GreenDrinks this month - Deregulation and Justice - @ Javapalooza

Welcome to Meet Your Greens--Middlesex County's monthly green drinks happy-hour network providing opportunities to make connections and exchange news about environmental issues in Middlesex County. Based on the popular Green Drinks in CT and nationwide, this informal gathering of people drawn from the community, nonprofit groups and the business world offers time to brainstorm ideas and plant seeds for collaboration. All are welcome with no reservations or advanced registration necessary.

Join us at Javapalooza! May 18, 2010 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm Deregualtion demystified.... Deregulation allows for companies other than the public utilities to offer electric power to consumers. This allows for competition that can lower prices. It's a brave new world of choice! This month, Jim Sweeney,of HomeTronics Lifestyles, will be talking about deregulation and how it affects your electricity generation choices. Jim will suggest how to save up to 20% on the generation portion of your bill. You can even bring your electric bill to review. HomeTronics Lifestyles provides home technology services, and installs and services energy management systems, solar thermal and lighting control. Jim serves as a board member on the Home Builders and Remodelers Association of Fairfield County and is a Certified Green Professional (CGP) from the National Association of Home Builders. He is also co-founder of The Green Team CT, which believes that, "green-built homes help our planet, and that using sustainable and renewable resources is the responsible thing to do."

And hear about CCEJ... We will also have a chance to meet Martha Kelly of theConnecticut Coalition for Environmental Justice. Martha will speak briefly on what CCEJ is about and its mission to protect urban environments throughout the state. http://www.environmental-justice.org

Javapalooza! Javapalooza Café located on Main Street in downtown Middletown, a European style café that features locally roasted organic coffees, teas, micro brews, and fine wines. Indulge in freshly baked Biscotti, muffins, bagels, or croissants. Savory sandwiches and delicious soups are made fresh daily. "It's fresh, its local, and its cool...." 330 Main Street Middletown CT 06457 860.346.JAVA (5282) www.javapaloozacafe.com

Meet Your Greens meets every third Tuesday of the month. Venues and times change-- join our e-list for updates and invites by contacting Claire Rusowicz,crusowicz@rockfallfoundation.org; or Jennifer Weymouth, jaweymouth@yahoo.com. You can also join us on Facebook ("Meet Your Greens"). Schedule updates are also provided on The Rockfall Foundation website, www.rockfallfoundation.org. Questions? Please e-mail or call Claire Rusowicz (860)347-0340.

Tantric Rablerousers at Javapalooza

Come to Javapalooza for an evening of unlikely and exciting bluegrass music. Traditional tunes and original compositions galore. Fun time guaranteed for all.

Tantric Rablerousers:
Ali "Dumpster Blues" Telmesani - guitar, vocals
Max "Mad Dog" Wareham - banjo, vocals
Baron "The Chupacabra" Colins-Hill - mandolin, vocals
Matt "The Mule" Dwonszyk - bass fiddle

Date:
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Time:
6:00pm - 8:00pm
Location:
Javapalooza, 330 Main St Middletown

Check out their music at http://www.myspace.com/tantricrablerousers

Halloween!

Halloween has always been an important tradition in my neighborhood, so this year I decided to document it and share it with you. All of the costumes this year were totally brilliant!

Tree Falls To Buckled Sidewalk

This morning a contractor for the city toppled a Bradford Pear tree that stood in front of Javapalooza. The twenty-five foot tree was one of the taller, fuller trees on the East side of Main Street in the blocks between Washington and Court Streets. Sidewalk inspector Rick Romano told me that the tree was buckling the pavement (more than likely it was only bucking the fake brick closest to the curbing because evidence of buckling on the walkway is minimal) and so it had to be removed because it was causing a tripping hazard. Inspections of the sidewalk have taken place over the last three years. Bradford Pears are frequently planted because they offer spectacular flowering in the spring and fiery foliage in the fall, with plenty of shade in between. However, their branches are brittle and the trees often topple in wind storms.

The city's contract forester, Dana Whitney, has suggested replacing the tree with an amelanchier, or grandiflora. The replacement tree is expected to be purchased and planted within the next few weeks.

"One Book, One Middletown" Events This Week

One Book, One Middletown's celebration of "Water for Elephants" kicks into high gear this week. Tuesday, The Book Bower (inside Main Street Market) will hold 2 discussions titled "The Great Depression: Lessons for Today", the first at 12:30 p.m., the second at 5:30.

Wednesday, there will be a "Book Discussion" at 12:30 p.m. at Middlesex Community College, 100 Training Hill Road. At 7 p.m. in the Hubbard Room of The Russell Library, 123 Broad Street, Rich Hanley will show the documentary "The Circus Fire." Hanley, a Professor of Journalism at Quinnipiac University, wrote, directed and produced the work for CPTV; a brief description follows.
"On July 6, 1944, the Ringling Bros. & Barnum and Bailey Circus big top caught fire during an afternoon performance in Hartford. After less than 10 minutes of unimaginable horror, 168 spectators, mostly women and children, were either dead or dying. Hundreds were injured.Even decades later, many survivors and relatives of the dead remain haunted by what happened and why."

Thursday, there's a seminar at 12noon in Chapman Hall at MxCC titled "The Extraordinary Life of P.T.Barnum." The slide presentation is a production of the Barnum Museum, located in Bridgeport, the home of the great entrepreneur. Then at 7 p.m., it's back to the Hubbard Room of The Russell Library where Quinnipiac Professor Hedda Kopf will lead an in-depth Book Discussion.

Friday, students from Middletown High School will facilitate a Book Discussion at 6 p.m. in Javapalooza, 330 Main Street.

All these events are free and open to the public.

Music & Dance This Weekend

Javapalooza, 330 Main Street, presents The Sawtelles at 7:30 p.m. Friday night. The pride of Plantsville, Julie and Peter Riccio create a mesmerizing blend of guitars, percussion and voices, with songs that have wit and a touch of brashness. Intimate yet rocking, the music really pulls one in. There is no admission charge.


Around the corner at Boney's Music Lounge at Fishbone Cafe, 120 Court Street, bassist Joe Fonda continues his eclectic programming on Friday and Saturday nights. Friday, it's Sweet Daddy Cool Breeze, a blues band that specializes in Chicago-style blues. Saturday, baritone saxophonist Clare Daly brings a group to the performance space. Daly, who is one the finest "bari" players on the creative music scene, makes music that utilizes r'n'b and mainstream jazz influences. For more information, call 346-6000.

Saturday, The Buttonwood Tree presents the Alan Cohen Experience at 7:30 p.m. Composer, vocalist and guitarist Cohen writes quirky tunes with danceable beats. He writes about everyday life with a witty eye for surrealistic subjects and even composed a campaign song for Barack Obama (hear it here or see and hear it here.) He performs with different sized ensembles so there's a chance that this gig is an all-acoustic affair. No matter, the music will be fun. For more information, go to http://alancohenexperience.com.




It's DanceMasters Weekend at Wesleyan with classes and workshops plus a public performance that is always top-notch. This year, the 10th anniversary of the program, the instructors include David Dorfman, Robert Battle of BattleWorks Dance Company, Brian Brooks from Brian Brooks Moving Company, Bill Hastings, Josh Hilberman, Carla Maxwell of Limón Dance Company, Andrea Miller of Gallim Dance, Miki Orihara of the Martha Graham Dance Company as well as Wesleyan world dance instructors Hari Krishnan, Urip Sri Maeny, and Iddi Saaka.

Saturday at 8 p.m. in the CFA Theater, the weekend's Showcase Performance features the Limon Dance Company, BattleWorks Dance Company, and Brian Brooks Moving Company. Any one of these groups is worth seeing; together, on one bill, makes for a great evening of modern dance. For ticket information, call 685-3355 or go online to www.wesleyan.edu/cfa/dancemasters/dancemasters09.html.

Here's a look at the fascinating work of choreographer Brian Brooks:

Saturday Night

Last Night (Saturday the 31st) there was an explosion of music and dance on Main Street. At Javapalooza there was a bluegrass/folk concert featuring members of the River Valley String Band, while at Vinnie's Jump and Jive a dance competition was in full swing. Both events were very well attended. At Javapalooza every seat was taken, even in the back of the store. At Vinnie's, people lined the walls while watching the dancers.

Drums on Main

We discovered a pleasant way to pass Sunday afternoon last week, at the drumming circle at the Javapalooza Café on Main Street. We sipped our hot chocolate and listened to the acoustic jam. When a seat opens up, anyone is welcome to join in a give it a try -- as this six-year-old did. He wasn't too shabby!

It starts at 2 pm and runs until about 4 pm, depending on the crowd.

"Leave Your Troubles On the Doorstep"

This is part 2 of my look at this very busy first week of December (part 1 is here.) Before we dive into Thursday, there's one change and one addition. This Tuesday's "Jazz at the Public" has been postponed and will return next Tuesday (12/09) from 5 - 9 p.m. On Wednesday, The Russell Library presents the CT Concert Ballet in "A Nutcracker Sweet Evening" at 6:30 p.m. in the Hubbard Room. Children ages 4 and older will hear the story of "The Nutcracker" and see excerpts from "The Nutcracker's Land of Sweets." Doors open 30 minutes before the performance and seating is limited. Call 347-2528, ext. 135, for more information.

On to Thursday.

The Friends of the Davison Art Center at Wesleyan presents its Annual Holiday Print Sale from 12noon - 7 p.m. Curated by fine print dealer Charles M. Young, the sale has an impressive selection of prints in all price ranges (including the lovely Keiji Shinohara color woodcut at the top of the posting.) It's open to the public and a portion proceeds from each sale goes to fund acquisitions for the DAC's collection. The DAC is located at 301 High Street and there's no admission charge. For more information, call 685-2500.

The Russell Library continues its "Dangerous Dreams and Wet Pavement" free film series at 12noon with the 1958 classic "Touch of Evil." Directed by Orson Welles, the "film noir" thriller stars Charlton Heston and Janet Leigh and features a number of cameo appearances by Welles' friends, including Joseph Cotten, Marlene Deitrich and Zsa Zsa Gabor. It's considered the ultimate "B-movie." Bring your lunch to the Hubbard Room and the staff will supply the drinks.

At 4:30 p.m., the Mansfield Freeman Center for East Asian Studies at Wesleyan, 301 Washington Terrace, welcomes Linda Rosenfeld Pomper who will deliver a talk titled "Chinese Porcelain: The Ubiquitous Artifact." The talk is free and open to the public. Call 685-2330 for more information.

There are 3 separate "Open Mics" taking place on Thursday. At 6 p.m., Javapalooza, 330 Main Street hosts one for singers and musicians. At 7 p.m., Bob Gotta hosts the monthly "Acoustic Open Mic" at The Buttonwood Tree, 605 Main Street. At the same time, the Green Street Arts Center of Middletown hosts "Writers Out Loud: A Literary Open Mic."

There will be a concert of Javanese Gamelan Music & Dance at 7 p.m. in the World Music Hall at Wesleyan, Wyllys Avenue. Performing will be beginning students in gamelan, the Wesleyan Youth Gamelan and students of Javanese Dance.The program is free and open to the public.

Public + Garden

It's the first time I've ever seen an outdoor, upright piano in the park at the corner of Main & Green, but it felt (and sounded) just right as the The Goldies played their funky R&B on Thursday night in the first of the Summer in the Garden concert series at the Luis Lopez Herb Garden.

The music was smooth, and we stayed for nearly the whole concert, sometimes dancing, sometimes talking with friends. For the second time in as many weeks I met a new, friendly & simpatico family from the North End...except that in both cases it seems they've been here quite a while and I just haven't been paying attention! Or maybe these summer concerts are doing their job of getting all of us out of our houses and into each other's company.




Although this photo shows that some people in the neighborhood were able to stay home and still come to the show.









After that we took our brood and one of their friends to the Public, a new place that just opened next to Forbidden City. My teens oohed and ahhed over the downtown (and I mean that in the NYC sense of the word) look, and approved the sound track. Looks like this place (along with Eli's and Nikita's) might be a nice draw for all those young adults that we're hoping won't flee Central CT. We wanted to be supportive on the opening night of the kitchen, so we ordered a few appetizers. You can see how fast the French Fries went.









By 10 pm we were winding down, but the street scene was still lively, especially over at Javapalooza, where they have adopted a new advertising strategy.

Nice night on Main Street.

NOTE: There are three more summer concerts in the herb garden are on intermittent Thursdays, sponsored by the Community Health Center...details to follow.