Delicious!!

The beef brisket meal for last Sunday's Supper was delectable. There was a bit left over, which went into a beef stew that sold out quickly. The menu for next Sunday, the 24th has been selected. We will feature baked Ling Cod with smashed garlicky red potatoes, succotash, green salad, cheesecake with Blackberry topping, and beverage. Of course, we will have a vegetarian alternative. All for the low price of $12.99.

The newsletter with class schedules for September/October is nearly ready for the printer, and will be sent out this weekend or early next week.

Insight (Vipassana) meditation - this afternoon (4pm - 4:30 pm) and Saturday (6 pm - 6:30 pm)

Tuesday 8/26 (12:30 - 2:30 pm) - Ballot Forum Planning Meeting facilitated by the Rural Organizing Project.

Jerry and Jessica
"tycoonistas"

Sunday Supper Two

Sunday will be our second Sunday Supper. This one will feature slo-o-ow roasted beef brisket with potato dumplings and vegetables, green beans, fruit salad, berry meringue dessert and beverage. We also will have a vegetarian alternative. All for only $12.99.

Tuesday 8/26 12:30-2:30 pm - ballot forum planning meeting facilitated by the Rural Organizing Project. Ballot forums set at Colette's for October 7 & 15 from 6-8 pm in The Catalyst. More than 10 contentious and locally critical measures are up for a vote. Help educate the public and yourself.

Saturday September 6 @ 7:30 pm -- Anne Feeney (pictured)-- She travels the world 'afflicting the comfortable and comforting the afflicted.' Her bottomless songbag draws on Irish, bluegrass, traditional, labor, pop, folk, and contemporary material, including local songwriter Harry Stamper. Join us. $10-$15 at door. All money to musician.

October 24 - 7-9 pm - George Mann returns - The labor activist and singer/songwriter will present a video of 90 something Julius Margolin, a lifelong labor activist. George will also be singing his wonderful songs. Ask him about "Utah Sounding Good to Me" - his tribute to Utah Phillips. $7-$10 to musician.

Recurring events:

Third Saturday (.8/16, 9/20, 10/18) - Psychics and Healing Faire at The Catalyst. Free admission. Tickets available for reader/healing sessions. Frequent drawings. Check out the Center, our new metaphysical store.

Saturdays (6pm - 6:30pm) and Thursdays (4pm-4:30pm) Insight (Vipassana) Meditation in our new Meditation Room which is also open to the public Monday - Friday (5pm-7pm)

Sundays (2pm - 5pm) Sunday Suppers - Fixed price meal like Grandma cooked. Includes dessert, coffee or tea. Priced from $12 - $16 depending on menu. Limited quantity. When the food is gone it is gone. Prepaid reservations suggested.

First/Third Sunday (5:30pm-8:30pm) - drumming circle/potluck at The Catalyst. Low-key. Bring percussion instruments and be open to spirit moving. New to drumming? No instrument? Join us anyway.

Second Sunday (4pm - 6pm) Community sing @ Colette's sponsored by South Coast Folk Society. All are welcome.

Last Sunday each month (4pm - 6pm) Open Mic - Acoustic Musicians poets, writers, singers, storytellers and enthusiastic listeners all welcome. Sign up sheet. Three poems, two songs or ten minutes. Jam session at the end.

Second/Fourth Wednesdays (7pm - 9pm) Healing circle. Open to healers and those desiring energy work. Donation.

First Friday (6pm-8pm) Poetry Night. All poets, wannabe poets and poetry lovers welcome.

Jerry and Jessica

"tycoonistas"

Celtic dreams

"Grace Notes" put on an excellent concert, providing a wonderful mix of folk and Celtic music. The blend of hammer dulcimer and celtic harp was well worth hearing.

The community sing on Sunday was again well attended and the great time picking and singing and celebrating (a birthday). This was the second of a regular happening, held on the second Sunday of each month through December.

For those of you who missedd out on ther "Sunday Supper", the food was superb. Chicken Caccuatore (or a vegetarian alternative) over brown rice or polenta was the entree, with sides of green avocado/spinach salad, steamed carraway carrots, and cherry pie/cobbler for dessert. As soon as the next menu is available, I will get it posted.

Jerry and Jessica

"tycoonistas"

Live looping is amazing!!

Irina Rivkin brought "loopie", a Boss looping machine and put on an amazing concert. Quite often she was singing with three to five back up singers created live as she performed. She erased them after each song making the whole a very transient experience. Her road partner, Alma made an already entertaining show pop. Her comic, dramatic, dynamic and sometimes bawdy dialect monologues effectively balanced Irina's wholesome good girl image.

The looping workshop on Wednesday was a wonderful experience for the attendies, as they not only got excellent demos and coaching from Irina, but lots of hands on use of the looping machine. "Rhythm and timing is the key" to make it work effectively.

The Coos Head Food co-op presentation was again cancelled, and may not be rescheduled.

Tomorrow, Friday, another concert is scheduled. Local group 'Grace Notes' will be providing an evening of Celtic and traditional music. Stacy Rose and Candace Kreitlow play a variety of instruments, including hammer dulcimer, flute, penny whistle, guitar and Irish harp. We will be introducing our new crepe cake, a pile of crepes sandwiching vanilla creme and berries topped with Nutella or vanilla creme with a dark chocolate ganache, for the festivities.

Ask about our Sunday suppers (2-5 or till the food's gone). Join us for one of Mom's Favorite meals or something off our regular menu. Community dining and good conversation. Get to know your neighbor.

Sunday will be our second Community Sing, 4 - 6 pm at the Catalyst.

Jerry and Jessica

"tycoonistas"

Rod plays audience requests

Rod MacDonald has been singing and writing since the 70's, and has a very wide repertoire which some audience members were familiar with. As a result he was able to fulfill requests for his own music. A versatile guitar and harmonica player,he managed to wow the audience with a number when his harmonica was upside down in the rack, requiring him to adjust on the fly.

Tonight is First Friday poetry night, and I'm told we may have a poet from Ashland participating, which would compliment our already stellar group.

Sunday - celebrate!! - Drumming and potluck gratitude celebration for "fruits of the first harvest" at 5 pm at the Catalyst. Coffee and tea will be on sale, drumming will start at 5:30 pm.

Live music on Tuesday in conjunction with the first Tuesday "block party", with merchants of both the Newmark Center and Broadway Plaza H participating. There will be specials, drawings , and we will feature Irina Rivkin providing "beautiful lyrical melody, the added voice of earthy harmony, & finally the texture of beat-box all performed live with the benefit of electronic looping". Additionally Alma will be providing comical interludes. On Wednesday Irina will hold a live-looping workshop from 7-9 pm at the catalyst, $25-55 (small group lesson at the Catalyst. Come learn how to put pizazz in your sound.

Friday August 8th the Grace Notes will grace our stage "like angels with a buzz on at a good party". Harp, penny whistle, flute, hammered dulcimer and other instruments that will give your soul a buzz.

Saturday 8/9 - 4:30 pm - Saturday Community Supper - Join us for one of
Mom's favorite meals or something off our regular menu -- Community dining and good conversation - get to know your neighbor.

Sunday 8/10 - 4 - 6 pm Community Sing - singers of all ages and abilities are welcome. Songbooks with a wide variety of songs are provided. Bring copies of favorite songs to share. Musical instruments are welcome. Sponsored by the Coos County Folk Society.

Jerry and Jessica
"tycoonistas"

Wild Wild weekend!!!

George Mann and Harry Stamper (pics 3&4) set the tone for the week, putting on a great show while having a lot of fun doing it.

Friday saw Adam +Kris on our stage (pic 5). The audience was a bit sparse, likely due to the music festival, so they took it "on the road" with impromptu performances at McDonald's (pic 6), Baskin-Robbins(pic 7) and La Costa (pic 1). Rafael, the owner of La Costa serenaded back. Afterward we went back for dinner, and traded music until quite late. Goes to show that happenings at Colette's tend to be anything but dull. We finished out the week with Chris Chandler, performance poet, and Paul Benoit, blues guitarist (pic 2) on Saturday.

Upcoming events! - Saturday (7/26) Rod MacDonald, a singer/songwriter currently from Florida will bring his "captivating love songs and deliciously tongue-in-cheek political and social commentaries to our stage. Door fee is $10, with all monies going to the musician.

Sunday we're holding a Launch the Catalyst community party/open house from 1 to 5 pm. Colette's will provide food and beverages. Help us fill the space with community energy ($5 per person to eat). The Catalyst houses a meditation room, metaphysical store and meeting rooms available for rent (more private than Colette's yet with the same great food available.

Monday will be the 8th session in our ground to globe lecture series on food. Alex Bourdigu of Porta will be speaking at 6 pm on the use of local food in local restaurants.

Jerry and Jessica

"tycoonistas"

Thursday (7/31) will be the final regularly scheduled lecture in the ground to globe series. This is the only one that will not be held at Colette's and is also at an earlier time (4-6 pm). It will be at the Oregon Coast Culinary Institute on the SOCC campus.

Friday (8/1) will be our next First Friday Poetry Night from 6 to 8 pm.

More Happenings!

I've been a bit remiss about keeping up with the blog. May still be a bit "twitterpated" from my honeymoon.

However, things are still happening, in spite of me not keeping up. We had a surprise pickup practice / performance by the Bumbling Buskers (pic #3), playing a fine selection of Celtic and bluegrass on hammer dulcimer, mandolin, guitar, ukulele with flute and penny whistle.

Michael's concert (pic #5)was wonderful, and the audience interplay was quite entertaining. We have yet to be disappointed in the performers who have graced our stage and are eagerly awaiting the next ones (four in July).

We had he opportunity to present a Literacy award check to the SWOCC Family Center on behalf of the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association for $300 (pic #6). This is a matching grant for the $300 plus in books that Colette's donated to the Family Center in February of 2008. With the book donation as well as book donations form other local organizations, the Family Center was able to assemble over 60 Literacy back packs for the OWL WINGS to literacy program. Accepting the check were Leanna Olson and Ashley Caldera, representing the children who will benefit, as the money will be used to purchase material for more backpacks. Colette's donated over 10,000 books to local charities and non-profits during the months of February and March. Jessica, co-owner and tycoonista is fond of quoting the famous French author Colette "Real poverty is a lack of books".

Our Ground to Globe lecture series continued with Anne Weure, Master Gardener, (pic #7)enlightening us on winter gardening. She covered season extending techniques as well as varieties of plants that thrive in cooler weather.

The monthly art walk ( 2nd Thursday of the month) became a celebration when the Sweet Adeline Barbershop Chorus graced our stage. Their wonderful harmony and cheerful camaraderie capped off a beautiful day. (pic#8)

I mentioned four upcoming concerts, and want to take a moment to push the first, a new monthly participation program we have the honor to present. On the second Sunday of each month there will be a sing-a-long session from 4 - 6 pm with the local folk society. Come enjoy the fun!

Now for concert number two. On Tuesday the 15th at 7:30 pm, Harry Stamper (local singer/songwriter, balladeer, and labor organizer) will be teaming up with George Mann (nationally known singer/songwriter, balladeer, and labor organizer) to provide an evening of socially conscious frivolity.

Thursday the 17th at is the next lecture in the Ground to Globe Lecture series. It features Ann Vileisis, local author of Kitchen Literacy - How We Lost Knowledge of Where Food Comes from and Why We Need to Get It Back. Copies of her book will be available, so in a sense it will be an author signing as well.

The third concert this month will be on Thursday June 18, featuring Adam + Kris, (pic #2) a Nationally acclaimed acoustic duo. "Adam + Kris have been performing together forever. They have toured across the United States and Canada, playing their original music at concerts and festivals. Adam + Kris are regulars at The Oregon Country Fair and The Kerrville Folk Festival in Texas, and have also played The High Sierra Music Festival, Mission Folk Festival, Park City Arts Festival and many others. They have been honored for their songwriting and performing talents by the National Academy of Songwriters in Los Angeles, Music Connection magazine, and Performing Songwriter magazine, to name but a few. They have released five recordings, and have shared the stage with Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer, Caroline Aiken, Chris Chandler and Anne Feeney, Cheryl Wheeler, Bob Wiseman, Carmaig DeForest, Laura Love, Austin Lounge Lizards, Leftover Salmon, The Asylum Street Spankers, Peter Yarrow, and countless others. They are currently based in Portland Oregon and are working on their next release."

Our fourth concert of the month and week features Chris Chandler (pic #1)and Paul Benoit (pic #4) in a repeat performance on our stage. This one happens on Friday July 19th at 7:30.

"Chris Chandler has performed and recorded with a myriad of artists including Dar Williams,Dan Bern, The Austin Lounge Lizards, Peter, Paul and Mary, Chuck Brodsky, Summer Droit, Katie Curtis and more.
His shows are filled with topical, political and social commentary and his songs are forever capturing the elusive metaphor in an often humorous manner. Catch a Chris Chandler show near You, you'll be glad you did! "

"For the past twenty years, Paul Benoit has performed and recorded his own music and collaborated with numerous songwriters including Dan Bern, Reggie Garrett, Eric Apoe, and Laura Love. From 1996-98 Paul’s electric/acoustic roots rock band Crosseyed released two albums and toured successfully throughout the western U.S. In 1997, Paul co-founded Hanuman, a four piece all-acoustic instrumental ensemble blending jazz, bluegrass, country and rock'n'roll with African beats. Hanuman released five albums, sold over 8,000 recordings and toured the U.S., playing at clubs, festivals, and theaters, up to 200 dates a year. In 2001, the band received Best Touring Band and Best Album awards from Sounds of Seattle and was voted best new band by the Seattle Weekly.
Paul’s songwriting and sound continues to evolve with his solo work including the roots-rock-pop blend of 2002’s “Dopamine” and the lush and complex arrangements of his most recent CD, “Combustible,” named a top-12 DIY CD in Performing Songwriter Magazine. He recently composed the soundtrack to the film “Diggers,” which won the IFP/Seattle Spotlight award and premiered at the 2007 Seattle Intenational Film Festival. Paul has just released his 3rd solo CD, Lazy Eye, a collection of 10 new songs recorded primarily with acoustic guitar and band. He continues to perform throughout the United States and Latin America, both solo and with his band, and with performance poet Chris Chandler."

Our newsletter will be going out tonight. If you are not on our mailing list (e-mail), please let us know, so we may add you.

Jerry and Jessica
"tycoonistas"