A balancing act

Oscar-balancing town of Olive resident Philippe Petit attended the screening of "Man on Wire" at the Tinker Street Cinema in Woodstock for a question-and-answer session. The screening was a fundraiser for the Woodstock Film Festival.

In this Naomi Graphics photo, Petit is holding a gold colored bowling pin, which was retrofitted to weigh the same as an Academy Award statuette, according to festival organizers, who added that the pin was made to practice balancing the trophy on his chin in the event that "Man on Wire" won an Academy Award, which it did.

Organizers said that during the Woodstock talk, Petit said that he practiced with a real Oscar at Woody Allen's apartment in Manhattan.

The 10th festival takes place Sept. 20 to Oct. 4.

Kingston brewery is best in state

Kingston's Keegan Ales was named as the best craft beer brewery in the state — and also of the Hudson Valley — during last weekend's Tap New York festival in Hunter.

The brewery at 20 St. James Street beat 46 other breweries in the competition.

Cheers!

Update: The brewery is having its traditional barbecue on Friday from 4 to 8 p.m., followed by music by blues prodigy "Mojo" Myles Mancuso; a re-opening of an art exhibit by Paul "Dumb Won" Heath (of Dead Unicorn and we-won-a-free-car fame) on Saturday starting at 6 p.m., followed by music from Scott Weiss at 9 p.m.; and a super bluegrass extravaganza on Sunday from 2 to 10 p.m., featuring 11 bands, in a fundraiser for the cash-strapped Rosendale Street Festival. Suggested donation for the "big, bad, bluegrass fest" is $10.

These guys don't sleep, you see. Must be the Hurricane Kitty.

Half full and half empty

GOOD NEWS! Ulster County home sales surged 66 percent from February to March, The New York State Association of Realtors reported (the Realtors are happy prices went up, too).

BAD NEWS! The same number of home sales, 60, is down 40 percent from two years ago, where 101-single family homes were sold. 36 homes were sold in February.

Below are state numbers. You can spin them as much as you want.

NYSAR Monthly Housing Survey Existing Single-Family Homes Sold March 2007-2009 and February 2009

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Real Estate Business & Law march 20072009 new york state assoc

Bill Plympton ends college tour

Oscar-nominated animator Bill Plympton will be presenting a selection of some of his favorite work and following each screeening with a question-and-answer session at Bard College Wednesday at 3:30 p.m.

Plympton appeared at Marist College in Poughkeepsie on Monday and at SUNY New Paltz on Tuesday.

In 1997, Plympton received his first Oscar nomination for his short "Your Face." In 2005, he was nominated for "Guard Dog." Other shorts from Bill Plympton include "How To Kiss," "25 Ways To Quit Smoking," "Plymptoons."

In addition to his many shorts, Plympton has made seven feature films, (five of them animated) including "The Tune," "Mondo Plympton," "I Married A Strange Person," "Mutant Aliens" and "Hair High."

His most recent feature, "Idiots and Angels," has won two prizes at the Fantasporto Festival in Oporto, Portugal for Best Film and Best Screenplay.

The event is free.
Call (845) 758-7097 or visit www.plymptoons.com for more information.

Following is the trailer for "Idiots and Angels"

Joseph Bertolozzi's "Bridge Funk"

Composed using the Mid-Hudson Bridge.



Really.



Check out the Sunday Freeman.

Boiceville's Steve Heller makes news again

Boiceville artist Steve Heller's Marquis de Soto was voted Collectible Car of the Year by the New York Times.

The Times has a nice slideshow with audio.

Heller was the subject of the documentary "Dinosaurs and Rocketships," which premiered at the Woodstock Film Festival in Octover.

He is also a staple of the annual Soapbox Derby in Kingston and the Kingston Sculpture Biennial (his T-rex adorns the corner of Chandler Drive and Ulster Avenue in the city).

Here's Heller at last year's Soapbox Derby.



He's married to interviewer of the stars Martha Frankel, a writer whose first book, a memoir called “Hats and Eyeglasses,” was released in paperback by Tarcher last week.

The Times also wrote about her recently.

Leggo my Lego!

The Lego League Tournament takes place at 8:30 a.m. Saturday in Falcon Hall at Dutchess Community College on Pendell Road in Poughkeepsie. The competition is focusing on robotics, showing how far the blocks have come in 50 years. The tournament is for children ages 6 to 14. Call (845) 431-8421.

Why am I telling you this? So I can unabashedly post this:

Bathrooms are important?

"Public amenities are extremely important to the customer," said Bardavon executive director Chris Silva, who runs the Ulster Performing Arts Center on Broadway in Kingston.

You would think that would go without saying. But that is actually one of the reasons UPAC will close for the summer, as reported by Paul Kirby in today's Freeman.

Here's an interesting line from that story:

"The rest room plans first must meet the approval of the city Planning Board."

Since Silva has to ask for permission to have a bathroom, one wonders if there is an anti-bathroom lobby out there or if you have to ask for permission to use it.

Remeber, this is Kingston, land of the boots. So who knows?

...
I know. the plan is an expansion, so the Planning Board has to be involved (to plan, see?)
The board is set to discuss the proposal at 6 p.m. Feb. 11 at City Hall.

How do you like them apples?

"New Paltz schools buying apples from out of state," even though the school district is surrounded by apple farms and Ulster County is the second largest apple-producing county in the state.

You truly can't make this stuff up.

And there actually is an explanation for all of this.

It's the transportation, stupid.

Something is rotten at the core of this whole thing, pun fully intended.

Oscar time

If you feel like watching an Oscar-nominated movie this weekend, you're lucky.
What follows are the nominated flicks and what theater is screening them:

"No Country for Old Men":
* Roosevelt Cinemas, Route 9, Hyde Park. (845) 229-2000.

"There Will be Blood":
* Lyceum Six, Route 9, Red Hook. (845) 758-3311.
* Orpheum, Saugerties (845) 246-6551.

"Atonement":
* Rosendale Theatre, Main Street, Rosendale. (845) 658-8989.
* Regal Cinemas at the Hudson Valley Mall, town of Ulster. Visit www.regmovies.com.

"Juno":
* New Paltz Cinemas, New Paltz Plaza, Route 299. (845) 255-0420.
* Roosevelt Cinemas, Route 9, Hyde Park. (845) 229-2000.
* Regal Cinemas at the Hudson Valley Mall, town of Ulster.

"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly":
* Upstate Films, Route 9, Rhinebeck. (845) 876-2515.

"The Savages"
* Upstate Films.

Got events?

The Life department has two ace reporters, Bonnie Langston and Blaise Schweitzer, both of them with a combined experience larger than my own life (I‘m 29)-- a scary proposition for somebody who has to supervise them.

We work as a team, along with super editor Dwayne Kroohs (pronounced “Cruise,” which some people actually write when they send him mail) and we sit down every week to brainstorm story ideas.

We consider everything our readers propose (and what they don't). We also mull ideas we come up with while living in this pristine valley of ours.

But, as much as we would like to, we can’t be everywhere at once (if I had that superpower, I wouldn’t be working at all).

So on Monday, we began a new feature, “Around Town,” which briefly chronicles events around the Hudson Valley, and which are provided to us by our readers. Think of it as a scrapbook of events important to you -- and us. We are looking for fundraisers, galas, benefits and such.
If you know of one (or two or three), let us know. We’ll be glad to collaborate in the coverage of these worthy events.

Send your happenings to life@fremanonline.com, along with photos (in the standard JPG format), and we’ll be more than happy to publish them in the print edition of the Freeman. Every now and then, if scheduling permits, we’ll send our own photographers (now tanned to oblivion because they‘re taking photos outside all the time) to cover those events.

In short, help us help you (and if you see our photographers, feel free to give them some sunblock).