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"

Happenings!!

MICHAEL GAITHER -- TONIGHT! AT 7 PM - $10 at the door, all proceeds go to the artist.

Tom Bakke, local author, reads and speaks on Sunday at 2 pm. Tom wrote one of the definitive local outdoor books on Oregon South Coast driving tours and day hikes, "Out Our Back Door". Come meet the author and get even more insight on local attractions and activities.

Jerry and Jessica
"tycoonistas"

Colette's is a happening place!

Live music twice in one day! We had a pair of flautists practicing in the afternoon, and an impromptu evening jam session by the Bumbling Buskers (bottom left photo). The bottom right photo is Rollie Lobsinger giving his politics of food lecture last week.

Coming this Saturday at 7:30 pm is more live music, featuring singer songwriter Michael Gaither (remaining photos). Michael hails from Freedom, CA, and will be bringing his guitar and harmonica to our stage. $10 at the door which goes directly to him. Let's show him a wonderful Oregon welcome as it is his first time here on the coast.

Jerry and Jessica

"tycoonistas"

Jerry and Jessica tie the knot

We did it. We tied the knot Friday, June 13 at 1300 (1 pm) at the store. We were handfasted so the knot was tied quite literally. My (Jessica) daughter Megan and her husband, Brooklyn released me into a lovely new relationship and were both an integral part of the service. Our friend Curt Clay officiated with warmth and humor. It was a lovely day made even more special by lots of well-wishers. Several folks brought spectacular bouquets, so we were surrounded by the lusciousness of flowers everywhere. Thanks to Sandi and David we have another wonderful plant for the store. We even had a lovely bouquet, created at the last minute and contributed by Daina Swanson. And if you see her, congratulate Bobbie Black, who caught the bouquet - may she see much love and luck in her life. My brother Matt assures me that I was floating through the air most of the day. I believe it. What more could a woman ask for than to be united for life with a man who sings to her?

We closed for the weekend for a short honeymoon to the Sylvia Beach Hotel in Newport, Oregon. This was the perfect place to honeymoon for a couple who love books. Each room is named for an author and holds a collection of his or her books. We were lucky enough to stay in the Lincoln Steffens room. For those who don't know, Steffens was born in 1866 and died in 1936. He was also one of the first to proudly claim the title "muckraker" an invective used for a really effective investigative reporter. Since Jessica was an investigative journalist for 30 years, this was another wonderful piece of serendipity.

Saturday we played tourist in Old Newport taking in 'high tea' and wandering through the WaxWorks. Of course we managed to scout a few bookstores too. Finally, we spent a couple of hours at the Aquarium. Favorite bits included the Jelly Fish which always enchant with their beauty and the playful otters. One male seal stole the show at feeding time by hamming it up for the audience. It was good to take time for a different kind of stimuli. We vowed to get away at least once a month.


Our Ground to Globe: Conversations about Food series continued last night with Rollie Lobsinger of OR Coast Community Action speaking about the Politics of Hunger. He shared some hard facts about food cost - From April 2007 to April 2008, milk prices increased 13.5 percent , eggs increased 30.5, bread increased 14.1, and cheese increased 12 percent. The increases are expected to continue. Already, food pantries are seeing folks who were considered middle class needing food assistance.

Lobsinger said hunger issues are due to a systems problem that encompasses fuel costs, climate change, growing populations, concentration of ownership and speculation. The latter two are directly linked, according to him, to a loosening of and lack of enforcement of the Sherman Anti-trust laws that prevented large companies from buying pieces of a completely unrelated industry. When the large corporations control so much of the food, the effect on the average person can be very potent, since the corporation doesn't look at well-being, but instead searches for a strong return to investors.

What can we do? We need to hold our representatives accountable for votes that are influenced by lobbyists and their money. We also need to take as much local control of our food as possible. This means being willing to make changes in what and how we eat. It means educating ourselves and making new choices about how to live our lives.

Block out Sunday, June 22 at 2pm for a reading by local author and poet, Mark Sturges. He'll be reading from his poetry book The Fertilizer King and his new manuscript Letters from the Turn of the Century. He's pungent, funny and will leave you wanting more.

We're normally closed on Mondays, but we'll be opening at 5pm on June 23 for another in our Ground to Globe: Conversations about Food series. Lecture will start at 6pm. Bobbie Stewart will talk about the Coos Head Food Store: Becoming a Co-op. Here's a chance to hear what is being planned and to see if their idea of a co-op matches the ones some of us remember from the 60's, 70's and 80's. Is it the answer? Come and decide for yourself.

My good friend from Freedom, CA, Singer/ Songwriter Michael Gaither will be bringing his guitar and harmonica to our stage on Saturday, June 28 at 7:30pm. $10 at the door which goes directly to him. Let's show him a wonderful Oregon welcome as it is his first time here on the coast.

And on Sunday, June 29 at 2pm local outdoor author Tom Baake will be signing his new edition of Out our Back Door a collection of day trips and local hikes in the area. It's the one I used when I first moved here and it's a gem! Tom has also promised to talk about some of the best little known hikes in the area. With the weather finally warming up, now is the time to plan some day trips.

We're just about ready to open the new space just two doors down from Colette's. The Catalyst will include meeting rooms available for rent, a meditation room, and a small metaphysical store called The Center. We're planning to hold lots of classes in the space as well. We'll be ready for the public by the first of July or sooner.

And, on that note, we are avidly looking for a yoga teacher who would like to teach in our new space. If you know of anyone, please let us know.

Finally, we're continuing to work to make welcoming spaces that allow community to happen.







Jerry and Jessica
"tycoonistas"

James Hurley wows 'em at Colette's

James Hurley put on a wonderful show with his eclectic and humorous songs and facile guitar riffs, keeping the audience on the edge of their chairs. He was very warmly received.

Our first author reading and signing will be this Sunday (June 1st) at 1:30 pm. Xan (Alexandra) Schiller will be reading excerpts from her novel "The Suave Swami", the first of the Mordecai Maccabbee mystery series. Copies will be available for sale and she will be happy to autograph them as well. Xan is a local author from Coquille. Come and embrace her talent.

The third lecture in The "From Ground to Globe" lecture series will be held on Thursday June 5th, and will feature Suzan Brawnlyn speaking on "Community Supported Agriculture".

Friday, June 6th, is first Friday poetry night, and will highlight Doro Reeves, followed by an open Mic session.These nights have been well attended and excellent poetry has been offered, so bring your poems or at least your ears and join the celebration.

Speaking of celebration, Jessica and Jerry will be tying the knot in June on Friday the 13th at 1300 (1 pm) here at Colette's. We will close the store, but open the doors for the ceremony and celebration. All are invited (we look at Colette's as our living room and our customers as guests). As such, all our guests are invited to come celebrate with us.

Also coming in June is The Catalyst - a community gathering place, a new space with meditation and small private meeting rooms for rent. We're real proud of it and we hope you will be too.

Jerry and Jessica
"tycoonistas"

Attendance improves

Twenty-one questing minds showed up for the second presentation in the "Ground to Globe: Conversations About Food" series we are sponsoring in conjunction with Oregon Coast Community Action. Zoe Bradbury of Abby's Greens in Langlois gave a brilliant and very informative presentation on "Building a Strong Regional Food System". I (Jessica) took 22 pages of notes including some pithy quotes. Of course, at the end of the night while shutting down my computer I hit the wrong button and erased everything. Sigh. I do intend to email her for a copy of her powerpoint, and interview her for an article, but until then, here's a sampling based on my memory.

Food travels an average of 1500 miles before it gets to our table. Where communities and regions have a local food system, food only travels an average of 45 miles to the table.
....only 8.5 percent of the US population are farmers and the number is shrinking every year. Current farmers have an average age in the early 50s. The few younger folks who want to be farmers find it difficult to get into due to financing, lack of access to land and knowledge. "You can't learn farming from books, you have to experience it," said Zoe.

Zoe said the Farm Policy is "like an elephant in stilletto heels" big and bloated at the top with all the pressure on the family farmers at the bottom. The 'bigger is better' push came from Earl Butz, Secretary of Agriculture under President Reagan who believed that farmers should plant from fence to fence creating a surplus that could be sent overseas. "Get big or get out." Subsidies became the norm during this time.

Now, at the same time small family owned farms are going out of business, we have numerous millionaires living in Manhattan (and other places such as wherever Ted Turner lives) with no connection to the land or to farming, yet they are raking in the bucks from subsidies. The land they own is merely a route to government handouts.

Leaving fairness aside, this system does nothing to ease issues of hunger and, in fact, is directly linked to some of the food issues we hear about on a regular basis. For instance, the increase in growing corn (or forcing other countries to grow corn that we can export for fuel) has resulted in people in Mexico not being able to get tortillas - a staple of the Mexican diet.

This system of large farms and rampant subsidies is contrary to what the government knows to be best for farms and the surrounding communities based on their own information. Sometime in the 70's (if I recollect correctly) A sociologist was commissioned by the government to do a study between two farming communities in California...one was a community surrounded by small family owned farms and the other was an agribiz town. While it might be easy to assume that, of course, the larger, more professional ag town would be a better place to live, in fact by all measurements, the opposite was true. The corporate town had (by far) fewer schools, fewer playgrounds, far fewer independent retail establishments and I forget what the others were, but it was very compelling. When the results were presented to the Government, they were buried and the sociologist was let go.

Zoe also talked about the pressure put on farmers by Monsanto, godfather of Genetically Modified foods. "It's very like the mafioso," she said. One of the problems with GMO crops is 'blow over' meaning the pollen etc, crosses fence lines and travels where it will, sometimes landing in an organic field or a non-GMO field. Monsanto reps then gather soil samples from the corrupted field and take legal action against the farmer for 'stealing', when he or she couldn't have stopped the contamination in any way, shape, or form. These same reps also put a great deal of pressure on farmers to use GMO seeds.

The post presentation discussion centered around issues of connection, education, consumer demand and community collaboration. Folks mentioned the need for directories, both for the consumer to locate the food and for the farmer to locate the supplies needed to produce. There was interest in bringing back the idea of small gardens in available space, community gardens, and other growing spaces. Conversation was lively and continued long after the program.

The next conversation in the series will cover Community Supported Agriculture and is scheduled for Thursday June 5th at 6pm.

Jerry and Jessica"
"tycoonistas