Sometime in December 2007, I sent out some emails asking local(ish) artists, venue owners, and other cultural workers if they wanted to participate in a monthly top 10 list project. The premise was simple: participants would choose their top 10 of anything, no theme necessary, and explain why they liked it so much. I'm still looking to fill a few spots and would love to have more visual, artists, writers, and arts administrators. So if you're interesting in playing along, drop me a line.

Next in the series is Gypsy Dave of Gypsy Dave and the Stumpjumpers:

"Here it is, in its mostly 80's glory (I know it's weird, I was born in 83')... For some reason the movies I watched as a boy still stand as the ones that hit me the hardest.

1. Stand By Me(hands down)This is coming of age as a boy in American society. No one could do it better.

2. Big Fish The songs, the stories, the lives we lead. I love how this film was made.

3. Lean on Me This is one of my Dad's favorite movies. I think he always saw something of himself in the film having spent most of his young life working in the addictions field. It makes you want to stand up for what you believe in. And in this film, it's people, all of us together.

4. Milo and Otis Ahh..who doesn't love a story about a curious cat and a pug nosed pup narrated by a British guy who does the voices for every animal?

5. The Ghost and the Darkness A true story about man eating lions in Africa that were so prolific in their killing that they became mythical. They were called 'The ghost and the darkness' and the movie personifies the man vs nature conflict. Man is trying to conquer Africa by building a railroad. The lions, they said, were sent by the devil... or maybe not. There's something to that...

6. O Brother Where Art Thou I've always loved the colors in this movie. Most notably at the Devil's crossroads. That sienna color makes the movie for me. And that soundtrack too...

7. Teen Wolf Michael J. Fox, werewolves, high school basketball (a la Hoosiers). Can you beat that?

8. Top Gun I think I watched this movie every day for a whole summer in middle school.

9. Over the Top Written by Sylvester Stallone. Here's the skinny. A truck driver (played by Sylvester himself) has to win back the love of his son and buy a new big rig by competing in arm wrestling tournaments. Yep. It's that good.

10. Emmett Otter’s Jug Band Christmas This is my favorite Christmas movie. Not only because a bunch of otters and beavers play in a jug band together... If you haven't seen it yet, you should."


Right now Gypsy Dave and The Stumpjumpers is gearing up to go on tour in April.

Apr 3 2008 8:00P	Grounds For Change (Allegheny College)	Meadville, Pennsylvania
Apr 11 2008 10:30P	Club Cafe	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Apr 12 2008 8:00P	Purple Fiddle	Thomas, West Virginia
Apr 18 2008 7:00P	Mercyhurst College	Erie, Pennsylvania

You can purchase Gypsy Dave and Stumpjumper's latest album As the Stars Gather Light (or stream it for free) at CDBaby.

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I've been listening to a lot of Charlie Sexton lately. I just thought you'd want to know.

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Pricked: Extreme Embroidery

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Custom Turntables

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Public art can generate big revenues and beautify urban areas. Or it can anger residents. How does one measure its success?

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A library themed muxtape.

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Franklin native Deac Mong has completed "First Shot" -- a French and Indian War themed painting that will be unveiled during a ceremony and reception April 10 at the Heinz History Center, Pittsburgh. Mong's other work includes a mural for the Venango County courthouse, which depicts George Washington confronting the French at Fort Machault. A member of the committee who put together the Washingon themed markers along Route 8 told me once, with a glint in his eye, that the mural meant defendants now had to look up at two horses' asses.

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Newmen play at Oil City's Howling Dog Cafe tonight - no cover, show starts at 8pm.

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Arts and Drafts will be held March 27-29 at the Brewerie at Union Station. Over 30 artists will have their works exhibited, a number of local bands will perform in the 3 day arts celebration, and you'll have the chance to enjoy excellent drafts from the Erie microbrewery. Admission is FREE. Hours are 12 noon to close each day. Schedule of bands. (via)

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The PHMC approved two historical markers for Venango. They're...sigh...petro related. Anyone interested in working with me on getting some arts-related markers up. I'm starting with Hildegard Dolson.... I already have the cash donors lined up. Email me if you want to play along.

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Veteran Status plays Brother Bean (2803 SR 257, Seneca, PA 16346
814-677-0232) this Saturday from 7-9 pm. No cover.

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This preview or "teaser" episode of the all-new “Sleepy Hollow Theater” will include an interview with Sleepy Hollow Amusements' president, Bryan Hogue, who will talk a little about the haunted house business. Also touched on are some plans for the up coming Halloween season.If you live in Oil City this episode will air tonight @ 7 PM on channel 20 and then again on Saturday @ 9 PM.In Franklin, channel 6, tomorrow night @ 7 PM and then again on Saturday @ 9 PM.

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Newmen plays Saturday Meadville's Artist Cup Cafe (231 Chestnut Street Meadville, PA 16335 814-337-8287) at 6 pm. Jesse Lavery plays the Artist Cup Cafe Friday at 6pm. No cover for each.

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Port Authority workers preparing to remove a mural from a Downtown subway station discovered that the tiled painting installed 24 years ago is worth millions of dollars.

The authority commissioned artist Romare Bearden to paint the mural that was unveiled with the station's 1984 opening. The 60-foot by 13-foot mural was painted on 780 tiles that were mounted on the subway wall opposite the station's platform.
One tile accidentally was installed upside-down and not corrected, authority officials said. Bearden, one of the nation's premier black artists who lived in Pittsburgh in his youth.

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Despite the national problems with real estate, Pittsburgh has good news with the grand opening of a new performing space, The Grey Box Theatre, Friday from 7 p.m. until midnight. It is located in the Blackbird Lofts & Artist Studios in the heart of Lawrenceville (3595 Butler St.).

For more information to this free event, call 412-586-7744 or e-mail GreyBoxTheatre@aol.com.

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Tyler Ramsey, North Carolina-based guitarist for acclaimed indie-rockers Band of Horses, brings his fingerstyle picking to Pittsburgh's Club Cafe at 8 p.m. Friday. Tickets are $10. Call 1-866-468-4301.

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While I've been fairly vocal in my sadness in the folding of serveral of my favorite music magds recently, The Daily Tar Heel asks, when it comes to music criticism, if we've got blogs, why do we need magazines?

R.E.M.'s newest record, Accelerate, which hits shelves Tuesday, began streaming this week on Facebook's iLike application, weeks after songs and a video appeared on various Internet music blogs. So, in effect, everything one would need to know about the record was available about a month before the official release date and three weeks before any magazines would run a review.

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Fray is now open for submissions for their second book! The theme is: Geek - Stories of People Taking Things Too Seriously.

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Cloud Computing anyone? Adobe Photoshop Express is nopw available on the web. For free.

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Free and Legal Downloads

Explosions in the Sky: March 21, 2008 San Francisco [mp3,ogg,flac]

Allen Ginsberg and William Burroughs class, July, 1984. (July 4, 1984)

Ginsberg begins by reading from Burroughs's work, Burroughs arrives and discusses writing techniques, including the idea that "Life is a cut up." He also talks about why he became a writer, Laurie Anderson, rolling drunks, biological warfare, weapons and retreats. The class learns some exercises for observing details while walking down the street.

Frank Sinatra & Count Basie, June 9, 1964 It Might as Well Be Swing sessions (FLAC)

Nirvana April 17, 1190 at the Foufounes Electriques Montreal,Canada

A little blatant self promotion this morning - thanks to all who dropped me an email about my mention in the News Herald's "Spray" column on Saturday - I hadn't noticed it and had to dig through the recycling. Along those same lines, Kate Shoup Welsh's new book Rubbish! which contains a section by me on the recycled and upcycled crafts my daughter and I shill at our etsy shop has been officially released.

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The Titusville Herald profiles several artistic Titusville women including Susan Turner, Titusville Area School District art department chair

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Tomorrow, Thursday, March 27, head to The University of Pittsburgh at Titusville's Haskell Library to catch a free screening of Orwell Rolls in His Gravehosted by Mary Ann Caton, UPT history professor. Flick starts at 7 pm and is free and open to the public

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Ischabaha brings their Celtic sound to the UPitt Titusville Friday March 28th at 7: 30 pm in Henne Auditorium. Tickets are $8 at the door, or call (814) 827-4503 to reserve.
Stream their music for free at CDBaby. Yes, there will be a bozouki.

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Oil City's Croyle Entertaiment was announced their 2008 Scribe Playwrighting Competition
Deadline: July 4, 2008
Winners announced: September 4, 2008
Welcome to the Scribe Playwrighting Competition.
The competition has two categories for sumbission:
Full length plays: All plays 75+ pages are considered to be full length.
One act plays: All plays up to 74 pages in length are considered one act plays.
The Scribe Playwrighting Competition offers the following to the winners of each category:
$200 Cash Prize
Certificate of Merit
A filmed reading of their work for developmental purposes on DVD.
Consideration for full production by Croyle Entertainment.
Written response to your work.

SUBMIT YOUR PLAY.
Plays must be submitted as follows:
Script must be in proper play formatting.
Script must have a cover page that includes the title of the play, writer's name and address.
Plays must be registered with a protective agency (i.e. WGA, Copyright Office.)
Pages must be clearly numbered.
Only hardcopies are accepted at this point, please use three-hole puched paper bound by brads.
On the outside of your submission envelope, please specify either 'One Act' or 'Full Length.'
Include a check with your submission: $15.00 (US) for one acts, $25.00 (US) for full length plays.
Please make your checks payable to CROYLE ENTERTAINMENT.
Send your submissions to:
Scribe Playwrighting Competition
C/O Croyle Entertainment
509 Hiland Avenue
Oil City, PA 16301
USA

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Oil City's Pumkin Bumkin fest is looking for bands interested in a Battle of the Bands fundraiser. The downside? A $100 per band entry fee! If you're interested and your pockets are deep, drop by their site.

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Make an online mixtape to share at Muxtape.

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You'll never convince me that Gotham isn't anything more than a nom de comics for Pittsburgh, and now, "Steel City" has another tights wearing denizen - Hero By Night.

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Free and Legal Downloads:
David Bazan: 2008-03-15, Austin [mp3]

The Allegheny College Art Department will present its annual Student Show, an exhibition open to all Allegheny College students, in the Bowman, Penelec and Megahan Galleries from Tuesday, March 25 through Wednesday, April 16. The opening of the exhibit will be celebrated with a public reception in the Art Galleries on Tuesday, March 25 from 7 to 9 pm. This year's juror is Mark Franchino, gallery director and assistant professor of art at Clarion University of Pennsylvania.

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The Barrow Civic Theatre will present Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None” April 3rd through 6th. Call the Box Office at 437-3440.

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All non-profits should plan on attending the kick-off event for the Franklin Public Library’s Rural Northwest Pennsylvania Grant Resource Center. This informational meeting is sponsored by the Franklin Area Chamber of Commerce and will be held at the Barrow Civic Little Theatre from 9:00 to 11:30 AM on Friday, April 4th. Call the Chamber at 432-5823 to register.

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DIY Loop effects pedal

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My new favorite way to waste time? Photoshopped.

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Slippery Rock University students continue to have difficulty understanding that you know, everyone can see what they put on the net. As Homer would say, "These children are our future...unless we stop them."

I forgot to look at the pictures before I posted them," Tedesco said Wednesday afternoon. "It was a mistake and I'm deleting them." Tedesco entered The Rocket office early Wednesday evening to inquire about The Rocket's intention to run a story about the photos. She suggested that since she had already deleted the photos, there was no need for a story.

Indeed.

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What's the future of the iPod? I'm guessing something like this.

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Auditions for the Annual Clarion University Summer Musical Theatre Festival will be held on Friday April 4, 5-8 p.m., and Saturday April 5, noon-5 p.m., in the Little Theatre at the Marwick-Boyd Fine Arts Center on the Clarion campus.

Those wishing to audition are asked to prepare 16 measures of an up-tempo song, and should be prepared to learn a dance combination. An accompanist will be provided.

The musicals planned as part of the 2008 Summer Season include: “The Roar of the Greasepaint – The Smell of the Crowd”; “Seussical, the Musical”; and “Once on this Island.” All are encouraged to audition although most roles are for teens and older.

For further information, contact Robert Levy at the Department of Theatre, (814) 393-2283.

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Two artists I've never heard of (not that that means anything) are headlining Clarion's 2008 CampusFest: Colbie Caillat and Jason Reeves on April 26 in Tippin Gymnasium. The doors open at 7 p.m. and the concert begins at 8 p.m. Tickets are $15 for Clarion University students with a valid identification card and $25 for the public. All tickets are $25 the day of the show.

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Following Kesey's outlaw Mexican journeys.

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The Pittsburgh Jewish-Israeli Film Festival kicks off this week.

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Sneakerheads in Cleveland.

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Free and Legal downloads:
Via Daytrotter
Head of Femur - "Science Needed a Medical Man"
Head of Femur - "Leader And The Falcon"
Head of Femur - "Jetway Junior"
Head of Femur - "80 Steps to Jonah"

No post tomorrow due to the holiday - see you Monday...

Venangoland asks how should we be promoting the area?

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Venango Video will be airing a new "Chilly Billy Theater"-style program called "Sleepy Hollow Theater." The preview show will be on the local cable channel next Thursday at 7pm and then again on Saturday at 9pm. Part of the show will include an intermission break featuring a local band. If you have any interest of making an appearance on "Sleepy Hollow Theater," please send a demo CD and "all your info" to:
Venango Video
c/o Sleepy Hollow Theater
7 Vo Tech Drive Suite 1E
Oil City, PA 16301

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The Roman Catholic Diocese of Erie has uploaded a short video documentary about the creation and installation of mosaic stations of the cross at Edinboro's Our Lady of the Lake church.

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PETA is looking for summer interns.

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9 Mistakes To Avoid When Recording Your Own Album

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The Times interviews Philip Pullman:

Lee Scoresby, the sardonic Texan aeronaut brought to life in the pages of His Dark Materials - and on the shelves of Toys 'R' Us, where children can now pick up Golden Compass action figures - is the hero of this latest offering from Pullman's fantastical universe. Blown into the North by the winds of chance, he finds himself unwittingly embroiled in a battle against shadowy political figures driven by their greed for oil and money.

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Free and Legal Downloads:

N.E.R.D.: 2007-03-14, Austin [mp3]

Vampire Weekend: 2008-03-13, Austin [mp3]

Burial - "Ghost Hardware" (mp3)

Camphor"The Sweetest Tooth" (mp3)

"Castaway" (mp3)

"Confidences Shattered" (mp3)

Buy at iTunes Music Store

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Huzzah! and Kudos! to the Titusville Council on the Arts as they celebrate their 25th birthday.

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The auditions for the upcoming production of “The 1940’s Radio Hour” (a musical) will be held on Saturday and Sunday, March 29 and 30 at 2:00pm in the Barrow Little Theatre (1223 Liberty St, Franklin PA 16323). There are 14 characters ages 16 and up. For further information please call 437-3440 800-537-7769

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Today, Friday, March 21, 6 to 9 pm, Glass Growers Gallery (10 E 5th St Erie, PA) presents its spring exhibit "Photo and Fiber": Fine Art Photographs by Greg Zbach and Felted Handbags by Betty Rositer. The artists' reception is open to the public. The exhibit is open from March 21 to April 29, 2008.

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Or, you know, make it a artsy too-fer and learn to throw a pot at the Erie Art Museum's ClaySpace Open Studio (1505 State St, 3rd floor) tonight as well. Instruction is $6 per person and is on a first come first served basis. Complimentary pizza will be served. Demonstration and workshop sessions are at 6:30, 7:15 and 8 pm. Wear old clothes and shoes. All ages.

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Indiepublic is for sale for the amazingly reasonable price of 18K - it would seem to be the perfect sort of job for an artsy-tech person here as you could work from home with very low operating costs.
If you are interested, email FORSALE@INDIEPUBLIC.COM, for a Buyer's Guide that includes:

1) Proof of income
2) Basic information on the running and maintenance of the site
3) Additional information regarding the site's traffic
4) Ideas on additional income sources

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Threadless has extended their spring cleaning (with t's down to $9) sale until Wednesday.

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The Jewish Daily Forward reviews two books, Disguised As Clark Kent: Jews, Comics, And the Creation of the Superhero and The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America. (via) And if that's your cup of tea, allow me to also recommend Our Gods Wear Spandex: The Secret History of Comic Book Heroes or Up, Up, and Oy Vey!: How Jewish History, Culture, and Values Shaped the Comic Book.

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Filk is commonly defined as the music of science-fiction fandom:
. . . but there’s more to it than that. “Filk is the music made by filkers,” says 37-year-old Cambridge resident and long-time filker Lara Ortiz de Montellano. “What’s a filker? A person who calls themselves a filker.”

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Free and Legal Downloads
A spring theme today, I think.

Cassandra Wilson, Waters of March (orig. Antonio Carlos Jobim) (via)
Erin McKeown, They Say It's Spring (Clarke/Haymes)

If you are among the many photographers who have recently self-published a book of your work (Sowden, Karian, I'm looking at you two....), take note: A new competition wants to see it. Called the Photography.Book.Now International Salon and Symposium, this contest celebrates and surveys self-published photo books, with a grand prize of $25,000 going toward the completion — or the beginning — of a new photo project of the winner's choice.

Entries will be accepted in two categories: General — pretty much open to any self-published photography volume — and Themed, which includes work that "demonstrates how photography can create a narrative in book form," according to the contest announcement, released today. (Above is a spread from a themed book on portraits.) Entry deadline is July 14. For entry details and guidelines, visit photographybooknow.com.

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Canopy View plays Seneca's Brother Bean 7-9 pm. No cover.

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The Slits play an all ages show at The Andy Warhol Museum (117 Sandusky St. Pittsburgh PA) at 8 p.m. tomorrow. $12.

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The 2007-2008 season of the Silberman Recital Series at Allegheny College continues with a return performance by the Alexander String Quartet on Thursday, April 3 at 7:30 p.m. The concert, to be held in Ford Memorial Chapel, is free and open to the public.

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When the tenor down the stage into the prompter’s box. . . he entered a storied history of midperformance mishaps at the opera.

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Free and Legal Downloads:

Stephen Malkmus - Cold Son (mp3)
She & Him(Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward) - Why Stay Here (mp3)
Bauhaus - Too Much 21st Century (mp3)
Bauhaus - International Bullet Proof Talent (mp3)
Buy at iTunes Music Store

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The Titusville Herald profiles potter Don Lombardo owner of Titusville's Brown Stone Studio (104 Diamond Street Titusville, PA 16354 (814)827-1277) and March's Artist of the Month at Oil City's Transit Fine Arts Gallery :

[Brown] catalogues [his work] in a notebook, assigning each one a number and a small description. He recounted how a woman came in and selected a jar that was catalogued as having an attractive teal glaze. At the last minute, the woman changed her mind and decided to exchange the jar. She brought a little green jar to the counter and asked what Lombardo had penned for its description. Lombardo said he read, “Bad glaze. God awful color. Someone who buys this has no taste.”

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Meadville's Greendale cemetery is sponsoring a photo contest.

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Photography and The Law: Know Your Rights

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The Post Gazette lists the ceramic exhibitions that are accompanying the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts conference that begins today in Pittsburgh.

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If, God forbid, my wife were to die, I would embrace polygamy and marry the Celtic Women.

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Punk Planet, No Depression, and now Harp. RIP.

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100 Great Etsy artists

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Brother Bean's Book Club continues tomorrow at 7pm. It's the final discussion on Army of None. Ending the War in Iraq is up next. Copies are avilable at the store (2803 SR 257, Seneca, PA 16346 814-677-0232. )

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Pittsburgh's Creative Nonfiction is seeking new essays written by physicians and therapists. The essays should depict experiences of "becoming a doctor" and couldexplore periods of growth and enlightenment, moments of transition, or realizations that one's maturation as a doctor had been achieved. Essays might also explore periods of doubt and struggle for clarity, or incidents of deep disappointment and disillusionment.
The objective is to capture the frustrations and triumphs of the healing art by encouraging doctors to recall and recreate the most salient and significant moments of their professional lives.
Submissions should be approximately 3,000 to 4,000 words long. Please send manuscript, accompanied by a cover letter with complete contact information, to:
Creative Nonfiction
Attn: Becoming a Doctor
5501 Walnut Street, Suite 202
Pittsburgh, PA 15232
Postmark deadline May 31, 2008.

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NPR takes a listen to the Punch Brothers' "chamber bluegrass"

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Free and Legal Downloads:

Big Leg Emma Live at Barley's on January 19, 2008

Cowboy Junkies Live at Belly Up Aspen on July 13, 2007

The Ditty Bops Live at Freight & Salvage Coffee House on March 6, 2008

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Venangoland says goodbye to John McConnell

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It may be a slow art day here, but there's tons of good stuff from South By Southwest:

Free and Legal Downloads
Yo La Tengo
Vampire Weekend
My Morning Jacket @ Austin Music Hall

Streams:
Billy Bragg
Carbon/Silicon
John Doe

This is the last month of John McConnell's tenure as General Manager of Barrow Civic Theatre:


Dear John-
So. end of an era huh? The problem with eras of course, especially ones as eventful as yours, is that it’s like what John Clellon Holmes said about Jack Kerouac – It’s like Niagara Falls, you’ve been looked at so many times, you can’t be seen anymore.

But here’s the thing. I’d like to think, with my outsider status, that I can see you. Or a little bit of you. You’ve always been nice to me – and not the sort of nice almost everyone else in creative scenes are – with a shiv in the hand behind your back, or in the hopes of a quid pro quo or some juicy gossip. But rather because, well, actually, I’m not sure why, but I’m guessing that that’s just the sort of good guy you are.

That’s not to say that you’re guileless (you’re not; no one could be and have still be able to have the aplomb you display while dealing with, shall we say, the personalities that define community theatre) or shy of the spotlight (again, you’re not – I can still see the sparkle in your eyes the last time spoke face to face as you spoke about Fiddler) but instead that you’ve always seemed. . . real.

Your successor has some big shoes to fill (I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I, very briefly, considered throwing my resume into that competition before letting my common sense override my ego) increased financial pressures, new theatres popping up like mushrooms at a moe show and continued community hostility to the concept of the Barrow as a regional rather than local theatre, but no matter, the new person(s)' success or failures, it is still you who made it even possible for such a position to exist. Maybe you didn't event the position, but you defined it. More personally, your tenure made my and my families' life better. You afforded us opportunities as performers, directors, consumers and organizers and never asked for a thing back. To me, you are and will always be the Barrow Theatre, the living embodiment of a regional treasure.

Thank you. For everything.

-Dittman

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Oil City Councilman John Bartlett has started a new blog to discuss local issues - Inside Oil City.

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Remora Deign plays Brother Bean Saturday from 7-9 pm. No cover.

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Veteran Status' Railbent is available on CD Baby for purchase or streaming.

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Oil City's metal guys Nervous Existence is looking to book some shows.

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The Butler Art Center is seeking artists for a few slots for solo shows in 2008 and 2009. If you're interested, please email for more details.

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Filmmakers Find Fresh Talent on MySpace

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The haiku of Philip Whalen:

Early Spring
The dog writes on the window
with his nose

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The first 50 issues of Poetry are now available online. You know. Free.

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If we're going to tear up all the slate sidewalks in Franklin anyhow, why not do something cool with the souless cement?

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YouTube for poetry.

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I picked up To Fill the World With Love - an LP of the Venango Christian (now Venango Catholic) High School Chorus' 1973 performance. My wife had also purchased a USB turntable for me as a Christmas gift. So I hauled it out yesterday and ripped the album. As today's Free and Legal Download, I thought I'd present one of the odder choices:

Theme from The Good The Bad and The Ugly.

("There's no way we could wear our skirts that short today," my daughter commented on the group photo on the back of the album. She was also blown away by the fact that, in 1973, there were more young women in the chorus alone than there are total students in 9-12 today).

Other Free and Legal Downloads:

Southern Culture On The Skids Live at Graceland on May 7, 2004

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists Live at Magic Stick on April 30, 2007

The Apples In Stereo Live at Bluebird Theatre on April 1, 2007

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Daniel Johnston, Robert Pollard and Edinboro’s Frank Marzano have more in common than might be apparent at first glance. What links them is an idiosyncratic understanding of the pop music of the 1960s. Like his more well known peers, Marzano takes the energy, verve and youthful obsession with topics like love, and, well, love mostly, and filters them through a unique psyche and voice to create something that’s not an homage, but a unique understanding of the genre itself.

It’s Marzano’s voice that attracts the most attention on his latest album, But Enough About Me, a follow up to his first album, 1999’s Foul Weather Friend. High, reedy like a tenor saxophone using the strain to push from note to note in the goofy tragic tale of a DUI “Making Up for Lost Time” one moment and then using it as nasally as Kermit on the paean to the “old” (read edgy rather than touristy) West Village “Bleecker Street”, it’s not a voice you’ll immediately open up to, but in a world made flat by Auto-Tune there’s something to be said for a voice that sounds different.

Download "Bleecker Street"

Download "Making Up For Lost Time"

Purchase (and Stream) Enough About Me at CDbaby

Frank Marzano next plays April 4 – Eclectic Etceteras (Edinboro, PA) 5 – 7 pm

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Venangoland takes on self made men (and women one would guess...).
Given a whole day, you could never list all the people whose lives and works have made your success possible. Nor could you list every turn at which misfortune could have derailed your life, no matter how great your efforts and determination.

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Brother Bean has updated its schedule with some really great picks:

• Canopy View (electronica, rock, progressive) March 22
• Veteran Status, indie, acoustic, folk rock March 29
• Justin Parson Apr 5 2008
• Signal Home/acoustic AND FLEETS April 12
• Remora Deign April 19
• Newmen April 26
• Hello Tokyo (power pop, indie, rock) (Playing at SXSW even as I type) May 8
• The Illalogical Spoon,experimental, folk, hardcore May 31

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Gwen from Brother Bean also passes on that:
the manager at the pretzel place at the cranberry mall (lee polk 676-6420) is looking for acoustic musicians to play. it has to be unplugged (mall rules) and there isn't much room for more than a couple of people on guitars. the pay would be food and tips. so give him a call or drop in and see him. be prepared to give him a demo or your myspace site so he can give a listen to your stuff.

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A Wartime Reading List

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LIFE ON MARS:The 55th Carnegie International (Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh. May 5 through Jan. 11.) has been singled out by the NY Times as one of 3 Exhibitions To Mark Your Calendar For

The Carnegie International, done every three or four years, is the oldest contemporary art exhibition in North America and the second oldest in the world after the Venice Biennial. This year’s version inaugurates the Fine Prize (an award of $5,000 given to an emerging artist in the exhibition), which joins the established Carnegie Prize (a $10,000 award for lifetime achievement, most recently given to the Turkish artist Kutlug Ataman).

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Cleveland Wants Hipsters!

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City Theatre has announced its 2008-2009 season and I am so excited to see it includes Conor McPherson's The Seafarer- the show I most wanted to direct at the Barrow Little Theatre and never got to.

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The Owl & the Bear has added a Wilco Archive to its site, which will feature direct downloads of lossless Wilco performances.

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Writer-artist Wilfred Santuago talks to Comic Book Resources about his graphic novel 21, a biography of Pirate legend Roberto Clemente.

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The Smithsonian Photography Initiative will end up putting more than 13 million images online and open to the public.

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Free and Legal Downloads:

Regina Spektor: 2007-09-16, Austin [mp3] (ZIP file broken)

The Arcade Fire - "Heroes" (David Bowie Cover)
The Arcade Fire - "A Change Is Gonna Come" (Sam Cooke Cover)
The Arcade Fire - "Gimme Me Some Truth" (John Lennon Cover) (via)

The Northwest Pennsylvania Community College now has a website.

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Oil City's Transit Gallery doesn't send me press releases, so I don't talk much about it (not out of spite, I just never know what's going on). But I did notice that Titusville potter Don Lombardo (in a weird seven degrees sort of thing, Lombardo also owns Brown Stone Studio in Titusville- the place where I hunted down newmen CDs last summer) is the artist of the month at the Transit Fine Arts Gallery - I own several pieces of his and have to say, this will be worth the trip - many of pieces from this self taught potter have an have Asian feel to them and are wildly affordable. Which probably explains why I have several pieces. I've had the chance to talk to Don several times and it turns out he's a really nice guy too. The work is up through the month of March at the Gallery (206 Seneca St, Oil City PA 10-4 pm Tuesday, Thursday, Fridays and Saturdays).

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Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre has announced the 2008-2009 season.

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There are currently four major movies based and being shot in and around the region,
Three movies in various stages of Pittsburgh production -- Zack and Miri Make A Porno, Shelter and the smaller-scale Feast of the Seven Fishes -- are on track to spend nearly $60 million in the area, according to the Pennsylvania Tourism Office. Two other major studio productions with Pittsburgh offices -- The Road and She's Out of My League -- are not yet on the official tax incentive docket.

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The Spring Fever Festival will beheld April 18th-20th 2008 at Cambridge Spring's Riverside Inn

Friday

• 6pm Great American Gypsies
• 7pm Emil & the Palookas
• 8pm Grassfire
• 9pm Amy Loftus
• 10pm Tiger Maple String Band

Saturday

• 1pm Gaffer
• 2pm Max Texter
• 3pm Crabapple Creek
  
• 4pm Trevor MacDonald
• 5pm Gypsy Dave & the Stump Jumpers
• 6pm Wildwood Express
• 7pm Salmon Frank
• 9pm Claire Stuczynski
• 10pm Sage
• 11pm Blue Sky Mission Club

Sunday

• 11am Jim Lynch
  
• 12am Cathy Hickling
  
• 1pm Dan Wilcox
• 2pm Jim Froman's Hot Rhythm Club Band
• 3pm Shotgun Jubilee
• 4pm B.J. O'Malley
  

Weekend admission tickets are $20 and single day admission is $10. Children under 16 are free. Anyone under the age of 18 will need to have adult supervision to attend.

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Veteran Status has announced that:

Congressional Candidate Kyle Foust will be attending our show on April 11th at Eclectic Etcetera's in Edinboro, Pa. Not only will he be in attendance, those affiliated with him have agreed to pick up the bill for the entire crowd...

Additionally, the new EP will be available, "by the end of April, perhaps the beginning of May."

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Jerome Wincek and the Old Hats have posted new tunes on thier MySpace page as apreview of the upcoming album love is a martyr.

included is a brand new tune called "the intranet man" about a trashy woman who leaves her deadbeat man for an online charmer.. . i also put up the opening and closing tracks from the meat and potatoes release, astral road.

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Library Thing Local

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The world's 50 most powerful blogs

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The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame honors the class of 2008 tonight night at the Waldorf-Astoria. Here's a look at the other inductees not named Madonna

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The Doors' Pittsburgh concert now on CD

. . . . coherent and often funny Jim Morrison leads the band through such classics as "Back Door Man," "Roadhouse Blues" and "Five to One." Part of what makes it unique is an improvised section in the 22-minute "When the Music's Over," where Morrison breaks on through into pieces of other songs. That's before he wails, squawks, laughs, whistles and seems to be doing bird calls into the mike.

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Gene Fenton is recruiting Scream Queens to pose in promotional photographs with his sculptures of dinosaurs and other monsters. If you're interested in posing as a Scream Queen, contact him at gfenton@mail.microserve.net You can see slide shows of his promotional photos at www.genefenton.com 724-349-0382

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Where Fact Meets Fiction: A National Symposium on the Intersection of Forensic Science and Pop Culture will be held at Duquesne University April 3-5.

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Free and Legal Downloads

Mountain Goats Live at Bottom of the Hill on March 2, 2008

Austin Sound has posted Sound Advice Vol II, an mp3 compilation of Austin bands complete with profiles of the participating artists.

Jill Sobule:

Bloody Valentine(unreleased track)
Houdini's Box.From Jill Sobule.
Nothing Natural. From Underdog Victorious.

Last night my new toy came: a Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 DG Macro Telephoto Zoom Lens -cheap enough I can bang it around and actually use it, but nice enough to take a fun shot like this ( a little Buddha sitting in one of my dish gardens - that's a Living Stone plant in the background) :

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Sort of a slow weekend it seems. Newmen plays a free show at Oil City's Howling Dog Gallery and Cafe (Seneca St OC PA 16301) Friday at 9 pm

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In an inspired bit of booking, Brother Bean (2803 SR 257, Seneca, PA 16346
814-677-0232) brings improv group The Cellar Dwellers to Seneca this Saturday from 7-9 pm. No cover.

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The Oil Region Paranormal Investigation Team is looking for haunted houses or buildings investigate. The service is free.

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Venangoland tackles God and transgender musicians in two recent posts.

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The Wall Street Journal profiles mp3 blogs that feature out-of -print vinyl albums.(via)

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The Pittsburgh City Paper profiles Laurie Woodward's blog Cupcake Hero . Speaking of cupcakes, Dozen's online shop is now open.

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Free and Legal Downloads:

Magic Systeme from Ivoir' Compil, Vol. 4 (Jober Entertainment)
"1er Gaou" (mp3)
"Vive le maire" (mp3)
"Monogaga" (mp3)
( Buy at iTunes Music Store )


Bill Ali'iloa Lincoln from Bill Ali'iloa Lincoln - Hawaii's Falsetto Poet (Hana Ola Records)
"Kawaihae" (mp3)
"Pua Iliahi" (mp3)
"Moku O Keawe" (mp3)
( Buy at mTraks Download)

Los Campesinos! "You! Me! Dancing!" (mp3) from Hold On Now, Youngster (Arts & Crafts)
( Buy at Rhapsody )


Son Lux "Break" (mp3) from At War With Walls and Mazes (anticon)
( Buy at Amazon)

Brother Bean's book discussion group will meet Thursday evening at 7 pm for the final discussion of Army of None. Next up? (Probably) Ending the War in Iraqby Tom Hayden. It's free and open to the public.

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March 19 - 22 is the conference for the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) which will draw 5,000 participants to Pittsburgh.

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New Haven Conn, wants to make its city a destination for cyclists. Surprisingly, instead of the Venango County plan (replace historic slate sidewalks with concrete and dump hundreds of thousands of dollars into the AVTA coffers to fund a bike trail that most people have to drive to in order to ride their bikes) their plan includes bike racks, bike lanes and better traffic enforcement. You can view the whole plan and ask yourselves why the local government feels the need to reinvent the wheel at every turn (and then throw up hands when it doesn't work) here.

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Speaking of such.

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PC Mag lists way to get (legal) free music.

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Best rumor from a reputable source that I've heard recently? In the not-so near future, Polk Center will be reimagined as a minimum security prison. Thank God they aren't going to do something like turn it into a Community College! Who needs retraining and education if you can be part of the Prison-Industrail complex? Feh. And double feh.

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You have until this Saturday to view Master Craftsman Eugene D. Monrean's white oak baskets at Oil City's Transit Building Gallery (from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. )

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How much of a grown up am I? I blew off an invitation only Over the Rhine show at WYEP to lecture to undergraduates on Roland Barthes. Did I say grown up? I meant nerd...

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Slippery Rock University's library blog, Cites & Bytes @ Bailey, is looking for:
students, staff, faculty, administration, community members, passing strangers... to share your love of books and reading on our blog.

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The 2008 Northwest PA Maple Association Taste and Tour is Saturday, March 15, 2008 Sunday, March 16, 2008 10:00am to 4pm and I will be there, blood sugar and morbid obesity be damned.

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What can Obama (and the rest of us) learn about marketing from Trent Reznor? (BTW, the very enjoyable (although not for the kids) Reznor produced The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust from slam poet Saul Williams is still available for a pay-what-you-will download) (fewer than one in five people who downloaded the music were willing to pony up $5, roughly the cost of a McDonald's Quarter Pounder. )

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Daytrotter has downloads of . . . ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead

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Pitchfork interviews St. Vincent.

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I'm finishing an essay for an academic press book on Captain America. My piece is about Truth: Red, White and Blue, so I've been dropping by The Museum of Black Superheroes pretty often.

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What's the most interesting part of "20 Sci-Fi books that will change your life"? The revelation that Guillermo Del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth, Hellboy) is working on a movie version of by H.P. Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness, one of my favorite nerdy tween books:

This longish short story by H.P. Lovecraft brings together all of Lovecraft's greatest and most memorable obsessions. When a group of explorers discover a lost Antarctic city, they learn that the Earth was once the home to many alien races, some of whom still lurk under the ocean (Cthulhu's spawn), and others of whom can be summoned (the Shoggoths). Reading this book will take you deep into the subterranean imagination of Lovecraft, full of lost civilizations and slimy monsters who haunt our dreams.

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(Via)The 2008 Million Writers Award for best online short story is now open for nominations from editors and readers. Once again, the Edit Red Writing Community is sponsoring the contest, which means there is a $300 prize for the overall winner. For those who don't feel like wading through the rules, here's the award process in a nutshell:

• Any story published during 2007 in an online magazine journal is eligible. The caveats are that said online mag or journal must have an editorial process--meaning no self-published stories--and the story must be at least a 1,000 words in length. Readers may nominate one story for the award. Editors of online publications may nominate up to three stories from their publication. All nominations are due by March 31.
• A group of volunteer preliminary editors will go through the nominated stories--along with other stories that catch their interest--and select their favorites. These will become the Million Writers Award notable stories of the year. I will then go through all the notable stories and pick the top ten stories of the year. The general public will then vote on those ten stories, with the overall winner receiving the award and cash prize.

Complete information on all this, along with links to where people can nominate stories, is available on the award website. I will also be regularly publishing comments and information on my blog and website as the award process as it unfolds.

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Start planning those Summer projects now:

• How to make an axolotl cake
• Make your own music server

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Stream the score for There Will be Blood

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Free and Legal Downloads:

Bela Fleck and the Flecktones Live at Scottish Rite Cathedral on 1997-03-23 (March 23, 1997)

Minutemen Live at Georgia Institute Of Technology on 1985-11-30 (November 30, 1985)

Over the Rhine Live at Workplay Theatre on 2008-02-04 (February 4, 2008)

Overt Negritude Live at Sweet Rhythm on 2006-03-26 (March 26, 2006)

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