Home: Humanities talk series at the library this Thursday.

Straight up: My brain went slightly akilter when I saw Jan Van Eyck's "The Arnolfini Portrait" on a library Facebook post previewing a series of talks about being human.

Right here, in New Gahania, where Democrats are Dixiecrats and sheep are scared?

Thankfully, sense and sensibility still exist. Maybe we should be thankful that the library is a county institution, not subject to the idiocy of the monetizing ruffians.

Following is the website listing. It seems that a third subject for discussion is not mentioned: "There's No Place Like Home in Popular Song Lyrics."

Apologies for not paying sufficient attention to this series earlier. I'd actually been toying with the idea this Thursday of attending the final city council meeting of the year.

Silly, silly me.

Being Human: A Jefferson College Humanities Talk Series

Presented in partnership with the Floyd County Library

Each month's "Being Human" program features 2-3 speakers from the Jefferson College humanities department giving a 20 minute talk each, on a central topic. This series of talks is free, but advance registration is recommended.

DECEMBER 19: HOME

• Constructing Home as a Perpetual Traveler/Jonathan Montgomery & Quanisha Charles, English
• Down to Earth: At Home with the Flemish Primitives/Brenda Edgar, Art

Date: Thursday, December 19, 2019
Time: 6:30pm - 7:30pm
Location: Auditorium
Campus: New Albany Main Library
Audience: Adults
Categories: Adult Education

Homeschoolers react with puzzlement as Deaf Gahan reads to them from his masterwork, "TIF Area Erotica."

It was THAT kind of week, as area news agencies fell over themselves to transform Gahan's rails-to-trails pipe dream of a campaign slogan into some semblance of reality.

Meanwhile, we kept right on reporting the facts.

It's New Albany, not New Gahania, and we don't need a Gahan-scaled personality cult.

We don't need an insular clique farming contracts and favors to the same old special interest donors, or taxpayer-funded municipal media feeds that function as campaign tokens. Gahanism has been a colossal bait 'n' switch, with working people and the downtrodden paying the freight for ruinously expensive luxury facades. It's all for show, and when we peel away the glitz, there's nothing underneath except a former veneer salesman's tin-can ambition.

I'll be voting for David White in May, and I encourage you to do the same.

First council meeting of 2019 is tonight -- is it Scott Blair's indie turn for the presidency?

It's nice to know that in a community filled to the brim with issues and challenges, 4th district seat-warmer Pat McLaughlin is concerned about what the library is called.

(slaps forehead)

Then again, it's the Floyd COUNTY Democratic Party, right?

Pfui. In a triumph of institutional/political inbreeding, all nine city council members attended New Albany High School, and I sometimes wonder whether those of us who didn't might some day be compelled to wear ... well, you know.

Here's the agenda for this evening's first Common Council meeting of 2019. The Green Mouse has been told that one deferred aspect of the smoky back room maneuverings in 2018 that unexpectedly brought Al Knable (R) to the council's presidency was an understanding for 2019, and the elevation of Scott Blair (I) to the seat.

Even regular blog readers may be surprised to learn that I haven't attended a council meeting since July. This might be the longest such streak of non-attendance since the inception of NA Confidential.

The Reisz Mahal luxury city hall relocation fix disgusted me and still does, and the aftermath of this "Make Special Interests Great Again" debacle was concurrent with the advent of Pints&union, which precluded attendance for Thursday evening council gatherings, with or without an air sickness bag.

This left Mondays, and I might have made it to the third floor for two or three of these gatherings, but in the end it just seemed like a good idea to hike up into the Sierra Maestra instead -- or maybe that was Silver Hills -- and begin plotting the next stage of the revolution.

What about tonight?

It's not a work night, and it's a new year with new priorities. Someone told me there's a local election this year.

Hmm. Is my hazmat suit back from the cleaners?

Stop the Reisz Elephant: There'll be a public meeting on Wednesday, June 27, downstairs at the library, at 6:00 p.m.

Last Thursday evening, the city's corporate attorney answered questions about the proposed move of city hall to the Reisz Furniture Store. His answers raised even more questions, and that's why there'll be a public meeting on Wednesday evening at the library (downstairs) at 6:00 p.m.

To view recent NA Confidential articles about this expanding controversy, click here.

I'm told the meeting's host will be councilmen Dan Coffey (1st district), with 6th district councilman Scott Blair also in attendance. It's unclear if other officials will be present. Put simply, this isn't a meeting for regurgitating the city's self-interested version of this process. Rather, it's about exploring all sides of the story.

There's also a petition going around. The text is below. I'l have more on this as time allows. I'm in possession of paper copies and will see if there's a way to put this on-line. The final council vote is coming on Monday, July 2.

We can put the brakes to this $10,000,000 boondoggle, but to do so, YOU MUST STAND UP AND BE COUNTED. Thanks, and I'll see you on Wednesday.

We, the undersigned concerned citizens, urge our City Council to act now to stop the process of entering into a 15-year contract to purchase the Reisz building to be converted to a new City Hall. We also feel that the process was flawed, and real information was not given to the public in such a way as to make a truly informed decision. We also feel that the $8.35 million dollars spent on this project would be better spent in out neighborhoods addressing the problems we have been facing for years: bad or no drainage, poor roads, sidewalks and other issues. We encourage the City Council to take another look, and realize that citizens' needs should come before bigger offices. There is no doubt there are other options available to satisfy your wants and public needs. 

Thank you,

Your Concerned Public 

First Friday Concert at the New Albany-Floyd County Public Library: Myra Craig and Owen Heritage, this Friday (March 3) at noon.

I've known Myra for a long time, and it's great to see her take advantage of the chance to perform music from the classical repertoire at the New Albany-Floyd County Public Library. Kudos to the library for staging these shows. Count me in, although I'm not sure about where to score lunch. Alas, I'm sure beer isn't allowed.

First Friday Concert: Myra Craig & Owen Heritage
March 2, 2018
180 West Spring Street, New Albany, IN 47150
812-949-3522

Free lunchtime concert held the first Friday of the month at 12:00 noon at the New Albany-Floyd County Public Library. March 2nd: Myra Craig (viola), Owen Heritage (piano). Program: Suite for Viola and Piano (Ralph Vaughan Williams); Suite no. 3 for Cello (J.S. Bach) – transcribed for viola; Sonata for Viola and Piano No. 1 (Christopher M. Wicks).

The First Friday Concerts are free and open to the public, and no registration is required. Feel free to bring your lunch. The concerts are co-sponsored by the Kentuckiana Association of Musicians and Singers, and Hastie Piano Service.

Earth Friends out, Muscle Monkey in as cafe in the library.

At the Earth Friends Cafe (library) page at Facebook, you can view postings explaining the departure of Earth Friends from the library, and the arrival of Muscle Monkey Grill s replacement.

Earth Friends now has only one location, in Nu Lu (Louisville). A search of Muscle Monkey reveals perhaps two other locations, with concrete information here.

Food service is a tough business, and it's even tougher in a place still not commonly regarded as a location for eating; it wasn't that long ago that producing a Milky Way bar in the library would result in a crack on the head by menacing attendants.

Maybe we need beer in the library?

Library espresso swap: Hobknobb out, Earth Friends in.

This is great news, and a fine opportunity for an original New Albany First indie business association member to help redefine the library experience for coming generations.

Earth Friends Cafe to open inside NA-FC Library; HobKnobb coffee shop closed May 31, by Chris Morris (Hanson's Zinc Ad Compendium)

 ... “This is a great opportunity for us,” said Stacie Bale, operator and a co-owner of Earth Friends Cafe. “We are really excited about it.”

Bale and NA-FC Library Director Rose Frost said several library patrons had expressed an interest in having hot food and sandwiches available, instead of just coffee. The library board and Barb Fischer, owner of Hobknobb, agreed to break their two-year lease last month.