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Florida Folk Festival - 2008

May 12, 2008 – 6:55 pm

Every year, on Memorial Day weekend, a group of people who appreciate homegrown music gather on the banks of the Suwanee River near White Springs. The Florida Folk Festival is not the only state folk arts celebration in the country, but it’s the oldest one.

Actually, last year, the Memorial Day festival couldn’t happen because of the Bugaboo fire burning in the swamps and woods north of White Springs. Having spent time fighting brushfires, I applauded the decision to cancel it but was saddened that Florida was going to lose it’s status as the oldest festival in the country.

To their great credit, after spending a year getting ready for one festival that didn’t happen, the park staff in White Springs organized a second one in just a few months. They put on a excellent event in November on Veterans Day weekend. The Florida Park Service, the DEP and all the powers-that-be deserve thanks for allowing it to happen. The photograph with this posting is of the Bullard Brothers family band, a talented group from White Springs, the host town for the Festival.

The Florida Folk Festival is happening in just a couple of weeks on Memorial Day weekend. In my family, it’s become a bit of a tradition and I think that this year will be my 25th in White Springs.

I like the music and I like the food and I like meeting people from all sorts of different cultural enclaves from throughout the state, but I especially love the dancing. Over the years, I’ve seen Mideastern dancers, Hawaiian dancers, Irish step dancers, African dancers, stomp dancers and lots more.

Every night there’s a public dance.

If you’ve been to the Festival before, you’re probably making plans to go back. If you haven’t been, and know how to have fun, then a trip to White Springs should be in your future.

The 56th annual Florida Folk Festival will be held May 23rd, 24th and 25th at the Stephen Foster State Folk Life Center in White Springs Florida on the banks of the Suwanee River. I hope to see you there.

admin | Florida, blog, bluegrass, blues, fire, folk music, food, slow food, smoke, swamp, white springs | Comments (0)

Kudos

May 12, 2008 – 6:50 pm

Three hip’s and a big hurrah to the City of Tallahassee Streets and Drainage folks. Through a series of misadventures yesterday, a cell phone found it’s way into a storm sewer on Blairstone Road. All it took to get it back was a call to Public Works, and 30 minutes later, the phone was back in the hands of it’s owner. On his behalf, thank you City employees for doing a good deed.

admin | Florida, Tallahassee, blog | Comments (1)

It’s Bike To Work Week!

May 12, 2008 – 5:46 pm

Bike Month Banner

OK, it was a little warm over the weekend, but the temperature has cooled down and the forecast for the week looks good.  Gasoline prices are going insane and we all need a little exercise.  Bike-to-Work week is May 12th to May  16th.    Bike week is part of a national celebration sponsored by the League of American Bicyclists.  Special events are scheduled throughout the country.

Here in Florida, Orlando, the mayor is leading the way riding his bike to work and cycle commuters are getting free coffee at Starbucks.  In Tampa, there are a whole slew of special events including bike gear giveaways.   Zephyrhills is having a bike rodeo, bike decorating contest and free bike safety checks.   In Gulf Breeze, the mayor is riding his bike to work and asking neighbors to join him.

Nothing special is scheduled by the City of Tallahassee or Leon Country  for bike-to-work week (why am I not surprised) so it’s up to each of us to make our own celebration.  Ride your bike to work at least one day this week and do your best to talk a friend or coworker into joining you.

There are five national strategies for advancing bicycle safety:

Goal #1 Motorists Will Share the Road

Goal #2 Bicyclists Will Ride Safely

Goal #3 Bicyclists Will Wear Helmets

Goal #4 The Legal System Will Support Safe Bicycling

Goal #5 Roads and Paths Will Safely Accommodate Bicycling

Be safe, be healthy and (in the words of Uncle Ed) RIDE YOUR BIKE!

admin | Florida, Leon County, Tallahassee, blog | Comments (2)

TLH021 - Podcast - Refuge House Benefit

April 20, 2008 – 7:38 pm

 
icon for podpress  Refuge House Benefit [6:51m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This podcast includes “Call of Tallahassee”, a tune written for the 1924 Tallahassee Centennial, performed by Doug Gauss and friends.  It’s on his “Florida’s Natural” album.

Doug and the Enablers will be performing at the Healing Arts Alliance Spring Festival - a benefit for the Refuge House. It’s noon to 5PM on Sunday, April 27 at Lake Ella behind the Black Dog.

Admission is free but please bring some canned goods for the Refuge House pantry.

-0-

admin | Florida, Gaines Street, Leon County, Tallahassee, podcast | Comments (0)

Cool local VidCast

April 15, 2008 – 5:14 am

(I kept wondering why this post didn’t appear on the blog.  It turned out that I had made it a page instead of a post.  One day I’ll have to sit down and learn the WP interface a bit better.)

If you haven’t visited the Orange Marble Studios web site, what are you waiting for? Ian Elsner is a talented young Tallahassee animator, director, blogger and podcaster. You can find his work athttp://orangemarblestudio.com/.

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It’s Mosquito Time

April 14, 2008 – 5:05 pm

The Florida state bird.Spring has sprung and the insect kingdom is in full gear. I’m told that the tiny little red spiders that are everywhere are called clover mites. Whatever they are, they are lightweights compared to the Florida state bird, the mosquito. It seems that this year is especially “good” for the skeets.

Some folk use sprays and lotions and they do work but you end up smelling like a paper mill. I’m a believer in wearing long pants, long sleeve shirts, and having a mosquito zapper racquet close at hand. These devices look like a tennis racquet but with wires in the place of the strings. There are batteries and a switch in the handle.Bug Zapper

You press the switch, and slowly wave the zapper through the air.

When the zapper hits a mosquito, there is a very rewarding “zap” sound, and a little spark. Sometimes you can find these things in local stores or at the flea market or you can get one from Amazon by clicking here.

Zappers won’t help with the clover mites (they’re harmless anyway), but they will do in mosquito’s, yellow flies, and even a flying palmetto bug. We’ve been using them in our neighborhood for several years now and I’m considering organizing teams and a league.

Mosquito zappers: An essential tool for southern living.

admin | Florida, Tallahassee, swamp | Comments (1)

Amtrak

March 15, 2008 – 5:06 pm

Join Danny Harmon as he rides the Amtrak Sunset Limited from Pensacola to Jacksonville in this YouTube video. This was before Hurricane Katrina was used as an excuse for shutting down this section of the route. With the rising cost of energy, the passenger railroad is going to come back We need an efficient, economic and on-time passenger railroad.

I know that this is going to require a huge infrastructure investment. We need to install separate tracks for passenger trains. We need to update the rolling stock. All of that is going to be expensive but necessary. It’s going to cost us, but the investment is worth it. A lot of folks say that government should be run like a business. I disagree. The purpose of government is to provide for the common good. not to make a profit for shareholders. Don’t get me started on that soapbox.

Anyhow, watch Danny’s video, and if you think, like I do, that Amtrak ought to be one of our transportation options, call our elected and appointed officials and tell them what you think.

For more information on the American passenger railway system, visit http://www.narprail.org/cms/index.php. It’s the web site of the National Association of Railroad Passengers.

admin | CSX, Smokey Hollow, blog, crossing signal, level crossing, railroad | Comments (1)

International Women’s Day, 2008

March 8, 2008 – 7:29 am

Around the world, March 8th is celebrated as International Women’s Day. It’s a good day to be thankful for all the amazing women who have made this a better world for everyone. I’m especially grateful to the amazing, strong and beautiful women in my life.

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How’s this for a State Song?

March 6, 2008 – 7:33 pm

Grant Peeples writes some good songs. This one was his nomination for the state song. You can find out more about Grant by going to http://www.grantpeeples.com/bio.html or by coming to the American Legion Hall at Lake Ella Friday, March 7th. Admission is $10 and worth every penny. Grant is sharing the bill with Roy Zimmerman and we’ve heard that labor singer, Anne Feeney may do a tune or two.

admin | Tallahassee, blog, politics | Comments (0)

Call Us!

March 2, 2008 – 7:07 am

Woo hoo! I’ve been invited to participate in beta testing a new Google phone service called “GrandCentral”. Our new phone number for the TallyCast, the GrumpCast and Radio MacGuys is +1 (415) 683-3018. What’s up with a Florida podcast having a San Francisco phone number? I picked the 415 exchange as an homage to my favorite US big city. Tallahassee is great, and I’m glad to live here, but occasionally need some big city time in my life. These days, most folk I know have phone contracts that charge the same for local or long distance calls, so I figured no big deal.

Back to Grand Central: Google tells me that the number is mine for life. Here’s how it works. When you dial my number, GrandCentral forwards the call to three phones I have registered. In my case, I’ve got a cell phone, a voip phone and a SIP (747) number attached to a virtual phone on my Nokia palmtop computer. I can pick up the call on any of those phones and even transfer it between phones in the middle of a call.

There are lots of other goodies too, including the ability to customize what you hear when the phone is ringing, whose call goes to which number and more.  The “Call me” button works a bit different.  When you press it, a box opens up to enter the number you want to call from.  Let’s say it’s your cell phone.  You enter that number and in seconds, your phone rings.  As soon as you pick up, you hear my phone ringing and either I pick it up or it goes to a voice mail queue.  In either case, the call is free to you and free to me.

Sorry international listeners/readers but right now, GrandCentral only allows calls to be forwarded to US numbers.  According to the FAQ, international goodness is on it’s way.

So punch the button and tell me what you think about google, the TallyCast or life in general.

Dave

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