S: Is for sorrow as guitar legend Les Paul dies

The music world morned yesterday as jazz great Les Paul died. Musicians owe a great deal of debt to this man who pioneered the multi track recording which allowed overdubbing, delayed effects and music to permeate the soul. Les out of a disability developed the electric guitar which "made the sound of rock and roll possible and proved anyone can over come adversity. In 1984 he was in a car accident that almost took his life and broke his elbow. Being told he would never regain movement, Les had the doctors set the elbow at a 90 degree angle and invented "The Log." His playing style, was a virtuoso of licks, trills, chording sequences, fretting techniques and timing, which set him apart and inspired artists from all over the world. The guitars which he invented, were bought by Gibson and became the most used versions, especially after Eric Clapton, began using them. With over 40 albums his career spans a lifetime of achievement. Together with his wife singer Mary Ford and under the development of Bing Crosby they created the way forward for music to sound.

Achievement followed Les, especially in the 70's and 80's In 1978, Les Paul and Mary Ford were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. In the late 1980s, Paul returned to performing live, receiving a Grammy Trustees Award for his lifetime achievements. In 1988, Paul was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Jeff Beck. He was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in May 2005 for his development of the solid-body electric guitar and inducted into the National Broadcasters Hall of Fame. In 2006, at the age of 90, he won two Grammys for his album Les Paul & Friends: American Made World Played. New Yorkers could see him every Monday night, accompanied by a trio which included guitarist Lou Pallo, bassist Nicki Parrott and pianist John Colianni, at the Iridium Jazz Club on Broadway. Paul was the godfather of rock guitarist Steve Miller of the Steve Miller Band, to whom Paul gave his first guitar lesson.

On August 13, 2009, at 94 Les Paul died of complications from pneumonia in White Plains, New York. He will be sorely missed, but his music and his contribution, to an art form he loved, will always be remembered and that is a F.A.C.T.

T: Is for transit hikes again?

Ok, so I personally think the MTA is the biggest rip off around. They have a monopoly on the way people get around. They have lied about what they own and if they really are completely in debt and now.... two months after the MTA raised fares 10 percent, officials now say they cannot rule out another increase next year to fund an arbitrator's ruling granting transit workers a hefty raise. Now again I have a problem with this because a lot of the workers are the nasty people around. Just because you belong to a union does not give you the right to be a ass. Wasn't there a time when the customer was right? Now it seems like a line in a fairy tale. The ruling grants members of Transit Workers Union Local 100 wage hikes of 11 percent from this year through 2011, including 4 percent this year, 4 percent next year and 3percent in 2011. The MTA had budgeted for only a 1.5 percent increase next year. MTA officials say the contract will cost the agency $350 million more over the next three years. "This award is extremely disappointing and fails to recognize the economic recession in the region and the impact of this downturn on the MTA," Helena Williams, the agency's interim chief executive director, said in a statement. "There will be a significant impact on the MTA's bottom line."

The MTA, which state lawmakers rescued from an unprecedented $1.8-billion budget deficit, enacted 10 percent fare hikes in June. It had not planned for another increase until 2011, when fares are slated to rise 7.5 percent.

MTA board member Mitchell Pally of Stony Brook said the agency "can't take anything off the table" for next year, including another hike. My question is how much are the executives getting now???? These are F.A.C.T.S we need to know.

C: Is for ending child abuse

This was on a friend of mines facebook page. We all need to sign this! Abuse needs to stop instead of escalate!

A Petition to: Hon. Sheldon Silver, Speaker, NY State Assembly
Hon. Malcolm Smith, President , NY State Senate
Hon. Pedro Espada, Jr., Majority Leader, NY State Senate
Hon. Dean Skelos, Minority Leader, NY State Senate
Hon. John Sampson, Leader, Democratic Conference, NY State Senate
Your State Assembly Member
Your State Senator
We Need to Protect NY's Children and Stop Shielding Sexual Abusers
I strongly urge you and your colleagues to support the Child Victim's Act of New York in a Special Session of the Legislature this fall (A2596B, Markey / S5893, Ruth Hassell Thompson).

There are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of UNKNOWN sex abusers of children living and working among us -- in schools, churches, synagogues, youth groups, and especially in families. To find and pursue them, our legislators must change the New York State statute of limitations (SOL), as two special grand juries in New York have declared.

According to the FBI, 1 in 5 of ALL children are sexually abused before they are 18! Many predators are life-long abusers, with as many as 100 victims. Yet, only 10% of this abuse is ever reported to authorities.

This epidemic is made worse by those who have criminally covered up for abusers and are themselves shielded by the state's statute. For example, two special grand juries in NYS -- Suffolk and Westchester -- have uncovered orchestrated criminal actions by religious institutions using deception and intimidation to delay victims from legal recourse until the statute of limitations expired.

There is one proven way to discover predators and their protectors.
"...the NYS legislature should enact a statute similar to the state of California that revives civil actions for damages for a period of one year...." -- Suffolk County Special Grand Jury.

When California enacted a similar law, it discovered more than 300 undetected predators. Delaware, a much smaller state, has discovered more than 60. Given that predators have multiple victims, thousands of children have now been protected in just these two pioneering states.

New York's children deserve this protection, too.
The Child Victims Act of New York will:

Expose UNKNOWN AND SHIELDED predators by suspending the statute of limitations for just one year, allowing cases to be revived.
Provide justice for victims who were unfairly or criminally denied their day in court.
The limit would be 35 years after age 18.
Provide additional time for future victims to overcome their trauma, extending the SOL from age 23 to 28.
Applies to all sectors, public and private
Save our state extensive financial and social costs by reducing the number of victims and abusers
Please protect New York's children. Don't shield their abusers!
I support the Child Victims Act of New York (A2596B/S5893).
Petitioner:
Address:
(with City)
Zip Code:

We can make a difference and that is a F.A.C.T.

A: Is for art that glares at life

The disease of the year seems to be bi-polar. "Next to Normal" deals with a wife's descent into madness, as she pulls everyone else down with her and then sets herself free. The new play at Primary Stages "A Lifetime Burning," deals with the same issue but brings into play the question of: when does truth begin or lies end. This is one of the most insightful plays, I have seen in a long while. Playwright Cusi Cram understands what those of us who are not mad, deal with, in a humorous and deeply moving way. Cram's lines bite into the heart of the matter with "We are the stars of our own f---ing movies" and "Your like a maze inside a thimble." The play centers around Emma, Jennifer Westfeldt who has just published an autobiographical novel about herself. Nothing about her book is true and her sister Tess, Christina Kirk is beyond fed up. Tess has been dealing with the manic Emma, being pushed into the background all her life and even more so since her parents died. Now that Tess's life is failing apart, she is no longer willing to deal with the attention craving Emma. Not only has Emma lied about her life but her dead parents and Tess. You see Irish Emma, has claimed to have been raised in the ghetto by drug-addicted South African parents instead of being well off. "A Lifetime Burning" is based on Margaret Seltzer, whose memoir "Love and Consequences" was fictional. Seltzer was also outed by her sister.

Isabel Keating lightens the sibling cat fighting as Lydia, the high powered jaded publishing magnate who encourages Emma and gives her a hefty advance. She is one of the best components of the play. Raul Castillo also adds to the downfall as the young under privileged student she uses to create her fictional world. Pam MacKinnonm directs this dark comedy like a roller coaster of emotions, so by the end you see that damaged souls are every where you look and nothing is as it seems. I leave you with a section of dialogue from the play " When did truth become important? Since the American imagination failed." "A Lifetime Burning" proves that truth can set you free and that is a F.A.C.T.

Playing at 59 East 59th until September 5th.





"A Lifetime Burning," which takes its title from T.S. Elliot's poem "East Coker," runs through Sept. 5.

F: Is for downtown food

Ward III, is the new venue brought to you by an all-star team of bartenders from The Odeon, Ella, Grace Bar and Macao Trading Co. So think cocktails made to custom perfection. This 25-foot wood bar made entirely from vintage Singer sewing macines. The cocktail list offers items like the Baby Eveline (made with vodka, prosecco, strawberries, Peychaud's bitters and fresh lemon juice, $12). How about Ward 111 (Makers Mark, strawberries, lime, egg white, peychauds bitters & nutmeg) or The Collective (blended scotch, Dolin sweet vermouth, lemon, honey, egg white). The Singer (rye, fresh raspberries, orange bitters, fresh lemon, honey water). As for food...how does wild mushroom lasagna, mac 'n' cheese, bacon wrapped dates, and deviled eggs, sound?. Sounds yuppy right? No, think vintage Tribeca with exposed brick. Ward 111 at 111 Reade St seems like a new place to hang your hat and that is a F.A.C.T.