Denver Russell has the chance of a lifetime. She will star in what’s believed to be Oak Park’s first rendition of the classic ballet “The Nutcracker.”
“It means a lot to me,” the bashful 10-year-old said last week.
Denver is one of 40 girls in the Girls Self-Esteem Program Academy who are practicing their dance moves around the clock and honing their pointe technique by balancing on their toes.
...Girls in the program, ages 4 to 18, practice ballet three times a week and pay between $25 and $50 a month to participate. Most of the girls are black and hail from underprivileged families from across the Sacramento region, said Kandice Kelly, the program’s director.
“I’m of the belief that every girl in the world should take ballet once,” said Kelly, a former ballerina. “It helps with poise. It helps with grace.”
Kelly founded the program five years ago after volunteering at the Fathers Resource Center, a nonprofit for single fathers that she discovered while working as a television news reporter.
“There were a lot of girls who didn’t have mothers. And the little girls started following me on the weekends because I was the only female,” Kelly said.
Monday, January 06, 2014
Oak Park Heads Balletward
They are onto something good:
Obnoxious Bureaucrats
Al Qaeda is apparently very meticulous:
This transaction in northern Mali shows what might seem an unusual preoccupation for a terror group: Al-Qaida is obsessed with documenting the most minute expenses.
In more than 100 receipts left in a building occupied by al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb in Timbuktu earlier this year, the extremists assiduously tracked their cash flow, recording purchases as small as a single light bulb. The often tiny amounts are carefully written out in pencil and colored pen on scraps of paper and Post-it notes: The equivalent of $1.80 for a bar of soap; $8 for a packet of macaroni; $14 for a tube of super glue. All the documents were authenticated by experts.
Nice Article On Liorah Singerman
Theater busy:
“My mother was a teacher in the Sacramento school district,” says Singerman, “so I knew how much performing arts were suffering in the schools. It was just horrible.” That first season, she spent 90 minutes a week for 10 weeks with students at Caroline Wenzel Elementary School in Greenhaven. They produced a review that was a huge success.
Five years later, Singerman is juggling shows at five schools—Didion, Crocker Riverside, Sutterville, Holy Spirit, and Shalom School—as well as a production of “The Wizard of Oz” at Sierra 2 Center for the Arts and Community in Curtis Park. That production will be taken to the participating schools, which simplifies the logistics of sets, lighting, costumes and choreography. Singerman—relying on her husband’s skills—has introduced the use of film to project the stage sets. “We rearranged our living room and set up a green screen, just like they use for weather reports,” says Plaza. “The kids came over and we shot footage.”
Singerman choreographs, directs and produces every show, with help from husband and assistant director Michelle Petro. Parents do everything from selling tickets and refreshments at the shows to ensuring that Young Actors Stage has a home at their children’s schools.
We Can Neutron Dance: Hollywood Movie Dance Tribute - Part 2
Kate writes:
Posted on Sullivan’s site as mental health break – very fun (especially if you like/remember the song), and very well done.
Say What You Think
Good point:
Following reports that the Iraqi city of Fallujah had fallen into the control of an al Qaida-affiliated group over the weekend, Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) wasted little time in putting out a statement blaming the tumult on the Obama administration's decision to withdraw U.S. forces from the country in 2011.
...White House press secretary Jay Carney said Monday that the likes of McCain and Graham ought to be transparent about what exactly they're proposing.
"I've heard members of Congress suggest this, but if members were suggesting that there should be American troops fighting and dying in Fallujah today, they should say so," Carney said during his daily press briefing.
Thrown Under The Bus
In the end, everyone abandoned Liz Cheney. And it's a good thing!:
Cheney’s early 2014 struggles had a lot to do with the flaws of her own campaign, and now she says family concerns ultimately doomed her bid. But I think her already-flailing debacle of a campaign (before the family news came out) tells us something about the fizzling of the Tea Party as an oppositional force, especially when it comes to serious, entrenched conservatives like Wyoming’s Mike Enzi. It bodes well for 2014 that she flamed out quickly. Nepotistic sister-betraying Cheneys and other Tea Party opportunists just may not find Republican primaries as easy as they were in 2010. And that’s good for both parties, and for the country.
A Happy Ending!
Amanda sends a happy note:
UPDATE: Alex is found! Thank you! Thank you to all who helped. He had located a river and was found following it. Stayed in the woods 2 nights. He is tired, hungry, and disoriented but otherwise well. Sooo many people came out for the search. Wouldn't have found him without you and the shares
Sunday, January 05, 2014
Search Starting For Alex Salyers
Search starting early tomorrow morning for Amanda's brother, in the Sierra foothills vicinity of Cool, CA.
My dear mountain friends: My brother Alex has been missing since last night. He may have just wandered off, but no one knows where he is and we'd like to know he is safe. Last seen walking towards Auburn Lake Trails. Please let me know if you have any info.
Money, Success, Fame, Glamour
Michael Flowers, of "Breaking Bad" Set Dressing fame, continues to make challenging and interesting video mashups.
I am puzzled. Where is the moral? But it's five minutes till curtain, so must run....
First Weekend Of "Cabaret" Done
Was this just the most-endless Tech Week, or what? A performance or rehearsal on ten of the last eleven days! Endurance was useful for Stage Managing this show, but with a lingering cold, it was hard to find, at times. I'd fall into coughing jags, and had other issues.
New Year's Eve went pretty well. The cast was motivated!
Friday night, there were some glitches - people missing set changes, usually. Twice, I snagged the line leading from my head set to the radio transmitter while moving furniture, which disconnected me from the headset and delayed relaying 'Lights!' to Jenna in the Light Booth.
Saturday night was nearly-perfect for set changes. Just some prop problems (Letter to England, etc.). Dalton told a few tales - about how he and Katherine inadvertently spat into each other's faces, and the like. There was a distraction too. Katherine came onstage in her fur coat towards the end of Act I. She took off the fur coat and laid it down. Just then, a highly-visible moth came out of the fur coat, and started buzzing about on stage. Strange!
Sunday afternoon, a few set change issues returned. At the end of the first Train scene, Hugo exited stage right again, instead of stage left. With him delayed, that set change turned into a massive clusterfrack stage left. Richard and I nearly collided while changing the set just before 'Sitting Pretty', which definitely slowed things down. Katherine noticed the last egg remaining for the weekend was very-strangely puckered and distorted. We wanted to make Dalton eat it on stage, or at least see if there was a bat inside of it, or something, but thought better of it, and sent Rebecca out to get more eggs instead.
New Year's Eve went pretty well. The cast was motivated!
Friday night, there were some glitches - people missing set changes, usually. Twice, I snagged the line leading from my head set to the radio transmitter while moving furniture, which disconnected me from the headset and delayed relaying 'Lights!' to Jenna in the Light Booth.
Saturday night was nearly-perfect for set changes. Just some prop problems (Letter to England, etc.). Dalton told a few tales - about how he and Katherine inadvertently spat into each other's faces, and the like. There was a distraction too. Katherine came onstage in her fur coat towards the end of Act I. She took off the fur coat and laid it down. Just then, a highly-visible moth came out of the fur coat, and started buzzing about on stage. Strange!
Sunday afternoon, a few set change issues returned. At the end of the first Train scene, Hugo exited stage right again, instead of stage left. With him delayed, that set change turned into a massive clusterfrack stage left. Richard and I nearly collided while changing the set just before 'Sitting Pretty', which definitely slowed things down. Katherine noticed the last egg remaining for the weekend was very-strangely puckered and distorted. We wanted to make Dalton eat it on stage, or at least see if there was a bat inside of it, or something, but thought better of it, and sent Rebecca out to get more eggs instead.
Friday, January 03, 2014
Blake's Is Opening Their First Restaurant Outside New Mexico
Sixty-one years! 'bout time!:
I've been surprised Blake's hasn't expanded beyond the state boundaries, till now. El Paso is a natural target for an expanding operation. Besides, according to K., El Paso restaurant choices suck, so anything that can be done to help.
The popular Albuquerque-based hamburger chain will open its new El Paso restaurant the first week of January, according to a company executive.
It will be the only Blake’s Lotaburger located outside of New Mexico — at least for now. A second El Paso location is planned for the spring.
I've been surprised Blake's hasn't expanded beyond the state boundaries, till now. El Paso is a natural target for an expanding operation. Besides, according to K., El Paso restaurant choices suck, so anything that can be done to help.
2014 - Year Of Troubles
Lt. Commander Rebecca Jordan, hero of Smog Town troops in the Battle of Interstate 5.Well, the forecasts are beginning to weaken the small potential storm next Thursday to nothingness, and strengthening the eastern Pacific ridge again. 2014 is going to be a year of locusts in California. And that's really bad, because my entire life-plan is based on the Grasshopper, not the Ant. Time to revisit "The Great War of the Californias".
Among the holdings at the Di Rosa Art Museum near Napa, they actually have the immense canvas of "The Battle of San Francisco". Amazing panorama!
Here's a trailer.
Ice Box
Kathleen in Calgary notes this:
This week, in Southern Manitoba, the temperature reached a blisteringly frigid -31 degrees Celsius, or nearly -24 Fahrenheit. (Wind chill values in Winnipeg—in case you were curious and/or in need of some meteorological schadenfreude—dipped to -58 Fahrenheit.) Which is crazy, and which makes for, as Yahoo's Geekquinox blog puts it, "the coldest afternoon temperatures the area has seen in several years."
...And over the past month, Yahoo notes, REMS has been reporting daily high temperatures on Mars that range from -25 to -31 degrees Celsius. (Mars seems to be having its own cold spell: The -31 degrees Celsius temperature is the coldest daily high the rover has recorded since it landed on the planet in August 2012.)
Thursday, January 02, 2014
Internal Siamese Twin
(Standing in the sandwich line at Subway. IST observes me looking at my iPhone while holding it just inches in front of my left eye)
IST: You shouldn't hold the iPhone so close to your eye. It will damage your retina. Like a TV. Instead, you should use a magnifying glass while holding the iPhone at arm's length.
M.: I had retinal surgery in 1994. They put a band around my eye, so it's even more near-sighted than it used to be.
IST: You should have a doctor look at that. It's better to be safe than sorry. Not that I want to intrude. You should have a doctor look at that. It's better to be safe than sorry. Not that I want to intrude. You should have a doctor look at that. It's better to be safe than sorry. Not that I want to intrude......
M.: (Observing his three foot-long sandwiches being made) That's a lot of food. It's not just for yourself, is it?
IST: Yes, it is. I have two stomachs. In the womb, I started to divide into a Siamese twin, but the process didn't complete. I'm an Internal Siamese Twin.
M.: So, do you have a split personality?
IST: No, although I have mood swings. The process didn't complete. I should have a doctor look at that.
M.: So, you're going to eat all those sandwiches?
IST: Yes. It's really something when the stomach on the left starts growling, and the stomach on the right starts growling too. I need the nutrition. It's part of being an Internal Siamese Twin. The process didn't complete, so I have just one heart, just behind the breast bone, almost in the center of the chest.
M.: My breast bone is messed up, maybe from a lack of nutrition when I was three years old.
IST: You should have a doctor look at that. It's better to be safe than sorry. Particularly the Vitamin C. You can get the scurvies from that.
M.: They used to get that on sailing ships.
IST: They'd lose two thirds of the crew to the scurvies. Your hair falls out and you get yellow eye balls. Your membranes basically fall apart. It's so important what women eat when they are pregnant, especially in the first three weeks. That's when the cell division occurs, and when Siamese twins get made. (To the 'sandwich artist') Can you add more pickles?
IST: You shouldn't hold the iPhone so close to your eye. It will damage your retina. Like a TV. Instead, you should use a magnifying glass while holding the iPhone at arm's length.
M.: I had retinal surgery in 1994. They put a band around my eye, so it's even more near-sighted than it used to be.
IST: You should have a doctor look at that. It's better to be safe than sorry. Not that I want to intrude. You should have a doctor look at that. It's better to be safe than sorry. Not that I want to intrude. You should have a doctor look at that. It's better to be safe than sorry. Not that I want to intrude......
M.: (Observing his three foot-long sandwiches being made) That's a lot of food. It's not just for yourself, is it?
IST: Yes, it is. I have two stomachs. In the womb, I started to divide into a Siamese twin, but the process didn't complete. I'm an Internal Siamese Twin.
M.: So, do you have a split personality?
IST: No, although I have mood swings. The process didn't complete. I should have a doctor look at that.
M.: So, you're going to eat all those sandwiches?
IST: Yes. It's really something when the stomach on the left starts growling, and the stomach on the right starts growling too. I need the nutrition. It's part of being an Internal Siamese Twin. The process didn't complete, so I have just one heart, just behind the breast bone, almost in the center of the chest.
M.: My breast bone is messed up, maybe from a lack of nutrition when I was three years old.
IST: You should have a doctor look at that. It's better to be safe than sorry. Particularly the Vitamin C. You can get the scurvies from that.
M.: They used to get that on sailing ships.
IST: They'd lose two thirds of the crew to the scurvies. Your hair falls out and you get yellow eye balls. Your membranes basically fall apart. It's so important what women eat when they are pregnant, especially in the first three weeks. That's when the cell division occurs, and when Siamese twins get made. (To the 'sandwich artist') Can you add more pickles?
Small Storm Over The Horizon
Extended weather forecasts are beginning to show a possible small storm in northern California in about a week - next Thursday. I certainly hope so. The drought situation has never been so desperate in California! 2014 is setting up as a real ugly year for water, and we need as much as possible, as often as possible, and right the hell now.
Mr. Doesn't-Like-Confrontation Confronts
Mr. Doesn't-Like-Confrontation confronted homeless bicyclist with dog leaning against my garage door at 5 a.m. "I had to poop. I'll clean it up." Um, OK.
Spied on him a few times. What is with this dude? Now he's counting out money.
Fellow lingered under the driveway light for about an hour. I finally called Sac PD, but just then he pushed on. Not eager to check on situation downstairs. Fellow was at least apologetic: no Marcy-Darcy crap.
In the morning, went down to check. Looks like homeless guy tried to break into the garage, and smeared shit on the outside wall. Charming!
Can't find his shit. I wonder where he put it? Doesn't seem to be in the garbage cans.
So, who is this guy? A new nutter in the 'hood....
Spied on him a few times. What is with this dude? Now he's counting out money.
Fellow lingered under the driveway light for about an hour. I finally called Sac PD, but just then he pushed on. Not eager to check on situation downstairs. Fellow was at least apologetic: no Marcy-Darcy crap.
In the morning, went down to check. Looks like homeless guy tried to break into the garage, and smeared shit on the outside wall. Charming!
Can't find his shit. I wonder where he put it? Doesn't seem to be in the garbage cans.
So, who is this guy? A new nutter in the 'hood....
Sorry For Lack Of Posting
With crazy work schedule, opening of 'Cabaret', holiday visits, and feeling sick, I just haven't had the time. Fell behind too. The world is moving on at light speed....
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