Blues, wine, baseball, zombies and, um, Lady Gaga.

By Ron Rollins | Friday, May 28, 2010, 01:28 PM

Ahhh, Memorial Day weekend. Hope you’re grilling and sipping something pleasant over the next few days…

— I ran into local bluesman extraordinaire Eric Jerardi last weekend at Fleurs et Vin, where he was working a food table in his other guise: proprietor of Jerardi’s Little Store, his wine shop in Butler Twp. He passed along a copy of his newest CD, “Waukesha Blues Festival 2009,” recorded live in Wisconsin, and it’s a crunchy piece of work. Jerardi and his band, drummer Joe Prescott and bassist Jon Arnold, make some serious noise, and Jerardi’s playing has just gotten richer over the years. He said he feels as though this disc closed out an era for him, and that he’s looking ahead to trying some new things in his music; stay tuned to see what that meant. You can follow the band at www.ericjerardi.com.

— Speaking of the blues, I caught a bit of Michael Locke’s gritty jam at the Oregon Express Thursday evening. The guy’s a fine guitarist, backed by a stonewall band. One thing about Dayton: our blues scene cooks.

— Speaking of the Oregon District, the 2010 edition of the Zombie Walk is Friday, June 4, starting at 11 p.m. in front of the old Gem City Records building. Start mixing up your fake blood now!

— Speaking of the old Gem City Records building, I noticed that the big red-lettered sign for the store was lit up and burning bright. It made me a little curious, and a lot sad. Wonder what the zombies will think?

— Speaking of Fleurs et Vin, our visit to this year’s was our first for the huge charity-fundraiser at Carillon Park, which features wonderful wines and samples from the best restaurants in the Dayton area. I’m kicking myself for never having attended before. And if you’re looking for a wonderfully entertaining local jazz band to play your next event, call up JT Fedrick/Sax Groove; they were smooth and sweet. This year, by the way, proceeds went to Culture Works and AIDS Resource Center Ohio.

— Speaking of ARC Ohio, the “theme release” party for the next edition of Masquerage (oooooh!) is at Coco’s the evening of June 27. My vote, if it matters: Something to do with Lady Gaga. Either way, I’m so there.

— Speaking of follow-ups, a few weeks ago, I wrote about the newish literary ‘zine published by Dayton writer Christina Dendy as Mock Turtle Press. She just turned out the very latest edition under the name “Mock Turtle Issue #1,” in time for the last Urban Nights. It’s packed with good writing and art, all by local folks. Contact mockturtlepress@gmail.com for details.

— Speaking of local publications, here’s a quick shout-out to Brian Botos, marketing manager for the Dayton Dragons — the guy who produces the fun little “Play Ball!” program booklets passed out at every home game. I’ve always enjoyed them; quick turn-around, too! Well done.

— Speaking of Urban Nights, I keep hearing raves about the Dayton Visual Arts Center’s contribution, in which they used a by-gosh steamroller to make prints, atop the Arts Garage near the Schuster Center. Steam on!

— Speaking of Urban Nights, the next edition is Sept. 10. Seeya there.

Isn’t it time to go turn the burgers? Don’t want ‘em to burn….

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Dayton Circus rocked with ‘Sideshow 5’

By Ron Rollins | Friday, May 21, 2010, 03:18 PM

While it’s true there was lots to do at the last Urban Nights event, I think it’s also true that there was only one place downtown that evening to see an anatomically correct plastic baby doll sitting in a beat-up beige lounger amidst a pile of remote-controls and old VCR tapes, wired from the head directly into a stack of TV sets with their screens caved in and spattered with day-glo paints.

Or at least, I think there was only one place.

The arrangement in question — rather thoughtfully on point, if slightly squirm-inducing and not at all subtle — was an installation by Neal Chaney, who stood nearby as visitors dropped by to have a look. Chaney — young, black T-shirted, hands in pockets — glanced around the very busy room in which his piece jostled against others by nearly 60 other Dayton artists. “I just hung out and got involved,” he said. “They’ve been very supportive of what I do.”

“They” are his fellow members of the Dayton Circus Creative Collective, and the space in question was the top floor of the Armory Building, on East Sixth at the edge of the Oregon Arts District. It was the scene for “Sideshow 5,” the Circus’ annual exhibition of visual art, music and performance, all local, which ran May 14 and 15.

The shows are free and usually in different venues year to year. For the Friday of Urban Nights, there was a long line to get in, and organizers were pleased with the crowds they drew.

Those crowds saw a shaggy, chewy, eclectic blend of work that ranged from new work by young artists on the way up to fringe stuff by dark visionaries like DJ Justice to thoughtful, more mainstream pieces by established, familiar names such as Leesa Haapapuro and Christina Pereyma

“We’re a collective that’s trying to bring art and music and creativity to the grassroots level so that people who might not have the ability to get into a big show can still have one,” said Kidtee Hello, 26, a Dayton fashion and portrait photographer who was the lead organizer for this Sideshow.

“You’re in for a wide variety of artists who are really passionate about making art in many different mediums,” said Jonathan Missall, whose ghoulishly attractive zombie portraits were his contibution to his second Sideshow.

“It’s all really new art — and during the day, it’s pretty family-friendly.” The idea, he said, is to be provactive but not shocking or rude, so that the show can be all-ages. “They just get better every year,” he saids, as a tight, punky band started its loud set over in the corner.

Nearby were Daniel Brown’s oversize oils of old cars, done in a dreamy, retro-murk. Not far from those hung several crazy-nimble dancing figures from Delora Buford-Buchanan, whose work Tim Burton would love.

Sean Baumgardner displayed minutely detailed ink drawings of good, evil, love, death — big themes squooshed down into tiny, crowded scenes. Josh Arnold showed poignant photographs of toys and miniatures and seemed to imbue them with expression and emotion. They were great images, in a room full of same

As the band played, a young woman in a white dress blew up and burst balloons. A couple of women danced. People watched slick, grainy video art from a couch, holding hands. It was a scene.

And it was all produced by a group of several dozen young people who got together a few years ago — on their own, with no money, without urging — for the express, single purpose of making Dayton a friskier, cooler place to live and work.

“When I moved here,” said Kidtee Hello, who chose Dayton seven years ago from small-town Indiana, and loves it here, “there was nothing like this. Most of the people in the group are really stubborn, and see this as really important. The more these grassroots organizations pop up, the more there is to do.

“We’re just trying to make Dayton better and beautiful.”

From business boardrooms to the brick streets of Oregon, a lot of other folks are spending more and more time these days trying to figure out how to do that, too. Here’s hoping voices like hers remain a strong part of the conversation.

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Horror hacks

By Ron Rollins | Sunday, May 2, 2010, 10:01 AM

Fun read from today’s Daily Beast, re: the endless, and usually dumb, remakes of old horror films.

Are there any new ideas? One wonders.

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Mock Turtle Press gives voice to local writers

By Ron Rollins | Friday, April 30, 2010, 03:03 PM

Those of you whose reading lives began the dark age before Everything Digital will recall, back in the dim recesses of your literary memories, those things called ‘zines.

Remember? They were scrappy collections of creative writing and artwork that were edited on kitchen tables, printed on the cheap and distributed on the fly. In other words, exactly the sort of thing that got killed off by blogs and websites.

Except, not completely. On a recent stop at the Ohio Coffee Co. coffeeshop in downtown Dayton, I spotted a stack of ‘zines on the counter alongside a can asking for donations (true to the spirit of the thing, of course). The cover said, “Light, Tapping on the Window: stories, poems, and art from Dayton and elsewhere,” produced by something called Mock Turtle Press.

That turned out to be Christina Dendy, a 34-year-old Daytonian who teaches creative writing at Stivers and also works as a freelance writer and editor. Juggling work and motherhood, she uses her spare time — again, true to the spirit of the thing — to produce her ‘zine as a labor of love.

It’s currently one of the very few — and, depending on the week, possibly the only — ‘zines in town.

“I still enjoy reading print publications,” she said, reflecting on the retro rarity of what she’s doing. “I think a lot of people do. At least, I hope so.”

The issue I found was the eighth Dendy has produced since 2005. She began slowly, putting out chapbooks of her own poetry, expanding gradually to include others’ work. Themes emerged, and she heard encouragement. After doing two collections of writing about birth and motherhood for a local parenting group, “I thought it would be fun to do a traditional ‘zine. It’s kind of been an evolutionary process.”

She named her enterprise after a beloved Lewis Carroll character, and the latest issue was the first that nailed the mix she wanted. “I got some fantastic art and good stories,” she said, seeking submissions via Facebook and word of mouth. “It really turned out well.”

There is artwork by well-known local artists such as Amy Kollar Anderson and Heather Lea Reid; smart photography by Jan Underwood, Kidtee Hello and others; short stories and poems by talented writers such as Caitlin Closser, Tiffany Shaw-Diaz, Tiffany Angus — and Christina Dendy.

Yes, if you publish your own ‘zine, you get to put in your own stuff. After all, she’s doing the gathering, editing, production and distribution by herself, and paying the costs out of pocket. She prints about 100 of each issue, breaking semi-even with donations. “It’s not a profit-making enterprise,” she says with a laugh.

But it is one she hopes to grow and expand. Dendy would love to be able to print 200 copies, two to three issues per year, and to find a few interested folks to help. She’d like to sell a bit of advertising, and be able to get copies to the venues asking for them. She’d like to develop a website to complement the book. “It’s tough, because I’m just one person,” she said, realizing that growing Mock Turtle Press will of course bring new challenges.

For now, she’s pulling together the next issue, shooting for mid-summer. “My goal is keep producing it as long as I can and expand the press run. I’m not trying to make it a statewide or national thing, but I think it would be nice to have it be a consistent local thing for all the artists and writers in town.”

It would, at that. If you want to submit work or just help out, find Mock Turtle Press on Facebook or email Dendy at mockturtlepress@gmail.com. And keep an eye out next time you grab a cup of coffee.

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These made me laugh

By Ron Rollins | Sunday, April 25, 2010, 09:22 PM

NOTE: I am NOT endorsing a product here.

I’m just saying, nearly all of these made me laugh.

What you want on your chest, is entirely up to you.

BTW, what is it with bacon?

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Automating censorship via Hitler. Surprise!

By Ron Rollins | Friday, April 23, 2010, 11:24 PM

Not too hard to see this one coming, if you think about it…

For my money, the funniest one was Hitler hearing Michael Jackson had died… Classssssssssssic.

And a shame, to be taken down. I’d think it would make more people want to see “Downfall,” which is, btw, a brilliant film that I strongly recommend.

Weird, the whole thing.

Thoughts, anyone?

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Get ready to art-hunt at DVAC’s auction

By Ron Rollins | Friday, April 23, 2010, 02:45 PM

Really, it’s a hunt-and-gather operation.

All right, it’s more than that. It’s a terrific party, too, a great place to meet-greet-see-be seen, always a good thing.

And more importantly, for those of us who want to stay in the know about such things, it’s the best one-stop shop for finding out what sort of things are happening in the studios of all the artists, sculptors and photographers scattered across the area.

Well, OK — not all of them. But a lot of the best ones.

We’re obviously talking here about one of my favorite annual events, the Dayton Visual Arts Center’s Art Auction. The 17th, a fundraiser for the local arts-support organization, happens next Friday, April 30, at Sinclair Community College’s Ponitz Center downtown, the second year it’s happened there.

Over the years, the auction has been in the Dayton Art Institute and the Kettering Tower lobby, and each venue has given it a slightly different flavor. What has remained the same, regardless of location, is the happy little thrill of excitement that comes from finding and pursuing a new artwork.

For the silent auction, it means studying and getting a feeling for what you like best from dozens of pieces by Dayton-area artists, imagining where you’d put it in your home or office, deciding how much you’re willing to pay for it, and then hovering around the bid sheet, wine glass in hand, to make sure you’re still in the running and haven’t been out-done.

For the live auction, it means throwing your hat into what can become a very lively, expensive ring — one in which passions rise, money flies and artists’ reputations are made in a few minutes of fast bidding. It’s always fun to watch.

Folks have been dropping by DVAC’s Jefferson Street headquarters the last few weeks to have a look at the auction pieces in the gallery and do a little auction pre-planning. I did the same the other day, and was pleased by what I saw.

Katherine Kadish’s monotype “Pathways 4” was typically bold and bright, and will get blood flowing at the live auction with an opening bid of $1,2000.

Paula Wilmot Kraus’ “Bird Study 3” is priced a little more modestly, but is a thing of brittle, ethereal beauty — a photograph of songbirds on a tangled branch, carefully printed on parchment-like encaustic paper.

Jack Holtel’s photographic tryptych of book spines is a lovely blur of color, light and shape. Gary Gardenhire’s painting “Blue Box” is a playful outpouring of energy. John Emery’s delicate watercolor and paper construction “Specimen Red” will make you think differently about radishes afterward. Ray Must’s intaglio “In the Meadow (Englewood)” is an airy, lightly hued dance of fine lines and interconnections. These are just a few — visit www.daytonvisualarts.org to peek at all the offerings. They’ve got time and ticket info there, too.

It’s fun to go back to the auction each year and see how artists are changing and evolving, trying new things. This year, for instance, Richard Malagorski has moved away from his huge, wide-angle shots, well-known around town, and has put into the auction a more traditional landscape shot of the Grand Canyon that looks like real, rushing water. Gretchen Durst Jacobs, usually on hand with one of her color-burst oil landscapes (one of which we bought a few DVAC auctions back), this year has turned in a marvelously detailed charcoal drawing of a dark, wooded scene. It’s fabulous.

And it’s in my price range, too, so stand back. Don’t make me tell you again.

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