Back to school and the accompanying germs. I'm down with the flu. Not, that I agree with flu, but rather I'm ill with it...

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Newmen play Seneca's Brother Bean on Saturday at 7pm. No cover. It's going to be a fantasic show, and you will regret it if you don't make it.

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Kathryn Kuhlman was a was a 20th Century American faith healer. who was based in Franklin, PA around 1948. Now she has her own Myspace page. And, from the comments, people aren't sure if she's alive or dead. Strange.

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From the online Derrick:
Photo by Heather Leskanic - Mark Weaver pauses at the door of his family's barn Wednesday along Stoney Lonesome Road just south of Clarion. The pastoral mural was painted over the course of several years by Oil City artist Jill Mattson... Mattson will be hosting a workshop on how music can positively affect your personal aura from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 27.

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Sometimes, with so many chain stores, it's easy for us outsiders to forget that Pittsburgh has a thriving indie bookstore scene.

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The first show of the Slippery Rock University theater department’s 2007-2008 season is “Tallgrass Gothic,” a haunting story of obsessive love. Tallgrass Gothic is intended for mature audiences. Curtains are at 8 p.m. Sept. 28-29 and Oct. 1-3, with a 2 p.m. matinee Sept. 30 in Miller Auditorium. Tickets are $5 for SRU students and $10 for the general public. Reservations for the 90-minute show may be made in person from 1-2 p.m. weekdays beginning Sept. 17 at the Miller Auditorium Box Office, or by calling 724.738.2645.

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Takoma Park MD has a poet lauraeate, but Venango County doesn't?! C'mon!

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The Slippery Rock Rocket takes on...poetry?

There's a reason a lot of people hate "poetry". . . and it all comes down to this: it can be boring.
But poetry doesn't have to be that way. We don't have to groan every time a copy of "The Waste Land" by T.S. Eliot graces our presence. That poem has to be one of the most elitist things ever written.
Because it consists of so many allusions to other things, it was almost as if Elliot was just trying to prove his poetical superiority...
Indeed.

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The Great Lakes Independent Film Festival starts today and runs through Sunday September 30 at The Roadhouse Theatre (145 West 11th Street Erie PA 16501).

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NPR streams a live Okkervill River show on Septemeber 30th. catch live Iron and Wine the night before.

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Some free and legal downloads for you. First the latest from Pittsburgh's Karl Hendricks Rock Band (If you're old like me, you remember The Karl Hendrick's Trio). Check out the cover art from Mike Budai (who still owes me a signed print)

The Karl Hendricks Rock Band
"Mediocre Advice" (mp3)
from "The World Says"
(Comedy Minus One)
More On This Album

Next, something from Sonic Youth's frontman
Thurston
"Frozen Gtr" (mp3)
"Fri/End" (mp3)
from "Trees Outside the Academy"

Benefit Show - I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change

One of the great things about living in Venango is that everything is darn cheap. Last week I was invited to Pittsburgh's Bricolage, an event where 6 writers have 12 hours to write a 10-minute play inspired by a 90-minute journey on a city bus. The directors and actors have the next 12 hours to rehearse, memorize and stage each play to debut that same evening exactly 24 hours after the first meeting. It was a benefit for a theatre company and tickets cost $75. Ouch.
However, this Saturday the 20th, at 8:00, the Barrow will host a re-presentation of the production of I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change .
As Director Peter Greene writes in Venangoland:

The show is a series of short vignettes capturing every aspect of meeting and mating from the very first moments of nervous first datery all the way through marriage, kids and, um, maturity. It is a musical about humor and love in everyday, ordinary life. The tunes are fun and, the characters are many of the people that we all know. The show does deal with mature themes and situations, but in a grown-up manner.The cast is composed of local theater veterans Steve Luxbacher, Jodi Hoover, Steve Teig and Suzi Ditzenberger, The musical accompaniment is provided by Kristen Criado and Jill Mattson.

It too is a benefit show, helping to the theater defray the cost of some new sound equipment. Prior to the production there will be a silent auction.

For $15. I'm serious. Only in Western PA. Call 437-3440 or 800-537-7769.

Speaking of Jill, this Saturday, January 20, at 1:00 pm Holly Nowak of the Arts Council of Erie and Oil City artist Jill Mattson will meet with artists in the Great Room of the National Transit Building to explain how to respond to the Arts in Education call for professional artists and become eligible for state-funded residencies and projects in schools and community organizations. Individual artists, companies, and ensembles may apply. The deadline is March 15. Call (814)676-5303 to reseve a spot.

Sylvia Coast and Kaycee Reib are looking for input on a book on Venango County's black history. Considering that everyone I talk to who owns an old house claims that it was a stop on the Underground Railroad, it's going to be a pretty big book.

The Titusville Redevelopment Authority is looking for a buyer for the Four Sons Brewery.

The RickDan Band is sponsering a big ol' music festival Saturday. 11 bands for $8 bucks at the Franklin Presbyterian Church 1250 Elk Street, Franklin, Pennsylvania 16323. Playing will be Signal Home, Loko Phylum, Hand in Hand, Nothing Unexpected, Hope on a Rope, and many others.

Although I think that the PA Lottery groundhog is one of the creepiest animatronics since 1950s Disney, Phil himself still has street cred (meadow cred?). Check out Groundhog Crossing for this year's build up.

The region's foremost nature photographer, John M Karian, took time to answer my search for Jerry Sowden prints:

I've purchased prints at the Transit Fine Art gallery. His work is now available at Victorian City Art and Frame

Thanks John. And thanks for dropping by!
Victorian City Art & Frame can be found at
1273 Liberty Street
Franklin, PA 16323
(814) 437-9509
(800) 909-1444
viccity@csonline.net

While you're there, pick up some of John's work as well!

I've updated the Venango County Author's Bibliography to include my new book, Masterpieces of Beat Literature ; Jill Mattson's book, Transformative Power in Sound, Intelligence, Health and Energy through the Magic of Music; John M Karian's Allegheny Waterway and Wetland Splendors and Allegheny Wetland Splendors: Up Close; and Jamie Denton's new romance, The Matchmaker. I also cleaned up a few MLA errors. Download it from the link on the left, take a look at it, tell me what I'm missing or have done wrong, and make sure you circulate it. If you're using it for educational purposes (schools and libraries for example) and need the list in bulk, drop me a line and we can work something out to get you as many copies as you need for the price of postage.

Speaking of Rouseville's romance writer Jamie Denton (who has an appearance schedule that I envy and, from her photo on her webpage, looks incredibly good for a six time over grandma. Apparently love (or at least writing about love) really does keep one young:

For a free autographed bookplate, cover flats, magnet, bookmarks and other fun goodies,send a self addressed stamped 9x12 envelope with $.87 postage to the postal address below.Or you can send a regular business size self-addressed stamped envelope with $.39 postage for autographed bookplate, magnet, and bookmarks.
Jamie Denton
PO Box 39
Rouseville, PA 16344

Do me a favor and tell her you saw it on venangago-go.blogspot.com

It's embarrassing to admit that I hadn't realized that Titusville's Four Sons Brewery had closed.

The Franklin Club is looking for a buyer. Which is kind of strange, because if the Celtic can't find a buyer for 400K (or 525K, depending to whom you're talking), what chance does a building that has a long list of maintenance issues (does that split pillar on the upper deck frighten anyone else...) have unless it's at a bargain basement price -- and that would really be a shame.

Venangoland tackles the Franklin Club issue as well...

Clicking around last night I ran into the Allegheny Musarium site. Although it's a well thought out proposal, my first thought was to be cynical. But then I realized that two years ago, I would have laughed heartily about the idea of a hunting and fishing museum becoming a reality...

Jerry Sowden's image in this morning's News Herald cements my belief that he's one of the most underappreciated working artists in the area. Why can't I find any of his work in a local gallery?

My contribution appeared in the fine regional blog, Overheard in Pittsburgh, on the day after Christmas (caution - cursing ahead)

Looking ahead, Yankee Zydeco Company announced that they will be playing a free show from 7:30-9 p.m. as part of Oil City's Arts in the Park, Friday, August 10, 2007.

As part of Oil City's arts revitalization effort, a quilting guild is being established in Oil City.
It's for all quilters, beginners and professionals, hand-quilters and machine-quilters, traditional quilters and art quilters.
The NQA has certification programs for quilt teachers and judges, a Master's Guild to recognize outstanding quilting achievement, and a Grant and Scholarship program to give monetary assistance to individuals or groups studying or researching the field of quiltmaking.
An organizational meeting to determine the best meeting times and dates will be held at Oil City's National Transit Building on Saturday, January 13, 2007, from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. Please contact either Ms. Roby-Lavery at 814-677-3795 or Ms. Joann Wheeler at 814-676-5303 for more info.

The Arts Council of Erie's Art in Education Partnership is seeking professional artists in all disciplines to apply for inclusion in the 2007 Pennsylvania Directory of Artists. Artists accepted into this program are eligible to participate in residencies at schools and community service organizations funded partly by the AIE partnership.Individaul artists, ensembles, and companies may apply. Application deadline is March 15, 2007.
For more information and/or an application, contact: Michelle Martin at the Arts Council of Erie by calling 814-452-3427 or by emailing .Holly Nowak from the Arts Council of Erie will be in Oil City on Saturday, January 20, 2007 to explain the program in detail to interested area artists at 1:00 pm in the Great Room of the National Transit Building, 206 Seneca Street, Oil City. Local artist and composer Jill Mattson will co-present. For more information or to register for the free presentation, call Joann Wheeler at 814-676-5303

The Erie Playhouse has announced they'll be presenting one of my favorite shows, The Piano Lesson, on February 2 & 3, 8-11, 14-18. But, they also announced that due to contractual difficulties The Erie Playhouse is replacing Copenhagen with I Left My Heart: A Salute to the Music of Tony Bennett. Bleh.

Bill Miller's show "Vintage Linoleum Works" opens this weekend at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts.

Miller, who once scavenged through old mill sites as a founding member of the Pittsburgh Industrial Arts Co-op is a connoisseur of old linoleum, which he varnishes and then fills with images ranging from landscapes to portraits to political assassinations.

The opening is from 5:30 to 8 p.m. A $5 donation is suggested for nonmembers.