- By Jim Evans
- Entertainment
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SMART TALK by Dr. Verbos Metikulos
HUNDRED AND TEN PERCENT: Most of the staff of the Institute for the Linguistically Impaired gather in the Fowler Lounge to enjoy another season of American Idol. Some of us favor the early auditions and marvel at the delusional people who can't sing; some of us, the later shows and marvel at the artistry.
We unite in one hatred, however: Randy Jackson seems not to understand that "percent" means "out of 100." That's why a penny is called one cent: It's one hundredth of a dollar. A century has 100 years; no more, no fewer.
When Randy votes "two hundred percent yes," or "a billion percent yes," the lounge erupts in enraged comments denigrating Mr. Jackson's intelligence. And that's too bad, because Jackson is a very intelligent man and an expert in his field. But his field is not proper English.
As it is, we have more than we can do treating ex-athletes whose coaches asked for a hundred and ten percent. Very few of us have the guts and dedication to give a hundred percent of ourselves. To expect more is less a colorful figure of speech than a dangerous fantasy.
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The Kitchen Theatre Company's Family Fare series continues in March with an encore of Rachel Lamperts fun-filled I Have A Song To Sing O! If you missed it the first time around, I Have A Song To Sing O! is an interactive musical and sing-a-long for the entire family with book by Rachel Lampert and music and lyrics by Gilbert & Sullivan. I Have A Song To Sing O! will run for just two weekends March 6th & 7th and March 13th & 14th with performances on Saturdays at 1:00 and 3:00pm and Sundays at 1:00 pm.
On Friday, March 12th, progressive reggae band John Brown's Body and West African-influenced quintet Toubab Krewe perform at Castaways. The two bands share a 14-city co-headlining U.S. tour that begins in Brooklyn, NY and ends in Solana Beach, CA. (John Brown's Body is playing a second night at Castaways on March 13th with The Gunpoets.)
This year Lansing High School perform the musical “Cats” March 10th through 13th. The forty-six Jellicle cats of the Jellicle tribe come together for the annual selection of the cat who will journey to the Heaviside Layer. 
'Problems or Possibilities' is a short play directed and created by Cynthia Henderson, an Associate Professor in the Department of Theatre Arts at Ithaca College, through her program Performing Arts for Social Change. 
Ithaca College Theatre and the Ithaca College School of Music will stage a regional premiere of the opera “The Little Prince.” The music of this contemporary opera was written by Academy Award winner Rachel Portman and the libretto by Nicholas Wright. Conducted by Brian DeMaris and directed by David Lefkowich, “The Little Prince” is sung in English.