Spelling Bee Approaches

From the deeply creative and productive, Matthew L, I am reminded that it's time for an important ritual:


Spelling Bee Monday!

Fifth Anniversary Competition!

Not About The Buildings' biggest event of the entire year is less than a week away. Yes, folks, it's once again time to revisit your childhood glories (or traumas) at the Not About The Buildings Spelling Bee, held once again at AS220 (115 Empire Street). This year marks the fifth anniversary of the bee, so we think it's going to be a big one!

It costs $8 to spell but it's free to watch, so bring a cheering section. Signups start at 8:30 and once again we are limiting the number of spellers to 36. There are no advance signups, so you'll need to be punctual if you'd like to spell. Once the spellers are all signed in and lined up, the bee should start at 9.

As always, you are also encouraged to support the folks on stage (and your own interests) by betting on the winner. There are fabulous prizes in store for those who gamble on the winning speller. Funds from Monday night go directly towards supporting Not About The Buildings for the rest of the year, so the more money we make, the more programming we can do. And since Not About The Buildings will be turning five in July, we'd like this year to be bigger and better than ever.

Prizes this year have been generously provided by the likes of the Providence Athenaeum, Tiny Showcase, Craftland, and more!

RI has a Peace and Justice Rally Happening on Saturday

I tried 4 times to download the flyer, but without success...

Here is the info from a recent message about the speakers and schedule...

Speakers list announced! Down Town Meet up pointed added!

Saturday, March 19th: TWO DAYS AWAY

1:00 PM: Rally at Armory Park/Dexter Field: Music, Poetry, Speakers (Located at the corner of Division St. & Dexter St.)

2:00 PM: March For Peace from Armory Park to downtown: Anti Weapons Manufacturing Demo at Textron, Inc!

3:00 PM: Meetup point at City Hall: "Money for Teachers Not For War Demo!" Then to Recruitment Center for Victim's Of Occupation/Bradley Manning Vigil.

4:00 PM: Community Dinner at DARE Community Action Center *(Located at 340 Lockwood Street)

5:15 PM: Workshops: “From Activism To Organizing” with Camilo Viveiros! “Boycott, Divest, Sanction" with Students for Justice in Palestine!

6:30 PM: “Know Your Rights” Legal Clinic with members of the National Lawyers Guild and the D.A.R.E. Behind The Walls committee *Childcare available during workshops & clinic.

Note: Those who wish to attend the Armory Park rally but not the march are welcome to meet at DARE (340 Lockwood Street) for the Community Dinner at 4:00 PM.

RIMC has released the following updated list of speakers:

*Alysha Aziz: Brown Students For Justice In Palestine

*Shaun Joseph: Rhode Island Mobilization Committee to Stop War and Occupation

*Mary Kay Harris: Lead Organizer at Direct Action for Rights & Equality

*Dia Barghouti: R.I. Student raised in occupied Palestine. "Dia has lived through the immediacies of occupation of a people and her current work supports all movements that reinstate human dignity in the face of injustice."

*Rev. Duane Clinker: Open Table of Christ

*Steve Rabson: Brown Coalition Against Special Privileges for R.O.T.C. / Retired Brown University Professor / U.S. Veteran of War

*Chris Murphy: International Socialist Organization

*Joyce Katzberg: RI folk legend / singer-song writer

*Roz Raskin: 2010 Best Local Act in Providence Phoenix Music Polls

*Laura Brown-Lavoie: 2010 Brown University College National Slam

*Fatimah Asghar & Amina Sheikh: WORD Poetry Crew


*Additional anti-war / peace poems from Brown University WORD crew & the Providence Poetry Slam

MARCH ROUTE (From Dexter Field)
*Left down Cranston St., Right on Fricker, Left on Broad St., Over Highway to Weybosset, Downtown, Left to Kennedy Plaza, Left to City Hall, Straight on Washington St., Left on Empire, Right on Weybosset, Over the highway, Straight on Broad Street, Left on Lockwood to D.A.R.E.

The chief sponsor is
the Rhode Island Mobilization Committee to Stop War and End Occupation.

Remembering Rhode Island's Robert Peabody -- an important post from Cranston's Kmareka

It is heartbreaking and overwhelming to contemplate what is happening in Japan and so many places right now...

I am Grateful for the testimonies of Survivors and Artists and Veterans and, yes, Long-haired Hippies and short-haired and bald ones, too.


Here is a little essay about a man whose life was taken due to a nuclear accident.

If this link does not work, please let me know, via a comment here or facebook or hey, even a phone call or email....Thank you !

I encourage people to read the comments afterwards.

There will be a vigil, No More Nuclear Victims, today in Providence.

My Mother's Play -- Opening Soon in Connecticut !

Is this cheerful unabashed nepotism ? Or simply daughterly pride? I have not seen it, although I have read the book which inspired it. My mother adapted it into a theatrical form.

Thank you and Break a Leg (or a bunch of them) to The Hartford Children's Theatre.

Solidarity with Libraries Across the Pond

I am a library lover and cannot remember any time in my life without them. Ok, my first steps may not have been taken inside one (wait, maybe they were !?), and I didn't meet my spouse there, but perhaps the next one. The only libraries not dear to my heart are the expensive elite ones, the closed ones.

Thanks to Former Rhode Islander (he used to write for the Providence Journal), Djelloul Marbrook, I have learned about a campaign in support of libraries in the UK.

The facebook page is called, Fight for Libraries, campaign from The Bookseller.

I was the 2,996th person to "like" this, and I see the number has reached 3,011.

Manifesto

We are fighting for public libraries because they form an essential seed-bed for the wider reading culture of the nation, a culture from which the whole of society benefits.

Libraries seed communities with books and ideas in a way which is irreplaceable. They provide books to people who wouldn’t otherwise see or afford them, the youngest in society, the oldest, and people on low incomes. They also provide free internet access to the 27% of the population who still aren’t online at home.

Libraries are also a forum where authors and readers can come together in a neutral, unbiased space - free from commercial pressures.

Most importantly they are curated by professional librarians who provide expert guidance for readers, helping people find the books and information they need, again free from commercial considerations.

Readers, reading and the values imparted are essential to any civilised society – indeed it seems impossible to conceive a civilisation without libraries.

We oppose the arbitrary, disproportionate and wantonly destructive nature of the cuts to the national library service now underway, and we will do everything we can to mobilise the entire book world in libraries’ defence.

Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish Will Speak in Massachusetts (2/18/11)

Today is the Birthday of Dr. Abuelaish and I hope he is surrounded by loved ones and has great joy and peace . . .

I am thinking of his daughters and niece, Bissan, Mayar, Aya and Noor and grateful for the foundation, Daughters for Life, which honors their memories...

Although the Tour Schedule page for that site is Under Construction, I have spoken with someone at the Harvard Bookstore, who confirmed that Dr. Abuelaish will be speaking there on Friday, February 18th.

The only thing that would keep me away is another Snow/Sleet Storm....

Solidarity with Rhode Island Janitors

Here's a little history:

In 2007, the Justice for Janitors campaign spread beyond Providence, and contracted Amica janitors in Lincoln went on strike for fair treatment and a voice on the job. Their courage, your support, and Amica’s intervention opened the door for hundreds of Rhode Island contracted janitors outside of Providence to get a voice on the job and better working conditions. 
Now, Amica is dishonoring the sacrifice of those contracted janitors by bringing in Martins Maintenance, which has already demonstrated its inhumane and repressive treatment of workers, and has made no effort to hire the long-time Amica subcontracted janitors. Come join us on Thursday to remind Amica that their courageous contracted janitors deserve to work for a responsible contractor that will retain them at the site and will honor the standards they have sacrificed so much for.

That's copied directly from the Rhode Island Jobs With Justice website.

N.B. Most of this blog's visitors do not live in RI or even New England, so please consider visiting the RI Jobs With Justice facebook page (the link is on the above site) or spreading the word to your friends and readers....

My friends, whose spirits and memories inspire this blog, would be supportive, I believe. Grace Paley and Rhett Jones and Harold Rogovin: definitely. Marsha Z. West, I am a tiny bit less sure of, but I think very likely, yes.

Funda Fest Approaches ~

Storytelling is one of those Gifts we can never receive too much of ~


It is less than a week away. I often miss it, but it makes me happy simply knowing it is happening.

Storytelling is good for what ails us.

And I do know some of the members of The Rhode Island Black Storytellers personally...

I am hoping to post something for each of the people who died on Saturday.

John McDaid has published their names.

His blog is very much worth visiting.

Returning to Funda Fest 13. This is from the RIBS site:

A Celebration of Black Storytelling, January 16 through January 23, 2011

Rhode Island Black Storytellers (RIBS) presents its 13th Annual FUNDA FEST bringing a workshop, story swap, school shows, and public performances of spoken word, love stories, folk tales, true stories from Westerly to Woonsocket, Providence to Newport.

FUNDA means to teach and to learn in Zulu and Kiswahili. RIBS' mission is to promote the awareness, appreciation, and application of Black Storytelling through performance, educational, cultural, and historical experiences.

Whether you are a kid, have a kid, or are a kid at heart, stories are for all of us, no matter what age, culture or experience. Join us!

Today is my brother's birthday. Happy Birthday, Ben ! He doesn't read this, but if a cousin or friend does, today is the day.

George Washington Carver might have been born today, too . . . The biographies of him we were offered in school were so narrow, about him as a brilliant inventor, yes, but no telling of his family life or loves....If anyone has read a worthwhile biography, please let me know...

Little Rhode Island Ranks 5th (Tied With Kansas, apparently)

In the midst of some searches for Gene Debs and Rhode Island, I found a sweet ranking for Rhode Island.

Although not in first place, we are very well ranked for Library Visits.

Education Statistics > Public Libraries > Library Visits per Capita (most recent) by state
VIEW DATA: Totals
Definition Source Printable version
Bar Graph Map Correlations

Showing latest available data.
Rank States Amount
# 1 Ohio: 6.9
# 2 Colorado: 6.3
= 3 Indiana: 6.1
= 3 Connecticut: 6.1
= 5 Kansas: 5.9
= 5 Rhode Island: 5.9
# 7 Wyoming: 5.8
# 8 Wisconsin: 5.7

South Dakota, New York and Illinois are all ranked 9th !


I am not familiar with this site, and rarely concerned with rankings (except in matters of baseball), but I Love Libraries, and think that library visits are a good thing.

How exactly a visit is defined, and how reputable these numbers are, I have no idea.

The Providence Community Library has a facebook page, and there is no requirement that you live in Providence or any part of RI for you to "like" it.

The Library Reform Group link is below.

Alas, the Providence Public Library is not handing over the buildings to the Providence Community Library, nor is it making vital repairs.

When buildings are closed due to heat ( no air conditioning ), falling roof, et al., our library visits per capita decrease.

Perhaps the RI Nonviolence Institute will mediate this conflict.

‘Imagining Heschel,’ New Play Features Richard Dreyfuss

‘Imagining Heschel,’ New Play Features Richard Dreyfuss


My Heschel connection is very slight. I heard his daughter speak in Providence many many years ago. She did not leave a stirring impression on me then....but I think I expected too much, because I had heard such wonderful things about Abraham Heschel.

Richard's website/blog Tikun Olam, is worth visiting daily. His posts are always thoughtful and well-written. The responses are sometimes constructive, sometimes petulant or worse.

Also I am still visiting the sites on Richard's Blogroll. It's a remarkable list.

This play sounds fantastic.

Marsha Z. West said: " Theater is magic."

When a Memoir is Suspect: International Literary Movement

I was raised by anglophiles. I was raised by bibliophiles.

There was a suspect passion for books by Enid Blyton and Agatha Christie. This is not something I brag about, but gives me hope for everyone who reads racist literature during childhood. We can outgrow the stuff.

The English have provided inspiration for a literary movement in the U.S. which I learned about thanks to facebook, but which is receiving plenty of attention in "conventional" communities, print media, et cetera.

They did this to Tony Blair's book and I think we should do the same here.

People are moving the new book by (sic) George W. Bush to the True Crime section of bookstores and other sections which are not "Memoir".


It's a very small gesture in the grand scheme of things. Is it an unkindness to bookstore workers ? Is it censorship ( as one high school friend of mine suggested )?

There are photos that people have taken of the book in its new settings. I find the photos pleasing to the eye. I am heartened by the awareness of kindred spirits all over the world.

I have no idea what Marsha Z. West or Grace Paley would think about this.

I think Harold Rogovin would have had a good laugh.

Rhett Jones could have gone back and forth. He had great sympathy for popular struggles, for civil disobedience and for creativity.

Thank you, Creative Literary Movers !

Grace Paley: Collected Shorts (Lilly Rivlin, Director)--Will be shown in Denver, Colorado

Lilly Rivlin's Documentary about Grace Paley is playing there this weekend.

Here is a link to the Film Festival site's description of the film.

If the link works, there is a clip of Grace, and people speaking about Grace, and, of course, it brings me to tears.

It is a very short youtube video.

I am very much looking forward to seeing this documentary.

Although I have not met Lilly Rivlin, we have exchanged emails, and she lives in the same building in New York City that my Aunt Sue and Uncle Peter live.

It's an enormous building for artists and so they may have never met, but then again probably entering or leaving .... And my relatives have lived there a long time, and I have visited, so perhaps I "met" Lilly once holding a door for me ( or vice versa )...

I love Small World stories.

Grace Paley's birthday is in one month and a couple of days.

It's Valerie Tutson's Birthday! (January 29)

Happy Birthday, Valerie!

Rhode Islanders reading this blog will probably know who Valerie Tutson is.
And Valerie is known nationally and internationally as well...

Here is an excerpt from the biography on her site:

Valerie Tutson was graduated from Brown University with a Masters Degree in
Theatre Arts and a degree in a self-designed major—Storytelling As A
Communications Art. Valerie has been telling stories in schools, churches, libraries,
festivals and conferences since 1991. She draws her stories from around the world
with an emphasis on African traditions. Her repertoire includes stories and songs she
learned in her travels to South Africa, her experiences in West Africa, stories from
African American history. In addition, she is gaining quite a reputation for her
exciting retelling of age-old Bible stories. She not only delights listeners with her
tale-telling, she also teaches workshops and classes to students of all ages, and
hosts CULTURAL TAPESTRY, an award-winning show for COX 3 celebrating the
diverse cultures around us. Valerie has most recently served as the co Director of the
National Black Storytelling Festival in Providence, RI

Her website is:
http://www.valerietutson.com/

And if you use facebook, you can follow it on NetworkedBlogs.

I cannot even remember when I first saw Valerie perform at Rites & Reason Theatre...but she was phenomenal.

We know that Valerie hails from Connecticut, but We Claim Valerie as a Rhode Islander, thank you very much.

Wherever you are, Valerie, I hope that you have a Joyful day and know how Grateful we are for your many Gifts.

Somewhere Marsha Z. West smiles.

"Too Liberal For Obama" or I Rarely Promote T-Shirts, But This One is Special

Thanks to the blog, No Blood For Hubris, I have learned about this t- shirt:

Here is the link to order them, and you can give No Blood For Hubris credit, and they will benefit financially.

If you visit that site, I strongly recommend her blogroll, even though this little blog isn't yet there...We can dream. (chuckle).. I first found NBFH thanks to Jesus' General.

Happy Birthday, Curt Flood! (One Day Late)

Yesterday was Curt Flood's birthday. I never met him, and became a baseball fan three years too late to see him play against my Mets or even to watch him on TV.

I don't know if he ever visited New England. It is entirely possible that his path crossed with Rhode Island's Davey Lopes. One of his paintings might be part of the RISD collection. Curt Flood was an artist and entrepreneur and was loved by many.

Baseball statistics for Mr. Flood can be found on this page from Baseball-Reference.com

The sponsor of that page, Eric Erickson, makes a strong, clear statement:

Real class act. About 6:23 p.m. in his career, he put his livelihood in jeopardy to challenge the "Feudal Baron" system of MLB. Of course, they ran him around; then 'out of town'. Seeing the case through the courts, he prevailed.! Integrity !

People have likened Curt Flood to Jackie Robinson. I once watched a clip of him talking in a documentary, and it brought me to tears. He sacrificed his athletic career and spoke about topics that were taboo.

There is a movement to Put Curt Flood in the Hall of Fame.

There is an online petition To The Hall of Fame Veterans' Committee. It was started yesterday and has now 187 signatures. Perhaps by the time you read this, it will have 500...If you want to read more about Curt Flood, please let me know. I am truly fortunate now to be connected on facebook with his daughter, Shelly.

Who Sponsors Rush?

As readers of this blog are surely aware, a certain commentator (? to be euphemistic) named Rush made some explicit statements discouraging people from contributing to Haiti relief efforts and using this tragedy to attack Barack Obama. It is easy to find the comments. One can search "Rush...comments...Haiti" and then see thousands of entries.

My blogging friend MaryScott O' Connor has thoughtfully provided information on his sponsors.

Lending Tree: 704-541-5351
Web Form Email: http://www.lendingtree.com

Life Quotes: 800-670-5433
... See More
e-Harmony: 626-795-4814; Fax: 626-585-4040
usersupport@eharmony.com

Inverness Medical: 800-899-7353
51 Sawyer Road, Waltham, MA 02021

OnStar: 800-947-AUTO
(GEICO)

Hotwire Corporate Headquarters: 877-468-9473
333 Market Street, Suite 100, San Francisco, CA 94105
advertising@hotwire.com

CARBONITE, Inc.: 617-587-1100
177 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115
david.friend@carbonite.com
Direct Dial Office: 617-587-1100 EXT:1115

Select Comfort: 763-551-7460
d/b/a Sleep Number Bed: 800-438-2233

The Neptune Society of Northern California
Stewart Enterprises
12070 Telegraph Road, Santa Fe Springs, CA 90670

Oreck Corporation: 800-289-5888
100 Plantation Road, New Orleans, Louisiana 70123

Smart & Final, Customer Relations
PO Box 512377, Los Angeles, CA 91001-0377
(Heard on KFI 640 in Los Angeles)

Mid-West Life Insurance Co. Tennessee: 800-733-1110
9151 Grapevine Hwy, North Richland Hills, TX 76180
(Web banner ads on rushlimbaugh.com)

AutoZone Inc.: 901-495-7185; Fax: 901-495-8374
P.O. Box 2198, Memphis, TN 38101
investor.relations@autozone.com

Mission Pharmacal (Citrical): 800-531-3333
P.O. Box 786099, San Antonio, TX 78278-6099

LegalZoom
800-773-0888; Fax: 323-962-8300
Site has a Web Form

Blue-Emu: 800-432-9334

Lumber Liquidators: 877-645-5347
Web Form Email

Citrix Online (GoToMyPC)
6500 Hollister Avenue, Goleta, CA 93117
Phone: 805-690-6400; Fax: 805-690-6471
info@citrixonline.com

American Forces Network
Contact Us: @MyAFN.net

Also, Rush is to be a judge for the Miss America Pageant.
Scheduled for January 30, 2010.
Contact person is Sharon Pearce: sharon@missamerica.org

Here are more sponsors:
Show Your Support to Rush's Sponsors (his site)... See More
http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/...

List of Radio Staions that Air Him
http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/...

FCC Consumer Complaint:
http://esupport.fcc.gov/...
Includes "Obscene or indecent programs" and "unfair/biased" broadcasts.

Syndicated By: 1) Premier Radio Networks: 818-377-5300
http://www.premiereradio.com/
Corporate office: 15260 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks, CA 91403

Syndicated By: 2) Clear Channel: 210-822-2828
http://www.clearchannel.com/
Corporate Office: 200 East Basse Road, San Antonio, TX 78209

Maryscott's detailed, colorful, opinionated site, My Left Wing: A Liberal Translation
is simply a work of art!

"Harriet Jacobs" a production in Massachusetts with Rhode Islanders...

This looks wonderful!

Harriet Jacobs

A collaboration between Underground Railway Theater and The Providence Black Repertory Company, this East Coast Premiere by Lydia R. Diamond brings Harriet Jacobs' astonishing true story, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, to the stage. This "immensely sophisticated" play about human oppression, and how certain people rise above it, allows Jacobs to reach out to us from her own era and compel us to look at our history as if for the first time in her unsparing yet beautifully poetic coming-of-age story.

Adapted by Lydia R. Diamond
Directed by Megan Sandberg-Zakian
Set and Object Design by Susan Zeeman Rogers
Lighting design by David Roy
Costume design by Chip Schoonmaker
Original music by Clarice LaVerne-Thompson
Movement design by Melody Ruffin Ward
Stage Managed by Dominique Burford



Featuring:
Kortney Adams, Ramona Alexander, Sheldon Best, De'lon Grant, Obehi Janice, Mishell Lilly, Kami Smith, and Raidge.

There is a facebook page

The New Yiddish Rep Presents...

oh I wish this were in Rhode Island...sigh...


New Yiddish Rep is proud to present:

The Return Of Psoy Korolenko

Wednesday December 30th, at 8 PM
The Workmen's Circle
45 E. 33rd Street
Between Park and Madison
Suggested Donation: $15

Kick off your New Year festivities with a bang!!!

KLEZMERUSKI


As it comes from the title, it's dedicated to Klezmer, Russia, US and last not least, Ski, because the winter is coming. Post-Vernacular Songs of Virtual Nostalgia in Uglish, Rushing, Yiddiotish, Highbrew, and some Fringe, too. (Original songs and folk hits agressively modified and translated - fartaytsht un farbesert).
There it is as described by the madcap master of eclectic performance art.



a Yiddish Non Sequitur!


Can anyone help me translate the following:


די היילונג פֿאַר עפּעס איז זאַלץ וואַסער

Many thanks!

Howard Zinn Documentary -- December 13!

This looks wonderful!

"The People Speak"

will premiere on Sunday, December 13, 2009, at 8 pm (7 pm central), on the History Channel.

ABOUT THE PEOPLE SPEAK

Using dramatic and musical performances of the letters, diaries and speeches of everyday Americans, the documentary feature film THE PEOPLE SPEAK gives voice to those who spoke up for social change throughout U.S. history, forging a nation from the bottom up with their insistence on equality and justice.

Narrated by acclaimed historian Howard Zinn and based on his best-selling books, A People's History of the United States and, with Anthony Arnove, Voices of a People's History, THE PEOPLE SPEAK illustrates the relevance of these passionate historical moments to our society today and reminds us never to take liberty for granted.

THE PEOPLE SPEAK is produced by Matt Damon, Josh Brolin, Chris Moore, Anthony Arnove, and Howard Zinn, co-directed by Moore, Arnove and Zinn, and features and dramatic and musical performances by Brolin, Damon, Rosario Dawson, Bob Dylan, Michael Ealy, Lupe Fiasco, Morgan Freeman, Jasmine Guy, John Legend, Darryl "DMC" McDaniels, Sandra Oh, Viggo Mortensen, Bruce Springsteen, Marisa Tomei, Kerry Washington, and many others.

Check out Howardzinn.org

I have met this wonderful man many years ago and heard him speak in person...

Third Annual Ciara Durkin Toy Drive is December 5!

The 3rd annual Ciara Durkin Toy Drive will take place on Saturday, December 5 from 12-2pm at the Kennedy Senior Center, 440 East Squantum St Quincy, MA to benefit Toys for Tots.

Special guests will be in attendance for pictures and autographs.

There will be a raffle to benefit the Quincy Crisis Center

Enter to win a Matt Light autographed football or a Luis Tiant autographed baseball!



Watching President Obama give his speech a few days ago, I wondered what Ciara would think of it all...