A New Decade Brings A New ERI Jams

by Rob Taylor

ERI Jams Editor

ERI Jams is a living, evolving being. It was born Spotlight Magazine, a simple email that let people know what bands were at what bars and what plays were going on in town. That was years ago.

Spotlight Magazine grew to where the information included a lot of other local events and, if printed out the only page would be over 3 feet long. That was the moment, after discussions among the editorial board, that Spotlight Magazine went the way of the dinosaur and a new creature, ERI Jams, moved in and took its place.

Stories became more detailed and informative. The magazine developed departments such as Music & More, Local Scene and others. Coverage expanded to cover music, DVD’s movies and websites. Recipes and funny stuff was added to the Potpourri page and, in one of the biggest moves…ERI Jams added video. Now, we show local bands, events and even pro wrestling matches.

In the last month and half ERI Jams has expanded its coverage to include Ashtabula, Crawford and Chautauqua counties.

2010 starts a brand new decade and with the new decade comes another step in the evolution of ERI Jams. It isn’t being released yet as to what the changes will be but the editorial staff says that they will give the magazine a new look and feel and with the change ERI Jams will be hiring editors and writers to improve event coverage.

The staff of ERI Jams is working to make their magazine the best arts/entertainment magazine in the Erie area and they feel that the upcoming changes will be a giant step toward that goal.
 

Berwyn Moore’s Poetry At The Erie Bookstore

by Chuck Joy

Contributing writer

Berwyn Moore, Erie County’s Poet Laureate, the first to hold that position, will appear as the Featured Poet at Poetry Scene, Erie Book Store, 137 E 13, on Friday, this Friday, January 8, at 6:30 PM.

Year-end round-ups of cultural developments are incomplete without mention of the Poet Laureate process, an expression of the emergence of poetry as a presence in Erie County’s civic reality, standing tall with music, theatre, sport fishing, hockey, ox roast, wraparound services, and building locomotives, and Berwyn Moore has exceeded every expectation as Erie’s first Poet Laureate.

On Friday, Berwyn will read selections from her new book, O Body Swayed, published by Cherry Grove Collections. Copies will be available for purchase, so you can read along, or simply listen to Berwyn’s lovely presentation of her evocative lines, striking imaginative themes of meaning and identity.

As a special treat, Ms. Moore will be introduced by her husband, Bob “Brooker” Brooker, a talented poet and a riot in his own right. Berwyn’s featured reading will be preceded by a period of open reading, which should also be quite fun, as this Poetry Scene will be the first edition for three weeks, due to the timing of the Holidays, and poets will be feeling a real need to read.

In addition, Dave Devine is expected with his camera to complete filming for an hour-long documentary he’s preparing on our poetry scene, a project he started in December with the last show from last year, auspiciously concluding with this appearance of our Poet Laureate.

Meanwhile, the deadline is fast approaching for submission of poetry and art works to Berwyn Moore for her anthology project. Information is available from her, the Erie Book Store, or the Erie County government website. And stay tuned for further news about Berwyn’s gala formal reading at the Downtown Library on Groundhog Night (February 2), as well as Billy Collins’s appearance at Gannon University on April 20.

That’s Berwyn Moore, our Poet Laureate, at the Erie Book Store, Friday, 6:30 PM. Free admission.

Learn Tracking Basics At The TREC

Have you ever been for a walk and came across a track and wondered what created it? Do you know that you can tell what the animal was doing by looking at the tracks that are left behind? Bring the kids to the Tom Ridge Environmental Center on January 9, 2010 from 1:00-2:30 pm to learn about tracks and make a track of there own of one of the many species of wildlife that are native to Pennsylvania. The kids will learn how to identify many animals from their tracks, sign, fur, and feathers. No registration is required, small fee does apply.

For more information about this, or other programs, please call the Tom Ridge Environmental Center (TREC) at (814) 833-7424. The park office at TREC is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. The park is open daily from sunrise to sunset for hiking and other environmentally-related activities.

If you need an accommodation to participate in park activities due to a disability, please contact the Pennsylvania Bureau of State Parks: at 888-PA-PARKS (voice,) (717) 558-2710 (local or international voice,) 711 (AT &T Relay Services.) With at least three days' notice, interpreters for people who are deaf or hard of hearing are available for educational programs.

Tinseltown Offers Two Operas In January

Der Rosenkavalier

Saturday, January 9, 2010 (1 PM ET / 10 AM PT)
Expected Running time: 4 hours, 50 minutes. 2 intermissions

The Ultimate Stage Spectacle - The Met: Live in HD on movie theatre screens nationally. The broadcast of Strauss’s opera Der Rosenkavalier will be presented live for only one day on Saturday, January 9, 2010 at 1 PM ET / 10 AM PT in select movie theatres.

Strauss’s comic masterpiece of love and intrigue in 18th-century Vienna stars Renée Fleming as the aristocratic Marschallin and Susan Graham in the trouser role of her young lover. Music Director James Levine conducts a cast that also includes Kristinn Sigmundsson and Thomas Allen.

An encore presentation of this performance will be exhibited in select movie theatres on Wednesday, January 27, 2010 at 6:30 PM in all time zones.

Carmen

Saturday, January 16, 2010 (1 PM ET / 10 AM PT)
Expected Running time: 4 hours, 5 minutes. 2 intermission

The Ultimate Stage Spectacle - The Met: Live in HD on movie theatre screens nationally. The broadcast of Bizet’s opera Carmen will be presented live for only one day on Saturday, January 16, 2010 at 1 PM ET / 10 AM PT in select movie theatres.

One of the most popular operas of all time, Carmen “is about sex, violence, and racism—and its corollary: freedom,” says Olivier Award-winning director Richard Eyre about his new production of Bizet’s drama. “It is one of the inalienably great works of art. It’s sexy, in every sense. And I think it should be shocking.” Elina Garanca plays the seductive gypsy of the title, opposite Roberto Alagna as the obsessed Don José.

An encore presentation of this performance will be exhibited in select movie theatres on Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 6:30 PM in all time zones.