Let’s get one thing straight: burlesque is all about sex. It’s the thing that distinguishes it from other performing arts. While other artistic media may communicate using sexiness as an accent, with burlesque, sex is the language itself. Even if that sexuality is being expressed ever so subtly, burlesque is all about the adult version…
I’ve never been a fan of Valentine’s Day. Even when I have a boyfriend I totally adore—and I actually do—I’ve never been able to thaw my January-frozen heart enough to warm up to a holiday known for its overpriced roses and empty-headed sentiment. Now perhaps, you say, Carolyn is simply bitter that little slips of…
Once tax policy is set on things like deductions, subsidies, loopholes and credits, and taxes are actually collected, the money is always redistributed. All taxes. It does not make any difference what kind of taxes: income taxes, payroll taxes, sales taxes, property taxes, real estate taxes, value added taxes, you name it. It makes no…
Today, there’s a parking lot. And a church, a former bus station, an empty grass square… There’s nothing remarkable about the corner of Third and Mulberry. You’ve driven through this intersection and barely registered the space. Which is okay. Attention is precious and you’ve got other things to think about. Maybe you were consciously ignoring…
The definition of “energy independence” is evolving. Until recently, it meant the United States producing enough oil domestically to no longer be dependent on other nations for any of our energy needs. But now we’re in a world of interdependence, especially for oil. Oil markets know no national allegiance. Globalization and profit motive are altering…
What follows is a letter that I wrote to my brother Chico during the summer of 1987. At the time he was a man in his mid-thirties, but he looked like a man in his sixties. For a while, I had lost track of him. His Philadelphia row home had become an abandoned shell. The…
If you are tired of dinner and a movie after your first or twentieth date, consider a hike to beautiful Jacoby Falls. The falls are located in the Loyalsock State Forest, and the parking area is off Wallis Run Road, north of Montoursville. This is a 1.6-mile linear trail, so you will have to return…
Directed by David O. Russell With Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro Silver Linings Playbook is a feel-good movie that goes beyond the usual film of that sort; it offers a view of Philadelphia generally seen only by the City of Brotherly Love’s residents themselves. Robert De Niro has more of a New…
I support the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Always have. Always will. Our Constitution is a marvelous document; it provides for a government of, by, and for the people. It was written during when the majority of the world lived in countries ruled by potentates and despots. Whole populations were subject…
The desire to look fabulous vs. the need to save money is a battle that many have waged with their bank accounts for as long as department stores like Neiman Marcus have existed. Everyone wants to look great but not everyone has the means to shop at expensive department stores or buy…
What I love about small-town life in Williamsport necessarily involves what I do not like. Every coin has two sides. Every glass at some time is half empty and half full. There is no pleasure without pain, and no rollercoaster without ups and downs. Life is a continuum and, like a…
We, at WXPI, are excited and proud to begin line of programming, beginning April 1 (no fooling!), designed to entertain and inform our listeners. Learn about local issues. Hear about upcoming events. Get to know some of the most interesting, vibrant members of our community. Let your voice be heard. The Pulse of the ‘Port…
The U.S. has the world’s most expensive health care system, yet the World Health Organization ranks us 37th among nations in overall health statistics. Federal health reform will not change the fundamentals of our system and will actually increase cost. Health insurance will continue to be ridiculously expensive and for many people will provide poor…
Kierah, age 9—The Academia I would like to tell you about who we are and where we go to school each day. We go to The Academia, which is in Newberry. We’re at school all day long. My brothers and I get there at 8:00 in the morning and our mom picks us up at…
That, at least, is what Richard Hanauer thinks. And, who is Richard Hanauer? Well, he happens to be a Seattle-based billionaire venture capitalist and entrepreneur. Recently, he made his case in no uncertain terms at TED (Technology, Education, Development), a nonprofit organization devoted to “ideas worth spreading.” Evidently not this one, though. You see, TED…
Promised LandDirected by Gus Van SantWith Matt Damon, Frances McDormand, John Krasinski I was seething with frustration as I watched the second scene of Promised Land. Already the film was revealing Hollywood’s inaccurate understanding of central Pennsylvania, I thought. In the film, which is based on a story by Dave Eggers, Matt Damon plays a…
My friend, Anna, died suddenly Wednesday morning [May 9th] in Virginia. She went there for peace and good company. I knew her for a bit more than a year. When we met, it was in a cafe in summer. She wore a long, bright blue dress, and her hair in twin plaits. She struck me…
I’m not sure what to write about, to be honest. I want my topic to be something special and fantastic, a brilliant, witty piece of social commentary on a hot issue, in honor of our late editor, the gregarious and sublimely generous Anna Alford. But when it comes to social commentary, I’ve got nothing. It’s…
April 17, 2012 was a beautiful day in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, weather-wise. Light blue skies. Temperature hovering in the low 70s. Air fresh as a baby’s breath. All in all, a lovely day to be out and about. But, yeah, it was Tax Day—the deadline for submitting your federal, state, and municipal…
“We’re on a mission from God” – “Joliet” Jake Blues The 1980 film The Blues Brothers featured John Belushi and Dan Akroyd as an unlikely pair of missionaries who, upon seeing a vision, decide to get a band together to raise money for an orphanage. Karl Fisher and Spencer Sweeting were once in a band…
David Kagan Speech Anti-Fracking Rally Corning, April 27, 2012 Hello to all of you environmentally aware and environmentally caring people and to any media folks who are here. My name is Dave Kagan, and I’ve come to tell you what life is like now, where I live along Pine Creek in northcentral Pennsylvania, a state…
Corporations ARE NOT People, by Jeffrey D. Clements (San Francisco: Bennett-Kohler, 2011) Those who are concerned with the anti-democratic implications of the Citizens United decision of the Supreme Court will find in this book a useful and passionate guide to the issues and a road map for getting us out of our present state of…
I am a self-professed movie geek. I pretty much love everything that pertains to movies: I love sitting in a dark room, alone or surrounded by a crowd of strangers, becoming totally enveloped by captivating storytelling. To me, seeing a well-made film is on a par with reading a fantastic, engrossing novel. I think I…
Sometimes we don’t really give great consideration to the major issues of our time until they touch us or someone close to us in a profound way. That’s the case for me concerning our system of higher education. For me and my Honor Student child, the realization of the cost of college has proved to…
In many respects, the United States is in decline, and I believe there are two principal reasons. One is that we no longer provide the essentials for millions of our children, the other that we humans have for five centuries laid siege to the planet we live on. Regarding American children, almost a fourth of…
I wrote an essay for the April issue of the Williamsport Guardian headlined, “One Woman Looks Back at the ‘Good Old Days’ in Williamsport.” The article was prompted by the celebration of the 50th reunion of my class from Williamsport High School. I reminisced about how things might have seemed rosier than they were, how…
Right now, health care is not a legal right for everyone in our country. You can receive health care only if you or someone else pays for it. Currently, from a legal standpoint, health care is a privilege. You can enjoy the privilege of having good health care if you have the money to buy…
With a list of beers and malt liquors as long as your arm, a speedy hot breakfast, lunch, or dinner, and a few taxidermied game to keep you company while you dine, The Crippled Bear Inn is an experience. Taxidermy is typically not to my taste (though I highly recommend the independent film Taxidermia, not…
U.S. poverty must goa conscientious overthrow.Resolution now the calla living wage for one and all. Our long-time shafted people roarWe Just Won’t Take It Anymore!The working poor, the down and out a risen people packing clout. The fairness movement leads the wayPeople power here to stay.The middle-class profoundly scoreinequity shall rule no more. Righting long…
The Billtown Blues Festival has been an institution in the Williamsport area for the past twenty-three years. Held at the Lycoming County Fairgrounds in Hughesville since 1994, the festival has continued to grow while maintaining its small-town appeal. The festival will be held on Sunday, June 10. Gates will open at 11 am, with the…
Explanation of Watson Township Supervisor David Kagan’s Resignation by David Kagan This letter is to explain to my Watson Township constituents (especially the 30+ who went to the polls last November to vote me in as a write-in candidate) and the general public why I have decided to resign as a Watson Township Supervisor.…
WXPI has added new shows to its weekly line-up, in our ongoing efforts to live up to our slogan of “Independent Radio for Open Minds.” News and Talk New shows covering regional and state issues: Bloomsburg professor Walter Brasch on current affairs (Mon, Wed, 7 a.m.) The Law Show w/ Cliff Rieders; interviews on legal…
When it comes to gas development in PA, Act 13 is now the very complicated law of the land. In their assessments of this new legislation, Mr. Rosenfeld and Mr. Henderson represent opposite ends of the spectrum. Personally, on rural land use issues, I tend toward the opinions so beautifully rendered by David Kagan in…
Nobody likes taxes, but everybody has to pay them. Over the past 30 years or so, people have demanded that government get by on less and less, so much so that one politician recently said that he wanted government to be so small that he could drown it in a bathtub. Well, Mr. Politician, sir,…
No program has done more to lift older Americans out of poverty than Social Security. So when politicians and pundits spread lies about this vitally important benefit, keep in mind what’s driving them: 1) Ideology — they don’t believe that government should provide retirement benefits for the elderly or support for people with a disability,…
I was fortunate to have the time to catch up with seminal New York contemporary artist and musician Paul Kostabi as he was en route to Williamsport for the opening of “From Paul Kostabi, With Love” show at the Grey Art Gallery downtown. Over the past four decades Kostabi has forged a distinctive path in…
The 3rd Annual Billtown Film Festival will be held at the Community Arts Center in downtown Williamsport on April 19, 20 and 21. But this year, BFF3 will be different. The theme for this year is Art, Women and the Environment. The festival will be focusing on Williamsport’s burgeoning art scene, the contributions of women…
Today, as I was walking across the Rite Aid parking lot on the Golden Strip, I saw something peculiar. Peculiar to me, at least. I saw three boxy red cars in a row. Two SUV’s an an old Geo Prism. Now, let me explain: red cars are everywhere. There’s nothing remarkable about them and there’s…
