The Derrick covers the purchase and proposed revamping of Oil City's old Latonia Theater building at the corner of East First Street and Central Avenue. The new owners envision an upscale ballroom (is there such a thing as a low-rent ballroom?) and performance area. I'm glad to see something being done with it - the last time I was there as about two years ago and it was absolutely filthy and vermin infested.

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The Erie Times News is sponsoring the Erie Music awards.

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The Downtown Edinboro Art & Music Festival(May 17-19) has announced their lineup.
Performers include Big Leg Emma , Tiger Maple String Band, the Black Mountain Bluegrass Boys, Gypsy Dave and the Stump Jumpers, Slab Town Boys, and The Woodticks. The event also features free workshops and an art show. Check the website for a complete lineup and schedule.

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If you don't have the good sense and self-assurance to make your mother a card for Mom's Day, then at least by a unique card made by a real, live artists.

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The NYTimes profiles Symphony Space -- a performance space open from rental that hosts everything from NPR shows, to Bloomsday readings, to chamber orchestras.

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Deadstring Brothers will be at the Club Cafe this Friday at 10:30 pm $12. Download their song "Sacred Heart".

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As cool as the NYTimes's literary map of NYC is, I think the Pitt Post Gazette's map of August Wilson's Pittsburgh is even better.

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The Post Gazette also profiles the Kean theatre run by the St Barnabas charities and its upcoming season includes one of my wife's favorites, Wait Until Dark.

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Avenue Q, The Drowsy Chaperone, and sigh, The Wedding Singer are coming to Pittsburgh.

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Digital Rodeo is a native Pittsburgh country music fan's answer to MySpace (had that question even been asked?).

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After 47th season, the oldest real barn theatre in the region, Red Barn in Hampton, has to close.

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The fantastic (and bio deisel powered...their bus, I mean) band Rising Applachia is looking for a third member:
we would prefer a HAND percussionist ( tablas, djembe, dumbek, jugs, washboards, etc) but are equally as mezmorized by stand up bass and cello.
we like working with musicians who have some experience with being on the road. the obvious: a badass. This meaning a open minded music lover and creator who will take on this project like it was their own.
we can offer the following:
~ tours in both the United States and Europe (although mainly in Europe) that would make Hemingway jealous
~ an open minded and fresh approach to the music industry
~ of course, financial compensation

Download their song "Scale Down".

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Threadless has reprinted the "Haikus are easy..." shirt and it's now available as a hoody. Nice.

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Thumbsucker wraps up the outstanding Venango Campus indie film series. It's free at 7:30pm in Rhoades Auditorium.

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Venangoland has been updated with a look at contemporary country.

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Like the Tragically Hip? No, me either. But they are coming to Erie, and you can download a recent live show from NPR.

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The Great Lakes Film Association is looking for poets.
***Must be 21+ to join ***Must be own original work ***No Auditions but I would like to see what you have to get a collective feel for the work and where it goes in the show. ***Established, Published or Nuveau-all are welcome ***Past work or Present is welcome. You dont have to think of something new for the show you can use your past work if you feel it appropriate. POETS/LYRICISTS: 814-825-2740 AND LEAVE NAME/NUMBER/CONVENIENT TIME TO CALL BACK

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If you don't have the good sense and self-assurance to make your mother a card for Mom's Day, then at least by a unique card made by a real, live artists.

Thanks to fourth grader Casey Hall 450 people showed up to see RL Stine at SRU. To put it into perspective, yesterday, 250 people showed up at Sen McCain's rally to announce his presidential candacy. Now, can we get the kid to come back to the area when she grows up and book shows?

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Looks like a roadtrip kind of weekend. First and most important is Friday's Jerome Wincek show at Erie's Avalon Hotel (16 w. 10th st., Erie, Pennsylvania). The hardest working man in show business is playing from 9-1 .

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The Meadville Market House is hosting Emil & the Palookas on Friday, April 27th 8:00PM - 11:00PM, $4.00 cover (or "donation"as they put it, which I guess means I can write it off.) On Saturday in the Market House, it's the Blue Planet Cafe with Gaffer, Sally Wilcox, and Title Me Wrong playing from 7:00PM to 10:00PM. Another $4.00.

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While I'm a die-hard Seawolves fan (all right, I really just like drinking Railbender Ale in the stands on sunny days.) it was great to hear that SRU will host two professional sports teams this summer. The New Castle Thunder of the North American Football League, a minor league football organization, will play its home games at Bob DiSpirito Field at N. Kerr Thompson Stadium. The Thunder will hold practice sessions at Thompson Stadium, and out of its 10-game schedule will play five regular-season home games. Home games are scheduled for June 16 and 30, July 14 and 28, and Aug. 4.

Earlier, I wrote about the Slippery Rock Sliders, one of the newest teams in the independent Frontier Baseball League, calling SRU home for the upcoming season. The Sliders' home opener is set for May 29.

I'm kind of surprised that a place like Oil City hasn't tried to score a farm team.

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The line up for the Firefly Music Festival has been announced.
The Jul 27, 2007 festival on The Arthur Farm (28555 White hill RD. Cambridge Spring, PA 16403) features:
The Recipe, Big Leg Emma, Grassfire, The Yankee Zydeco Company, Sage, Gypsy Dave and the Stump Jumpers, Jay Hitt, Salmon Frank, The Sofa King Cool Band, Milo Page, Jim Froman's Hot Rhythm Club Band, The Great American Gypsies, Peppertown, Gaffer, Little Country Giants, Claire Stuczynski and Dan Wilcox.
That's a whole lot of hippie love, people. More acts will be announced.

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Seneca's Brother Bean has announced their upcoming Saturday acoustic shows. Shows start at 7 pm and are cover free:

4-28-07 Jesse Lavery
5-5-07 Psalters
5-12-07 Big Tone
5-19-07 Bruce and Sean
5-26-07 Donna Donahue
6-2-07 Newman
6-9-07 Jime Teifer
6-16-07 Jon Felton and his Soulmobile
6-23-07 Bruce Squared
6-30-07 Ryan Waterman
7-7-07 Dennis McCurdy and the Lonesome No More Band.

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The Monongahela Review is seeking submissions of poetry, prose (fiction or nonfiction), and photography/art. It's a .pdf publication which I think is a stunningly good idea for a small press lit mag.

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I wish I was headed to the 2007 Symposium on Lensless, Alternative and Adaptive Photographic Processes a four-day, Pittsburgh wide series of talks, workshops and exhibits on lensless, historic and adaptive DIY photography conference. It started today and is sponsored by f295.

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The six-day Russian Film Symposium, co-presented by the University of Pittsburgh and Pittsburgh Filmmakers, begins Mon., April 30, and offers a dozen films, to be shown on the Oakland campus and at the Melwood Screening Room, in North Oakland.

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The Three Rivers Arts Festival, taking place June 1-17, recently announced its music schedule. --Cowboy Junkies, Robert Randolph and Los Lonely Boys.

The local main-stage night will feature local psychedelic heroes Black Moth Super Rainbow and indie rockers Race the Ghost on June 4.

The Market Square stage, meanwhile, hosts the Circuits of Steel experimental/electronic showcase June 8, featuring Grand Buffet, Rein[Forced], Discuss and Xanopticon. Arts collective Unicorn Mountain's Storybook Wonderland is there on June 9, and new TRAF partner FLUX, the multi-disciplinary arts party that recently re-debuted in Braddock, will be held on June 16.

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My daughter and I were torn about going to the Pittsburgh Comicon. In the end, we decided that we would be more annoyed than amused and nixed it. But if your tolerance is higher than ours, head to the ExpoMart, Monroeville.When: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday

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Michelle's Cafe's The Barbaric Yawp Performance Series ends Thursday with Philip Terman (poet phenomenon) and Herb Luthin (musical wonder) bringing the house down. Show runs from 6-8. No cover.

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Unless somebody comes forward with a gift of approximately $300,000, Conneaut Lake Park will not open this year.

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Don't forget to vote in The Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council's first People's Choice Award.

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Amazon has opened a Go Indie!store with $9.99 CDs, but wehat's really cool is that Smithsonian Folkways is one of the "indie" labels included.

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Venangoland has been updated with an Earth Day post.

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The Post Gazette profiles the Titusville area blue heron rookery that will be open to the public for the first time during the first Oil Region Birding Festival May 10-12.

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The New York Times reviews Mercer native Trent Reznor's new album. BTW, the dude is huge now! I'd love to see a battle royale between him and Glen Danzig.

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Want a movie of a real live PA oil gusher? No, me either, but there's one on eBay nonetheless.

My campaign to get the Venango region listed in American Styles Top 25 small cities art destinations didn't pan out - there's always next year. However, Pittsburgh was ranked the #1 mid-size city.

Tomrrow, at 2:00 PM, The Mills Novelty Company will be profiled in a lecture at Franklin's DeBence Antique Music World.

To clarify an earlier post, Gypsy Dave is playing from 11 am-2 pm in Titusville's Burgess Park today.

Ryan Waterman plays at Seneca's Brother Bean tonight from 7-9, no cover.

The Pittsburgh Post Gazette profiles Pittsburgh bands with upcoming CD releases.

WYEP-FM (91.3) has a new morning host: Cindy Howes will join the station April 30.

The Erie Anime Experience will be held September 29 at the Erie Bayfront Convention Center.

Assuming that I'll be able to change out of my jammies and take a shower (still sick). I'll be at Wanango Country Club for the Pawcasso fundrasier. I'll be the short dark, good looking guy. Make sure you tell me how much you love venangago-go.

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Don't forget The Crossing is at Brother Bean tonight.
Here's an old, wildly low quality clip:

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The most recent Allegheny Museumarium newsletter is now available online as a pdf.

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Oil City's downtown arts revitalization committee and leaders will host a business and action planning session from 1 to 4 p.m. Monday in the National Transit Building's Great Room.
Those interested in attending or in obtaining more information may contact Wheeler at 676-5303.

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A Natural Heritage Inventory advisory council meeting will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the courthouse annex in Franklin. It's open to the public. Big of them.

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My daughter is turning 16 in the fall and what does she want? A 1980s Mercedes to convert to biofuel (if you have one for sale BTW, drop me a line). So, it may be that we'll be heading to Pittsburgh soon.
Fossil Free Fuel is setting up shop in Braddock to help people convert their vehicles to run on biofuel. . . on May 1.
Later that month, the shop will be home to a series of workshops on biofuel open to only a specific type of customer: women.
So, starting in May, she's running a series of women-only workshops about biofuel: one on basic maintenance and repair, one on converting a vehicle to run on vegetable oil, and one on biodiesel processing and safety. Biodiesel is a little different from biofuel: It's chemically derived from vegetable oil, as opposed to straight vegetable oil or SVO, which relies on the engine's heat to make the SVO viscous enough to use as fuel.

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The Regional Dance America's 2007 National Festival is in Pittsburgh starting on April 24, 2,000 students will be there.

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Articulate: Pittsburgh Creative Network wants to be MySpace for the visual arts.
Aside from MySpace, inspirations for Articulate included Philadelphia's Inliquid.com and Texas' Glasstire.com. In Pittsburgh, Grainbag.com, created by artist Michael Leahy, exhibited and sold international art until 2006. Articulate differs from Grainbag in its focus on community-building.

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Great. Someone else for me to be jealous of. Christopher Bakken, associate professor of English at Allegheny College has won the Helen C. Smith Prize for the best book of poetry in 2006 for Goat Funeral.

"Duet with Salvatore Quasimodo"

When I die I’ll meet you at Mycenae
where stones mark out an alphabet of spoils,
leaving only a few square facts unquarried.

You’ll remember the place by its painting:
a splash of Sicilian green, cypresses,
and a pointillism of widow’s heads.

The murmurs of every Medieval square
give in to dusk; iron church bells
brim with the ether you leave in your wake.

Take down your lyre from the willow now,
it has sheltered long enough, like a flea
in the sultan’s beard, your island music

with its ancestry in the sea itself,
seasoned with a cloud-burst from Malta,
cannon dust, and bruised acacia blossoms.

Show me how to call beyond vacancy,
since we cannot out sing the megaphones;
when we become famished by their prattle

sustenance will be waiting for us there,
concealed by shadows in a beehive tomb
where the dead mount their chariots for war.

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Three local organists — Rebecca Borthwick-Aiken, Kevin Dill and James Ross – will present a concert at 3 p.m. on Sunday, April 22 in Ford Chapel at Allegheny College. The concert is free and open to the public.

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Chicago Celtic band The Crossing plays at Seneca's Brother Bean tomorrow (Thursday night) from 7pm -9pm. No cover.

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The Gypsy Dave plays for free this weekend on the 21 at the Titusville Earth Day Festival in Titusville's Burgess Park.

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The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette profiles the region's vernacular "2 up 2 down architecture"

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What won't you find at the London Book Fair? Authors...or...books...

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MP3 site Some Velvet Blog dishes put the love for Pittsburgh's Black Moth Super Rainbow.

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What's worse than having bronchitis that leaves you sleeping 22 out of 24 hours? Having during a time when really cool stuff is going on. Bedridden for the last three days, I missed show after show oh, and work too....

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RL Stine is coming SRU

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The Pulitzer Prize for poetry has been awarded to Native Guard by Natasha Trethewey.
Also nominated as finalists in this category were: The Republic of Poetry by Martin Espada (W.W. Norton), and Interrogation Palace: New and Selected Poems 1982-2004 by David Wojahn (University of Pittsburgh Press).
A special citation was issued to Ray Bradburyfor his "distinguished, prolific and deeply influential career as an unmatched author of science fiction and fantasy."

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School officials in Newton will review John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men. Troy Mapes, a high school junior, says the book's profanity and the way Jesus' name is used makes him uncomfortable.

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Organizers of a new event on Sept. 21-23 , the Laurel Highlands Film Festival, are looking for submissions of documentaries, features, comic and regular shorts and animated films of any length.
The competition is open to filmmakers of all ages and experience levels, with high school and college students particularly encouraged to submit their work. Final deadline is July 15, but entries are being accepted now, with reduced fees.

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The Pittsburgh Lesbian & Gay Film Society will present a "Buffy the Vampire Slayer Sing-along" at 9:30 p.m. Friday at the SouthSide Works Cinema. Tickets, $8 for general admission or $5 for those 25 and younger, will be sold at the door.
Prizes, including for best costume, will be awarded.

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One of my publishers, Greenwood, is offering free access to some of their electronic resources in celebration of National Library Week. You did know it was National Library Week, right?

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One of my favorite poetry writers, Elizabeth Lund, interviews Donald Hall for the Christian Science Monitor.

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The News Herald covers the opening of the new Movies at Cranberry:
Plans for the theater also include the construction of self-projection rooms that can be rented out by small groups
Creepy old guys in raincoats, rejoice! Oh and all you local fimmakers too...Still no word on if they'll apply for a liquor license like the Meadville location.

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Lynyrd Skynyrd is coming to the Crawford County Fair on August 22. What's so funny about the article are the quotes the writer chose to include:
I’m not a per se Lynyrd Skynyrd fan, but I like some of their music. I expect I will go to the concert.. . .Wow said one person upon learning the name announced...'Some of the original members of the band are still there
Careful there with that enthusiasm son!

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I had my eye on this Brady carte de viste from Venango resident General Alexander Hays, but alas, this morning it officially went out of my budget...

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Klezmer! The Klingons, a klezmer band from Philadelphia, plays at 8 p.m. in Clarion University's Hart Chapel. It's free and open to the public. (My two favorite words associated with the arts). The next day, at 11 am, the band will lecture on “Teaching Diversity by Using Music,” in the Marwick-Boyd Lecture Hall. You could buy their CD here, if it were instock, instead you can stream it. (Also, while Clarion refers to them as "The Kingons", they seems to refer to themselves as "Klingon Klezmer". Either way, I can't even imagine how many cease and desist letters the Star Trek people must send them.

Is it ironic that yesterday, when the front page of the News Herald trumpeted the tearing up of old sidewalks to provide a smoother surface for bike riding (a terrible idea BTW, bikes belong on the street) I picked up a circa 1900 book about Franklin from the public library which boasted 'Franklin is widely known for having the finest stone sidewalks in the state". Apparently only some things are worth preserving.

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Anywho...

The Movies At Cranberry is opening this weekend. No word on their website though...

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Among the three students from Franklin High School selected to participate in the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association All-State Music Festival April 18-21 in Hershey is percussionist Theo Dixon who is also a fine young actor. Congrats to all three gentlemen.

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Venango Campus screens Free Zone this Saturday as part of their indie film series. The film is in Rohades Auditorium and is free and open to the public:
Two women embark on a road trip after they are brought together by circumstance. Rebecca (Natalie Portman) flees her hotel after a fight with her mother-in-law (Carmen Maura) and hails a taxi driven by Hanna (Hana Lazlo). Rebecca, a young American lady who has been living in Jerusalem for a while, suddenly breaks off her engagement with Julio, her Israeli fiancé. In a state of emotional shock she gets into a taxi and asks the driver to take her anywhere she likes but away from the place where she broke up. Although reluctant, Hanna, the driver lets her accompany her to Jordan's Free Zone where she is to meet "The American", her husband Moshe's Palestinian business partner. Once there, they realize "The American" is not there but a Palestinian woman named Leila offers them, after much bickering with Hanna, to take them to the oasis where "The American" lives...

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Pittsburgh's oldest gay bar is closing:
After Pittsburgh gained its gay-rights ordinance in 1989, Honse says, I remember a man saying to us in Philadelphia that if you fight for the right for gay people to go anywhere, they will, and there will be no need for gay bars.

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Pittsburgh's City Paper asks, "Why do we insist on topicalising Shakespeare?"

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The Baltimore City Paper interviews Miriam DesHarnais a librarian at the Cockeysville branch of the Baltimore County Public Library, the only public library in Maryland, and one of about 10 in the country, to include zines as part of their collections.

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The New York Inquirer says, no more literary readings, and I'm starting to agree.

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You probably already heard that Kurt Vonnegut died. You can download an MP3 of an excerpt from Slaughterhouse Five,wherein Vonnegut's protagonist Billy Pilgrim encounters a flying saucer and its inhabitants here.

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Some more free and legal downloads? Why yes, I do have some for you. Thanks for asking:

Robert Glasper's "One for 'Grew" from his new Blue Note album, In My Element. In My Element is free on iTunes. Glasper's piano work is already well known. On In My Element, he brings in elements of Jazz and Hip Hop as well.

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All right, so everyone already knows Elliott Smith and has these two songs, but sometimes it's nice to listen to familiar music. In this case, it's like sitting down with an old friend. An old, addicted, suicidal friend who wants you to cash his check for him. OK, maybe that doesn't sound like fun after all.
Download "Between The Bars" (mp3)
Download "Needle In The Hay" (mp3)

from "Either/Or"
by Elliott Smith
Kill Rock Stars

• Buy at iTunes Music Store
• Buy at Kill Rock Stars Store

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Did someone say Freak Folk? Oh. No? I could have sworn... Well, anyhow. Former front man for Gris Gris, Greg Ashley's solo work has a heavy Roky Erickson influence and is perfect for cold rainy Western PA cabin fever freakouts.

Download "Fisher King" (mp3)
from "Painted Garden"
by Greg Ashley
Birdman Records

• Buy at iTunes Music Store


• Buy at RealNetworks / Rhapsody


• Buy at Napster


• Stream from RealNetworks / Rhapsody

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With his clean tones and nimble fingers, Shawn Persinger's Chet Atkins fetish pays off for jazz guitar fans.

Download "Blood Jokes" (mp3)
Download "Zero Percent" (mp3
Download "Dot...Another Dot" (mp3)
from "The Art Of Modern / Primitive Guitar"
by Shawn Persinger
Innova Recordings

• Buy at iTunes Music Store


• Buy at RealNetworks / Rhapsody


• Buy at Napster


• Stream from RealNetworks / Rhapsody


• Buy at GroupieTunes

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That's your lot then, off with you.

A vaguely 'burgh centered post today:

MAKE SHOP ROCK an evening centered around designers showcasing and selling their handmade work, alongside performances from some of Pittsburgh's best musicians takes place at Pittsburgh's Brillobox Saturday April 14th at 8pm. There is a $5 cover.

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Opera Westminster will perform Saturday, April 14, at 7:30 p.m. at Orr Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public. and features scenes from famous operas such as: Fidelio, The Magic Flute, Faust, Cosi fan tutte, and others. Contact Dr. Anne Bentz at (724) 946-6045 or e-mail bentzah@westminster.edu for more information.

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Venangoland has been updated with an arts-centric post.

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Ted Kooser, former U.S. poet laureate, has canceled his appearance at Pittsburgh's International Poetry Forum tonight.

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The Pittsburgh Post Gazette profiles the installation museum The Matress Facotry as it enters its 30th year.

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Shop N Save is going online. Not really artsy, but interesting nonetheless.

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You can (and should) preorder Venango poet extraordinaire Phil Terman's new book, Rabbis of the Air

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Jerome Wincek will be playing at Slippery Rock's North Country Brewing tonight from 7 to 10 pm. While the rest of us have been getting fat(ter) over the winter, Wincek has been at work. His label, Meat and Potatos lists, not one, but two new albums from Wincek dropping this month: I'm my Own Jug Band and an as yet untitled solo album. I'm hoping he calls it Jerome Winecek so I can use the word "eponymous" a lot. In the meantime, purchase his work with the Old Hats, Astral Road .

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The Young People's Art festival featuring the artwork of Venango County High School students (like my daughter) is this Saturday at Franklin's Barrow Civic theatre - the exhibition runs from 4 - 7 pm the County Band plays at 7 pm and there will be a silent auction of some really nice stuff proceeds of which will go towards the scholarship fund. I'll be there goading people to bid on the books I donated, so say, "Hey aren't you that Venangago-go guy?" or just whisper about me after I leave.

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Seneca's Brother Bean (2803 State Route 257, Seneca, Pennsylvania 16346) is hosting Remora Deign this weekend. A local band that I really like quite a bit. Show starts at 7pm and is free with a tip jar. Here's a clip from a recent show:

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Charles Lockhart and John Franklin Carll have new PA Historical makers in Venango County whilst poor Hidegard Dolson's home still goes unacknowledged. Shame Venango County, when will you get over your robber baron crush and move on?

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The Venango Campus Activities Board is hosting singer-songwriter Adrianne live and for free, in Rhoades, 7:30PM, Friday April 13. A preview of her live show:

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The Venango Vegetarian Society is hosting a potluck Saturday Apr 14, 2007 at 6:30 PM at the Franklin Biketrail Adirondack Huts . Yes, meat eaters you are welcome. It will be a bonfire/cookout style potluck to start off the year, Plan on bringing a vegan picnic food and RSVPing.

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Anthony Zerbe's one man e.e. cummings show, "It's All Done With Mirrors", scheduled for Butler on April 14th has been cancelled.

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Five Chapters is anthologizing Still Life Amongst Partial Outlines by Meghan O'Rourke for National Poetry Month

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What would poetry month be without a good ol' poetry controversy. Read what happens in the comments section when Ron Silliman categorizes the Pitt Poetry series as a "cabal" and saves extra venom for Penn State prof Robin Becker:
It’s impossible not to guffaw at an opening sentence like that. Unfortunately, the rest of the poem makes plain that this isn’t a satire on bad writing, but rather is the real deal itself. Reading Becker’s selection in APN, however, suggests that “Sound View” represents some sort of lower limit of bathos toward which her work might descend.
Honestly though, as over the top this seems, it's the sort of commentary that's been missing from American Letters for decades. I think, as painful as it is, it's for the best.

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The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission is undertaking a survey to identify historic twentieth century public schools statewide.
We are looking for buildings constructed between 1920 and 1969. They can be school buildings still in use, adapted to other uses, or vacant, and any grade levels K-12. When the survey is completed, it will contribute to the preparation of a statewide study on historic schools and public education in Pennsylvania.
Contact:
Carol Lee
(717) 783-9918
calee@state.pa.us
Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
Bureau for Historic Preservation
Commonwealth Keystone Building
Second Floor
400 North Street
Harrisburg, PA 17120-0093

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Via the Great Lakes Film Fest
If you are a student, independent producer or a writer and have a good script or a great idea for a short movie, please send us a treatment or synopsis for consideration.
We will provide full production as long as it is good. Project must be no longer than 15 or 20 minutes and must be fully copyrighted to your name.
You must be willing to be part of the production process and agree to send this project once finished, to various film festivals and to the HBO Short movies competition.
For more information, please contact:
Julio Cesar Romero
Producer – Director
Enigma Productions Group, Inc.
P. O. Box 9266
Coral Springs, Florida 33075
954-865-0762
Or send an emailto:hk5ufo@usa.net

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Top Shelf comixs is having a huge $3 sale on graphic novels.

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What makes me dizzy? Seeing my teenaged self on YouTube:




I can just see young me turning towards me-me and saying, "Dude. What did you do to me?" Sigh. time to up the medication.

OK, so I lied. One more post. But that's it for the weekend. I swear.

The Pittsburgh Post Gazette interviews Cleveland native Dave Thomas in anticipation of tonight's Pere Ube concert:
Oh yeah, but people from Pittsburgh are idiots. Nothing personal. Pittsburgh's a lovely town. I hate it. I really like it, but I'm from Cleveland and I despise you and all your generations. And there's nothing else to say about it. It's not personal. It's an obligation.

The NY Times gives a tepid review to Meadville native Todd Holland’s Firehouse Dog.

The Youngstown Summer Festival of the Arts is looking for local and regional arts and crafts guilds and societies interested in demonstrating their skills during the two-day event. The festival is scheduled for July 7 and 8 on and around the campus of Youngstown State University. This is the first time in the event's nine-year history that societies and guilds have been asked to participate in the festival. They will be given a designated time to display their work and demonstrate their craft. For more information, contact Lori A. Factor at (330) 941-2307 or lafactor@ysu.edu.

Primanti Bros, they of the cole slaw and fries in the sandwich, has been awarded the "American Classic" honor by the James Beard Foundation.

The Westmoreland Museum of American Art is running a citizen's exhibit alongside Picturing What Matters: An Offering of Photographs from the George Eastman House on view now through June 3.
Send us a copy of a personal photo – old or new – that represents your values, hopes or dreams. We have them displayed in a gallery adjacent to our latest photo exhibition…
We cannot return any images. We will continue to collect, rotate and display more pictures as they come in throughout the duration of the exhibition.
Bring or send a copy of your image(s) to:
Picturing What Matters at The Westmoreland Museum of American Art
221 North Main Street, Greensburg, PA 15601
Have a question? Please call 724-837-1500 ext. 19.

I just realized that Ginsburg has been dead for 10 years yesterday.

With family coming into town for the holiday, consider this your weekend post.

After concerns about flooding, Oil City's non-profit Transit Fine Arts Gallery reopened this week. The gallery operates under the auspices of the Oil City Arts Council and operates from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

Newman are at Seneca's Brother Bean Coffeehouse this weekend. Unfortunately, I can't find out anything about them (the band I mean). The Coffeehouse is also looking for someone to facilitate a bookclub and someone to organize a chess club

Venango Vegetarian Society has a myspace page.

It doesn't take a great mind to see the stupidity of expanding the Franklin Farmer's Market to include "crafters and artisans". Have we forgotten the debacle that was the attempt to shut down the area in front of the library on Thursday evenings last summer? More than once it was just me, the crazy guy who digs cigarette butts out of the gutter, and vendors selling used copies of Reader's Digest. I'm just not sure that's what the public is clamoring for.

If we do need to reinvent the Farmer's Market (and I think the addition of artisans and crafters is the answer to a question that was never asked) how about some things that will actually help the people who shop there:

• discounted stall rental fees to organic vendors
• vegan options
• grass fed, free range, and cruelty free meat
• signage that tells me where the food is from (whenever I ask, some vendors look panicked and get all cagey - "well...you know...ummm..up by Erie, I think" I keep on walking. Some, however, are proud to tell me that their lettuce comes from Cooperstown and I buy it) and how much fuel was used bringing it to the market
• Community Supported Agriculture pickups

My wife and I do tons of shopping at the farmer's market in the summer, but if I have to push my way through mimes and handsaws with rural scenes painted on it to buy a bag of radishes (or, I suppose hamloaf), I, and I'm guessing others, will just stay home.

Speaking of such, Anna Lappé will give a lecture titled “Froot Loops, Frosted Flakes, and Farmers' Markets: The Politics of Your Plate” on Tuesday, April 10 at 7 p.m. in Ford Chapel at Allegheny College.Following the lecture Lappé will sign books in the Tippie Alumni Center at Cochran Hall. Both events are free and open to the public. Lappé, co-founder of the Small Planet Institute and Small Planet Fund, is the author of Grub: Ideas for an Urban Organic Kitchen. The book offers readers ideas, hands-on tools and menus to create healthy lives for themselves and their communities.

Venango Campus is looking for an Applied Technology Department Chair

Cattle Call auditions for the Erie Playhouse are being held Saturday April 7th at Noon and Monday April 9th at 6:00 pm at the Erie Playhouse Rehearsal Hall (919 State St. - 2nd Floor). Bring a prepared monologue, and, if auditioning for The Full Montyor Miss Saigon go home and try to face down the shame, errr...I mean, bring a prepared song with sheet music. Also be prepared to do a movement audition (jazzhands, just keep doing it until it becomes as natural as breathing....jazzhands).

The Playhouse also announced their 2007-2008 Season
Lowlights include Cats (Sept 20 –Oct. 7) and Footloose (August 1-17). While highlights include Crowns (Jan. 31-Feb. 10) and Orson's Shadow (July 10-20),

Hmmm..that sounds so familiar. Where have I heard of Orson's Shadow before? Oh that's right! TiLT did it last month. Must not gloat. Must not gloat. Must not...OK I will. Franklin's TiLT has, in the past three years, consistently brought the best edgy new shoes to a beautiful little cabaret style seating space (with bar!) in Franklin. Why haven't I seen you there?

The Erie SeaWolves home opener today against Altoona has been postponed due to snow. That's right. Game called on account of snow.

The Young Artists Debut Orchestra (YADO), in collaboration with the Harry T Burleigh Society, is holding vocal auditions for the premiere performance in Erie of Burleigh's original orchestrations of African-American Spirituals on Saturday April 7 from12 pm - 5 pm. An accompanist is required, but can be provided by The Burleigh Society upon request. For information and to schedule an audition, please contact the YADO office at (814) 824-2179. Interested applicants must sing these Spirituals in the stylistically authentic manner which the composer intended. Applicants are encouraged to listen to vocal examples at www.burleighsociety.org.

Author and actor Peter Coyote will kick off the 2007 Literary Festival at Mercyhurst College with an appearance on Thursday, April 12, at 7:30 pm in the college's Taylor Little Theatre. The festival, with a theme of "The Arts and the Counter-Culture: Then and Now," continues April 19 with a visit by novelist Francine Proseand culminates April 25 with an event celebrating student creativity.

The Tragically Hip have announced a May 18 Warner Theatre (Erie) date. Reserved seat tickets are $31.50.
Download The Tragically Hip's song Yer Not The Ocean (mp3)

The Allegheny River Textile ARTS studio is located in Foxburg and is a pretty exhaustive resource. As a side note, Foxburg's renaissance has been nothing less than remarkable. If you missed (as I did) the Joe Negri Trio when they were recently in Oil City, they'll be performing in Foxburg in June. In fact there's a whole big bunch of arty goodness going on in Foxburg this summer which I will soon reveal (I promise.)

The Eerie Horror Film Festival announced that they will be hosting the opening night of the Quentin Tarantino/ Robert Rodriguez film Grindhouse at The Movies in Meadville Friday, April 6. Grindhouse is a double feature, featuring horror legend Tom Savini, one of the many special guests at this year's Eerie Horror Film Festival. There will be free stuff, including Grindhouse posters, Eerie Horror Fest T-Shirts and a chance to win Two Free All Access Passes to the Fest in October.

Rockport Publishers/Quarry Books is seeking project contributors for an upcoming book tentatively titled 1000 Jewelry Details. The book will feature handmade jewelry that can be made at home with simple tools by non- professional jewelry makers. Some images will show entire pieces of jewelry, but most will home in on points of interest: uniquely crafted findings, bead combinations, dangles, hand- carved details, surface texture, fibers, color, and nontraditional materials.

WHAT IS ELIGIBLE:

Projects should be constructed using basic jewelry findings, simple wire-working techniques, or put together with threads, fibers, leather, etc. Projects should integrate current, original, and exciting techniques and unique and interesting materials. Projects must be achievable by a home artist. There is no entry fee, and you may submit multiple designs. Please include your complete contact information in the email and a short description of the techniques used to create each piece. You will be notified if your pieces are selected for final publication at which point you will need to send the actual piece for photography or a professional quality high-res image on CD. (Electronic Submission Guidelines will be provided at that time.) If your entry is selected, it will be printed in full color with a caption. For more information, please contact Sandra Salamony by email at NewJewelryBook@aol.com DEADLINE: May 15, 2007

The Derrick profiles local composer Rex Mitchell. Mitchell has announced a new project known as “The Manuscript Series” which features 10 previously unpublished works. The music scores are unique in two ways —they are original compositions and they are handwritten.

Venangoland has been updated.

Author Mona Lisa Saloy will read from her works at 8 p.m. on Thursday, April 12 in the Tillotson Room of the Tippie Alumni Center at Cochran Hall at Allegheny College. The program is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Christopher Bakken at (814) 332-4343.

National Poetry Slam champion Marc Bamuthi Joseph will present a work titled “Slam, Tap and Rap: Oral and Dance Traditions Revisited” on Friday, April 13 from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. in the Montgomery Performance Space on the Allegheny College campus. For more information, call 814-332-2777.


The duo Gypsy Hocket, composed of Matthew McCright, piano, and Susanna Reilly, cellist, will be joined by clarinetist Roi Mazare for a chamber music recital on Friday, April 13 at 8 p.m. in Ford Chapel at Allegheny College. The recital is free and open to the public.

The Spike TV series being filmed in Pittsburgh "Kill Point" (formerly "Kill Pit") will require 300 to 500 extras per day. Nancy Mosser Casting is seeking people ages 18 and older to work as extras for minimum wage, 12- to 14-hour days, including people who could appear for eight consecutive weekdays (meals, snacks, parking provided). Mosser is especially eager to find male military veterans to play SWAT team members, snipers and police officers. Extras to play protestors and supporters are also needed along with people with burn scars and missing limbs "to show the depth with which our military [members] has suffered for their country." Those interested can visit Mosser Casting

The International Poetry Forum in Pittsburgh has announced their upcoming Season. It's pretty weak.

We may not yet know how much he has raised, but we do have examples of Obama's poetry.

What's the key to selling your book? Convincing your publisher to pay for a huge pre-publication tour.

EMI Group announced their digital catalog would go on sale over the Internet without built-in copy restrictions. Newsweek explores what this means for the business.

A lack of posting as I was off competing against other old fat people, as well as some old in-shape people who just make me sick.

The Mystery Lover's Bookstore and WDUQ's Festival of Mystery has their list of authors (including yours truly) posted for the Monday, May 7, 2007 par-tay. Tickets are a reasonable $7 and hundreds have all ready been purchased. Attendance is capped, so you may want to make your purchase now.

I’m not too big on charities – in fact I avoid the people who call on the phone and scoff at the Save the Children commercials. But, when the Muscular Dystrophy Association asked me to be part of their annual “Behind Bars for Good” campaign, I agreed. Why? Quite simply, they asked. It’s been a good year for me, and I believe that those who have a lot of good luck in their careers, health, and family have an obligation to step up to the plate.

So, yeah, I’m asking you to donate some cash to the group, but since I know you, you heartless animals, I’m sweetening the pot a little.

Make a $25 donation and I’ll write a poem for you – you specify the setting, style, whatever. You want a love sonnet to give to your special friend. Done. A ghazal about a gazelle? Super. A haiku about Western PA roadkill? Already working on it. No filthy limericks though. Even a guy like a me has some standards.

For $50 you get an inscribed copy of any of my books – the noir Small Brutal Incidents, or the more scholarly Jack Kerouac: A Biography or The Beat Generation.

$150 buys you a full on reading for you or your group – no amount of participants too big or too small. Want me to bring my dog and pony show to your Easter dinner so you can ask where I got my ideas as you scarf down spiral cut ham? I’ll be there. Need a speaker for your rotary, elks, moose, water buffalo lodge or whatever? Pony up the cash and watch me dance.

Finally, big spender, if that’s still not enough, $500 buys you an appearance as a character in my next book, another brooding noir set in Erie, PA. Amaze your friends when you casually turn to page 48, say and point yourself out, or “mistakenly” leave it out on coffee table (confidentially, I hear Philip Roth does the same thing with Harlot’s Ghost all the time).

So call 724-742-1710 and make that donation now (making sure that you tell them it’s for Michael Dittman’s bail). If you have questions or comments, shoot me a line at simpub@hotmail.com or give me a call at 724-827-8711 X 8251
Click here to visit my Participant Page.

If I could go to only one faith based concert this year, it would be Calvin College's Festival of Faith and Music 2007. Insert your own pre-destination joke here.

The Pittsburgh Post Gazette has collected the city's Poetry Month events.

Bob Hoover profiles Pittsburgh's poetry publishers.

The Pittsburgh Chamber Music Society has announced their 2007-08 season

How does one get to sing at the Met? How about an audition?:
If you can type your application, you can sing for us,” said Darren Keith Woods, the general director of the Fort Worth Opera and, on Feb. 3, one of three judges at the Philadelphia district round of an event that has been called the “American Idol” of the opera world. The Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions offer tremendous exposure and, for up to five winners, prizes of $15,000.

While this article on photography expert Dusan Stulik is interesting, what's more telling is that the NYTimes has adopted the phrase "pre-digital" photography rather than "traditional" photography.

What's the difference between pork and well deserved earmarks? Your editor, I guess. When USA Today singled out the Oil Region National Heritage Area as a boondoggle, the News Herald slugged it as "Oil region captures media interest" while the Titusville Herald reported, "USA Today: Oil Region reliant on ‘pork’ .

An organization is being formed to protect, preserve and promote the education and study of prehistoric artifacts in the county.

Finally, let's load up with new music for the week ahead. I listen to a lot of "latin" music and while my tastes run more towards Cuba and Mexico, it's hard to avoid the guilty pleasure of a Dominican boy band.

Download "Effa y yo" (mp3)
from "God's Project"
by Aventura
Premium Latin Music

• Buy at iTunes Music Store
• Buy at RealNetworks / Rhapsody
• Buy at Napster
• Stream from RealNetworks / Rhapsody
• Buy at GroupieTunes

Tony O'Neil and I share a publisher. He was also a sideman for the Brian Jonestown Massacre which has just released Tepid Peppermint Wonderland: A Retrospective

Download "Open Heart Surgery" (mp3)
from "Tepid Peppermint Wonderland: A Retrospective"
by The Brian Jonestown Massacre
Rubric Records

• Buy at iTunes Music Store
• Buy at eMusic
• Buy at RealNetworks / Rhapsody
• Buy at Napster
• Stream from RealNetworks / Rhapsody
• Buy at Insound

You can also check out the train wreck that was their band in the documentary DiG!

and this was really hard to ignore when it ended up in my mailbox (POB 1082 Franklin PA 16323 for those of you craving the exposure that only Venangago-go can provide):
Academy-award nominee and two-time Emmy winner Mare Winningham blazes a trail into the world of Jewish country bluegrass music. With a back-up band straight out of 'O Brother, Where Art Thou?' territory, Mare delivers an unprecedented take on traditional Jewish themes with a voice that's part Alison Kraus[sic], part Aimee Mann, and part Jewel.

Download "Valley Of The Dry Bones" (mp3)
Download "My Fixed Point" (mp3)
Download "The World To Come" (mp3)

by Mare Winningham
Craig 'n Company

• Buy at iTunes Music Store


• Buy at eMusic


• Buy at RealNetworks / Rhapsody


• Buy at Napster


• Stream from RealNetworks / Rhapsody