Pop Floss

If you were jazzed about Tom Petty's performance during the Super Bowl half-time show last night, you'll pleased to know that tickets for his July 8 show at Riverbend went on sale this morning.

After five years in business, alternative art gallery Publico is permanent closing its doors later this month. Check out our December 2004 story on the quirky apartment-cum-art space here.

Earlier today, Supertalk 96.5 (WFTK), changed formats. No more talk. Just rawk. With so many middle-of-the-road rock stations in the area, will the new new format survive? (Oh, and a change in format means that all of the old shows are out, right? No new lineup out yet, but while you wait, read our feature on the station's best-known loudmouth Andy Furman).

 Dr. Lonnie Thompson isn’t your average scientist. He’s braved mountain peaks from the Andes of South America to the snowcaps of Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, not as an adventure, but as part of his research on the impact of global warming on glaciers. On Nov 28, the Ohio State University professor visits the Cincinnati Art Museum to discuss the disappearing ice caps and the effects of global warming on the Inuit people. • GEOFFREY DOBBINS

Whenever the weather gets cold or there’s a big snowstorm I hear people make fun of the idea of global warming.  How would you respond to that? Well first of all there’s a lot of variability in the climate system. There always has been.  Climate is the 30-year average of that variability.  We are not so concerned about what the temperature is this winter or next winter but how that mean is changing through time.

What has your study of glaciers in Alaska told you about climates in general? I’ve been able to return to glaciers I’ve seen 30 years ago.  Up in Alaska what you see is that we’re losing ice on the planet. It’s readily apparent to anyone that opens his or her eyes.  Glaciers don’t have a political agenda. No one can say that they are biasing their data. 

Some people think the effects of global warming won’t be felt until the distant future.  How do you feel about that perception? That perception is wrong.  In many parts of the world they are already seeing these changes.  If you talk to anyone in southeastern Alaska, global warming is happening right now.  They see it out their back window.  This is not some future issue with our children.  Many of us will see at least the first stages of these changes.

 How has global warming changed the lives of the Inuit people in Alaska? There’s been an increase in the number of people that drown because hunters and snowmobiles fall through the ice. There are also towns that have had to be moved because so much land has been lost. In their language there are no words for things like lightning or thunder and now they are observing this phenomenon for the first time. 

Setting aside the obvious moral reasons, why should people in Ohio be concerned with what’s going on with the Inuit? Whether you’re talking about what’s happening to the glaciers or your talking about human beings who currently live in extreme environments, they’re just the early warning system. We should take head to their plight because it may soon become our plight.

FYI  $5–$20. Cincinnati Art Museum, 953 Eden Park Dr., Eden Park, (513) 721-2787,
www.cincinnatiartmuseum.org

The Cincinnati World Cinema continues to fill a niche market for filmgoers who aren’t attracted to the big blockbusters that most movie houses offer up these days. Last month, CWC showed Midnight Ramblers, a documentary about the birth of modern African-American cinema. This month, at the behest of the organization, Anderson High graduate Linda Hattendorf returns to Cincinnati to screen her latest documentary, The Cats of Mirikitani. Cats is the story of Jimmy Mirikitani, an elderly homeless artist whom Hattendorf welcomed into her New York apartment shortly after 9/11. The film won the Audience Award at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival. "I learned so much from Jimmy, not just about the long-lasting trauma of war and discrimination, but also about the healing power of art," says Hattendorf, who will participate in post-screening discussions about her documentary this week. "No matter what the weather was like, no matter what time it was, Jimmy was always making art. He was a real inspiration to me after 9/11 when our world here in lower Manhattan was suddenly thrown into chaos. He just kept drawing, so I just kept shooting video. This documentary is the result."
Hattendorf, who took drawing lessons at the Cincinnati Art Museum as a kid, says the chance to screen her film in the Queen City is a fitting end to a long journey. "I've lived in New York for 20 years, and been all around the world with this movie, but Cincinnati still feels like 'home,'" she adds.

FYI Tickets: $7–$9. Tues–Thurs 7 pm. Cincinnati Art Museum, 953 Eden Park, Eden Park,
www.cincyworldcinema.org

Author and Esquire editor-at-large A.J. JACOBS comes to town tonight to sign his new book, The Year of Living Biblically. Get inside his head with The Same 10 Questions.

Who’s your hero? If I end up some mixture of my dad and my grandfather, I'll be a happy man.

What's the best meal you’ve eaten? There’s a restaurant outside of New York called Stone Barns. It’s awesome. The tomatoes alone are worth the trip. They grow them on the premises with an absurd amount of TLC.

What was the last play you saw? I saw the movie version of the play Proof. Does that count?

Do you believe in the kindness of strangers? Why or why not? Yes. I tried to do it a little in my year of living biblically. I paid for a guy’s coffee at Starbucks. He thought I was making a pass at him.

What’s your favorite drink? I’m afraid I’m addicted to coffee. And to Starbucks to boot. Forgive me local coffee shops!

How often do you have breakfast? I’d have to say once a day. Usually some sort of Cheerios.

What’s in your Netflix queue? Idiocracy with Luke Wilson. It made about $2 in the theaters, but a lot of my friends tell me it’s great.

What's your favorite piece of artwork? I love Robert Rauschenberg. I appreciate that he often gives you reading material in the artwork itself, and for a text person like me, that’s nice.

What time do you usually go to bed? I work a lot from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. (after my kids’ bedtimes and bath times, etc.), so usually around 2:30. Then, like my kids, I need a nap in the middle of the day.

Baseball, football, or basketball? Baseball. I like that it’s so slow. I can read a magazine without missing anything.

This email was in my inbox when I got to work this morning. It's from Phil DeGreg, who books for the Blue Wisp. Actually, I should say "who used to book for the Blue Wisp"....he's been let go. Hmmm, it's a curious first move for the new owners. All we can do is hope that they have a good replacement for DeGreg, someone who'll continue to bring quality jazz acts to the area.

adl

Greetings Jazz Fans:

As many of you have probably heard, the Blue Wisp is now under new management. Over the past 13 years, I have had the privilege of being hired to lead the house trio at the club, but have voluntarily performed many other functions, including booking and accommodating weekend musicians, creating press releases, creating the monthly calendar, sending monthly newsletters, organizing special events, and maintaining the email list, by which this message reaches you. My principal concern has always been to keep the level of the music as high as possible within the working parameters of a very limited budget.

I regret to say that my role at the Blue Wisp is now terminated, although I do hope to have the opportunity to work there from time to time. This will be my final announcement concerning the Blue Wisp, for reasons I will explain below. But let me first express my thanks for the many words of encouragement I have received over the years from so many of you, both personally and by email. For me, my tenure at the Blue Wisp has been a gratifying experience.

You might know that I am on the faculty of the College-Conservatory of Music, and because of my (and our students’) connection with the Blue Wisp, I was legitimately able to compile and maintain this email list over the years on the listserv of the University of Cincinnati. The mailing list is therefore legally the property of UC. As my relationship with the Blue Wisp is now terminated, this email list can no longer legally be used to promote a for-profit business such as the Blue Wisp. I intend to continue to use it to occasionally to promote both CCM-Jazz related events and jazz events involving CCM students and faculty (myself included.) I promise that I will use the list sparingly, as I am as sensitive to spam as all of you. But if you want to unsubscribe from the list, please write me at my email address, philip.degreg@uc.edu and write “unsubscribe” in the header, and I will gladly remove you.

It is possible that the new owners will want to establish a mailing list of their own. If you would like to be added to their mailing list please reach them through the new club website, www.thebluewispjazzclub.com and advise them that you would like to be added to their list if and when it is established.

Finally, I’d like you all to know that the great trombonist John Fedchock will be featured with my trio at the Blue Wisp this weekend. John was music director for Woody Herman’s Orchestra for many years, and has recorded four CDs with his New York Big Band. He is truly a virtuoso player. Check his web site: www.johnfedchock.com

My best wishes to all, and I hope to see you around.

Phil DeGreg