CAROUSEL triple cities
free
march 2015
vol. 3 issue 2
living local. loving life.
March 2015 Triple Cities Carousel 3
inside.
ARTISAN BREAD, PASTRIES, COOKIES, SANDWICHES, & MORE
97 Court St, Binghamton
(607) 595-7612
“like” us on facebook to find out all about our delicious daily specials! TRIPLE CITIES CAROUSEL P.O. BOX 2947 BINGHAMTON, NY 13902 (607) 422-2043 Publisher/Editor-in-Chief Christopher M.F. Bodnarczuk Assistant Editors Heather Merlis, Ronnie Vuolo Advertising Christopher Bodnarczuk, Emmilie Urda Calendar Guru Ty Whitbeck Staff Writers Krissy Howard, Ilana Lipowicz, Rose Silberman-Gorn, Felicia Waynesboro, Phil Westcott Contributors Anvile Milligan, Paul O’Heron, Sally Ride Photography Stephen Schweitzer, Ty Whitbeck, Additional Photos Courtesy of BingPop Layout/Design Chris Bodnarczuk On the Cover ““The wind wears a coat of blue whispers, with pockets full of sleep” -Jules Gotay FOR ADVERTISING: triplecitiesads@gmail.com FOR LETTERS, COMPLAINTS, DEATH THREATS, AND OTHER INQUIRIES: triplecitiescarousel@gmail.com Copyright © 2015 by Triple Cities Carousel. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without prior written consent from the publisher.
editorial.........................................................................4 music...............................................................................7 parade day...................................................................13 amateur night.............................................................14 art..................................................................................16 events calendar........................................................20 theatre and dance.................................................... 23 food and drink ...........................................................27 poetry ..........................................................................30 celebrate ......................................................................31 film .................................................................................33 coitus ............................................................................35 tarotology ...................................................................36 fun stuff ......................................................................39
4 Vol. 3 Issue 2
editorial.
You would think that after two years, I’d come up with something new to write about in the editorial, and not just revert back to some sappy “you guys are awesome” shtick. You would think that. But you’d be wrong. Twenty four issues into Carousel, and all I ever do in this part of the paper is get all “you guys are awesome, Binghamton is awesome, everything’s coming up roses.” That’s not even true. Maybe… maybe… 50% of the time, the editorial’s about that. The rest of the time I just complain about money. Hell, last month, all I put on this page was a big picture of a toilet. Did I mention we’re two? Yes, that’s right. Carousel is two years old. And you guys are awesome. We couldn’t have made it here without you. The readers, the advertisers, the movers and shakers we get to write about each month… it’s all for y’all. And if I can stop typing in the collective “we” for a second and address my ridiculously wonderful staff… you crazy few make it happen. Your creativity in addressing articles in new ways never ceases to amaze me. Your patience when dealing with your frazzled, unorganized editor never ceases to amaze me. And your dedication to this thinly sliced chunk of dead trees never ceases to amaze me. It’s an honor to work with you. Thank you all so very much. Now that that part’s covered, I’m supposed to make some self-important comment about how cool it is to be however small of a part of Binghamton’s current artistic renaissance, and then I’m supposed to say something about how when I started this paper two years ago everyone told me print was dead, and then I’m supposed to get kind of egotistical for a second because hot damn how cool is this damn paper? But I won’t do any of that, because you’ve heard it all from me already and I’d hate to be predictable. What I’ll do instead is invite you all to our Terrible Twos birthday party, at 9pm on Friday March 6th at Cyber Café West. Zydeco Po’ Boys are playing, DJ Juniper’s spinning, and Lucem Picturae is setting up a cool ass interactive video light painting thing. When the party ends, we’re immediately having a whole ‘nuther one, next door at Callahan’s Sportsman’s Club, from 1-3am. And Milkweed will be playing. Two years old. Two parties. I dig. Oh, also, also, also… I have a super big deal long overdue announcement for everybody but I can’t even say anything about it until the middle of the month so make sure you like our facebook page and check it incessantly on, like, the 18th. Anyway. We’re two. Wow. Thanks for the support, everyone. Let’s shoot for two more? -Christopher M.F. Bodnarczuk
PS- This happened. That’s palm trees, yo.
carousel presents: the terrible two’s after party party with musical guest:
MILKWEED
friday
march 6th callahan’s sportsman’s club 190 main stREET binghamton
1am-3am 21+ FREE
immediately following carousel’s terrible two’s birthday party at cyber cafe west.
stellar food award winning beer live music every thurs. at 9:30pm
*
3/5 Rabbit in the Rye Progressive Folk Rock From Hamilton, NY 3/12 The Falconers Uplifting Acoustic Indie Rock From Right Here In Binghamton 3/19 The Bros. MacRae Folk, Celtic, & Bluegrass From The Cortland Hills 3/26 Woodshed Prophets Locally Bred Whiskey Soaked Honky Tonk Rock N Roll
41 court street
binghamton galaxybrewingco.com FOR FULL EVENT LISTINGS AND MORE INFO
March 2015 Triple Cities Carousel 7
music. Provided.
AN INTERVIEW WITH moe. BASSIST ROB DERHAK Phil Westcott Staff Writer On Wednesday, March 11th, get ready for moe. The jam band has been touring the nation for nearly 20 years, and they’re finally coming back to Binghamton. Bassist and founding member Rob Derhak sat down with us to talk about the show, music, life, and how cold it is outside. uuu How long have you been playing with moe.? How has spending so much time on the road affected your music? It’s been 25 years playing with moe. We’ve toured inconsistently; for the first five years we toured around Buffalo. We started full-time touring between 1993 and ‘95, and have been ever since. It’s been close to 20 years of full-on touring. Like anything you do, the more you do it, the more it changes itself. You learn more effective ways to perfect something. Twentyfive years of playing is a lot of practice, and playing live in front of people in different areas has definitely changed how we play and what we play. It’s an interaction between the crowd and the band. If there was no crowd, we would have gone in a different direction; not that I know what direction that would be. How has spending so much time on the road affected your music? Our favorite
festival is moe.down, but we’re taking a break from doing it this year. We’re slowing down, not playing as many tour dates this year. We’re not doing our own festival, which after 15 years... My second favorite is Summer Camp. How has being from Upstate New York, in the cold and the snow, affected your music? We did grow up in Central New York, where it’s always cold and snowy. We weren’t rich; we grew up with our work ethic from blue collar families. You grow up like that- always facing adversity- you either work hard to get through it, or you don’t. You don’t have anyone to give you a free ride. Growing up in that environment has made us stronger; we all share that common core… With cold weather, I guess we’re not playing reggae and beach songs. You’re termed as a ‘jam band.’ Is that how you view your music? There was no genre of ‘jam band’ when we started. We sort of pre-dated that whole thing. One of the editors at Relix was talking about us and some others when he coined the phrase ‘jam band’- Phish and Blues Traveler. They were big with no label. Then we started playing in the same places they started playing at, and the term sort of came to fruition. It doesn’t really bother me. It’s a little weird, when you look at the bands in the scene now; the genres range from electro to Colorado bluegrass. All I see when you say ‘jam band’ is the crowd, not what the band is gonna sound like. In the nineties it was more like, yeah they’re a grunge band, you know what they’re gonna sound like, the same with speed metal. [‘Jam band’] is kind of a difficult genre to be in.
Do you write the music for the band? What is your creation process like? Does someone take the lead? I write my own songs. I’ve written, probably, almost half the songs the band plays. Whoever writes the song will bring it to the band, and the band kind of hashes it out from there. When I do it, there’s a progress to the song already done, and the guys just play a part that goes with it. Sometimes a guy just brings a couple ideas or riffs. Al and myself write the majority, but Chuck and everyone have also written some, brought some great songs to the table. If you weren’t in a band, what would you be doing? Can you see yourself doing anything else? I might- my daughter thinks I’d be doing voiceovers for cartoons, or I might be a high school lacrosse coach. I really like to watch my kids play. Where does your inspiration come from? Guilt, for sleeping in too long. [We laugh, sharing the moe-ment.] My kids and family, I’ve got three kids: 16, 13 and 10. It’s amazing how fast they grow, and amazing how old you get. It doesn’t seem very long ago that I was in college playing in bars and basements. It seems like very little time has passed, but in reality, I’m getting to be an old man. I’m 46. It’s funny how that happens. Have you played in Binghamton before? Yeah, we have. It’s been quite a while. We used to live in Albany, and we played at the BU bar, back when it was on campus. We also opened for a band called Yolk at some point, but it’s been a while since we’ve been there. Do you like craft beer? Yeah, you know
I’m a fan of English ales, and good lagers, and Pilsners. [Local brewers take note.] Where does music come from, and where does it go? I think- do you play anything? I play saxophone. I think you kinda go through some stages: first you learn notes and chords, and then you get muscle memory. Then you can express yourself playing music. Sometimes when you’re playing live you really feel like you’re a conduit for; sometimes you’re just being a creative and expressive force. It’s not just one thing. I’m one of those people who gets the synergistic effects of playing music: colors, and shapes; you close your eyes and it’s sort of happening while you’re doing it. It’s how you’re brain is able to translate it for you. I’ve never taken music theory or classical training; it’s probably an artifact. Well, we’re glad to have you back, and can’t wait for your show! I’m glad to be back in Binghamton. We forged our main fan base by playing all around Upstate and NYC, so any time I get a chance to come back to the area I’m psyched. It’s been a while, so we’re glad to come back. uuu Moe. will be playing the Forum on March 11th, at 7:30pm. The band has national fame, and the show is going to be phenomenal. Cabinet, a fantastic local ‘slamgrass’ band hailing from the Wilkes-Barre area, will be opening up the night. Make sure to wear your dancing shoes, because it will be a night to be grooving.
8 Vol. 3 Issue 2
Provided.
CELEBRATING WOMEN AND MUSIC
ON THE CYBER STAGE
Ronnie Vuolo Assistant Editor
Five talented local women take the stage at Cyber Café West on Saturday, March 28th at 9pm for Women and Music. The brainchild of singer-songwriter Devinne Meyers, “Women and Music” was founded in response to the attitudes and obstacles facing women musicians, and women in general. While women have been making music from time immemorial, breaking into the ranks of professional music has historically posed unique challenges. “We come together, both to give and receive a warm energy of female support in our community. Women have struggled time and time again in society for equal pay, equal rights, and equal respect. The entertainment industry is not only not an exception, but it amplifies the woman as an object. Big asses that ‘break the internet,’ female artists who have lost 40 pounds and have gained an eating disorder due to the pressure of being what society wants them to be- perfect body, aesthetically pleasing- a sex object.” Meyers continues, “What’s worse is, instead of coming together, we’re encouraged to always be in competition. So what else to do but start our own support group? What I love about this event is there was never any doubt with these women about doing it.” The women involved are Kali Cornwell, Mallory Evans, Amber Martin, Mary Tewksbury, and Meyers. “The girls and I are super stoked,” she beams. “We had our first ‘Women and Music’ show a few months back and everyone had their hands in the planning process. It’s a tough thing to get five different musical acts in one room, on one
night, planned the way it was. It’s icing on the cake for those musical acts to share their experiences jumping over the same hurdles, booking gigs, the rehearsals, the day jobs. It’s something special when you can identify with people in a similar position as you. All have talent beyond measure, a definite passion for music, and their own personalities and sound.” They also have a sense of humor. With farcical wickedness, Evans requested that the article focus solely on looks, and include what they will be wearing and their celebrity crushes. “We have so much talent around us,” says Tewksbury, “and we wanted to showcase the women specifically, these young women with such heart and soul. We wanted a show we can kick some ass with.” “It shows the community that we, as women, have a strong passion for the music that we create, and we wear it on our sleeve,” Martin adds. It is this passion and energy that comes out in their music. Their voices range from bluesy intensity to powerful finesse, and their original songs capture honest emotions common to us all. Each brings to the project her own unique voice, the result of her individual journey- both personal and professional. Although four of the women are currently in bands: Meyers with East Coast Big Foot, Cornwell with Adam Ate the Apple, and Evans and Tewksbury with Next to Kin, each is an entity unto herself. As Cornwell puts it, “A lot of people who have seen us perform elsewhere have probably seen us performing with bands. But this show shows that we’re fully capable of doing it ourselves. And when a group of women join forces, the results are incredible!” Tickets for Women and Music are $10 at the door at Cyber Café West, 176 Main Street in Binghamton. For further information contact (607) 723-2456.
March 2015 Triple Cities Carousel 9
MIEKA PAULEY: “I DON’T WANT TO APOLOGIZE” Provided.
by Heather Merlis
Mieka Pauley seems to be in constant motion, and this month she will be making her way back through Binghamton. This raw, truthful songstress has already earned national recognition and accolades in her young career, and we are lucky to be graced with her presence once again. She spoke with Carousel while she was en route to Maine. uuu Your songs are fierce, and you seem to be a pretty fierce lady. Have you always had a bold presence? Not really. My writing is like that, and when I sing it’s like that. I’m more of an introverted person, for the most part. I’m not bold and I’m not fierce. That’s just the part of me that comes through in music. When did you know you were an artist? I’ve always sung- I don’t know if I always thought of that as being an artist. Before I was making memories, I was singing- unplugging appliances and singing into cords- much to my mom’s annoyance. In high school I started writing songs, so I would have something to sing. I was writing songs to fit my voice. I would learn little ditties on the piano. I would learn classical pieces, then write really shitty classical pieces. I didn’t think of it as art; I was just crafting around my voice. It was more of a voice-centric thing, and I can’t put the term “art” on that. Now, I absolutely consider what I’m doing to be art. It’s that change from trying to have a good voice, to trying to have an evocative voice. I’m trying to make the audience feel what I feel. At what point did you realize that you had arrived- that you were truly living as an artist? I wanted to be a singer all my life, but when I started singing, making money… you just sort of, gradually, look back and realize you’re there. A year out of college, I had a job as a secretary in Boston. I would leave at five, take a bus down to NYC, and take the midnight bus back- smelling like cigarettes- and go back to work after having slept on public transportation. I wasn’t a terrible secretary, but I wasn’t a good secretary. I just put in my notice and said, “I’m leaving.” I continued straight performing through the summer, and I assumed, come winter, I wouldn’t be able to do this. But I met a booking agent and toured through the winter and realized I could do this. Your lyrics are provocative even confrontational (the song “Wreck” begins: “I wanna wreck your home/ I wanna get your husband alone”). Have any of your performances ever led to an actual confrontation? I do get worried, playing that song. A lot of those songs go over better if I’ve already established a social connection with the audience, because then I’m not a one-dimensional “other woman.” The worst thing that happened was in an Ohio performance arts center. The afternoon of that show, I had done a guitar seminar for kids who had been recently released from juvenile hall- to help them bridge the gap through art- and part of the deal was that they got tickets to the show. So, I’d already established a relationship with these kids. One of the girls, her grandmother brought her- and one of the songs I say “fuck” twelve times, and the grandmother didn’t flinch. But when I played “Wreck,” she tried to forcibly remove her granddaughter from the audience- unsuccessfully. I know that she was angry enough to take off and leave. [That song is] never a promotion of anything: it’s a description of something. My saying it doesn’t make it real, it already exists. I don’t want to apologize, but I don’t want people to be hurt. People have been through this. My intent wasn’t to anger- it was to tell the story. I’ve had a woman walk up to me and say, “I really don’t like that song,” and I appreciate that she handled it in a civilized way. I don’t know if I’ll ever be comfortable playing that song. Carousel is turning two. Any thoughts on anniversaries, or on being two? Hooray for arbitrary units of time. I don’t know about being two. It gets pretty dreary here in Binghamton this time of year… It gets really warm at the Lost Dog- it gets really packed. I think that’s the light at the end of the tunnel. uuu On March 13th, at 10pm, Mieka Pauley will perform at the Lost Dog Lounge, located at 222 Water Street in Binghamton. The show is free!
NATE & KATE March 2015 Triple Cities Carousel 11
On March 21st at 7:30pm, Nate & Kate take the stage at Cranberry Coffeehouse. Having passed “multi-talented” long ago on some dusty upstate road, the duo draws us into a world of “surprising, startling, and wow.” On one stage and in one act, they bring you (often simultaneously): smooth harmonies, great songs, humor, a variety of instruments, juggling, and sometimes (though probably not at Cranberry), fire-eating. Kate’s high clear voice and smooth cello bring a depth of emotion and serenity to their performance, while Nate (master of multi-tasking and doing all equally well), sings, plays, and juggles. Theirs is not a “half listen while you text your friends” kind of show. Leave the phone in your pocket (turned off) and give yourself over to fully enjoying the performance; you never know what will happen next.
crowds. I had a large rag meant to snuff out a potential fire, but it had gotten wet with fuel somehow in my trunk. It caught fire on the sidewalk, from a flaming torch in the wind that I was holding near to it while explaining my fire-juggling finale. I tried to stomp it outpants on fire. Luckily, I had just re-filled my water jug because it was so hot, and put the little blaze out and then finished the show. Not my finest moment.” Kate was born and raised in Ithaca. “My par-
I wasn’t really raised to think of performance as a profession, unless I was going to join an orchestra or something. Certainly I did not expect to be a professional musician in my current capacity, but I hadn’t met Nate yet either.”
and I tap a bass line with my left hand while I do the right hand of his four-ball pattern. I do like juggling and circus arts, but it takes a lot of focus and practice to get established at it. I hope to juggle three balls and maybe eventually clubs at some point.”
Her collaboration with Nate began in the mid90s, when he moved into a room at a rental house shared by her friends. “I had finished college and was working at Cyber Café and living with a friend at the time. We were
“We’ve gotten a lot better at singing/playing and being comfortable live,” Nate muses. “It only took about 1,000 shows to settle in.”
Provided.
While growing up on a family farm in Dover Plains, Nate was exposed to a lot of great folk musicians. His father taught him his first songs on the piano when he was just a kid, something he picked up again when he was learning guitar in high school. He recalls, “I was playing in a rock ’n’ roll mostly-cover band, a grungy art-rock band, and an acoustic duo. I got really into folk, blues, and sixties folk music a few years later. I loved our chorale music in high school, too- show tunes and everything.” Skilled on many instruments, he now plays guitar, piano, harmonica, ukulele, banjo, and bass, with a little bit of flute, mandolin, and percussion thrown in for good measure. He is also a talented vocalist and songwriter. At seven he began his foray into juggling, learning from a number of teachers, as well as YouTube. It took ten years of daily practice before he finally considered himself proficient. Although he admits that juggling cost his mother a bit of good china along the way, he says his parents were always encouraging and supportive of his endeavors. It is, perhaps, from his mother’s side that he gets his showmanship. “My mom ran a travelling pony rides-petting zoo and animal modeling business. The animals were on David Letterman and The Colbert Report, in Vogue magazine, and we owned the Aflac duck... it was like that duck knew it, too- wouldn’t mingle with other ducks or eat regular duck food. I actually wrote her website’s jingle; it was epic.” Fire breathing came along as an offshoot of his juggling, something he learned from a friend and fellow juggler. “I once lit my pants on fire on a really hot and windy day at the wharf in Boston doing my juggling show,” he remembers. “It was July 4th weekend- big
ents thought musical education was important,” she explains. “My brother was already playing the violin so I got the cello! We were raised on the Suzuki method and they start at a very young age (she was four), just holding the instrument and developing your ear and rhythm.” Her interest in music continued while she was majoring in Social Psychology at Hamilton College. “I sang at Avery Fischer Hall in my college choir. We also sang our way across Italy, including St. Peter’s Cathedral. I think I always knew music would be my life. I joined a choir when I moved to Binghamton, and sang with a few bands before Nate.
hanging out singing one night, and the rest is history. We started our personal relationship first. Nate was recording an album and wanted me to play some cello on it. A year later he wanted to do a tour, so I went with him and played on some tunes. He was really more of a solo performer with me sitting in then, but people started calling us Nate & Kate and it stuck.” Their act continues to evolve over time. “I’m learning to juggle a bit,” she says. “We would like to work out more routines with that. We have one now where he plays the harmonica
In 2006, the couple moved to Ithaca. “Nate’s parents bought a B&B [The Inn Between near Trumansburg] two years ago, and I’ve been doing event planning there. It sort evolved naturally from my skill sets. I enjoy flowers and have arranged them for many friends’ weddings, but also, being from the region, I’m very familiar with different venues. I’ve worked in food service, I know all the caterers in the region. My day job is at a wine boutique [Red Feet Wine Market], so I’m very knowledgeable in that department, and I know tons of bands and musicians. Right now it’s just something I do once in a while on the side, but I might consider getting into it more seriously in the future.” While she is busy planning events and working the wine bar, Nate teaches guitar and harmonica at a local music school, as well as juggling workshops. All this in addition to their live performances, at venues ranging from small clubs to large festivals (notably the Grassroots Festival of Music and Dance), and taking their children’s program into schools. As for the future, Nate says that although they love doing their shows in small towns while on tour, he would like to see them play to a larger area with a fuller ensemble, work musical comedy/instrument tricks into the juggling show, do a vaudeville spectacular, circus stuff, and possibly make videos again. Though it may sound like an ambitious goal, it is entirely fitting for this talented twosome, who released their third album, Here You Are, in 2014. (Frame by Frame was released in 2007, followed by The Nate & Kate Kid’s Album in 2011.) Taking you from the smooth piano bar-esque “Invisible,” to old time rock ’n’ roll (Jerry Lee with a touch of ragtime) in “Click Drag Cut & Paste,” and everywhere in between, the variety keeps you on your toes, interested, and waiting to see what comes next- which is just what you can expect from their show at Cranberry. Cranberry Coffeehouse is located at the UU Congregation, 183 Riverside Drive in Binghamton. Information about the show can be found at cranberrycoffeehouse.org or by calling (607) 729-1641 or (607) 754-9437. Information about Nate & Kate may be found online at nateandkatemusic.com.
BRING MUSICAL STAGESHOW BACK TO BING
by Ronnie Vuolo
Greek Key Restaurant & Bar
Gyros • Burgers • Booze Whiskey Specials all March long Wed: 1/2 Off Wings • Thurs: 1/2 Off Apps Sun: Mimosa & Bloody Mary Specials Nanticoke Ave, Endicott Between Main and Cider Mill
239-5667
greekkeyrestaurant.com
March 2015 Triple Cities Carousel 13
parade day.
ON CELEBRATION AND GREEN BEER:
He came to me in my sleep, glazed over and stumbling.
A struggling drunk, a renegade beauty, outside of time and space, neglecting place and shifting terribly into marvelous camaraderie. “Wake up and make eggs!” he cried, pulling me off the couch and into the kitchen. I opened a can of Guinness, and began cooking. Potatoes and eggs, sausage and bacon, sizzling and dramatically staged. The smells awoke my housemates, stumbling in their voluminous greenery into the kitchen. We lined up plates, filled with memories of days past and far-away friends, and cheersed to the holy companion, the almighty Paddy. Parade Day is a beloved Binghamton tradition, and for more reasons than blacking out before noon. The parade itself includes Celtic pipe bands that will play in New York and Philadelphia on St. Patrick’s Day, local Irish dancing troupes, and free candy for everyone. The drunks may proliferate like mayflies, but the reverence held for the most important unofficial holiday of the Southern Tier is immense; don’t be afraid to bring out your children, your mother, or your favorite pup, because the most important rule of Parade Day shenanigans is to do no harm. Ingest what you wish, but for each drink you take, do a good deed for another. Walk down the street singing songs of magnificence for the yellow bellies that line them. Wake up early, and make your friends bangers and hash as you get ready for a day of debauchery. Remember: you may not be Irish, but you’re definitely close enough on Parade Day. Paddy showed up again later, as I slumped against the bar at noon at Fitzies. “The hell are you doin’? The parade has barely started!” the uproarious drunk moaned. “Get your ass back out there. Belligerate the belmonts and the supposers, the manic gran gallowers that line the road. Take back the city from hallowed wretchedness and monotony, monody created by subsistence. Today, we wreathe our hearts in love, in magic, and in green. Spring is blossoming, and it’s beginning to look a lot like Parade Day.” Reading my soul, I reminisced about a previous Parade Day, when I’d wallowed through the streets, strutting and singing, “It’s beginning to look a lot like Parade Day/ and everyone’s a little drunk/ The man on the
corner knows/ as the Jameson freely flows/ that we’ll all be singing Dixie and following where it goes...” The parade has been a Binghamton tradition for almost longer than anyone can recall, although between the Great Depression and
to create as perfect an event as possible.
The afternoon had gotten strange. After scrounging for the candy with what I had taken to be small drunks (but may have been, in reality, normal-sized children), I looked up at the spectacle taking place
Parade day 2015 promises to be a stellar affair. There will be a total of six pipe bands, including not only the aforementioned bands from Philly and NYC, but also local musicians, and a band from Rochester. The Avalon Band, a group of Mummers from Philadelphia, will take to the streets in festive garb and play music to delight and intrigue. Parade Day brings together the local community in a way that few other events in the area do. Local kids away at college come home to partake in the festivities, as well as former students from the local colleges. Members of the Ancient Order of Hibernians will be coming from as far as California to join in. After the parade completes, a fundraiser for next year’s will be held at Seton Catholic High School. Festivities will include performances by the dance troupes and pipe bands that participate in the event, raffles, and more. The parade was over, but Paddy lingered, bringing me to haunts and hangouts of all persuasions; all the gatherings of souls based in good deed and harmony. “The point of Parade Day,” he roared, between slugging a shot of Jameson and smashing his can of Guinness, “is to celebrate this community that we live in.” He stuttered, swaying like a Binghamton caricature, “The cloth is cut; green burns into your skin. The holiday is to celebrate the foundation of the community. Gather together your lovers, your comrades, your family- bring them out with me. Give yourself over to the Belmar, to Callahan’s, to your favorite bar, and turn yourself over to the whims of fancy. Believe in each other, and you’ll find yourself.” Then, in a puff of green smoke, steam, or pure liquor, he vanished.
Photo courtesy of Joshua B. the sixties there was a slight lull. The tradition is shrouded in history, but in the modern era of the parade, we can reach certainty. It was 1968 when the parade began again: a small event to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with a couple dozen locals marching the Irish flag from St. Paul’s to City Hall. Over the course of the seventies and eighties, as more and more people began to attend the event, pipe bands from Philadelphia, New York, and beyond started to get involved. In the mid-eighties the Hibernian Parade Committee was organized
before of my eyes. Dancers and musicians in outrageous costumes playing melodious pipes, bombastic drums, and blazing fiddles ranged down the road. As I gazed across the bridge toward the Court Street Circle, I could see masses of people still frolicking my way, and my head swirled. Parents and grandparents stood watch on the sidewalks; some eyed me hostilely, and I decided to stay away from the tiny drunks for the rest of the day. I felt a hand on my shoulder, and Paddy brought me around the corner.
The parade begins at noon on March 7th, starting after the morning mass outside St. Mary’s, and continuing up Court and Main Street in the middle of town. The fundraiser for next year’s parade will begin around 2pm at Seton Catholic, and continue until around 6pm. Bear in mind, the fundraiser is a family friendly affair. For those of you looking for more raucous celebrations, consider checking out the local Irish bars, or any of the numerous events taking place that night. For more information, check out the Parade Day Facebook event. Remember, on Parade Day, we are all celebrants. Keep the good times rolling, the Jameson flowing, and let’s have a Parade Day to remember. Just, maybe not by you.
AN INTIMATELY IMAGINED INTERVIEW WITH THE SPIRIT OF PARADE DAY By Phil Westcott
14 Vol. 3 Issue 2
amateur night.
ALL THOSE TIMES YOU CAN’T SEEM TO PARTY LIKE A GROWN-UP Krissy Howard Staff Writer
Happy March everyone, or what those of us residing in near-subarctic climates refer to as “the home stretch.” Daylight savings begins restoring our will to live on March 8th, and the first day of spring makes it official on the 21st (and I see you there too, World Kidney Day, you little cutie pie, I couldn’t forget you!) Also, I think there’s a bunch of made up religious stuff going on too but that’s neither here nor there because SAINT PATRICK’S DAAAAY! Saint Patrick’s Day, otherwise known in North America as “the day every jukebox in every dive bar is playing that Dropkick Murphys song from The Departed.” It’s an exciting time for those who can appreciate green milkshakes, and drinking, but for those of us having already reached (or are currently in the process of reaching) our alcoholic rock bottom, there’s a special name for holidays like these: Amateur Night. Amateur Night applies to several recognized holidays wherein the prospect of getting sloppy hammered all day in public attracts those not found already sitting home and getting sloppy hammered in isolation. St. Patrick’s Day certainly is not the only holiday reaching Amateur Night status; there are
plenty of other days of the year to make an ass out of yourself both in person, and on the internet. New Year’s Eve. January 1. I’m not sure how this ended up being the grandfather of drinking holidays, but whoo boy, do people love to get twisted up for New Years! What better way to recall the previous year then by immediately erasing any memory of it, and how better can we set ourselves up for the promise of a new one than to greet it with the partially digested foods of yesteryear? New Year’s Eve activities typically look like this: dress up, selfies, black out, Taco Bell, reevaluate life choices as you pull your disgusting self together to make the brunch shift you got scheduled to work the next day. I can tell I’m either getting older, or have been sober for a little while now, as when I asked friends if they were doing anything this past NYE, I was met with a unanimous “fuck no.” Shots may be fun, but jaded just feels betterfits nice, like cashmere.
I had no idea it was a holiday that signified anything. I do know that showing of the nudie parts is highly encouraged during Fat Tuesday celebrations, which isn’t actually all that risqué or exciting to me as I have to transfer at Canal Street everyday anyway so, not much different from any other Tuesday. I do love me a marching band, though. St. Patrick’s Day. March 17th. If Dick Butkus is the patron saint of class clowns, and Saint Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland, then St. Patrick’s Day is the patron saint of Amateur Night. For all you self-important dicks out there that are all “I’m Irish, I’M IRISH!” let me clue you in on a little something: everyone in the Northeast is fucking Irish. I’m Korean and I’m somehow still a little Irish, so calm down, shut up, and just tell us why you’re really so happy (“I’m drinking, I’M DRINKING! There are girls here in shamrock sunglasses AND THEY’RE DRINKING TOO!”)
The Super Bowl. No idea when this happens. February? For as much as I hate sports, and drinking-centered holidays, the Super Bowl is actually the one thing on this list I can get behind, as this one highly encourages pizza consumption. Much like any party I attend, you can find me at the pizza and chips table at a Super Bowl party, blatantly refusing to even feign interest in whatever else is going on. No, I’m just kidding, I don’t get invited to parties.
Cinco de Mayo. May 5th. This one isn’t even really our holiday and we somehow managed to finagle a few margaritas out of it. Most people mistake May 5th for Mexico’s Independence Day, but most people are idiots, so you can’t really blame them. Not me though. I’m not sure if you noticed back there but ehh... well I translated Cinco de Mayo into English for you. Yep <cracks knuckles>, I can count to five in Spanish, proving doubters everywhere (mom) once and for all that I am no idiot... I’M IRISH!
Mardi Gras. Fat Tuesday. February. More like “Party Gras!” Actually, that is exactly what I thought Mardi Gras was, a party,
July 4th (Duh). The Fourth of July just feels really gross to me for some reason; the whole thing is like a Kid Rock video. When I think
of the Fourth of July I just picture shirtless dudes yelling “WHOOOO!”, but unlike Mardi Gras there aren’t even any beads! Also bad about the Fourth of July: fireworks scare my dog, forcing me to stay home and shield her from the environmental stress like any good, insane person would, which I suppose keeps me home and away from any trouble. You know, I know I technically rescued her... but sometimes it’s like... who rescued who, you know? (I did, I have the paperwork, I OWN YOUR ASS, BITCH!) The eve of any holiday in which you have to go back to your hometown for. What better way to measure cool points after the social structure of high school has been diminished yet the years of residual resentment have only exponentiated over time? Shots! Shots and a credit card. Actually this one shouldn’t be on the list either as this is kind of just a fact of life- there’s no way around it, we’re all in this one together. This year let’s try to support one another and commiserate over how much we hate our families. I realize I just took a big number two all over everything most of you have to look forward to in your otherwise boring lives, but you don’t have to feel mad or embarrassed; if you want to avoid looking like a lameass to a snarky writer who uses her words to hide behind, all you have to do is develop a crippling dependency to heavy narcotics until your only remaining chance at a life worth living is total abstinence! Then we can point and laugh at everyone on the together! Well not “together” together... you can DM me on Twitter though I guess.
SUN. APRIL 26TH 11AM-3PM
16 Vol. 3 Issue 2
EVERYTHING IS INDECIPHERABLE:
JULES GOTAY QUESTIONS THE FLOOR YOU’RE STANDING ON This page: “Gabriel stole blue music during the miracle of the round triangle.” Opposite: “Clown unfolding the colors of war.”
by heather merlis
March 2015 Triple Cities Carousel 17
Once you’ve seen the work of Jules Gotay, you could recognize it anywhere. His vibrant paintings evoke childhood rainbow scratchboards, if those scratchboards had gotten into the hands of a highly-developed, metaphorically-minded artist. Looking at his paintings, you hear drumbeats, feel a summer night’s breeze, or vaguely recall a Frederico Garcia Lorca poem. Full of patterns and surprises, his work simultaneously delights and confuses. Gotay sat down and spoke with Carousel, as he is gracing our cover yet again.
art.
So I came up with a title: “Apollinaire delivers pieces of sky in his jazz-colored submarine.” And I’m going to paint that. I haven’t started that one yet- it’s just a title. It’ll probably take me two months, and I really don’t know how I’m going to paint it yet. So, that’s the challenge. And when you do that, you paint things that you wouldn’t ordinarily paint. It pushes you to be a little more adventurous, visually.
community in Binghamton- it’s great. Artists don’t make a lot of money, and it’s affordable to live here. If it does gentrify, it’s going to take a long time; it’s not going to happen overnight. But I could be wrong. I didn’t see it coming in the East Village either. Through the lens of an artist, how has Binghamton changed since you were last featured on our cover? I honestly don’t see any big changes, but that was only
uuu Congratulations on being Carousel’s first “double-offender” cover artist. How does it feel? Great. I didn’t know that was the case. I’m honored. How has your work evolved since it was last featured? I think it’s gotten a little more complex, maybe. But that wasn’t that long ago. I’m trying to remember what I was doing at that time.
When you read metaphorical languagelike in a poem- it’s still saying something, but not in a direct way. Trying to say something that’s indecipherable but has meaning. The meaning of it is that it’s indecipherable. Like life: we don’t know what it means. We need to be in touch with that. I want something that pulls you in. I think a great painting should knock the floor from under your feet, or at least make you question the floor you are standing on. Otherwise, it’s something that could be easily digested and dismissed. It’s boring.
Your aesthetic is really refined, even iconic. How did you develop your style? Slowly. One thing led to another. I wasn’t consciously trying to get where I am now. I just got here. And it will probably continue to evolve. I know it will. Who are your influences? There are a lot of writers- mostly poets, and painters. I like poet-painters, like Giorgio de Chirico, Marc Chagall. I think poetry informs their work. They’re poetic painters. Paul Clay: another one. And poets themselves, too, because I start with a title. I like poets that are not saying something directly. They’re open to interpretation, so they’re keeping mystery alive. I like to do that in my paintings. I like the indecipherable. I don’t like to say things directly. That’s boring to me, and obvious. If you look at my paintings, how would you interpret them? You wouldn’t know, would you? I think an artist should put you- put himself- in touch with mystery. I make up a title that I don’t even know what it means. I just made a painting called “Don Quixote has clouds on his voice.” I come up with the titles and think, “How can I paint that?” And then I paint it. That’s my process. How do you come up with these titles? I just play around with words, kind of like writing a poem, almost, except I’m not trying to make a clear statement, I’m trying to be obscure. Sometimes, I’m like, “How am I going to make this into a picture?” -because it’s so obscure. Is there anything you do to prepare to write? [I just do it] when it’s time to do it. Apollinaire- he was an early twentiethcentury poet- I’ve been reading a lot of him.
Let’s backtrack a little to the narratives, or titles, you create for your paintings. How does that work? I create ideas that are not defined, but are open to interpretation. I wouldn’t even say they’re titles necessarilyjust unusual ideas or metaphors. Usually, after I get the title, then I start to visualize it. And then I slowly add to it, to define it or get closer to it. Then I paint it. I take things outI add things on- every painting is different. I always use oil because I’m always changing my paintings. I hate acrylic- it dries too fast. Oil paint has more depth and soul- you get all of these nuances with it. It’s just basically oil on canvas, is what I do. I do ink drawings too. There’s not much to say about it. I’m an oldfashioned painter. I use oil on canvas, and I use brushes- I don’t airbrush. I do the color first, so when the image starts, there’s nothing there but color. Then I kind of draw with the black paint. I also want to add that the titles aren’t just complete nonsense, because I think that’s a misconception about what I do. They’re not something that’s obvious, or a direct statement.
Your personal style is also really defined. How did that develop? I don’t know. I can’t even answer that. I’m from New York City, and I spent a lot of time in the East Village. I don’t know if that had anything to do with it. I think it did. I’ve always liked hats, jackets, and boots. Do you like it here? I like the creative
two years ago. Change is going to come a little slower than that. There are a lot of creative people in this town. I’ve been lucky enough to meet quite a few of them… and be friends with quite a few of them. What still needs to happen? If we could build a bigger audience for the arts here, that would be a good thing. I’ve seen some amazing bands here and there are, like, three people in the audience- bands that just blew me away. I don’t understand that.
Are you trying to accomplish anything larger than your art, with your art? Yeah, I mean, I’m trying to take myself- and whoever’s interested in coming along- to something that’s not defined, that’s indecipherable- and make them realize that everything is indecipherable. We just don’t realize it, because we are too caught up in our dayto-day lives. People don’t think about what’s really going on under this dayto-day shit we all do. Sometimes people need a kick in the ass, and to realize, “Oh, I don’t know shit, do I?” And I’m not pretending that I do either. I want people to look at my painting and go, “What does this mean? I don’t know.” I like that. And I don’t know what it means, but I don’t want it to be complete jibberish, either. uuu Jules Gotay’s paintings are featuredalongside the work of Greg A. Chianis, Sardar Kestay, and Marc Schimsky- in the show “Color Color Color” at the Orazio Salati Studio & Gallery, located at 204 State Street in Binghamton, through the end of the month. You can also see his work online at facebook. com/JulesGotayArtist.
18 Vol. 3 Issue 2 “Organ” by Bill Wolff. Inset: Untitled by Erin Carney.
ERIN CARNEY AND BILL WOLFF BRING THEIR VISIONS OF NATURE TO SPOOL MFG
Rose Silberman-Gorn Staff Writer Sculptor Bill Wolff and painter Erin Carney, who first exhibited together at Spool MFG in 2008, are returning to share some of their new work in an exhibit entitled Familiarity of the Imagined. Wolff and Carney both became acquainted with the experimental art space in Johnson City through their involvement with Binghamton University. Wolff was attending BU while Spool was getting started, and he ended up applying to show there years later. Carney met Spool founder Don Demauro while both were teaching at BU in 2005, leading to an invitation to participate in a 2006 group show. Wolff and Carney were later paired during a 2008 show, titled Surfaces/Depths. Due to that exhibit’s popularity, curator Andy Stevens contacted the artists six years later, to see if they’d be interested in another joint show. “Andy thought it would be fun to see what we’re doing now in our new work,” Carney explains. Both artists’ work is moving in a decided-
ly exciting direction. Carney, an oil painter who uses landscape-based imagery, has been transitioning from representational to more abstract work over the last several years. In her previous series, At and Just Below, she used overhead images of bodies of water for inspiration. Though she abstracted the water imagery, the end result was still recognizable. By contrast, Erin refers to her new work as her most abstract to date. “I used a variety of landscape imagery for color and textural inspiration, including aerial landscape photography, microscopic imaging, and earth and mineral surface texture and substrate,” she explains. “The literal landscape references end up obscured, leaving only the color and texture feel left. Only a couple of works have recognizable things in them.” Carney also progressed her artwork by working in a new format- a square. “I was interested in doing something different,” she says. “The square has different connotations and compositional challenges, and I wanted to explore that and see what it was like.” All 40 of the pieces she will be showing- which range in size from 5x5 inches to 4x4 feet- are squares. Wolff will be taking advantage of Spool’s large, open space by showing a variety of work from 3 separate series. He’ll be showing pieces from Flock, a collection of small, bird-like forms, as well as Yield, larger wood carvings
that he produced while living in Japan from 2005-2009. Also on display will be work from Animalia, Wolff’s new series of human-sized forms inspired by threatened animals. To complement his sculptures, he will be also be showing some loose landscape drawings on aluminum foil, which are inspired by Chinese ink paintings. Similar to Carney, Wolff is also inspired by natural imagery, including plant and animal forms, which he then abstracts and distorts to his liking. “Organic forms inform the gesture and movement of my work,” he explains. “If you look at my sculptures, I rarely use geometric or straight lines.” Wolff’s work is also inspired by nature because he uses nature itself as a medium- he sculpts using wood from various trees- including oak, cherry, and basswood. It’s a difficult and painstaking process, but the end result is always worth it. “Sculpting in wood is hard physical work and not instantly gratifying, but I like the physicality of making objects,” Wolff says. “Also, I like the way wood smells.” Both artists’ are integrally influenced by their education. Carney has two Bachelor’s degrees from University of Michigan, and she earned her MFA in painting from New York Academy of Art. Her Master’s program was focused on representational work, which she feels gave
her a good jumping off point. “I feel indebted to all that I learned working observationally from the figure...I feel all that knowledge is a part of the work I do now, even if the forms and marks within the picture plane are quite different,” she says. Wolff was highly influenced by his experience earning his second Master’s Degree at Tokyo University of the Arts. His program focused on wood sculpture, giving him a lot of focused studio time. While there, he studied “yosegi zukuri,” a process of sculpting using multiple hollow blocks of wood. It was a logical thing to study, due to his distance from his home country. “I made lots of work, but I knew I’d have to ship it back to the US, so I focused on modular sculptures that I could take apart,” he says. The natural inspiration behind Wolff and Carney’s work gives viewers a sense of familiarity, but the ambiguity creates a puzzle for people to figure out, creating a sense of delayed recognition. Familiarity of the Imagined will be on display from March 21st through April 25th. An opening will take place on March 21st from 7-10pm at Spool MFG, 138 Baldwin Street, Johnson City. For more information on the artists or Spool MFG, visit erincarney.net, billwolff.net, or spoolmfg.org.
TWIG & THREAD at Atomic Tomâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
A fun, eclectic shop in the heart of Artist Row, featuring one-of-a-kind items, artisan furniture, locally made goods, vintage clothing, & accessories
Thurs. 4-7 Fri. 11-7 Sat. 11-3 ...or by hook or crook
196 STATE ST. BINGHAMTON
-Vintage Jewelry, Clothing, Furniture & More -Funky Decor, Accessories, & Collectibles -Bought & Sold -For Men & Women Open Wed-Sat or by appointment (607) 348-4438
triple cities carousel sunday.
01 08 15 22 29
Piano & Cello Masterworks w/Stalker & Zank (AC) Broadway in Binghamton: Flashdance (FRM) Planetarium Show (ROB) The Pillowman (KNOW) Year of the Sheep (PMM) Open Mic (BRK) Sassy Sundays (TRQ) Speed Dating Tonight (TCO)
Winter Wind Symphony (AC) A Different Drummer (FHS) Planetarium Show (ROB) Open Mic (BRK) Sassy Sundays (TRQ) Maestro John Covelli (FHS) 2CW: Pro Wrestling (ALP80) Playboy of the Western World (PMM) Tech. of Music from NY (TECH)
Stupid F##king Bird (AC) Angel Street (CMP) Mary Poppins (EPAC) Planetarium Show (ROB) The Gin Game (TPC) Open Mic (BRK) Sassy Sundays (TRQ) Bryant Park String Quartet (PMM) Panigma Steel Band (OEL)
Angel Street (CMP) Mary Poppins (EPAC) Rick Pedro Ragtime Piano (FHS) Planetarium Show (ROB) The Gin Game (TPC) Open Mic (BRK) Sassy Sundays (TRQ) Jimmy Riffle of “Gator Boys” (BCA)
Binghamton Restaurant Week (DTB) Dance Show: Orpheus (AC) Angel Street (CMP) Planetarium Show (ROB) The Gin Game (TPC) Open Mic (BRK) Sassy Sundays (TRQ) Shelter Slam (CI)
(AC) Anderson Center, BU (ATOM) Atomic Tom’s, Binghamton (ATV) A Tavolo, Windsor (BCA) Broome County Arena (BCDC) Broome County Dance Center, Binghamton (BCH) Berkshire Community Hall, Berkshire (BEL) Belmar Pub, Binghamton (BRK) Brackney Inn, PA (BSP) Blarney Stone Pub, Norwich (BDT) DoubleTree Hotel, Binghamton (BREW) Binghamton Brewing Co, Johnson City
monday.
02 09 16 23 30
Mondays at the Museum (PMM) Tango Lessons (ATOM) Open Mic (BEL) Board Game Night (TRQ)
Jazz Jam #7 (FHS) Tango Lessons (ATOM) Open Mic (BEL) Board Game Night (TRQ) Mondays at the Museum (PMM)
Tango Lessons (ATOM) Open Mic (BEL) Board Game Night (TRQ) Mondays at the Museum (PMM)
Jazz Jam #8 (FHS) Tango Lessons (ATOM) Open Mic (BEL) Board Game Night (TRQ) Mondays at the Museum (PMM)
Binghamton Restaurant Week (DTB) Tango Lessons (ATOM) Open Mic (BEL) Board Game Night (TRQ) Mondays at the Museum (PMM)
(BTP) Blind Tiger Pub, Johnson City (BU) Binghamton University (BUN) Bundy Museum, Binghamton (CAC) Chenango Arts Council, Norwich (CAL) Callahan’s Sportsman’s Pub, Binghamton (CCW) Cyber Café West, Binghamton (CI) Choconut Inn, Friendsville, PA (CMP) Cider Mill Playhouse, Endicott (CRAN) Cranberry Coffee House, Binghamton (DTB) Downtown Binghamton (DTO) Downtown Owego
tuesday.
03 10 17 24 31
MARCH
Tango Buenos Aires (AC) Speakeasy Open Mic (CCW) Open Dance w/Kate Pulling (BCDC) Swing Dance (REX) Open Night (MAKR)
Open Dance w/Kate Pulling (BCDC) Swing Dance (REX) Open Night (MAKR)
St. Patricks Day Festival (BTP) Open Dance w/Kate Pulling (BCDC) Swing Dance (REX) Life Drawing Sessions (WHIP) DIY Craft Night (POW) Open Night (MAKR)
Binghamton Restaurant Week (DTB) Open Dance w/Kate Pulling (BCDC) Swing Dance (REX) Sesame Street Live (FRM) Open Night (MAKR)
Binghamton Restaurant Week (DTB) Open Dance w/Kate Pulling (BCDC) Swing Dance (REX) Open Night (MAKR)
(EPAC) Endicott Performing Arts Center (FHS) Firehouse Stage, Johnson City (FIVE) Number 5, Binghamton (FRM) Broome County Forum Theatre, Binghamton (GXY) Galaxy Brewing Co., Binghamton (JBC) John Barleycorn, Owego (KNOW) KNOW Theatre, Binghamton (KROW) Krowbar, Endwell (LDC) Lost Dog Café/Lounge, Binghamton (MAKR) TC Makerspace, Johnson City
wedne
04 11 18 25
D
Comedy W
D
Comedy W Life D
S
Jazz Ja
D
Comedy W
Life D
Binghamton Scr
D
Comedy W Life D
(MB) Matty B’s, Bingham (MRLN) Merlin’s, Bingham (OEL) Owego Elks Lodge (OUH) Old Union Hotel, (PMM) Phelps Mansion M (POW) KAPOW Art Now, (REX) Rexer’s Karate, En (ROB) Roberson Museum (SPOOL) Spool MFG, Joh (TCO) Tri-Cities Opera, B (TECH) TechWorks, Bing
H 2015
esday. thursday.
Cygne (CCW) Deep Cuts Pro Jam (CAL) Open Mic (JBC) Writing Workshop (BUN) Comedy Open Mic (MB) DIY Craft Night (POW)
Greg Neff (CCW) moe. w/Cabinet (FRM) Deep Cuts Pro Jam (CAL) Open Mic (JBC) Writing Workshop (BUN) Drawing Sessions (WHIP) DIY Craft Night (POW) Singin’ in the Rain (CAC)
am w/Miles Ahead (LDC) Jamie Willard (CCW) Deep Cuts Pro Jam (CAL) Open Mic (JBC) Writing Workshop (BUN) Comedy Open Mic (MB) Drawing Sessions (WHIP) DIY Craft Night (POW)
Restaurant Week (DTB) reenwriting Group (AMT) Joseph Alston (CCW) Deep Cuts Pro Jam (CAL) Open Mic (JBC) Writing Workshop (BUN) Drawing Sessions (WHIP) DIY Craft Night (POW)
mton mton e, Owego Binghamton Museum, Binghamton , Binghamton ndicott m, Binghamton hnson City Binghamton ghamton
05 12 19 26
Life Drawing Sessions (WHIP) Vermont Cheddar (BTP) Open Mic (BSP) Thing Two (CCW) Trash Thursday (MRLN) Adam Ate the Apple (BEL) Rabbit in the Rye (GXY) Mid-Day Concert (BU) Artists’ Café (ATV)
Opera Scenes (AC) Angel Street (CMP) Mary Poppins (EPAC) Thing One (CCW) Trash Thursdays (MRLN) Open Mic (BSP) Adam Ate the Apple (BEL) The Falconers (GXY) Life Drawing Sessions (WHIP) 3D Printer Meetup (MAKR) Vagina Monologues (KNOW)
Angel Street (CMP) Mary Poppins (EPAC) Enerjee Jazz w/Ayana D (LDC) Thing Two (CCW) Trash Thursdays (MRLN) Open Mic (BSP) Adam Ate the Apple (BEL) The Brothers MacRae (GXY) Mid-Day Concert (BU) Lontano Ensemble (BU) Life Drawing Sessions (WHIP)
Binghamton Restaurant Week (DTB) Angel Street (CMP) Thing One (CCW) Trash Thursdays (MRLN) Open Mic (BSP) Adam Ate the Apple (BEL) Woodshed Prophets (GXY) Peking Acrobats (CAC) 3D Printer Meetup (MAKR)
(TPC) Ti-Ahwaga Players Club, Owego (TRQ) Tranquil Bar & Bistro, Binghamton (VCH) Vestal Coal House, Vestal (WHIP) Windsor Whip Works, Windsor (WW) World Wide (YHPL) Your Home Public Library, Johnson City
events calendar
friday.
06 13 20 27
First Friday Art Walk (DTB/DTO) Stupid F##king Bird (AC) Rick Iacovelli (BTP) Ultra Vibe (LDC) Parlor City (KROW) Carousel Birthday Bash (CCW) Carousel After Party w/ Milkweed (CAL) Beard of Bees (FIVE) Planetarium Show (ROB) The Traffickers (PMM) Pete Ruttle & Friends (OUH) Stupid F##king Bird (AC) A Country Mile (BTP) Angel Street (CMP) Mary Poppins (EPAC) Meika Pauley (LDC) Eric Sommer (CCW) Brotherhood (FIVE) Planetarium Show (ROB) The Gin Game (TPC) Pete Ruttle & Friends (OUH) Vagina Monologues (KNOW)
A Tasteful Day for HCA (BDT) Beauty & the Beats (BTP) Noche de Salsa (MRLN), Angel Street (CMP) Mary Poppins (EPAC) Dufflebag Theatre’s Macbeth (FHS) The Revelers (LDC) Jason Wicks Band (KROW) Pete Ruttle & Friends (OUH), Raibred (CCW) Wine & Design (CAC), Splash (FIVE) Planetarium Show (ROB) The Gin Game (TPC)
Binghamton Restaurant Week (DTB) Dance Show: Orpheus (AC) The Dusty Boxx Experience (MRLN) Outer Reef (BTP), Angel Street (CMP) Rodney Laney Comedy (FHS) East Coast Bigfoot (LDC) Wreckless Marci (KROW) Pete Ruttle & Friends (OUH), Ultra Vibe (CCW) 2nd Edition (FIVE) Planetarium Show (ROB) The Gin Game (TPC)
saturday.
07 14 21 28
Binghamton Parade Day (DTB) Stupid F##king Bird (AC) Harpur Choral & Women’s Chorus (AC) Real Irish Breakfast (BREW), Superhero Capes (YHPL), Castle & Krae (LDC) The Gravelding Brothers (KROW) Acoustic Voodoo (BTP), Kim & Chris (CCW) Little Paulie & the Foot Rockers (FIVE) Planetarium Show (ROB) Sexy Saturday (MRLN) Playboy of the Wstn. World (PMM)
The Gin Game (TPC), BU Symphony Orch. (AC) Mary Poppins (EPAC), Stupid F##king Bird (AC) East Coast Bigfoot (CAL), Toybox Trophies (BTP) Planetarium Show (ROB), Angel Street (CMP) Emergency Comedy (VCH) Hard Hat Hurrah Fundr. (FHS) Vagina Monologues (KNOW), Castle/Krae (LDC) Jazz Jam w/Miles Ahead (LDC) String of Pearls (KROW) Jazz Night (FIVE), Mosaic Foundation (CCW) Kings and Queens of Comedy (MRLN) Art Opening (SPOOL), World Poetry Day (WW) Divas After Dark (MRLN), Greg Neff (BTP) Nate & Kate (CRAN), Angel Street (CMP) Parlor City (FIVE), Mary Poppins (EPAC) Dufflebag Theatre’s Rumpelstiltskin (FHS) Boots On (KROW), Castle & Krae (LDC) Bing. Phil.: Centennial Sinatra (FRM) The Gin Game (TPC), Mel and the Boys (CCW) Jimmy Riffle of “Gator Boys” (BCA) Planetarium Show (ROB) Canal Street String Band (CAC)
Binghamton Restaurant Week (DTB) Dance Show: Orpheus (AC) Mark Wayman (BTP) Angel Street (CMP) Gustafer Yellowgold (FHS) Castle & Krae (LDC) Unplugged (KROW) Brotherhood (FIVE) Planetarium Show (ROB) The Gin Game (TPC) Round Square Dances (BCH), Shelter Slam (CI)
The Triple Cities Events Calendar is featured each month as a courtesy to our advertisers, however we welcome venues to submit their events to triplecitiescarousel@gmail.com by the 24th of each month prior to publication. Space is limited, so calendar entries, which have no cost, are picked on a first come/first serve basis. Triple Cities Carousel reserves the right to reject any submission.
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March 2015 Triple Cities Carousel 23
theatre and dance.
Provided.
STUPID F**KING BIRD FLIES INTO ANDERSON CENTER Felicia Waynesboro Staff Writer
Playwright Aaron Posner treats Chekhov’s The Seagull to a liberating adaptation- or, as he has said “sort of.” The Seagull’s themes, symbolism, and ironies- with its subtext always bubbling at the surface- have drawn in theater-goers over the decades since it was first produced in 1896, but more than a few have taken in the original masterwork without ever realizing that Chekhov considered it a comedy. After all, unreturned love, suicide attempts, abandonment and depression are not the usual stuff that mirth is made of. But adapt the title to the provocatively frustrated Stupid F**king Bird- first produced in 2013- and put the characters into contemporary context, speaking in contemporary vernacular. Now let the subtext boil over and spill from the pot, and you’ve moved an already timeless classic into a place where its multi-dimensionality becomes unmistakable. Posner has utilized here diverse playwriting
and theatrical techniques. New and traditional forms mix. He deconstructs and collages fragments into new configurations.
Medvedenko, now get the chance to meet them all over again- transformed into Con, Doyle, Mash and Dev. (Nina is still Nina.)
has achieved what Con (or the original Konstantin Treplev) unhappily strives for in the play– to create a new form of theatre.
Stupid F**king Bird has “a lot of laughs in it,” says director Anne Brady, head professor of the Acting/Directing Program at Binghamton University, “laughs and struggles and the likebut it’s filled with humor and I think this is more clear, perhaps, in this adaptation. It celebrates a need for human companionship, human love, human relationships. One reviewer described it as ‘tons of love.’ I think it’s a celebration of everything it is to be human.”
Playwright Posner, noted as a co-founder of Philadelphia’s Arden Theatre and nationally known also as a director, has written other adaptations that have been widely produced. His works include the plays Who Am I This Time? (and Other Conumdrums of Love), adapted from Kurt Vonnegut stories, and The Chosen based upon a novel by Chaim Potok and co-written with the author.
The sets for BU’s production are big and wide open with what Anne refers to as, “minimal elements that are iconic Chekhov.” But the style of the play changes at one point, and the director hints that the set for that act presents a distinctly different atmosphere and feeling.
Brady has directed at least one production for each of the fifteen years that she has worked at the university. Accustomed to working with large casts in pieces such as Anne Boleyn, Hairspray, and The Crucible, she expresses particular joy at having the opportunity to work with such a “tight ensemble” as the allstudent cast of Stupid F**king Bird. Posner distilled The Seagull down to just seven centralized characters who are all onstage most of the time. “I’m having a great time,” the professor says. Those familiar with the original work, who have memories of such lead characters as Konstantin Treplev, Trigorin, Masha and
In addition to shortening the long Russian handles in The Seagull into more hipsteresque monikers, Posner actually allows characters to understand- and sometimes acknowledgethat they are fictional. Sometimes they directly address people through the imaginary “fourth wall,” and the playwright goes so far as to have the actors/characters, at moments, employ improvisational comedy techniques in which verbal interaction with the audience affects what gets incorporated into the night’s performance. Director Brady says of Posner, “One of his desires is ‘to spark the audience into wakefulness’ as he said in one interview.” It is reasonable to consider that the playwright
The Seagull closes with a bang. Will Stupid F**king Bird have yet an additional new twist at the end? “Possibly…” says Anne cryptically, with lots of play on the word. An advantage of working with a living playwright, particularly one who cuts his/her teeth on innovation, is that revisions can always be in the works. The Anderson Center production already promises to include some changes that have not yet appeared in the published script- but shall in newer editions. As the director reminds us, “This is very modern and very alive.” Stupid F**king Bird plays the weekends of March 6th & 7th and 13th & 14th at 8pm, and March 15th at 2pm in the Watters Theater of the Anderson Center, Binghamton University, 4400 Vestal Parkway East. Tickets $14 general admission; $12 Seniors; $8 Students. Visit the Box Office or call for tickets and info: (607) 777-2787.
24 Vol. 3 Issue 2
Provided.
STEVE SOLOMON’S COMEDIC THERAPY
TAKES CENTER STAGE THIS MONTH
AT BING’S FORUM THEATRE Ronnie Vuolo Assistant Editor
As part of their commitment to bring Broadway hits to the Triple Cities, Broadway in Binghamton presents My Mother’s Italian, My Father’s Jewish & I’m in Therapy! on Sunday, March 29th at 3pm. The brainchild of author/actor Steve Solomon, it is a delicious melting pot of ethnic humor that reflects his experience growing up in a Jewish-Italian family in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. In addition to the expected food and family-centric activities central to such a background, this nostalgic romp includes a cast of quirky characters (including the fourlegged kind) involved in hilarious situations, all portrayed with perfect mimicry by Solomon. “One part lasagna, one part kreplach, and two parts Prozac,” touts his website. You don’t have to be Jewish or Italian to enjoy Steve’s humor, “All you need is to know what it feels like to leave a family dinner with heartburn and a headache! Thirty- five people, one toilet and one plunger.” A natural comedian, Solomon developed an ear for dialects and a propensity for making people laugh at an early age. For 20 years, the aspiring comedy writer submitted stories to periodicals and jokes to stand-up comedians, and shared his wit online, while making a living as a physics teacher and Assistant Superintendent of Schools on Long Island. Eventu-
ally, he left teaching behind to pursue comedy full time, or as he puts it in his bio, “… to follow my heart and become an impoverished comedy writer and performer.” His efforts culminated in the form of a hysterically funny, three-time award-winning autobiographical one-man show, “My Mother’s Italian, My Father’s Jewish & I’m in Therapy!” Having past its 4,000th performance, it is one of the longest running one-man comedies in history, played for two sold-out years in New York City, and continues to touring internationally. With such a rich and diverse cultural and comedic background to draw upon, it is not surprising that Solomon had more material than could fit into one play. He has, thus far, followed it up with three sequels: “My Mother’s Italian, My Father’s Jewish & I’m STILL in Therapy!,” “My Mother’s Italian, My Father’s Jewish & I’m Home for the Holidays,” and his most recent addition, “CANNOLI, LATKES & GUILT.” With all four shows currently on tour, the native New Yorker looks forward to returning to his home state. “I can’t wait to come back home to New York,” he says. “I know the audiences will identify with all the crazy, hilarious characters I create on stage.”
You can see My Mother’s Italian, My Father’s Jewish & I’m in Therapy! at the Broome County Forum, located at 236 Washington Street in Binghamton. Tickets are $47 and may be purchased online, at the Forum Box Office, or by calling (800) 7453000. Further information can be found at broomearenaforum.com, (607) 778-1528, or at stevesolomoncomedy.com.
VAGINA MONOLOGUES RETURN March 2015 Triple Cities Carousel 25
THIS MONTH TO KNOW THEATRE Ilana Lipowicz Staff Writer
In 1996, the first version of Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monlogues was performed at the Off Broadway Westside Theatre in New York. Ensler wrote the play, which is really a series of monologues based off of interviews she conducted with women about, well, being a woman. Twenty years later, the play has evolved, and is performed in theatres all over the world- benefitting causes all over the world. This month, the play returns to the KNOW Theatre for its second run in Binghamton.
experience of being a woman, so there is a wide variation in subject matter and tone. “It’s very funny, but it’s very touching, and it’s therapeutic for the audience as well.”
Amy recalls one of the actors walking in during another actor’s rehearsal of her monologue. The one performing had almost quit, afraid she could not relate to her piece, but had grown to connect with it so much that it brought her to tears by the end. The other actor watching began to cry too, and when it was over, the two women who had never met each other were crying together over the beauty of this piece. This perhaps best illustrates the intimacy of the play and how it brings people together. As Amy says, “It opens you up to discuss things on a personal level that you probably wouldn’t otherwise talk about because we’re all saying the word ‘vagina.’”
This isn’t the type of show you should only see once. In fact, it is in a state of constant evolution. Ensler’s involvement with the show did not end in 1996- she continues to conduct interviews with women and write new monologues to insert into the show, also cycling through some old ones. In this way, the collection encompasses new issues which face women. One of this year’s new monologues is from the point of view of a trans person, whose community had not been established or really found a voice until recently.
As Marie King points out, just saying the word can be challenging. “It took me a couple times of saying my part before I got comfortable with it,” says Marie, who at 72 is at the seasoned end of a cast whose youngest member is 24. It is exciting to see women spanning over multiple generations all exploring womanhood on one stage, having such different experiences behind them. Amy comments, “My mothershe’s 86- said, ‘well you know, I didn’t even know what it was called ‘til I was married!’ And then you have women in their 20s saying ‘cunt’ all over the place.”
A lot has changed in the world of women since 1996. “And a lot also hasn’t changed,” says Amy Louise Smith, who performed in the play last year and became so passionate that she took it on as director this time. The monologues take on the heavy task of encompassing the entirety of the complicated
The cast is diverse in more ways than just age. “Married, unmarried, straight, gay, trans,” says Amy. “Mothers and not,” King chimes in. And it is important to the cast that the stories they’re telling are properly represented. Some of the cast have prior acting experience or are aspiring actors, while others have not acted
before but felt drawn to this play and were up for the challenge.
changing over time but always united across space.
Catherine Rosso teaches sex education to young teenagers at the Unitarian Universalist Church (also where they rehearse). Catherine has no problem saying “vagina.” “The thing I love about Vagina Monologues is it encourages women of all ages of all backgrounds to embrace who they are, to embrace their natural beauty and their natural desires and their sexualities. So for me that’s what makes it comfortable.”
And if this sounds activism-y, well yeah, it is activism-y. The Vagina Monologues are performed as part of Ensler’s V-Day movement, what Amy describes as Eve’s “appropriation of Valentine’s Day into a day not just about love but about loving yourself.” The monologues are typically performed between February and April, and the ticket proceeds go to charities and organizations dedicated to fighting and educating about violence against women all over the world. Since the onset of the campaign, V-Day has raised over $100 million that has gone to crafting educational media and building over 13,000 community anti-violence programs and safe houses all over the world.
That doesn’t mean there aren’t aspects of the role that aren’t challenging. To hear Catherine talk about her role is to understand the care and thought the actors put into representing the stories they are telling. Her monologue deals with a very delicate subject matter, and feeling that she could not do proper justice to the story, she has split her part with another actor. You can expect that experienced and inexperienced actors alike are putting extra work and care into these roles, to ensure that the performances are as striking and powerful as the topics they tackle. There is a special closeness people feel to these roles as well as a feeling of responsibility. These monologues are based on stories told to Eve Ensler by real women, so when people around the world tell these stories on stage, they extend the voices of these women; they lend their mouths and bodies to the women who shared their stories. And they are also all united with each other, the other performers who have read these words in their communities, in front of the people in their lives. This sense of closeness is maintained by Ensler’s continued involvement in the play, its constant flux and flow of stories, ever
Now men, this is not a women-only event, and you are encouraged to attend as well. “Some brave men do come out, and they love it. They have a great time,” says Amy. “Bring people who are unsure about it, and they will find at least one part that resonates with them.” Marie adds, “Bring your daughters.” They don’t advise bringing young children because the play deals not lightly with some difficult subjects. They give it an R rating, but you can leave it up to your discretion. The Vagina Monologues will be performed at the KNOW Theatre at 74 Carroll Street in Binghamton at 8pm on March 12, 13, and 14. Tickets will cost $20, and all proceeds will benefit the Crime Victim Assistance Center (CVAC) in Binghamton. They can be purchased at the door or by phone at (607) 724-4341. Also, there will be vagina chocolate pops.
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March 2015 Triple Cities Carousel 27
Preview photo courtesy of Joshua B. at BingPop. Venue still under construction.
food and drink.
SETTING UP SHOP: A WELCOME ARRIVAL Heather Merlis Assistant Editor
Beauty is a rare thing, yet it is everywhere. With an appreciation for simplicity and a belief that Binghamton is ready to enjoy a lucidly realized space, The Shop will be opening this month. The café and bar was built on the understanding that, when refined to its essence, beauty is revealed. I felt the tone of the town shifting when I first stepped inside, even though it was a (nearly finished) work-in-progress. With natural light beaming in from opposite angles, minimalistic design, and the promise of excellent espresso, fine booze, and delicious crepes, I could see myself lingering here. The clear and vibrant energy inside The Shop is the result of
impeccable execution of an idea many years in the making. “We started the whole project with this dream,” says Eugenie, co-owner. “It is the manifestation of a long-term goal.” This establishment may be a sign that Binghamton has arrived, if arrival is measured by the presence of a truly hip place to spend one’s time- a “third place”- not your home, not your job, but a place where people can come together and share ideas. Sitting at a wooden table, I felt perfectly comfortable writing, as if this were the place I had always come to do my work and sip a latte.
It was on a train from Madrid to Barcelona that the owners decided to make the dream of The Shop, a reality. “We had been watching Binghamton change for so many years, and there was a need for a place where we could hang out,” recalls Zoran, the other half of the operation. “We felt that Binghamton was ready.” The Shop is the product of a leap of faith, and an offering to our area. “The landscape is changing and moving in the right
direction,” Zoran reflects. Eugenie agrees: “This is a growing, healthy, urban place.” The creation of a classy yet approachable establishment downtown, is a welcome addition. As Zoran puts it, “it’s a collective effort to give something to this town.”
The long road that led to the creation of this space is evident in every detail of its design. “We built this entire place,” Eugenie beams, “appreciating materials that are at an early stage in their lifecycle, so fewer resources are being used.” They purchased many of their materials from Build It Green in Astoria, Queens (a neighborhood dear to the hearts of the owners), and their chairs were handcrafted from re-purposed steel and wood by Recycled Brooklyn. This is not to say that they have neglected local artisans: the steel table bases were forged by a woman in Kirkwood, and Creative Woodworks built the bar, based on Zoran’s design concept. The walls of The Shop will feature an urban industrial landscape painted by a local artist. Giving much credit to the community that has supported them
through this entire process, the components of the space reflect their appreciation.
“We want to highlight the beauty of this region and the creativity of the people who live here,” says Eugenie. To keep the fare local (with the exception of special treats that can only be found overseas), they will be offering Gimme! Coffee, from Ithaca, regional spirits and beer, and domestic wine. There will also be sweet and savory crepes made in-house, along with simple share-plates of charcuterie. Inside The Shop, one could feel the future of Binghamton realized to its full potential, as we continue to chip away the old paint, and nurture the essence to uncover true beauty. We now have the opportunity to enjoy the finer things in a relaxed and welcoming space. “We love beauty,” says Eugenie. “Maybe we’re just dreamers,” Zoran muses. “We’ll find out soon enough.” The Shop is located at 219 Washington Street in Binghamton.
28 Vol. 3 Issue 2
Photo by Chris Bodnarczuk.
THE MOST FAMOUS BURGER IN TOWN
IS BACK... ON A FREAKIN’ WAFFLE Chris Bodnarczuk Editor-in-Chief
There is a science involved in constructing the perfect burger. A little bit of fire. A little bit of grease. A little bit of salt. Proportion is key. Too much of any particular ingredient could spell disaster, as the Belmar learned a year ago. Parade Day 2014. Roughly 9:30pm. The Belmar, Binghamton’s legendary Irish pub, was in top form. After a long day of slinging shots and corned beef sandwiches for the masses, they’d settled into the evening crowd. The food was long gone, but the whiskey and “Kiss me I’m Irish” folk remained. One overzealous customer decided to raid the closed kitchen, eyes set on the prize of a pilfered burger. A little too much fire. A little too much grease. A few minutes later, flames consumed a good chunk of the Main Street institution.
Everyone escaped unharmed, but the kitchen (as well as an apartment upstairs) was destroyed. A resilient bunch, the Belmar crew opened back up a few days later, and quickly began hawking food from a hot-dog cart out front. But without a proper kitchen to work from, the infamous Belmar Burger’s fate remained in limbo. Seasons changed. Time went on. Binghamton’s hipster elite lost weight and watched their blood pressure balance out. “Eat the gyro,” they were told. The gyro was good, but it was no Belmar Burger, that half-pound chunk of heaven that had sustained generations of plaid enthusiasts and Creative Writing majors with the perfect (except that one time) combination of grease, fire, and salt. And then one day last month, the clouds of the grey city parted, and the Belmar’s kitchen was open once more. Give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to eat beef. I hightailed it to the bar as soon as I heard the news. The Belmar Burger was back, and I intended to make up for a year’s worth of
beef-less evenings in one fell swoop. “I want everything,” I said to owner Ed Hickey. “You just need one,” said Ed. “Is that a cheap shot about my weight?,” I asked. “No,” said Ed, “just trust me.” It should be noted that I’ve known Ed Hickey for most of the years that I’ve lived in Binghamton, and I even worked for him for him during a stretch of my college years (they called me “Chaos the Carebear”). It should also be noted that the last time he told me to trust him, I did not, and twenty minutes later I found myself in handcuffs at the whims of some policemen without much of a sense of humor. Okay Ed, this time I’ll listen. It is a good thing I did, because no man borne of humans could possibly consume more than one of the newly reminted Belmar Burgers. At least not when it comes loaded. Plated in front of me was a meaty monolith: drenched with cheese; piled high with red onion, lettuce, tomato, and mayo; full of grease and salt; complemented by a side of mac salad. Oh yeah, and instead of a bun, the burger sat on a freakin’ waffle. “Just trust me,”
said Ed. Okay Ed, I’ll bite. I didn’t stop biting for a good ten minutes. A freakin’ waffle. Except! Except! This wasn’t no Eggo. This was a handmade, savory, garlicand-cheese waffle. Paula Dean’s darkest buttery sexual fantasies couldn’t dream up something so perfect, and yet there it was, being forced down my gullet at an alarming rate. A little fire. A little grease. A little salt. A damned garlic-and-cheese waffle. Get behind me, Satan. I surveyed the table over a shot of whiskey. All that remained on my plate was crumbs of waffle. My lady-friend’s Black N Bleu Burger order (with a side of fries) lay in similar disrepair. She reminded me of my gym membership. I drank another shot of whiskey. The Belmar Pub is located at 95 Main Street in Binghamton, and open daily. They sell booze. They make burgers. On waffles. They host live music. Tell the babysitter you’ll be home late. Kitchen closes at midnight Monday through Saturday, 10pm on Sundays. For more information, check ‘em out on facebook or at belmar-bing.com
30 Vol. 3 Issue 2
poetry.
FEATURED POET: PHIL WESTCOTT
Phil Westcott is a poet and musician born and bred in Binghamton. Some claim that he materialized out of the confluence, but this theory has yet to be proven. He studied at Binghamton University and eventually graduated with degrees and a drinking problem. Currently, heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s serving as a staff writer for this fine publication. Romance is all he believes in, and hopes that some day you will love him as much as he loves you. Demonstrance this is bound to be an essay of monstrous proportions talking about love life and the ineffectuality of feeling. i miss your scent and lips and touch talking like peers on a slippery bench in the rain. i miss seeing your face every possible minute as much as i deny the distinct possibilitythe truth of the statement. we should never see each other again but iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll see you every day in my mind. there is nothing softer than your touch more true than your voice more sensous than your soft thighs caressing my hard hands. listen closelywhat iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m saying is i love you- where you are, were in the past. who you will becomesomeday i will see you while delivering a pizza to a swanky party on the upper east side. you married a lawyer after fighting fires in montreal, eating donuts on street corners with reckless youths who believed too strongly in folk music and cigarettes. turn your attention inwards- find magnitudes of magnificent meaning in meter, making mastery irrelevant in all forms. metrically speaking all of this is as wrong as a sunday morning without cartoons, or cheerios or a cuddle love smelling of roses. Fireflies the conversation left open, ended, completely finished and delightful deftly handed, pocketed forgotten. storms threatened winds rushed over we said goodbye cried and lit cigarettes memories and fissured fingers. oh! to be a firefly pushed over the lake bouyed by the wind struggling for shore
never to see land again becoming a sea-fly without salt touching fragile wings. moons never setting sun constantly obscured through the lens of Her constant luminence if only I could move faster! only seeing the face somnolent yet reserved for the sleepless. Infidelity cheater: defined as the one in a relationship whom conciously chooses loving another before the end of said relationship be it emotional or physical mental stirringly poignant romantic or deliberately bold faced unecessary cruel or repeated known or unknown cheatee: defined as the one out of a relationship whom knowingly partakes in loving someone inside of a relationship radical or conservative open lipped tongued and sweaty emotionally stirring held hands silently weeping with a scarred soul pronounced delicately behind closed doors or brazenly done back seats of cars or dance floors of bars cheated (1): defined as one in a relationship whom knowingly or un- has their love foregone, for the long or short term, the ending a new beginning. the understanding balanced by fear, trust broken strengthened through telling. those that are implicitly involved but rarely in actuality schooled or present for the aforementioned activities. cheated (2): all of the above.
March 2015 Triple Cities Carousel 31
celebrate.
THAT’S A
HOLIDAY? We like to do things a little bit different here at Carousel, and holidays are no exception. We’re bored of hearing the same-old same-old when it comes to tried and true seasonal celebrations, so we’ve tasked our own FELICIA WAYNESBORO with the monthly responsibility of filling us in on all the holidays we’ve been missing… Remember two years ago when an object from space exploded over central Russia, spectacularly damaging things? Experts are still not certain of its composition, whether it was a comet, asteroid, or something else. Whatever it was, it shattered thousands of windows and injured approximately 1,500 people. Well, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet. “Comets are made of lighter materials, like frozen water and a lot of loose dust packed together,” explains Dr. Nicholas Guydosh, a science educator at the Kopernik Observatory and Science Center in Vestal. But as to asteroids, he emphasizes that, “some asteroids, from the interior of planets that never came together, or that blew apart, could have iron in them. They can be very dense.” It was an asteroid that came close to smashing into our planet in 1989. Its proximity left many scientists sweeping the sweat from their concerned brows and led to the quiet celebration of Near Miss Day every March 23rd since. The planetary remnant was about a half mile in diameter and passed by Earth at a distance of approximately 500,000 milesaround twice the distance between Earth and the moon. “This asteroid is BIG,” says Guydosh, who has given talks on the dangers of near-Earth object (NEO) impacts. “A half-mile diameter asteroid is virtually the end of the world as we know it, if it hit. It would probably cause something similar to a nuclear winter– the dust and dirt that gets thrown into the atmosphere would cut the sun out for maybe a decade.” Then he went on to use the words “starvation, disease, and freezing.” Remember what happened to the dinosaurs? Should you be afraid? Very afraid? Andrés Galvez, a program manager at the European Space Agency’s (ESA) headquarters in Paris, told me in an email, that his agency, plus NASA, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, and a few other European organizations are developing a cooperative project for planetary defense against NEO collisions. Some rather awkward English-language acronyms are involved, like DART (Double Asteroid Redirect Test)- a spacecraft designed to crash into an asteroid on a collision course and alter its path. And then there’s AIM (Asteroid Impact Mission), a floating observatory to analyze all the dynamics. Hooray for the nascent venture named AIDA (Asteroid Impact and Deflection Assessment study)! Dr. Guydosh didn’t know that the 1989 near miss has an actual, “day of observance,” but he expressed the possibility of designing some future event at Kopernik, built upon it. In the meantime, why not use Near Miss Day to celebrate some of the “near misses” in your own life: maybe make some sphere-shaped ice cubes and let them clink around in a glass while you toast not marrying that person you thought you loved, who turned out to be a disaster? Or commemorate the close-call accident that left you a better driver? Or the poop you sidestepped just in time? uuu Also observe: If you know a kid, any kid, who has a light you’d like to kindle, please celebrate her/or him on March 19th– the national letter-writing campaign day (for the last 19 years) known as Absolutely Incredible Kid Day. Compose and post, or hand deliver a note, telling the young person why he/she is special, appreciated, valuable… There’s no telling what far-reaching good it may do.
March 2015 Triple Cities Carousel 33
film.
TRAILER TRASH
Movie trailers aren’t always effective in giving useful previews of what a film is about. They’re usually a mess of disconnected images and phrases arranged in order to get the heart beating. Our resident cinephile, ILANA LIPOWICZ, deciphers these trailers each month, and here’s what she was able to deduce. This information is not guaranteed to be accurate, but it will most definitely save you from feeling like you spent two and a half minutes spiraling towards the earth in a burning aircraft and you still don’t know what to see. Chappie: The only thing humans love to watch more than humans are non-humans acting like humans. Have you ever seen those videos where people make it look like their dogs have human hands and are eating with a fork and knife? This movie is just like that, except instead of a dog it’s a robot, and instead of eating a meal, Chappie asks the big questions that only a self-conscious being with feelings could ask. All the while, the robot is trying not to be destroyed by an evil human who wants to keep emotions all for himself. If we ask ourselves what sets this movie apart from Robocop or I, Robot and other like films, we might find a clue in the interesting choice by director Neill Blomkamp to cast Yolandi Visser and Ninja- of South African hip hop duo Die Antwoord- as Chappie’s allies in the film. It’s impossible to bring in these figures without bringing up the theme of freaks and outsiders. Their presence alone lends the film some artistic merit, as their own music videos are incredibly interesting and visually unique. (March 6) Unfinished Business: There is no more horrible villain in Hollywood than a successful woman who doesn’t want to have sex with you. The mission of Vince Vaughn’s character is to defeat this evil ball-busting seductress by closing a deal with a big client so that he can save his firm. In order to do this, he will win over the client by doing what only a man can do with another man: get trashed, talk about sex, and throw darts at each other. You go Vince! Show that smart independent woman who’s boss! (March 6)
Cinderella: Usually when an old story is retold, it is because its themes have resurfaced in the collective consciousness, and new circumstances bring the story new significance. Surely the story of Cinderella carries themes that are very much on our minds in different ways: inner vs. outer beauty, the roles of men and women, and the significance of wealth. However, as far as the trailer reveals, the only change that has made this story worthy of retelling is the advancement of CGI, which makes Cinderella’s carriage appear far more glamorous. There are black guests at the ball though! So there is that. (March 13)
Danny Collins: Al Pacino is Danny Collins, an aged ex-rocker who finally receives a letter John Lennon wrote to him in the ‘70s. If you pause the trailer at the right moment, you can actually read the whole letter, which is hardly convincing enough in its eloquence to mimic Lennon. “What do you think about that Danny Collins? Stay true to your music. Stay true to yourself. The rest will follow.” Umm, duh? Had he not by 2015 heard a similar sentiment on the internet and TV about a million times? Anyway, when it comes from John Lennon, it convinces him to turn his life around, starting to write his own music again and reconnecting with his son (Bobby Cannavale). All these life changes don’t break who he is at his core: your embarrassing uncle who tells his waitress at every diner that she’s his new girlfriend. Josh Peck, a real life has-been, is taking a break from making weird Vine videos to play some unnamed character or himself in this movie, because why not? (March 20) The Divergent Series- Insurgent: As far as tricks and special effects go, this movie looks cool as hell. The premise of the Divergent series, based on the books by Veronica Roth, is a future dystopian society in what was once Chicago. In this post-apocalyptic world, people are divided into factions based on their virtues. Beatrice Prior (Shailene Woodley) learns she is divergent- not fitting into any faction- and since she is so special, she gets to save her society from being pulled apart by a powerful alliance. But let’s get to some of the cool stuff in the trailer: a guy jumps over train tracks and just misses getting hit, Beatrice jumps off a building and catches a burning wire and swings like Tarzan. And then she fights herself. Seriously- she has to fight a clone of herself. Pretty cool, eh? There’s also another Liam Neeson movie coming out this month, but it’s probably going to be just like every other Liam Neeson movie. If you’re looking for an action film, I’d vouch for this one. (March 20) Get Hard: If you’re afraid, like I was, that this movie is about what it sounds like it’s about, rest easy: this story’s arc does not end in an erection. A businessman, played by Will Ferrell, is about to go to jail for ten years for tax evasion. Under the offensive assumption that the black parking garage worker, played by Kevin Hart, has been to jail, he offers Hart a pretty penny to train him for life in the big house. It takes someone as charming as Ferrell to play a greedy racist and still make him sort of loveable, and although his casual racism isn’t swept away through his time spent with Hart, the two develop an odd little friendship. It looks like something worth seeing. (March 27)
Home: On the menu for the kids this month is this story about a lumpy little purple octopus who is part of an alien race invading the earth. This particular alien has adopted the name “Oh,” misinterpreting the other aliens’ groans on his arrival, as a nickname they’ve given him. You can understand why they groan: the little dude just doesn’t seem to know what’s going on, and he speaks English with grammar that is slightly off and not-so-slightly infuriating. “I has made a few mistakes…” he says to Tip (voiced by Rihanna), the girl who becomes his companion after he’s banished from the other aliens. Oh, Oh, can’t you do anything right? Some of the jokes sound cringe-inducing, but they also sound exactly like the jokes I would have found hilarious when I was ten. You parents might have to hear these jokes, and you might have to hear them again during the car ride home. (March 27)
34 Vol. 3 Issue 2
IN REVIEW: Photo courtesy of Relativity Media.
THE LAZARUS EFFECT Ilana Lipowicz Staff Writer
Researchers in a lab are developing a serum meant to buy time for dying patients, but they discover their concoction may actually have the power to bring people back to life. Frank (David Gelb) and Zoe (Olivia Wilde) are an engaged couple and together they head the project, but when Zoe is fatally electrocuted in the lab, Frank, in a fit of anger and sadness, uses the serum to bring her back to life. You can probably guess that, like his namesake Frankenstein, what he brings to life is actually a monster. Now, thriller film aficionados, if you’re looking for the next big scare, it isn’t here. I can even imagine parts of this plot coming off as funny rather than scary. Our first clue that this serum may not be safe is the K9 test subject, the first to be revived. When Rocky is brought back from the dead, he does nothing but stare deeply into space. In the scene which foretells the fate of Zoe, the dog creeps into her bedroom and stares at her as she sleeps. It is a clever moment of tension, but it still warrants a chuckle. Although the film may have relied too much on cliché horror film special effects (the constant flashing of lights is unfriendly to the epileptic), certain stylistic aspects did give the film a memorable look. The opening credits introduce the story with strange close ups of unidentified organs, setting the scientific tone of the first part of the film. It at first seems a little too easy that we are filled in on the story through a documentary being made about the work. The filmmaker, Eva (Sarah Bolger), actually becomes important later on.
Bolger plays scared well, but she never quite overcomes her blandness. The film is shot almost entirely within the lab, which is so shiny and sleek that it pleases your romantic notion of what a research lab looks like. A lava lamp sits on a desk, gesturing towards the amoebic imagery that opens the film, and that’s the only reason I can think of for a lava lamp to be there. It does look nice and sciencey. But we don’t go to films to see scientific accuracy– we go for the story, and at the core, this story has some real potential. When Zoe is brought back to life, she returns with her entire brain activated at all times. You might remember Lucy, in which the title character gains special powers when a drug allows her to use 100% of her brain. The ways in which the film brings us inside of Zoe’s altered mind comes off as one of the better done psychedelic scenes I’ve seen in a movie. Olivia Wilde does a great performance without too much to work with. David Gelb’s constant eye-smirk is hard to get past, and his character isn’t exactly layered in complexity either. Once you start to understand what’s happening (everyone gets killed), the story loses some momentum. Perhaps more interesting than the main plotline is Zoe’s relationship with Niko, a former lover who is also part of the team. Questions of the nature of their friendship are left open and unanswered. There is also Zoe’s jealousy of Eva which seems unfounded but adds a little bit to the story. So should you see this movie? If you’re a wimp like me, you’ll still be biting your fingers up until you leave theatre. If thrillers are your thing, you might be a little too jaded. And if you’re looking for interesting characters and a satisfying plot line, it’s not your best bet, but you can take it or leave it.
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March 2015 Triple Cities Carousel 35
coitus.
SEX in the southern tier Sally Ride Contributing Columnist In my column last month, I mentioned anal play but didn’t have the space to delve into it. I thought I’d get started this month. I use the term anal play instead of anal sex because it’s a broader term that encompasses not just anal intercourse but also external stimulation, rimming, use of toys, masturbation, and more. uuu Dear Sally, I want my wife to fuck me in the ass. How do I ask her and convince her I’m not gay? I don’t even know where to begin. I’ve played around back there before, but I’ve never used anything more than a finger or two. I guess I want to get started, but I don’t want to freak her out or make any mistakes. Sincerely, Square Peg Dear Square Peg, The best way to ask your wife to fuck you in the ass (also known as pegging) is just to ask her. You could bring it up as part of a general conversation with your wife about sexual fantasies and things you’d like to explore. Keep in mind that she will likely be more open to exploring your desires if you are also willing to delve into hers. As long as you make it clear to your wife that you desire her, then she should have no reason to doubt your sexuality. I also like to point out that body parts don’t have a sexuality. As in, if you’re straight, how can your ass be gay? Many people, regardless of gender or sexuality, enjoy anal stimulation and for good reason: the anus is really rich in nerve endings. For men, it can be even more pleasurable because of the prostate gland. To explore pegging, start slowly with general foreplay, then external anal stimulation with fingers, vibrator, or tongue (using a dental dam if desired). Proceed to gentle penetration with fingers or a slender dildo or butt plug with a flared base. Lube is essential and anal penetration works best if you’re already highly aroused. You can try wearing a butt plug while engaging in other sexual activity with your wife, which some people find helps prepare them for anal intercourse. You and your wife should pick out a dildo and harness (aka strap-on). Choose a dildo that is flexible enough to accommodate the natural curves of the rectum. Have your wife start slowly and communicate with her as you go.
If you or a loved one has a drinking or drug problem...
HELP IS AVAILABLE
Another great way to explore this topic with your wife is to watch a video or read a book together. Some to try include Tristan Taormino’s Expert Guide video series, the video Bend Over Boyfriend, and the book Anal Pleasure and Health by Jack Morin. The videos can also be a turn-on to watch, as they are a hybrid of instruction and demonstration. Many of us have fears about fully expressing ourselves sexually or opening ourselves up to rejection from a partner. And rejection can be rough, but ultimately isn’t the risk worth the reward? You’ll never know until you ask- and maybe your wife has been wanting to peg you and was just hoping you’d bring it up.
AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) in the Triple Cities Region Hotline: (607) 722-5983 For a list of meetings: aabinghamton.org Al Anon/Alateen in Broome Co. and surrounding areas For info: (607) 772-0889 or (607) 387-5701 For a list of meetings: nynafg.com/district_10.html NA (Narcotics Anonymous) in the Triple Cities Region For info: (607) 762-9116 For a list of meetings: tcana.net
Sally Ride is a longtime sex educator and sex geek living in Binghamton, NY. Have a topic you’d like Sally to write about or a question you want her to answer? Send your questions and comments to southerntiersexadvice@ gmail.com.
36 Vol. 3 Issue 2
tarotology forecast.
Stars & Cards Anvile Contributing Writer
Pisces (February 20- March 20) On the bright side, love is in the air for you right now. With that being said, you’re ignoring other areas and allowing problems to get a foothold in your life. Be in love but don’t be the fool in love. Aries (March 21 - April 20) Don’t be too proud of this technological terror you’ve created. A false sense of security right now will be your undoing. Start playing better with others; you’re not the island you think you are. To win, you must harness and focus the energy and efforts of those around you and LEAD your team not just drive it. Taurus (April 21 - May 21) Expected changes at work will not work out the way you had thought, or may not happen at all this month. This will give you time to reflect on things and search for some answers to questions that have now come about. Please keep in mind though that FATE plays a very significant part in the events of this month. Gemini (May 22 - June 21) The women are in control this month. They will directly or indirectly have significant influence of the outcome of things. Major breakthroughs will occur for you in March. Be ready to move on the opportunity. Heartache will start to subside and communication issues will start to go away, making life better for you. Cancer (June 22 - July 22) Taking a break from things... don’t chill for too long, because you have some opportunities coming your way and indecision will not be wise. Good luck and good fortune are calling, so turn off the idiot box and answer that call. Travel or education or both are on the horizon so get off the bench and back in the game. Leo (July 23 -August 21) You don’t have the whole story, and you are hesitating because of it. Dig a little deeper and get the answers you seek- only then will things blossom. You have the ability to make something out of nothing or nothing out of something... make sure you have the right tools and information to do it. Virgo (August 22 - September 23) Not seeing the whole picture? Look beneath the surface. Be a taskmaster by completing those situations one at a time before moving on to the next issue; multi-tasking is not your friend in March. Be ready to help someone in need- you are your brother’s keeper. As dire as your life might be; a friend’s life is in more peril and you can help. Libra (September 24 - October 23) Don’t be the ” I ” in TEAM. A change is coming for you and it will take the village to help you survive it and come out the other end a better person. Remember to be able to give as much as you take; support will be given to you. Please be sure to remember that and pay it forward. (side note: if you draw the word TEAM in block letters and look at the negative space, you will see that the I in team is the A-Hole) Scorpio (October 24 - November 22) You know what they say about advice ... everyone has some. This month it may be best for to keep it to yourself. If you are on the receiving end of it, please be cautious of the words spoken to you. Be aware of barriers that you are constructing and consider being more middle of the road and less extreme. Of course this is all advice and maybe you should ignore it... chicken and the egg paradox. Sagittarius (November 23 - December 22) You are looking for more this month- the answers that you have gotten are not enough. Beneath the surface you will find what you need. Put some other projects on a temporary hold and don’t be afraid to get out of your comfort zone. Peek behind the mask, look behind the curtain, and see who or what is really there. The truth can hurt, there is no gain without pain ... but the truth will set you FREE. Capricorn (December 23 - January 20) Good news... Victory is at hand and your goal is within reach. Bad news... you’re so stressed about it that you can’t see it. Stop losing sleep over this issue, because you are only making it more difficult to finish. You should be living it up right now, but you won’t relax enough to reach that point of contentment and happiness. You have had small victories and have not celebrated them, and this is diminishing the greatness of the endgame. Aquarius (January 21 - February 19) A matriarchal influence will be diminished this month... for some this is good, and for others not so much. Your instinct and intuition will be a critical skill to have at your disposal, so trust them and use them. Show restraint on purchases that are outside of the budget because an unforeseen expense is approaching and will require that expendable income that you have. You will have no one to blame for being caught with your pants down except you; because you read it here first.
Evolution.
(Old Belmar Burger)
Belmar Pub 95 Main St. Binghamton
(New Belmar Burger)
-Kitchen Open Daily -Open Mic Every Monday -Adam Ate The Apple Every Thurs.
176 Main Street Binghamton (607) 723-2456 cybercafewest.com sunday 1
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15
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M a rc h Eve nt s
monday
beer sale
2
beer sale
9
beer sale
16
beer sale
23
beer sale
30
tuesday wednesday thursday
team trivia
3
team trivia
10
team trivia
17
18
jamie karaoke willard
19
team trivia
24
25
26
team trivia
31
open mic
4
greg neff
karaoke
joseph
karaoke alston
saturday
5
thing carouselâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s kim & two terrible 2s chris
12
thing one
13
thing two
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21
thing one
27
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cygne 11
friday
7
6
eric 14 mosaic sommer foundation mel & raibred the boys ultra vibe
women
& music
March 2015 Triple Cities Carousel 39
“I Am So Sick Of This” by Paul O’Heron
B.C.
DOGS OF C-KENNEL
WIZARD OF ID Across 1. Highly sensitive reactions to certain substances such as pollen and cat hair. 6. Once thought caused by toads, now known to be caused by Human Papillomavirus (HPV) 9. Researched in 1895 by German physicist Wilhelm Röntgen, these are used for medical imaging since they reveal bone structures. 10. Be aware of the health risks if you want to use an ozone _____ as an indoor air cleaner. 11. One thing you can do with a badly infected or damaged tooth. 12. Caused by an infestation of the skin by the human itch mite burrowing into the upper layer of the skin where it lives and lays its eggs. 14. The best person to take care of your health. 16. An inflammation of the liver and also refers to a group of viral infections that affect the liver. Common types are A, B, and C. 18. Anorexia: An eating disorder characterized by markedly _____ appetite or total aversion to food. 19. And so on… 22. It sounds like an illness, but is actually a catchy song that runs continually through a person’s mind. 23. Having one lens that corrects for near vision and one for distant vision. 26. Type of behavior often associated with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). 28. “It is a remarkable fact that smallpox, a scourge for thousands of years, has now vanished from the earth, except for two tiny vials, one locked in a highly secure facility at
the Centers for Disease Control, in Atlanta, and another stored in a similarly secure _____ in Siberia.” - Michael Specter (The New Yorker, May 30, 2011) 29. A common type of sore throat in children, not very common in adults, caused by the group A eponymous bacteria. 30. An umbrella term for more than 100 rheumatic diseases and conditions that affect joints, the tissues which surround the joint and other connective tissue. Down 1. A nervous disorder characterized by excessive uneasiness and apprehension, often with compulsive behavior or panic attacks. 2. According to some, celery, cucumbers and iceberg lettuce are vegetables with the _____ nutritional value. 3. Pityriasis _____ is a skin disease of uncertain origin characterized by pink lesions bordered by collar-like areas that tend to peel off in tiny scales. 4. A gold one is usually in the shape of a rectangular frustum, 7 inches x 3-5/8 inches x 1-3/4 inches. 5. An inflammation of the sinuses and nasal passages. 6. “The further development of this promising E. Coli vaccine is _____ and should be pursued.” - A. Louis Bourgeois (2005) 7. A carrier of the Bubonic Plague. 8. A state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or very demanding circumstances. 13. A therapist may decide concen-
trate on just one. 15. _____ Cream, made by Redex Industries, Inc., is used by many people to soothe their dry and chapped skin. 16. What you really want to do when you have phlegm stuck in your throat. 17. An infection of the lungs that can cause mild to severe illness in people of all ages. 20. One form of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) that affects only the large intestine. 21. A common contagious viral infection. Type 1 causes cold sores or fever blisters usually above the waist, and Type 2 causes genital sores or sores usually below the waist. 23. A porcelain spray washer for your butt. 24. Also termed pyrexia, this is a higher-than-normal body temperature. 25. “You don’t know a woman until you’ve met her in _____.” - Norman Mailer 27. A sticky brown substance that is the main cause of lung and throat cancer in smokers.
fun stuff.
by MASTROIANNI & HART
by MICK & MASON MASTROIANNI
by PARKER, MASTROIANNI, & HART