Assorted ramblings from the world of entertainment:
Plans are under way for another Breast Cancer Benefit Reunion Concert over Labor Day weekend.
Organizer Tommy McCoy sent out an email Wednesday soliciting musicians to participate in the show, which is scheduled Sept. 1 at Up a Creek in Howland. In past years, members from many of the area's most popular bands in the '60s and '70s reunited to play for many of the folks who used to come see them as teenagers. Several current bands also have performed.
This year's concert has a new beneficiary. Proceeds will go to the St. Joseph Cancer Center in Warren. About $17,000 was raised for breast cancer charities in the first three years of the event.
There are no plans to do a second show at Packard Music Hall, which they did in 2011, but organizers are looking at the possibility of a second event that weekend that would involve a national act.
Musicians interested in donating their time for the Sept. 1 event should email McCoy at tommymccoyblues@gmail.com.
A Warren film company is turning to the fundraising site Kickstarter to finance two upcoming projects.
Laythrom Media is trying to raise $35,000 - $20,000 for ''Within,'' a feature film based on biological testing on humans by the Soviet Union in the late 1940s; and $15,000 for ''Starting from Scratch,'' a documentary about creating and launching a small business. Perks for those who contribute range from a thank you on Laythrom's website ($5) to an all-expenses-paid visit to the set and a one-on-one with director Matt Adkins ($5,000).
All of the money must be raised by May 31, or none of the pledges will be collected. For more information or to contribute, go to www.kickstarter. com and type "matt adkins" into the search engine.
And there are only three days left to contribute to the Oakland Center for the Arts' Kickstarter campaign to pay for the special effects for its current production of ''Evil Dead: The Musical.'' As of Wednesday afternoon, $851 of the $1,500 needed had been pledged, including one donor who gave $250 to get the talking moosehead prop from the show.
The advance sell-out for the Big Tap In Real Craft Beer Festival last month at the Covelli Centre is the latest example that beer drinkers are willing to look beyond the mass-market brewers to quench their thirst.
Another opportunity comes this weekend at the I-X Center in Cleveland for the Second International Brew Fest. This year's event will feature about 800 different beers served up by more than 200 breweries from the United States and around the world. Meads and hard ciders also will be served, and three different stages will feature programs on different beer styles, brewing techniques, food pairings and related topics.
Tasting sessions are planned from 7 to 11 p.m. Friday and 1 to 5 and 7 to 11 p.m. Saturday at the I-X Center. General admission is $45 per session (which includes 36 tasting tickets for 2-ounce pours, a tasting cup and access to all of the programs) or $75 for the VIP exBEERience, which includes six additional tasting tickets, a commemorative T-shirt, complimentary hors d'oeuvres and access to VIP Brewers Lounge serving rare or limited edition beers. Tickets and additional information are available online at www.ixbeerfest.com
Andy Gray is the entertainment writer for the Tribune Chronicle. Write to him at grayareas@tribtoday.com