Badin vs. Fredericktown
Miamisburg graduation 2012
Valley View vs. Greenville
Writer and editor Home > Blogs > Brain Droppings > Archives > 2009 > October
October 2009
Peek behind the curtain at the DAI
As you wander through its clean, spacious galleries, the Dayton Art Institute surely seems a big enough place to show off whatever artworks it has to, well, show off.
Ain’t so.
The museum has more than 22,000 items in its collection, from massive metal sculptures to tiny Japanese teacups. Relatively few of them are on regular display, for a variety of reasons — no space on the walls, or because an artwork is too fragile to keep up all the time, or because in some cases, the artwork isn’t actually in the museum’s hands yet.
That’s the case with the two eye-popping paintings by Pablo Picasso and Jackson Pollock that open the DAI’s new exhibition, “Hello World!” with a colorfully impressive kick. A promised bequest to the museum by the late Dayton industrialist and philanthropist Jesse Philips, they’re being shown at the DAI for the first time in more than a decade.
And they’re marvelous. The 1963 “The Painter and his Model” is pure Picasso, all loose and playful colors. Pollock’s “Night Dancer (Green)” from 1944, was created before he began dripping and spilling his paint, and shows clearly where his mind was before that breakthrough. It’s energetic and amazi
They’re surrounded by dozens of other works that DAI chief curator Will South has brought out of hiding for what is billed as a show of “Rarely Seen Art from Our Collection,” the idea being to mark the museum’s 90th birthday with a peek into the storage vaults.
t’s pretty impressive, what they’ve got in there, and South has made the most of it. The exhibition is organized by topics such as “Textiles,” “Landscapes” and “Florals,” which seems simple until you notice the sly ways South used the artworks to blend the topics together and move you easily through the show.
Each area has some stunners: a huge Irish quilt from the 1820s that boasts bold colors and an intricate, modern-seeming design; a delicate Cezanne lithograph of bathers, from 1898, that shows a lighter touch than one sees in his oils; a bright Picasso print of a woman in a hat, from 1962, nicely contrasted with African and Egyptian masks that reveal his influences; a fascinating Persian begging bowl, made of silver; Sheila Metzner’s astonishing 1980 sepia print of the Pyramids, which looks a hundred years older; a lushly erotic photograph of a calla lilly from Robert Mapplethorpe that makes one wonder, When is a flower not a flower?
One thinks, too, at the bittersweetness of knowing that so many fine works of art are here in our midst, in our fair city, and yet are under wraps — even if for good reason. “Please make this a permanent exhibit,” one visitor wrote in the guestbook, an understandable sentiment.
South, who’s been at the DAI about a year, foresees changes emerging from the responses to “Hello World!” A lot of visitors have responded well to the Islamic art in the show, “and we don’t have an Islamic gallery.” The DAI’s very strong photography collection is a big part of the exhibition as well, and he’d like to see more of it shown.
So stay tuned. Meanwhile, keep in mind that “Hello World!” is up until Jan. 3, 2010. For information on times and tickets, visit www.daytonartinstitute.org.
Correction: Several alert readers let me know that I mistakenly flip-flopped the names of two Jane Austen scoundrels in a post last week about local author Carrie Bebris, who writes mysteries featuring Austen’s Mr. and Mrs. Darcy. Talia Kolker wrote: “Mr. Wickham is actually the charming and deceitful slug of an officer who first dallies with Elizabeth and then elopes with her younger sister Lydia. It later comes out that he had also seduced Darcy’s younger sister Georgianna…. It’s Mr. Collins who’s the ‘squirrelly, irritating parson who keeps after Elizabeth Bennet….’ HUGE difference.” True enough, and a humbling reminder that my readers are smarter than I am. Thanks!
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment |
Monsters, monsters everywhere…
We all love a good scary flick, right?
Or actually, not all of us do … and yet, it seems they keep on coming in a pretty steady stream.
Here’s a pretty thoughtful, interesting essay on why we enjoy monsters, keep making up new ones, and recycle the old ones we enjoyed before…
What do you think? What is about it about being scared that we crave?
And while we’re at it, what’s the scariest movie you’ve ever seen?
Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment |
Local mystery writer revives Jane Austen
Hard as it is to crack the very tough book business and make it as a published novelist, there are several Dayton-area writers who have pulled it off. Some, such as the literary writer Katrina Kittle and mystery writer Sharon Short, are pretty well known in town and have gotten a good amount of press.
One you may know not know quite so well is Carrie Bebris, who is pretty far along a witty series of period novels she calls the “Mr. and Mrs. Darcy Mysteries.”
Yes, Jane Austen fans, that Mr. Darcy. Bebris has reimagined the characters created in “Pride and Prejudice” and has recast them as amateur sleuths who pursue villains admist the moors and mansions of 19th-century Britain.
Mysteries always need a twist, and about five years ago when she was trying to come up with one, “I started with what I like to read. Jane Austen has always been my favorite author, and I wondered what kind of premise I could build off her, like a murder at a Jane Austen convention…
“And then I was rereading ‘Pride and Prejudice,’ and I realized Elizabeth predicted a lot of what happens in the action, and Darcy was a man of society who had the connections and resources to move about in the world and make things happen. So imagine what they could accomplish after their marriage! They could become involved in intrigue, they could meet other Jane Austen characters…”
And indeed, they have. First came 2004’s “Pride and Prescience,” and from there she’s had the intrepid, fast-talking, incurably romantic pair moving through mysteries that have spun off each of Austen’s books.
Bebris, 40, lives in Washington Twp. with her husband, Oakwood Public Safety Director Alexander Bebris, and their two kids. They moved here from Wisconsin about three years for his job, and Bebris now writes full-time, with the Darcy mysteries — published by Tor/Forge — front and center.
With an English-lit degree from Marquette, and once worked as an editor for TSR, the company that made the “Dungeons and Dragons” games. She started writing fantasy novels, tired of doing battle scenes and decided mysteries were more her style.
The fifth Darcy novel, “The Intrigue at Highbury,” just came out, and she’s enjoying the sales reports from the new paperback editions of her third and fourth in the series. Her Web site, www.carriebebris.com, has the details. The books are big in Italy, which amuses her, and she’s brainstorming the next one, which will be based upon Austen’s “Persuasion,” Bebris’ favorite.
She realizes, happily, that she’s riding a recent wave in renewed Austen interest, visible on movie screens and in other novels, such as the recent zombie knock-off that got some buzz.
“Every time I read her, I find something new,” Bebris says. “There’s a gentility and decorum in those books that’s been lost in our society. We live in a society where people go on reality TV and bare their souls for attention; I think a lot of us would rather live in a world where people held back some of themselves, out of propriety, like Mr. Darcy.
“She’s very contemporary in terms of talking about things that still matter. Plus, she’s very funny.”
Austen left six novels, of which “Persuasion” was the last, but Bebris expects to mix, match and combine characters from them all for future plots. “I don’t think we’ve quite seen the last of Mr. Wickham, do you?” she says with a laugh, referring to the scoundrelly soldier who keeps after Elizabeth Bennett and her younger sisters until Mr. Darcy saves the day, and her heart.
“As long as people continue being interested, I’ll keep writing them,” she says. “There are plenty more to come.”
Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment |
Is Dayton’s Xmas tree growing in your yard?
Hey, that pine you’ve been thinking mars the view in your yard? Well, have a look at this news release that just crossed our desk:
Chop! Chop!
Dayton Holiday Festival
Last Chance to Nominate a Perfect Tree to Adorn Courthouse Square
Dayton, October 22, 2009 - The Dayton Holiday Festival is making one final call for nominations for the perfect tree to stand tall on Courthouse Square this holiday season. The selected tree will be decorated with more than 50,000 lights and be unveiled at the Grande Illumination ceremony on Friday, November 27. Think you have the perfect tree? Here are some guidelines to keep in mind:
— The ideal tree is approximately 45-60 feet tall and 25 feet wide.
— Colorado Green Spruce or Blue Spruce trees are preferred, but other types of evergreens will be considered if they are truly grand and stately.
— Tree must be located on your property in the front or side yard.
If you believe you have the perfect tree, you can nominate it by calling Becky at the Downtown Dayton Partnership at (937) 224-1518, ext. 227. The winning tree will be selected by a search crew at the end of October, and the owners will have the opportunity to be part of the official tree lighting ceremony.
The 2009 Dayton Holiday Festival is sponsored by the Downtown Dayton Partnership, the City of Dayton, Montgomery County, and the Virginia W. Kettering Dayton Holiday Festival Fund. The Grande Illumination is sponsored by WDTN-TV 2. For more information about Dayton Holiday Festival activities, call (937) 224-1518 or visit www.daytonholidayfestival.org.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment |
A first: Anne Frank on film.
Then watch it again.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment |
A few random Dayton facts
Thought I’d share these, which I got off the latest Dayton History newsletter (I’m on the board there, btw, but figured that facts is facts, and besides… it’s a slow day in the blogosphere!)
Did you know these already?
Got any other Dayton factoids to share?
Did You Know?
— Paul Laurence Dunbar wrote over 400 published poems, six novels and lyrics for Broadway musicals.
— Charles Kettering electrified the cash register while working in Dayton at NCR.
— Dayton was once the home of over 1,000 factories.
— Dayton once had over a dozen car manufacturers.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment |
Paris, New York … Dayton? Heck, why not?
A friend passed along this movie review from the Times last week… Be sure to read down a few paragraphs in, to get the full context.
Who knew we were in such good company?
I’ll go see that movie, if they make it.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment |
Dayton Poetry Slams: They’re back!
You may have forgotten about the Dayton Poetry Slam, or thought it had gone away.
Not to take anything away from the efforts of the folks who were trying to keep it going for a few years, but the event had fallen on hard times. Now, thanks to a change in leadership and venue, it’s back and thriving.
A local poet and teacher named Bill Abbott started up the first Dayton slam 10 years ago at Canal Street Tavern, when slams were growing in popularity around the United States.
The structure was simple: Anybody could get up to the mic and read poems they’d written, up to three minutes. Three judges selected from the audience (I got the job one night; it was a hoot) graded on a 1-to-10 scale, with a slam-off at the end. Props and costumes were usually discouraged — the idea was to get up there and let your words do the talking.
The mix of written verse with spoken performance, whirred together before a live audience, made for some intellectually frisky, and even magical moments. After a few years of good-sized crowds, the slams started moving from bar to bar in search of the perfect home, and interest dwindled.
Last summer, a 29-year-old writer and self-described “aspiring poet” named Jolene Pohl-Crowell agreed to take up the reins as “Slam Mistress.”
She immediately settled the slams into the colorful confines of downtown’s c{space performance area at 20 N. Jefferson St. She made the events free, asking for donations, and settled them onto the last Tuesday of every month.
And suddenly, the slams are back. “In the last 10 years they had changed hands (in leadership) several times and it was about to fade out; there were only about five people coming,” Pohl-Crowell said. “I said I thought I could get it going again, so I got handed the mic, put it on Facebook and lo and behold, we’re getting an average crowd of 35 to 40 people each time.” Up to 25 poets may perform on a typical night.
The Dayton slam is affiliated with the National Poetry Slam organization that offers advice and connections to regional and national competitions, “and we need to keep 35 people on average to stay certified. But there’s always room for more,” she said. “Slam Master” or “Slam Mistress” are the official titles of the slam’s chief organizer, and as Mistress, Pohl-Crowell gets the word out, passes the donation bucket and runs the programs. The next slam, from 8-11 p.m. Oct. 27, will have a Halloween costume theme.
“I think Jolene’s doing a pretty good job,” said founder Abbott. “I mostly just give advice, though she doesn’t really need to ask me very much.” He said that between the combination of a free door, the c{space home and Facebook marketing, the new slams attract a diverse, lively crowd that doesn’t show signs of flagging.
Pohl-Crowell feels that a healthy slam not only helps add to Dayton’s cultural scene, but also reflects positively on the good things happening in town lately.“I think that Dayton’s creative people just need to be fed; they’re starving for creative life, and to be able to give that a little support is nice. It becomes a community, and it really helps Dayton.
“I’ve met people at the slams that I never would’ve met before, and just passed on the street. Now my members call it a family; they feel comfortable, they can express themselves, and not feel judged at all. And they keep coming back.”
Stop by and have a look; visit www.daytonpoetryslam.com for details. Remember it’s OK to drop in and just listen — but if you decide you want to brave the open mic, there won’t be anybody stopping you.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment |
Could it be true? No more Jon/Kate? Yeeps!
Oh my god, finally: People mag is reporting the show is done.
My goal here is for it to go away without my ever having seen an episode… So far, I’m doing OK on that, and I’m feeling pretty good about it…
But what, oh what, will we read about?
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment |
An original radio drama coming to local airwaves
More interesting news from WYSO, which just sent out this news release on an original radio drama the station is running soon:
WYSO to Present an Original Radio Drama:
Sacred Fire: The Story of John Brown’s Raid on Harper’s Ferry By Kay Reimers
One quiet autumn morning the United States was suddenly attacked by a small band of determined men inspired by a charismatic religious fanatic. The emotional response by the entire country to an unprovoked raid, which caused the deaths of innocent civilians, led the United States to war. The year was 1859, the place was Harpers Ferry, Virginia, and the leader was John Brown.
The drama takes place during the weeks between Brown’s capture and his execution, when the entire nation held its breath and slowly made its judgment. Was he a saint or a madman? Were his supporter’s heroes or traitors?
To commemorate the150th anniversary of the raid, public radio station WYSO 91.3 FM and the Living History Theatre present an original radio drama, Sacred Fire: The Story of John Brown’s Raid on Harpers Ferry. The program will air four times, on Thursday October 22 at 11pm, on Friday October 23 at 7pm and twice on October 25: 11 am and 11pm.
Some of John Brown’s New England supporters were prominent social reformers, individuals who became caught up in a conspiracy they were only later to completely understand. During this drama they come to grips with the fact that their support for John Brown triggered a long, bloody war. Every character’s response to this recognition is different, and they are at the heart of the play. The lead actors include Howard Shook, Dan Davis, Doug Hinkley, Jason Sine, Gary Reimers and Miriam Eckenrode.
Radio drama was a mainstay of radio until the 1960s - but has nearly disappeared in contemporary times. Yellow Springs playwright Kay Reimers says, “WYSO has been willing to explore this format with our theatre group. It’s been quite an experience for everyone. We feel like we’re pioneers.,”
Producer Jerry Kenney added, “There’s not only an entertainment aspect to what we’re doing here, but there are educational elements to these plays as well. It’s really exciting to be able to witness history in this way, and compare it to our own issues of the day.”
The first collaboration between the radio station and the theatre group was a two-hour radio drama set during the 1913 Dayton Flood, called “The End of Emerald Street.” The drama can be streamed at the WYSO website, WYSO.org.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment |
WYSO beats its goal
Hey, pub-radio fans… Good news from our favorite Yellow Springs station… Here’s the news release they just sent out:
WYSO EXCEEDS FALL FUNDRAISING GOAL
Public radio station WYSO 91.3 in Yellow Springs, surpassed its fall fundraising goal by more than ten thousand dollars, raising more than $ 175,000 in a week-long on-air campaign which ended Sunday morning October 11. The member-supported station saw strong growth in its membership numbers as well. Its new-member goal was 300 and at the end of the on-air drive on Sunday morning, there were 434 new members.
WYSO General Manager, Neenah Ellis sees the station’s success in hard economic times as validation that their public service mission is seen as a necessity - not a luxury - for its listeners.
“We’re listening to what our members tell us - and we intend to strengthen WYSO’s voice by improving our programs and bringing new ones to air.”
WYSO carries an eclectic mix of news and music programs, including NPR’s “Morning Edition” and “All Things Considered” and lighter fare such as “Car Talk” and “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me.” Local news is presented throughout the day and locally-produced music programs are heard every afternoon and evening.
WYSO is licensed to Antioch University, with studios in Yellow Springs.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment |
Oscar news for Dayton…
Some good news came in today for Yellow Springs filmmakers Steve Bognar and Julia Reichert and the local film crewmembers who helped them make “The Last Truck.”
You’ll recall that’s the film they made about the GM Moraine Assembly Plant, which aired on HBO in September.
The film has gotten onto the short list of 8 films that will be winnowed to 5 nominees in the documentary short subject for this year’s Academy Awards.
For the announcement, check out indiewire.com…
Watch for more on this story today on DaytonDailyNews.com… Meanwhile, congrats to Steve, Julia and their colleagues.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment |
The uncertain future of c{space
For years, it was a dark, empty commercial space — an old bank branch surrounded by other vacant offices downtown.
Now it hops — full of life, art, activity, music. From the lively graffiti on the walls to the funky assortment of donated furniture to the eclectic, unpredictable assortment of events on the stage, you know when you’re visiting c{space that Dayton hasn’t had anything quite like it.
What you might not know, however, is that its future is anything but certain.
“We need somebody to step up to support us, so that we can say we have a future,” said Tom Thickel, an architect who works with community volunteers Anne Rasmussen and Mary Kathryn Burnside to manage c{space. Their latest mission: To keep it alive.
The space was conceived in early 2008 as a low-cost arts incubator, an outgrowth of the DaytonCREATE movement that has spawned several other grassroots community initiatives. “The initial mission was to go into a space, create activity there that allows it to be seen in a different way and entice somebody to come in and rent it at market rate, then we move on and do it all over again,” Thickel said. Landlord Brian West got the vision and supported it, letting the group rent his property at 20 N. Jefferson for $1 a month.
The thing is, it worked.
Now c{space is so busy that Thickel, Rasmussen and Burnside want to stay put. “There’s such a demand for the space now, and it’s become a successful brand. It’s the perfect location and the perfect size, so we’re veering away from the original mission and hoping to make it permanent.”
Meanwhile, West has gotten some commercial interest and is in the understandable position of needing to make some money on his property. “He’s been extremely supportive,” Thickel said of West, who has negotiated with c{space to let them rent for $400 a month through the end of the year, and to stay on permanently for a fair market rate.
So now, they’re looking for money. Events and fundraisers will help some, but c{space generally charges less than $120 for most users. Thickel and Rasmussen hope to find a major donor who will give them $15,000 to $20,000 in the next year, but they’re also scouting other downtown locations in case it turns out they need to relocate.
“What would be lost without c{space is what we’ve just gotten going,” Rasmussen said. “It’s bringing a level of community inclusion and getting people together who normally don’t see each other — and it’s giving artists and musicians who don’t normally get gigs a place to play, and a chance. We’re not competing with DVAC or the Theatre Guild — they’re the next step up. We’re where the most informal street art is happening.”
“I think we’ll figure it out,” Burnside said, with confidence. “If it closes, we’ll move it. But I think we’ll figure it out.”
To get more information on c{space, e-mail arasmussen@woh.rr.com or mk.burnside@gmail.com.
Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment |
Lots going on this weekend…
Sauerkraut Festival in Waynesville, Yellow Springs Street Fair… The always-fun Garlic Festival at Cox Arboretum… Tons more stuff… Seems like Dayton loves to keep its weekends full…
Head on over to ActiveDayton.com for the details…
What are you doing this weekend? The weather Saturday should be great…
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment |
Where’s the “smartest” city?
These online surveys comparing cities and metro areas can be a bit irritating, or at least overdone (I’m waiting to see the next dumb thing that comes from Forbes.com…), but this one struck me as interesting, at least briefly…
It’s from The Daily Beast (love that site!) and rates the “smartest cities” in the U.S. Dayton’s not big enough to be included, but Cincy, Cleveland and Columbus are in there, and it’s a fun read. They rated such things as books read and college completion amongst the population.
Have a look and see what you think… Offhand, I was surprised how low Chicago, LA and New York rated…
And have a delightful, blustery fall morning!
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment |
What are you reading?
For credit, I mean.
Have a look at this article on the changes in college reading lists. Interesting.
Thoughts?
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment |
What’s Dayton’s coolest thing?
Well, fans, seems like we’ve got a bit of spat going on a post from a few days back in which I quoted a local artist on how he had to leave Dayton to find folks who thought it’s a cool place…
But have a look and read the comments, and then think: Who’s right here?
No, wait … On second thought, don’t think that. Let’s for for the positive here — I know, I know, nobody on the Internet ever does that, but let’s just try for today, OK? — and assume that the most recent commenters and our artist friend Landon are correct.
The proposition, then is this: Dayton IS cool.
So, then, the question of the day: Why? What is the coolest thing about about our town? What do you like best? What would you tell somebody else about that you thought makes Dayton cool?
I’ll start: The Dayton Music Fest, jus last Saturday downtown and in Oregon. For 10 bucks, my friend and I saw a TON of great local music (Luxury Pushers … amazing they’re still around, and the rockin’est show I’ve seen in a long time). It was … drum roll … cool!
OK, your turn.
Permalink | Comments (6) | Post your comment |
If you’re a ‘Doonesbury’ fan…
Here’s a fun little Q&A with Garry Trudeau…
Enjoy!
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment |
Artists restoring neighborhoods…
Lots of us in the Midwest have long since grown tired of the “Rust Belt” moniker that’s become attached to our region, but I recently heard a use of the term that excited my interest.
A couple of local arts administrators were talking about a conference in Cleveland called “Rust Belt to Artist Belt,” by an organization there called CPAC, the Community Partnership For Arts and Culture.
CPAC’s executive director is somebody well known in Dayton arts circles — Tom Schorgl, the one-time chief of Culture Works who left here about a decade ago to head the Cleveland non-profit. Funded by some heavy-hitting foundations in Northeast Ohio, CPAC’s mission is to build the local arts community by studying the day-to-day needs of individual artists and small- to medium-sized arts organizations, then figure out creative solutions for them. For instance, Schorgl said, CPAC found ways to help provide affordable health insurance for self-employed artists.
“Economic development and recovery are important, and we’ve studied how the economic activity of arts and culture in Northeast Ohio contribute,” Schorgl said. “We help artists and arts and culture organizations improve their business practices, and focus on the artist as entrepreneur.”
Lately, CPAC’s main focus has been working with other agencies to help restore run-down neighborhoods — in particular, Collinwood and Detroit-Shoreway — by helping artists and their families to move into some of the city’s thousands of vacant homes. Turn art-making into community-building? Other cities have done it.
Thus the “Rust Belt to Artist Belt” workshops. The first one was to help bankers, developers, zoning officials and realtors understand “how artists work and what they do, sort of demystify them; what happens when artists move into a neighborhood? What do they need?”
The next session was for artists, to help them approach and work with the sort of people who could help them move into and improve neighborhoods that needed new bloodThe effort has attracted national press attention; a recent Wall Street Journal story praised CPAC and Cleveland’s efforts and pointed at progress.
What can smaller cities, such as Dayton, do?
“Look inward first and don’t rush to copy another community,” Schorgl said. “Assess what you have that is indigenous and strong and build on that. What’s your brand? Appalachian art? Dance? And be sure you’re building partnerships beyond the arts and culture center, into the larger community. Evaluate, and don’t be afraid to fail.
“And remember you have to be in this for the long term; you won’t fix anything in just a few years.”
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment |
Dayton’s next Pecha Kucha!
Hey gang, just got the email news release on the next Pecha Kucha in Dayton, on Nov. 6.
If you don’t remember the first one or wonder what the heck I’m talking about, you can read my post about it.
Meanwhile, here’s the release. These are fun events! Plan to attend.
Pecha Kucha. Pe-chawk-cha. Heard of it before? Pecha Kucha Night is a phenomenon that’s spreading across the globe. It started in Tokyo and is now held in hundredsof cities worldwide. It’s a way for designers and other creatives to present and discuss their work, their hobby or their passion in 6 minutes and 40 seconds (20 slides - 20 seconds each). Limiting the presentations to 20 slides, 20 seconds each keeps the presentations concise, the interest level up, and gives more people the chance to share. Before and after the presentations (sometimes during), you mingle, nosh, chit chat and heckle. Vol. 1 was held the end of August - maybe you attended or heard about it? Pecha Kucha Night DaytonVol. 2, sponsored by AIA Dayton, will be held on Friday, Nov 6th in the Oregon District. Here’s why I’m contacting you today…..We’re going to be sending you an email next week on Tuesday, October 6th and would like to ask you to distribute this HTML email invite to all your organization’s membership and post it on your website / Facebook / Twitter. Please look for the email and consider including info@aiadayton.org in your address book so the invite doesn’t get shoved into your junk mail box. We’d hate for you to miss this intriguing interaction! Learn more about Pecha Kucha at www.pecha-kucha.org or the Dayton website, www.pecha-kucha.org/cities/dayton. Thanks in advance for helping us spread the word about Pecha Kucha. Feel free to give me a call if you have any questions. Tim Bement, President AIA Dayton (937) 836-8898 tim.bement@app-arch.com
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment |
Don’t forget local public radio…
If, like me, you spend a lot of your radio-listening time on local public stations, you know that this is the time of year when they run their fall fundraising campaigns.
Dayton’s classical station, WDPR-FM (88.1), is about to wrap up its fall campaign, in which it’s seeking $140,000 to help keep the organization running. It’s an all-classical station that heavily promotes local arts groups, something of a rarity these days even in bigger cities than ours. It’s a wonderful station, and a real local gem.
Starting this weekend, WYSO-FM (91.3), the other jewel in the Dayton area’s public-radio universe, starts its fall campaign. It’s hard to exactly describe the mix of news, commentary and music of all forms, from worldbeat to altrock to jazz to blues to bluegrass, that pops up routinely on ‘YSO, but that’s the joy of listening to it in the first place. Director Neenah Ellis has already been on the air asking folks to prime the donations pump by giving early, before the start of the official campaign. They’re raffling a package of tickets to local arts events for folks who donate before midnight tonight.
Anyway, you might think about donating. Both of these stations contribute hugely to the quality of life and culture in our area, and they do good community work — not to mention presenting a lot of high-quality programming on pretty tight budgets. Follow the links above if you’re interested. They’re not asking for much, and you get quite a lot in return.
And yes, I admit it … I’m a fan.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment |
Re-learning Raymond Carver: Who is the writer?
If you like Raymond Carver, if you like good writing, if you wonder about the relationship between writing and editing, if you muse upon the nature of artistic collaboration, if you love short stories, if you just want to read something really interesting, you have to read this.
Gotta go back and reread some Carver now… I miss him. Even more than I thought, I guess.
