Venango authors

I try, maybe unsuccessfully, not to talk a whole lot about myself in this blog, but, in the interests of explaining why updates have been shoddy lately, I did want to make the happy annoucement here, that after a week's worth of contract wrangling, Contemporary Press will be publishing my newest novel. It's a noir set in late 1940s Pittsburgh. There will be a book release party (actually a couple, I'm psyched to say, it looks like one in NYC and one in Boston right now) , but the truly fun one will be Franklin , natch. Look for more details - it's as yet untilted (actually it had a title, which the publisher hated...) and it looks like the release date will be in the spring of 2006. Interested in other local Venango writers? Check out the bibliography that I made up and tell me if I'm missing anyone.
If you have a budding Venango author who's between 8 & 12, check out the "Why I Love My Pennsylvania State Park" essay contest. Although Presque Isle's the sucker's bet, I'd go for Clear Creek, if I were younger. Why? It's all about the yurts, baby.



Volunteers are still needed for the Cranberry Festival Art Show scheduled for the last Saturday in September (that's the 24th). There's also still time to enter if you're an artist. Entry forms are here. Volunteers should call Holly Jarzenski-Berlin at 814-677-2447 X 440. The show itself runs from September 22-24 at the Christian Life Building in Seneca.


Titusville's Celebration of Women in the Arts is this weekend.


This weekend is also the Big Butt Lumber Heritage Festival staged by the Brookville Kiwanis. Local band Big Jack Earl plays at 6 and 8 admidts chainsaw carving. Speaking of BJE, they're also playing at Slippery Rock's North Country Brewing Company on Monday, September 19, from 7-10 pm.

In Titusville, another funky antiques store bites the dust. The building itself has an interesting history...
Pittsburgh is looking to spruce up the area, tonight, County Council will consider a bill that would create a five-member arts board and set aside money from public works projects for art.
Where won't slots be? Pittsburgh's Strip District, thank God.

I'll admit a certain fondness for the soon to be defunct Foxburg bridge....
Talking about bridges, don't forget about the big mussel move...

The Franklin Farmer's Market was bigger than it has been recently - they also have "Buy Local" stickers for free. Even though I'm still grumpy about the bad representation on the PA website, head on down to the market and grab some of the stickers, and then start following the good advice, buy local produce, local beer, local music. It's good stuff.
Afterwards, headed down to the "Rock In River Festival" this afternoon. It was drizzly, and although I had been scouring and collecting fine skipping stones from the shores of Lake Erie (along with a rugby ball I found last week at Presque Isle, but that's another story), I was cold and wet and decided the heck with it and headed home. Not even a decent photo.

One of Northwest PA's finest bands overall,and certainly the best in their genre, Big Jack Earl is hard at work on a new album which is welcome news. In the meantime you can check out "Awkward and Lonely" here, and make plans to se them at the Big Butt Lumber Heritage Festival on Saturday, September 3rd, 2005 at 6 and 8 pm at the Jefferson County Fair Grounds at Hazen PA. As the writes, "This is an all day event for the Brookville Kiwanis Club. We're talking professional lumberjack shows AND Big Jack Earl. What could be better? "
Tomorrow, Sunday, is the last day of the Forest County Annual Countryside Tour, a free Drive-it Yourself Tour of an artist studio, farms, a blacksmith, a woodturning shop, crafter/painter, a quilter, aquatic displays and some history of Forest County. Each stop is marked with a WELCOME flag and there are arrows to lead your way. You can download a, sigh, crudely made map here. It's got llamas, so if the weather's nice, I might drive up and see about getting me a llama fur union suit for the winter.


How much do those big names at the Crawford County Fair cost? According to the Meadville Tribune:
Toby Keith-$421,328.
Scotty Emerick - $1,500.
Rascal Flatts - $215,922
Blake Shelton - $15,000.
Clay Aiken - $110,600.
Those figures don’t include any revenues for souvenirs sold, such as T-shirts, and as Krusty The Clown once said, T-shirt sales are the sweetest plum ...

Tomorrow is also the last day of the National Carousel Association at Kennywood, near Pittsburgh.





Too much time and money? Why not build a replicate colonial smokehouse like this yinzer, I mean Pittsburgh area businessman.
Speaking of yinzer, Pittsburgh's fine literary magazine the New Yinzer has some new work up...

A NWPA film industry?

The "I ruv you" dog is from Pittsburgh?! Who knew?
Another movie is being filmed in the 'Burgh. The production's blog is here. Does Erie have a film commission, or, better yet, why not a regional comission, stretching from I-80 north to the lake? It certainly seems like we're getting the short shrift from the PA Film Office . Along the same lines, the Great Lakes Film Festival schedule is announced. Their Run and Gun film project auditions are tomorrow. And you can volunteer to help at the festival here.

Beauty Queens

Wow! Who knew it was beauty queen season?
"Shauna Rice is 2005 Miss Canadohta Lake. Shauna, the daughter of Denis and Sharon Rice of Union City, will be a freshman at Edinboro University. She has been involved with dancing for 13 years and has taught dancing; tap, ballet, gymnastic, modern, pointe and hip-hop for four years. She also enjoys kayaking and swimming. Shauna's future plans are to enter the field of elementary education."

Meanwhile, Elsie Douglas recollects fondly her crowning as the very first Miss Crawford County 50 years ago.
But wait! There is apparently a dark side. This former Little Miss Cochranton competitor has bucketloads of bile for the whole process and she (as she is quick to point out) has an IQ of 140!

I promised myself I wouldn't slide into snideness with this- I've had plenty of students who are attending school with the help of pageante scholarshiphip money. Are these pagents art? Probably not (although I think a strong arguement could be made because of the makeup and costumes) but is it culture? Absolutley! That's why it's here (this is an arts and culture blog, you know...)
In all seriousness, the fact that people are so fired up about it does say a lot about the region, about what sort of feminity is valued and how some talented and intelligent women who don't fit into our cultural norm feel that they have to leave the area to be valued, leading to a brain drain and a very thin creative class.
Solutions? None, because there isn't a lot of communication between camps.

As solace, check out Pedro the Lion's Beauty Queen song: When They Really Know You, They Will Run From You

Slots for Tots

The Post Gazette reports that there's no money for Arts Education in many public schools AND that the slots lobby is progressing and we'll have gambling soon. Why not combine the two - gambling machines in all the bars with proceeds going to arts in the schools - Slots for Tots anyone?
The NYTimes runs a piece about how the movie industry started in NYC and ended up in LA, leaving out our hometown boys the Warner Brothers who first set up shop in New Castle. Stupid flyover people.

Once more to the Breech

I'm almost recovered from The Tempest. Last Saturday was the craziest performance I've ever been involved with. When the rain started, I asked the sound guy and the Venango Video people if they were worried about their equiptment - they said they were fine, so we went with it. It started in sprinkles and ended in a downpour. The cast was game and the stage manager, Paige, saved the day trying to guide the actors to the drier spots backstage.

For some reason I'm doing it all over. The read through for Dublin Carol is tonight. Show dates September 15 &16th at 8 pm in the Little Theatre. Someday I'll remember that it's OK to say "No". It's a great cast though, so that will make it a little easier, although it's a pretty depressing story...

Today is also the first day of class - it's so funny to see the freshmen scurrying across campus - a good number of them wearing brand new clothes. I just want to hug them and say "Your mom took you back to school shopping didn't she"? The girls are less trashy this year - two years ago the campus looked like a stripper convention - and My God they all look so young...
We have more developmental students than ever this year- and what makes that more depressing is that the majority of our students come from local schools.

Let me say right up front that I'm not a Clay Aiken fan. But despite that, and the fact that people involved with the fair who I talked to said sales were really disappointing fot he Aiken concert, the Meadville trib sure make it sound like it was a good time...

Now indie films are jumping on the blog bandwagon...

Rotten tomatoes for the Farmers' Market

My house and yard are a mess, I have mounds of paperwork to catch up on, another play looms on the horizon, and I don't even have my syllabi copied for Monday. And who suffers? The poor blog. Sorry little guy; I swear I'll lavish more attention on you soon...

If you're like me (and God help you if you are) you're obsessed by buying local. So I was pleased to see the Erie Times News piece on buying local produce. I was less pleased howver when I went to the State's list of local markets for Venango County. Here's Franklin's Farmers' Market listing:


"Farmers Market

Franklin Curb Market
Robin Montgomery
Business Mailing Address:
12th and Liberty Streets
Franklin, PA 16323

Market Location:
(show map)
Franklin, PA 16323
(814) 432-4068
david@pasafarming.org


Our Season begins on and closes on or about

During our operating season, we are open during these hours:

Wed 6:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Sat 6:00 AM - 1:00 PM
On average there are 0 vendors at our market. "

Could it be any more half-assed? The grammatical error in "farmers"...An average of 0 vendors? What does that even mean? No information on when the season begins or ends? In addition, the map link is broken. Good job guys, nice publicity. It would have taken maybe 10 minutes to fill the form out correctly.

In brighter news...Edinboro art prof Franz Spohn's gumball murals

will be featured on the Food Channel at 6 pm on the 21st. In addition, the footage was shot by a EUP student.

New Bethlehem's “Art in the Park” festival is looking for visual artists for the September 11th event. Categories include: oil painting, water colors, acrylics, sculpture, crafts, color photography, black and white photography, drawing, textiles, and mixed media. Both amateur and professional levels will be judged, and cash prizes and ribbons awarded. Pre-registration for artists older than 12 years of age are being accepted at $2 per item. On the day of the festival, registration will be $4 per item. For an entry form, call the library at 275-2870. And of course, mention our names.
AUDITIONS:
Titusville Winter Theater is holding auditions for Neil Simon's “Barefoot in the Park.” The cast calls for a newlywed couple, an eccentric upstairs neighbor (male), a hypochondriac mother-in-law, a telephone repair man and a delivery man (both male roles). Auditions will be held Sept. 11 and 12 from 7 to 9 p.m. in the President’s Conference Room McKinely Hall at UPT. Show dates are Nov. 10, 11, 12. It's a funny little show. (That's funny ha-ha). My wife was Corey in the Franklin version and had a great time.

Thunder Valley Stables is looking for fiddlers to perform this fall. Call 814-476-1632.

Want to be in movies? The Great Lakes Film Associaiton has an open call next Thursday for it's 2005 Run and Gun Project. Bring head shots, resume, and media with you - non-union and, of course, non -paid. Because artists can photosynthesize.


Most amusing public notice of the week:
"CLARION RIVER RUNNIN’ PARROTHEADS MEETING: 7 p.m. Cozumel Restaurant, located in the Days Inn, Clarion. Dedicated people who enjoy the music of Jimmy Buffett and love doing volunteer and community service are welcome to attend." Isn't a parrtohead doing a community service usually court ordered?

Movie theatres

Apropos of our conversation yesterday about the new Crawford County theatre, today the NY Times sings the praises of the megaplex.

I'm really kind of bummed that an ungodly huge theatre is coming to Crawford County, but then again, I still mourn the small, but beautiful Drake Theatre in Oil City...You can see the filmopolis' web site here...
A New Castle company is shooting Hunter S Thompson's ashes into the night sky....
Titusville residents are looking for more info on a painting. Strangely, the Titusville Herald did not post a picture of it...
Crawford County Fair tickets seem to be selling slowly. Clay Aiken's time seems to have come and gone...
While I realize that I'm a little late to the party on this one, I'm still intrigued by what is, as far as I know, the area's only low power radio station...
Although it's neither arts nor culture, if you're mad about the legislature's pay raise, this might interest you...

"If you want to know how to live, go to church,. . . If you want to know how your life is in its deepest roots, go to the theater."

Big Weekend - Your planner!

This is one of the last weekend of summer for a lot of us. So here's the plan:
Friday night:
Head out to see the free performace of Shakespeare in the Park's final performance ever.

The show is The Tempest and it begins around 7 pm - pack a picnic - I'm partial to baba ganoush and San Pellegrino, but I'm a fancy pants. You may be happier with O'Douls and pickle loaf. Or split the difference and eat somewhere else and stop at the Summer House Coffee shop on Liberty and get some of their gelato, or a cocoa-mocho-loco supreme, or whatever it is the kids are drinking these days. It's your call. Either way bring a blanket or a chair.
Then Saturday, head up to Titusville to the Titusville Council on the Arts Juried Art Exhibit from 10 am to 4 pm at the Main Street School in Titusille. Call (814) 827-2381 for details. After filling up on art, head over to the Four Son's Brewing for the Drakes Follie (sic) Brew Fest - sameple handcrafted beers from area brewpups whiel being serenade by the sweet Americana sounds of Big Jack Earl. Tickets are $20 and sessions are from 12-3 and 4:30-7:30..

Finally, on Sunday, relax and the smell the flowers. No, literally. It's the Orchid Society of Northwestern Pennsylvania annual auction at 3 pm at the Erie Zoo (814) 455-6069 x 218) Orchids are by far the creepiest flowers around, so even the kids will like this one and their joy will help erase the guilt you feel about supporting the keeping of wild animals in cages...
In other news:
It seems that the 70s retro craze has hit local law enforcement as well, as they take a hint from Shaggy and the rest of the Scooby gang...
Francis Fod Coppola is still flogging his film version of On the Road.
Remember that spaz from elementary school? Here's what happened to him. He's famous - you're not. Kind of ironic in a way...I guess...

Harry Potter aside...

The NYT has declared fiction dead - at least in terms of helping Americans relate and cope with their lives...

As schools continue to cut back on arts funding, I'm hoping we continue to see an increase in programs like this, faith-based and otherwise...
Bizarre headline of the day award goes to The Oil City Derrick:
"List of properties on Venango County tax sale hits all-time high: Oil City boasts the greatest number of delinquent properties at 183."
Boasts? Did I miss something?
Titsville's Oil Week festivities (not to be confused with Oil City's Oil Heritage Festival...Sheesh...) continues...

Ariel, disguised as a harpy, threatens vengeance

Ariel (Amy Dittman) disguised as a harpy threatens vengeance
Originally uploaded by Dittman.

So tech week continues, dress tomorrow and almost done. Make sure you check out the rest of the photos on Flickr.

It's a big weekend this weekend, not just because of The Tempest - I'm chomping at the bit to reveal my weekend arts and culture picks for this weekend and have decided to do so a day early, tomorrow, because you're going to need the extra time to rest up and prepare yourself.

In other news

The blog Erie's Argonaut has some beautiful photos of the Erie cemetery, reminding me that I keep meaning to take that tour, but never remember far enough ahead to do so.

Mural Update, regional arts grants, and trouble in Y-town

Today as we re-blocked a fight scene in Tempest, we were stopped when a sheriff's deputy pulled up and motioned me over - he was fooled apparently, but the swords and bottles of clear fluid. We had a good laugh and he admitted he was just about ready to call it in, when he saw that no one was getting upset or shouting. Ah the magic of theatre and the unwilling suspension of disbelief.
The Sunday Vindicator had a great article about the (mis) fortunes of their playhouse with the moral that in hard times, it takes a dictator of an arts director to make sure the plays open on time. I'd link to it, but the web site is a disaster area.
Congrats to some of the Pennsylvania Council on Arts Grant Award Winners whose names are slowly tickling out:
Grove City's Bach Society - $850
Greenville Symphony Society - $792
Greenville's Valley Lyric Opera - $997
Now let's spend some of that money updating the websites okay?
Ed Ramage's mural work continues apace:

Drop by my flickr photostream for more shots.

More public art and a missed open mic

Friday, in Franklin, I headed over to 14th st between Liberty and Buffalo across from the Quality Inn parking lot to get some photos of a mural that I'm especially fond of. It's been there since before my time (one section is dated 1960), but since the house sharing the property has been sold and is in the process of being repaitned, I began to worry that the shed would either be destroyed or painted over.
The I headed downtown for more shots of Ed Ramage's new mural, but my batteries were already dead. Damn you Samsung!


On Saturday I had big day planned. Tempest rehearsal in the mroning, foloowed by Dublin Carol audtions, then a run to Erie to AC Moore and Borders for an issue of Make magazine for mask supplies, then back to Franklin to thw Dot Com Cafe where my friend Nancy's son Ben was playing in a open mic.
Sadly, on behst of my daughter we ate at Max and Erma's instead of Pho or Papermoon and the chicken sandwhich what I ate ravaged my body. I stayed home in bed instead and enjoyed the chills.
Taste of Franklin is today, and even though the idea of food is repulsive to me, I'll probably run by to snap a few photos.
I haven't headed down to Shop N Save to pick up my Sunday Times, yet (heck I haven't even put on pants yet!), but Kristoff's article about MaxWiFi in rural areas caught my eye as I've been telling anyone who would listen that this is what Venango County should be doing.
And speaking of big projects, why can't we find a sugar daddy to put one of these in Erie. I'm thinking the Transmodal Hub building.

Taste of Franklin, Dublin Carol Auditions, and a new mural for downtown

The News Herald beat me and my camera to a picture of the new mural going up in the downtown in the alley beside Feldman's Jewelers on Liberty (route 322) between W. Park and 12th Streets.

The artist, Ed Ramage, also does scenery and acting for the local Barrow Civic Theatre and is embarrassingly good at all of it.



Dublin Carol auditions are Friday, August 5, 2005 from 6-7pm and on Saturday , August 6, 2005 from 1-2pm. The auditions will be held in the Little Theatre (1223 Liberty St). People auditioning are asked to enter through the side alley door. Performance dates are September 15 and 16 at 8:00pm in the Little Theatre. It's a depressing little play, but wonderfully written. Oh, and I'm directing. I'd love to get some new people involved. You can read a review of a professional performance here.
Finally it's Taste of Franklin on Sunday in Franklin's Fountain Park from 11 am - 4 pm


There'll be all the usual - overpriced snacks, a motorcycle cruise-in, and local 70's jazz band performing in Bandstand Park from 11 am - 2 pm. To me, Franklin tastes like something you'd find in the candy bowl of a maiden aunt - old ribbon candy that clung together in one big clump, and after licking off the Victorian powdered sugar, slightly mildewed and bitter. But, hey, that's just me!

And remember, trees cause pollution...

Revelation of the day is found in this morning's Franklin News Herald - the oversized powerboats racing this weekend at the wildly mismanaged Two Mile Run (ahem) County Park, lacking noise control and leaking petrochem are good for fish. Thanks for the ecology lesson!
In another, more reality based world, the Oil City Derrick reports on an effort to put hsitoric photograph banners in the downtown area including one featuring the oft forgotten "Kathryn Kuhlman, 'one of the most influential and controversial female evangelists of the 20th century.' " See some photos from her Venango days (and others) here.
Finally, the NYT reviews another performance of an outdoor Tempest here.

Pandas in Titusville and Blog Depression

Caught Big Jack Earl at the Summer House Coffee shop last week. Great as usual with a new website. Check out their songs So Long and Finnegan's Wake They're appearing at the Drake's Follie (sic) Festival at Titusville's Four Sons Brewing on August 13th, but how do you choose between that and The Tempest?
Speaking of Titusville, as I was reading the NYT this weekend (side note: I go into Shop N Save to by the NYT - every week for the past month it's been the same. The cashier can't believe it's $5. Last week:
"$5? Is that right?"
"Yep," I say .
"Are there lots of coupons?"
"Nope, none."
"Why buy it then?"
"I like to read. It's thick, and I used to the live in Manhattan, so it's nice to find out what's going on..."
"When I get home, I'm going to tell my wife that I met a guy who pays $5 for a newspaper with no coupons."
You do that.)
and in the Book Review, in a review of The Lady and the Panda
the review casually questions, "Just how did a restless girl from Titusville, Pa., (emphasis mine) become a clotheshorse and adventuress?" A damn fine question say I! The truth undoubtedly falls into the "If it ain't oil related it don't exist" mindset of the local tourism people. Which is too darn bad, because I don't see a whole lot of petroleum based tourists wandering our streets...
I'll try to find a copy of the book and post a review. Unless of course you want to buy it for me, or anything else on my wish list ;)
Culture and entertainment posts on deck for tomorrow. In the meantime, you may want to check out this pamphlet on Blog Depression - The Blog you save may be your own...