1-5 p.m. Sunday, March 14 workshop at The Sanctuary for Independent Media in Troy.

Independent media creation is flourishing with the proliferation of affordable cameras and recorders. The ability to digitally shoot and store more material than was feasible in an analog model has been a boon, but it has also produced greater amounts of material to organize and manage, as well as engendering new sets of concerns regarding the persistence of media collections.

David Rice, a consultant on a wide range of preservation topics, has years of experience as an archivist with media organizations and in developing recommendations for metadata standards. He will be giving practical training on the management and maintenance of digital media through best practices and the nuts-and-bolts uses of metadata that will help you better organize, access, re-use, and preserve your materials.

This workshop covers four key areas:

Creating Digital Materials: Whether you’re digitizing audio or video from tapes or migrating born-digital media, the settings, software, hardware, and other options available as part of the process have a definite effect on the long-term quality and ability to access your work. Luckily there are a number of best practice standards for creating digital media that can be applied whether you’re using a high-end editing bay or the many open source and affordable solutions out there.

Asset Management: Systems for digital asset management offer lots of promise but not always adequate results for the many specific needs of production and maintenance of audiovisual materials. Learn what you need to be aware of when deciding how to manage your files and what kind of cost-effective options are available.

Metadata Matters: In the midst of a project we’ve all had the experience of saving and documenting files in whatever seems like the quickest, most convenient manner at the moment, only to try and return to them 6 months later and spend too much frustrated time searching for them on the hard drive or trying to determine which file is the correct version. Find out how consistent application of metadata practices can help you manage your files as well as better re-use, share, distribute, and monitor them for quality.

"Digital formats and materials are inherently fragile and any strategy that can help you access and preserve them for future use is essential. Media management is a basic necessity for anyone working in a digital environment," says Jeanne M. Keefe, who took last season's digital archiving workshop. Keefe is Media & Digital Assets Librarian at RPI.

You can find out more about workshop leader David Rice and his work at www.avPreserve.com.

Workshop details

$40. Advance registration required. Contact workshop - at - mediasanctuary.org or call (518) 272-2390 for more information.

More about our Spring 2010 "Be The Media" Workshop Series:

Our "Be The Media" workshop series provides local artists, producers, and citizen journalists with opportunities to acquire and improve the skills necessary for successful and powerful independent media-making. We offer an interdisciplinary approach to diverse media arts practices with new technologies, with core focus on creative practice and artistry.

Scholarships are available. We recognize that while this is a pretty good deal for a media workshop, not everyone can afford it. We highly value having a diverse group of workshop participants, and we encourage anyone who is interested in attending, but unable to pay the fee, to apply for a scholarship. Do you know someone who could use a scholarship?

The Be The Media! workshop series is presented with the Hudson Mohawk Independent Media Center and funded in part by the New York State Council on the Arts.

Click on WGXC or WGXC Newsroom for more information. Send news, tips, etc. to news@wgxc.org.

The New York Environmental Protection Fund’s Local Waterfront Revitalization Program will provide $38,542 for the city of Hudson to construct a canoe/kayak launch at the southern end of Henry Hudson Riverfront Park with a secure storage rack for canoes/kayaks will be provided and $22,500 for the village of Athens to construct a dockage system for non-motorized boaters to complete its Fourth Street boat launch, The Business Review (Albany) reports.

WGXC and the Mid Hudson League of Women Voters will host a "Meet the Candidates" forum at 10:30 a.m. Sat. March 20 at the Catskill Community Center for politicians running in Village of Catskill elections.

WGXC will air the forum live on an internet web stream at www.wgxc.org, and is inviting all members of the local media to cover the event. Recordings of the events will be posted as quickly as possible here and at www.wgxc.org.

For more information:
Fawn Potash/League of Women Voters, 518-929-5764, fawnpotash@yahoo.com

Basic Political Debate/Meet the Candidates Event Format

Event should be no more than 90 minutes long. Candidates need to arrive 15 minutes before start of event. Substitute speakers are not permitted. No campaign literature or materials will be allowed inside the room.

Lots will be drawn in advance to determine the order of speakers for opening remarks. Moderator will be introduced by the sponsoring organization’s spokesperson. Moderator will introduce panel members and go over the rules. Each candidate will have a 3-minute opening statement.

Audience members will be asked to silence all electronic devices. The audience will be provided with index cards/writing implements with which to write questions.

1. No statements
2. No personal remarks
3. All questions must be legible
4. The moderator will choose questions and paraphrase for clarity/appropriateness.

The candidates will have one minute (or two, depending on number of candidates and time available) to answer. The moderator will call on candidates in succeeding order to answer. The moderator has the right to rule on all questions. No one else will be permitted to see the questions before, during or after the event. [Candidates should be reminded that they may take notes and cover issues/comments they missed during the Q&A as part of their closing statement.]

Depending on time available, questions may be permitted from the floor. Questions will be limited to one minute and will be answered as above. The same rules apply as with written questions.

Each candidate may have a 2 or 3-minute closing statement.

The moderator will close the event and invite members of the audience to remain in order to have personal conversations with the candidates (must be agreed upon in advance by candidates).

SPEAKING TIME WILL BE STRICTLY ENFORCED OUT OF RESPECT FOR THE OTHER CANDIDATES AND THE AUDIENCE’S RIGHT TO HEAR ALL CANDIDATES SPEAK.

Candidates are encouraged to bring campaign literature. A table should be set up outside the room for the purpose of distributing the literature. Each candidate will be permitted to display a packet of flyers, position papers, and letters of endorsement or other campaign material. However, each candidate will be allowed only ONE stack of information on the table unless the organizer permits more.

Click on WGXC or WGXC Newsroom for more information. Send news, tips, etc. to news@wgxc.org.

Click on WGXC or WGXC Newsroom for more information. Send news, tips, etc. to news@wgxc.org.

Congressman Scott Murphy (NY-20) will host a tele-town hall Wednesday, March 10, at 6:30 p.m. to discuss the economy and job creation. Residents of the 20th District (which includes Greene and Columbia counties) can participate in the call by registering with Congressman Murphy’s office at 202-225-5614 or email NY20.townhall@mail.house.gov with your name, address, and home phone number by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, March 9. Those who have signed up will receive a phone call Wednesday evening inviting them to join the call. WGXC Online Radio will also air the tele-town hall, so if you do not register in time you can listen to the WGXC web stream online at www.WGXC.org. When you click on the link there, the stream will play in your computer's default media player.

Click on WGXC or WGXC Newsroom for more information. Send news, tips, etc. to news@wgxc.org.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlwHO9N5YGo&hl=en_US&fs=1&]
Click on WGXC or WGXC Newsroom for more information. Send news, tips, etc. to news@wgxc.org.

Kinderhook's Chris Gibson is the latest Republican announced to challenge Democrat Congressman Scott Murphy in New York’s 20th Congressional District election later this year. Gibson, a Colonel in the U.S. Army who served in the first Iraq war and Kosovo, made his announcement Saturday afternoon at the Winding Brook Country Club in Valatie, hosted by former Republican candidate for governor and personal friend John Faso. Burnt Hills' Patrick Ziegler, Saratoga Springs lawyer David Harper, and Queensbury Supervisor Dan Stec have also announced their desire to be the Republican nominee.

A co-fundraiser for the Catskill Community Center and WGXC.
Fri. March 12, 6:30-9:30 p.m.

At the Catskill Community Center, 344 Main St., Catskill, NY 12414
518-719-8244

Admission: $10 individual; $15 couple; $20 family

Performing during the Contra Dance is The Russet Trio with caller Eric Hollman. No Solutions (from Athens), Loud Youth (from Copake), and Jonathin Woodin (son of Catskill Community Orchestra Director David Woodin), all youth bands, will perform in the front room (Annex). With food and beverages, and child care also being offered. A contra dance, sometimes called a New England folk dance, is a partnered dance in which couples dance in two facing lines of indefinite length. Eric Hollman has over 20 years'
dance experience, and is a popular swing and Cajun teacher and contra dance caller in the Hudson Valley and beyond. For more information about Eric Hollman and contra dancing in the Hudson Valley see:
http://www.cdny.org/hollman.html

ABOUT THE CATSKILL COMMUNITY CENTER
http://www.catskillcommunitycenter.org/
The Catskill Community Center is committed to providing fun, creative
and challenging programs to the youth of our community. Our goal is to
develop programs in the arts, athletics, education and recreation, as
an opportunity for all of our youth. Engaging the entire community to
contribute their ideas, talents and resources is integral to our
efforts. What benefits our youth benefits our entire community.

ABOUT WGXC
http://www.WGXC.org
WGXC is a community radio station that will go on the air at 90.7-FM
throughout Greene and Columbia counties later this year. WGXC is a
community-run media project, re-envisioning radio as an innovative
platform for local participation. Our inclusive programming connects
diverse voices, and distributes information across the public spectrum
in New York's Greene and Columbia counties.

Click on WGXC or WGXC Newsroom for more information. Send news, tips, etc. to news@wgxc.org.

Leigh Hornbeck of Capitol Confidential is reporting that Patrick Ziegler, 37, of Burnt Hills, will launch a campaign to unseat Democratic Congressman Scott Murphy in the 20th Congressional District at 4 p.m. today at Good Times restaurant in Ballston Lake. Ziegler becomes the third declared Republican candidate, the others are Saratoga Springs lawyer David Harper and Queensbury Supervisor Dan Stec. "Ziegler is a member of the Ballston town Republican Committee, a volunteer state coordinator for former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee’s political action committee, HuckPac, and a founder of the NY Liberty Council, 'a coalition of grassroots organizations committed to Constitutionally-limited government, fiscal conservatism and local control over issues,'" writes Hornbeck.

Click on WGXC or WGXC Newsroom for more information. Send news, tips, etc. to news@wgxc.org.

The Cairo Library is attempting to move out of Cairo Town Hall and into a larger, more modern facility behind its current space. Presentations for a proposed new library in Cairo will be on: Thursday, March 4, 2010 at 7 p.m. and on Saturday, March 13, 2010 at 1 p.m. All meetings are at the Cairo Town Hall and open to the public. The public presentation for this project will be on March 17, 2010 at 6 p.m. before the regular Cairo Town Board Meeting.

Full disclosure: Cairo Library Executive Director Debra Kamecke is on the WGXC Radio Council, the community radio station's governing board.

Click on WGXC or WGXC Newsroom for more information. Send news, tips, etc. to news@wgxc.org.

Tomorrow's New York Times includes an op-ed from former Tennessee representative Harold Ford Jr. in which he says he will not challenge New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand this year in a Democratic primary. "If I run, the likely result would be a brutal and highly negative Democratic primary — a primary where the winner emerges weakened and the Republican strengthened," Ford writes.

Click on WGXC or WGXC Newsroom for more information. Send news, tips, etc. to news@wgxc.org.

The National Journal Magazine released its annual 'Vote Ratings' issue and named Democratic Congressman Scott Murphy (NY-20) one of the most centrist members of Congress. In a press release, Congressman Murphy’s staff touted him "as a strong supporter of the 2nd Amendment and his votes to cut more than $24 billion in spending have stood out as key departures from many of his Democratic colleagues." The Times-Union blog Capitol Confidential breaks down the magazine's ratings this way: "Freshman Scott Murphy lands plumb in the center. His liberal composite score is 49.0; his conservative score is 51.0. By comparison, Rep. Paul Tonko’s liberal score was 83.7 and his conservative score was 16.3. Sens. Gillibrand and Schumer are also more liberal with scores of 84.3 and 83.8, respectively."

Click on WGXC or WGXC Newsroom for more information. Send news, tips, etc. to news@wgxc.org.

Find out how you can help the Red Cross prevent, prepare for and respond to local disasters. The Red Cross is holding a county-wide event to inform residents about the many ways they can become involved with the Red Cross. Over 90 percent of our programs and services in Greene County are delivered by Red Cross volunteers. Please join us on Monday, March 22 from 7-8:30 p.m. at the Emergency Services Building, 25 Volunteer Drive, Cairo, NY to learn about Red Cross programs and services along with volunteer opportunities for Greene County residents.

Click on WGXC or WGXC Newsroom for more information. Send news, tips, etc. to news@wgxc.org.

Video, drum performance, and text (preverbs) by George Quasha

Axial Drumming with Preverbs I from George Quasha on Vimeo.

First full live performance of "Axial Drumming with Preverbs" using digital LED of Preverbs text (presentation design by Susan Quasha) on the occasion of a benefit concert at Nicole Fiacco Gallery in Hudson, New York, for WGXC radio station --"Hands-on Radio 90.7 FM," a high-level community radio project (see WGXC.org).

Event organized by Paul Smart and Max Goldfarb for WGXC (Galen Joseph-Hunter, Executive Director; Tom Roe, Program Director; Kaya Weidman, Station Manager).

See quasha.com for meanings of "axial" and "preverbs."


Click on WGXC or WGXC Newsroom for more information. Send news, tips, etc. to news@wgxc.org.

DJ times for WGXC's "Radio, Radio" fundraiser this Saturday night at the former Muddy Cup storefront in Catskill, NY.:

8-8:45: DJ Dizzy
8:45-10: DJ Sam
10-10:45: The Magic Stranger
10:45-11:30: Tony Fletcher
11:30-12:15: The NRG People/Male Room
12:15-1: DJ John Deux

Click on WGXC or WGXC Newsroom for more information. Send news, tips, etc. to news@wgxc.org.

The Greene County Council on the Arts, in partnership with the Columbia County Council on the Arts and Questar III, is pleased to announce the following Arts in Education grant awards for the 2009-2010 school year through the Twin Counties Partnership for Arts in Education. Awards have been given to schools that applied for matching funds to support creative, curriculum-based partnerships between a teacher and an artist or arts organization working with the same groups of students in three or more sessions. The requests reflect interdisciplinary collaborations between classroom teachers and performance, music, literary, folk arts, crafts and visual artists and provide intensive arts experiences integrated into classroom curricula for pre K – 12 students.

In Columbia County, the following awards were approved:

Hawthorne Valley School - $2,000 toward a partnership between the school and professional actor/director David Anderson of Walking the Dog Theater to produce two plays: “Harvey” for Grade 10 and “Macbeth” for Grade 12. The project involves students in casting, rehearsing and staging the productions.

Hudson Intermediate School - $2,500 toward a Bengali culture and arts project for 6th grade students called “A Culture Study of South Asia.” The program uses Bengali dance, music and culture for a total immersion experience. Students will work with Middle Eastern dancer Carolyn Kay and storyteller Johanna Shogan as well as classroom teachers in a wide variety of disciplines related to South Asia.

Mountain Road School - $850 toward a paper making workshop for students in grades K-6 turning old cotton T shirts into paper. Students will use the paper for a public wall hanging and to create personal journals about the experience.

Taconic Hills High School - $2,000 in support for “Fall Festival of Shakespeare 2009,” a collaboration with Shakespeare & Company. High School students produced and performed classic plays under the direction of a professional theater company.

In Greene County, the following awards were approved:

Catskill Elementary School - $1,500 toward “Books Alive!,” a partnership with Soup-2-Nuts Theater involving first grade students who study and perform three books by children’s author Eric Carle. Director Margo Mullein Feron coordinates the project with art and music teachers and with the school librarian.

Catskill Middle & High School - $2,000 toward “Legacy in Light,” a program with holographer Linda Law to introduce students in Grades 6 & 12 to the art and physics of holography through the works of the late, internationally famous holographer Rudie Berkhout. Twenty Grade 6 students and 18 12th grade Physics students will visit a retrospective exhibit of Berkhout’s work and then work with Law and art teacher Corie Fong to design and create holograms.

Hunter-Tannersville Middle-High School - $3,000 toward a project with students in grades 8-12 who will design a sculpture garden as part of a comprehensive landscaping project on the school grounds that involves the entire school community. Under the direction of art teacher Ritamary Vining, students will meet with area landscape artists, visit Storm King Sculpture Garden and other area sculpture gardens, learn sculpting skills and techniques from local sculptor Kevin VanHentenryck and visit foundries to learn about fabrication techniques. Student designs will be displayed locally and undergo a review process.

Funding for Arts in Education programs is determined by a panel of educators, artists and arts-in-education specialists. Successful applicants follow these basics: (1) Schools develop curriculum integrated artist partnerships which address the NYS Learning Standards; (2) Planning and implementation are conducted by school educators working directly with artists or cultural institutions; (3) Projects integrate the arts into other academic disciplines and do not solely address art curriculum and (4) Grants are used to pay artist fees, artist travel expenses and materials.

Planning for next year’s Arts in Education projects is already underway! Interested schools should contact Kay Stamer at the GCCA, 943-3400, e-mail gcca@greenearts.org. Guidelines and applications may be obtained by contacting Kay at the GCCA, Colleen Schaffernoth at the CCCA 518-671-6213, or Arlene Sampson, Arts Specialist at Questar III at 518-477-8771.

The Twin Counties Arts in Education (AIE) Partnership Grants Program is made possible with public funds from the Local Capacity Building Initiative of the AIE Program of the New York State Council on the Arts. Corporate sponsors include the Bank of Greene County, Hudson River Bank & Trust Foundation, Stewart’s Shops and the Windham Chapter of the Catskill Mountain Foundation.

Click on WGXC or WGXC Newsroom for more information. Send news, tips, etc. to news@wgxc.org.

Sat. Feb. 27, 2010: 9 p.m. – Feb. 28, 2010: 1 a.m. at the former Muddy Cup storefront, 410 Main St., Catskill, NY. $5 admission.

The Magic Stranger, Tony Fletcher, DJ Jean Deux, The NRG People/Male Room, DJ Sam, DJ Dizzy, and others perform at 8 p.m. Feb. 27 in Catskill, in the empty storefront where the Muddy Cup coffee house used to be on Main St. Projections, lights, and other surprises. Come out and dance to bring community radio to Greene and Columbia counties. Become a WGXC Founding Member, buy a WGXC t-shirt, or donated artwork from local artists, or just enjoy the music.

WGXC is getting closer to getting on the air. We have our license. We have a matching grant from the U.S. Commerce Department for over $71,000 for all the major equipment needed for the station -- a transmitter, an antenna, and three studio consoles and equipment for spaces in Cairo, Catskill, and Hudson. Now we need to raise the other half of that, another $71,000. So far, we are 30 percent of the way there. We need as many folks in the area to become Founding Members and donate a little bit of money so we can make this goal. Can you help us?

One way is to attend this show this Saturday night in Catskill. You can sign up to be a Founding Member, dance the night away, buy a t-shirt, get your business to become a Founding Underwriter, enter a raffle for a Gibson Les Paul guitar currently on view at Musica in Hudson,

The Magic Stranger is John Cleater, an artist/architect who lives in Columbia County. He shows his work at Nicole Fiacco Gallery in Hudson and is on the advisory committee of the architecture program at Art OMI. http://www.cleater.com/

Tony Fletcher (born April 27, 1964) is a music journalist best known for his biographies of drummer Keith Moon and the band R.E.M.. Born in Yorkshire, England, Fletcher was inspired by the London punk rock movement and started a fanzine as a thirteen-year-old schoolboy which he named Jamming!. The magazine developed over the next eight years into an independent alternative to more established music magazines of the day such as the NME and Melody Maker. This led to Fletcher presenting TV programmes and networking with numerous post-punk figures including Paul Weller and Echo & the Bunnymen, the latter of which were the subject of his first book published in 1987. He has two children and is married to Posie. Fletcher then juggled band and record label management before moving to New York in the late 80s, where he also became involved with DJing, club promotion and music industry consultant. His first novel, Hedonism, was published in 2003. Fletcher lives in Ulster County. http://www.ijamming.net/

Conrad Kaneshiro (Machines), Giorgio Handman and Ngonda Badilla on vox make up The NRG People (Male Room), Giorgio and Connie first played together in electro punk band Split Me Wide Open and then in Male Room since the early 00s. Male Room played at NYC dance clubs,leather bars, and festivals in Mexico City and London. Male Room put out tracks on Cleopatra Complilations, Dinero Rosa (MX), ElectroWave, and have co-written tracks for underground superstars including Kenny Kenny and Tobel Von Cartier, with videos directed by Nick Zedd these two queens were unstoppable! Then Connie moved to Distrito Federal (Mexico City) for two years mastering the High Energy sound and his dance moves while Giorgio met the fabulous and amazing Ngonda upstate and they started doing shows as The NRG People. This will be the first show of The NRG People (Male Room) with all three members present, so get ready to MOVE YOUR BODY! Handman lives in Hudson, NY.

DJ Jean Deux is Dan Seward, of John Deux Books & Records in Hudson, the band Bunnybrains, and the host of "Battlefield Earth" on free103point9 Online Radio.

DJ Dizzy is Tom Roe, who lives in Acra, NY regularly hosted DJ nights in NYC at Diner in Williamsburg, and Angel in Manhattan, and performed at many underground Brooklyn venues such as Rubulad and Manhattan spaces such as The Kitchen. Roe has performed on turntables live with Daniel Carter, members of the Gold Sparkle Band (as DizzySparkle), Pierre Huyghe, and others, and recorded with Scanner, Kristin Lucas, and Matt Bua.

DJ Sam is Sam Sebren, who lives in Athens, NY and recorded two records with Menlo Park with his band Splotch. His multimedia installations have been at Protest Space in Chelsea, The College of St. Rose in Albany, and a former Ulster County Jail. Sebren's “This” comes out in March on Aboriginal Records, and his video work will be included in the Photography Triennial at the Center for Photography in Woodstock in June. Sebren also participates regularly in publications and performances with Creative Capitalism, a collective in Baltimore included in this year's Whitney Biennial.

Click on WGXC or WGXC Newsroom for more information. Send news, tips, etc. to news@wgxc.org.

From Jimmy Vielkind in Capitol Confidential:

Former Saratoga County Assistant District Attorney David Harper formally declared his candidacy against Rep. Scott Murphy, D-Glens Falls [for the NY-20th Congressional seat]. “I’m running for Congress to put an end to the out of control spending and fiscal irresponsibility that dominates Washington and is ruining our economy,” Harper, of Saratoga Springs, said in a press release sent Sunday afternoon. He said last week he was interested in the seat, and has now created a campaign committee with $50,000 of his own money. Republican leaders have asked prospective candidates to formally declare their intentions by March 7. Harper joins Dan Stec, the Queensbury town supervisor, in doing so.

Click on WGXC or WGXC Newsroom for more information. Send news, tips, etc. to news@wgxc.org.

Seeing Greene's Dick May was the first to track down Linda Fenoff, who ran the Greenville Press newspaper until the last three issues have not shown up on newsstands. She hopes to return, May writes, "Ms Fenoff told Seeing Greene... she suffered a collapse from exhaustion and was hospitalized for several days. Now she is resting at the home of a friend, is still weak and depressed, but is 'absolutely' determined to get back to the job.

Governor Paterson's plan to save the state money by closing come state parks permanently or part-time includes closing Columbia County's Olana two days a week. Greene County is spared any cuts, but Rudd Pond area in Taconic State Park in Dutchess County is on the chopping block.

Click on WGXC or WGXC Newsroom for more information. Send news, tips, etc. to news@wgxc.org.