Cat heaven

After attending the candlelight vigil for the departed and missing felines that were lovingly cared for at the Cat Ladies' Society we walked around the two floors and many rooms - never such a wrong and grievous thing to see as all those empty beds.

714 CLS cats found forever homes last year alone

note the clever means of egress from room to room from above

upstairs in one of the Eat Play Sleep rooms

 The many ingenuous constructions looked as close to cat heaven as I've seen, and all was clean, shiny, spotless and/or freshly painted. 
The Cat Ladies Society blog can be read here.
Listed are many photographs and stories of The Disappeared cats.
Some news coverage here.     And here WKBN news article Sept. 22, 11 pm
Vindy newspaper article here

the cat tunnel doors from the other side

so many nifty shelves for prowling

more modular shelves and ramps

the only cat about was this stone guardian over the stairway

From PETA's own webpage ( http://www.peta.org/features/gandhi.aspx )   "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." They and most others wholey attribute this to Mahatma Gandhi.

But from someone who did the research at http://www.ivu.org/history/gandhi/ :: :

"However.... way back in 1883 Howard Williams published 'The Ethics of Diet - a Catena' a collection of articles by ethical writers. Williams was a friend of Gandhi at the London Vegetarian Society, and Gandhi clearly states in his autobiography that he read the book in the early 1890s. In the section on Schopenhauer, p.287, Williams quotes Dr. David Strauss (Die Alte und die Neue Glaube) "The manner in which a nation, in the aggregate, treats the other species, is one chief measure of its real civilisation." - so wherever Gandhi might have used his variation of the quote, he did not entirely originate it."

Very good video from WFMJ showing the bright-eyed bushy-tailed perky kitties and interview with the veterinarian tech: (okay, sorry folks, correction, blogger doesn't even seem to be allowing a video embedded right now with the other photos...? dunnno, whatever, check Post Below:  )



Contrast this with recent Colorado rescue scene on Sep 21, 2010 - http://cbs4denver.com/local/cats.seized.Greeley.2.1924909.html AND http://cbs4denver.com/news/cats.seized.Greeley.2.1922772.html
I was struck with how different that situation was handled compared to our gritty Valley here -- number 1 was that many of the kitties they took from the old guy's home had "upper respiratory" ailments which is the "kitty cold" !! AND there is no mention of having to put them down for their mere colds! in fact many of the cats would be up for adoption in a few days -- faster than all the time it took Charities to execute their despicable deed. Different area [income, class?] of the country, different attitude.

Second earlier WFMJ video of what it looked like with statement from Borosky: ((blogger seems to be not letting 2 videos be posted in one Post, so please see POST below (or at the link)))

Cat heaven part two:

Very good video from WFMJ showing the bright-eyed bushy-tailed perky kitties and interview with the veterinarian tech: ((blank space if it's not playing here)))
(((blank space))
There is also this video from the older shelter:

3 Legged Cat Goes Fishing, or, "Three legs? - no problem!"
http://vimeo.com/9011696

About the 3-Legged Abner video:
"Abner was rescued from Akron Humane Society after losing his leg to an animal attack. Cat Ladies Society is a no-kill shelter on the westside of Youngstown, Ohio at www.CatLadiesSociety.com"

It can also be seen on Viddler at http://www.viddler.com/explore/CatLadies/videos/1/  where they have 3 other videos of the older shelter and its cats, including the One-Eyed Pumpkin Pie Looking for A Home
 and this  infectiously happy one: Kitten Jump Fever

See next post here on this blog for more on the incredibly unjust incident at the Cat Ladies Society

Cat heaven info part one

Second earlier WFMJ video of what it looked like with statement from Borosky:



Also if you logged into facebook, there is a NOTE listing all the related articles at:
coincidence maybe, for PETA-backed raid in Youngstown, Ohio
and
Part 2: coincidence maybe, for PETA-backed raid in Youngstown, Ohio
and
Cat Ladies Society news conference today canceled
To bad it was canceled. Lots of questions could have been asked of Kim Koocher:1. Do you think an RVT, which you are, should be handled to a hi...

See next post here on this blog about the incredibly unjust action taken against the Cat Ladies Society

Pirko Sundial to be Unveiled at Youngstown State

The unveiling and dedication of the Richard Pirko memorial sundial will be Thursday August 26, at 1:30pm, outside the Ward-Beecher Planetarium, Youngstown University, Youngstown Ohio 44555 (weather permitting -- in case of bad weather we will hold it indoors in the Planetarium).

It should be a short ceremony.  Tony Armeni (the sculptor) will be there.  The Dean is invited, but his schedule is in flux, and may not be able to make it. The President and the Provost are also invited. Those saying a few words will include Victoria (Rick's wife), Angela Pupino, Pat Durrell and Warren Young at this point. Ron Cole (YSU media person) will be there, and with Warren's help will be writing up a press release for the event.

*****************
Planetarium is in Ward Beecher Science Hall - Building #14, Lincoln Avenue, Youngstown OH 44555
street map for planetarium

and there is a Facebook Public Event Page for the 26th where one may comment or RSVP at:

Richard Pirko Memorial Sundial Dedication

Rick's Great Big Space sharing space blog: http://thanksrick.blogspot.com/
with photos of sundial and anything Rick

Fetterman and being helpful in the rustbelt

Does no community deserve to end?
Paving the Way: CBS story by Jeff Glor profiles the decaying Rust Belt steel town of Braddock, Pennsylvania and Mayor John Fetterman; a man trying to bring it back from the rubble - it's not clear cut.


Watch CBS News Videos Online

also see the Levi's commercial here
"Frontiers are all around us...Maybe the world breaks on purpose so we can have work to do."  ??
Levi invested in Braddock's community center, public library and urban farm.
We are All Workers film trailer in association witth Independent Film & Sundance Channels

It's sad commentary that the end of the world scenes on Cormac McCarthy's The Road film were filmed here but at least it brought income!
--------------------------------------
Here's Youngstown: John Slanina's blog full of still secret dining and entertainment treasures

BBC story: "Did somebody draw a 'Stupid Circle' around Youngstown? Slum-tech in India has nothing on us!"

Rust Belt reading such as Why The Garden Club Couldn't Save Youngstown

Beloved guerrila gardner..

Rick's sundial plus garlic
Originally uploaded by stormbirdstudio

The Richard Pirko Memorial sundial progresses under dancing garlic blooms planted by Richard years ago.    See more pictures HERE of it in progress


Some info here

Alternatives to Ninging

farewell my little ning:

Here's the best 3 webpages of lists of the best alternatives to NING, there's some overlap:

9 Free alternatives with Welcoming messages from each. The WEBS.com seems to be a good choice - I've had a webs.com for several years and it's the most friendly thing I've used in a long time - also can access and view anywhere, including public/library computers that block "social networking sites."
Their Welcome message here: but as they say "Unfortunately ... you will need to rebuild the basic features of your site. However the benefit of going with Webs is that once you export your network members to a CSV file you can easily send them an automated invitation to the new Webs site using our Email Blast tool."

And SPRUZ.com does have a NING Migration tool, it sez, and does have high ratings. Second Welcome for ex-Ningers

OK - I just looked and here's a nice example of an artists group using Spruz.com. Videos aren't allowed in the free version.

16 alternatives with pros and cons

Discussion of Alternative Solutions to Ning with pro and con Comments on them

read more social theories about social networking

Arts belt alive and breathing

The Calvin Center Idea Incubator Grand Opening Festival
Time: May 1, 2010 at 12pm to May 2 at 5pm
Location: The Calvin Center - Idea Incubator
Street: 755 Mahoning Avenue, Youngstown, Ohio 44502
Organized By: Mary K. Farragher
as described below by Mary Farrager on her Ning Network Board for Karma Labs :

"The recent purchase of The Calvin Center at 755 Mahoning Avenue by Sean Timms has drawn enormous excitement from Youngstown's art community. Timms and his team of renovators have brought this historical building back to life in order for it to serve as Youngstown's newest venue for theater, art, and music! To celebrate The Calvin Center Idea Incubator will be hosting a Grand Opening Festival on Saturday May 1st from Noon to Midnight and Sunday May 2nd from Noon to 5 pm. This event is being held in conjunction with the Artists of the Mahoning Commons biannual open studio sale that is housed in the old Ward Bakery building just blocks away from The Calvin Center. Because of this collaboration other businesses and organizations were enticed to ban together to form a district wide celebration! So, on May 1st and 2nd from noon to 5 pm a FREE shuttle will be provided by Purple Cat to all the events happening from the B&O Station to Fellows Riverside Gardens in the first annual Mahoning Commons Fest!

"Please be sure to get off the shuttle when it stops at The Calvin Center Idea Incubator to check our contribution to the festivities! On Saturday Mat 1st Food will be available for purchase from noon to 7 pm. Arts Youngstown will be on the taps serving cold beer to raise monies for the organization on Saturday from noon to Midnight and Sunday noon to 5 pm. Arts Youngstown will also have prepared the arts exhibition that will be on display throughout the building. Artists of the Rust Belt will set up an artist market on Saturday from noon to 7pm and Sunday from noon to 5pm. Artists of the Rust Belt will also be conducting a Chance Auction that will consist of items from the artists participating in the event. Three FREE tickets for the Chance Auction will be given to any one who rode his or her bicycle to the event! A FREE Bicycle Valet will be provided! The Rust Belt Theater Company (which is housed in The Calvin Center) will be providing atmospheric performances that will pop-up in the most unusual of places throughout Saturday and Sunday.

"Indie Wax Records and “Viking” Jim Allgren (The Home Grown Show on 93.3 The Wolf) will be providing the musical entertainment for the weekend's event. During the daylight hours on Saturday and Sunday, Viking Jim will act as DJ - providing the sounds of great local musicians as he does every Sunday on his radio show. The main event will take place on Saturday night starting at 8 pm and ending at Midnight, the line up includes; Sam Goodwill, Braille, Fillmore Jive, and Tigerstyle. On Saturday, starting at 8 pm a $3 cover charge will be added – 18 years old and over may attend providing a photo I.D. before entry.

"Come on down! Enjoy this exciting time in Downtown Youngstown! We hope that this is just the beginning of a wonderful new tradition for the city. The staff of The Calvin Center Idea Incubator looks forward to the future we will have in the Youngstown area. We would like to extend the invitation to the public to contact Mary Farragher (mkfarragher@gmail.com) with any interests in renting the auditorium/gymnasium for special events. A Special Events Planning Committee is available for consultation to make your event even more exciting!"

Read books about mixed media art making

Voice in the wilderness of facebook

The man who made a film about Ed Abbey in the 1990's and was fortunate enough to meet and interview him several times in the early 1980's is constantly refreshing an awesome Facebook page as a way to keep his memory alive through images, video and words. The videos are inspiring... a bit amazing in how much they move even a casual viewer just stumbling into Abbey. There's one separate video and a few pages of videos that play right in situ.
See here: Edward Abbey: A Voice in The Wilderness on facebook  (sigh, as I type,.,, yes, there's another dichotomy.)

The video is being re-released in DVD at Canyon Productions, Maryland

Abbey on Amazon if you would like to see Ed Abbey books

See it in jazz

We are looking for writers (and readers) of jazz material - stories, profiles, reviews, poetry, photography, art and more - this is a call for creatives below, we welcome any kind of input, even about jazz publishing:           Make sure you click the "SUBMIT" button to send us your opinion!           
                                                               

If you can't see the choices above, or the SUBMIT button, we're sorry, please go to the survey HERE instead.

Interactive participation happening here on the Google Wave I made for this - Wavers can just comment or hobnob (or even chit chat) instead of submitting to the survey
https://wave.google.com/wave/?pli=1#restored:wave:googlewave.com!w%252BHmJL6Cq_A
If you aren't WAVING yet - since Google Wave is currently in a limited preview -   request an invitation from me, I have a dozen Google Wave Invites to give away yet just for the asking!

See list of jazz books here (no magazines, hey!)
.

Rust and Moth on Issuu with Schubert and Attardo

A friend has a poem in this journal; the online viewing of periodicals and journals has come a long way - I wonder if everyone has the scripts and software and operating system speed to view them though? We have no problem but perhaps not everyone else has the resources to update... ? ? Feedback anyone - that is, any of my 2 viewers-? Check out Salvatore Attardo's Bibliography, The Witch of Agnesi: A Feminist Reappropriation, & Starbucks Invented Nothing; and Karen Schubert's Letter

Art Belt update

sharing UPDATE from continuing workshops to establish the Art Belt of NE Ohio & NW PA:

To All Power of the Arts Participants and Friends, As a reminder, our next work meeting is scheduled for Friday, April 9 at Bliss Hall at YSU from 5 PM - 7 PM. We are very excited to continue to move forward with the progress we've made thus far. For those who were unable to make it to our last meeting and as a reminder to those that were, we broke into two work groups to raise some questions and have an open dialogue about public policy/public support and about advocacy/arts council. From these discussions nine topics/questions surfaced that we are now going to delve further into. Please see below for what each work group will be addressing: Public Policy/Public Support (facilitated by Paul Hagman): ·         Is there anything "on the books" in Youngstown, Warren, Mahoning County and/or Trumbull County relating to public policy and/or public support for arts and culture? ·         Research selected cities that have been successful in securing public support for the arts. ·         Explore tax levy and other potential funding sources for public support. Advocacy/Arts Council (facilitated by Bryan DePoy): ·         Research what previous groups that have tried to set up arts councils in the Mahoning Valley have done, and understand their lessons learned. ·         Why an arts council? - Define, explore, and prioritize: What are the needs of artists? What are the needs of arts and cultural organizations? What are the needs of the community at large? Where are the gaps between what is needed and what is currently available? ·         What might an advocacy group that promotes alliances look like? ·         Develop "one-stop-shopping" website. ·         Inventory assets of artists and organizations and make that available to share. Ad hoc Committee of the Lead Team (facilitated by Janus Small prior to next meeting): ·         Develop mission, vision, and guiding principles for the Power of the Arts initiative - Progress to date will be reported at the April 9th meeting. If you have not done so, please register here for the April 9th Meeting! APRIL 9, 2010 REGISTRATION LINK If you have any questions , please do not hesitate to contact the coordinators of this meeting, Janus Small Associates (contact information provided below). Hope to see you there and don't forget to spread the word! Becky Keck & Bill Mullane Power of the Arts Co-Chairs

Janus Small Associates
.....building strong organizations for strong communities
www.janussmallassociates.com
3220 Green Road
Cleveland, Ohio 44122
216.991.6003-office
216.991.6009-fax

Janus Small, President
jsmall@janussmallassociates.com

Adam C. Schultz, Associate

aschultz@janussmallassociates.com

 Succeeding as an artist in your hometown: books about

Shenago Valley artists gather together

29 Logan Avenue Gallery of Sharon, Pennsylvania,  featured in a story:
http://sharonherald.com/community/x250447664/Studio-evolves-into-creative-outlet-for-many

"Sixty artists from the Shenango Valley; Greenville; Grove City; Edinboro; Youngstown; Warren, Ohio; Akron, Ohio; and other areas now are displaying paintings, photographs, jewelry, stained and blown glass, metal work, wood pieces, fabric and knit items, pottery, gourd masks and dolls."  gourd art ideas & books

photography by David E. Dale/ Sharon Herald

How We Work

The Story of NUMMI as told by the Ira Glass/Chicago Public Radio (WBEZ) program TAL (This American Life) is one that everyone in the  Mahoning Valley should put aside an hour and listen to:

MP3 here: http://www.thislife.org/sites/all/download.php?ep=403
Episode 403: http://www.thislife.org/radio-archives/episode/403/nummi

PROLOGUE.

A car plant in Fremont California that might have saved the U.S. car industry. In 1984, General Motors and Toyota opened NUMMI as a joint venture. Toyota showed GM the secrets of its production system: how it made cars of much higher quality and much lower cost than GM achieved. Frank Langfitt explains why GM didn't learn the lessons – until it was too late.

Host Ira Glass introduces the story of the New United Motor Manufacturing Inc., aka NUMMI. In 1984, General Motors and Toyota opened NUMMI as a joint venture. Toyota showed GM the secrets of its production system: how it made cars of much higher quality and much lower cost than GM achieved. But today, GM cars still don't have the quality of Japanese imports, GM is bankrupt and on March 31, NUMMI will be closed, sending thousands of car workers looking for jobs. In this hour-long story, NPR Automotive Correspondent Frank Langfitt tells the story of NUMMI and why GM – and the rest of the American car business – wasn't able to learn from it more quickly. (4 1/2 minutes)

Act One.

The rise of NUMMI, or how one of the worst auto plants in America started producing some of its best cars, thanks to lessons learned from the Toyota production system. (25 1/2 minutes)

Act Two.

Why did it take so many years for GM to begin implementing the lessons of NUMMI across the company? NPR Automotive Correspondent Frank Langfitt continues his story. (26 minutes)

see more Books about steel in the Valley

"How much suffering is too little?" OTM rerun 2-13-2010

Listen to12 minute essay which ends with: "Is too much of the wide range of human behavior being pathologized? What is a disorder and what is in the normal range of human emotion? The wide range covered in the DSM IV prompts the question not how much suffering is too much... but how much suffering is too little?"

The Art of Diagnosis: "This week, the American Psychiatric Association released proposed changes to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM. In an update to a story that originally aired in December of last year, Brooke Gladstone looks at this powerful book and the controversies surrounding the proposed revisions."

The above audio essay I heard on the radio & that question caught my attention because after a friend read this book, she asked if maybe American children "have it too easy" and therefore have no desire to learn :

Train time

read Panama Limited lyrics by Tom Rush transcribed by Ken Ward, etc 

 The names full of story: 

California Zephyr Capitol Limited Cardinal / Hoosier City of New Orleans Empire Builder Hiawatha Acela Express Downeaster Ethan Allen Express Lake Shore Limited Northeast Regional Sunset Limited Heartland Flyer Amtrak Cascades Capitol Corridor Coast Starlight

Illinois Service Lake Shore Limited Michigan Services Missouri Routes Southwest Chief Texas Eagle Adirondack Carolinian / Piedmont Crescent Empire Service Keystone Maple Leaf Pennsylvanian Silver / Palmetto Vermonter Pacific Surfliner San Joaquins

Chili in the Temple

Annual York Rite Chili Cook-off  Monday at the Youngstown Masonic Temple on Wick Ave., downtown Youngstown. The all-you-can-eat event cost a mere $6.

Some of the chili chefs - 3 of the 7 vats of the different varieties have already been gobbled up by hungry chili-heads. The room full of good food and camaraderie was packed, and appeared to be the best turn-out in a long time.

Chill In The Temple: a man went to the Dean of the Education Department at Youngstown State University for assistance; he was already having a bad day having had an altercation at the bus depot, and was homeless and wanted help. The newspaper claimed he was trespassing but this would not be possible as the University is a public institution. The Dean of Education could provide no help.  

Ludwig photography sampler

Some of my photographs form 2009 and a few from 2010:

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Mahoning Valley Arts United !

Spell with Flickr disappeared for a while and I'm glad it's back, yeah! :