April 5th 4-5:00 PM at Zero Station

for more info go to the maine chapter of the Japan America Society website

Other Salon News:

Yes yes, we are all missing the regular activity of the Salon. This “hiatus” will come to an end soon as the organizers of the “salon” find time to meet and come up with a plan of action to have a few more events before summer, and to have a regular if not hectic fall schedule. There is plenty of “work” to do. Remember to sign up for Move ON as these events sometimes take place at the Salon and if you are interested in gardening and sustainable practices check out the Portland Permaculture group who uses the Salon space in the winter months. http://permaculture.meetup.com/58/

Stay posted and keep informed.

Tonight February Meetup: Rain Gardens w/Mary Gilbertson held at ZeroStation
For more info go to to the metup site

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Thanks for everyone who got out on the Snowy Sunday Caucus- WOOHOO! A sea change of Democracy!

Although I personally attended only the second of the two Congressional Candidate Forums, I felt fortunate that Maine has such good people running for public office. And despite my seemingly endless ability to be pessimistic about our National state of affairs, sharing the same space, the same food and drink with others from my community, some who are similar and some who are very different from me, made me feel fortunate as well. I always walk away feeling like I have gained from listening to other’s perspecitves.

SALON HIATUS:

I am only one of the several individuals who make up the Ad Hoc group that essentially makes the decisions of what gets presented at CitizenSalon. I am also (as partner to the owner of ZeroStation) writing to inform you all that CitizenSalon is here for the long- haul but in our quieter role this past year, it is yet again about to get quieter, as we make a personal move of our home. Just a few miles from our current digs, but importantly back within the Portland city line. For a while life is about to get very hectic for us, and there will be little to no room for the offerings at CitizenSalon. But, fear not! As it is an election year we are bound, in the least, to celebrate on January 9th 2009! More importantly, there is important work to do to make change possible.

DONATIONS REQUESTED:

Also, in addition to this complication of life, we have also witnessed the untimely but not surprising end-of-life for our large screen projector. It had been donated by Maine Med (as it was a dinosaur for them) and not worth the time and money for them to fix . However, as a “freebie” for us, it was perfect. ZeroStation thankfully gave it a home, invested significant time and money to get it up and running and kept it running for the past five years. Happily, it gave the salon some of it’s unique styling, and it will be missed dearly.

As now there is a need to be filled we are kindly asking that if you would like to donate funds earmarked for the purchase of a new quality projector for ease of presenters power-point presentations and and for the public screening of films for free, please send checks to Zero Station, 222 Anderson Street Portland Maine. All donations are NOT tax deductible as CitizenSalon (the Ad Hoc group made the intentional decision to not be an official Non Profit organization so that we would retain our right for freedom of expression as a group of individuals gathering). Any amount will be appreciated, and will be put to good use. If you have questions about the cost of a projector please direct your questions to Zero Station. Hopefully by April we will be back up and screening films. With several documentary movies that are ready to be screened in the Salon type of environment we know now that this is a significant thing we can offer to the community. Some of the films we would like to present are Garbage and Everything’s Cool.

SAVE THIS DATE:

April 5th Saturday at 4:00 The Japanese American Society of Maine will be presenting Lee Schneller’s Gardening with Water. She has an impressive website and we feel this will link in nicely with the Permaculture Lecture Series that has been utilizing our space. For more information go to her Chellie Pingree, Adam Cote, and Steve Meister
Next Wednesday January 23rd: We will be hosting, Ethan Strimling, Michael Brennan and Mark Lawrence

There have been changes made to this schedule and the candidates seem to be shifting their schedules around so please bear in mind that there may again be changes, but this is the latest news on this .Please check out their websites and bring your questions, this will not be a debate, but rather a discussion among the attendees. Doors will open at 6:00 and discussion will begin approximately at 6:30. Feel free to bring food and drinks to share.

All events take place at Zero Station, 222 Anderson Street, Portland, ME 04101

Also TOMORROW night at Zero Station (essentially inthe same space as the Salons) there is a panel discussion “Is Gradual Change Possible?”. Michael Hillard of USM, Penny Jordan of Cape ELizabeth Farm Committee and Rose Strout and Dee Clarke from Homeless Voices for Justice and Juan Perez-Febles will talk about issues in the current staging of Wallace Shawn’s The Fever and the discussion about the widening gap of rich and poor. For more info go to FEVERFEST (link in post below).

Possibly of interest the local Permaculture Group will be hosting two events in the upcoming weeks you may want to take note of :
Jan 22 is Max Jacobs on Medicinal Mushrooms (with powerpoint)
Feb 12 is Mary Gilberston on creating Rain Gardens (powerpoint also, I believe)
Both starting with potluck, etc. for more info got to the local permaculture meetup site.

On a related note Lu Bauer sent me an email about Maine Democratic Caucuses and some Caucus F.A.Q.*
With Lu’s permission I have printed it in its entirety here on the next page

It begins and you are taken through a journey of a person’s mind as Shawn’s genius uses the guise of a fever to take us in and out of our reality in layers from clarity to confusion from vomiting to joy.

Unfortunate for a Salon to be so poorly attended, but we did have a discussion and a sneak peak to the upcomming panel discussion on Tuesday, as Michael Hillard was also present. Not that we do this to gain anything other than to offer something to the community as a way for discourse and communal growth to occur. When we have a low attendance night, it is usually richer for those who come but a loss for those who do not. Fortunately, this event is one that repeats, and it should not be missed. It was chosen specifically for the material in which it covers. It is a hard look at ourselves, at war, at economics, class and reality. And it is everything and more that small theater is, mind expanding and exceptionally well done.

Also in addition to the play being performed Friday, Saturday and Sunday of this weekend and Thurs- Sunday next week., Next Tuesday night January 15th, there is a Panel Discussion “Is Gradual Change Possible” on Poverty in Maine with Michael Hillard USM Economic Professor (who discussed What is the Matter with Kansas with us years ago), Michael Brennan and others. To see more about this and more about Open Waters Theater and this performance of The Fever go to FEVERFEST (link is also below in post).

On a related but unrelated note, while searching for images to use, I found this
go to next page

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CitizenSalon will have special sneak peaks of both Actors Jennie Hahn and Keith Anctil performances, followed by a discussion with the Actors.

As always bring food and drinks to share if you care to.

CitizenSalon events are free and open to the public. Feel free to share this email with others so that they too can sign up to be on our email list.

Upcoming Events: January 16th and 23rd An Opportunity to meet the Maine Congressional Candidates.

January 9th A partial reading of Wallace Shawn’s THE FEVER by Open Waters Theatre Arts followed by an open discussion on this provocative piece

January 16th Maine’s Congressional Candidates

January 23rd Maine’s Congressional Candidates
More soon

Also on January 9th (tentative date, check back for confirmation), There will be a sneak preview of the Open Water theatre production of Wallace Shawn’s The Fever. A portion of the dialogue will be read with a discussion to follow.

January 16th and 23rd we will be hosting our congressional candidates, see earlier post for more info and watch for email updates…
Happy New Year for those we will not see until then!

Our screening of Maxed Out the film, was intended to coincide with the timeliness of the holidays. It would seem that it has become part of the American tradition to over-extend ourselves with purchasing of vast quantities of stuff. This fact coupled with the sudden awareness that our illusion of continual growth; be it of funds, equity lines or the value of just about anything has come under recent scrutinty as the housing crisis picks up speed. “Debt, Debt and more Debt” may no longer be the Nation’s mantra. Let us see what this film has to say about it.
A small and very casual conversation about the fate of our state and country as we are faced with looming economic uncertainty and rising health care etc… will occur after the movie.
Film will begin promptly at 6:30. Please feel free to bring snacks or drinks to share.

Please note there is no CitizenSalon event on November 7th but save the date December 5th is the film screening of Maxed Out - see below.