None of your friends or relatives are

puppet. In fact, with the right equipment you can waste time in dozens of digitally personalized ways I’m sure I don’t even know about.

Granted, I’m kind of a killjoy when it comes to consumer elec tronics. In the early 80s when personal computers first made the scene, I argued that my electric typewriter had memory enough. In the 90s I said my Sierra Club calen dar was easier to tote than a Palm Pilot. I never owned a cell phone or DVD player until recently.

But killjoy doesn’t mean Luddite. When technology goes from gizmo to need, count me in. During the past 20 years I’ve become such a heavy laptop user I’ve had to replace two keyboards and the one I’m typing this on is missing the T, E and R. The DVD player, along with Netflix, has allowed me to catch up on real movies, not just the five blockbusters playing Toledo cinemas. (But the Palm — and the machine it was synced to — crashed simultaneously, so I’m back to paper there.)

When I think back on the genesis of the personal tech movement, I furrow my mind to Chicago, circa 1981. Still in school, I was anxious to be part of its electric, urban community. But as I walked down Michigan Avenue to my summer job I realized that most of my fellow pedestrians were attached to Walkmen. They wanted to close that world off electronically.

I had a déjà vu of this a couple months ago in New York: every Manhattanite seemed to be sporting those distinctive white Apple earbuds. When they started popping up in Toledo I considered writing a column about how antisocial I viewed the trend.

But a couple weeks ago, I opened my laptop to see that my daughter, a college student, had e-mailed me a track off a CD she liked. This music exchange got to be daily thing. Which I interpreted as both keeping in touch with my kid, and touching base with her generation.

But playing music on a computer is awkward. You can’t pop it in the car for a road trip or hang it from your neck while exercising. So though I haven’t yet done it, I think there’s a good chance I’m going to buy into Steve Job’s retirement fund and get me an ipod, too.

Unless, in the time it takes to justify that personal hypocrisy, someone comes up with a phone that does the same thing. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that my German friend is working on it. Rogan Josh with a contempositar soundtrack? It’s probably not far off.

By Holly Abrams Special to Toledo Free Press

The opera may seem like an unlikely match for children. But students at Shoreland Elementary expressed thrill and amuse ment as they watched a production of “Hansel and Gretel.”

The operatic folk tale was presented May 13 by the Toledo Opera’s “Opera on Wheels” program. which brings productions to elementary schools across Northwest Ohio.

With only a few actors, props and a piano, the fable of two children who encounter a gingerbread house and a hungry witch came to life for students.

The students enjoyed the production, said kindergarten teacher Erika Jackson.

“Believe it or not, most people would think the opera would not really hold their attention but it really does,” she said.

The performance is not only entertaining but has educational value for students, Jackson said.

“I think kids need to be exposed to a variety of things,” she said. “It’s good for them to know what opera is to make them better well rounded.”

Some students may have never heard of opera before seeing the performance, said third grade teacher Kelly Baumberger.

“I think it really keeps the child’s attention and they really enjoy it,” she said. “It’s a different experience they are not used to seeing and it’s something new.”

Baumberger spoke to her students about opera before the performance.

“I don’t think they realize that when they’re singing they’re tell ing a story,” she said. “I hope they obtain that and listen to what they’re saying.”

Shoreland Elementary has hosted the Toledo Opera several times, said Principal Linda Culp.

“I love to have the opera, it gives kids an enrichment experience, something different that taps in to the fine arts element,” she said.

At first she was hesitant about how students would react to opera, Culp said, but was soon proven wrong.

“Some sit there with such inten sity, they really love it,” she said.

After the show, the actors asked children what they learned from the performance.

They yelled out several answers, including working together, loving their siblings and never going into someone’s house they don’t know.

The actors find the perfor mances for children especially rewarding, said Annie Radcliffe, opera singer of six years, who plays Hansel.

“You never get more reaction than you do from a child,” she said. “I’ve never performed for such a receptive audience.”

Children were able to ask questions following the perfor mance, including one who asked earnestly, “Why do you have to sing opera?”

The answer is simple, said Eliz

Toledo Free Press photo by DM Stanfield

abeth Herlitz, a first year singer for the Toledo Opera who plays Gretel.

“We chose to do opera because this is what we love to do,” she said. “We hope that you can find something to do you love as much as we do.” Performing for stu dents is enjoyable, Herlitz said.

“This is probably the most mu sically rewarding thing I’ve ever done,” she said. “We love our jobs.”

Performances of “Hansel and Gretel” and “The Love Potion” are available by the Toledo Opera for elementary students November through May of each year. Visit www.toledoopera.com for more information.

For One Weekend

Only Rain or Shine

Toledo Musician Festival May 26-27-28 Memorial Day Weekend

3 full days of live music! $500.00 Cash Prize 3 Trophies 1st, 2nd & best new up and coming Contest will be judged by the public!

Come experience Toledo’s best sports bar and Toledo’s hottest local musical acts! Tons of beer and drink specials!

Danny Cohen We’re All Gunna Die (✭ out of four)

Semi-autobiographical with well-intentioned philosophy, music industry veteran Danny Cohen’s second solo album “We’re all Gunna Die” resembles a Ginsberg poem in a train wreck. Never quite achieving anything musically entertaining, Cohen does entertain listeners with Bob Dylanesque poetic social commentary.

The Higher Histrionics (✭✭✭✭)

“Histrionics” argues that rock isn’t dead. Complete with monumental and catchy guitar riffs, awesome drum beats and passion ate vocals, this band is undoubtedly talented. Never relenting, this album concludes with one of its best tracks, the acoustic “Pace Yourself.” Buy this CD.

Anthony D. Atkins, M.D. State of Emergency (✭✭)

Anthony Atkins, a young doctor living in Toledo, has released a debut album that prescribes a poignant dosage of positive messages aimed at inner-city youth. Addressing the danger of sexual promiscuity through the lyrics of his hip hop poetry, Atkins attempts to influence today’s youth with an art form they can relate to. Atkins has considerable talent mixing clever wordplay with traditional hip hop beats and melodies. Even the most despondent of youths will admit their love of hip hop derives from the genre’s iconic label of danger and parental disapproval. “State of Emergency” raises the bar for lyrical content, but loses its fan base at the same time.

The Blue Van The Art of Rolling (✭✭✭✭)

Destined for greatness, this Danish quartet’s debut album is a wildly exciting rock, rhythm and blues excursion into the sound genre of the 1960s. Resembling a contemporary version of the Kinks, the Blue Van incorporates powerful guitar work, raspy vocals, and unbelievably cool, organ-pounding solos to produce a fuzzy sort of rock n’ roll all to its own.

Ambulance Ltd. Ambulance Ltd. (✭✭✭)

Comprised of jazzy soft rock, a little psychedelic soul, and even some grunge, this album has been influenced by The Beatles, My Bloody Valentine, even Hall & Oates. Displaying a refined musical ability, the songs appear hon est and heartfelt.

TSAR Band, Girls, Money (✭✭✭✭)

From the opening of the first track, TSAR’s searing guitar solos and heart pounding drum beats engages rock fans across the spectrum. Although songs like “Band, Girls, Money” and “Wanna Get Dead” have lyrics oversaturated with frivolity, the dynamic musical groove overly compen sates. Power chords, killer hooks, great bass lines and wailing vocals dominate the sound. Songs like “Superdeformed,” “Straight,” and “The Love Explosion” all possess compulsory sing-along choruses.

Amber Pacific Possibility and the Promise (✭✭)

Many songs drone on with flat ness, while only a few build force and momentum. Bland vocals almost drive the band’s energy into the ground. Lyrically, this band excels where many bands don’t. The writing team of Greg Strong and Will Nutter seem to be the band’s strong point.

Purpose Purpose (✭✭✭)

Surprisingly entertaining melo dies and well written lyrics delivered by soft and passionate vocals construct this CD of promise. Purpose, a musical duo produced out of Toledo comprised of co-writers Matt Heart and John Davis, open up their heart and extend their musical prowess in this sweetsounding endeavor. Many tracks demonstrate the duo’s smooth guitar rhythms and heartfelt lyrics.

Manic Hispanic Grupo Sexo (✭✭✭)

Barred from intrastate travel due to parole officer restrictions, Manic Hispanic plays to select Californian crowds only. “Grupo Sexo” does what their previous releases did so well: mix old school punk rock with a contem porary Latino homeboy twist. Rewriting old classics from the Clash, the Ramones, the Circle Jerks, and Green Day, Manic Hispanic bombs the listener with loud guitar and urban flavor.

Secret Lives of Free Masons Built to make you dance (✭✭)

Secret Lives of the Free Masons quickly establishes its core fan base: speed metalheads. Making use of a four part guitar/bass sec tion, Secret Lives delivers irresist ible and arresting riffs and solos.

Faith Evans The First Lady (✭✭✭)

Combining soulful R&B grooves and upbeat rhythms on her new release, Faith Evans succeeds in entertaining. Appearing vulnerable in many of her songs by including public-known melodrama in her lyr ics, the song “Again” highlights the album with intimacy. The “first lady of hip hop” does not disappoint.

Relient K Mmhmm (✭✭✭)

This Canton group sells a very catchy rock sound, stretching from groovy guitar riffs to ethereal piano playing. Many songs range from the serious, such as “This Week the Trend,” and “Maintain Con sciousness,” to the silly “The Only Thing Worse than Beating a Dead Horse is Betting on One.” Entertaining and likable.

Just try and get a straight answer out of the Dirty Damn Band.

“We met in a brothel,” laughs bassist/vocalist/sometime guitarist Michelle Dunoski.

“She came in looking for some action, and I was working there,” continues drummer/vocalist Katie Cervenec. “She paid me fifty cents to sing her a song.”

Cervenec and Dunoski originally paired up in someone else’s band — “someone a lot more Woody Guthrie,” according to Dunoski —- and when the rigors of that group became stressful, the duo would let off steam by writing silly ditties, making up skits and “going to Fricker’s to eat chicken or redesigning our practice space.”

Though neither can remember where the name “The Dirty Damn Band” entered the picture, the duo soon started playing gigs laced with improvised lyrics, impromptu storytelling, and an irreverent attitude.

Local rock impresario Miguel Oria, late of Toledo quasi-legends Moby Jane, Bluicide and the TShirts, was so enamored of the Dirty Damn Band he invited them to record at his Che-Tel Studios, for a possible future album release. The CD is slated for a summer release, after which will follow more touring.

“We’re not sure if we want to get big,” Dunoski admits. “We’re really bad at deadlines, so if someone asked us to have a record done, we’d be like, ‘let’s go get ice cream.’ ” — Keith Bergman Toledo’s Dirty Damn Band readies new CD