Arianna & Michael Freeman

Since Arianna has the week off school, she will be our feature this week. Who knows what she'll read - could be part of the novel she's writing, could be some of her anti-bush poems or her picking-on-Norm poems, or some new poems none of us have ever heard ... I'm her mother and I don't even know!


My Star Model!

I do think she's trying to get some of her classmates to show up. Hopefully nothing we say will shock any of her friend's parents into keeping their children from hanging out with her ... but ... we'll see.

And Thursday, December 28 features Michael Freeman - also home for the holidays - can't miss that one! I certainly won't - Kona hasn't been the same without his lengthy, luscious diatribes and regal rhythms...


Michael Freeman on the move!

Rick Petrie & Mike Rae

To make things even more confusing (for those of you who are used to Rick Petrie & Mike Rae performing together as Urknee & Bjurton) This week's feature's will be Rick Petrie & Mike Rae (but not together - not even on the same night, in the same place, or even the same city!)

Rick Petrie will be the feature for the Blue Dahlia Open Mic this week (Wednesday, December 20): Blue Dahlia Open Mic, 8-10pm

Blue Dahlia Coffee, Tea & Gifts
92 South Main Street,
Canandaigua







And Mike Rae will be the feature for the Pure Kona Open Mic this week (Thursday, December 21): Pure Kona Open Mic, 8-10pm

Daily Perks Coffee House
369 Gregory Street,
Rochester

Just for Fun:

What's wrong with this picture?

Norm Davis & Square Root

Hello all ... sorry for the delay in posting our feature this week. I am a little behind in these weeks preceding this behemoth of a holiday. Without further ado ... or any more rants about my schedule ... I wanted to let you know Norm Davis will be our feature this week (Wednesday, December 13) at the Blue Dahlia Open Mic. Yea!



Blue Dahlia Open Mic, 8-10pm
Blue Dahlia Coffee, Tea & Gifts
92 South Main Street, Canandaigua

And Thursday, December 14th will be the premiere feature of Square Root ... all right, so technically they had that gig at Norm's Wide Open Mic, but other than that ... & these guys are good ... two brothers (who formerly went by Daniel & Dexter until coming up with the catchy name of Square Root) one playing guitar, the other speakin' the word (spoken word that is)... ummhmm ... gotta come check them out!

Pure Kona Open Mic, 8-10pm
Daily Perks Coffee House
369 Gregory Street, Rochester

Chris Robin (& whoever shows from At Kyle's Feet) & Barb Johnston

This week's Blue Dahlia feature will be Christopher Robin (who plays with the band At Kyle's feet) with a mercurial combination of music & spoken word. Then, if you like what you see (which I'm almost sure that you will) they will be playing a two-hour set on Saturday, December 16 at the Blue Dahlia.

Wednesday, December 6
Blue Dahlia Open Mic 8-10pm
Blue Dahlia Coffee, Tea, & Gifts
92 South Main Street, Canandaigua


And the Pure Kona feature this week is Barb Johnston.
I won't be there. I will be at my daughter's Holiday Orff Club Concert
this Thursday but you should go check her out ... make up for my absence!

Thursday, December 7
Pure Kona Open Mic 8-10pm
Daily Perks Coffee House
369 Gregory Street, Rochester

Blue Dahlia Feature: Maureen Owens

This Wednesday our feature will be Maureen Owens.



And Pure Kona's feature will be Rich (I have no idea how to spell his name - but phonetically speaking it sounds like Gone-yea (sorry Rich)).

Hope to see you there!

8- 10 pm, Wednesday, November 29
Blue Dahlia Open Mic @ Blue Dahlia Coffee House
92 South Main Street in Canandaigua, NY

8- 10 pm, Thursday, November 30
Pure Kona Open Mic @ Daily Perks Coffee House
389 Gregory Street in Rochester, NY

Blue Dahlia Open Mic & Art Show

There will be an Open Mic at Blue Dahlia this week on the eve of turkey day ... there will not be Pure Kona, as it actually is turkey day on thursday ...

I went back and forth on this one, so I didn’t actually book anyone … which means, if you come down you get to hear me read for a while and then I’ll pass the metaphorical mic around (since any of you who have been out this way know, we don’t have a literal mic … unless you count Mike Rae!)

Also, my art show is still on display. So, if you didn’t get a chance to come down for Art Walk and were interested in seeing some of my work, now’s a good time to do it! Hope to see you Wednesday … 8 pm (at Blue Dahlia Coffee House, 92 South Main Street, Canandaigua). Oh, and if you like sweet drinks (like you know I do) try the Casablanca … it’s sooooo good!

Here’s a pic of the art on display:



I know … now you’ve seen it … but it’s better in person … so come down if you can.

Hope to see you there!

Canandaigua Art Walk

This Friday I will be at the Canandaigua Art Walk, which runs from 2-9 pm and offers wine tastings, refreshments, and live entertainment. Along with holiday sales by the local businesses.

Here's a list of who's participating:

Adorn Jewelry and Accessories
All Things Art
Blue Dahlia Coffee House
Christopher Wheat Fine Art Studio
Coyote's Den
Finger Lakes Country Photography & Art
Finger Lakes Gallery & Frame
G. Jones Furniture Co.
Gallery 74
Gallery On Main Street
Nadal Glass
Pat Rini Rohrer Gallery
Vagabond Gallery
Wickedly Sent Soap & Candle Co.

I'll have a couple new pieces I've been working on ready for this show, so I hope you can come check it out! It may be chilly, but lucky for you (and me) I'll be at a coffee shop, where you can come in and get some nice, hot beverages ... mmmm ... see you there?

Alex Dedicke & BADEA

This week (Wednesday, November 15) at Blue Dahlia, don't miss Alex Dedicke's first feature!



Haha! I liked the abstract one best!

And Thursday, November 16th: Don't miss BADEA at Pure Kona Open Mic!

Matt Shackelford & Ian Downey

You know that guy singing on my MySpace page? Ian Downey of the notorious Ian Downey is Famous variety? He's featuring this week at Pure Kona! That's right, if you come one down to Daily Perks Thursday night at 8, you get to see him! Maybe he'll even do some standing bits like he did for Blue Dahlia ... like so:



Speaking of Blue Dahlia ... it's worth the drive out to the shady streets of Canandaigua to see the likes of Matt Shackelford. I swear you won't regret it ... this man can twist some lines and conceptualize some pretty esoteric notions all while standing on his head! I've seen him do it! So, I don't know if he'll necessarily be standing on his head this time (that was a special occasion: hugest protest I eva' been to!) but he will still impress you with his poetry, fo' sho' ... 7:30 ish pm Wednesday, November 1 at Blue Dahlia Coffee House in Canandaigua.



You can check out Ian at: http://www.myspace.com/iandowneyisfamous
And Matt at: http://www.myspace.com/rockumental

Go ahead, check them out! If you are so inclined, that is ...

There are alos MySpace Group Pages for both Pure Kona @ Blue Dahlia - so if you're on, join up! That is, also, if you are so inclined ...

http://groups.myspace.com/purekona
http://groups.myspace.com/bluedahliaopenmic

Pathways & Doors

No Blue Dahlia Open Mic this week ... I'll be at Writers & Books for the kick-off event of the RochesterInk Poetry In Fusion Festival this year.



This Wednesday will be a combination of poetry and photography, with a reading and mixer and musical accompaniment by Laura Cat (of Acoustic Soul).

There will be many other events this week with combinations of dance & poetry, music & poetry, and the winners of the kid's and adult's art & poetry contests.

Here's an overview of the schedule. For more information click the link above or visit http://rochesterink.org and click on Fesival-at-a-glance.

Wednesday, October 18:

Pathways & Doors Reading from 7 - 9 pm at Writers & Books.
FREE.

Thursday, October 19:

Moving Poems: Dances Inspired by and Infusing Poetry from 7:30 - 8:30 p.m. St. John Fisher. Cleary Family Auditorium.
$5 admission fee.

Dream Engine from 9:00 - 10:00 p.m. at St. John Fisher. Cleary Family Auditorium.
FREE.

Friday, October 20:

RochesterInk's Reading and Open Mic from 7:00 p.m.- 9 p.m at Barnes and Noble at 1070 Ridge Road, Webster, NY 14580.
FREE

Saturday, October 21:

A Matter of Blue from Noon - 1:30 p.m at St. John Fisher. Wilson Formal Lounge.
FREE

Kids' Contest Winners from Noon - 3:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble in Pittsford Plaza. Community Room.
FREE

The Creative Spark from 2:00 - 3:30 p.m. at St. John Fisher: Wilson Formal Lounge. The discussion panel will include: Marie Starr, Sally Wood Winslow, Len Messineo, and Michael Arve.
FREE

A Reading of Local Poets from 4:00 - 5:00 p.m. atSt. John Fisher: Wilson Formal Lounge. Poets Tony Leuzzi and Anne Coon will be reading.
FREE

Adult Poetry Contest Winners Reading from 6:15 - 7:00 p.m. at St. John Fisher: 135 Basil Hall.
FREE

Broadside Signing and Raffle from 7:00 - 8:00 p.m. at St. John Fisher: Foyer outside 135 Basil Hall.
FREE

The Headline Poet Michael Burkard is unable to make it, but they will be screening Il Postino from 8:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. (followed by a Dessert Bar) at St. John Fisher. 135 Basil Hall.
FREE

Sunday, October 22:

A Reading of 12 Local Poets from 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. at St. John Fisher: 135 Basil Hall.
FREE

Poetry's Power via the Translation Relay with Th. Emil Homerin from 1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. at St. John Fisher: 135 Basil Hall.
FREE

Discussion of the Use of Paul Celan's Poetry in The Memory Room from Noon - 2:00 p.m. at Barnes and Noble in Pittsford Plaza: Community Room.
FREE

Paul Celan & Music from 3:00 - 4:30 p.m. at St. John Fisher: 135 Basil Hall. FREE

I know I'll be at the Kid's Poetry Reading Saturday at Barnes & Noble. Arianna will be reading her poem "Her Storm" somewhere between 1:00 and 1:30. Her painting "Kerplooie" is also on display there. Then I'll be running over to Saint John Fisher to take part in The Creative Spark panel.

I'm also going to try to get out for Dream Engine on Thursday and the Open Mic on Friday. I'm not sure what else I'll be able to make but I'll be getting to as much of this as possible. It's not everyday we get such a plethora of poetry, art, music & dance. Let's enjoy it while we can!

What a week!

This week's feature at Blue Dahlia will be BADEA (formerly Bill & Djed's Excellent Adventure) who gave us a fabulous finale to the poetic portion of our Poetry Festival this year. It seems they are never the same combo twice, but there's always a nice blend of drums, guitar, voice, and other percussion.

Djed's told me to tell you all to bring a drum with you this week, as they'd like to make a drum circle part of their feature ... how fabulous is that? Pretty fabulous, I know ... at least I think so!



Blue Dahlia Coffe
92 South Main Street
Canandaigua
7:30 (ish) - 10 pm

Caution: these guys are likely to start on time, so if you don't want to miss a thing - hurry down ...

And Thursday at Pure Kona Open Mic: MJ Iuppa, who not only happens to be one of my favorite poets, but also one of my favorite people! Whatever you do ... you don't want to miss her!



Daily Perks Coffee House
369 Gregory Street
Rochester - this one really is more 8 - 10 pm ...

Hope to see you there!

This week: Urknee & Bjurton

This week at the Blue Dahlia Open Mic,
don't miss the stylin's of Urknee & Bjurton Russell.

And Thursday, October 5th brings you Christopher Robin
& his band for the Pure Kona Feature.

Figure on starting at 8pm for either one.

Blue Dahlia is, as always, located out here in the boondocks:
92 South Main Street in Canandaigua
and Daily Perks is up there in the city
369 Gregory Street, Rochester.

Hope to see you there!

This Week at Blue Dahlia: Lizzy Greenhood

Wednesday, September 27th the feature will be: Lizzy Greenhood

(a.k.a. DJ Jazzy Jizzy for no other reason than I made it up one night and think it's funny - speaking of funny, I didn't have a performance pic of Lizzy so instead you get this silly candid of Lizzy & I squishin' Jerry - she looks pretty cute - but I'm looking rather maniacal)



Blue Dahlia Open Mic
@ 7:30ish til 10 pm
92 South Main Street
Canandaigua, NY

And Pure Kona's Feature for Thursday, September 28th will be Old Soul, who I have no pics of but I have heard and he's worth checking out.

Pure Kona Open Mic
8 - 10 pm
Daily Perks
369 Gregory Street
Rochester, NY

Ed Downey at Pure Kona

Hello all ... just wanted to let you know there will be no Blue Dahlia this Wednesday, Spetember 20. I have an Open House to go to at my daughter's school.

But Thursday, September 21: Don't Miss Ed Downey at Pure Kona Open Mic!

Look, he's smiling!

Canandaigua Poetry Festival

Well, we did it! We pulled it off!

Never did I imagine, when Don suggested we do a Poetry Festival in Canandaigua, that it would get so big. But here we are, after a full day of poetry that segued nicely into a whole night of music and I couldn't be happier with the outcome!

A tremendous thank you to all the poets and musicians who came out to read and all of you who came out to listen or stayed to listen. I have never heard of large events such as this going off without so much as a glitch, but this one did. Not once did I have to resort to a Plan B ... everyone was there, on time, ready to go ... it was beyond my expectations, which makes me all the more grateful.

My one regret was that I didn't get to photograph everyone ... I felt a bit like a jumping bean most of the day flitting back up to the stage every fifteen minutes to announce the next poet. Maybe next year we should have everyone introduce themselves ... it's a thought I had ... what do you think? I think it would it make it flow better.

Scott and Don have heard nothing but good comments from the community & businesses in the area. There's even talk of moving the poetry festival up next year so we are less likely to run into the chilly evening we encountered last Saturday. Of course we don't want to run into steaming hot weather either, so it's a balance we'll have to work out. There's also talk of having a poetry stage at the Art Festival in Canandaigua to give people a preview.

Thanks so much to Don & Scott for all their hard work on the festival and to all the businesses and vendors who supported this event. Thanks to the city of Canandaigua for hosting this event. And thanks again to all the readers & musicians who put their time and energy into making this festival a smashing success!

I truly enjoyed getting to see this veritable smorgasbord of talent and passion. It was wonderful to be able to see and hear those of you I don't see very much, as well as those of you I see quite often. I feel like one of my main goals for the festival was to get poets together who don't always get to hear each other's work and I think that goal was accomplished beautifully.

Here's to next year!

Some Pics of the Poetry Festival

Pat

Sherry

Ayden

Maureen (from a distance)

Norm

More Pics from the Poetry Festival

Justice

Ethic

Wanda

Shawnee & Emily Dancin'

Nick & Brendan

Kitty

Arianna

Bob

BADEA

Canandaigua Poetry Festival

It's finally here! The Canandaigua Poetry Festival!
Tomorrow, Septemeber 9th, beginning at 12 noon and lasting till 9pm ... woohoo! It's going to be absolutely fabulous ... I so hope you can come!

Canandaigua Poetry Festival Schedule:

Poetry

12:00 – 12:30
12:15 - 12:30 Dee Hogan
12:30 – 12:45 Matt Shackelford
12:45 – 1:00 Todd Vail
1:00 – 1:15 Anthony Church
1:15 – 1:30 Merle Heath
1:30 – 1:45 Dwain Wilder
1:45 – 2:00 Sherry
2:00 – 2:15 Ethic
2:15 – 2:30 Justice Peace
2:30 – 2:45 Norm Davis
2:45 – 3:00 David White
3:00 – 3:30 Nick Hogan & Brendan Giusti
3:30 – 3:45 Wanda Schubmehl
3:45 – 4:00 Colleen Powderly
4:00 – 4:15 Maureen Owens
4:15 – 4:30 Kitty Jospe
4:30 – 4:45 Patricia Roth Schwartz
4:45 – 5:00 Arianna Barry
5:00 – 5:15 Kaeri Carroll
5:15 – 5:30 Bob Carroll
5:30 – 5:45 MJ Iuppa
5:45 – 6:00 Marie Starr
6:00 – 6:30 BADEA (Bill & Djed)

Music

6:30 – 7:00 Ed Downey
7:00 – 7:30 CHEA
7:30 – 8:00 Josh Knapp
8:00 – 8:30 Gregory Paul
8:30 – 9:00 Shawnee Boyeee

This week's features: Two of my favorite people!

Wednesday the 30th

at Blue Dahlia Open Mic: Shawnee Boyeee will feature ...

catch him now, before he begins wandering again.

92 South Main Street, Canandaigua, NY
7:30 - 10 pm



And Thursday August 31, Arianna Barry will become the youngest feature ever at Pure Kona Open Mic!

in her 11 years, she has amassed a great amount of wisdom, a punchy sense of humor, and an impressive stage presence ...


Daily Perks Coffee House at 369 Gregory Street, Rochester, NY
8-10pm

Sherry & Laughing Larry

This week at Blue Dahlia: Sherry :D
Wednesday, August 23 at 7:30(ish) pm

And Thursday at Pure Kona is Laughing Larry Berger!

Features for Pure Kona & Blue Dahlia

This week at Blue Dahlia Open Mic:
Brendan Giusti & Nick Hogan, who will be our half-time duet
at the Canandaigua Poetry Festival on Saturday, September 9th,
will be our feature for this week --> Wednesday, August 16.
7:30 -10 pm
Blue Dahlia Coffe House
92 South Main Street
Canandaigua, NY


And Thursday, August 17th, the Pure Kona Feature
will be me, Marie Starr … 8pm at Daily Perks Coffee House,
on the corner of Gregory & Cayuga Streets in Rochester
for more info, go to … www.dailyperkscoffeehouse.com

Art Show Opening & Open Mic

Art Show Opening: Tuesday, August 8
"The Rochester Landscape" by Plein Air Pastellist, Colette Savage.

Colette tries to search out the beauty in the ordinary scenes of Rochester through her award-winning pastel paintings. All work is done on location and the whole sensory experience of painting outside is translated onto paper. Come and experience the wonderful scenes found here in the Rochester area, as seen through the eyes of life-long Rochesterian and artist, Colette Savage.



Reception with Artist’s Talk from 7 – 8: 30 pm,
followed by an Open Mic: Hosted this week by Shannon
& held every Tuesday from 8:30 – 10 pm.



Where: Flat Iron Café, 561 State Street, Rochester
(corner of Lyell & State): 454 –4830.


Hope to see you there!

Canandaigua Poetry Festival

All right! This is really coming along ... we have our full line up for the first annual Canandaigua Poetry Festival, which begins at noon with Acoustic Soul and features the talents of Matt Shackelford, Todd Vail, Anthony Church, Merle Heath, Dwain Wilder, Sherry, Ethic, Justice Peace, David White, Nick Hogan & Brendan Giusti, Wanda Schubmehl, Colleen Powderly, Maureen Owens, Kitty Jospe, Pat Schwartz, Nanette Hiller, Kaeri Carroll, Bob Carroll, MJ Iuppa, Marie Starr, BEDEA, Ed Downey, CHEA, Josh Knapp, Gregory Paul, & Shawnee Boyeee ... so much talent and vitality packed into one day - you don't want to miss this!

Poetry runs from Noon - 6:30, followed by Music from 6:30 - 9pm.
Held at The Commons on Main Street Canandaigua, this will be an outdoor festival with food & craft vendors and words, words, words!

Please feel free to contact me for information: serendipity3.marie@gmail.com.

This Week at Blue Dahlia: Gavin

Gavin will be our feature this week at Blue Dahlia Open Mic

(And as an added extra bonus it is Arianna's Birthday!!
She'll be eleven - which I can hardly believe - and most of you know how she went out of her way to make my birthday fun, fabulous, and slightly embarrassing - so we must do the same for her)

Wednesday, August 9th
Blue Dahlia Coffee House
92 South Main Street
Canandaigua
7:30 - 10 pm

Kitty Jospe: This Week at Blue Dahlia

Kitty Jospé -- reading from her work

Sound in - form


"This title plays on much I try to put into my poetry : sound, form,

How sound informs the shape... How the form "informs" itself from idea,

to word, to sound." (Kitty)




I love this woman’s writing. She has such a way with words and with finding words to work with art and her perceptions about art and music. Truly beautiful! Come check her out!



This Wednesday: August 2nd
7:30 pm at Blue Dahlia Coffee
92 South Main Street
Canandaigua, NY

Visions of Africa

EXHIBIT DETAILS:

VISIONS OF AFRICA
July 29th - August 6th 2006
At the Baobab Cultural Center, 315 Gregory St. Rochester
Gallery Hours: Sat/Sun 10-5pm, Mon-Thur 6-10pm
Tel: (585) 546-4790
www.thebaobab.org


Artist Lecture- "The Spirit of Africa; life in the bush"
When: Friday, July 28th 7-9pm
Where: The Baobab Cultural Center
Info: Come here me talk about my experiences in Africa, including living in the Zambian VIllage of Monze working with deaf children and adventures traveling through the desert country of Namibia. Guitarist Brendan Guisti will be performing as well, mixing his wonderful sounds with poetry I wrote about my journeys.


Opening Reception
When: Saturday, July 29th 2-5pm
Where: The Baobab Cultural Center
Info: View the official opening of the show and listen to the intoxicating sounds of Chea.


Invitational Mixer
When: Saturday, July 29th 8pm
Where: The Baobab Cultural Center
Info: Taste the flavors of Africa with the Baobab's own chef from Cameroon. Entertainment to follow. Tickets are $15/pp or $25 for two.

This is an exhibit featuring photos taken in Zambia and Namibia by Rigel Klingman. There will be an Artist's Lecture on July 28th, accompanied by guitarist Brendan Giusti. The official opening will then take place that Saturday with a performance by Chea. An invitational mixer will be held after the Opening Reception at 8pm. You can contact Rigel at rigelsorion@gmail.com for an invite & rsvp.

Also, of any work sold, half of the proceeds will be contributed back to Deaf Education & Arts for African Families: www.deaaf.org. This is the organization Rigel worked with while in Zambia.

Truly, go check this girl out! She is an absolute goddess and not to be missed! Hope to see you there!

Rick Petrie

This week at Blue Dahlia Open Mic: Rick Petrie



Wednesday, July 19
7:30ish - 10 pm

Blue Dahlia Coffee House
92 South Main Street
Canandaigua, NY

Art Show Opening

Opening:
Wind, Windows and Soul:
Assemblage/Collage by Sue Schickler



Tuesday July 18th
Reception 7 – 8 pm



Followed by the Words of Fire Open Mic 8 – 10 pm

Flatiron Café
561 State Street
Rochester, NY
454 – 4830


Hope to see you there!

Canandaigua Poetry Festival

Lots of fabulous poets will be taking part in this festival: BEDEA, Acoustic Soul, MJ Iuppa, Colleen Powderly, Matt Shackelford, Pat Schwartz, Rigel Klingman, David White, Wanda Schubmehl, Maureen Owens, Anthony Church, Kitty Jospe, Merle Heath, Bob Carroll, Kaeri Carroll, Nicholas Hogan & Brendan Giusti ... and more! As well as some local musicians: Ed Downey, Kalu James, maybe Shawnee Boyeee (if he's still around).

I will be adding names as I recieve confirmations. We hope to have about a dozen more poets to add to this list! So, save the date ... Don's working on getting vendors and putting a lot into making this a successful event.

And don't forget to check out the September/October issue of Poets & Writer's Magazine which will have an article on Poetry Marathons including ours!

Urknee & Bjurton: this week at Blue Dahlia

Don't miss the sesquipedalian stylin's of Urknee & Bjurton Russell this Wednesday at the Blue Dahlia Open Mic! You can check them out at: http://www.myspace.com/urkenzeebjurtonian.

Wednesday, June 28 at 7:30ish pm
Blue Dahlia Coffee, 92 South Main Street, Canandaigua

Hope to see you there!

It's me!