jennypartyka

From the NEPA Blogs mailbag:

jennypartyka
https://jennypartyka.wordpress.com/

Wife, Mom, Registered Nurse, Data Geek, Bigmouth from Scranton. 

Do you have a blog? Do you live in NEPA, or are you from NEPA, or do you blog about NEPA? Send it to us at nepablogs@gmail.com!

#Poundsign

Here's a new blog by Scranton's Sabrina Hannon. New posts are promised for every Sunday. Watch to see how this blog develops!

#Poundsign
http://hashtagpoundsign.blogspot.com/

The musing of a Scrantonian, Patriarchy Smashing, Veggie Eating, Odd Habit Collecting, Party Planning, General Trouble Making, Warrior. New Blog Posts Every Sunday!

From the Mailbag: Iron Reels Review

Some time ago we received this message in the e-mailbag:

Hi,
I've recently started a blog reviewing underground films from NEPA & the surrounding areas,
as well as posting info about various local film shows / events.  Could you add us to the NEPA
blog listing?  http://ironreelsreview.wordpress.com/

Thanks,
Kyle Rebar

It's taken a while, but we're finally posting the link!

Iron Reels Review

I actually had the opportunity to meet Kyle at last month's Third Thursday Open Mic Poetry Night at the Vintage in Scranton, presented by the Northeastern Pennsylvania Writers' Collective. (The next one is coming up June 20 - the last day of Spring! - so be ready.) Kyle writes more about the blog in the introductory post:

…The Iron Reels Review is the brainchild of Scrantonite camera-toting madmen Kevin Vogrin & Kyle Rebar, who curate film shows and work on a myriad of artistic projects.

We’re looking to review films from the Scranton area and abroad.  We’ll review any genre, but we especially enjoy experimental films.  Some of our favorites are Kenneth Anger, ‘Eraserhead,’ ‘Clockwork Orange,’ Mike & George Kuchar, Monty Python & The Holy Grail, Dancer in the Dark, Shadow of a Doubt.

We’ll accept DVDs or web links.  Send submissions with a log line and contact info to krebar@m.marywood.edu. 

Kevin and Kyle just started this blog a few months ago, but already have numerous reviews and movie clips on the site. Head on over to the Iron Reels Review and see what it's all about!

The Office Blog

Better late than never...

I just did a search regarding a (sold out) "Bloggers' Breakfast" that is part of the wrap party for the U.S. version of "The Office," which is set in Scranton. The top result was this:

The Office Blog
http://blogs.thetimes-tribune.com/theoffice/

It's a blog from the Scranton Times-Tribune, by staff writer Josh McAuliffe, whose name was mentioned in last week's episode. The blog has been around since September 2007, yet somehow we've managed to miss it. Just goes to show that there are still lots of blogs hiding in plain sight throughout Northeastern Pennsylvania!

"The Office" is ending soon, but it will live on in re-runs, DVDs, digital downloads, and through whatever forms media will evolve into in coming years. Here's hoping that The Office Blog will live on along with it as a helpful reference tool for fans who have yet to discover the show!

Welcome to Scranton (the blog)

Here's a blog that I should have known about for a while, but actually came across by accident while looking for information about something else.

Welcome to Scranton (the blog)
http://gphalpin.wordpress.com/

From the "About" page:

Greg Halpin was born and raised in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
He opened gourmet coffee shop Café del Sol in the mid 1990s where some of the scenes take place in his novella Welcome to Scranton.
Halpin now lives in State College, Pennsylvania with his wife Elisha. He works for his alma mater, Penn State University. Halpin hosts a Jazz program each month on WPSU-FM. You can listen online at www.wpsu.org

Greg's posts cover Scranton, Penn State, and topics that interest him, including jazz. There's also news and information about his book, Welcome to Scranton. Check it out!

PA Live! Blog of the Week: First Friday Scranton

NEPA Blogs will be presenting a "Blog of the Week" on the WBRE's PA Live! every Tuesday. PA Live! airs weekday afternoons on WBRE from 4:00 to 5:00.

Watch this episode on the PA Live! site:  http://pahomepage.com/palive-details?nxd_id=270662

Our PA Live! Blog of the Week this week is First Friday Scranton  (http://firstfridayscranton.com/.)

First Friday Scranton is a long-running series of interconnected art exhibits, musical performances, and other cultural events, all taking place in Scranton on the first Friday of each month. The First Friday Scranton blog provides the latest news and information about the upcoming celebration - including a map featuring the locations of each performance, and detailed profiles of each participating venue. Periodic updates also spotlight some of the performers and keep readers informed about contests and other special events. 

If you've ever been to a First Friday Scranton event, you know what fun it is to see the city come alive at night. If you've never been, you should make a point to go - you're never more than a few weeks away from one. And the First Friday Scranton blog makes an excellent guide!


If you have a blog you would like us to link on NEPA Blogs, or know of a blog you think we should link, please let us know! You can always drop us a line at nepablogs@gmail.com!

Scranton is Broke

Unless you have been living in a closet or under a rock for the last few weeks, chances are you've already heard about the growing financial problems in the City of Scranton.  Scranton is broke.  And now there is a blog about it by the same name....

http://scrantonisbroke.blogspot.com
The city's finances are in question. Chapter 9 is the answer.

Gary Lewis, a Scranton resident, is the author of this blog.  He has specialized qualifications that help translate what the numbers mean to the blog's readers. He's a consultant who has worked with complex accounting for distressed assets with a focus on Banking Industry mergers and acquisitions.  Since 2009, he works primarily on the closure or consolidation of failed banks. -- From the About


A petition has been started today asking Scranton City Council and the Mayor to declare Chapter 9 bankruptcy.  There are only 2 signatures right now, but I'm sure more will appear as time goes on.  If you are interested in signing it, follow this link:  http://www.change.org/petitions/city-of-scranton-file-for-chapter-9-bankruptcy-protection.

"It's time to take steps to actually "Restore the Pride" and not simply pay lip service to a great idea."

Thank you to tipster @GlobalScranton for tweeting about this blog!

~Michelle

08/06/12 UPDATE:  Harold recently stopped at 62 South Franklin Street to pre-record a few segments of the Blog of the Week when we learned by accident that the Scranton is Broke blog was closed.  You can read the post here.  This post refers us to Gary's other blog located at consolidatediza.wordpress.com.  Look for an upcoming post about this blog soon!

Scranton Zine Festival

Scranton Zine Festival
http://scrantonzinefest.wordpress.com/


Following my meeting with my writing group (The Northeastern Pennsylvania Writers' Collective, which does not have a blog...yet) yesterday, a few of us hiked a few blocks to grab a late lunch. Along the way, one of our company brought up the matter of Zine Fest, and wondered if I might know when it was. I didn't, and had only been vaguely aware that such a thing was going on. In fact, I had almost forgotten about zines entirely since my college years, until a conversation with blogger, zine publisher and enthusiast Erin Delaney a few years ago reminded me of their existence.

I'm lookin' behind us now, across the count of time, down the long hall, into history back...

Imagine a time before the Internet. Before blogs, and podcasts, and tweets, and YouTube, and Facebook, Before iPods. Before cell phones, at least cell phones small enough to put in a pocket, and cheap enough for everybody to own. Back when photographs were taken on chemical emulsions, and having fifty-seven channels on TV seemed like a lot.

In such an environment, how would you share your opinions, your ideas, your brilliance, and your creativity with the world? One answer, for those with the right combination of talent and resourcefulness, was - and continues to be - the zine.

"But what is a zine?" you might ask. Well the good folks at the Scranton Zine Festival have anticipated your question, and answered it here:  http://scrantonzinefest.wordpress.com/about/what-is-a-zine/

I remember reading zines in my college days, usually ones I picked up at a second-hand bookstore downtown. (I believe it was the Scranton branch of "Mostly Books.") I haven't run across any in the years since, and thought that perhaps the labor-intensive act of creating a zine had passed away in favor of the relatively low-effort act of updating a blog. But as Erin reminded me, zines do still exist - and there's enough interest locally to result in the Scranton Zine Festival.

And almost as if they were trying to make a point about the relationship between zines and blogs - the Scranton Zine Festival has a blog!

Scranton Zine Festival
http://scrantonzinefest.wordpress.com/

The Scranton Zine Festival is Saturday, June 9 at the New Visions Studio & Gallery, 201 Vine Street, Scranton. (For a quick image of the place, see here; for the New Visions blog, go here; and for the New Visions Website, go here.)

Reminder: Arts on Fire Festival is next weekend!

The Arts on Fire Festival 2012 will be next weekend, kicking off Friday, June 1 in conjunction with Scranton's First Friday celebrations! See the Festival's blog for details!

Big thanks to Jill from Jilly beansTALK for letting us know about this great festival!

Announcement: The Vintage Theater in Scranton is closing

This message was posted by the proprietors of the Vintage Theater in Scranton today:

It is with bittersweet sentiment that the Vintage Theater will be saying goodbye to 119 Penn Avenue! Due to circumstances beyond our control we will be holding the last event in the current location on First Friday, June 1st 2012. As we look for our new home, upcoming events may be moved to other locations, we will be sure to keep you all informed. Anyone who is interested in helping us through this transition is encouraged to contact us as soon as possible. Look for updates on how you can help!We thank you so much for your support as we continue to move onward and upward! We hope to see you all at our remaining few events on Penn Av!

The Vintage Theater has served as the venue for many Blogging-related events in the past year, including the Bloggers' Roundtable, the Bluekey Tweetup, Pecha Kucha Night, and the Scranton StorySlam. Proprietor Conor O'Brien always provided a welcoming atmosphere and a highly versatile multi-functional art space. While we will miss the Vintage Theater, we look forward to seeing what Conor has planned next!

For my own personal history with the Vintage Theater, go here.

Tort Talk

Tort Talk is a blog about Civil Litigation Law by Attorney Daniel E. Cummins. Oh, sure, I know what you're thinking. BO-RING. Who wants to read about legalistic details and whatnot?

Try this post on for size:

A New Twist in Facebook Discovery Decisions

Judge William R. Carpenter of the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas granted a Plaintiff's Motion to Compel a Defendant  to produce his user name and password for the Defendant's Facebook page in the case of Gallagher v. Urbanovich, No. 2010 - 33418 (C.P. Mont. Co. Feb. 27, 2012 Carpenter, J.)...

....While the Court did grant the Plaintiff access to the Defendant's Facebook page and ordered the Defendant not to delete any info from the Facebook profile, the Defendant was granted permission to change his login name and password after seven (7) days following his compliance with the Court's Order.

Interested now? Knowing that you can be forced to turn over all access to your Facebook account to someone who's suing you? Isn't that interesting?

When you're done hiding in the corner, be sure to check out:
Tort Talk
http://www.torttalk.com/

Updates, Trends, and Thoughts regarding Pennsylvania Civil Litigation Law by Northeastern Pennsylvania Insurance Defense Attorney Daniel E. Cummins.

Chris Dolan's Blog

I'll let you in on a secret: like the song says, I've never been too good with names. And contrary to what the song says later, I don't always remember faces, either. So when I saw this blog from a student at the University of Scranton it didn't ring any bells. Only after going to his first post to get more information about him did I realize that he was recently an intern at WBRE and PA Live! He was the one who would escort me onto and off of the set every Tuesday! Let's give a big NEPA Blogs welcome to Chris Dolan, a Communications and Business major at the University of Scranton who's into Bruce Springsteen playing the piano, and collecting autographs and presidential and political stuff!

Chris Dolan's Blog
http://www.christopherdolan.net/

NADJA NOTARIANI : An Author's Adventures

Nadja Notariani is a writer based in Scranton. She has this to say about herself and her blog:

From an early age, stories filled with adventure and romance captivated my imagination. Now I have become the storyteller, and I invite you to share with me the adventures (and the struggles) in writing.

Some of Nadja's stories are for mature audiences only, and she clearly flags them as such. She also posts a weekly feature called Man Candy Monday, which apparently features some guys with glowering stares hanging around without shirts on, which is fine if you're into that sort of thing, I suppose...

NADJA NOTARIANI : An Author's Adventures
http://nadjanotariani.blogspot.com/

Primrose Design

Here's an arts and crafts blog by Janet, who describes herself as "a freelance graphic designer with a home-based business crafting pillows and home accessories from vintage materials." Another Scranton-based blog!

Primrose Design
http://primrosedesign.blogspot.com/
Musings on life in the country, art in general, crafts in particular, the hunt for vintage treasures with the occasional garden photo and recipe thrown into the mix!

The Luck Report

So many possible lead-ins. "Down on your luck?" "You've gotta ask yourself a question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do you, punk?" None of them really appropriate. So here instead is an excerpt of The Luck Report's Mission Statement:


The Luck Report is a blog and podcast dedicated to exploring social and intellectual issues--news, politics, pop culture and pseudoscience--that are of critical importance to individuals and society. Established by Kenny Luck, author and journalist, The Luck Report provides news and information through commentary and interviews.


Luck, M.A., a former adjunct composition faculty member at King's College in Wilkes-Barre, PA, brings his knowledge and experience about writing, education and politics to this web platform with the hope of creating edifying original content. Topics include:


Politics 
Pop Culture
Pseudoscience & Superstition 
Media & News
Education


While espousing a progressive worldview, Luck is committed to responsible, evidence-based form of news making. His core values--liberal education, science-based skepticism and progressive politics--helps inform his stories and articles.


The Luck Report
http://www.theluckreport.com/

So grab your rabbit's foot, rub some bald guy's head, and if your personal astrologer says it's OK, head on over to The Luck Report!

Mentally Intriguing

Here's a blog from Scranton I spotted almost a month ago when I was doing a location-based search for new blogs. This one was definitely new - it only had two posts (though the second one was labeled "3rd Blog Post" - was one deleted?), and the most recent one had gone up just the day before. Written by a nineteen-year-old woman who tends bar in Scranton. Cool!

Unfortunately, there haven't been any more posts since then. Bummer. Well, maybe adding her to NEPA Blogs will be enough encouragement to get her blogging again!

Mentally Intriguing
http://kindraaelziabeth.blogspot.com/

Check out her blog, and let's see if we can get her blogging again!

A Jesuit's Jottings

During a recent location-based search of Blogger profiles, I put a stake in the heart of the notion that there are no bloggers in Scranton. There are LOTS of them. We now have a huge backlog of Scranton-based blogs, and hundreds more to check out. I don't know why they didn't show up in my previous "brute force" searches.

Here's one that definitely should have. It's by Rick Malloy, S.J (that stands for "Society of Jesus," indicating that he's a Jesuit,) a college professor and Vice-President for Ministry and Mission at the University of Scranton. He posts on, among other things, Catholicism, spirituality, social justice, the experience of being a Jesuit, and his favorite music videos.

A Jesuit's Jottings
http://jesuitjottings.blogspot.com/

artsonfirefestival

Here's a blog we were notified of via email:

artsonfirefestival is the blog of the Arts on Fire Festival, which is being held June 1, 2, and 3 at the Scranton Iron Furnaces.

http://artsonfirefestival.wordpress.com/

So what's the Arts on Fire Festival? From the "About" page:

The Arts on Fire Festival idea emerged in September 2009 at the Wake Up with the Arts Breakfast sponsored by the Lackawanna County Arts and Culture Department. Artists and organizations convened to discuss what they wanted to see happening in Lackawanna County. Several people mentioned an arts festival. Bob Savakinus, Lackawanna County Arts, Culture and Education member and current Chair of the Arts on Fire Committee, desired to see more events at the underutilized Scranton Iron furnaces. It so happened that Keystone College had received that year a Lackawanna County ARTS Engage! grant for high school iron sculpture program with the culminating pour taking place at the iron furnaces in the summer. These three elements were the catalyst for the Arts on Fire Festival and instantaneously people began to talk to each other about creating an industrial arts festival at the furnaces that would showcase the area’s history, but celebrate its creative future in the arts.

Check out this blog, and keep your schedule clear for June 1, 2, and 3!

Three from Tumblr

I'll admit it: I'm one of those people who don't "get" Tumblr. Some of the Tumblr blogs I've seen are indistinguishable from blogs hosted on other platforms. Some are just endless streams of disjointed photos, reposted by and from hundreds of other Tumblr users. And some are something in-between, a photo-heavy version of a blog.

I came across this while reviewing the NEPA Blogs SiteMeter "Recent Visits by Referrals:"

http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/nepa

OK, that could be interesting. I followed through and found...a picture from Nepal, three from koreanphotoshoots, and a bunch of other things that, as far as I could tell, had nothing to do with Northeastern Pennsylvania. But then I spotted a few that clearly did.

Curtains Aren't Priorities

http://curtainsarent.tumblr.com/
Described (in text I can't copy and paste) as "Daily musings of a husband, father of two, full time civil servant, thinker, opinionator, and starter."

Wake up Maggie

http://maggiemay66.tumblr.com/

A photo blog, with plenty of evidence to indicate the blogger has a connection to NEPA.

 

a portrait of scranton

http://timbenedict.tumblr.com/

A photo blog of Scranton. The photos on the front page (at least) were made using the Instagram app for the iPhone, making them appear to be snapshot photos from the 1970's.

 

That's just three. Rooting around on Tumblr for photos tagged with "nepa" will probably reveal more. Some other day.

New Visions Studio and Gallery

New Visions Studio and Gallery
http://newvisionsstudio.blogspot.com/

Located at 201 Vine Street in Scranton.

We are an art gallery and all-over creative space for local artists We have monthly art exhibits, with openings on First Friday. We show all forms of art: paintings, drawings, photography, sculpture, installations, mix-media, ect. We teach art to children and adults and we sell hand-made and collectible goods!

Go check out the New Visions Studio and Gallery blog! And if you like what you see, why not visit them in person?