Jan 30 & 31, Feb 6 & 7: My Name Is Rachel Corrie

Jan 30 & 31, Feb 6 & 7:  The New Olde Bank Theatre announces an encore production of the off-Broadway play My Name Is Rachel Corrie.

Here is a play where the real dialogue begins when the curtain comes down. 

MY NAME IS RACHEL CORRIE is theater that not only stirs our hearts but sticks in our heads.

—    Newsweek

On Friday, January 30^th at 8 pm The New Olde Bank Theatre in Verona will once again raise the curtain on the controversial off-Broadway play, MY NAME IS RACHEL CORRIE.  The NOBT first presented RACHEL CORRIE in November 2008; the sold-out run also marked the Pittsburgh premiere of the play.  Due to popular demand, the production is receiving a limited four-night encore production.

On March 16, 2003, twenty-three-year-old American Rachel Corrie was crushed to death by an Israeli Army bulldozer in Gaza as she was trying to prevent the demolition of a Palestinian home.   Composed from Rachel's own journals, letters and emails — My Name Is Rachel Corrie paints a portrait of a passionate young woman, who left the safety of her home in Washington State to work as an activist in the heart of Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Edited by Alan Rickman and Katharine Viner, My Name Is Rachel Corrie has been surrounded by controversy.  It was originally slated to premiere stateside at The New York Theatre Workshop, but was cancelled due to its political content.  Later productions in Toronto, Oregon and Florida were also cancelled when the show was deemed too controversial.  Nevertheless Rachel Corrie has impassioned proponents, and has raised an unprecedented call to support political work and the difficult discourse it creates.

Courtney Day Nassar of Pittsburgh stars as Rachel Corrie.  Sean Michael O'Donnell of Pittsburgh is directing.

The limited engagement will play January 30^th & 31^st and February 6^th & 7^th at 8 p.m. at The New Olde Bank Theatre, 722 Allegheny River Boulevard in Verona.  Tickets are $12.  Seating is limited and reservations are required.  For more information or to reserve tickets, call 412.251.7904.  To purchase tickets online, visit www.newobt.com.  To speak with the artistic staff or cast, please contact Sean O’Donnell, Artistic Director of the NOBT, at 412.251.7904 or via email at info@newobt.com.

Jan 25: Rustbelt Radio Q&A

Rustbelt Radio is a weekly radio news hour about social justice issues, produced by community volunteers.  It is a project of the Pittsburgh Independent Media Center, a voluntary collective dedicated to serving the local community with a system for disseminating print and online news.  Coverage will be the issues and events ignored by mainstream media, and also those issues that mainstream media covers with the inherent bias of a news organization run as a business.

In order to keep Rustbelt Radio on the air, they are looking to train new community members.  They hold periodic training sessions at the WRCT Studios on the CMU campus (in the basement of the University Center).  

To learn more, visit their website  Rustbelt Radio : Pittsburgh Indymedia or email radio@indypgh.org .

Jan 25: Talk on Arthur Szyk at CMU

January 25:  Justice Illuminated:  The Art of Arthur Szyk (lecture and reception).   

Exhibit curator Irvin Ungar will give a presentation on the art and messages of the Polish-Jewish artist Arthur Szyk (pronounced "Shik"). Szyk was the leading political artist in America during WWII, fighting the Nazis through his art. His illuminated Haggadah has been called one of the greatest illustrated books of all time. Rabbi Ungar has curated museum exhibitions of Szyk's art for the Library of Congress, and served as consultant for a Szyk exhibit at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. He is the Curator of The Arthur Szyk Society. 

2 p.m. at the Posner Center.  Live webcast will be available at search.library.cmu.edu .

Beginning Jan 23: Art of Social Movements at CMU

January 23 -- Signs of Change:  Visualizing Social Movement Cultures.  A multimedia presentation by curators Dara Greenwald and Josh MacPhee, followed by an opening reception for the Miller Gallery exhibition, which will run through March 8.  

Talk at 4:30 in McConomy Auditorium in the University Center;  reception 6-8 p.m. in the Miller Gallery.

Jan 20: Mountaintop removal film/talk at Duquesne

January 20:  Mountain Top Removal:  film on the devastating effects of large-scale coal mining on West Virginia families and communities.  Throughout southern Appalachia, coal mining through mountaintop removal is on the rise, blasting and leveling highland forests and destroying streams.  The process literally changes the geology of the region.  Citizens suffering from the resulting flooding, pollution, and destruction of their homes are fighting back to oppose big coal's impact on their lives.  Bo Webb, an activist with Coal River Mountain Watch, will introduce the film.

 This is the first event in a series on human rights, Abundance & Abuse.  Other films include Fast Food Nation (Jan 26), A Killer Bargain (Feb 3), Darwin's Nightmare (Feb 11), Frozen Angels (Feb 17), and Persepolis (Feb 25).  http://www.duq.edu/humanrights

7 p.m. in 105 College Hall at Duquesne University.

Jan 19: MLK Day Celebration at CMU

January 19:  Martin Luther King Day Celebration at CMU.  Keynote address by Michael Eric Dyson, "King, Obama, and the American Dream," as well as student speakers Carlton Reeves and Terryn Hall.

Rangos Ballroom, University Center. 

Jan 14: Terra Madre with Sierra Club, Slow Food, and Grow PIttsburgh

January 14:  Terra Madre -- Earth Mother, in Italy, Pittsburgh, and the World Around;  a joint meeting of the Allegheny Group of the Sierra Club, Slow Food Pittsburgh, and Grow Pittsburgh

Food itself is becoming a more obviously central issue, the world around. We are firmly committed as a Club to the ideas behind Buy Fresh, Buy Local. Slow Food and Grow Pittsburgh share this commitment with us.  It’s all about true “homeland security,”  with minimum transportation between farmer and consumer, and better quality, with food picked fresh near by. It’s about a good living for our farmers.

Join us for a special report from Greg Boulos and Jen Montgomery, owners of Blackberry Meadows Farm and delegates to the Terra Madre conference in Turino, Italy, in October, 2008, less than three months ago. They were sent there to soak up all that was taking place while 5000 other farmers and chefs shared their livelihoods and home places. It’s one of the great gatherings of the world food and agriculture community – totally focused on maintaining quality of farming and farm produce in every place food can be grown. It will be an exciting report for all of us.

Then we will come back to Pittsburgh’s urban reality, where Grow Pittsburgh is making a tremendous contribution to the raising of food within the city limits. They’re involved in all sorts of projects, from Garden Dreams of Mindy Schwartz in Wilkinsburg to the  Mildreds Daughters Farm of Barb Klein and Randa Shannon and many other imposing efforts. Miriam Manion is the Executive Director and she will share with us the organization’s dreams and need for help in achieving those dreams.  This is unbelievably exciting and worthwhile work.  http://www.growpittsburgh.org/growpittsburgh

We’ll end, as usual in meetings with Slow Food, with some excellent refreshments and conversation.

(7:30-9 p.m. at the Phipps Garden Center at Fifth & Shady Avenues;  free & open to the public)

Current Action Items

Current Action Items:  Here are a few quick ways you can let your voice be heard:

Stop Bush's last-minute attacks on the environment (via the League of Conservation Voters)

Convince the EPA to do its job on carbon regulations (via RePower America -- deadline is Nov 28)

CMU University Lecture Series

Carnegie Mellon's University Lecture Series.  During the academic year, a diverse series of amazing talks are held at Carnegie Mellon University;  many are related to environmental and social justice issues.    The talks are listed at 
    http://www.studentaffairs.cmu.edu/student-development/uls/
and more detail on each event can be found in calendar entries at 
    http://tinyurl.com/5rmra6

Local Food Guide

Every day:  Eating local helps sustain local farms, protect agricultural land from suburban sprawl, connects us to the land around us, and gets you fresher food.  Urban Foodworks has created a great guide to where you can find local food at stores, restaurants, markets,

    http://www.urbanfoodworks.org/

The Allegheny Front

Every week:  The Allegheny Front, Pittsburgh's own environmental radio show, explores myriad topics relevant to the lives of people in our region.  Locally, listen Wednesdays at 7 p.m. on WYEP 91.3FM, or listen online any time.  The program has spread across the region, now playing on other stations including WIUP, WPSU, and WRFA.

    http://www.alleghenyfront.org

The White House Organic Farm

There's a move afoot to get an organic farm going at the White House.  It's been done before, notably by Eleanor Roosevelt with WWII Victory Gardens -- it should definitely be done again, and permanently!  Perhaps we have a chance with the Obama administration.  Check out the video and petition at 

http://www.thewhofarm.org/

This is the green-roof, live-in bus in which the organizers are traveling across the country gathering support:

The Shift -- film about global activism

The Shift -- a movie being made by a movement Think globally, act locally... this list is all about acting locally.  A film now in production helps fill in the global side, and may be able to help propel the world onto a better path.  It's all about global activism, and all the local movements that make it up. It's due out in 2009, but there's an inspiring six-minute trailer at 

 http://theshiftmovie.com/

Left Out is back on the air

September 17:   Left Out, a public affairs radio show by CMU professors Danny Sleator and Bob Harper, returns to the air with a program featuring Thomas Frank, author of What's the Matter with Kansas? How Conservatives Won the Heart of America speaking about his latest book, The Wrecking Crew: How Conservatives Rule.
(Alternate Wednesdays at 5 p.m. on WRCT 88.3)
    http://leftout.info/

Harvest Festivals

Harvest Festivals From PASA:  With Pennsylvania weighing in as the #3 PUMPKIN growing state in the nation, you'll have no trouble finding one to adorn your stoop! Take time to reflect on October's glorious bounty, tap into your inner-ghoul and visit a local farm to take delight in apples, pumpkins, seasonal squashes and gourds of all kinds! Be sure not to miss these opportunities to join in the festivities: Fall Pumpkin Festival at Triple B Farms Fall Festival and Craft Show at the Apple Castle Pumpkin Patch at Soergel Orchards Harvest Valley Farms Fall Festival Janoski Farms Pumpkinland Pumpkins abound at Finnel Farms Harvest Festival at Port Farm Pumpkin Festival at Cheeseman Farms Pumpkins are ready to go at Meadowrock Gardens Fall Family Fun at Lone Maple Farms Pumpkins and fall decorations await you at Smithmyer Farm Don't miss the best of the fall harvest at Beccari's Farm Market Visit the BFBL website to find more pumpkins in your area.

The Bird Blog

The Bird Blog -- Avid birder (and fellow GASP board member) Kate St. John has created "Outside My Window," a lovely weblog of her observations and musings on wildlife in our region.   Check it out!

http://www/wqed.org/birdblog

Fall Tree Plantings

Fall tree planting dates have been announced;  come volunteer in your neighborhood or elsewhere around town.

Plantings are made possible through TreeVitalize Pittsburgh, a joint project of the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Allegheny County, the City of Pittsburgh, and the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy.  Friends of the Pittsburgh Urban Forest provides Tree Tender training and technical support.  (Various locations, Saturdays during October and November)

Dates and other info at

   http://www.pittsburghforest.org/treeplanting

Dec 8: Self-Help/ World-Help Program

December 8:  Self-Help/ World-Help Program.  All Around is a new multi-purpose program blending self-improvement and improving the world.  Its goals are to help people build up their time, money, health and skills so they can do more for themselves and the world, support people's goal-attainment and efforts toward personal fulfillment, and support people's efforts to create a better community and world.  It's an integrated program for adults and mature teens.

They’re seeking a diversity of people so that everyone can both “reach a hand up for help, and reach a hand down to help others.”  At a time when people are economically stressed, All Around’s networking, support and skill-building can help build personal power.

The 1½ hour format allows 30 minutes for goal attainment support; 30 minutes for the Action Time (learning skills through Skill Exchange, getting feedback through Sounding Board, or doing advocacy); 15 minutes for Networking and celebrating accomplishments; and 15 minutes for the After Café social time.

The program begins Monday Dec. 8^th, 7:00-8:30 pm , at the Garfield Community Center , 113 N. Pacific Ave.  To learn more, visit www.meetup.com/all-around or call 412-363-9792.

Dec 7: Vision & Learning Workshop

December 7:  The Vision and Learning Link:  Students spend more than 75% of school time doing intense visual work less than a foot from their eyes. Vision is an often overlooked component of learning and reading problems. Here is a fun workshop that will give you practical tools to help children who are having trouble with learning. 

You are invited to attend this special workshop for parents, educators and professionals. You will learn how to identify children whose vision restricts learning, how the way children see the world affects their behavior, how to build school performance by enhancing vision, how to perform assessments and tests of vision skills and how and why vision development therapy works.

Dr. Elisa Beck is a developmental optometrist and specializes in working with children and adults with learning related visual issues, natural vision improvement and optometric vision training. She will present this free workshop on Sunday, December 7, 2008, from 1:00-2:30 PM at 4203 Murray Avenue in Pittsburgh, PA. Please RSVP to 412-491-0303.

Dec 6: Jonkanoo (Junk-A-New) in East Liberty

December 6:  The Legacy Arts Project presents JONKANOO (Junk-A-New), the Art of Red, Black, and Greening...  using the arts as a vehicle to raise consciousness and encourage participation of inner-city residents in the Greening of America. 

Jonkanoo is a world-renowned festival that originated in the Caribbean Islands.  It is a celebration of life that sprang from a people enslaved in body but not in mind or spirit.  We are building on the African American tradition of re-gifting out of necessity and practicality, and the longstanding African traditions of producing handcrafted goods, materials, and art forms.  

 The Legacy Arts Project is taking a slightly different spin on the traditional Jonkanoo festival by calling it Junk-A-New -- along with the celbration of the arts and heritage of Jonkanoo, we intend to educate the public on the many ways to recycle trash and junk -- creating art, alternative energy sources, donations, and other creative reuse.  We want to teach the community about African/Caribbean culture, but also engage people in preserving both the planetary environment and the local environment.

The program will include a keynote speaker on global warming and other environmental issues facing the inner city, information booths, art & music, and workshops.

(10 a.m. - 7 p.m. on Saturday, December 6, at the Kingsley Association, 6535 Frankstown Ave., East Liberty, 15206.)