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A Conversation With Lily Gershon, Ithaca Freeskool

Shea Lynch — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 19:14:50 +0000

When I attended the first Kitsch meeting of the Fall 2011 Semester I learned about the Ithaca Freeskool, a nonprofit volunteer community school inspired by similar getups in Santa Cruz, California. The conversation below was with volunteer Lily Gershon.

Shea: When did Ithaca Freeskool start?

Lily: Our earliest calendar is from 2007. Dirk Trachy and another early organizer had visited Santa Cruz California and seen their Freeskool in action. When they returned to Ithaca they started their own version here.

Shea: What is its main mission?

Lily: Freeskool is a grassroots, not for profit, all volunteer community building initiative that creates spaces where people teach and attend classes with one another without cost. Primarily, but not exclusively, geared towards adults, anyone can teach and anyone can attend. Freeskool fosters ties between people and provides access to skills and knowledge in an informal and empowering setting.

Shea: Tell me some logistics: cost of running the program, things the organization does to promote, etc.

Lily: We have three semesters a year. Each semester we need some money for printing, maybe 300 calendars at 10 cents each and the paper, maybe $20. Each semester we put up flyers, write press releases, email our mailing list and update our website and Facebook. We also just spread the word by telling people.

No one gets paid. Sometimes when we have money from grants or donations we make videos, buttons, and purchase snacks for social events.

Shea: Who are the staff members?

Lily: We don’t exactly have a “staff”, more like volunteers. They are me, Mckenzie Jones-Rounds, Dirk Trachy, Greg Rothman, Marina Gershon, Shira Golding and Ari Moore.

Shea: What are some of your favorite classes taught in the past?

Lily: Breakdancing, Capoiera, Mushroom Walk, Origami Night, Queer Erotica Writing Group, Bike Mechanics, Traditional and Experimental Animation, Improv class, DIY Movie Making.

Shea: For anyone just learning what Ithaca Freeskool is, what would you tell them?

Lily: Ithaca Freeskool is a group of people who organize free classes in and for the community. The classes are taught by anyone who has an interest in sharing their knowledge and skills. The classes are informal, held often in people’s homes, or public spaces. Anyone can attend. It’s a great way to discuss issues in a community and explore the kinds of things people are most currently interested in. And it’s an alternative to main stream education which often lacks flexibility and can be very costly. It’s a lot of fun participating in something that changes every semester, and brings in all the diverse interests of a community.

Questions about classes? Visit their website at ithacafreeskool.wordpress.com or e-mail the “staff” at ithaca_freeskool@riseup.net

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Cornell’s Melodramatics: Givin’ Em What They Want

Kathleen Jercich — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 01:31:08 +0000

It’s no small feat to take one of the glitziest, most tech-heavy productions on Broadway and summarily cram it into the Risley theater. Still, the Melodramatics’ production of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels makes the jump with aplomb, bringing charm and quirkiness into a show that never takes itself too seriously.

Ithaca College’s Eric Hagreen opens the show as aging con man Lawrence Jameson, looking strangely like a white-haired Chuck Bass. He’s an expert at the game but rapidly growing tired with the oh-so-dull prospect of seducing bored, wealthy women out of their money. As if on cue, out of the heavens stumbles Freddy Benson (IC’s Danny Bristoll), a small-change grifter looking to get glam. Add in one hilariously corrupt French chief of police (Alex Mogil) and everyone’s favorite wide-eyed heroine (Sarah Charles), and watch the shenanigans ensue.

Despite the occasional technical foul or line flub (it was the final dress, after all), the show is a masterpiece of professional-level vocal talent. And while there’s no Broadway-style spinning staircase, there is on-point comedic timing (dished out particularly viciously by Colleen Gburek’s Jolene Oaks) and a plot so full of twists that you, like Jameson’s conned women, will be left waking up the next morning feeling confused, but deeply, deeply satisfied.

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels opens Thursday, November 11 and plays for two weekends. Get tickets (fast!) at melodramaticstickets.com.

Kitsch Editors and Friends Bare All for Charity

Kathleen Jercich — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 21:35:15 +0000

You asked for it, folks (well, maybe not explicitly, but we could feel it), and we provided it: Kitsch Magazine is hosting its first-ever Burlesque Poetry Night!

Strap-ons and Sylvia Plath compilations optional.

Come cheer on your friends and mock your enemies as they struggle to read Keats through the haze of liquid-courage vodka tonics!

Level B, 11/11, 8:30-until we can’t stand to hear the sound of our own voices
$7 includes a $4 drink

See you there!

Ithaca is Grateful: Furthur at Barton Hall, 2/14/2010

Michelle Spektor — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 23:37:56 +0000

Most of us at Cornell know Barton Hall as the campus gymnasium, or the building where our most awful final exams take place. But unbeknownst to many current Cornellians, there exists a group of individuals out there for whom Barton Hall is more than a giant room with excessive echo. It is the site of the most legendary performance of one of the most influential bands of the century: The Grateful Dead. It is no wonder then, that Dead enthusiasts that follow the band around the country would flock to the Dead Head mecca of Barton Hall for the Furthur concert on February 14^th, 2010.Although I really like the Grateful Dead, I had never attended any of their shows or met any true Dead Heads until this concert (save my mother, who achieves honorary Dead Head status for having attended the Grateful Dead’s 1977 concert in Barton Hall, and some of her ex-Dead Head friends.) In the week before the show, I received the much-talked-about emails from the Cornell administration and police, warning me to watch out for Dead Heads sleeping in my dorm or picking through the garbage of dining halls. Many of us wondered why school officials were so nervous about a bunch of hippies storming Cornell’s campus for the weekend, so at the concert I sought to find out for myself who these Dead enthusiasts actually are.I arrived at Barton Hall over an hour before the show was set to start, with the specific purpose of talking to as many people as possible. Everyone I approached was extremely friendly and glad to answer my questions and share their experiences. Many of them couldn’t even tell me how many Dead concerts (which includes the Grateful Dead or any post-Grateful Dead bands) they have been to, most estimated that they had attended well over two hundred since the 1970’s. Others, who were a bit younger, only started following the band recently and had only gone to between ten and fifty Dead concerts over the last ten or fifteen years.Surprisingly, out of the twenty-five people I talked to, only one had been to a Dead performance at Barton Hall (no, not the 1977 one, the Phil Lesh and Bob Dylan concert in 1999.) Even those who had followed the Dead from coast to coast to see 200+ concerts over the last forty years never made it to the epic Barton Hall, where the Grateful Dead and post-Grateful Dead bands have performed numerous times since the 1960’s. This seemed statistically impossible to me, but it only added to the excitement for the show. Many felt that Barton Hall is a truly legendary place, and that they were really becoming a part of history by attending the Furthur concert there. Some were dismayed by the lack of booze and food, but that didn’t seem to detract from the anticipation that saturated the air in the minutes before the concert began.As soon as Phil Lesh and Bob Weir hit the stage, I was transported into another universe. Not only was the music phenomenal, the energy in Barton Hall that night was unparalleled and truly out of this world. The area up near the stage was filled with throngs of people swaying, singing along, and smoking their joints, while in the slightly less crowded back area of Barton Hall, I spotted several people having intense spiritual experiences, repeatedly twirling in circles with their arms outstretched and long skirts billowing around them. The camaraderie and vigor of the audience permeated the foundations of the building, and transformed it into a unique spiritual and musical utopia.I won’t comment further on the kinds of substances individuals managed to bring into Barton Hall despite the security checks and police presence, but during the intermission I did take note of the Wharf Rats (www.wharfrat.org) table set up near the merchandise. The Wharf Rats is an organization whose membership consists of concertgoers that have pledged to live alcohol and drug-free lives. They attend as many concerts as possible in order to provide support to other concertgoers who may need them. During intermission, I stood silently by their table for an Alcoholics-Anonymous-esque group discussion, where many admitted to struggling with drugs and alcohol. One man proudly announced that this was his third time attending a Dead concert in a completely sober state, and another, a Cornell alum, discussed how his involvement in The Wharf Rats changed his life.While Furthur concluded the night with a fantastic performance of I Know You Rider, the uplifting energy of the audience reached a mind-blowing peak and shook me to the core. I was completely absorbed in the music, but I couldn’t help but notice a man a few feet away from me with the full Dead-Head getup- the dreads, the beard, the eyebrow ring, and the hippie clothes – clutching a rose, swaying with his eyes closed, and sporting the most blissful and true smile I have ever seen. I realized that contrary to popular belief at Cornell, a Dead Head isn’t a homeless hippie that warrants warnings by university administrations into sending alarming emails to their students. The Dead Heads seemed to think of themselves as people who live for the music and the cascade of epic experiences that they could never have otherwise. MEET THE DEAD HEADSLeif and Soosie of Niagara Falls, NY, left, have attended 100 and 30 Dead concerts, respectively. Leif attended the Phil Lesh and Bob Weir concert at Barton Hall in 1999.Sam, right, has attended well over 200 Dead concerts since his first one in 1973; this is his first time at Barton Hall. He heard the Grateful Dead for the first time on the radio in 1970. Has actually fallen asleep at a couple of concerts (how is that possible?). “You never know what a [Dead] show will be like until you’re there.”Ben, Jamie, and daughter Mary, originally from Ohio, traveled as far as California, Florida, and New York to see the Dead. Ben has attended 200 Dead concerts since 1988, Jamie has attended at least ten, and the Furthur concert at Cornell was their daughter’s fourth Dead concert. First time at Barton Hall — described the venue as “legendary”.Jacky and Cory of Buffalo, NY have attended over 30 Dead concerts, their first in 2000. “We’re really excited to be here, and looking forward to a good show. We’re especially excited because it’s Valentine’s Day…that makes it really meaningful.”The shirts in the photograph are for sale, and can be purchased along with other clothes and eclectic jewelry at Jacky and Cory’s website, www.applejaxie.etsy.com.Phil and Vicky of Binghamton, NY have attended at least 80 shows since 1979. “I feel like I’m tapping into a piece of history by being at Barton Hall tonight.”

Plugs for Stuff I’m Doing

D. Evan Mulvihill — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 13:59:07 +0000

On this lovely Thursday night (tonight, that is) at 8pm, I’m bringing the folks at IVY — that Ithaca College-produced show that Cornellians love to hate — to Willard Straight Hall’s Memorial Room for a sneak preview of their second season, which debuts April 14th. Come meet the people who pretend to be people who are supposed to represent you, Cornellian, in some approximate fashion. Yeah.

Another thing I’m working on is called Sneuth, which stands for snoop and sleuth (and maybe snark) all put into one clunky yet surprisingly cool-sounding neologism. Our first project is Alternatournell, an alternate look at Cornell in video form as above. Check it out, and tell prospective freshman about it PLEASE. The first installment will be out Monday. Even if you don’t like the video content (it’s jerky at times :/ ), Get Low is involved. TO THE WINDOWWW. TO THE WALLLL.

‘Malgam Mondays: Ann Coulter Stars in CW’s Newest Feature

D. Evan Mulvihill — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 22:29:22 +0000

Since I’m really into alliteration and forcing myself to do things on a weekly basis, I’m introducing ‘Malgam Mondays. This start-off-the-week-on-the-informed-foot feature will, with a few exceptions, be a regurgitation/reanimation of the stuff I’ve starting posting to the News Ticker, which shows up on CornellWatch itself on the top right side but not on the main Kitsch-Ka-Blogs page. This way I can wipe it clean each week. Here’s the best of the boring things that happened since I started the Ticker. Click on for even more boring stuff.

Least appreciated Cornell alum in hot water over technicality: Ann Coulter voted in Connecticut while living in New York. In other news, no one really cares. Except maybe the person who photoshopped the image at left. [Cornell Insider] P.S. We apologize to any Nazis offended by the image.

Milstein hits new roadblock: The plans for the construction of Architecture building Milstein Hall have already taken 10 years to push through. But no! It must not go forward, claim annoying profs like Vincent Mulcahy, who doth protest the lack of accessibility to differently-abled persons: “A handicap [sic] person who might want to study architecture here, it’s impossible.” [News 10 Now]

The nerve!: Either CornellWatch is too young, too unread, and/or too unfabulous, or we got SNUBBED by USNews.com in their “Best Alternative Media Outlet 2008″ contest. Whatever. IvyGate is in dead last, so we’re going to try to be schadenfreude-y about that. [USNews.com]

MetaEz predictz acceptance rate of 18.6%: The first time it’s ever dipped below 20%! But we still pale in comparison to Harvard’s 7.1% for the Class of 2012…

Location location location: Google Latitude inaugurates the beginning of an era where stalking isn’t just about obsessively reading your stalkee’s status updates on Facebook. CornellWatch inaugurates new style of posting news ticker tidbits…

The original Ticker posts:
Cornell Review blog undercovers the secret lives of frat boys. And DOES NOT APPROVE.
…Cornell has a “University Blog Service”? Curious.
…D-Skortz decides not to divest from either Israel or Gaza because, unlike Darfur, “the situation in and near Israel has been characterized by cyclic difficulties leading to violent acts by both sides.”
…Bad Headlines Continue to Plague the Sun
…Conservative rag Cornell Review enters the blogging fray, and blogrolls me! Adorbs.
…NY Daily News cares about our plight!
…Boston Globesman: “Visiting this city in winter seems crazy.”
…Big Red Hoopsmen Rack Up 15 Consecutive Home Wins
…CU’s First VP Ceases to Live
…Hockey Third in Entire Nation
…Architecture Program Ranked No. 1 by Designintelligence
…Endowment tumbles 27%
…Tracy Mitrano guest-blogs for Chron of Higher Ed

Sinful Gays Sodomize Entire Page of Daily Sun

D. Evan Mulvihill — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 01:44:29 +0000

HOT OFF THE PRESSES: The Daily Sun made a landmark move today in deciding to print the columns of two writers known to be flamingly gay on the same exact page. It is unclear whether the publication itself was a heartwarming act of tolerance toward God-forsaken faggots or if the faggots in question, by some mischevious act such as they are wont to engage in, highjacked the electronic and mechanical methods by which the Sun normally engages in printing its newspaper thing. In any case, John-David Brown discussed his sinful acts of sodomy at length in his column, a column that was a narcissistic, self-indulgent litany of ” ‘interesting’ tidbits about [himself].” The one I speak of is number 13, a number known to be in violation of God’s Code because of the pagan belief that it is bad luck: “I have a premature ejactulation problem when I’m on Adderal or trying to be on top. Did you know that about me? I think not.” Did you know that I didn’t want to know that? I think so. And Peter Fritch’s column was equally, if not more, blasphemous:

Fritch, who has publicly acknowledged the fact enjoys being a Sodomite in a godless article about fag hags, scrawled a screed decrying the fact that his pet extracurricular activity, a rag called Kitsch magazine that must clearly have taken time away from praying to God to start talking to us again, was not funded by the SAFC. He even made a snippy comment: “The SAFC does indeed do an astounding job addressing [their mission of quality of life for students], establishing a punitive system that makes Guantanamo Bay look like Aspen.” You know what both of those cities look like to me? SODOM. In any case, it’s clear the pair of them should be sent to Camp Pray the Gay Away, a fine program that has successfully deprogrammed a number of these fabulous robot people that New Yorkers call “The Gays.”

Also: I am the Gay Best Friend in question and I have been told that there is a crucial point of misunderstanding in Number 22: “I’ve slept in bed with my gay best friend numerous times, but we’ve never done anything. Except for early on in our friendship when I forefully mouth-raped him.” The instrument of violation is currently in question, and I must say that by the crude term “mouth-rape” he actually meant “make-out-raped” me. What occurred was that he beseeched me to make out with him for a good five minutes, after which point I begrudgingly complied. Burn in hell, JD. And you too, Peter.

The Women’s Resource Center Has Sold Out

D. Evan Mulvihill — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 04:54:27 +0000

Last semester, conservatives bristled at the fact that their (parents’) hard-earned money was being spent on an event that instructed doe-eyed college kids in the wonderful, sinful ways of buttsex. They even showed up to protest! (And the Daily Sun caught it on video.) This semester’s Women’s Resource Center production was a bit less, shall we say, ass-positive; and, despite certain scatological inclinations, it was kinda disappointingly tame.

The event, called “Sex and Bacon” after speaker Sarah Katherine Lewis’s new book of the same name, found the plus-size prostitute/porn star narrating two of her amusing stories and engaging in some hot Q&A action. A real live microcelebrity! At Cornell! Still, “Anal Sex 101″ motivated College Republicans to idiotically dry-hump one another doggie-style and make placards demanding “PAY FOR YOUR OWN ANAL EDUCATION.” Instead, we were treated to the “mystery” of Baby Ruth Man — a pervy patron of Butterscotch’s Live Lingerie Tanning who inexplicably enjoyed masturbating into a washcloth (no touching!) while Lewis and her ilk consumed Baby Ruth candy bars suggestively. Lewis’s writing is elegantly hilarious, particularly when microwaving the candy bar elicits the climactic realization:

No. Fucking. Way. But yes, the mystery of Baby Ruth Man had suddenly become completely clear to me… the melted Baby Ruth’s resemblance to fecal matter was undeniable… The size and shape of the bar suddenly made sense… only Baby Ruth was organically round and bumpy. The peanuts added a touch of realism. Baby Ruth Man was paying us to eat shit.”

Well shit. Anyway, the stories were good, except reading pre-prepared material is by its nature not terribly audience-engaging. The Q&A got a little better — especially because Lewis wrote her cell phone number on the board and encouraged texting in queries. As a sex worker, this gal is definitely an anomaly in ways besides her (only moderately buxom) weight. Her views on objectification of women in porn:

The sex industry objectifies everyone. It teaches us that erotic affection is something you can do for pay, which I think is just essentially flawed… instead of actually making themselves into a person that’s able to receive honest affection, people just take a short-cut and receive ersatz affection.

For a gal who spent a large chunk of her adult life — it’s been twelve years since her fateful foray into Butterscotch’s — using sex work as a way to inspire and fund her true passion of writing, this view might seem a bit unforgiving. But hey, as she announced at the event: she just got engaged to her “partner.” (It’s a he.) This might just be the most conservative you’re allowed to be in the sex industry. But, damn, where’s the anal sexy fun in that?

PS: A note to the CWRC: when one makes a commitment to providing “aphrodisiacs” at one’s event, it might be wise to avoid including Bagel Bites. We realize that middle school slumber parties were rife with sexual tension, but we’d rather not be reminded of that one time Sally Voorhees neared me, her pizza breath increasingly pungent, cheesy saliva crescendoing into cascades of… wait, sorry, I think Lewis is rubbing off on me.