Saturday Night Rock: Lysistrata

Three day weekend and the weather is just warm enough to get the tomatoes and peppers in, while the flower beds are screaming for zinnias and petunias. Everything needs pruning, weeding, mulching, so this is going to be a busy three days. Nobody reads blogs over holiday work-in-the-garden weekends, do they?

For the late night music crowd, Todd Rundgren does Aristophanes:

What to do with Bill?

I don't understand the lack of imagination in the general punditry. Tonight the blab has been all about the Democratic VP choices. Will he ask her or will he stand her up? Does she want to be asked and if asked, what would she do?

I heard numerous people tonight say Obama cannot ask Hillary because if he does, then he also has Bill to deal with after November.

What do you do with Bill? Make him ambassador someplace half way around the world. Some place that has lots of problems he can solve. Seriously.

The Democrats cannot afford to ostracize any segments of its wide and varied membership. Even "old insider politicians." There's a whole lot of work to be done. More than enough to keep everybody very busy for the next 8 years and then some.

Fill-er up at 3.99 per gal

Most gas stations I drove past yesterday were at 3.86 and I was down to less than a quarter tank. I was going to stop and fill it before the Memorial Day weekend, but somehow found myself back at home before doing so.

So this morning on the way to school, the radio told me that gas prices in Akron would be jumping up up up this morning due to something I didn't quite catch. Sure enough, by the end of the work day, gas prices were at 3.99 in and around Kenmore. I did a double take at the Marathon right across from the X-way entrance at Wooster-Hawkins - 3.88.9 -- a bargain! I pulled in and filled the tank. Total cost -- $43.65.

A couple months ago, I put down a $99 deposit on a Smart ForTwo car, finally making their way to the USA. They've been all over Europe, developed by Daimler AG in 1998. I'm on a waiting list with some 40,000 ahead of me! They are well made, and affordable and will make a good transition vehicle until the next generation of environmentally conscious cars become available. The Smart ForTwo has put a micro-hybrid into production, but it isn't available here yet. Maybe by the time they get to my name on that list, the micro will be available.

Check out this video of a Smart ForTwo crash test:

Ask the Mayor

Akron citizens received our copy of the quarterly City publication put out by our local government. In this issue, is a new feature -- a tear out post-card that allows each of us to ask one question of our Mayor. All we have to do is put our name and return address on it and a stamp. Someone, we are promised, from city government will answer our questions. So why not call it "Ask someone in city government?"

Trying to narrow it down to one question is a bit difficult. I'm tempted, after reading the mag through from cover to cover, to ask a follow up question to one of three printed in the current issue. The question is about the proposed sale of our sewer system to create a scholarship program for all Akron Public School students to attend Akron U. The mayor sketches it out by focusing on the scholarships, promising an aggressive campaign to raise the necessary funds from a variety of sources. His words about leasing the sewer plan are still too vague for me. He promises that the city will address "citizens' concerns about future rates, environmental issues and service."

Quite frankly, Mayor Plusquellic, I'll believe your plan when I see all the details in black and white, not just promises. My question is -- when will we see an actual detailed plan?

The other question also arises after reading City mag. Why must every single Rock the Lock on Friday nights feature a cover band? Aren't there enough interesting local bands to at least have every other Friday feature original material? And if we have to have all these cover bands, including tributes to the following: Kiss, Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Doors, Fleetwood Mac, Jimmy Buffett, CArlos Santana, CSN&Y, Tina Turner, Journey, Bon Jovi, Creedence, Led Zeppelin, U2 (!), Aerosmith, Bob Seger, and ZZ Top -- can't we at least have a Kinks Kover band, huh??

I realize those are a lot of frivolous questions, so maybe I'll stick to bugging him about the sewer system. Because we citizens won't get an opportunity to vote on it directly. It will be put to City Council. And we know that City Council is not likely to vote against our mayor, although they showed some spine today by voting to reject a deal to pay off local business man and charter school magnate David Brennan's downtown hotel debts.

There is a local group forming to oppose the sewer move. Get the info here.

Lectures for Arabian leaders

Hey look who is lecturing the Arab leaders:

George W. Bush.

and

Osama Bin Laden.

Birds of a feather?

Down but not totally out

The title of this post could reference Hillary Clinton, but I'll save her for a bit later. I'm the one who has been down -- with some kind of bug that would not go away. Not a normal cold. Not the flu. But something that brought about fever, swollen glands, scratchy sore throat, lung congestion -- and would not go away on its own. I'd think I was getting better only to feel the symptoms coming on again.

Finally the fever came back and the swollen glands made my face balloon, so I gave up and last Thursday went off to the doctor who didn't have a clue, but sent me to get X-rays for possible pneumonia (negative), prescribed an antibiotic, and set up an appointment for me with an eye, ear and throat specialist. That appointment is for two and a half weeks from now. Sheesh. I sure as heck hope I'm not feeling like this in two and a half weeks. The antibiotic seems to be helping and I think I can drag myself back to work tomorrow.

Sitting in the waiting area of the X-ray clinic, I happened to overhear three nurses at the desk discussing the presidential race. They were all white middle-aged women and they were all for Hillary and adamantly so. One of them stated rather loudly that if Hillary wasn't the nominee, she'd be voting for McCain. The others nodded in agreement. Here in front of me was living evidence of what exit polling and pundits have been blathering about for weeks -- Hillary's base support.

If I'd felt at all well, I might have spoken up and tried to get them to consider how awful it would be to vote in McSame for president. And yet, I kind of know what they are feeling. Once again, women are supposed to be nice and step back so that the men can take the leading roles. The saddest thing of all is that there are really no great prospects on the horizon for women -- other than Hillary -- to step forward and vie for the prize. A very depressing NYT article mentions a couple of women here and there, but confirms that the pickings are slim and the road is still very difficult for women to gain power in government.

It would be great if Obama picked a woman for VP. But the chances of that happening are slim to none, because that would "weaken" the ticket in the eyes of all the male pundits, politicians and bloggocrats. If he really wants to convince me that he's the candidate for change and for a new form of politics, he would ignore the conventional wisdom. What do you want to bet he goes for a white male southern conservative democrat to balance the ticket?

I'm going to vote for Obama, no doubt about that. But if he wants my active support, then he needs to think long and carefully about what to do about women of a certain age who feel the glass ceiling smashing down our hopes once again. If he doesn't pick a woman VP, he could take up some of Hillary's core issues, especially health care, and take a more progressive stance that meets the needs of working people.

E4S in Akron -- no more waste!

It's easy to get depressed about environmental issues -- so what a big emotional boost to attend the E4S event "Waste is a business opportunity" at the new Ohio Brewery on Main Street this evening. The event was packed, and the networking non-stop. What is more, the future for reducing and reusing waste streams is looking much brighter.

We heard some short testimonials from local business people, who shared what their companies are doing with and to various forms of waste. Shearer's (makers of chips and other food products) sells their used cooking oil to a company that extracts the nutrients to use in dog and cat food products. The potato peelings are sold to a company that turns them into cattle feed. Another company uses the potato peelings to make biodegradable "leather." The company also collects and resells shrink wrap to a local toy company that recycles plastic. They are working on installing heat exchangers to reuse the heat from the cooking process to heat the buildings and offices. Shearer's saved 200K by initiating sustainable practices last year and made an additional 200K by turning waste streams into profits.

GoJo Industries also sells plastic waste and donates soap to local charities who distribute it to those in need. Zerolandfill is an organization that recycles samples of fabric, brick, and other items used by architectural firms that would otherwise end up in a landfill. The samples are distributed to local artists and educators who can use the materials for a wide variety of arts and crafts projects. They are looking to expand into Akron, as there are many local architectural firms with resources to recycle.

A Piece of Cleveland harvests good wood from buildings that are being demolished. The materials are then turned into new pieces for the home, such as counter tops, built in furniture and so on. The owner of this company spoke with great passion about "upcycling" building materials and providing the purchaser with a "rebirth certificate" for each piece, detailing its point of origin and historical context.

The most exciting news of the evening hands down was a new process from PolyFlo, that supposedly can take all plastics, not just one and two, and turn them into a reusable polymer. That also includes compound plastic items as well as rubber tires and carpets. Sounds incredible, sort of a 21st century alchemical miracle. The man who spoke said the business plan is to lease the technology and establish plants all over the world.

E4S makes sure that people in the audience are thinking and connecting about the topic of the night, and we were instructed to talk in small groups to answer questions about waste streams in our daily lives and how we deal with them...or not! I talked to a young architect working in downtown Akron. He has worked to get everyone to turn off their computers every night when they go home, which saves a whole lot of energy. They are also going to invest in rain barrels to put at the corners of their building with drip lines attached and spread throughout their building's landscaping.

I thought about the school district in which I teach and how unsustainable so many of its practices are. Shouldn't all the food waste be going to a company like Paygro, which turns food and green waste into usable products such as mulch and soil enhancers. I've seen custodians toss fluorescent light bulbs into the trash, which is a huge no no, but who's paying attention? We let kids buy water and sports drinks in plastic bottles, but don't provide recycling for those plastic bottles or for aluminum cans. And we won't even talk about how much is left turned on and plugged in over night and the weekends.

Valley Park Association, Summit County Metro Parks, and a representative from Akron's E4S is expanding their Akron event calendar and by tonight's turnout, we can only hope for more green and sustainable business opportunities locally. Lots of movers and shakers were in the audience tonight, including folks from the Ohio EPA, KSU radio, The Sierra Club, CuyahogaGreenPrint, which is actually getting up and running -- look for a web site soon and invitations to join in the movement to turn our village green!

Blogging ennui

May has been a blogging bust here at the Village Green. The first word that came to mind was a fancy one, "ennui" -- which, according to dictionary.com means:

...a feeling of utter weariness and discontent resulting from satiety or lack of interest; boredom: The endless lecture produced an unbearable ennui.

In other words, sometimes you have to put a cap on it or satiety will wipe you out.

Sometimes you need a respite. I've been down with a virus, so I've been doing little more than reading actual books, not blogs. Watching some television. NBA Finals. The weird last four weeks of House. Making plans for the garden as planting time approaches. I've managed to get some weeding done and have a few new perennials waiting to go in beds.

I tried to find a spice bush locally. We had one in the garden in Granger. I remember looking forward to it's amazing fragrance every spring. So I looked on Ebay and found a grower with Spice bushes for sale in Indiana. Two 24" bare rooted plants are on their way via US mail.

Obviously the garden is a good place to lose the ennui and find some renewal. Blogging energy is beginning to return! I'm going to the Akron E4S event this week at the new Ohio Brewery on Main St. The topic is "Waste is a Business Opportunity." I hope to see lots of local interest in reducing and reusing various waste streams. Looking forward to blogging about it!

Eddy Arnold RIP

We had some Eddy Arnold records in the house when I was growing up, probably the only country western recordings in the family collection. I liked his baritone voice and the guitar playin'.

Thanks to YouTube, we have some vintage Eddy to play here tonight, along with noted Nashville studio guitarist Hank Garland.

Post Cincinnati Blues

The sun bounced off the magnificent city skyline as I drove from Kentucky into Cincinnati. What a beautiful view and a thrilling downhill drive across the river and into the city!

Found a very cool vegetarian restaurant called Myra's Dionysus. Now how could a vegetarian theatre person resist such a place? The menu was packed with enticing items. I settled on the gado gado and oh -- it was yummy and spicy! I'm so glad I have three more weekends in Cincinnati scheduled for next year so that I can explore more of Myra's menu.

No theatre-going this time. The selections on offer were just not as appealing as lolling about in a luxury hotel room in a humongous bed reading some books I've been wanting to finish for a long time. (reviews to appear here soon).

Saturday morning, up and ready to depart for conference meetings, I noticed a couple dressed to the hilt, her with an enormous hat. Ah ha, must be Kentucky Derby bound, which reminded me that it might be fun to watch it while dining at the hotel restaurant sports lounge after the meetings for the day concluded, which I did -- only to choke on my meal as the poor filly Eight Belles "broke down" as they say.

Later, I went online to read more about what happened, as the NBC coverage was stunningly insensitive to the moment. The celebrations and the corporate sponsorship were given just about all of the post-race airtime except for a small segment in which we heard the not very expert announcers first speculate that Eight Belles may have had a heart condition, only to be interrupted by a brusque veterinarian report that she broke both ankles and had to be euthanized -- and now back to the winner's circle.

Online chat and comment boards brought out a number of interesting points about the current state of horse racing. Thoroughbreds these days are being bred for light bone structure and heavy muscles, not for soundness. Horses in the US are forced to race too early. A number of comments zeroed in on the age of the horses, stating that two years old is too early to be pushing these horses to run full out as their bones aren't fully developed.

"The sport is at least as inhumane as greyhound racing and only a couple of steps removed from animal fighting, " is the way one NYT columnist puts it. Read the rest of his article here.

I must confess I have enjoyed watching the horses run -- in the past -- but I never liked seeing the jockeys whip them. I also don't care for all the assumptions that people place upon the animals, humanizing them by ascribing words such as "heroic," "gallant" and so on. Eight Belles was a beautiful creature and deserved to live out her life in a pasture somewhere where she could run if she so pleased.

On Sunday, I departed Cincinnati after a very successful conference, feeling good about the year's work, and looking forward to the following year. But as luck would have it, on the drive home I started to feel rather wretched and by the time I got home (in record time -- I really stepped on the pedal this time!) I was shivering with fever and starting to feel a nasty illness come over me. My break down wasn't even close to tragic, and I know I'll be up and about again soon. But still hovering over my illness is the thought of that poor horse and the conditions that lead to her death. I'm not watching the Preakness or the Belmont, I know that much.

Hurdy Gurdy revisited

For your late Saturday night viewing pleasure:

Trade plants, seeds, bulbs!

For Akron-area folks, this sounds like a great way to avoid the high prices at your local nurseries this spring. I'd be there, but I have another weekend in Cincinnati ahead of me.

Obtained via Akron Freecycle:

What: Free Plant & Flower Swap
Where: Kiwanis, 725 Portage Lakes Drive by State Mill
When: THIS SATURDAY, May 3, 9:00am-11:00 am
Why: To exchange your extra plants for FREE new ones!

As many as you bring, you'll get to bring home.

Bring plants in pots or bags, labeled with the name, what type of sun,
a/o soil (sandy? etc.) & if anything special should be known. (Can
also label perennial, but I assume most will be perennial.)

Can also bring seeds & bulbs(labeled) in bags.

Try to get there early, 8:45 or 9:00am, to have your plants put into
the sharing area, and to get your tickets for the exchange. They will
allow 10 or so people at one time every 15 min or so to choose plants.
So the early birds get the best choice.

Presidential Primary - Act III

The only way I can look at the Democratic party's primary season is as a full three act modern-ancient drama.

The set is a simple semi circle, bordered by white marble columns -- at once both an ancient Greek theatre and Washington, DC. In between each column, digital screen hang with ever-changing images pulled from broadcast and cable news, Huff Post, Daily Kos, Pho's Akron Pages and so on. The actors all wear masks and walk on high platform shoes.

In Act I, we met a lot of characters who spouted lots of monologues, pleaded for donations and periodically met up on a platform to out wit, out play and out last each other. By the end of the first act, we were down to three players and everybody knew John Edwards was the odd person out.

Act II became the battle of the two remaining titans. Senator Clinton seemed a sure bet until the primary season got under way. A new character appeared on the scene -- the Voters, a kind of Greek chorus that was split into two equal and opposing forces. Senator Obama's rise in status grew as he won caucus after caucus and surprised the complacent Clinton campaign with the appeal of the "fresh message of hope." As Senator Clinton's fortunes diminished, the two choruses harangued each other with taunts and threats. Various characters appealed to the gods above, the so-called Super Delegates to come down from the heavens and bring an end to the story.

Act III is now upon us. Senator Obama's message of hope isn't so fresh now, nor is Senator Clinton's husband, who should really be given a role in the satyr plays that go on in between acts rather than be allowed to continually and badly upstage his wife's message.

The Voters have been polled, sliced and diced and divided into categories that are supposed to fall in line on one side or the other. Bitter white older women vs young educated men along with racial and economic divisions. Therefore, the chorus members have changed masks, donning new ones that represent the various voter demographics for this final act. Emotions run high, as each chorus threatens to leave the stage and not participate in the democratic voting process should the opposing candidate win.

I can't predict the outcome of this final act. I have an ending in mind but whether the actors in this drama will choose it is not at all clear. I'm still rooting for a resolution that doesn't lead to tragedy in the fall. For remember, Greek plays most often were presented in trilogy format. (You can bet those ancient play-goers took along something soft to place on the hard stone seats at the amphitheatre.) So after the Primary play, we will be faced with the General Election play, to be followed by The First Four Years of a new regime.

Save our river -- from ourselves!

In the PBS documentary The Return of the Cuyahoga, we see a lot of positive actions all along the river, as citizens work to restore it to health. The film takes on the old "mistake by the lake" designation along with the metaphor of the burning river to show the progress that has been made on restoring the Cuyahoga river to health.

From vacuuming the surface of the shipping lanes to banning factories from dumping waste to restoring the headlands and the tributaries, the documentary is full of determined NE Ohioans working to bring a river back from the dead.

There are still some unsolved problems, including the Gorge dam in the Falls, still the object of conflict between an energy company and environmentalists. And the river, downstream of Akron, still receives human and industrial waste when rain and run-off water overwhelm the Akron combined sewers.

Note that this is the same sewer system that our mayor wants to sell to a private company to run. Buyer beware! As for Akronites, do we really want to continue sending everything we flush into the Cuyahoga? Or are we going to continue to pretend once it leaves the bowl it's not our problem?

If you missed the documentary, go here to order the DVD from PBS and visit the documentary's web site. Meanwhile, here's a clip:

Glorious spring!

Spring has sprung in my garden. Today the lilacs opened up with their intoxicating perfume, and next to it the pink dogwood went from tiny little nubs to full out bloom in the matter of a mere two days.

Ferns are popping up all over the shade garden, along with hosta leaves, columbine, and a bleeding heart just going into bloom. The tulips are almost past their peak, and the white and blue violets are artfully carpeting the stone borders of the beds.

I bought some pansies at Giant Eagle. noting how much more expensive they are this season. I expect that will be the way of it in every garden store this growing season. This might be a good year to divide some overgrown perennials and trade with other gardeners.

I did my first mowing today. I prefer shrubs, flower and vegetable space more than great vast expanses of lawn, so I don't need anything more than a push mower and an electric weed whacker.

The compost bin was ready for some attention today. I raked up some leaves that had been sheltering various plants over the winter and layered them over all the food scraps and coffee grounds. Which reminds me, someone asked me to plug their compost bin web site. I haven't had any need to look for a new compost bin since the Rubbermaid model I've been using for over ten years is holding up very nicely. However, I did visit the compost bin site and marveled at the wide array of types and sizes. The latest models on display here include some that can supposedly handle pet waste. I'd want to check into them a little more thoroughly before buying one, as I didn't think one could safely turn dog and cat waste into usable compost.

And finally, for something completely different in the way of growing your own produce, check out the Science Barge now docking in Manhattan. Can't you picture some of these going up and down the Ohio Canal each summer?

Friday Night Kick Back: London Song

A lovely collage of sights and scenes of Kinkdom in "London Song," an affectionate haunting view of the "dark passages and alleyways of London" by Ray Davies, first recorded on The Storyteller album.

This fan-created video nicely illustrates the places and characters that populate the song, including William Blake, Max Wall and the Kray Twins (very dangerous people, the Kray Twins!) With some views of the Clissold Arms too! Enjoy...

Behind the scenes at the Hannah this Saturday

SNOOP! Around Town

go behind the scenes at the Hanna Theatre

Join us for our next captivating SNOOP! this Saturday, April 26, when CRS members will sneak behind the scenes for a hard hat tour of the Hanna Theatre renovation project. The theatre, now more than 80 years old, was built in 1921 by Daniel Rhodes Hanna in memory of his father, U.S. Senator Marcus Alonzo Hanna. The first show was a performance of Mark Twain's 'The Prince and The Pauper,' staring William Faversham. In more recent years, the Hanna has been home to musicals, comedy acts and cabarets and will open again following the renovation as the new home of the Great Lakes Theater Festival. Meet us under the marquee at 11:00 a.m. for the tour and learn what's in store for the historic Hanna.

Please note - this event has been changed to include the theatre tour only. Guests are invited to arrange any additional activities independently following the SNOOP!

As always, this SNOOP! is free for Cleveland Restoration Society members. RSVP to Erin Dorsey. Not a member? Take advantage of a special $15 introductory membership rate to join the Cleveland Restoration Society and then you, too, can SNOOP!

Photo by Hugh Fisher

The Cleveland Restoration Society gratefully acknowledges the citizens of Cuyahoga County for their support through Cuyahoga Arts and Culture.

Cleveland Restoration Society

In the waning moments of Earth Day...

...we are more mindful of lights that actually need to be on and those that don't.

There were two "official" hours for turning off your lights today. From 8 to 9 AM, schools and businesses were encouraging their employees to work in half the usual light for one hour. I turned off all the classroom lights and invited my first period class to go outside to pick up litter. We netted four bags full in little over 30 minutes. Sadly, we covered only the north end of the school property. There are many more bags of trash left to collect, I"m sure.

The students began to notice just what ends up as litter, as they came upon many familiar wrappers that contain lunch or snack items. We all noted the ubiquity of plastic bags and how they wrap themselves around branches, weeds, and fences.

We talked about what was recyclable and what would end up in a landfill. Many of the students were already aware of the Lights Out Akron campaign and talked about continuing the effort during the evening time slot between 8 - 9 PM.

I actually began Lights Out much earlier, falling asleep during the non-stop blab fest prior to the Pennsylvania primary returns. Unfortunately, I therefore wasn't awake to turn the TV off at 8 PM. But at least I conscious effort to participate, unlike First Energy.

Talkin' Trash for Earth Week

What's the trashiest place you've seen in Akron?

In addition to Summit Lake, I also nominate Russell Ave., the stretch that runs from Dart to Manchester Rd along the expressway. Looking at all the plastic bags, fast food detritus, and other assorted garbage makes me think of New Jersey. Yes, the so-called Garden State, which I happened to be in over spring break. There I saw the worst litter I've seen in decades, going back to before Lady Bird's Highway beautification movement.

The pictures above is of a stretch of road just off the highway in an industrial area close to Newark International Airport. The trash was so thick if you walked through it you'd need wading boots. Tires, rubble, plastic, paper -- you name it, it was there. Below, note the white spirals clinging to the chain link fence. They are formed from plastic bags that the wind wrapped around wire that is stuck in the fence. Not my idea of modern art. I wouldn't call it post-modern -- I'd call it an ugly display of a world drowning in plastic.

Instead of waiting for some group to gather to pick up trash this week, why not go out and tackle an ugly spot on your own or with a couple friends. Keep Akron Beautiful!

Orchid updates

Last summer, I purchased some orchids via Ebay and wrote about them here. My Lady Macbeth paphiopedilum made it through the winter and sent up two enormous blooms at once. I must be doing something right!

She has enough dark red spots on both blooms to make even Teller happy!

Here's a photo showing the entire plant. To the right and rear of the paph is a phalaenopsis that continues to hang in there but hasn't bloomed in four years.

At Donzell's yesterday, I walked into the orchid area intending just to gawk. Prices there can be more than I care to spend. But they were having an orchid clearance and I walked out of there with a ten dollar orchid in full bloom! It is a D. Makariki Blue. But the flower is more lavender than blue as you can see in the following picture. I'm not complaining -- the plant itself looks healthy and gives me hope for the dendobrium I bought last summer that still hasn't bloomed yet.

I came across a really neat orchid blog called The Orchid Chronicles. Rafael grows his orchids in Canada and his latest post asks the question, should one put orchids outside for the summer? Find out the answer here.

How to start your own theatre

In one easy workshop, this weekend with a guy who has started a very successful one here in Akron -- Sean McConaha of The Bang and the Clatter Theatre, soon to debut its Cleveland franchise (see below). Here are the details lifted directly from NEOhioPAL:


How to Start a Theatre

Instructor: Sean McConaha
One Session
Saturday, April 19, 2008, 2:00pm – 4:00pm
Fee: $25

Have you ever wondered how The Bang and the Clatter Theatre Company went from a small Akron upstart to a creative force in the theatre community of Northeast Ohio. Spend a couple of hours with Co-Managing/Artistic Director Sean McConaha and hear the whole story of how they started and what brought them to Downtown Cleveland's 4th Street.

This workshop brought to you by:

Fairmount Center for the Arts, School of Theatre
Fred Sternfeld, director

Fairmount's School of Theatre, under the direction of Fred Sternfeld, offers workshops for theatre students of all ages in a wide range of exciting theatre programming.

All workshops will be held in our garden-level workshops and in the theatre at our Cuyahoga Central Campus in the Mayfield Village Performing Arts Center right off of I-271

6622 Wilson Mills Rd. at the corner of Wilson Mills and SOM Center Rd. (Ohio Rt. 91)

To register, call the Fairmount Center at 440-338-3171 or register online

______________________________________The Bang and the Clatter - Sometimes in the Silence... Theatre Company inaugurates their new downtown Cleveland theatre space with Neil Labute's THIS IS HOW IT GOES. Directed by Fred Sternfeld, starring Douglas Kusak, Michael May, Leighann Niles DeLorenzo and Rachel Zake. April 18 - May 10, 2008. 330-606-5317.

______________________________________
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Mental Detox Week approaches

Originally Turn Off Your Television Week, Mental Detox Week bids us let go of all the electronic gadgetry including cell phones, Blackberries, iPods, not to mention all computer related activities.

7 Days without blogging? And how can one exist without email or cell phones? Who is up for that? I like the idea, but I don't think I have what it takes to turn off and tune out for 7 days.

Besides, blogging is not mentally toxic. At least, not for me it isn't. Blogging is a mental stimulant as well as a form of self-discipline. It doesn't deplete, rather it enriches. I like it too much to give it up for 7 days. Television, however, might be much easier to give up. Especially since the DVR recording option can hold onto anything I might want to see. Is that cheating? I'm not sure. But 7 days away from the tube might be a good thing to try. I'll let you know how it goes.

What bloody magician is this?

In Washington, D.C. for spring break, we were astounded by an unforgettable performance of Macbeth at the Folger Theatre. This production is now officially over, so I can write about the magic without ruining anything for anybody. Co-directed Aaron Posner and Teller (the small silent half of Penn and Teller, stage magicians and hosts of the Showtime series, Bullshit), this Macbeth made full authentic use of Teller's craft as magician without ever giving the audience the sense of "oh this is all gimmick" without substance.

At the top of the show, the house manager appeared to read a statement on the use of special effects in this production. As she read from her paper, two actors casually approached from each side and once upon her, stabbed her through the back so that the sword came right through her paper, gushing spurts of blood and then -- blackout! Let the violence and bloodshed begin!

An enormous loud and physical battle ensued with thrilling stage combat lead us into the opening speech, "What bloody man is this...?" Upstage, a percussionist provided an underscore of "sound and fury" as needed. The setting was spare and prison-like. The costumes were evocative but not replicas of medieval thanes and Scottish soldiers, not quite so obviously adapted from modern clothing.

I can't count all the times I've seen Macbeth, I've directed a kid version and played First Witch back in college days. The acting and the directing in this production were revelatory. I heard lines and understood scenes in ways I had never considered. There were times that the words startled me so that I wanted to reach for the script to marvel at the interpretation I'd just witnessed.

And then there was Teller's magic. In press releases and interviews, he has discussed the legacy he received from his grandfather, a complete works of Shakespeare that immediately fascinated him, especially the play Macbeth. He has thought about this production for decades -- an admirable approach to creating a work of theatrical art! The magic emerged with the story and the words in ways I'm sure Shakespeare would have delighted in as would his audiences at the Globe.

The play is full of opportunities for mis-direction, levitation, and astonishing appearances. At one point, a witch is grabbed as she tries to exit, and is stabbed through the clothing. The clothing falls to the floor -- the body within vanished! The dagger Macbeth sees, levitates inside a mirror, twisting,turning and luring Macbeth on to his bloody deed. Banquo's apparition appears so convincingly and suddenly, we think we are wise to how it happened, but when he reappears again, we are completely fooled again.

Teller's blog gives details from behind the scenes, of rehearsals and the process. You can find it here. Evidently the composition of the blood was not easy to formulate. They wanted something that was not realistic yet startling in its redness. Certainly I have never seen a bloodier nightgown than in this version's sleep walking scene.

Merrill Peakes and Kate Eastwood Norris gave strong and believable not to mention earthy performances as Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. The witches were played by men, which was my only real quibble. There are so few women's roles in most Shakespeare plays I hate to see them cut out of the wonderfully weird three sisters parts. I'll give the the male actors their due -- they were riveting. They chose to chant the "double double toil and trouble" speeches in a very dynamic rapid rhythm which was very effective. An image of these witches is shown above, borrowed from the Folger's web page. If you love Shakespeare, the Folger Library is THE place for scholarly research not only in this country but around the world.

The Folger theatre is an intimate 250 seat space built to resemble an Elizabethan Inn courtyard where outdoor performances were played on platforms at one end of the courtyard, with balconies and surrounding ground space used for the audience. Richly timbered with oak, the Folger is an evocative yet adaptive playing field for Shakespeare, Sheridan and other classic playwrights. Next season it will feature two Shakespeare plays plus Tom Stoppard's Arcadia. If Macbeth is representative of what the Folger gives to its audiences, it would be well worth it to buy a season ticket and make plans to take some train rides down for the shows.

Ray Davies at the Beacon Theatre Part 2

(For Part 1, go here.) Finally got round to looking at the rather lame phone-captured pics from the NYC Ray Davies' concert. As you can almost see -- at the Beacon it was:

Ray Davies
Tonight Soldout

Nothing I took inside was any good. I didn't bring my digital camera because I thought security would be tight, but instead it was a do-what-you-like kind of night inside that theatre. Great pics can be found on Flikr and elsewhere. Another blogger (a professor of taxation!) was there and posts commentary and a pic.

I hear recordings are going the rounds already. Here's a link to a site that hosts the Philadelphia Tower Theatre show. Scroll down the left side to find the Ray Davies mp3 concert.

Number One Fan FranK attended the entire tour, handing out goodies to all members of the Kinks Preservation Society. I was glad to get another fresh bumper sticker, as the one on my vehicle has been there since the mid 90s -- and looks it! I'm saving the God Save Ray Davies sticker for whatever vehicle I might purchase next. Preferably some form of transportation that runs on something non-toxic and is made from sustainable materials like this.

Thinking back on the concert, I found myself responding to the music with deep reflection on matters personal, both past and present. Working Man's Cafe will always be linked in my mind to my dad. I wrote about it here and showed my dad. It made him very pleased, although he really didn't care for Ray's vocals. Couldn't catch all the words, and commented that the crooners of old -- you could always understand them. Ah well YouTube does nothing for one's diction. Months later, when dad was in the hospital for what would be his final day, the Morphine Song kept rolling round in my head as I sat staring at the diminishing vitals accompanied by the drip drip of the drug that must be so powerful it can rid one of all pain and fear at the end.

Ray's tribute to his dad was an especially poignant moment for me, and 20th Century Man is one of my all time favorite Kinks songs. Class divisions continue to wrap in and around the lyrics of his recent songs. I was glad to hear The Tourist and Vietnam Cowboys, both odes to the excesses of consumerism and globalization:

Mass production in Saigon
While auto workers laid off in Cleveland
Hot jacuzzi in Taiwan
With empty factories in Birmingham
Now it's baby boomers in Hong Kong
And cowboys in Vietnam
Making their movies ...

Catching up with the Village Reader

We're back from adventuring to the East Coast and somehow need to find a way back into regular blogging habits. After slogging through tons of email and attempting to get through the backlog of blog posts the Google Reader, I've got some highlights to share here:

Aphra Behn has a good long rant about "quacktitioners" proposing a theory that women choose alternative therapies to get that "me time" so lacking in visits to medical doctors.

Good4Girls is organizing donations of reusable cloth menstrual pads for girls in African countries. Perhaps you've seen the ads on TV promoting a certain commercial disposable menstrual product's charity donations to help keep young African girls in school. Great thought, but not exactly environmentally friendly. Good4Girls has the answer and many people are sewing hand-made re-usable pads to donate to the cause. They also have many links to sites that show you how to sew your own reusable pads. This site, for example.

Beth of Fake Plastic Fish has some tips on brewing coffee without involving anything plastic.

Metaefficient has pictures and news about the first ever installed tidal turbine that produces clean energy from beneath the sea.

Thanks to TalkLeft for leading us to this Washington Post story on Obama's major big money backers.

On the other hand, The Playgoer gives us a very good reason to support Obama -- the candidate's words on arts and education are quoted in this post.

Michael Shermer reviews Expelled in Scientific-American online.

And in today's ABJ, news that Countywide landfill has struck a deal with the EPA to cap and cover a portion of its smelly landfill. Environmental reporter Bob Downing reports:

The agency and Republic Services Inc., the Florida firm that owns the Countywide Recycling & Disposal Facility, announced a negotiated agreement to install the cap at the 258-acre landfill in Pike Township.

And I wonder what is the point of an EPA if it has to "negotiate" agreements for actions that affect public health? Downing points out that no clear timetable for installing the cap is included in the agreement.

One More Time with Ray Davies (at the Beacon Theatre in NYC)

On the way to the concert this evening, I took along the latest New Yorker to read on the train from NJ. One man's reflection on mortality and end