffet, Tom Paxton, and Peter Paul and Mary.

Songs about all the things love can bring --- laughter, tears, joy, pain, betrayal, longing, and ecstasy.

Plus -- Fun and laughs with trivia questions about famous and infamous couples and love songs. AND light refreshments. AND a couple surprises.

It’s a FREE and informal concert. Bill will accept tips and forward them to the Central Ohio Folk Music Festival for its next annual event in May.

Rebecca Ogden's Next Bungalow Jazz House Concert Features Mark Flugge Trio

2010-01-29T12:01:00.001-05:00

Mark Flugge and Becky Ogden

Becky's House Jazz concerts have become legendary. Her home is always open to jazz musicians and her tradition of organizing or inviting spontaneous music concerts, first at the former Columbus Music Hall which she owned, and lately at her own private home, (the bungalow) has led to this series of home concerts that previously featured Terry Waldo and will showcase some of Columbus most admired Jazz musicians. Becky is also the inventor and leader of Peanut Butter and Jazz, a series of concerts dedicated to young children with the direct intention of teaching them to love and become our next generation of fans of Jazz, America's most wonderful contribution to world culture. Check ou the info below. -charlie

Saturday, February 6, 8:00
The Mark Flugge Trio
Mark Flugge, piano, Dave DeWitt, bass, Dave Weinstock, drums
Suggested donation: $20, $15 seniors, $5 students (cash/checks)
Light snacks provided, BYOB and a snack to share is quite nice.
For more information and directions check the new and in progress website - http://www.facebook.com/l/60b03;www.bungalowjazz.com
msrebecca@sbcglobal.net
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Details

WHEN/ WHERE/ HOW MUCH
Keep up with our NEWS page for the next scheduled concerts. Better yet, sign up for our email list on the CONTACT page, and we will keep you abreast of our upcoming events!
BUNGALOW JAZZ is located at 2539 East Fifth Avenue in Columbus, between the intersection of I-670 with Fifth Avenue, and North Cassady Avenue. But access to the house is from Margaret Avenue.

Driving East on Fifth Avenue, turn right on Northview Avenue, the first right after I-670. The second right onto Margaret, and look for the U-shaped driveway on the right, opposite North Columbia Avenue. From the West, cross North Cassady and Northview will be the second left.
Coming from the North, cross Fifth Avenue on North Cassady and take the second right onto Margaret; from the South, Margaret is the second left after the railroad crossing. From North Cassady, you will cross North Dawson, then Northview, and then look for the Bungalow on the right, opposite North Columbia Avenue.
Map

Guests are asked to make a $20 CASH donation at the door for engagements with local musicians. The entire door goes to the musicians.

RESERVATIONS

There is no reserved seating, but we will take your attendance reservation. Reservations cannot be prepaid; we will be happy to take your CASH donation at the door. You can reserve on line, by clicking on our RESERVATIONS page, by email: msrebecca@sbcglobal.net, or by phone: 614-397-5540.

Comfest 2010 T shirt Design Competion is now Open!

2010-01-27T12:14:00.002-05:00

ad by Paul Volker

Mark Fisher is a friend and a dedicated Comfest organizer who sent me the following info about the Annual Comfest Tshirt Contest. Owning one of these coveted shirts is a privilege reserved only for Comfest volunteers, and that is the only way to acquire such a T shirt because they are not sold to the general public! Fortunately volunteer opportunities are varried and plenty. We have openings for all kinds of volunteer slots. Most of you already know this, but this major festival is totally driven by volunteers. We get no corporate cash donations (by choice). All funds needed to organize this fabulous one-of-a-kind weekend event come for beer and drink sales and fees from streetfair vendors and community organizations.

The competition for winning this contest iis fierce, but the talent we have attracted in the past has been awesome. Winners will be in the company of some of Columbus' most amazing artists. -charlie

The 2010 Community Festival Tee-Shirt Design Contest occurs Wednesday, March 3 at 7:30 PM.
Bring design to Goodle Park Shelterhouse.

Must have: One-color logo (no gray scales), must include "June 25, 26.27, 2010", "Community Festival", "Goodale Park" and the Hopewell symbol which is on the poster.

Suggested theme: Inspired by Comfest's Statement of Principles which can be seen at comfest.com.
Thanks again.

Below are the Hopewell symbol which must be (an important) part of your design entry. Also shown are some previous winning designs. Hope yours is next year's winner.

Bobby Floyd and Debra James Tucker at the Lobby Februart 20

2010-01-15T16:08:00.000-05:00

Debra Tucker sings and Bobby Floyd wails on the Hammond B3 organ, both jamming at the Lobby, should be great! -charlie

Hi Friends and Fans,

I will be performing as showcase artist with Bobby Floyd at the Lobby on Saturday February 20, 2010 from 5 - 9 p.m.

Hope to see you there.

Peace
Debra

Tom Raca & Brenda McMahon conduct throwing and firing workshops in Florida this winter.

2010-01-13T13:17:00.000-05:00

My good friends Tom and Brenda are on the road again doing a number of shows and workshops in various locations in Florida. Hope you get a chance to see them, if you're down there this time of the year. I sure hope I get to enjoy a few days of sunshine this winter. We will have to go for a trip. -charlie

Hands-On Workshop in February.

Large & LOOSE, Polished & Poetic is going on the road this year. On February 27 & 28 we will hold our 2-day firing intensive and demonstration workshop in St. Petersburg, FL. St. Pete Clay Company is hosting this workshop which will run from 10am - 5pm. Here's a sneak peak of what you can expect.

During the weekend, I will teach participants how to increase the amount of clay they can throw and how to loosen up while doing it. Brenda McMahon will open her 'toolbox of skills' and teach students everything they need to know about saggar firing. Bring 1 to 6 pots for the saggar firing. This workshop is open to students of all skill levels. The cost is $250. Call or email St. Pete Clay Company to register today! For a more complete description, click here.

Art Fairs in Florida & Texas

My winter schedule is taking me all through Florida and into Texas this year.

I'll be at the Delray Beach Festival of the Arts on January 16 & 17 and from there I head a bit north to West Palm Beach's new CityPlace Arts Festival on January 23 & 24.

New Smyrna Beach hosts Images: A Festival of the Arts on January 30 & 31 and in February, I'll be at the Boca Museum Juried Arts Festival. In Miami I'll be at the Coconut Grove Art Festival and on the west coast of Florida in Downtown Sarasota.

For those of you in St. Petersburg, don't miss me at the 37th Annual Temple Beth-El Arts Festival. My wall tiles, vessels and platters will be on display from January 30th thru February 1st.

Staged Reading of Lost and Bossed

2010-01-11T11:56:00.000-05:00

Happy new year! Please don't forget to put Jan. 17th (3:00 p.m., Upper Arlington Library theatre in basement) on your list for January. Although this event, which is free and open to the public, is entitled LOST WITH AND BOSSED BY KATHERINE BURKMAN, it is not just about KHB, but is about lostness and bossiness which we have all experienced. Produced, written, and presented as a staged reading by WILD WOMEN WRITING (Laura Zakin, Susie Gerald, Patricia Ake, Ann C. Hall, Katherine Burkman, Anne Marie Brethauer, Linda Katz, and Carole Dale), this roast of Burkman will be directed by. . . KHB Hope to see you there.

Best,
Ann Hall, for the Wild Women
Questions: Halla@ohiodominican.edu

The Arts Upstairs "Black and White" exhibition

2010-01-11T11:48:00.001-05:00

My artist friends from Phoenecia, NY (near Woodstock) are at it again. If you are in that part of the country, you need to check this out. -charlie

The Arts Upstairs "Black and White" exhibition opens on Saturday January 16 at 6 PM at 60 Main Street in Phoenicia. Featured solo room artist is Eliezer Parrilla.

Wear black & white, bring black & white cookies, arrive in a black & white police cruiser if you can. Legendary good food, drink, and a jolly crowd of art lovers await you at the reception. The show runs through February 13.

The Arts Upstairs info@artsupstairs.com 845-688-2142

Buckeye Youth Theatre Announces Auditions for: “Maggie's Magic Teapot”

2010-01-11T11:42:00.001-05:00

January 11, 2010 Hilliard, Ohio – Buckeye Youth Theatre announces auditions for its third production of their inaugural season.

Maggie's Magic Teapot by Faye Parker is an Irish treat just in time for St. Patrick's Day. Maggie and her grandfather, Old Billy O'Morra, are about to lose their home to the heartless Shaemus O'Hoolihan. What he really wants is to force Maggie to be a servant girl to his daughter Kitty. But, fortunately for Maggie, there's a little leprechaun named Sean who can magically grow larger and smaller at will, and decides to help Old Billy and Maggie defeat Shaemus. Combines live actors, puppetry, song and dance in a “sure 'n 'begorrah” good time for all.

Auditions are being held Sunday January 24th and Monday January 25th 2010, at 7 p.m. each night, at the troupe’s performance venue, Harmony Artistic Center, 3979 Parkway Lane, Hilliard, Ohio. A headshot and résumé are requested, but not mandatory; a monologue is not required. Auditions are open to the public, and will be cold readings from scripts, which will not be provided in advance. Irish accents are not mandatory at auditions but a willingness to try appreciated.

Roles available:

Men:

Old Billy - 50-60 or up

Shaemus O'Hoolihan -30- 40s

Sean ( A Leprechaun) - open

Kevin - 20s-40s

Women:

Batty old Beatrice - 60s and up

Auntie- played by same actor as Shaemus

Any person with puppetry experience welcome to audition

Girls:

Maggie - 11-18

Kitty O'Hoolihan - 14-18

The Play by Play

Show dates: Fridays and Saturdays, March 12, 13, 19, and 20 at 8 p.m.; Saturdays and Sundays March 13, 14, 20, and 21 at 3 p.m.

For more information contact Kathy Hyland at kehyland@yahoo.com or visit www.bctco.org and click on “Buckeye Youth Theatre.”

Peanut Butter & Jazz

2010-01-09T17:34:00.001-05:00

Seaun Carney Blues band, with special guest Gene "King Saxe" Walker, played for an hour at the Peanut Butter and Jazz (PB&J) concert at the Lincoln Theatre earlier this morning. To the delight of all kids and parents present, the band played tunes including Oreo Cookie Blues and Chewing Gum Blues.

In the photo above, the group and audience digging the scene. Below that, Cordy, sitting next to her bubbe and obviously enjoying it, is a veteran of more than three years at these PB&J concerts, while Mira, very relaxed, sleeps on bubbe's lap.

Kids get treated to a peanut-butter sandwich, chocolate chip cookies and orange juice while they listen to some of Columbus' best blues and jazz musicians. This program, originated by Becky Ogden several years ago, brings kids and parents together for an activity all enjoy. The goal is to educate a younger audience to the rich heritage of Blues and Jazz. The place was packed to the gills. Kids and adults had a great time!

Next one is on Valentine's Day (Feb. 14) Music starts at 11 sharp. Come early to get a a good seat and goodies.

More info at: http://www.jazzartsgroup.org/2009/10/2009-2010-pbj-jazz-series/

MadLab, The Eleventh Annual Theatre Roulette Auditions

2010-01-08T18:43:00.000-05:00

MadLab invited you to "The Eleventh Annual Theatre Roulette Auditions" on Saturday, January 23 at 3:00pm.

Event: The Eleventh Annual Theatre Roulette Auditions
What: Audition
Start Time: Saturday, January 23 at 3:00pm
End Time: Saturday, January 23 at 6:00pm
Where: MadLab Theatre and Gallery

To see more details and RSVP, follow the link below:
http://www.facebook.com/n/?event.php&eid=256881189973&mid=1af6e01G22b258aaG3b6a5f4G7

Thanks,
The Facebook Team

This Saturday - the Free Press Second Saturday Salon

2010-01-08T18:28:00.000-05:00

Join us in celebrating the Free Press' 40th anniversary year
Find out about the origins of the Free Press back in the late 60s and early 70s.
Socializing with refreshments, art, music, and progressive friends.
Co-sponsored by the Central Ohio Green Education Fund

Saturday, January 9, 2010 from 6:30pm-midnight
1021 East Broad Street - side door, parking in rear

truth@freepress.org
253-2571

Russian three-master towed in Hong Kong harbor

2009-12-28T12:21:00.001-05:00

Picture was taken in Hong Kong Harbor about 8 years ago. A Russian Navy ship training cadets was being piloted by a small tug boat with the famous Hong Kong skyline in the background. It was a bit misty and foggy. Here are two views (altered somewhat with Photoshop magic)

Artist Studio and Gallery Tour in New York Mountains

2009-11-17T14:59:00.002-05:00

The release comes from artist friends in the Catskills mountains in New York state. Couldn't think of a more pleasant way to spend a weekend then gallery hopping across mountain valleys in that setting! -charlie

Contact Dave Channon at 845-688-2977 or esopuscreek@earthlink.net or

Judith Singer at 845-688-9861 or jsinger@jsingerart.com

Shandaken Gift & Artist Studio Tour December 5 & 6

Still searching for that uniquely personal gift? From trinkets to treasures, be sure to include the Shandaken Gift & Art Studio Tour on your December 5 and 6 shopping itinerary. (Shandaken is home to Belleayre Mountain ski area and just down the road from Hunter.) Pick up a free tour map at any of these shops and galleries: Tender Land Home, The Arts Upstairs, 60 Main, Cabane Studios, Nest Egg, Wren’s Nest, Threads of Time, Cher Laughlin Home Design, Skin Flower, and Mystery Spot in the hamlet of Phoenicia, Barneche and Hot Stuff Blown Glass on Route 214 in Chichester, Blue Barn on Route 28, or in Pine Hill at Cloudspinners and the Community Center.

The tour highlights colorful shops offering fine craftwork and art galleries in our town, and gives you the opportunity to visit the homes and studios of artists from Mt. Tremper to Belleayre. Unique jewelry, hand-painted clothing for children and adults, blown glass, lovingly restored furniture, distinctive Catskill Mountain lamps made from beautifully-grained split logs, one-of-a-kind home decor items such as pillows from antique textiles, books, offbeat memorabilia from the 50's and 60's, antiques and fine art are all right here in our quaint hamlets or up country roads. Even give a gift of body art! Artists and craftspeople include Christie Scheele, Patricia Charnay, Dave Channon, Judith Singer, Anique Taylor, Andrea Cabane, Ralph Persons, Richard Treitner, Heiki Krebs, Rita Schwab, JeriLynn Babroff, Bennett Wine, Chip Gallagher, Lucy Lasky, Wendy Grossman, Sunday Dawne-Marie, Laura Levine and more.

Lunch or dine on brick-oven pizza or fine cuisine, explore byway views of mountains and rushing streams, enjoy the crisp invigorating air. Enjoy a day in the country, and support our local economy by giving fine art and crafts made right here in New York.

Studio Sale in the Country by Tom Radca & Brenda McMahon

2009-11-05T10:58:00.001-05:00

Tom Radca Ceramics

The Barn is Cleaned Up... for Our Studio Sale
This Weekend!

November 7 & 8, 2009: 10 - 6

2 Artists, One Huge Sale
Tom Radca
Brenda McMahon

15216 Grove Road
Port Washington, OH 43837
740.498.4303

Directions to Studio
20% - 50% off old & new work

TomRadca.com

Poet Louise Robertson at Wild Goose Creative

2009-11-04T17:40:00.001-05:00

This note came from Steve Abott with The Poetry Forum - charlie

Friends,

Louise Robertson of Rewriting Ovid has put together a great literary event, “Page Meets Stage,” and generously made me a part of it.

I’ll be reading with Logic, a wonderful performance poet from Michigan, on Sunday, November 15, at Wild Goose Creative, 2491 Summit Street, less than a block south of Hudson Street near Rumba Café (where The Poetry Forum meets on Mondays). There’s a $5 cover, and (I humbly suggest) the event is well worth your presence.

It’s at 8 PM, and Logic and I will be reading and responding to audience questions and observations about varying aspects of poetry aimed at the eye and the ear. I hope you can be there, and please pass this along. It should be a wonderful evening of sharing different but complementary aspects of poetry.

And please forgive me for any duplicate emails.

Regards,

Steve

Details about Beau Wiley Funeral

2009-11-01T13:04:00.006-05:00

This info came from Deb aka Mizz Doo Dah -charlie

Doo Dah Parade

Funeral arrangements for Beau Wylie have been made for Thursday November 5th, 2009 at 1:00 p.m. at the Newcomer Funeral Home & Crematory - SW Chapel, Grove City.

More details are on Beau's page at http://www.doodahparade.com/id19.html

	Robert E. Wylie 1951 - 2009

Visitation:

Thursday, November 05, 2009 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM
Newcomer Funeral Home & Crematory - SW Chapel
3393 Broadway
Grove City, OH 43123 (614) 539-6166

Directions & Map

Service:

Thursday, November 05, 2009 2:00 PM
Newcomer Funeral Home & Crematory - SW Chapel
3393 Broadway
Grove City, OH 43123 (614) 539-6166

Directions & Map

Interment:

Concord Cemetery
Grove City, OH 43123

Robert Eugene Wylie, 58, of Columbus, passed away on Friday, October 30, 2009. Born to George and Lorna (Young) Wylie in Columbus, OH on July 20 1951, Bob was preceded in death by his father and daughter, Tanith Laura Wylie. Survivors include his mother, Lorna Wylie; sister, Toni (Alan) Niebes; niece, Allison (Matthew) Niebes-Davis; nephew, Ryan Alan Niebes; special friends, Diane and David Artz; cousins, aunts and many friends. Bob was beloved by the Short North Community and was a passionate supporter of the Doo-Dah Parade, Comfest and Old Town East Festival. Visitation will be held on Thursday, November 5, 2009, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM at Newcomer Funeral Home, SW Chapel, 3393 Broadway, Grove City, OH with the Memorial Service at 2:00 PM. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Capital Area Humane Society, 3015 Scioto Darby Executive Court, Hilliard, OH 43026.
http://www.newcomernet.com/obituaries/obituary.asp?src=value&obitid=36461

Beau Wiley October 31 2009 in Memoriam

2009-10-31T15:43:00.002-05:00

Beau was a friend of many. Known by most as the always-eager-to-help volunteer at many (maybe all!) Comfest, Hot Times festivals and DooDah Parade. Details will follow.

Charlie's Innerart Bits: Wedding Rehearsal & Dinner for Adam/Katie

2009-10-17T16:13:00.000-05:00

Charlie's Innerart Bits: Wedding Rehearsal & Dinner for Adam/Katie

Wedding Rehearsal & Dinner for Adam/Katie

2009-10-17T14:04:00.002-05:00

Grandpa and apple (flower) girls --Dinner at our house. Good food and good company--The front porch where it happens tomorrow. Hope it gets a bit warmer!

Adam and Katie Wedding - Sunday October 18

2009-10-16T09:44:00.002-05:00

Lynn and I are happy to announce that my youngest son Adam Einhorn (at age 28 he's too old to be referred to as my baby son) is getting married to Katie Chio this Sunday and we are excited. They've known each other for over 8 years and have lived in the house they bought for the past 2 years. So it's not exactly a surprise. But itwill be a swell party. Friends and relatives are coming from all corners of the world to gather for the event. Katie's dad is flying in from China today.
Our best wishes and a hearty Mazel tov to them.
-charlie & Lynn

1960's Coffeehouse to benefit Food Pantries

2009-10-13T12:53:00.001-05:00

Civil rights sit-ins. Bell-bottoms. Anti-war marches. Student Power. Afros. Mini-skirts. Hippies. Riots. Space flights. The generation gap.

Those hallmarks of the turbulent 1960’s will be rekindled Friday November 13 at this year’s annual “Spirit of the ‘60’s Coffeehouse”:

Friday November 13 7:30 p.m.

King Avenue Methodist Church
299 W. King at Neil in Columbus

The show begins at 7:30 p.m. in the church basement, but get there early for a good seat.

Bill Cohen will lead a candlelit, musical, year-by-year journey through the era, with live folksongs, “news reports” of sixties happenings, displays of anti-war buttons and posters, and far-out sixties fashions.

Bill will also challenge the audience with sixties trivia questions, and he’ll award prizes (with a 1960’s theme).

Proceeds from the suggested $10 donations will go to the Mid-Ohio Food Bank. Refreshments will be available at no extra charge. Free parking is also available in the lots just South and West of the church.

The program is suitable for ADULTS and MATURE TEENS.

It’s the 24th year of sixties coffeehouses for Bill. He’s performed the show more than a hundred times now at colleges, churches, synagogues, conferences, high schools, and middle schools across Ohio and beyond.

For more information, call Bill at (614) 263-3851. Or go to www.spiritofthe1960s.com

The Arts Upstairs is 5 yeard old! Congrats!

2009-10-08T14:07:00.001-05:00

The Art Upstairs, an art gallery operated by my good friends Alan and Lynn Fliegel is located in their tiny, bucolic little town of Phoenicia, a stone's throw away from nearby Wodstock, NY. This most egalitarian gallery accepts works from anyone - no jury - for a minimal fee. The art stys up for one entire month. Proceeds from sales areshared between the artist and the gallery.Very cool. Check it out if you are in the neighborhood. -charlie

"Anniversary" at The Arts Upstairs

The Arts Upstairs gallery celebrates her 5th anniversary on Saturday, October 17 with a gala reception beginning at 6 PM.

The group show theme is "Anniversary" and runs through November 14.

Laura Katz is featured in the solo room. Katz explores wallpaper as a medium, creating visions of home, time, memories, dreams and nightmares.

All exhibiting artists: Please pick up your pieces and drop off new work on the weekend of October 10.

The Arts Upstairs 60 Main Street Phoenicia NY phone: (845) 688-2142 website: www.artsupstairs.com email: info@artsupstairs.com

Chris Mohler Sculpts, October 23

2009-10-06T08:33:00.002-05:00

Chris Mohler invites you to "Chris Mohler Sculpts" on Friday, October 23 at 5:00pm.

Event: Chris Mohler Sculpts
"Yearly throwing-open of the doors!"
What: Exhibit
Start Time: Friday, October 23 at 5:00pm
End Time: Friday, October 23 at 10:00pm
Where: 600 N. Cassady Ave. Columbus Ohio Suite B

To see more details and RSVP, follow the link below:
http://www.facebook.com/n/?event.php&eid=147822599783&mid=13499bdG22b258aaG2d2c219G7

HOT TIMES APPRECIATION PARTY

2009-10-05T16:28:00.003-05:00

You are invited to the HOT TIMES APPRECIATION PARTY

Thurs., OCTOBER 8, 2009

6 - 9 PM

at The Bistro Firehouse (formerly Columbus Music Hall)

734 Oak St. - OAK & PARSONS

There is plenty of parking,

The event is a fun time to hang out with your fellow Volunteers and Sponsors, watch some slide shows and enjoy tasty pot luck treats.

Pop, water, beer and champagne and some food provided – Bring a dish to share if you can!

Questions email hottimesfestival@cs.com or lynn.stan@gmail.com - really urgent call Lynn 218-5613

Thanks to everyone – time to celebrate!

Free Piano/Song Concert with Bill Cohen

2009-10-05T09:30:00.001-05:00

Please join me Saturday October 24^th at 7 p.m. as we welcome the new piano to the Areopagitica Book Store’s cozy “back room.” That’s at 3510 N. High Street near Oakland Park.

To celebrate its arrival, I’ll play and sing some classic (not classical) piano tunes. So far, the eclectic song list includes tunes made famous by folks like the Eagles, Bette Midler, Harry Belafonte, Judy Garland, the Beatles, Dan Fogelberg, the Everly Brothers, and even Jiminy Cricket.

To keep the spotlight on the new piano, we’ll also play a bit of “piano trivia.” Light refreshments will be served, and we’ll have a couple of surprises for you. The evening will end by 9 p.m. so you can go out for that pizza you’ll probably be craving.

It’s a totally free concert, but we’ll have a tip jar out, in case you feel like contributing to what we think is a darn good cause: helping send my wife Randi to the Dominican Republic for 10 days of volunteering with the International Medical Alliance. As she did last February, Randi will once again be serving as an interpreter, helping a team of volunteer doctors, nurses, and medical students as they provide rare medical care to impoverished Spanish-speaking villagers.

And, back to that new piano. It’s a generous donation to the Columbus Folk Music Society from Ann Fisher and her family. Now that they no longer need it, the piano will be available to accompany the growing myriad of special events at the book store. They include poetry readings, the monthly Columbus Folk Music Society Coffeehouse, the regular Saturday night mini-concerts sponsored by book store owners Rebecca and Doug Rutledge, a newly-relocated Thursday night musical jam session, and even dramas and musicals put on by the new Columbus Civic Theater.

First things first, though. See you Saturday October 24^th at 7 p.m., and we’ll see if those piano lessons my parents paid for 50 years ago were a waste of money or not.

Jeremy Seymour lecture - open to public at CCAD

2009-10-03T13:17:00.000-05:00

This invitation to hear and meet two successful graphic artist comes to us from my friend Nanette at CCAD -charlie

Jeremy Seymour
Monday, October 05, 2009.
11:00 AM until 12:30 PM
Joseph V. Canzani Auditorium at 60 Cleveland Avenue
Free and open to the Public
*Please Note: Jeremy will review illustration portfolios from CCAD current students.

Lecture Title: 7 Second Stories
Jeremy Seymour is a senior animation director for Primal Screen in Atlanta, Georgia. Jeremy is a 1999 BFA Illustration alum of CCAD. Primal Screen is a multi-platform design agency with 14 years of successful design business and 5 years at Sundance Film Festival. Primal Screen distills a keen knowledge of brand essence, to view all that Primal Screen is capable of doing pull up their website at: www.primalscreen.com and read about PBSKids and click on the Step Magazine article among lots of other things to see from Primal Screen.

Presented by CCAD’s Visual Communications Division
Sponsored in part by Skestos Endowment Fund for Visiting Artists & Lecturers
The Columbus, a Renaissance Hotel
Ohio Arts Council

Nanette Hayakawa
Academic Support/Admissions
Columbus College of Art & Design
107 North 9th Street
Columbus, OH 43215

Phone # (614) 222-6168 or (614) 224-9101
Fax Number (614) 222-4040

Charlie's Innerart Bits: THE Four Bitchin' Babes New CD, DIVA NATION, Now Available!

2009-10-03T12:23:00.000-05:00

Charlie's Innerart Bits: THE Four Bitchin' Babes New CD, DIVA NATION, Now Available!

THE Four Bitchin' Babes New CD, DIVA NATION, Now Available!

2009-10-03T12:21:00.000-05:00

Full disclosure here: Sally Fingerett is my sister in law. So, she is also the local girl. I've met all three other Babes and I like 'em too. Fact: this is one bitchin" bunch of divas! (I couldn't help it) Each one is an individual creative seasoned performer. As a group, they soar. Look at their website for lots of info, including touring dates. If you can catch one of their shows, (hurry, they tend to sell out) go for it. It's fun, humorous, musical, innovative, witty and adult. -charlie

www.FourBitchinBabes.com

Hello all,

THE BABES NEW CD, "DIVA NATION," IS FINALLY HERE!!! TO ORDER YOUR COPY, HOT OFF THE PRESSES, GO TO www.cdbaby.com/cd/fourbitchin8!!

Enjoying the success of their 2006 recording, Hormonal Imbalance ...A Mood Swinging Musical Revue, Babe members Sally Fingerett, Debi Smith, Nancy Moran and Deirdre Flint have once again gone into the recording studio. Armed with a slew of new songs -- along with M & M s, Twizzlers, Chick Filets, and Chardonnay -- they let loose their whimsical, hip and sophisticated girl group harmonies, creating a new project sure to entertain their Babe and Man-Babe fans alike.

Now, as they approach twenty years of concert touring, The Babes are proud to announce the release of their eighth CD entitled, Diva Nation...Where Music, Laughter and Girlfriends Reign!

Producers Sally Fingerett and Debi Smith of Hem and Haw Productions returned to the home of many Bitchin' Babes' projects, Amerisound Studios in Columbus, OH, to work with veteran engineer Dan Green. Possessing a fine appreciation for their signature humor, social observations and poignant ballads, Dan helped create the backdrop to display the Babes' artistry.

Starting with the welcoming anthem, Babesland, each Babe takes a turn in the spotlight, offering up her take on life in "the Nation." From Nancy's sigh of relief in Elastic Waistbands, Sally's demand for Chocolate, Debi's salute to purses in Arm Candy, to Deirdre's emotional need for New Shoes (and her inner guy's need for New Tools, these award-winning songwriters know of what they sing! With musical shout-outs to hardworking gal pals doing the best they can in American Women, Long Lonesome Road and The Happy Song, the Babes also celebrate the soft, The Introvert Song, the demure, (No Such Things As) Girls Like That, the mother/daughter connection These Are The Things, and the hysterical, Viva La Diva.

The Four Bitchin' Babes began in 1990, as the brainchild of folk goddess Christine Lavin, who "just wanted to get together four girlfriends to tour." As cast membership changed and evolved, each incarnation has enjoyed a synergistic and magical chemistry. Their wildly funny, entertaining originality and stellar harmonies have become the hallmark of the Four Bitchin' Babes' music.

On this, their latest CD, The Babes continue that tradition as they take you on a royally hilarious journey to a place where chocolate is a vegetable, wine is in the food pyramid, and shopping for shoes medicinal. Welcome to DIVA NATION, where all songs are sung with pride, attitude and terrific accessories!

“How can funny sound this pretty?” ~Boston Globe

“Together they tell humorously observant tales of modern urban life, and harmonize like a heavenly chorus.” ~Chicago Tribune

“The BABES stir the heart as well as the funny bone” ~Billboard

All the best to you from your Babes,
Sally, Debi, Deirdre, and Nancy

www.FourBitchinBabes.com

Charlie's Innerart Bits: Soul of Pierce, a Play about famous Columbus Artist Elijah Pierce

2009-10-01T15:14:00.000-05:00

Charlie's Innerart Bits: Soul of Pierce, a Play about famous Columbus Artist Elijah Pierce

Soul of Pierce, a Play about famous Columbus Artist Elijah Pierce

2009-10-01T14:36:00.000-05:00

CATCO Presents “Plays in Process”

Join us for a free public program about Elijah Pierce, internationally acclaimed artist, and a special look at the creative process

Pierce to the Soul

Monday, October 5 @ 6 pm

at Central Community House (CCH)

- hosted by TRANSIT ARTS

1150 East Main Street, Columbus OH 43205

614.252.3157 ext. 128

This special workshop on Pierce to the Soul will include a reading from the play, followed by a public discussion and question/answer session with the playwright, director and dramaturge.

Pierce to the Soul is a one-person play about the life of Columbus folk-artist Elijah Pierce, who was a prominent member of our community for more than half a century.
Mr. Pierce, a barber by trade, achieved international fame for his wood carvings when he was in his eighties.  Many of his works are part of the collection of the Columbus Museum of Art.

Written by Columbus playwright Chiquita Mullins Lee, Pierce to the Soul features Dayton actor Alan Bomar Jones in the role of Mr. Pierce.
Jones has previously been seen at CATCO in A Piano Lesson, The Exonerated, The Shorts Festival 2004 and A Soldier’s Play.

Pierce to the Soul will receive its world premiere at CATCO on April 7 -- 25, 2010.  Artistic Director Geoffrey Nelson will direct, with OSU History Professor William Childs serving as dramaturge.

Columbus Womens Chorus 2009-10 Season

2009-10-01T10:31:00.000-05:00

Hi Charlie, I thought you might want to put the Columbus Women's Chorus fall concert on your calendar. I'm starting my 8th year in the chorus, but it was founded 20 years ago. A lot of things happened in 1989, but this was a good one!We're having a Birthday Reunion, and have invited our former directors to conduct once again. (from Babbette Gorman)

20th birthday concert

Join us for our 20^th birthday celebration. Guests include former directors Patti O’Toole, Jan Zeiger, Patty Daniels, and Naomi Weinert, in a program of CWC repertoire favorites, old and new.
Sunday November 22, 2009
Trinity Episcopal Church, 125 E Broad Street, Columbus
4:00 pm Tickets

Donate to CWC’s 20th birthday celebration

Spring program

Saturday May 8, 2010
Sunday May 9, 2010

Charlie's Innerart Bits: Eliminating Self Criticism by Allen Ross now available

2009-09-29T17:06:00.000-05:00

Charlie's Innerart Bits: Eliminating Self Criticism by Allen Ross now available

Eliminating Self Criticism by Allen Ross now available

2009-09-29T16:41:00.001-05:00

To order this book from Amazon.com, click HERE
$14.95 (currently discounted to $11.21)

Charlie's Innerart Bits: Freepress invites us to see two movies

2009-09-21T14:15:00.001-05:00

Charlie's Innerart Bits: Freepress invites us to see two movies

Freepress invites us to see two movies

2009-09-21T14:09:00.000-05:00

This release by our friends at Columbus Free Press - charlie

September 21 at 7pm
The Age of Stupid

A frightening jeremiad about the effects of climate change.
We will have a half hour discussion panel before the film starts with Bob Fitakts of the Free Press and Deborah Steele field organizer for Greenpeace on how we can better address climate change here in Central Ohio. This is an opportunity for us to show our leaders people in Ohio care about climate change and what Obama to be a leader. We are asking people who attend this event to wear their Obama T shirts as a sign that "'I voted for you, climate change is important to me." Regular ticket price.
Worthington at the Crosswoods Theater - 270 and High St., 200 Hutchinson Avenue

September 22 at 7:30pm
Free Press free movie - "Children of Armageddon"

A moving and disturbing portrait of the legacy of the nuclear arms race in Japan, the Marshall Islands, Tahiti, New Zealand and the planet. With contributions from world-renowned experts Noam Chomsky, Hans Blix, Arjun Makhijani, Douglas Roche and many others.

Drexel Theater, 2254 E. Main St., Bexley

Sponsored by the Free Press, Central Ohio Green Education Fund and the Film Council of Greater Columbus
truth@freepress.org

Tom Radca/Brenda McMahon Pottery Workshop

2009-09-20T12:03:00.000-05:00

My friends ceramic artists Tom and Brenda invite folks to a fabulous, all day workshop at their wonderful, bucolic farm/studio in North eastern Ohio. -charlie

October Workshop Set

Spaces still available...

On October 24 & 25th, Brenda McMahon and I will hold our 3rd annual Autumn Large & Loose, Polished & Poetic ceramic workshop here in Port Washington Ohio. We still have spaces available for this exciting and dynamic event.

During this 2-day intensive workshop I will demonstrate how to increase the amount of clay you can throw and I'll share my 'loosening up' techniques for those of you who want to break out of your old patterns. Brenda McMahon will teach you the ABC's of saggar firing, from how to load the kiln to materials needed to build your own saggar kiln. Bring 3 to 6 small pots to put in the saggar firing.

See my website for a description of the Saturday & Sunday event. If you'd like to sign up, fill out our registration form and mail it to us with a deposit. The workshop cost is $295, this includes breakfast & lunch both days. Affordable housing options are available upon request. Of course if you have any questions, feel free to email me or call 740.498.4303. Here's a look at my video on youtube.

Pics from Hot Times 2009

2009-09-17T10:55:00.000-05:00

My camera was bad and ate up most of my pics I shot at Hot times this past weekend. But these few pics I managed to save were shot on stage on Friday evening and are pretty good, in my opinion.

Images include Shaun Booker, Arnett Howard, A sax player with Arnett's band, Derek singing with AARM band, and Ro-z Mendelson of the Mendelsonics.

For more info, check out hottimesfestival.com

Columbus Childrens Parade - Saturday, September 12, 11:30am

2009-09-09T00:24:00.000-05:00

The Annual Parade kicks off at the old Central Comunity House lot on E. Bryden Rd and ends up on the grounds of Hot times Festival. Music, entertainment, snacks and surprises are awarded to all kids who participate (parents are allowed to walk with their children.)

The Childrens Parade is part of the yearly Hot Times festival, September 11 -13.
Details? Go to:

columbuschildrensparade.com

or: hottimesfestival.com

Ceramic artist Tom Radca "Paints with Fire"

2009-09-08T11:32:00.000-05:00

Watch this amazing youtube video of Tom creating one of his signature giant plates, literally painted with a flaming hot torch while the plate is cooking in a kiln. The process is fascinating, the result is awesome.

Survival of the Boulevard Singer, a Premiere

2009-09-08T11:01:00.000-05:00

Survival 0f the Boulevard Singer
Written and performed by
Debra James Tucker
September 18, 19, 8pm
Redeemer Lutheran Church
1555 S. James Rd.

A message from the author...

"I made this work because I want to engage the religious community—the black religious community in particular, in a dialogue about homophobia in the church.

At first, I thought of this work as the story of my best friend, my brother, a black gay man, deeply committed to the church and his journey and struggles in a world that did not fully see or accept him. As I got deeper into the process, I became aware that this is essentially my story, and indeed the story of all of us who search for place and meaning and community in the world.

The form of the piece is a collection of “moment points” similar to those used in tectonic theatre. In conjunction with original music, I deliberately use traditional black church songs and sermon cadences with an eye toward having them heard and understood in a non-traditional way.

It is a story of sorrow. It is also a story of hope, redemption and resurrection."

-Debra James Tucker

The Riverfront Art Festival - September 18-20

2009-09-01T17:02:00.000-05:00

-from Jay Snyder

The Riverfront Art Festival is one of the last festivals in the Columbus festival season, but certainly not the least. Since its debut in 2006 (when it was in Goodale Park) the show doubled the number of artists, grown to three days, and developed to include a full schedule of entertainment featuring incredible offerings in jazz, blues, folk, world music, and even Opera -this year Opera Columbus performs excerpts from Puccini's "La Boheme" in English on Saturday night. Nearly 150 artists in every medium from fine oil paintings and sculpture to affordable functional pottery and wearable art are on hand to sell and explain their work. This year the festival will be held September 18-20. Admission is free.

Nearly 150 artists will exhibit this year, featuring everything from contemporary oil paintings and sculpture to functional pottery and wearable items. “The great thing about anything you take home from the festival is that it is handmade and one of a kind, and really expresses who you are. Plus, having met the artist who created it, you develop a real understanding of where it came from, in a way you never otherwise could - even in a gallery setting,” says Snyder.

The free admission festival also features a full entertainment schedule. Friday features an evening of jazz from Shaun Booker and Sabrina Tutstone. On Saturday, Opera Columbus performs with WaterFire for its final burn of 2009. The amphitheater will also feature local and regional musical acts throughout the weekend, and COSI will be at the festival offering a scientific view of creativity for the kids.

The Riverfront Art Festival will open September 18, 2009 from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m.; It reopens Saturday, September 19 from 12:00 to 10:00 p.m.; and Sunday, September 20 from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. For more directions, artist list, and musical schedule log on to HYPERLINK "http://www.riverfrontartfestival.com" www.riverfrontartfestival.com

Curtis Goldstein exhibits paintings at OSU Faculty Club Gallery

2009-08-28T15:48:00.000-05:00

Curtis Goldstein Painting of familiar local sites, in a somewhat different light.

Images are painted in shellac or acrylic on wood.

Ghost of Wonderbread

Drexel at Dusk

The Goody Boy in the late afternoon

Exhibit runs September 29 through October 23, 2009. Artist reception: October 2, 6:30 -8:30pm.
The facukty club islocated on the OSU campus. For info contact: 614 688 8578 or send email to: barbosufc@juno.com

ACE Gallery celebrates 30 year with anniversary show

2009-08-26T16:49:00.003-05:00

I have fond memories of attending many an opening at the Short North Gallery in the mid to late 80s, when I was the arts writer for Columbus Alive! As the arts reporter, I made it a point to meet as many current artist as I could, and many of those showing at ACE have become good friends. For some good art with a sprinkle of nostalgia, go check this out! -charlie

Photographer Kojo Kamau send us this reminder about ACE Gallery's 30th anniversary show. Details:

ACE (Art for Community Expression)
August 25 - September 25, 2009
Opening reception: September 3, 2009, 5 - 7 pm
Fort Hayes Shot Tower Galler
54 Jack Gibbs Blvd.
Columbus, OH 43215
M-F 9am-4pm

Current Ragazine C.C. features former Columbus photographer D.R.Goff

2009-08-17T11:21:00.005-05:00

In the current issue of Ragazine, my old pal photographer D.R. Goff, former Columbus resident, describes how he (sort of) missed Woodstock in:

"My Road To Not Being at Woodstock"

by D.R. Goff

Incidentally, I also missed Woodstock (sort of) as I was picking apples and pears on a kibbutz at that time. Funny thing I remember most was how, just a few days earlier, all these kibbutzniks stopped me to congratulate me because they knew my nationality and another (much more famous) American had just walked on the moon.

I had my own near-Woodstock experiences while attending the Atlanta Pop Festival in the following year, when I was back in the States. That was the absolute last of those mega festivals. It was bound to collapse of its own weight. Well over one half million people attended. I have some old photos of those days that I am saving for a near feature.-charlie

I DON'T THINK SO: LIFE'S STAGES extends run

2009-08-11T09:55:00.005-05:00

The 1:00 p.m. performance of I DON'T THINK SO: LIFE'S STAGES on Aug. 30th at the Sanctuary for the Arts is sold out. We are happy to report that we are adding a performance at 4:30. on the same date. Please read the attachment for how to get tickers and how to get to Sunbury and the beautiful space. Thanks, Katherine

I DON’T THINK SO: Life’s Stages
Sunday, August 30
at 1:00pm
In collaboration with Wild Women Writing (Susie Gerald, Carole Dale, Anne Brethauer, Patricia Ake, Laura Zakin, Ann C. Hall, and Katherine Burkman), Sanctuary for The Arts (SydneySchardt) invites you for a delightful afternoon to enjoy a play, refreshments, strolling the grounds.

The play consists of 15 monologues and each character, rebels all, at some point says, “I don’t think so.” The “Life’s Stages” include ages 10 to 72 in staged readings of monologues and will be performed by Haley Hawk, Emily Bach, Heather Caldwel, David Fawcett, Heather Carvel, and Katherine Burkman, who will also direct.

Tickets are $20 adults, $15 seniors (55+) and students. For a reservation please send your check to Sanctuary for The Arts, 8641 Porter Central Rd, Sunbury, Ohio, 43074. Map and directions are available on www.Sanctuary-for-The-Arts.com.
Seating is limited. Please contact Katherine Burkman (Burkman.2@osu.edu) to assure availability and add your name to the reservation list before mailing a check.

Sanctuary for the Arts… a Center for Creativity… surrounded by the sounds of bird songs and
waterfalls where adults have a chance to relax and hear the inner artist above
the daily din. Re-awaken through a creativity class or a self-designed Walk.
Gather with other artists – emerging, mid-career, professional – and make
artistic wonders!

Bread & Circus Theatre Company Looking for Performers

2009-07-28T17:40:00.001-05:00

Bread & Circus Theatre Company is looking for performers for their Saturday Night Cabaret! The cabaret will feature coffee and desserts for our guests and the great atmosphere of the new Harmony Artistic Center (formerly the Tripleforce Artistic Center) just off Cemetery Road at 3979 Parkway Lane in Hilliard (behind Wendy's).

This month’s Cabaret Night will be held on Saturday, August 8th. The show will begin at 7:30 pm.

At this time we are inviting performers of all kinds to be included in the show. If you can sing, dance, tell a joke, or juggle - step up to the mic! If you have a monologue or small scene you've been working on and want to see how it would go over with a live audience - come on down. Other theatre, dance, music companies are welcome, as well as individuals of all ages.

All interested performers should contact Carolyn at ccstritzel@yahoo.com for more information or to book a time slot or two.

Aaron Einhorn launches Comic Hero News

2009-07-27T09:03:00.003-05:00

T.H.U.N.D.E.R Agents to be integrated into the core DC universe.
Read more in ComicHeroNews.com

Aaron Einhorn's new blog, ComicHeroNews.com, contains comprehensive coverage of news relating to Comic heroes, no matter if you like 'em in comic books, gaming, or media (movies, TV, DVDs, etc.)

His brother Adam designed and created the actual blog while Aaron is in charge of providing content. (In the interest of full disclosure, Aaron and Adam are my sons.)

The current Comic Con in San Diego has been a wonderful source of many announcements and industry gossip and in the current issue, Comic Hero News covers that, as well as many other tidbits of related info.

Check out the website

Freepress invites us to see two movies

2009-07-22T13:58:00.002-05:00

You are invited to see the movie
FOOD, Inc.

Free Press Readers receive $2.00 off General Admission and $1.00 off Student/Senior Admission.
You are invited to see the movie
FOOD, Inc.

Free Press Readers receive $2.00 off General Admission and $1.00 off Student/Senior Admission

Wednesday, July 22 – 7:30pm showing only

Just bring this email with you
Drexel Theater, 2254 E. Broad St., Bexley

FOOD, INC. Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the veil off our nation's food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that's been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government's regulatory agencies. Our nation's food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment. We are riddled with widespread obesity, particularly among children, and an epidemic level of diabetes among adults.

A panel discussion will follow the screening and will broadly focus on issues raised in the film, eating locally produced food, growing food, and indentifying and supporting local food resources. Panelists will include Bill Dawson, Growing Green Program Coordinator, Franklin Park Conservatory; Michael Jones, Executive Director Local Matters; Darren Malhame, partner, Northstar Café; Annerose Schaffrin, General Manager, Bexley Natural Market; and Warren Taylor, owner and fresh milk advocate, Snowville Creamery, Pomeroy, Ohio. Carol Goland, Executive Director, Ohio Ecological Food & Farm Association will be moderator. The audience is invited to see the film and stay to join in the discussion.

------------------------------

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Free Press Free Film Night
Tuesday, July 28, 2009 – 7:30pm

A Sense of Wonder
Rachel Carson’s love for the natural world and her fight to defend it

When pioneering environmentalist Rachel Carson published Silent Spring in 1962, the backlash from her critics thrust her into the center of a political maelstrom. Despite her love of privacy, Carson’s convictions and her foresight regarding the risks posed by chemical pesticides forced her into a very public and controversial role. The film is an intimate and poignant reflection of Carson's life as she emerges as America's most successful advocate for the natural world. Sponsored by the Free Press, Sierra Club, Central Ohio Green Education Fund, and Drexel Theater.

Drexel Theater, 2254 E. Main St., Bexley
253-2571 – truth@freepress.org

Hot Times Festival, September 11, 13, 13

2009-07-21T11:28:00.004-05:00

Reminding everyone that Hot Times Festival is nearing. Scheduled for September 11, 12 & 13, corner Parsons and Main, (Columbus Health Department)

This video clip dates form Hot Times 02, and features a chorus singing "Ride Sally Ride" consisting of Dave Powers (leading the Listen-for-the-jazz All-stars band), Arnett Howard, Don Bullard (who passed away last year) and me in my stage singing debut.

Planning for the event is in full swing with regular meetings every Monday evening (at 7pm) in the "dorm" on the festival grounds.

This is a completely volunteer-run event and we need plenty of helpers, both in planing (before event) and during the event. Volunteers are the only ones who receive and get to wear the coveted"official Hot Times volunteer T shirt"

More info? check out the website: http://hottimesfestival.com/

Walter Cronkite, 3 Mile Island & "Lamar's Folly" in the Climate Bill, by Harvey Wasserman

2009-07-21T10:44:00.002-05:00

Thanks to Harvey Wasserman who keeps informing us about important issues, somehow missed by the mainstream media.-charlie

The accolades are still pouring in for departed anchorman Walter Cronkite. Few mention his critical "that's the way it is" reporting on the atomic melt-down at Three Mile Island.

Yet Cronkite and TMI are at the core of today's de facto moratorium on new reactor construction -- which the industry's new champion, Senator Lamar Alexander, now wants to reverse through the proposed federal Climate Bill.

Technicians who knew what was happening shook with terror as Cronkite opened his March 28, 1979, newscast with "the world has never known a day quite like today. It faced the considerable uncertainties and dangers of the worst nuclear power plant accident of the Atomic Age. And the horror tonight is that it could get much worse..".

Cronkite went on to say that "experts" had [wrongly] ruled out the possibility of an explosion. In the ensuing weeks and years, he did not report what remains one of the most heavily censored secrets of the nuclear age -- that significant radioactive fallout did escape from TMI, that it scattered randomly throughout the region, that it landed heavily on certain parts of the downwind population, and thathuman beings (as well as wild and farm animals) were killed and maimed in great numbers.

Cronkite was also not quite accurate in characterizing the TMI melt-down as potentially the worst reactor disaster in US history. On October 5, 1966, human error led to a coolant stoppage at the Fermi Fast Breeder Reactor in Monroe, Michigan, 45 miles south of Detroit. Highly volatile liquid sodium could have exploded, releasing apocalyptic quantities of radiation that would have quickly killed thousands of people and permanently poisoned most or all of the Great Lakes, the world's largest bodies of fresh water. For a full month area law enforcement weighed the possibility of evacuating Detroit.

Like TMI, it's not definitively known how much radiation was released at Fermi, where it went, or who was harmed. Experts still debate why these two accidents weren't even worse, and how the nation barely avoided these radioactive mega-bullets.

There were innumerable technical differences between the two disasters. One was cost: Fermi became a $100 million pile of radioactive rubble, whereas TMI, thirteen years later, was priced at $900 million to build, and about $2 billion as a liability.

But thanks in part to Cronkite, there was also a gigantic gap in news coverage. Fermi got virtually none. I was Editorial Director of the University of Michigan Daily at the time, and Ann Arbor correspondent for Time Magazine and the United Press International. But neither I nor any of my fellow journalists -- including at least one other wire service reporter -- heard a peep about this accident, which stretched through the entire month of our senior year just 40 miles away, and could have killed us all.

I finally did learn about the Fermi catastrophe in 1974 -- eight years later -- while reading John G. Fuller's We Almost Lost Detroit, published by the Reader's Digest Press. In hair-raising detail, Fuller reported on the horrifying story of an entire industry's incompetence, dishonor, fallout and cover-up.

In the ensuing five years, thousands of grassroots citizens marched on proposed reactor sites from Seabrook, New Hampshire to Diablo Canyon, California -- as well as Middletown, Pennsylvania. The mass demonstrations and arrests spawned global news coverage that moved debate over atomic energy into the mainstream. It also prompted the Jane Fonda-Michael Douglas-Jack Lemon Hollywood thriller, The China Syndrome. With eerie accuracy, the movie predicted many technical aspects of what actually happened at TMI -- most of which had been deemed "impossible" by the industry's expensive "experts" and apologists. When it was released within hours of the actual accident, it helped blast coverage all the way to the lead of Cronkite's CBS Evening News.

By 1979 the nuclear industry was -- like today -- on the financial ropes. Despite decades of expensive "too cheap to meter" media hype, the "Peaceful Atom" was absurdly expensive and technologically untenable. All orders placed prior to TMI would ultimately be canceled for a combination of economic, technical and political reasons. It is no exaggeration to say the No Nukes movement helped cancel scores of reactors.

But the essential unworkability of atomic power is what prompted the citizen's movement to stop it. Today's industry has surmounted virtually none of its core challenges, starting with its complete 50-year failure to solve its radioactive waste problem, and carrying through its inability to secure private financing or liability insurance for new construction.

Today's "renaissance" is built on the hope of huge government subsidies, collective public amnesia, and three decades of the Big Lie that "no one was harmed" by the massive, unmonitored radiation releases at TMI. To this day there has been no public hearing to compensate some 2400 central Pennsylvania families who by the early 1980s claimed bodily harm and death from the plant's fallout.

None of that made it to Cronkite's Evening News. Though he became an ardent proponent of nuclear disarmament, the true story of what happened to TMI's downwinders has never cracked the corporate media.

Nor is it certain that the story of another melt-down today would be fully told. Before the mass No Nukes demonstrations and TMI, the networks might have claimed innocent ignorance. Cronkite had the integrity and clout to break through to the American heartland on that all-important first night.

Today's nuke-powered Big Lie machine has never been more powerful. Though a few cable reporters might cover the story, only the internet could be counted to carry the load, with high-paid deniers swarming over every independent blog. A TMI-scale melt-down would instantly evoke a horde of media locusts intent on devouring all coverage and dismissing all health and safety concerns. Their ultimate goal: to protect the massive economic investments in a technology that has long-since become human history's most expensive technological failure.

How effective they might be remains to hopefully never be seen.

But as you read this, the industry has again poured into Congress, this time targeting the Climate Bill. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) has called for a "Sense of Congress" resolution to be attached to it that would endorse a doubling of the US reactor fleet -- with 100 new plants -- along with at least $50 billion in loan guarantees to make it happen. My next report will cover these efforts in greater detail.

But as the backroom horse-trading escalates, it is critical that calls start pouring into Congress ( ). The nation -- the world -- cannot afford more Three Mile Islands, especially now that Walter Cronkite is no longer around to report on them.

--
Harvey Wasserman's SOLARTOPIA is at www.solartopia.org. He is Senior Editor of www.freepress.org, where this article first appeared.

Camping, catching a fish, Hocking Hills

2009-07-13T18:45:00.000-05:00

I DON'T THINK SO: LIFE'S STAGES, a Premiere

2009-07-12T16:47:00.003-05:00

WILD WOMEN WRITING'S
production of I DON'T THINK SO: LIFE'S STAGES.

The event will take place August 9th, 2:00 p.m, at the Sherrie Gallerie, 694
N. High Street. Admission free, but reservation required.

All but four seats have been reserved so far. If you wish to attend and do not have a reservation, please contact Katherine by email at Burkman.2@osu.edu. If all seats are taken by the time you contact me, we'll put you on a waiting list.

I DON'T THINK SO: Life's Stages is a play by Katherine Burkman that
consists of 15 monologues. Each character, rebels all, at some
point says, "I don't think so." They range in age from 10 to 72,
hence the "Stages of Life" as a subtitle.

The event is produced by Sherrie Hawk of the Sherrie Gallerie with WILD WOMEN WRITING

Performing in this staged reading are: Haley Hawk, Emily Bach,
Heather Caldwel, Susie Gerald, David Fawcett, Heather Carvel, and
Katherine Burkman, who will also direct.

Enjoy the beautiful art at the gallerie - refreshments provided by
Sherrie Hawk - and the premiere of this play.

Call for Postcard-sized Art

2009-07-10T07:59:00.005-05:00

All artwork must be done in postcard size. Any media is acceptable. Fee is $5 for up to 3 cards per artist. Deadline: July 27, 2009.
For more info: robinwillow@hotmail.com

California should pay its people in pot

2009-07-09T23:07:00.002-05:00

Here's another one from Harvey. I really like it. -charlie

California should pay its people in pot
by “Thomas Paine”
July 9, 2009

California’s state finances have gone to pot, and that’s what it should use to pay its employees.

Right now the state is issuing I.O.U.’s to those who work for it. Sacramento says they are worth the paper they’re printed on, but most Californians know that’s true only if they are used to roll joints.

The state’s key available assets are in its farms and fields….and in its prisons and legal system.

Medical marijuana is legal in California. Estimates put last year’s traffic in prescription-approved pot at around a billion dollars. If the state were properly organized to tax that and non-medical marijuana---whose dollar volume is many times greater---it might actually have enough money to pay its employees.

By legalizing marijuana, California could immediately free tens of thousands of prisoners at a savings of tens of millions of dollars. Those quick savings could be a down payment on the salaries of its employees (and cover the unemployment benefits that will be due prison builders and guards who will be laid off).

But they, in turn, could go to work GROWING marijuana. With its huge agricultural resources, California could immediately become the world hub of the legal marijuana trade. (Mendocino and other counties are already vying for this title).

It could also pay its employees if not in dollars, then in pot. Here’s how:

Once the legislature decides to legalize marijuana, the state could go into the business of growing its own. (The offices of the Department of Agriculture are not that far from the Bureau of Prisons).

Various California cities, including Oakland, are already raising pot to keep prices down for the legal medical trade. So official expertise is readily available. Like the current and previous two Presidents of the United States, the current Governor of California is known to have extensive first-hand knowledge about the many uses of this precious weed.

Thus the state could grow its own leafy payroll. Some marijuana will be immediately available from the confiscated stashes that have traditionally been consumed by arresting officers.

But there will obviously be a gap between the moment of legalization and the moment the first officially grown buds are ready to pick.

So while California waits, it can issue marijuana futures as pay instead of I.O.U.’s. The futures would include a special dispensation to sell the existing stashes many of the state employees may already be holding (of course, no state employee would break the law, so these will all be MEDICAL stashes).

Being the first state to legalize, California pot would skyrocket in value. Once the actual buds arrive from the government, state employees would be free to sell their redeemed futures in other states, which will then face a dilemma.

In these hard times, the tourist dollars from those “Okies in reverse” fanning out with their pot to sell will be hard to turn down. So will the potential tax revenues. So the other 49 states will be forced to choose between seeing those hard-earned pot proceeds headed to the Pacific in the pockets of previously impoverished California state employees---or legalizing it, taxing it, freeing their own prisoners, and growing it at home.

Tom Joad will have returned to roost, driving the ghost of a Volkwagen bus.

A dozen states have already legalized medical marijuana, Many are having state budgetary problems of their own.

But California is the only one now issuing I.O.U.s to state employees. Its topography, resident expertise and gubernatorial brain cell history make it an ideal candidate for what is bound to come, sooner or later. Why not now?

Yippie!

29th Summer of Mime Theatre at Kenyon School for Mime Theatre Faculty/Student Performance

2009-07-09T22:15:00.006-05:00

Friday, July 10, 2009

7:30 PM - Bolton Theater, Kenyon College

Free Admission, Contact: Rick Wamer, 520-990-7425, ricgeocap@msn.com

For 29 consecutive summers, Kenyon College has had the rare distinction of hosting one of the nations longest standing centers for Mime Theatre training and performance in North America. This summer's season's final performance, featuring faculty members, Rick Wamer and Stephen Chipps with students of the adult seminar marks the 29th such annual performance. Showtime is 7:30 pm at the Bolton Theater of Kenyon College, admission free.

The presence of the mimes dates back to the summer of 1981 when Gregg Goldston, C. Nicholas Johnson and Deb Wasserman (the original founders of the School) hosted the first Kenyon seminar with only three to four students. Throughout the past 29 years, students have had opportunities to study under the best mimes in the world. Several visits by the late Marcel Marceau and the Polish mime Stefan Niedzialkowski have been especially memorable to the community and the students and staff of the seminars. "The gift of Marceau and Niedzialkowski, elevated our capacity to truly understand and develop our art," claims Wamer who took on the role of Artistic Director when Gregg Goldston left in 2001 to pursue interests in New York and abroad.

The students benefit from the unique approaches developed by Wamer and Chipps, founded upon the techniques and writing structures created by Marceau, Niedzialkowski, Goldston and Johnson. C. Nicholas Johnson returned for a few days to work with this year's students. "Nick has the amazing gift of helping the students see the essence of the art form. His influence is tremendous in my work, and I consider him an essential influence on the development of the students."

Next year will mark the 30 anniversary of mime at Kenyon College. Wamer promises it will be a memorable summer to look forward to.

The Faculty/Student show will take place on Friday, July 10th, at 7:30 PM at the Bolton Theater of Kenyon College, Gambier Ohio. Admission is free and donations to support the school will be gladly accepted.

C. Nicholas Johnson is the director of Wichita State University’s dance department and Artistic Partner with Sabrina Vasquez of Alithea Mime Theatre.

Nick Johnson was in Columbus for a brief visit last week, on his way to perform with the Mime school in Kenyon. He stopped by long enough for a cup of coffee and conversation beside the back yard pond. Alays a treat!

Hemp Raising Patriot Heroes, by Harvey Wasserman

2009-07-03T08:55:00.002-05:00

Article submitted by Harvey Wasserman

Honor Our Hemp-Raising Patriot Heroes

By “Thomas Paine”

It is our patriotic duty to honor our Founding Heroes, America’s greatest hemp growers.

George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison---virtually all Revolutionary Americans who had access to land---embraced hemp’s critical role in our early economy.

Accordingly, they raised it in mass quantities.

We must now honor them by demanding its immediate legalization, to save our economy and our ecology.

For rope, for paper, for clothing, for food, for fuel, this miracle plant has been a critical crop for cash and survival for 6,000 years, since the onset of ancient China.

Today it is a multi-billion-dollar product there and in Germany and Canada, among other major economies.

There is no rational reason for hemp to be illegal. Some law enforcement “experts” say it resembles marijuana, and therefore must be banned.

What are they smoking? Certainly not hemp, which gives its imbibers little more than a splitting headache and a nasty cough.

Today, marijuana is the largest cash crop in many states and regions of the United States. A billion dollars-worth of it was purchased under medical auspices last year in California alone. Properly taxed, its users freed from our overcrowded prisons, pot’s legalization could offer a giant step out of our financial morass.

But as an agricultural staple, marijuana pales alongside hemp. This miracle weed returns on its own year after year, requiring no pesticides, herbicides or special fertilizers. It is hardy, fast-growing and supremely productive.

A single hemp plant can provide the basis for very high-quality rope, sails for ships, cloth for clothing, paper for documents, seeds for food and oil, the cellulosic base for ethanol, and much more. It is the feed of choice for untold numbers of birds and land animals. It can be the basis for innumerable stressed eco-systems where it survives and thrives with virtually no human input.

As a staple spread across the Great Plains and through the rest of America’s battered farmland, it could help restore our shattered crop base and our devastated rural economy.

Presidents Washington and Jefferson---both of them extremely advanced agronomists---cataloged their techniques for growing hemp at great length. They would simply not comprehend the concept---let alone the reality---that hemp might be illegal.

Early drafts of both the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were written on sturdy paper made of hemp.

Now, more than ever, we need the essence of both the documents and the crop.

Save Our Planet! Stimulate Our Economy!!

Honor our Founders!!! Be a Patriot!!!! Legalize Hemp Now!!!!!

“Thomas Paine’s” PASSIONS OF THE POTSMOKING PATRIOTS is at www.harveywasserman.com

Bread and Circus Theatre Auditions for Cabaret Night

2009-07-02T12:13:00.001-05:00

Hello all!

We have had our first successful Cabaret night and we are ready for more. The Bread & Circus Cabaret night at the Harmony Artistic Center will take place the second Saturday night of the month. We are currently booking performers for our July 11th & August 8th performances.

YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE A SINGER TO DO THIS! You can do anything.

If you are available and interested in performing a song, skit, monologue or variety act please email Carolyn at ccstritzel@yahoo.com. We had wonderful performers for our first night and the audience wants more.

TRY OUT YOUR AUDITION MONOLOG! Tell a joke or two. Any SCHTICK is welcome!

If you have always wanted to perform but never had the opportunity - here's your chance. If you are a local actor or performer, please think of this as a showcase for you to introduce yourself to the arts community of Columbus. At our first Cabaret Night, we had directors from 4 different local theatre companies in attendance.

Lora has a magic eye for photograhy

2009-06-26T16:48:00.001-05:00

Lora gave me a gorgeous image. A garland of red tomatoes. My faces.

Pete and Michael

2009-06-26T16:42:00.001-05:00

Pete moved to Seattle 15 years ago and has come back for the weekend each year, so far.

Michael also moved from Columbus years ago and has not missed one since returning.

Sarah

2009-06-26T15:17:00.001-05:00

I take her pic every year, more than twenty.

2009-06-26T15:10:00.001-05:00

Comfest Images Direct from iPhone

Roger has historic DVDs from pioneering Datagang. circa 1972

2009-06-26T14:59:00.001-05:00

Pioneering portable video cam footage includes first comfest. Moonshine Coop. artists, performances, political and community meetings. Lots of old hippies when we were young.

interested? Go to
datagang@ATT.net

Judy V and the Goddesses

2009-06-26T14:39:00.001-05:00

more updates to come. soon.

Katie, opens me to Comfest 2009.

2009-06-26T14:20:00.001-05:00

Comfest, the "Party with a purpose" is a traditional 60s consciousness artisan and artist steetfest. A huge local attraction now, the Comfest is larger than was ever imagened possible.
Started at noon today, Fri. Runs all weekend long.
I will be sending updates and pics.

Florida Macaw

2009-06-24T15:58:00.001-05:00

I am testing to see if I can upload to Blogger from my iPhone. The image was taken last February and altered in Color Splash ap.

Harold Pinter Remembered at OSU Drake Theatre

2009-05-14T15:48:00.006-05:00

Ann Hall, Harold Pinter, and Katherine Burkman outside of a restaurant in London after celebrating Pinter's then 70th b-day.

Don't forget to come this Sunday evening, May 17, at 7:30 p.m. to the Drake Performance Center, on the OSU campus,1849 Cannon Dr. in the Roy Bowen Theatre to see a memorial event for British playwright Harold Pinter: scenes, poetry, etc. will receive a staged reading. Produced by Ann Hall, Alan Woods, and Katherine Burkman.

Free and open to the public, so bring your friends and relatives and anyone else. Parking across the street or in lots to the right and left also across the street from the Drake.

Actors participating are: Mark Auburn, Alan Woods, Norman Singer, Linda Katz, Nick Lingnovski, Ian Short, Acacia Duncan, Matt Slaybaugh, Ellen Nickles, Susie Gerald, Ann Hall and Joy Reilly.

Studio Stu's Schedule

2009-03-13T09:02:00.004-05:00

Studio Stu, my friend in upstate NY (the Catskils, near Woodstock) is a jazz virtuoso of the single string "Studivarius", a unique, well-crafted, custom made washtub bass. He plays it while crooning, solo or as part of a trio. Catch this act, if you can. Be sure to tell Studio you read about him in Innerartbits, and that Charlie says hello.

Hello, Everyone, Well, the full moon has come and gone and Spring is pushin' it's head out...are you ready for music?

This weekend I'll be travelin' around a bit, so try and catch me for some interesting musical treats. First up is Saturday afternoon in Rosendale, NY...this is a benefit for The Rosendale Street Festival...I'll be emceeing, and doing a set @ 3PM with many great acts performing all day.

Then I'll be headin' out to Ellenville, NY for a full night solo at one of my favorite places, Aroma Thyme Bistro...good, organic, exquisite food, an incredible wine list, and, live and in person, evocative jazz and exotic lounge.

AND, on Sunday, I'll be the emcee for a benefit @ Gotham Comedy Club in NYC for the Doug Flutie Autism Foundation...come on out and see nine acts of great comedy, Studio Stu doin' an early set, and help a notable cause as well.

Hope to see you out there and by doing so, encouraging venues to have live music...an always exhilarating experience....

All ways, sTuDIo.
www.studiostu.biz

SATURDAY MARCH 14 NOON-10 PM
ROSENDALE STREET FEST BENEFIT
STUDIO STU EMCEE & 3 PM SET
ROSENDALE REC. CENTER
1055 ROUTE 32 ROSENDALE NY
www.rosendalestreetfestival.com/2009MarchBenefit.php

SATURDAY MARCH 14 8-11 PM
STUDIO STU SOLO
AROMA THYME BISTRO
165 CANAL STREET ELLENVILLE, NY
845.647.3000
www.aromathymebistro.com

SUNDAY MARCH 15 4:30-6:30 PM
STUDIO STU EMCEE
THE SHOW; A COMEDY BENEFIT FOR AUTISM
GOTHAM COMEDY CLUB
208 WEST 23 STREET NYC
212.367.9000
www.gothamcomedyclub.com
www.paul-kelleher.com

Music in the Round benefit for Transit Arts

2009-02-20T11:54:00.003-05:00

Tickets are going fast for Music in the Round, a special concert presented by Capitol Square Rotary to support the FREE youth arts programs of TRANSIT ARTS.

To purchase tickets and/or if you are unable to view the invitation below please visit this link: www.musicintheround.com.

If you can't attend the event but would like to support TRANSIT ARTS you can make a donation at this link: TRANSIT ARTS Click and Pledge

City Rec centers closing creates demand for volunteers at Central Community House

2009-02-20T11:38:00.002-05:00

Olde Towne Neighbors:

In response to closing city recreation centers and rising needs in our communities, Central Community House is pleased to announce that it will EXPAND its programming to Saturdays, 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. beginning March 7. We CANNOT do this without volunteers to tutor, run programs, create fun activities and supplement staff in a variety of ways.

Can you play chess, run a cornhole tournament, teach basic computer skills (Word, email, etc.), set up a parent support coffee hour, play board games or tutor in elementary school subjects? Can you come on a Saturday for a couple hours, once a month or so? If so we need YOU!

We will have a volunteer orientation and Saturdays planning session this Saturday, Feb. 21 at 1:00 p.m. here at Central Community House, 1150 E. Main St. 43205. Please RSVP to Pam Argus (pargus@cchouse.org) or Liz Hughes-Weaver (lhweaver@cchouse.org) or call 614-252-3157 to sign up. (Please sign up ASAP so we know how many to expect!!).

Sorry for the late notice, but if you cannot attend the orientation but are still interested, please contact Pam Argus directly and she’ll get you on your way to volunteering at Central. Thank you!

Liz Hughes-Weaver

Development Director

Central Community House

614-545-2708

Raconteur Theatre Company presents premiere of Isaac, I Am

2009-02-20T11:00:00.002-05:00

Stephen Woosley, Lorelei Moore, and Derek McGrath. Photo by Sam Blythe.
Raconteur Theatre Company is pleased to invite you to the regional
premier of Isaac, I Am by Mary Steelsmith.

We spend a lot of our time in cyber space but how do we know what is
"real" and what is "safe?" How do we learn to trust anyone? Isaac, I
Am (winner of the 2006 Helford Prize) explores these timely questions
as Angela (Lorelei Moore) "meets" Ben (Derek McGrath), a funny guy
who's single and Isaac (Stephen Woosley), a grieving father.

Don't wait till you arrive – buy your tickets online now for $12! (or
$8 for students & seniors) http://raconteurtheatre.com/tickets.html

For directions to MadLab's theatre:
http://raconteurtheatre.com/directions.html

Want to know more about the show? Check out our website!
http://raconteurtheatre.com/

Design Staff
Director: Mary Aileen St. Cyr
Scenic Design: Michael S. Brewer
Lighting Design: Andy Batt
Sound Design: Andrew Hartley
Costume Design: Jill C. Hartley
Stage Management: Patricia T. Jones

Cast
Angela: Lorelei Moore
Ben: Derek McGrath
Isaac: Stephen Woosley
Josh: Zachary Elgin Lape
Katie: Sela Williams
Ensemble: Bryanne E. Bornstein, Angela Cutrell, Suzanne Laird, Caliph
Scott, Ric Shoemaker, Anna Wang

Dates
8 PM Thursday, 2/26
8 PM Friday, 2/27
8 PM Saturday, 2/28
2 PM Sunday, 3/1

8 PM Thursday, 3/5 ***TALKBACK with playwright Mary Steelsmith
immediately following the performance
8 PM Friday, 3/6
8 PM Saturday, 3/7
2 PM Sunday, 3/8

8 PM Thursday, 3/12
8 PM Friday, 3/13
8 PM Saturday, 3/14

Photos by Sam Blythe

Was George Washington a gay pot smoker?

2009-02-16T16:05:00.002-05:00

In this age of economic stress, is it time to re-evaluate the devastatingly expensive, unrealistic and unrealizable, unfair, infantile and totally failed War on Drugs? Harvey Wasserman poses a few provocative and timely questions in this article which he writes for the Colmbus Free Press. _charlie

Harvey Wasserman

Did George Washington raise hemp? Did he smoke it? Was he gay?

The easy answers are definitely, probably, and maybe.

The questions arise with pre-publication of the shocking satire PASSIONS OF THE PATRIOTS by “Thomas Paine,” which opens with Le General in the hemp-filled embrace of his beloved Marquis de Lafayette.

As Washington’s February 22 birthday approaches, his personal habits say much about today’s America.

Like virtually every Revolutionary farmer, the Father of Our Country grew prodigious quantities of hemp. It was (is) a profitable cash crop, easy to grow, with scant demands for cultivation, watering or fertilizing. As a hardy perennial, it needs no year-after-year replanting, nor pesticides or herbicides.

Early American farmers used cannabis for cloth, rope, sails, paper and much more. At various times its cultivation has been mandatory. Kansas was virtually carpeted with it during World War Two. In today’s conversion to a Solartopian economy, the cellulose of its stems and leaves, and the oil from its seeds, could be essential for green ethanol and bio-diesel fuels.

Washington and his fellow planter/presidents Tom Jefferson and James Madison would be astonished to hear that hemp is illegal. These early chief executives would certainly have told President Obama that a re-legalized cannabis crop would mean billions of dollars in desperately needed farm revenue throughout the United States.

As for smoking, I know of no significant communication among the Founders extolling their “great weed.”

But in one of his meticulous agricultural journals, dated 1765, Washington regrets being late to separate his male hemp plants from his females. For a master farmer like George, there would be little reason to do this except to make the females ripe for smoking.

The medicinal uses of cannabis were known to the ancient Chinese. Thousands of years later, it’s inconceivable American growers would not indulge in its recreational powers.

As for Washington’s sexual preferences, his marriage to Martha was sometimes suspect. Historians joke that he did not marry her for her money, but rather for her stocks, bonds, land and slaves. In a letter to a friend, he complained that there was “not much fire between the sheets.”

Ben Franklin, the ultimate liberal, loved so many women he joked that the great miracle in his life was that he contracted no related diseases. Tom Jefferson impregnated his slave mistress Sally Hemings as many as seven times. From Andrew Jackson to Bill Clinton, American presidents have been infamous for their sexual dalliances.

George Washington did not lack for female companionship. But his deepest affections may have been for his fellow warriors. His beloved brothers in arms included Lafayette and Alexander Hamilton. Both were married with children, but both excited his strongest comradely devotion.

That the general had no biological children of his own may have been due to a fever early in his life that could have rendered him sterile.

Or maybe not. It’s hard to imagine a gay George Washington in the 1790s. But in the 1990s, things might have been different.

The modern anti-choice assault, including California’s Proposition 8, flies in the face of all Washington and the Founders dreamed of for this nation.

Today’s Puritannical “sunshine patriots” seem hell-bent on running our personal lives. But America has NEVER been about that.

Let them contemplate an image of our first president, fresh from the battlefields and the hemp fields, desperate to marry his fellow winter soldier.

--
Harvey Wasserman’s HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES is at www.harveywasserman.com, as is PASSIONS OF THE PATRIOTS by “Thomas Paine”. This article was originally published by http://freepress.org.

David Krohn performs The Storyteller

2009-02-01T12:52:00.004-05:00

Moments in a lifetime told through words, movement and music
Piano accompaniment by Leslie Kleen

Columbus Dance Theatre
February 1, 5, 6, 7, 8

592 E. Main St., Clumbus, OH 43215
ph: 614 849 0227

I first met David in the early 70s when he was a c0-founder of The Mime Troupe. He is a dedicated artist whose instrument is his body and mind. His performance is stretched to the extreme, physically and emotionally, as he takes great bodily risks while baring his most intimate feelings and thoughts. Support GOOD local arts and my good friend David. Go see this performance. _charlie

A $50 Billion Nuke Power Bomb is Dropping Toward Obama’s Stimulus Package

2009-02-01T12:08:00.005-05:00

By Harvey Wasserman

The desperate, dangerous nuclear power industry has dropped a $50 billion stealth bomb meant to irradiate the Obama Stimulus Package.

It comes in the form of a mega-loan guarantee package that would build new reactors Wall Street wouldn’t finance even when it had cash. It will take a healthy dose of citizen action to stop it, so start calling your Senators now.

The vaguely worded bailout-in-advance provision was snuck through the Senate Appropriations Committee in the deep night of January 27. It would provide $50 billion in loan guarantees for “eligible technologies” that would technically include renewable sources and electric transmission. But the handout is clearly directed at nukes and “clean coal.”

The Stimulus Package is explicitly meant to create jobs within the next two years. But according to sources at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, no new reactors could be licensed for construction within that time. Nor could any new coal plants. And thus the funds in this rider are to "remain available until committed." That means their "stimulus" might not go into effect for many years.

But the nuclear industry does have the ability to spend large sums of money on “site preparation” and other busy work prior to being licensed. Though the guarantees could technically be used for truly green sources such as wind and solar, the provision’s backers, including Senators Robert Bennett (R-UT) and Thomas Carper (D-DE), have made it clear that this money is meant to go for new reactor construction.

In late 2007, nuclear power's Congressional Godfather, then-Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM), stuck a similar $50 billion loan guarantee package into that year’s energy bill. A grassroots uprising, joined by virtually all national environmental organizations, helped defeat the package. Among other things, the fight inspired a music video from Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Graham Nash, Keb Mo and Ben Harper (www.nukefree.org).

In late 2008 the industry came back again with a blank check package that went down in flames along with the stock market.

Still unable to get private financing, the industry is back yet again. In the interim, the projected cost of building new reactors has soared to more than $10 billion each, and continues to climb steadily. Many of the previous generation of reactors came in hugely over budget. According to the Nuclear Information & Resource Service, one DOE study places the overall average overruns at 207%. But reactor projects such as Seabrook, in New Hampshire, New York's Shoreham, Pennsylvania's Beaver Valley, California's Diablo Canyon, and many others, far exceeded that.

The Congressional Budget Office now predicts that half the nuclear utilities using such a loan program will go into default. Some $18.5 billion in loan guarantees has already been approved, apparently for such use. But its legality is being hotly disputed, and the money has not been distributed by the Department of Energy.

Washington insiders believe this latest attempt at a pre-arranged bailout has again come from Domenici, who has stayed in Washington to lobby for his radioactive benefactors after apparently retiring from the Senate in January.

This guarantee package was not part of the Stimulus Package that passed the House. Its secretive, late night inclusion on the Senate side is reminiscent of how former Vice President Dick Cheney did business for the fossil/nuclear corporations that funded much of the Bush Administration. The reappearance of this kind of back door dealing has not been well received, especially in the House.

Numerous national groups, including the Nuclear Information & Resource Service (www.nirs.org) are providing sign-ins for sending e-mails to the Senate. They also urge that you call your Senator at 202-224-3121.

Time is fast slipping by for the nuke power industry. As the popularity of renewables and efficiency escalates, the most obvious source of new jobs and prosperity has become truly green technologies. Atomic power has long since been priced out of the market. Only massive federal and ratepayer subsidies could bring it back, to the direct detriment of the revolution in renewables.

Defeating this latest money grab will help drive another nail in the coffin of the 20th century’s most expensive failed technology. It is an essential step toward a truly green-powered future.

Free Press Free Film Night - Tuesday, January 27 at 7:30pm

2009-01-27T12:14:00.002-05:00

MEAT THE TRUTH: The massive impact of livestock farming on climate change"

Sponsored by the Drexel East, Central Ohio Greeen Education Fund and the Columbus International Film & Video Festival
Drexel East Theater, 2254 E. Main St., Bexley

For more info:
253-2571

Monkeys Retreat -- Opening and Performance

2009-01-27T11:42:00.002-05:00

Gallery Hop 2/7/09

Monkeys Retreat, 1202 N. High St. (294-9511), will celebrate the addition of Starfish Earth, the original clothing line of local artist and musician Michelle Ishida Lucey with an opening party from 7-10 pm for the February 7th Gallery Hop. Her son's group Crabfeather Quartet will provide live jazz for your shopping enjoyment. Crabfeather Quartet features Wes Perry on sax, Cole Ishida-Plavcan on bass, Hayden Huffman on drums and Eddie Loomis on guitar. The boys all attend Olentangy High School and are members of the Columbus Youth Jazz Programs. Check them out live on the web at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfo6AoKf9js or http://www.myspace.com/crabfeatherquartet

Larry Hamill exhibits art and flies in helicopters

2009-01-22T15:55:00.008-05:00

Larry Hamill sent us these awesome pics he took of a new MedFlight yesterday. Bet you froze your rear end, Larry. -charlie

Hi,
Enclosed are some shots I took yesterday of MedFlight's new EC-135 on a test flight. The temps were in single digits and it was a bit chilly in the chase chopper. It was much colder when I was standing in the blast of prop wash. Cheers, Larry

Larry Hamill's current exhibit: New Images, is on display through February 28, at Marcia Evans Gallery, 8 East Lincoln, Columbus, OH, in the Short North.

Larry was photographed at the opening reception, where he was showing new work including Photilations and collages on canvas with various varnishes applied to surface. (see example)
For more info, check out his website.

Read Ragazine C C Expand your Universe!

2009-01-22T13:04:00.003-05:00

Ragazine C C, published by Mike Foldes, is a website dedicated to promoting and encouraging activity and communications by artists and art lovers. (A lot like Innerartbits)

Before moving to upstate NY, Mike was a resident of Columbus where he created Ragazine, the magazine, in the early 70s. Some will remember him as an editor, publisher and graphic artist. Many Columbus artists ( as well as others) were contributors to the magazine, and today continue to feed art and articles to the website. They include Larry Hammil, D.R. Goff, Mark Berger and Valery Brown. These same individuals have also appeared in many previous issues of innerart and continue to do so.

So, you see, Ragazine and Innerart have a lot in common! Please check out Ragazine and subscribe.

Thanks, charlie

Ragazine C C

Columbus Free Press Events

2009-01-22T11:50:00.001-05:00

On Sunday, JANUARY 25 @ 7PM, come hear our friend
Dave Lippman Singer - Satirist - Social Justice Advocate
and George Shrub the world's only singing CIA agent
Free Press office – 1021 East Broad Street
Donation requested $5-$10

AND DON'T FORGET:
Free Press Free Film Night - Tuesday, January 27 at 7:30pm
"MEAT THE TRUTH: The massive impact of livestock farming on climate change"
Sponsored by the Drexel East, Central Ohio Greeen Education Fund and the Columbus International Film & Video Festival

For more info:
253-2571
truth@freepress.org

Franklin Park Conservatory in lights by Mark Berger

2009-01-19T13:48:00.003-05:00

Columbus photographer Mark Berger took these beautiful images of Franklin Park conservatory in it's lit up splendor. Mark is a regular contributor to innerart. -charlie

Dietrich Neumann, professor of history of art and architecture at Brown University, gave a lecture at Franklin Park in October 2008, where he explored the history of architectural illumination since the introduction of electric light as a "new building material". His lecture showed both historic and contemporary examples and discussed the interesting theoretical debates that accompanied this development. His lecture began with Victorian glass houses, and concluded with Franklin Park Conservatory’s installation of James Turrell’s “Light Raiment” in the John F. Wolfe Palm House.

I spoke with James Turrell on the evening of the opening of this wonderful Light show of the John F. Wolf Palm House, Mr Turrell thought this light display would be even more beautiful if it were photographed in the middles of winter with snow on the ground. This past Thursday it was a -7° outside and I had the opportunity to photograph outside at Franklin Park of the Palm House and thought you might like seeing some of these images. The colors are in the order that they appear in the show.
Mark

10 Sugestions to Obama from Harvey Wasserman

2009-01-19T13:06:00.004-05:00

Harvey Wasserman is an environmental activist, political activist, author, contributor to the Columbus Free Press, History instructor at Columbus State University, and many more things, including a good friend I've known since high school. His latest book Solartopia, is available at his website www.solartopia.org and lots of other venues. -charlie

A Ten-Point Solartopian Starter Agenda for the Age of Obama by Harvey Wasserman
Amidst the ecstasy of the Obama Inauguration, there lurks great danger. Merely with his swearing in, our nation has broken an epic racial barrier. We are losing our worst president and getting one who was actually elected.

But the promise of change is not change itself. Inaugurating a brilliant young leader who speaks in complete sentences can only be good. But it is a fatal delusion to think this means we have gotten where we need to go.

Here are ten early tangibles that will be accomplished ONLY if we push:

1) Revise the Corporation: Corporations have hijacked the electoral process, the legal system, the 14th Amendment, the environment. They have human rights but no human responsibilities. They must be re-chartered and made to serve the public, rather than the other way around.

2) Restore the Bill of Rights: The first ten amendments to the US Constitution comprise a great guide for guaranteeing our basic human rights and liberties. The Constitutional lawyer entering the White House understands the issues; he need to be pushed to make sure these rights are enforced, including equal justice for racial/ethnic minorities and women, and reproductive freedom.

3) US out of Iraq and Afghanistan: These wars must end. The healing---moral, spiritual, economic, and in terms of violence---can only begin when the US leaves these useless battlefields and dismantles its global network of intrusive bases.

4) Slash Military Spending: We cannot continue to spend untold billions on detrimental weaponry. A 75% cut would be a good start; 95% would be a reasonable ultimate target.

5) Rid the World of Nuclear Weapons: Atomic bombs are instruments of mass suicide and of no tangible use. Even their production and maintenance is unsustainable.

6) TOTAL conversion to renewables and efficiency: We have the technology to run this Earth COMPLETELY on Solartopian green energy, with no fossil/nuclear fuels whatsoever. This means restoration of mass transit, and NO public funding, from taxpayers or ratepayers, for new atomic reactors or coal burners.

7) End Hemp/Marijuana Prohibition: This ancient plant holds the key to bio-fuels, as well as to sustainable paper production and much more, and must be restored to full production. And prohibition of a medicinal substance used by tens of millions of citizens makes for a police state. Pot must be legal; control of other substances must shift to treatment. The prison-industrial complex is as unsustainable as is the military.

8) National Health Care: Appropriate prevention and treatment is a basic human right. We must find the way to provide it.

9) Universal Hand-Counted Paper Ballots: Electronic voting machines are the nukes of the electoral process. Universal automatic registration, handcounted paper ballots (on recycled hemp paper) and workable campaign finance regulations are essential to the future of democracy.

10) Universal Free Education: In an information age, education through a college degree is essential to a sustainable society. Our public schools from K to the BA must be funded on a level now wasted on the military.

There is of course much more. But the greatness of this moment will be measured in history only by the extent to which we actually win on tangible issues.

This brief wish list should get us going. Send us more! But above all: remember that even with Barack Obama in the White House (and George Bush OUT of it) none of them will come without our hard---hopefully joyful---work.

Harvey Wasserman's HISTORY OF THE U.S., and SOLARTOPIA! OUR GREEN-POWERED EARTH, are at www.solartopia.org, where your suggestions are welcome.

Poetry Forum Now at Rumba Café

2009-01-15T13:21:00.002-05:00

Please forward this message far and wide

POETRY FORUM TO RE-OPEN

AT NEW HOME AT THE RUMBA CAFE

The Poetry Forum will resume its Monday night reading series January 26 at a new location, The Rumba Café, 2507 Summit Street, Columbus (just south of Hudson Street), with featured poet Kip Knott, who was scheduled to open our winter season January 5.

Our well-known poetry event lost its 25-year home when campus watering hole Larry’s closed its doors abruptly December 27.

The Rumba Café has become a popular spot for music in the north University area over the past 2 years, and we’re grateful that its management has been gracious enough to offer us the early Monday evening slot (before the acoustic singer-songwriters show up for 10 p.m. gigs, which may provide a nice cap to an evening of poetry).

Thanks to all of you for your support over the years, your words of support when all of us lost a community institution at Woodruff & High, your suggestions for optional venues, and –we hope—your continued presence to maintain the vitality of an open poetry community. We all look forward to seeing you on January 26 and in the ensuing weeks. Keep checking Poetry Calendar Columbus at www.puddinghouse.com for updated schedules for The Poetry Forum and other central Ohio poetry events.

Steve Abbott

Connie Everett

Rose M. Smith

Obama's marijuana prohibition acid test

2009-01-14T15:09:00.001-05:00

Obama's marijuana prohibition acid test
by Bob Fitrakis & Harvey Wasserman
January 14, 2009

The parallels between the 1933 coming of Franklin Roosevelt and the upcoming inauguration of Barack Obama must include the issue of Prohibition: alcohol in 1933, and marijuana today. As FDR did back then, Obama must now help end an utterly failed, socially destructive, reactionary crusade.

Marijuana prohibition is a core cause of many of the nation's economic problems. It now costs the U.S. tens of billions per year to track, arrest, try, defend and imprison marijuana consumers who pose little, if any, harm to society. The social toll soars even higher when we account for social violence, lost work, ruined careers and damaged families. In 2007, 775,137 people were arrested in the U.S. for mere possession of this ancient crop, according to the FBI’s uniform crime report.

Like the Prohibition on alcohol that plagued the nation from 1920 to 1933, marijuana prohibition (which essentially began in 1937) feeds organized crime and a socially useless prison-industrial complex that includes judges, lawyers, police, guards, prison contractors, and more.

A dozen states have now passed public referenda confirming medical uses for marijuana based on voluminous research dating back 5,000 years. Confirmed medicinal uses for marijuana include treatment for glaucoma, hypertension, arthritis, pain relief, nausea relief, reducing muscle spasticity from spinal cord injuries and multiple sclerosis, and diminishing tremors in multiple sclerosis patients. Medical reports also prove smoked marijuana provides relief from migraine headaches, depression, seizures, and insomnia, according to NORML. In recent years its use has become critical to thousands of cancer and AIDS sufferers who need to it to maintain their appetite while undergoing chemotherapy.

The U.S. ban on marijuana extends to include hemp, one of the most widely used agricultural products in human history. Unlike many other industrial crops, hemp is powerful and prolific in a natural state, requiring no pesticides, herbicides, extraordinary fertilizing or inappropriate irrigation. Its core products include paper, cloth, sails, rope, cosmetics, fuel, supplements and food. Its seeds are a potentially significant source of bio-diesel fuel, and its leaves and stems an obvious choice for cellulosic ethanol, both critically important for a conversion to a Solartopian renewable energy supply.

Hemp was grown in large quantities by George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and many more of the nation's founders, most of whom would likely be dumbfounded to hear it is illegal (based on entries in Washington's agricultural diaries, referring to the separation of male and female plants, it's likely he and his cohorts also raised an earlier form of "medicinal" marijuana).

Hemp growing was mandatory in some circumstances in early America, and again during World War II, when virtually the entire state of Kansas was planted in it. The current ban on industrial hemp costs the U.S. billiions of dollars in lost production and revenue from a plant that can produce superior paper, clothing, fuel and other critical materials at a fraction the financial cost and environmental damage imposed by less worthy sources.

On January 16, 1919, fundamentalist crusaders help pass the 18th Amendment, making the sale of alcohol illegal. The ensuing Prohibition was by all accounts a ludicrous failure epitomized by gang violence and lethal "amateur" product that added to the death toll. Its only real winner was organized crime and the prison-industrial complex.

In 1933, FDR helped pass the 21st Amendment repealing Prohibition, which ended a costly era of gratuitous social repression and gave the American economy---and psyche---a tangible boost.

Marijuana prohibition was escalated with Richard Nixon's 1970 declaration of the War on Drugs. There was a brief reprieve when Steve Ford, the son of President Gerald Ford appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone barefoot and claiming that the best place to smoke pot was in the White House. In 1980, President Jimmy Carter’s last year in office, 338,664 were arrested for marijuana possession.

Ronald Reagan renewed the War on Drugs and declared his “Zero Tolerance” policy, despite his daughter Patti Davis’ claim the Gipper smoked weed with a major donor. Following Reagan, President George Herbert Walker Bush recorded a low of 260,390 marijuana possession arrests, but the numbers climbed again under Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, both of whom are reported to have smoked it themselves (though Clinton claims not to have inhaled).

On a percentage basis, at least as many American high school students smoke pot than students in Holland, where it is legal. In the midst of the drug war, U.S. students report virtually unlimited access to a wide range of allegedly controlled substances, including pot. Because so many Americans use it, and it is so readily available, the war on marijuana can only be seen as a virtually universal assault on the basic liberties of our citizenry.

In a 2005 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services survey, more than 97 million Americans admitted to having tried marijuana at least once. President-elect Obama makes it clear in his book Dreams From My Father that he has smoked---and inhaled---marijuana (he is also apparently addicted to a far more dangerous drug, tobacco). His administration should tax marijuana rather than trying to repress it. Like alcohol and tobacco, a minimum age for legal access should be set at 21.

As a whole, the violent, repressive War on Drugs has been forty years of legal, cultural and economic catastrophe. Like FDR, Obama must end our modern-day Prohibition, and with it the health-killing crusade against this ancient, powerful medicinal herb.

--
Bob Fitrakis & Harvey Wasserman have co-authored four books on election protection, available at http://freepress.org, along with Bob's FITRAKIS FILES. Harvey's SOLARTOPIA! is at http://harveywasserman.com. This article was first published by http://freepress.org.
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Poetry Forum Looking for a home after Legendary "Larry's" Closes

2009-01-03T11:57:00.005-05:00

Steve Abbott with The Poetry Forum of Columbus, sent this urgent note today. I am also sad about "Larry's" final closing. More than a campus bar, Larry's was an important, iconic site, part of my background, especially during its heyday during the tumultuous late 60s and early 70s. As he explains below, this sudden closing has caused the Forum to lose it's home of the past 25 years. Got any suggestions or ideas where the forurm can hold public readings? Let us know! - charlie

Friends,

The abrupt closing of Larry’s Bar on December 27, without the courtesy of notice to The Poetry Forum despite over 700 readings over 25 years, has forced us to cancel the series of readings scheduled to begin January 5 as we seek a new location. We have several possibilities that we’re looking into, and some may require shifting to another area of the city and/or to a coffeehouse rather than a bar. So it goes. The line turns.

We hope to have a new home and a revised schedule within 3 weeks. I’ll let you know what’s going on, and please forward this or pass word of our hiatus to friends, acquaintances and other possibly interested parties. (There’s a related story in today’s/Saturday’s/January 3 Columbus Dispatch.)

All of us at The Poetry Forum thank you for your past support and wish you the best for the new year.

Steve