World Refugee Day, Hanover Square
St. Patrick’s Day Parade, Clinton Square
Archive for December, 2013
Year in Review (Festivals/Parades)
Wednesday, December 18th, 2013Second Nature
Monday, December 16th, 2013
We salute Syracuse’s 12-month bike culture (South Crouse Avenue)
Founding Father Fashion
Saturday, December 14th, 2013
Scott Peal as Abe Walton in Armory Square
Who Keeps Moving the Cheese
Saturday, December 14th, 2013
A Shout in Salty Water is a one man/one act play that serves up some answers to single fatherhood. But it also raises some questions as well.
The name of the play, which was conceived and performed by Ryan Johnson-Travis (directed by Joseph Trevino), was derived in part by the definition of Salina (as in Salina Street…think Landmark Theater, Rite Aid and the old Centro hub). Salina is defined as a salt pit or salt marsh. Many of the brothers portrayed in the show seem trapped in what seems like pockets of despair and closets of hopelessness.
Are the men dead-beats or just dead broke? Why are some voluntarily absent from their children? Why do they feel their pie in the sky has been reduced to crumbs?
These are some of the serious issues Johnson-Travis tackles on stage (and in the question and answer session). The performance takes you on an emotional roller coaster.
Maybe the most creative parts of the play are the actor/director vignettes (are they real or imagined) and the hilarious re-enactment of a dialogue with a Syracuse Post Standard reporter. But this is not about fun and games, which is evident when on opening night, Johnson-Travis fights through tears to sing about a slain 6-month old.
This complex experience is like being inside the head of a single father, yet inside the head of someone studying them/interviewing them as well.
The show concludes tonight. We look forward to a second act in the future.
Kudos again to CFAC and Johnson-Travis for collaborating on this must-see stage endeavor.
Street gaze (part 6): Couture meets Culture
Saturday, December 14th, 2013
A season’s greeting: Marshall Street
Not So Silent Night
Thursday, December 12th, 2013
Jazz Central Holiday Reception
The annual holiday party at Jazz Central continues to be a great after work mixer (and not just to get a taste of Judy Murphy’s meatballs).
The intimate theater provides a great opportunity to catch up with all those folks you’ve seen through the year at jazz shows sponsored by the CNYJAF (from Sitrus, Jazz in the City and the Cabaret series as well as the Northeast Jazz & Wine Festival).
A few years ago, despite a snow storm, we caught an impromptu piano performance by Cookie Coogan, Chris Jones and Jeff Stockham. Last night the mood was just as festive with Dave Solazzo providing the musical ambiance.
Jazz Patrons: Assemblyman Sam Roberts, Lanessa Owens and Mike Atkins attended the party.
Throwback Thursday
Thursday, December 12th, 2013
The R&B band Troop performed at the 2005 Syracuse Juneteenth Celebration. The band is pictured here with DJ Chaz, who passed away earlier this year.
Then & Now (Midtown)
Wednesday, December 11th, 2013
The nearly century-old sycamore tree stands guard near southern entrance to the Syracuse Center of Excellence (CoE) property.
Construction continues on Washington Street near the CoE building (interrupting our normal Connective Corridor route). We took a recent tour of the facilities and were briefed on the numerous green projects and advanced energy systems. We also found out that Syracuse is taking sustainability + conservation to new heights, because although new foliage was added on Washington Street, they didn’t displace this mature sycamore (located near what will become the CoE parking lot).
Impact
Tuesday, December 10th, 2013
East Genesee Street
Year in Review (Music)
Tuesday, December 10th, 2013
Our Reality, the Lyrical Phenom
You can have Justin Bieber; you can have Katy Perry, you can have Miley Cyrus; and you can even have Daft Punk. What excited us most this year in music was the return of our friend, Michael “Our Reality” Childs to the stage. We got to preview the Our Reality album at the beginning of 2013. He spent most of the summer touring. It has been 20 years since we’ve seen him perform, and we finally caught him ripping up the stage and kicking knowledge to a younger generation at the Westcott Theater last night. Ironically, Childs was on the bill with fellow West Coast Hip Hop heads Blackalicious.