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A few years ago, a local non profit organization saved Ithaca’s 80 year old State Theater from being demolished. Since then, the theater has gone through rounds of renovations and brought in a new Executive Director, Dan Smalls for their event promotion. Smalls brought years of concert promotion and booking experience to Ithaca, where he has pulled big names to this small upstate NY city. Just a few of the shows from the past two years have included: Andrew Bird, Government Mule, Emmylou Harris, Billy Bragg, Neko Case, Joan Baez, Crosby Nash, Gomez, Josh Ritter, Steve Earle and Lyle Lovett.
This weekend, Rachel and I went to two concerts at the State. Friday night was the African Children’s Choir, and last night we saw Preservation Hall Jazz Band and the Blind Boys of Alabama. Both shows were great, but seeing a group of blind men in their 70s dancing, and singing with the famous Dixieland Jazz band from New Orleans was awesome.
Watched Synechdoche, New York last night. If you’ve watched Charlie Kaufman’s other films (Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), you can prepare yourself for the wild experience of watching one of his movies. I know for instance, not to try too hard to understand everything that’s happening during the film. I know I’m going to have to read a review or discussion board afterwards in order to make sense of the movie. And sure enough, it was that kind of movie. And like his other movies, I found myself laughing out of the insanity and genius of the writing throughout. I also found myself scratching my head and answering Rachel’s questions with, “No, I have no idea what that meant, honey.” But after it ended, and I woke Rachel up, I just felt appreciation for the ambition of the project. I didn’t love the movie. But I loved the experience of watching it. And after reading reviews, including this one, it all made a lot more sense. So, I recommend the movie, but with the caveat that you be in a stable and open frame of mind. And don’t try to figure it all out on first viewing. Just accept that you’ll be lost for parts of it, and appreciate the genius of the Kaufman and Philip Seymour Hoffman.
Building a New Theater
At a time when most companies and organizations are looking for ways to tighten their belts, a small non-profit movie theater is opening a new home in downtown Ithaca.
For people that live in Ithaca, there were two theaters you could visit for independent movies. Fall Creek Pictures and Cinemapolis. This Spring however, both theaters are closing and being replaced with a state-of-the-art, 5-screen, stadium-seating cinema. The project has become a bit of a family affair, with my mother chairing the board of directors, my wife working on the grand opening event, and I am working on the marketing and communication committee.
This is an exciting project for downtown Ithaca, as it has the potential to create a strong destination on the Commons. Our hope is that it will pull students from Cornell and Ithaca College off the hills, and people from around the community downtown. We’re partnering with local restaurants to offer dinner & a movie / movie and dessert specials, and we’re hoping that the success of this theater will help with the overall rehabilitation of downtown. With the opening of Urban Outfitters across the street and a proposed redesign of the commons in 2010, things are looking promising.
For more information on the project, including pictures of the development, or to become a member, visit our facebook page. The theater is scheduled to open in late May.
The IT Band
Well, the 18 mile run went smoothly, but last weekend during an “easy” 14 mile run, I had a ton of trouble finishing the last mile. The right side of my right knee was screaming at me, and not even the soothing sound of Bob Boilen could distract me from the pain. So I checked with a trainer at the gym and a coach I’m working with through Team in Training, and it’s an aggravation of my IT Band. The medical term for the condition is Illiotibial Band Syndrome (ITBS) or “Runner’s Knee.” This is the same problem I had when I ran the NYC marathon in 2005. Essentially, it’s an inflamation of a band that runs along the outside of your thigh. When it gets inflamed, it snaps against the outside of your knee and hip. And unfortunately, there’s not a lot you can do, other than rest, take anti-inflammatories and stretch. So I’m hanging up the sneakers for two weeks, and will try some swimming/biking in the meantime. It’s a bummer of timing, but hopefully I have enough in the tank to get me to the finish line in Nashville.
Wechsler's Menu
One of the better things about my monthly work trips to NYC is the ability to reconnect with diverse cuisine. For all Ithaca has to offer, the dining selection can get old quickly. We have some great restaurants up here, but you can’t exactly stumble upon a new secret place like you can in a city like New York. So on last week’s trip, I met my cousin and friend in the city for dinner and came across Wechsler’s Currywurst & Bratwurst on 1st Ave. & 7th Street. It’s not a restaurant as much as a little bar serving beer, and a few selections of sausage, fries, german potato salad (vinegar-based not mayonnaise) and sauerkraut. Their specialty is a little dish called currywurst. Currywurst is basically pork sausage with a warm ketchup/curry sauce on top, served with fries. And it’s really good. The picture below does not do it justice.
Currywurst
The owner gave us a sampling of just about everything on the menu, and told us his story about leaving a cushy corporate finance career to follow his dream. Anyway, if you find yourself in the east village and you’ve never had currywurst, or if you’re just in the mood for a friendly German host, offering great beer and sausage….pay Wechsler a visit. Prost!
Watched Rachel Getting Married this weekend, and (my Rachel) and I both liked it. Between the directing and the acting, it’s one of the most personal movies I’ve seen in a while. And I was never an Anne Hathaway fan, but she was great in this movie and definitely should have beaten Penelope Cruz for best actress at the Oscars. UPDATE: Anne wasn’t up against Penelope. Oh well. But if she was, she should have beaten her.
The 18 Mile Route
Sunday was the longest marathon training run thus far…and I probably picked the worst time of the weekend to do it. We were visiting friends in Rochester on Saturday and didn’t get back to Ithaca until mid-day on Sunday. I waited until 3pm to start the run, and the rain began around 3:15. I ran most of the 2.5 hours in 40 degree rain. Not the most pleasant experience, but once again, the podcasts were a great distraction. You might think that listening to a story about the collapse of the banking system would only make the run more draining, but it was somehow invigorating. For a great 30 minute story told in layman’s terms about the current banking situation, listen here.
Rachel snapped a before, halfway and finishing shot from the run. She met me at 9 miles with a bottle of Gatorade. What a woman…
Before
During (Halfway)
After (With Russ & New Ball)
I’m not really proud of this tit for tat between Olberman and Coulter, but it’s a solid bit of air time for my college (The Agriculture and Life Sciences School at Cornell). I’ve actually heard Coulter’s argument before….that the Ag School at Cornell is the non-Ivy college within the University because it’s a state college. Well, I guess she struck a nerve with Olberman.
Here he defending his intelligence:
But for an even more credible defender of Cornell, I put my trust in Andy Bernard from The Office. View Dwight Schrute’s Cornell Interview with Andy
Just returned from a trip to NYC and then Las Vegas for work. A few thoughts on the week…
1. It felt great to return to New York, not as a resident but as a visitor. I missed the energy, the food, the diversity, the history, the friends and family. But while the place will forever be a special place to me, we get along much better when we don’t live together.
2. Las Vegas. I guess it’s important to have a place of unabashed indulgence and materialism. It’s a part of life, so why not let it exist in one place, in the middle of the desert in Nevada. And I guess this is how the city planners and hotel management intend it, but I honestly felt like I was in another world the whole time. I felt completely disconnected from reality. I couldn’t get a newspaper in the hotel and the news channel on TV was hidden after 30 stations of Vegas radio. But if the stories I heard while there are any indication, Vegas is not recession proof. There are numerous developments being scaled back or canceled altogether. One of the employees at my hotel told be about a group of investors that bought a hotel, demolished it, and then ran out of funding to build their new resort. And all the taxi drivers were complaining about a drop in tourists. But with all the bad news going around, nobody seemed to care in the casinos. The juxtaposition between Obama’s national speech on the recession and people dropping thousands at craps tables was pretty fascinating.
3. But if tourism is waning, the healthcare industry appears to be strong. I was attending a conference for the AAOS (American Association of Orthopedic Surgeons) and there were plenty of companies shelling out upwards of $100k for a booth exhibiting their technology for a few hundred orthopedic surgeons.
4. Marathon training is going well. Fundraising is not. It’s probably not the best time to be asking people for donations. But I’m pretty short on my goal. Nonetheless, the training is on track. I ran 16 last weekend and 14 on Sunday. Running in an upstate NY winters is cruel, but it should make race day in Nashville that much easier. Right?
5. Podcasts are made for marathon training. They really help pass the time. This American Life and Planet Money have really gotten me through miles 10-16 with a much needed distraction. They also make me realize how unnecessary live radio and TV are. Sure, there will always be a need for live news and entertainment, but the majority of programming serves better on-demand.
6. My mom’s dog, which came to the family 7 years ago left on Tuesday after suffering a stroke. All that dog ever wanted was affection and food. I think Rachel married me as much for access to my mom’s golden retrievers as anything. Here’s a picture of her with Cougar on one of their early visits. R.I.P. Cougar
Enjoy.
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