Dryden Is Home

Listen Live: WVBR.com: Fresh Roots Radio

Tonight Arjan and I were invited to a party to celebrate a new bathroom. We stayed home. The party is about 30 minutes away in nice weather. This afternoon, around 1pm, the snow started to fall in Ithaca, Dryden, and Freeville. My normal 10 minute drive from my office (where I was working for about 4 hours today, in Ithaca) to the house (in Dryden) took about 25 minutes. I figured it would be safer for both Arjan and me to stay in this evening.

We spent a couple hours watching episodes of Season 4 of the West Wing. Now we are kicking back and winding down from a busy day and tv time. Arjan is working on a cross word puzzle from the Ithaca Journal and I'm working on one from the NY Times (I'm also blogging, of course).

We are also both listening to Fresh Roots Radio on WVBR (online at wvbr.com). Our friend David Gould (DJ Solid Gould) hosts a reggae show every Saturday night from 10pm to midnight.

Tune in every Saturday:

http://www.myspace.com/freshrootsradio

or here:

http://wvbr.com/listen

"Support the good music around here!" -DJ Solid Gould

Massage Day

I'm a little behind in work now. I had to reschedule a meeting I had set for tomorrow morning because I wanted to make sure I caught up with work for the week. Its only about an hour or two of work - but enough to set me back a bit.

One small reason was that today I received a great massage. Way back in November at the Ithaca Hours annual meeting (speaking of Ithaca Hours) I won a door prize - a one hour massage from Ithaca Hours participating massage therapist Cindy Getchonis (Ithaca Hours directory listing:

http://www.ithacahours.org/directory.php#717). I finally got around to scheduling the massage after Christmas and today was the day.

Although I am married to a massage  therapist - a great massage therapist at that - I probably only get 2 to 3 hour long on the massage table, in a quiet setting, with soothing music, essential oils, and aromatherapeudic candles massages each year. After today, I think this should be a monthly (or quarterly) event. Everything seemed lighter and brighter and better after my massage and I was ready to get back to work.

I most often have the same couple things worked on when I get a massage. I'm a website developer so I spend about 6 to 10 hours in front of the computer each day. I'm right handed - so the mouse is most often in my right hand. After years of massage hear and there I know right where the connections are that need support.

1. The eyes - they are constantly moving left and right and up and down. The muscles that control the eyes go through or around the skull (anyone know?) and can be relaxed and massaged from the back and side of the head. Ahhhh

2. The mouse hand, arm, and shoulder. If you wiggle your index finger and thumb, you may find sensation all the way up the arm, past the shoulder, to the shoulder blade. Overuse can cause soreness and stiffness all the way from your back to your finger tips.

3. The middle and lower back - lumbar area. When I'm at my computer for 6-10 hours, I have varying degrees of correct posture and I end up putting lots of stress on my back. 

There's a whole study and science called ergonomics - to help to fit the worker. I believe most computer scientists should have an annual ergonomic review of their work environments and probably a health checkup to see how much long term damage is being done - just by slouching.

So, in the end, I felt great. I had a productive day, and tomorrow I get back to it. Next week I'll schedule a massage for February.

Today's Meeting: IthacaHours.org

This morning I met with Steve Burke, president of Ithaca Hours, Inc. and owner of Small World Music. We've been discussing ways to help improve the local currency's website (http://www.ithacahours.org/). In the summer of 2005 I worked with Ithaca Hours to re-develop their site with a dynamic database that allowed for easy administration of the members of the currency.

We also used the redesign as an opportunity to add in a way for members to apply and pay online and to allow for announcements are fresh content on the site. Since the site launch on September 28th, 2005 the site has had 49,500 visitors (as of this evening). That is about 50 visitors a day - one every 30 mintues. Visitors spend on average 1 minute and 18 seconds on the site and visit 1.3 pages. This is over 3 years of data.

In the 2008 calendar year the site average about 1100 visitors a month from January to August. In September the number jumped to 1,411; October 1,984; November 1,924; December 2,577. Today we had 97 visitors - twice the average since the site went live in 2005.

So what does that mean? Are the changes in the national, regional, and local economy giving people second thoughts about currency, credit, and local trade and barter systems? Steve mentioned that before we met (at 10am) he had two different radio interview already. Ithaca Hours has been in Newsweek and Time magazine recently. I believe local currency will grow as a way to keep local dollars local.

In the short term, the website will start to allow for a few ads to help support the site and to help run the system. The ads will also give participating businesses a chance to be in front of some 50 visitors a day. For information on advertising, or joining Ithaca Hours, contact Ithaca Hours here: http://www.ithacahours.org/contact.php  

IthacaFest - Sunday

Kevin Kinsella, Alissa Sciscioli, and Food, Clothing, Shelter
Originally uploaded by dmakar

On Sunday afternoon Arjan and I returned to Stewart Park for art, music, food, and a good mix of IthacaCulture.

Photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dmakar/sets/72157605768432534/

IthacaFest - Saturday

Emerson B*
Originally uploaded by dmakar

Saturday I headed to IthacaFest activities around 5pm after what I thought was the end of the day's rain. As I passed into the Ithaca city limits more light rain started. I found a place to park on Tioga Street and walked around the commons briefly. I hopped the 13 bus from Seneca Street to Stewart Park.

I made my way across the wet park for the second time in two days and found a small, dedicated crowd in front of the Grove Stage to see Emerson B*.

A little later I bumped into Steve B. from Ithaca-Blog (and Ithaca Hours Inc.) and we watched and listened to most of the Evil City String Band show (featuring Steve's brother).

Around 9pm we headed to the bus stop and bused back to Ithaca Commons, where I met Arjan for the next stop on our IthacaFest trip.

Links:
http://www.myspace.com/emersonthevisionary
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dmakar/sets/72157605768114182/
http://ithaca-blog.blogspot.com/
http://www.myspace.com/evilcitystringband

The Wedding Hike

The hike ends (part 1 of 7)
Originally uploaded by dmakar

There was the wedding dance and the wedding cake and the wedding speeches and the wedding ceremony and mixed in with all of that was a wonderful three mile wedding hike.

Arjan's friend's Julia and Morgan were married at Upper Treman State Park on Sunday afternoon. Following the ceremony the guests were invited to walk down the Treman Gorge to Lower Treman State Park for the wedding reception.

The weather was perfect - blue skies and comfortable mid-70's temps. Arjan and I had a great time and made lots of mental notes for our own upcoming nuptials.

Pictures are here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dmakar/sets/72157601826734856/

Alash at ABC Cafe

Alash at ABC Cafe
Originally uploaded by dmakar.

My cell phone's tiny crappy camera works!

Last night Arjan and I had dessert (Toffee Bar for me, Chocolate Pie for her) and a drink (coffee for me, red wine for her) at the ABC Cafe. We finished up our dessert just a few minutes before Alash performed.

Alash is a throat singing band from Tuva, a republic in the southern reaches of Russian Siberia. It had been mongolian or russian or both. There's a bit of a history on Wikipedia. Throat singing is a method of singing where the singer controls the air from the lungs to the mouth and lips using the throat like an instrument - mostly sounding like a flute. At the same time the singer is singing or humming through the throat . There's a Wikipedia article on overtone singing which is the same thing.

There's a lot of magical harmony and the four performers worked well together making it sound as though there were 8 or 12 people performing.

My friend Steve from Small World Music (and Ithaca Blog) described Tuva as a place where the people are mostly cowboys. These cowboys raise and oversee horses and yaks. When they bed down at camp for the night they sing. They've done this for generations and it is a style learned from a young age. Steve mentioned a movie called "Genghis Blues" about an aging blues singer from San Francisco who stumbles onto Tuvan music and goes to Tuva to learn and sing, "The Story of a Blind Blues Musician's Journey To The Lost Land of Tuva".

I'm sure the Tuvans don't think they are lost. It was amazing to see them sing and to think that they came from so very far away and from a time that was all but forgotten. If noone would have visited Tuva their tradition would have stayed hidden forever perhaps. We are lucky here in Tompkins County to be able to have such visitors in our towns.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuva
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Throat_singing
http://www.alashensemble.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alash_Ensemble
http://ithaca-blog.blogspot.com
http://www.genghisblues.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/loxosceles/460332345/

Sunday Morning

Head in a Window
Originally uploaded by dmakar.

This morning Arjan and I decided to try the brunch at ABC Cafe on Stewart Ave in Ithaca. Arjan's friend J. and his wife D. were finishing up a cross country tour (from Santa Barbara to Portland, Maine) and were in Ithaca for the weekend. Last night I asked them all kinds of questions about their cross country travels to compare their journey to my own 2003 tour.

I parked on Lynn Street this morning where Cascadilla Gorge meets the flats part of Ithaca, met up with the Gimme enhanced Arjan and D. and J. and hiked up to Collegetown. The sun was in the air and the weather was cool near the gorge (warmer in the direct sun!).

We found some great stick and tree and vine sculptures in front of the Schwartz Center (of Cornell) when we got to Cornell. After a few pictures we hiked halfway back down the hill and had our ABC brunch.

We noticed the little tree buds breakng out and Jonathan took pictures and I took pictures of him. After we split up (I was heading to see some football games) I took pictures of the abandoned Christmas Trees all around Ithaca and Belle Sherman.

Check out the pictures here:
Cascadilla Walk
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dmakar/sets/72157594466032783/
The End of Christmas
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dmakar/sets/72157594466014101/

Polar Bears 2006

Run!
Originally uploaded by dmakar.

Today, Sunday, New Years Eve, at a little after 4pm six friends and I jumped into Cayuga Lake. We didn't even jump - we ran down until the water was at least waist deep, did a little dive under water and then ran back to the shore.

It was icey cold, though compared to other new years eves in Ithaca it was a balmy 40 degrees at dive time. We had an invigorating swim - so much that after we all promised to do it again next year - that two of us (not me) decided to get a second helping today.

Dirk and Kyle ran off - in slow motion this time for a second dip in the lake.

Photos on flickr here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dmakar/sets/72157594450774199/

AVI file on YouTube here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTcro8O8u5k

Free Local Money For You (with Dessert!)

This is from Steve's Ithaca-Blog post (http://ithaca-blog.blogspot.com/):

Ithaca Hours, the local currency system, welcomes members new and old at its annual membership meeting, at 7 pm, Tuesday 17 October, at the GIAC building, on Court and Albany Streets.

Ithaca Hours is a local currency system that issues a local money for people to spend with each other, and at participating businesses.

Currently there are about 600 members, and over $100,000 in Hours in circulation.

Hours is owned and operated by its members. Annual membership costs one Ithaca Hour, or ten dollars. Members receive an annual disbursement of two Ithaca Hours, or twenty dollars. So you make money just by joining.

If you join (or renew) at the annual membership meeting, you take advantage of a special offer that doubles your disbursement. You get 4 Ithaca Hours for signing up at the meeting. This means you make three Ithaca Hours, or thirty dollars.

The organization benefits from this by having a lot of people sign up at once, saving time and effort. It also wants people to come together and meet one another.

That's why there are also free desserts, from great local eateries.

You can find out more about the meeting, and Ithaca Hours, at Hours' website, ithacahours.org.

Stephen Burke
for Ithaca Blog

For more information about Ithaca HOURS see their website here: http://www.ithacahours.org/