The former and current head of The Syracuse Rescue Mission (Clarence Jordan and Alan Thornton) talk at the Vision Center on South Salina Street following the 2013 Teen Tech graduation ceremony.
Archive for June, 2013
The Gift of Service
Thursday, June 27th, 2013Throwback Thursday: Bruce Almighty
Thursday, June 27th, 2013
Comedian Bruce Bruce will return to Syracuse this weekend for a series of shows at the Funnybone. This photo is from a show he did at the Landmark theater about a decade ago produced by the Pride of Syracuse Newspaper.
Fringe Factor
Monday, June 24th, 2013
Fringe Technical Director Gabriel Pinto occupies Saturday night with a sax solo.
Finally a cross-town collaboration between Lemoyne and SU (well,sort of). Le Moyne alums Jacob Ellison and Justin Sullivan used creativity and crowd funding to pull together the inaugural Syracuse Fringe Festival last weekend, and it was held at the Community Folk Art Center along the Connective Corridor. The event featured three days of multi-disciplinary artistic endeavors. We checked out the final day of the program, which featured David Doyle, Ruth Arena and Anna Phillips. Fringe was very reminiscent of the THINC Sideshow parties from a decade or so ago (except the demographic for the Fringe was slightly older).
Live Art: Body Painting
What was most surprising on Saturday was to watch Phillips, who is the artistic equivalent of a love child between Missy Elliot (always ahead of the curve) and Steven Wright (wry humor), do a comedy show in the Black Box Theater and smoothly transition into a monologue about her life that was more compelling than a episode of HBO’s In Treatment.
Was it Something She Said? Anna Phillips kept it real for Spatial Profiling.
Not that it wasn’t good, just unexpected. We look forward to Anna’s upcoming gigs, where she will bring the noise again with jokes at two shows locally: Chicks are Funny and Guns n’ Syrup.
On the Strength
Monday, June 24th, 2013
Mercy Works Director Gina Rivers prepares Synergy students during their orientation last week. The event was held at the Vision Center on South Salina Street.
Just Above My Head
Saturday, June 22nd, 2013
Sign Repair, elevated section of Route I81 North
#NextCuse
Saturday, June 22nd, 2013“…that’s your competitive advantage. Don’t try to be the next Silicon Valley. Be the 21st-century version of yourself.”
Bruce Katz, Jennifer Bradley, authors of The Metropolitan Revolution
Habiba Boru, who came to Syracuse from Ethiopia, gets ready at the 500 block N. Salina Street on World Refugee Day. She led the parade to downtown Syracuse.
Starting the parade off with a smile (Near Mai Lan Restaurant)
Ladies from the Central African Republic rest after their dance performance on stage in Hanover Square. The ladies came to Syracuse about one year ago
Flagman was the MC for the festival in Hanover Square
We, too, sing America: An elder checks out the stage show in Hanover Square
For more photographs check out the World Refugee Day in Syracuse Facebook page.
Found in Translation
Friday, June 21st, 2013We know the semester is over, but how cool is it that historian/cultural critic Greg Tate, a professor at Brown University, used two Syracusans as a reference for his course this Spring on Afro-futurism? Tate gives the Cuse an indirect shout-out by talking about singer Grace Jones and writer George S. Schuyler. And speaking of academics, we wonder how many students know that Schuyler’s papers are housed at Bird Library at Syracuse University (special collections).
Throwback Thursday: Brothers
Thursday, June 20th, 2013
Omanii Abdullah, poet, educator and businessman (performing at the former OnaJava Cafe)
Syracuse is a city of families. On this Throwback Thursday I want to give some dap to the Grace family. Each summer poet, educator and actor Omanii Abdullah sets up his hot dog stand near my office. He’s as famous for his country-style lemonade as he is for his spoken word performances. Omanii has specials at his stand, and one of my favorites is the Uncle Vince. It’s named for his brother Vincent Grace, who sadly passed away a few years ago. Vincent was a karate master who influenced a generation of fighters here in the city.
Sensei Vincent Grace (training at his studio, which was located on South Salina Street back in the day)
Piano Lesson
Wednesday, June 19th, 2013
Singer Frank McComb was the headliner for the 2013 Syracuse Juneteenth Celebration
Although the city celebrated the event on Saturday, the official day for Juneteenth (June 19) is today.
On Saturday the city got it’s first taste of soul vocalist Frank McComb, who was part of the free festival. The concert was held not too far from the Jerry Rescue Freedom Statue in historic Clinton Square.
Physically McComb resembles bassist Chris Walker and radio-personality Doug Banks. He has his roots in gospel and dabbles in jazz, but he has a vocal and playing style most reminiscent of a mid-80s Stevie Wonder (or some at the venue said Donny Hathaway).
McComb further showed his generosity by choosing a few Syracuse-area musicians to share the stage and play during his set (including beast of the beats Stephen Bender and Brownskin Band’s Nate Brown).
Although the show stared a little late, the crowd had no problem following his groove.
Syracuse-area drummer Stephen Bender was invited to play the set with McComb.
According to a promoter at the show, look for McComb to make a return to the area in September.
McComb warms up backstage before his set in Clinton Square.
Who Needs Miami
Tuesday, June 18th, 2013
Our Game 6: Calder Cup Finals at the War Memorial