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Im so excited to be apart of a business where just about 85% of what we do is spread the word of what we do to everyone else. So far I've been able to be apart of Life's So Sweet Chocolates entry at the Ithaca Chili Cookoff, local weddings, birthday parties and wineries. And now Im gonna be at the Ithaca Farmers Market on Friday July 29, 2pm-4pm selling our specially made things and next thurs, fri, and sat i get to do concessions for the hangar theatre's production of Willy Wonka Jr.

Orange cones and barrels are still up on the road that goes past Grassroots, but Grassroots isn’t there anymore. Not everything has been taken down yet, and there are a lot of cars inside. I guess it’s the cleanup crew. I’m guessing the cleanup crew is mostly volunteers.

With a budget of $800,000, The Finger lakes Grassroots Festival of Music and Dance was populated with about 10,000 festivalgoers and hosted over 70 acts playing on four stages. Roots, Folk, Country, African Chimeranga, Salsa, Native American infused Punk Rock, Afro-Beat, Columbian Cambria, and various hybrids using elements of the aforementioned as well as Rap, Jazz, Jug, Ragtime, Psychedelic, and most other musical genres you can think of, were offered for our aural pleasure and musical education.

Grassroots is finally over, and my dad and l had so much fun! The bands, including the Sim Redmond Band, The Town Pants, Hee Haw Nightmare,The Grady Girls. Driftwood, Locos Por Juana, Samite, Sammy Kershaw, The Double E, The Believers, Donna the Buffalo, ,Preston Frank and
His Zydeco Family Band,Thomas Mapfumo and the Blacks Unlimited, and many, many more, were absolutely amazing! The Outpost,an 18 and under alchohol free tent, had an great open-mic night Friday.

The Woody Pines, who just described their music as 'hyper jazz, ragtime, and a little rock & roll thrown in for kicks' are warming up in our tent for their Fingerlakes Unplugged set, and Locos Por Juana will be by later. Video forthcoming! Locos... played a set in the Dance Tent today and it was just as guitar driven as the last half of yesterday's Grandstand set that i was fortunate enough to be blown away by. They seemed better after sunset though!

Yesterday after Blackfire, saw Ayurveda, I noticed that one of their computers on stage was adorned by a Dali-print, the one with the gnarled tree trunks that look like upside down elephants reflections in the dark water they're growing out of. It's a good visual for this trippy rockin' area band. After that, at the bandshell I was amazed by how much I liked Locos Por Juana. A Miami-based band that makes people dance with their cumbia-inspired, hip hoppy, latin-infused numbers. Sweet guitar riffs stand out to give them a recognizable sound.

Was just blown away by Blackfire. Native American siblings all about social justice yet completely rockin' and heavy. Their guitarist is in Arizona, participating in activism against a mountaintop being destroyed with pipelines for wastewater so fake snow can be made. The singing bass player, Jeneda, is flying to Arizona tomorrow to join him, but hopefully they'll make it up here to the Green Room Lounge later tonight and do a little set for us.

In spite of the heat early last evening, Thousands of One had the entire infield packed with dancing, shouting, singing, fist-pumping people. Their seamless fusion of rock rap funk and soul electrified this crowd, some of which had been in 100-degree weather all day, and others who made it out just in time for the set. “We really need the crowd to do a good show,” Jake Roberts, one of the guitarists for Thousands, said earlier in the Green Room Lounge, but his concern that their enthusiasts might be lacking high-energy feedback was unnecessary.

The Cuban band is Sierra Maestra who had the Dance Tent dance area filled with dancers and illicited big applause whenever they stopped playing, which wasn't many times during the set, which is actually still going on. They sounded good to me, but I guess salsa bands are not for observers and I am not a salsa dancer. My friend Durga loves them, as does my friend Deborah, as do the over one hunded people in the dance tent dancing.

Kind of in honor of seeing and appreciating Keith Secola & His Wild Band of Indians, I got a native American vegetarian sans cheese taco.

Keith Secola & His Wild Band of Indians started off kind of psychedelicish and were kind of heavy, I could headbang to the first few (half the set) songs. Cool undertones, Santana-like guitar sometimes, sometimes the vocals reminded me of Jim Morrison, I heard The Replacements, and I appreciated seeing this band who I heard of for the first time earlier today. After 45 minutes the jamminess was enough for me, but that could have something to do with the temperature being about 100% and me out of water. Though water is available for free, everywhere, to drink, or to walk under a mist.