Woodstock Film prelude

Most people by now are aware that Woodstock has a film festival every fall (this year it is October 10-14). But the WFF locations are home to other events in summer. At the Bearsville Theatre, the Mitch Show will land there on June 3rd at 7:30pm and is free but reservations are required. This guy was roommate to Paris Hilton and is compared to Woody Allen. Go to www.mitchellrose.com for more.

At the Shadowland Theatre, The 12 Disciples of Nelson Mandela is on June 9th at 1pm and is free.

Then Kris Carr is playing in Albany on June 29th wtih Crazy Sexy Cancer - a must see documentary on dealing with cancer. Kris is from Woodstock and we really would like to see her film in other Catskill locations.

As always stop in from time to time at www.woodstockfilmfestival.com to see how the films are shaping up.

Other great film programming can be had in Oneonta through the Upper Catskill Community Council on the Arts www.uccca.com and one day soon in Margaretville at the under-renovations Galli-Curci Theatre. I'm not impressed with the Catskill Mountain Foundations film offerings yet this summer - their programming is a little more old school than I like but check it out for yourself at www.catskillmtn.org.

Save the Catskill Mountain Region

I sort of dig being an anonymous blogger, especially if I feel the need be digress for a moment. But I'll tell you this about me. I am into economic development if it is sustainable and tending towards green. I am into land use planning big time. So my friends are telling me about the "windmills" they want to put up a little west of me. So I think, cool. Green. No carbon emissions. Well, they sit me down. It's all logical. I'm embarrassed. How can wind energy be bad? They reassure me it depends. Like on the water off the coast of Long Island and Cape Cod - financially and local market yup it's good. Just not on the peaks of the Catskill Mountains.

Like all things green there is a time and a place, turn, turn, turn. For every season. You catch my drift. Now I'm a huge fan of what is going on in the Catksills. It's like the Hamptons only with cool people and cool celebrities. This place is on the verge of greatness but someone wants to put slums in a few up and coming neighborhoods. Some of my friends who are against this are even greener then me - yeah right. No really, they are.

Here's the 911. When corporations make decisions for us we loose. Look at the NYC regulations on business development in the Catskills - stop it at all costs agreement. Look at the resort they're planning for Belleayre Mountain - which I've written about. I wasn't a fan when it was a huge resort and my neighbors fought hard against it and I appreciate that I really do. But now it's smaller. And as someone who understands planning and economic development it is now the right size for the economy and infrastructure - and water quality protection issues. Add two more reasonably sized possible resorts to the area and windmills are now in the negative column, economically. You can't say I want to protect the troops from dying to fight for our right to have oil so I'm for clean energy --- when your tax base will be eroded by the green energy company because they are a corporate wolf in green sheepskin.

People in the Catskills need to wake up and economic developers and planners need to wake up. Having a SUSTAINABLE commercial tax base is the single most important thing you can do for a local economy. The rest will follow. Forget the tree huggers. Forget the NIMBYs. For get the ATV/snowmobilers for clean energy. Forget the second homeowners. It doesn't work in the Catskills. There is too much potential. Just believe in yourselves for a little longer folks - you really are on the verge of great things. The money is too easy - didn't you learn from the NYC DEP?

And while we're at it - ONE casino in Sullivan around Monticello is fine. But three? You go tell Spitzer and the tribes stop smoking the peyote. More on that later. Peace. Out.