Say what good you will about all the festivals in Venango County, they also leave huge piles of stinking, rotting trash that draw insects and bored , ill-mannered children (both of which are equally repulsive in my book). Now The Pittsburgh Green Music Festival group hopes to author an official set of rules approved by environmental experts for a festival being certified green. Lets hope the local authorities sit up and take notice so that we can market our area as an emerging green municipality.

I'll be MCing a poetry slam tomorrow, Thursday March 1st at noon in the Student Union of Butler County Community College. Drop by if you have a chance.

Speaking of our neighbor to the south, The National Players' production of "The Importance of Being Earnest" that was to have been performed on Saturday, March 24 at 8:00 PM at BCCC's Succop Theater has been canceled.

The Titusville Herald covers Polk's Main Street Market weekly bluegrass get-together.

The Meadville Tribune profiles local geocachers.

The Music Library Association and the Society for American Music are holding their annual convention in Pittsburgh this weekend. Paper tiles include "Get Hip Records and the History of Pittsburgh Punk" and "African American Opera in Pittsburgh: The Impact of the National Negro Opera Company".

Pittsburgh area tenor D. Kenneth Davies has released a new CD that benefits the future Welsh Nationality Room at Pitt


Salon asks, "Are cookbooks obsolete"? But the better question may be, "Are articles asking if books are obsolete obsolete?" Yes. Yes, they are.

Show Showdown is a blog detailing four guys racing to see who can see the most Theatre in 2007. I'm...stunned.

Oh eBay, why do you taunt me with your sweet, sweet kitsch?

The Union room is shooting a film in Meadville and needs a 16-22 year old leading lady.

The Downtown Edinboro Art and Music Festival has established a MySpace page. Don't hold it against them.

The Allegheny College Playshop Theatre continues its season with their first musical production the Playshop Theatre has performed for four seasons: Gilbert and Sullivan's comedic opera The Pirates of Penzance de Veracruz March 1, 2 and 3 at 8 p.m., with matinees on March 3 and 4 at 2:30 p.m. in Arter Hall. The production places Gilbert and Sullivan's pirates in 1910 revolutionary Mexico. Why not?

The Clarion University theater department presents the magical fairy tale Cinderella, at 8 p.m., Feb. 28 and March 1, 2 and 3, in Marwick-Boyd Auditorium. No eye-linered pirates or sultry Hispanic maidens. Pity, really. Tickets for the production are $11 for adults, $8 for children under 12 and $5 for Clarion University students with valid identification cards.

CMU's Tartan cranks out the sort of "What is a zine" article that we saw a lot of (heck, that I wrote a lot of) in the 90s. The interesting part is the revelation that Pittsburgh has a zine library - The Pittsburgh Zine Library and Archive, found at The Big Idea Infoshop, located at 504 Millvale Avenue in Bloomfield.

Philip Roth has won the PEN/Faulkner award for Everyman


The NYTimes dislikes Neal Pollack and other hip parents as much as I do.

Venangoland's reach extends all the way to China with the latest update.

Tonight's Venango Campus movie is Friends with Money. I'm skipping this one. Jennifer Aniston in a maid's uniform makes me feel queasy. But not in a good way. If you're going, the flick starts at 7:30 in Rhoades Auditorium and is free.

The fallout from Edinboro University's blackface party continues

Meadville continues to take some really interesting steps in its downtown revitalization which now will include "green roofs"?

1,000 area fourth- through 12th-graders competed in the Pittsburgh Public Theatre's Shakespeare Monologue Contest.

An Oral History of Islam in Pittsburgh is a regionally produced, feature-length documentary.
By the early 1930s, it might surprise you to learn, Pittsburgh had a sizable and growing number of what filmmaker Haroon Al-Qahtani calls "indigenous Muslims": Black Americans who adopted some version of Islam.

The Pittsburgh Opera has announced its upcoming season:
Puccini's Madama Butterfly, Oct. 13-21
Donizetti's Elixir of Love, Nov. 10-18
Verdi's Aida, March 29--April 6, 2008
Bellini's Capulets and Montagues, May 3--11, 2008.

Work got in the way of blogging yesterday which means I must belatedly celebrate the birthdays of some of my favorite artists:Edward Gorey, sexy dead poet Edna St Vincent Millay, and Pittsburgh's own Gerald Stern.

The Library of Congress has made available the The George Grantham Bain Collection
. . . the photographic files of one of America's earliest news picture agencies. The collection richly documents sports events, theater, celebrities, crime, strikes, disasters, political activities including the woman suffrage campaign, conventions and public celebrations. The photographs Bain produced and gathered for distribution through his news service were worldwide in their coverage, but there was a special emphasis on life in New York City. The bulk of the collection dates from the 1900s to the mid-1920s, but scattered images can be found as early as the 1860s and as late as the 1930s.

Available online are 39,744 glass negatives and a selection of about 1,600 photographic prints for which copy negatives exist.

There are tons of early Pittsburgh Pirate photos (remember to search for "Pittsburg" as well), Including this one with Honus Wagner:

This one called "Tusk, held by four men, excavated near Pittsburgh"

or "Miss Pittsburgh in Atlantic City"

and, of course, the "Pittsburgh Arts Committee"
Wing & A Prayer Pittsburgh Players performed at Central Elementary School yesterday
The muticultural troupe of dancers, drummers, singers and storytellers, was in town for a program, "Amandla: A Celebration of the African Arts"

Titusville's Four Sons Brewery sold for, gulp, $323. Please god tell me there was some sort of catch and I didn't miss out on one of those once-in-a-lifetime own a bar for less than an evening's bar tab. The Business Authority say they'll have anew owner within a month. Not to be cynical, but where have I heard that before.

Speaking of the Franklin Club, despite all the rumors that have been flying around, no buyers yet. No surprise there, it's a beautiful property but in need of tens of thousands of dollars (if not more) of repairs.

While the NYTimes hosts a slideshow of celebrity tattoos, local radio station KISS FM is running a tattoo contest. Which would actually be kind of cool until you read the rules and realize it's a random drawing. That means, that like so many local tattoos, quality of art means nothing - a Daniel Johnson tattoo has the same chance as a scorpion eating an eyeball as a tramp stamp. Still, I'll probably rustle something up to send in. venangago-go tatoo anyone?

The Warhol Museum has listed its March programs.

I never actually watched the OC, but was glad to see that Matt Pond PA and Wilco made Rolling Stone's best of the OC's music list.

McKeever Environmental Learning Center in Sandy Lake is hosting a free showing of An Inconvenient TruthFriday at 7 pm.

Meadville's Union Room has stopped booking shows until after April. Let's hope it is just a temporary hiccup.

Speaking of Meadville, this weekend, February, 24 2007, is another Blue Planet Cafe' at the Market House. $4 at the door to see Andrew Miller & Of a LifeTime will perform, but I can't find out anything about either of them.

The Pittsburgh Opera Theater and Gateway to the Arts are premiering an original opera for children this weekend at the Pittsburgh Children's Museum. Phantasmagorilla? No! Phantasmagoria will be performed at 1 and 3 p.m. Sat. and Sun.; 11 a.m. Mon. and Wed. and is free, with admission to the musueum.

The NYTimes profiles urban theater —"or what has been called over the years inspirational theater, black Broadway, gospel theater and the chitlin circuit"

The Northwestern PA Maple Association has announced the dates for their Spring tour and tasting.

The 17th Annual Silberman Recital Series at Allegheny College continues this month with a performance by the Manhattan Piano Trio on Saturday, Feb. 24. The concert, which begins at 7:30 p.m. in Ford Memorial Chapel, is free and open to the public.

It's hard to go wrong with a headline like: Former Miss Crawford County trades baton for garb of pharmacologist

The Post Gazette reviews Colson Whitehead's lecture.

The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is raffling off $100,000 toward a condo in the Cultural District.

T Shirt of the day: Poet Trees

Lit2Go is a free online collection of stories and poems in Mp3 (audiobook) format.

Finally, since it's Fat Tuesday, might I offer you an MP3? Professor Longhair - "Mardi Gras in New Orleans

The V Word is Venango County's Vegetarian and vegan support and awareness group. The site is distressingly low on, you know, content, so the best bet may be to friend them on MySpace and wait for updates. I can, however, tell you that they are looking for "people to hand out materials in support of animal rights and vegetarianism" at the February 25th Newsboys Concert at 7pm at Grove City College

Which actually freaked me out for a variety of reasons - The Newsboys? they're still alive?! (As it turns out, I'm way out of the zeitgeist here, these guys are booking arenas!) Followed with "Grove City College"? Are you guys crazy? If I were a member of Peta2 (and who's to say I aren't, thank you very much.) I'd rather face a thousand drunk SRU frat boys than a crowd of conservatives going to see an 80's has been Christian band. Once more into the breach dear friends. Godspeed.

Since it's President's Day, you'll want this comprehensive list of the Presidents on The Simpsons.

Speaking of such, ever wonder what Washington looked like as he stomped through the Western PA wilderness taking and receiving potshots for and from the natives? Me either, until I read this.

Finally, I think we all knew the marriage between NasCar and Harlequin had to happen, I just wish it could have benefited local writer Jamie Denton.

Country music duo Sugarland will be the headliners at the 62nd annual 2007 Crawford County Fair.

Colson Whitehead will be at the Drue Heinz lectures on Monday (7:30 p.m. Carnegie Lecture Hall, 4400 Forbes Ave., Oakland. $19 ($8 students)412-622-8866) to talk about his new novel Apex Hides the Hurt
What can you tell me about Pittsburgh's role in the "Underground Railroad"?

Boondock's creator Aaron McGruder shows up tonight at 8 p.m. at Pittsburgh's Byham Theater, 101 Sixth St., Downtown. $20-64. 412-456-6666

"Saturday Poem: Andy Warhol for Pilgrims "
By Peter Oresick


St. John the Baptist Byzantine Catholic Cemetery


so much depends
upon


a red soup
can


glazed with rain
water


atop the black
granite

Venangoland has been updated.

Delwende is this week's Venango Campus Independent Film Series film. It starts at 7:30 pm in Rhoades Auditorium and is free.

SRU has another reason to be proud:
Simpson, better known as ChipBurger or Chip "The Phenom" Simpson, is the No. 6 ranked competitive eater in the world [and} a Slippery Rock University physical therapy graduate student. . .

The Great Lakes Film Association offices have moved to the Roadhouse Theatre For Contemporary Art. Which is interesting enough, but the bigger news for the consumers of culture is that "in the spring of 2007 the Great Lakes Film Association, in a cooperative effort with The Roadhouse Theatre for Contemporary Art, will launch an independent film theater offering alternative cinema."

Pittsburgh Irish & Classical Theatre has announced their 2007 schedule.

"[O]ne of the best known names in circusdom in regards to flying acts" and former Pittsburgh resident Inez Hubbell Beares has died.

Speaking of dead Pittsburghers, it's been 20 years since Warhol died and,"the Andy Warhol Museum is planning a series of events later this year to mark the milestone and Warhol's influence on art and culture."

Wowio is a pretty straightforward. Free books in pdf format. There's some Sontag, some Poe, a lot of Oxford University Press -- all quality stuff. The problem is, unless you have an email that ends in .edu or .gov, you have to give them your credit card number. Which is creepy. Luckily, I have two invites to give away which will allow you to avoid using a CC #. If you're interested, email me.

The NYTimes profiles my winter fantasy.

Circa 45 is a new blog devoted to old vinyl.

This is a college, I told my student yesterday. Colleges don't close because there's some snow in the forecast.
Foot meet mouth.

The Barbaric Yawp Performance Series starts tomorrow at Michelle's Cafe in Clarion, Claire Donato and Julie Sokolow will be headlining. Donato works for the New Yinzer and Sokolow recorded the album Something About Violins. The show runs from 6-8.

It's never too early to start planning. Joann Wheeler, OC Arts Champion, led me to the ART of the STATE: Pennsylania 2007. It's a "Prestigious, juried exhibition open to established and emerging Pennsylvania artists" The Deadline for submission is March 19, 2007 and the show itself runs from June 9 - September 9, 2007 at the State Museum of Harrisburg, PA and carries $7,500 in awards. Applications available

Allegheny College is hoping to begin construction on the Vukovich Theatre and Communication Arts building the first of March, with plans to have it ready early in the fall 2008 semester.

Vukovich will include rehearsal and instructional areas, video production facilities and a large performance space for hosting public events. A section of the building will have a roof covered with grass, ground cover and trees, enhancing aesthetics as well as cutting energy costs

What did Ruth Lilly’s bequest of millions buy?
The Poetry Foundation functions as an operating foundation, spending most of its money on its own activities rather than on grants. . . The foundation is negotiating to buy the [twenty-five-thousand-square-foot building] for seven million dollars. There will be room for a library, offices for the magazine and the foundation, and a lecture hall. . . As Ethel Kaplan, a lawyer at a wealth-management firm and the chair of the board, put it, “Nobody wanted to sit back and read grant proposals—especially from poets.”
Indeed.

Speaking of money, how to spend mine? On a "Books Are Tasty" tshirt or on the snowshoes I've been lusting after?

If you've ever been to a comic convention, you know that they're sort of...creepy . And, no matter how much a youngster likes the ol' funny books, I would have serious, serious reservations about taking her there. Apparently, other people agree:
Alex Simmons announced plans to hold the first Kid's Comic Con on the campus of the Bronx Community College, April 28. The first Kids' Comic Con will feature a variety of entertaining events and demonstrations on comics aimed at kids as well as workshops and exhibits focused on using comics as an educational tool for parents, teachers and librarians.
Now how about a local con? I can remember a couple in Meadville and Erie about 20 years ago. Just please, no 30 year olds dressed as Wolverine.

A little less than a decade ago, I was the morning personality at WTIV. Years later I met Luke Ruot through another radio guy Todd Adkins. Now, Ruot wants to buy WTIV and turn it back into local radio, rather the bland homogenized station it is now.
In discussing the history of WTIV, Ruot commented that Bob Buchan’s sportcasting “made every kid on the field feel like a professional.” Ruot said it was personalities Tim Nelson, Ray Star and Jim “Sneezer” Snyder that made folks want to tune into WTIV. “I want people to turn on the radio and have fun,” Ruot said. “I want the station to generate a buzz. People miss hearing Clara Bell’s voice.” Ruot said he would encourage people to call in and interact with whomever was on the air. “All the stuff WTIV used to do,” Ruot said.
For more information contact Ruot at (814) 827-4784.

The Venango County Humane Society convinced some of their furry charges to dip themselves in paint to make art. Now, on April 21, Wanango Country Club has agreed to donate space for the Humane Society's first PAWcasso event where attendees will have the chance to bid on the neatly framed art through a silent auction.
The event will feature live entertainment, several other locally produced pieces of visual art in a Chinese auction, and wine and cheese.
Local artists interested in donating paintings, sculptures, photographs or any other hand-crafted visual arts for April's PAWcasso fund-raiser may call Nerlich at 432-4532.

Another Franklin on Ice gone. Although I enjoyed it, there are a couple of things that might suggest.
1) If you attended, did you notice anything missing? Like anyone between the ages of 13-25? Or anything devised to encourage them to take ownership in the festival and begin to be stakeholders of the city? There's the Retro Prom for the Boomers, but even though the church next to Fountain Park has been sponsoring shows, not a one was scheduled along with the festival.

2)If we're really serious about keeping young talented people in the area, why not it enjoyable for them? An indoor garage sale isn't going to pack them in, but a Bizarre Bazaar might, as well as bringing in hipsters with money from outside the area.

3)In this case, both Franklin High School and Venango Catholic were having formal dances the same night as the festival, why not do a carving that could serve as a backdrop to some dance night photos for $5 a pop and raise some money as well. There needs to be some youthful representation and communication between the rapidly aging members of the area arts boards and our younger citizens who are shut out of any decision making.

4)Why not, you know, advertise the festival? While creating a festival by and for townies is nice, it doesn't bring in outside money, or introduce the beauty of our town to anyone who might come back.

5)What's up with the chili contest? Bella Cucina in a chili contest? If I want mid 90s Gourmet magazine style food, I'll go to Bella, but chili? No. Why not have another festival themed contest for places like Bella and Primos and tie it into a different demographic - have a cocktail contest (allow me to suggest the Jackie K) or an ice wine tasting. Bring back the "civilian" chili contest as well.

6)New sculptures. I don't want to see that knight cheese piece again. Along with that, why isn't there an actual contest for sculptors. All the sculptures seemed to be done by the same company.

7)Why don't any of the sculptures have anything to do with the area.
(Well, aside from:)

Branding the area must extend to the festivals as well. Why not advertise in the Pittsburgh, Erie, and Youngstown market, bring their ice sculptors in and make sure that the tourists see something that links the town with something particular, which would, of course, entail figuring out if we're the Victorian City, the Bike trail city, the city with festivals, or...

8)Why not actually value the work created? After local people pay a minimum of $250 to sponsor these, why not protect them. When I went through the park this morning, less than 16 hours after the end of the festival, the big ice throne had been broken off at one of the arms and more than a quarter of the smaller sculptures had been tipped over and destroyed. We can't find a couple of people to sit in the park overnight so the art at last sticks around, for, oh, 24 hours?

The festival has a lot of potential to draw people in during the gray days of February, but if we're not going to do it right, a failed presentation only reinforces the images of the town as a backwater that can't pull off a day long celebration.

All right, enough vented spleen.

Venangoland blogger Pete Greene will host a presentation about the history of the Franklin Silver Cornet Band at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at DeBence Antique Music World.

The Four Sons Brewery will be sold at a sheriff’s sale Thursday, Feb. 22, at 10 a.m.

The News Herald announces that it has officially given up on any kind of journalism by using the wikipedia as the main source for an article.

On Sunday, I like to renew the tunes on my player for the upcoming week. Might I recommend Ted Leo and the Pharmacists Live at Southpaw on 2002-08-15?

Ironic that as Franklin makes moves to spend money make its downtown less pedestrian friendly by making the traffic islands narrower to allow bigger faster trucks through the downtown, Meadville is taking steps (including public art projects) to make their downtown more pedestrian friendly. Which town is going through a downtown Renaissance? Oh it would be rude to say, but sometimes, as my dear old babushka used to say, if you can't do something nice with Community Block Development funds, sometimes it's better to do nothing at all...

The News Herald highlights tomorrow's Franklin on Ice festival. Ice Carving starts at 9:30 am and goes until 3 pm in Fountain Park. Don't forget to post your photos.

Brothers is the next film in the Venango Campus series:

Michael has everything under control: a successful military career, a beautiful wife and two daughters. His younger brother Jannik is a drifter, living on the edge of the law. When Michael is sent to Afghanistan on a UN mission the balance between the two brothers changes forever. Michael is missing in action - presumed dead - and Sarah is comforted by Jannik, who against all odds shows himself capable of taking responsibility for both himself and the family. It soon becomes clear that their feelings have developed beyond mutual sympathy. When Michael comes home, traumatized by being held prisoner in the mountains of Afghanistan, nothing is the same...

Film starts at 7:30 at Rhoades Auditorium and is free.

Former Linesville residents have been nominated for a Grammy.

The Pittsburgh Post Gazette profiles the Pittsburgh Beer Society...

Pittsburgh is attempting to link some its cultural attractions in a plan called "The Charm Bracelet":
The concept is to connect destinations -- among them, the Children's Museum, Andy Warhol Museum, Carnegie Science Center, National Aviary, Mattress Factory, New Hazlett Theater, Allegheny Commons park and sports stadiums -- in a way that positions the North Side as the city's "family district," just as Downtown's theaters and galleries are grouped as the Cultural District.

The Museum for African Art finally has a permanent home.

I've taken the liberty of creating a Flickr group for this weekend's Franklin on Ice festival. Please use it to share those photos you take this weekend!

Deli Magazine explores the popularity and ease of creating a home recording studio.

Human resource experts say workers could benefit more from art than from math and science

About three years ago, I tried to cajole PostSecret into coming to Western PA. Turns out they did, just no where near the area I had hoped.

Man, there's a ton of good film around here lately. Four films are scheduled to be shown in Allegheny College's 2007 International Film Festival. All films begin at 7:30 p.m. at the Academy Theatre, 275 Chestnut Street, with film introductions at Sunday showings.

Feb. 10 & 11: Curse of the Golden Flower
China, Later Tang Dynasty, 10th Century. On the eve of the Chong Yang Festival, golden flowers fill the Imperial Palace. The Emperor (Chow Yun Fat) returns unexpectedly with his second son, Prince Jai (Jay Chou). His pretext is to celebrate the holiday with his family, but given the chilled relations between the Emperor and the ailing Empress (Gong Li), this seems disingenuous. For many years, the Empress and Crown Prince Wan (Liu Ye), her stepson, have had an illicit liaison. Feeling trapped, Prince Wan dreams of escaping the palace with his secret love Chan (Li Man), the Imperial Doctor's daughter. Meanwhile, Prince Jai, the faithful son, grows worried over the Empress's health and her obsession with golden chrysanthemums. Could she be headed down an ominous path? The Emperor harbors equally clandestine plans; the Imperial Doctor (Ni Dahong) is the only one privy to his machinations. When the Emperor senses a looming threat, he relocates the doctor's family from the Palace to a remote area. While they are en route, mysterious assassins attack them. Chan and her mother, Jiang Shi (Chen Jin) are forced back to the palace. Their return sets off a tumultuous sequence of dark surprises. Amid the glamour and grandeur of the festival, ugly secrets are revealed. As the Imperial Family continues its elaborate charade in a palatial setting, thousands of golden armored warriors charge the palace. Who is behind this brutal rebellion? Where do Prince Jai's loyalties lie? Between love and desire, is there a final winner? Against a moonlit night, thousands of chrysanthemum blossoms are trampled as blood spills across the Imperial Palace.
Feb. 17 & 18: L'Enfant
Bruno and Sonia are boy friend and girl friend, playful, immature. She's still in her teens; they chase each other, share cigarettes, spray sodas and wrestle. The thing is, they also have a new baby. Just out of hospital, Sonia seeks out Bruno to bring him his son. Bruno's indifferent. In the grimy Belgian city of Seraing, he's a petty thief with no interest in work, no plan, spending money as fast as he can fence cameras and jewelry. He sells the baby. Sonia's reaction and Bruno's surprise at her response inform his subsequent actions. The camera follows and observes him: has he a nascent conscience or any chance at redemption? Can he help himself?
Feb. 24 & 25: The Edukators
Berlin student Jule is hoplessly indebted due to an accident she caused, uninsuredly hitting a rich businessman's limousine. Evicted from her flat she moves in with her boyfrend Peter and soon learns that Peter and his flatmate, Jan, are breaking into luxurious mansions at night. Instead of stealing or vandalizing, though, they carefully and ornately rearrange furniture and valulables and leave obscure messages. Jule convinces Jan, who has a crush on her, to pay a visit to the villa of her creditor.
March 3 & 4: "Volver"
Raimunda lives in Madrid with her daughter Paula and her husband Paco, who is always drunk. Her sister, Sole, is separated and works clandestinely as a hairstylist for women. The two sisters lost their parents in a fire in La Mancha, their birth village, years ago. Their aunt, Paula, still lives in the village and continues to speak about her sister Irene, mother of the two sisters, as if she were still alive. When the old aunt dies the situation changes and the past returns(volver) in a twist of mystery and suspense.
Cost: $6 general admission, $5 seniors & students, free with Allegheny ID.
I was talking to someone from Butler who told me that the Penn is hosting a multi-month classic horror film festival. Schedule to come.

The University of Pittsburgh at Titusville’s “Flip Over Fiber Arts” will be on display for the public to view from now until March 5 during the library’s regular hours of 8:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday and 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Sunday.

Without a doubt, the funniest thing I have seen in a while whilst perusing the upcoming.org Erie listings regarding a gathering at Erie's Hookah Cafe:

Both days are bad for me. The 1st is my kids first marching band gig and Sept. 9 is Erie Pagan Pride Day.

Clarion artist Mark Franchino's work is highlighted in the Brew House gallery.

Following the wild success of the Ilya Kaminsky reading, a reader sent in a link to another, although regional, deaf poet, Stephen Michael Verigood.

Jerome Wincek has released a limited edition of his new album, Astral Road. Support a local artist for $10 and get some fine music at the same time. Now, can we talk into a Franklin show.

For the third year in a row, the Pittsburgh Jewish-Israeli Film Festival is offering free screenings for school groups. Teachers can choose from four films, being shown as weekday matinees from March 5-23 at the SouthSide Works Cinema.

On Saturday, February 17th, Erie's Brewerie at Union Station is sponsoring a tour and sampling of 5 area micro breweries: The Erie Brewing Company, Sprague Farm and Brew Works in Venango, PA, North Country Brewing in Slippery Rock, PA and a sneak peak at Voodoo Brewing Company that will be opening soon in Meadville PA.

The New York Times profiles the resurgence of soul music.

The Orlando Sentinel examines why everyone loves the banjo.

Venango County Ghost Stories is pretty much self-explanatory, but it's a real active and I must, fom the dates recollected in the entries, have known the author, but I'll be darned if I can figure out who she is. Regardless, a fun read.

Bobby Seale will be speaking at SRU on Wednesday, February 7, at 8:00 pm in the University Union

How will I be staying warm? in a long sleeve featuring"Voyage of Discovery" tee shirt:
Nerdy and toasty...mmm...toasty