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Thom Dunn is a Boston-based writer, musician, and utterly terrible dancer. He is the singer/guitarist for the indie rock/power-pop the Roland High Life, as well as a staff writer for the New York Times’ Wirecutter and a regular contributor at BoingBoing.net. Thom enjoys Oxford commas, metaphysics, and romantic clichés (especially when they involve whiskey), and he firmly believes that Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" is the single greatest atrocity committed against mankind. He is a graduate of Clarion Writer's Workshop at UCSD ('13) & Emerson College ('08).

STREETS LIKE THIS: A New World Premiere Play!

For the last couple of months, I've been working with AC Sidle on the Civic Ensemble's Re-Entry Theatre Program to create a new play about prison and addiction, inspired by the real-life stories of people who've lived the struggle. The play started with scenes, written by the program participants—most of whom are or were transitioning out of prison and/or rehab—which I then took and transformed into a full-length, fictional dramatic work.

It started out with their stories, but I gotta say: I'm pretty happy with the final product, and I hope we can continue giving it life across the country, because these conversations aren't going away.

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Ithacans, Civic Ensemble invites you to sit with Deon and Dennis, two local men getting up there in age. Deon is black, Dennis is white; both are worn out from past convictions, dysfunctional institutions, and the preventable deaths of loved ones. From their stoop, watch Crystal, Abby, and Brian struggle with their diverse obstacles and mistakes while stuck in the United States’ broken criminal justice system. Deon and Dennis narrate the stories of these three and other characters navigating the perils of real life and their own demons while dealing with the consequences of probation, incarceration, parole, and court-ordered rehabilitation. Streets Like This, based on true stories, travels from the Meadow Street Mobil to Social Services offices and the curb outside Day Reporting to their own workplaces and homes. The play offers no single solution but rather brings you into their worlds. As Deon says, “But maybe next time, you’ll do more than turn your heads away as you toss some spare change in their cups.”

Saturday May 5 at 7:30pm, followed by opening night party
Sunday May 6 at 4:00 pm & 7:30pm
at Kitchen Theatre Company, 417 MLK Jr St, Ithaca

Monday May 7 at 7:30pm
at GIAC Gymnasium, 301 W Court St, Ithaca

Song of the (Bi-)Week, Week 7: "I Gotta Feeling"

I'm going to be completely honest right now: I think "I Gotta a Feeling" by the Black Eyed Peas is one of the most trite, mundane, and obnoxious songs ever written. And the fact that anyway — including but not limited to my left ass-cheek — could have written something so asinine makes even angrier, because neither me nor left ass-cheek did write it, and neither one of us is famous. The song came on while I was driving the other day, and I started thinking of ways to make it better (and by better, I mean worse, which means better, because it's already the worst. Get it?). So I grabbed my acoustic guitar, dropped it into a minor key, and suddenly America's moronic party anthem sounds...well, it sounds like a struggle with addiction, really. Not to make light of that issue, I do find it interesting how fine the line is between fun and self-destruction, as this musical, but not lyrical*, shift demonstrates.

[soundcloud url="http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/13193367"]

*Okay, there's a slight lyrical shift. I know, it's slow, it's sad, but keep listening towards the end of the 2nd verse, and there might be a little surprise waiting for you....