Archive: Arts & Entertainment

SMART TALK

by Dr. Saber S. Poder

EVERYDAY: The other day, Dr. Weiss N. Heimer told me about an item he'd seen on a bulletin board downtown. I think he said it was in The Perfect Parfait, Underbelly's ice cream shop.

The sheet had those tear-off tabs of the phone number for a home aide service. One of the services offered was light house cleaning. Dr. Heimer said, "At first glance, I thought the offer was for lighthouse cleaning. Maybe he or she should have written it as "light housecleaning."

This matter of one word or two does matter. At the Institute for English as a First Language, we teach our patients that a black bird, such as a crow, isn't always a blackbird; you could watch some water fall, but that's not necessarily a waterfall. You can look out for texting idiot drivers, but that doesn't make you a lookout, and an everyday event is one that happens every day.

Getting this right requires only a little thought. Your reward is the respect you gain from speakers of English as a first language.

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The Kitchen Theatre Company announced last Friday that Rachel Burttram has joined the full-time staff as Director of Audience Services and Community Programs and mentor for the Next Steps Job Creation Program.  This new position is part of a pilot project receiving funding from the Ithaca Urban Renewal Agency.

In addition to assisting subscribers and ticket buyers and nightly front of house duties, Ms. Burttram will also mentor three paid trainees working 22 to 30 hours a week. This job creation project offers 18-24 year-olds entry-level positions working at the Kitchen Theatre. Their primary focus will be working as front of house staff, but they will also have opportunities to experience working in other areas of the theater.

Aurora, New York—The Wells College Arts and Lecture Series presents a concert by Symphony Syracuse at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, December 1 in Phipps Auditorium of Macmillan Hall on the Wells College campus. This special “Holiday Pops” program will bring the spirit of the season to attendees; Wells is one of nine planned stops on the symphony’s tour. The festive holiday performance is offered free of charge, and the public is cordially invited to this memorable concert.

Symphony Syracuse is bringing a sleigh full of music and holiday cheer as it presents its Holiday Pops for 2011. Seasonal classics are featured, including traditional carols, music from Tchaikovsky's well-loved holiday ballet the “Nutcracker Suite,” and other titles such as “White Christmas” and “Sleigh Ride.” With a wide selection including the customary audience sing-along to close the program, one of your special songs is sure to be on the program. Santa Claus himself is also scheduled for a visit.

The Kitchen Theatre Company's 21st season continues with the ever-popular and side-splitting Gothic comedy, The Mystery of Irma Vep.  Preview tickets are available for November 3, December 1 and 2. Opening Night is December 3. The show runs for only three weeks, closing on December 18, 2011.

Ludlam’s irresistible, wickedly funny, cross-dressing send-up of the gothic horror genre (and practically everything else), leaves no stone unturned, no pun unspoken and no wig unstyled.  From the moment the play begins on a “dark and stormy night” in the Victorian mansion known as Mandacrest, it is clear that things are not what they seem to be.

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SMART TALK

by Dr. Parley Speake

HONE IN: At the Center for English as a First Language, we hear this from patients a lot. The same patients also often say, "That's the difference between she and I" (instead of the correct between her and me), but we haven't figured out the connection.

We do understand why the hone in error occurs: To hone means to put a razor edge on an already sharp blade, and when you hone in on something, maybe you sharpen your focus.

But no, it doesn't work that way. The term is home in, as in aiming for home. Think of a homing pigeon, first circling and circling to get its bearings and sense of direction. Then it gets a feeling for the direction of home, and it homes in on where it was raised.

So to sound as if English were your first language, say home in.


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SMART TALK

by Dr. Ced Riley

DÉJÀ VU ALL OVER AGAIN: Yesteryear's baseball great, Yogi Berra, is known for his creative use of the language. Here at the Center for English as a First Language, we sometimes wish we had been in business early enough to have had him as a patient. Sometimes. Mr. Berra's linguistic errors could seem poetic, so we enjoy them, in a way.

Unfortunately, many who don't speak English as a first language can mistake a joke for the real thing. When Berra said, "This is like déjà vu all over again," most of us laughed at the redundancy. It's like saying hot water heater. As George Carlin said, "Who would want to heat hot water?", but millions seem to think the term makes sense.

Déjà vu is the sense that one is having an experience over again. Adding "all over again" is as silly as saying plan ahead.

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The Ithaca Health Alliance has arranged with faculty from the physical therapy department at Ithaca College to provide services to dancers and musicians once a month at the Free Clinic. A professor from the College will offer the consultations to artists in the community at no charge to recipients. Dancers and musicians who have suffered an injury or those who experience chronic pain are encouraged to call the Free Clinic for an appointment.

This new service from Ithaca College follows the long-standing relationship between the College's occupational therapy program and the Free Clinic, whereby occupational therapy graduate students and faculty provide ongoing services to Clinic patients in need. The occupational therapy program offers tools to improve activities of daily living, including self-care, work, and leisure activities.