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March 1, 2020 Nick Moline
Tonight, before our evening performance of Disney's Freaky Friday, SCP's new Artistic Director, Kevin Surace took to the stage to announce the shows in our 2020-2021 season, dubbed A Celebration of Life and Love. Check out the video!
https://youtu.be/yZYvlt6Ck7U
Tickets for Matilda, Once on This Island, Beauty and the Beast, and Camelot are available now! Can't choose between them? Don't, purchase one of our Season Subscriptions and save even more!
Save over 20% with a Season Subscription
If you are interested in our shows, save money and get extra benefits by buying a Season Subscription. Season Subscribers get all of the following benefits:
20% discount over individual ticket prices
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Our season subscriptions are available in two different packages: 4-show (all shows) and 3-show (all but the junior production).
3 Show Package
Roald Dahl's Matilda The Musical
The story of an extraordinary girl who dares to take a stand and change her own destiny.
Inspired by the twisted genius of Roald Dahl, the Tony Award-winning Roald Dahl's Matilda The Musical is the captivating masterpiece from the Royal Shakespeare Company that revels in the anarchy of childhood, the power of imagination and the inspiring story of a girl who dreams of a better life. With book by Dennis Kelly and original songs by Tim Minchin, Matilda has won 47 international awards and continues to thrill sold-out audiences of all ages around the world.
Matilda is a little girl with astonishing wit, intelligence and psychokinetic powers. She's unloved by her cruel parents but impresses her schoolteacher, the highly loveable Miss Honey. Over the course of her first term at school, Matilda and Miss Honey have a profound effect on each other's lives, as Miss Honey begins not only to recognize but also appreciate Matilda's extraordinary personality. Matilda's school life isn't completely smooth sailing, however – the school's mean headmistress, Miss Trunchbull, hates children and just loves thinking up new punishments for those who don't abide by her rules. But Matilda has courage and cleverness in equal amounts, and could be the school pupils' saving grace!
The show takes place in the 1980's and is packed with high-energy dance numbers, catchy songs and an unforgettable star turn for a young actress, Matildais a joyous girl power romp you and your family will love!
Matilda the Musical will run September 12 – October 4, 2020.
Auditions will be announced very soon!
Buy Tickets to Matilda the Musical
Celebrate storytelling with this rousing Calypso-flavored tale of one small girl who finds love in a world of prejudice.
From the Tony Award-winning songwriting team of Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty (Seussical, Ragtime), comes the Olivier Award-winning Once on This Island. This highly original and theatrical Caribbean adaptation of the popular fairy tale, The Little Mermaid, garnered eight Tony nominations for its Broadway run, including Best Musical, Book and Score, and just completed its very successful Broadway revival.
Ti Moune, a peasant girl, rescues a wealthy boy from the other side of the island, Daniel, with whom she falls in love. Unbeknownst to Ti Moune, the pompous gods who preside over the island make a bet with one another over which is stronger, love or death, the stakes being Ti Moune's life. When she pursues Daniel, who has returned to his people, Ti Moune is shunned because of her lowly status. Her determination and capacity to love, though, is not enough to win Daniel's heart, and Ti Moune pays the ultimate price; but the gods turn Ti Moune into a tree that grows so strong and so tall, it breaks the wall that separates the societies and ultimately unites them.
The story takes place in the early 1900's, and is packed with exciting Caribbean inspired music. Come away to an island with us and experience the magic.
Once On This Island runs online December 5-20, 2020.
Buy Tickets to Once on This Island
Disney's Beauty and the Beast
SCP's Annual Junior Production
"Be Our Guest!" The Academy Award-winning film comes to life in this romantic and beloved take on the classic fairytale.
Step into the enchanted world of Broadway's modern classic, Disney's Beauty and the Beast, an international sensation that played a remarkable 13-year run on Broadway and has been produced in 37 countries worldwide. Based on the Academy Award-winning animated feature, the stage version includes all of the wonderful songs written by Alan Menken and the late Howard Ashman, along with new songs by Mr. Menken and Tim Rice. The original Broadway production ran for over thirteen years and was nominated for nine Tony Awards, including Best Musical.
The classic story tells of Belle, a young woman in a provincial town, and the Beast, who is really a young prince trapped under the spell of an enchantress. If the Beast can learn to love and be loved, the curse will end and he will be transformed into his former self. But time is running out. If the Beast does not learn his lesson soon, he and his household will be doomed for all eternity.
With a story that takes place in the mid-1700's in France, this "tale as old as time" is filled with spectacular music the whole family knows.
Disney's Beauty and the Beast will run February 19 – March 7, 2021.
Auditions will be held in November!
Buy Tickets to Beauty and the Beast
The legendary love triangle of King Arthur, Guenevere and Sir Lancelot leaps from the pages of T.H. White's novel in Lerner and Loewe's award-winning, soaring musical.
Set in mid-12th century England, this is a musical rarely performed in its full grandeur. Sunnyvale Community Players is proud to produce this show with a full 30+ strong cast and the original full orchestration of 25 live musicians.
Borrowing from the Arthurian legends, Lerner and Loewe's Camelot is the duo's fantastical masterpiece which triumphed on Broadway in a legendary original production that lead to a film version, and numerous revivals in New York, London and across the globe. Its Original Broadway Cast Album topped the charts for a record 60 weeks, with a rich score boasting such gems as "If Ever I Would Leave You," "I Loved You Once in Silence," "The Lusty Month of May," and of course, "Camelot."
An idealistic young King Arthur hopes to create a kingdom built on honor and dignity, embodied by his Knights of The Round Table. His Ideals, however are tested when his lovely queen, Guenevere, falls in love with the young Knight, Lancelot and the fate of the kingdom hangs in the balance.
The original Broadway production of "Camelot" was a highly successful stage vehicle for Richard Burton, Julie Andrews and Robert Goulet. The show ran on Broadway for 873 performances, followed by two years on the road in the US, two more in London, and a further two in Australia, won four Tony Awards, enjoyed three Broadway revivals and was made into an Oscar-winning film in 1967 starring Richard Harris and Vanessa Redgrave.
Camelot will run April 17 – May 9, 2021.
Auditions will be held later this year!
Buy Tickets to Camelot
We look forward to seeing you at all of these fantastic performances in our 52nd Season, a Celebration of Life and Love!
2 Responses to "Presenting Season 52: A Celebration of Life and Love"
Ted K.
Which commercial version will be done of Camelot? Tams-Witmark has two. In Act Two you either have the forest scene with the animals and Morgan LeFey, or the song "Fie on Goodness" with the knights, also, in Act One, you have the option of adding "Take Me to the Fair." Will be fun to see which options are selected.
Thanks for your question Ted,
We will be performing the original broadway version, which is now licensed by MTI rather than Tams-Witmark. Our performances will include both "Fie on Goodness" and "Take Me to the Fair"


There are so many good reasons to plant a New Zealand native as gardeners all over the world have discovered. During a recent trip to Europe I swear I saw a Cabbage Tree (Corydline) in every back yard I peeked into! Here at home, planting a NZ Native is really an act of conservation as it ensures the continuation of native plant species. Along with that there is the added bonus of attracting native birds to your garden and beneficial native insects. However before we get too "Green" and serious lets just apreciate the wonderful layers of colour, texture and distinctive form that NZ Natives offer the gardener.
What could be more architectural than a Cabbage Tree? Perhaps the only competitor would be our NZ Flaxes (Phormiums) which are available in small, medium and large with a wide colour palette. These cannot be beaten for toughness and adaptability and are simply fabulous planted en masse. Can you imagine New Zealand without Kowhai trees (Sophora) driping with bright yellow bells in summer and being squabbled over by noisy Tui's? Did you know that some Kowhai plants only reach 1m and are therefore ideal for smaller gardens or container growing? And what about our own unique Christmas Tree, the Pohutakawa (Metrosideros) which is so easy and rewarding to grow in frost free areas.
You won't get a better ground cover for difficult sites than our native Coprosma varieties. Then there are native "grasses" for mass planting and Hebes for adding year round colour. Corokias and Pittosporums for hedging, windbreaks, or no nonsense background foliage fillers. Did you know that the shy Pittosporum flowers have an exquisite perfume? Pseudopanax offer unique foliage form and colour and are ideal for adding height. In garden design our native plants can stand alone or combine superbly with exotic imports to provide a rich tapestry.
For best results plant Native plants in early spring in a well considered position as, just like us, they resent being moved unnecessarily. Other than that most natives are extremely easy and rewarding to grow.


This hack is based on Radagast's hack, Aria of Sorrow Fix. It reverts the Symphony of the Night changes that were accidentally added to the optional patch (aos-fix.ips), and fixes the remaining mistranslations. Although this is more faithful to the Japanese version, the character names remain intact.
For more detail, see the readme.


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Smartflash LLC et al v. Amazon.Com, Inc., et al
6:14-cv-00992
Closed: 11/26/2018
Latest Docket Entry: 11/27/2018
Accused Products
Patents In Suit
Days In Litigation
Federal Circuit Overturns $533M Apple Verdict in Smartflash Suit
The Federal Circuit has reversed a $533M infringement verdict against Apple after ruling that claims from three data access and storage patents (7,334,720; 8,118,221; 8,336,772) asserted by Smartflash LLC and Smartflash Technologies Limited (collectively, "Smartflash") are invalid under Alice (2016-1059). In an opinion issued on March 1, the Federal Circuit ruled that while District Judge Rodney Gilstrap had correctly found the patents are directed to an abstract idea—"conditioning and controlling access to data based on payment"—he had erred in finding that the claims contained the requisite inventive concept. Rather, the court held, the claims merely implemented that abstract idea using generic Internet activity and computer hardware, and are thus not patent-eligible.
View full article with free 30-day trial
($79/month thereafter)
PTAB Invalidates Claims of Two Smartflash Patents
The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) continues to chip away at patents asserted by Smartflash LLC and Smartflash Technologies Limited (Smartflash) against Amazon, Apple, Google, HTC, Samsung, and others. On Tuesday, the Board determined claim 32 of Smartflash's 8,118,221 patent to be invalid under Alice (CBM2014-00194). This decision comes a year after a Texas jury found that Apple had willfully infringed that claim, as well as claims of two additional, related patents (7,334,720; 8,336,772), and awarded Smartflash $533M in damages. (Later, in July 2015, District Judge Rodney Gilstrap ruled that Apple's infringement was not willful; that same week, he also overturned the damages verdict, concluding that the jury had been given flawed instructions on damages, but declined to revisit an earlier decision denying a motion to invalidate the patents-in-suit under Alice.) Also on Tuesday, the Board found claims 6, 8, and 10 of a second patent in Smartflash's campaign (8,033,458) to be patent ineligible under Section 101 and ruled claim 11 of the same patent to be indefinite (CBM2015-00016).
Access to the full article is currently available to RPX members only. Please contact us if you need further information.
Smartflash Sues Amazon in Media Distribution Campaign
Amazon and its subsidiary, Audible, are the newest defendants in Smartflash LLC's sole litigation campaign. The suit against the defendants asserts a group of seven patents related to online media storage and access (7,334,720, 7,942,317, 8,033,458, 8,061,598, 8,118,221, 8,336,772, 8,794,516). Smartflash's owner, Patrick Racz, is the inventor of the patents-in-suit. Amazon's services that allow purchase and download of online media, including Audible, the Appstore, Instant Video, and Music, are all accused of infringing the patents-in-suit.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Tesco 'absolutely concerned' about GDPR impact on Clubcard
The biggest shake-up to data laws is finally under way after the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into force on Friday (25 May). And the UK's largest supermarket is worried about the impact it will have on how it uses Clubcard data.
Speaking to Marketing Week, Tesco's chief customer officer Alessandra Bellini says only "time will tell" whether the new data laws will have a detrimental effect on what is undoubtedly one of Tesco's greatest assets, given it holds more than two decades' worth of customer data.
"I am absolutely concerned it will have an impact on Clubcard," she says. "Everything that we do through both the CRM programme and the Clubcard programme is impacted."
But "so far so good," says Bellini, who has now been at Tesco for just over a year. Looking ahead, Bellini believes GDPR will give Tesco the opportunity to "be more relevant" and "earn trust" – something the supermarket has been desperately trying to do over the past few years following a number of instances that have put it in the national headlines for all the wrong reasons.
"Whether it's your colleagues' or your customers' data, [if you demonstrate] that their privacy is very important to you then you earn the trust to do things with that data that is relevant for them," Bellini says.
Sourced through Scoop.it from: www.marketingweek.com
By Quanstreams|2018-06-01T15:28:39+00:00June 1st, 2018|Scoop.it|0 Comments
About the Author: Quanstreams


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Life Mates vs Soul Mates
There are life mates and soul mates,
and if you listen close enough,
you can hear the sun set between the two.
~Sophy Laughing
My initial exposure to the concept of "soul mates" came from reading Plato. My secondary influence stems from beliefs espoused and made popular in western culture. The above prose is an adaption of an insight I wrote in 1992: "There is love worth living for, and love worth dying for, and if you listen closely enough you can hear the sun set between the two." I offered this reflection (in a thesis) as a response to the notion of soul mates. In reality, the notion eluded me. Thus, my brain associated it with the common expression: "I would die without him/her" (from which I creatively adapted my poetic reflection). Just recently, in a post titled On the Notion of Soul Mates, I considered the following new thought:
While Plato presents the notion of soul mates as separate,
beings, there is another perspective, that of liberation.
The notion of soul mates as it pertains to liberation
romantically symbolizes freedom: in which each mate
freely chooses the other.
The distinction, for me, lies in the act of choosing. Typically speaking, we choose our life mates. These choices are largely influenced by external, practical, physical, or psychological factors, independent of one very specific, and so it would seem, incredibly rare, experience.
This experience can only be defined as something which is profoundly personal. The sentiment feels as if it is driven by unseen forces that connect us with another being outside ourselves in such an instantaneous and authentically real manner that it seems to happen before we are consciously aware of it. Even if you do not wish to experience this sentiment, even if there are circumstances dictating otherwise, it is as if the connection is so profound that there is no denying it.
Thus, the experience exists outside of the domain of our direct control ... it is indeed akin to having one's breath stolen.
It is an energie that brings a new awareness into being. One part of my brain is eager to say that it is an energie that ignites a new awareness, meaning a previously existing awareness or memory that already resides within the being (i.e., Plato's description of soul mates), but in reality the energie feels distinctively different. It feels like new energie. Like a perfectly harmonized energie strand that somehow twisted its way into your sphere of existence and
as it glides by, tenderly ...
it sneaks up upon you ...
And then, instantly, totally, and utterly lays claim to your heart! It is the feeling of being pierced by Cupid's arrow. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin offered a more poetic version of Plato's notion on soul mates: "Driven by the forces of love, the fragments of the world seek each other so that the world may come into being."
The world does indeed come into being. The beings are separate prior to the connection, but the bridge that unites them: this new energie, sentiment, or connection, is also a distinctive presence. The presence of a soul mate thus evokes the Christian doctrine of the Trinity (Latin trinitas "triad", from trinus "threefold"). The three entities are distinct, yet are one "substance, essence or nature". In this context, a "nature" is what one is, while a "person" is who one is.
Life mates speak to who we are at a given time in our lives. Soul mates speak to what we are: to our nature, substance, or essence, which is akin to an eternal principle by which the essence itself exists.
Throughout the course of our years, we expand our thinking, our emotions, and our perspectives, however, the substance of our being remains the same. It is this substance, essence or nature to which soul mates directly speak. Even if one has never before heard this language, it is an instinctively familiar one. It is a language so pure and so real that it cannot be mistaken for infatuation, compatibility, or even, a deeply held appreciation and 'love' for another.
Contemplating the notion of life mate vs soul mate inspires new questions for which there are no definitive answers and no definitive rationale behind the sentiments and thoughts they evoke.
One would naturally assume that an individual who does not possess a personal understanding of the notion of soul mate would not recognize the energie should a soul mate come along. And there is merit to hanging onto this type of thinking. However, the merit dissipates when we look to the collective mind of Western civilization where the notion of soul mates has been largely forgotten. Removed from our predominant mythology, the notion of soul mate is conspicuous in its absence and only begins to resurface when one is in the presence of a soul mate. Consequentially soul mates relate to the highest human religion one could experience. Soul mates are the archetypical trinity at the primal origin of our cultural history.
In the absence of soul mates, the Great Life Mate becomes the sole protagonist in our dominant mythology. We choose people based on looks and economy. He is handsome and funny or she is smart and beautiful. We choose for reasons, rather than being chosen by definition of who we are in relation to another. The metaphor for Christ being crucified on the cross is perhaps one that indicates an ancient understanding, namely that we can be with another as a direct consequence of tribal tradition, but a part of our heart dies in the process. We cannot be whole and complete unless the trinity is evoked and the trinity is not evoked unless we are with our soul mate.
We have inherited the myth of soul mates. We are the children of generations of beings who attempted to find wholeness in a world that is longing for the magic and mystery of love. This is our story. History is our parents. We are the children of a love that must be discovered for oneself.
No wonder we have such a yearning for soul mates, such a yearning for romantic love. No wonder the myth of love-at-first-sight pervades our collective fantasies, rendering other forms of love less significant.
The thing is... these other forms of love do seem less signifiant when one actually hears the sun set between the two.
Labels: Life Mates, Plato, soul mates
Country Western Songs & Philosophy
Existence precedes essence
SOPHY: I have to admit, Hegel, sometimes I wish I were more like you.
HEGEL: But you can be! Existentially speaking, you are a totally self-originated being! You are who you create!
SOPHY: That's terrific! Because the woman in me (needs the man in you)
இڿڰۣ
To get our 'hearts' into existentialism, we need to get our heads around nineteenth-century Hegelian Absolutism, the philosophical "these are my thoughts and I'm sticking by them" view that the only picture of life is from the outside looking in. Shania Twain says "but I win when I choose, and I can't stand to lose, but I can't always be the rock that you see. When the night's get too long, and I just can't go on, the woman in me, needs you to be .... the man in my arms, to hold tenderly cause I'm a woman in love and it's you I run to ... yeah the woman in me, needs the man in you."
Why does anybody need anybody?
Shania decides to sing about it... and she says why - she can't stand to lose - so why isn't she asking why she can't stand to lose? Why isn't she asking why she needs? She is answering a different question. She is answering why somebody needs somebody else.
Perhaps these questions only make sense if you're a lofty German philosopher.
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel maintained that history is the unfolding in time of "Absolute Spirit." The spirit of one age (say, 1969 Summer of Love) generates its own antithesis (the uptight absurdism of the 80s Yuppie movement), and the clash of the two creates a new synthesis (the love song singing vegans of this era and the Happy Meal Toy Toting Techies of today).
And so it goes, on and on, a dialectic of thesis / antithesis / synthesis (which gets forgotten, reminded of by a freak chance of fate, and then reconsidered and idealized and eventually made candidate for the new thesis) and so on.
Hegel thought he had jumped outside history and was looking down on "It All" from a transcendent point of view ~ just as Shania realizes "I'm not always strong, and sometimes I'm even wrong". And from both POVs he looks pretty good. Jealousy? Just a fallacy in the dialectic. Questioning? Just another move. Deflated? Not to worry.
The dialectic is on the move, and there's nothing to be done about it. Just hang on and know that "it's you I run to". George Wilhelm Friedrich thought he was looking at history from God's point of view! While Shania sees it through a woman's POV!
ENTER HEGEL'S CONTEMPORARY
Søren is like totally annoyed! "She knows him!" Søren says. That is not - and cannot be - the point of view of existing individuals. In that statement, existentialism was born. "I am true," Søren said. "You know me. You know how I feel. I'm right here in the thick of this and I'm nervous, too. I'm in danger of despair. Me. And so I want you to need the man in me because I need the woman in you!"
So, if Kierkegaard hears you singing about him and asks what you need, "What do you need of the man in me?" don't say, you can't stand to lose." My advice: Philosophize.
The twentieth-century French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre picked up on Kierkegaard's idea of an individual's scary isolation from their feelings in order to rationalize who they are and what they need and spun out the implications for human freedom and responsibility. The way Jean-Paul put it is, "existence precedes essence," by which he meant that human beings have no predetermined essence the way, say, a sock does. We are indeterminate, always free to reinvent ourselves.
If we see ourselves as only objects with fixed identities, we cease to Be, with a capital B.
And one way to see ourselves as objects is by identifying with a social role. That, Sartre says, is mauvaise foi, or bad faith. And that ain't good.
Sartre listens to the Shania's video and observes that even if Shania can't stand to lose, he still has faith in her. People who have faith learn how to inspire it in others by exercising it themselves. People who believe a certain way, have a certain attitude, stake out some point on the scale of intimacy versus distance, etc. This is fine as long as the person who has faith is conscious that it's all a gamble. But we all know that. Très mauvaise foi!
Silly posts like this make fun of our tendency to unthinkingly identify with the attitudes and values of our social group or preconceived ideas by showing us exaggerated instances - like country western songs & philosophy. This is itself a philosophical chess move: the reductio ad absurdum.
Reductio ad absurdum is a type of logical argument that extends a premise to the point of absurdity and then claims that the opposite premise must therefore be true. One reductio argument that was made here is this: "If we assume someone is a certain way, what's to stop us from believing everything we hear?"
(So I'm not perfect. I'm a philosopher.)
On the other hand, it is also bad faith to envision ourselves as having perfection with no differences.
Two cows are standing in a field. One says to the other,
"What do you think about this mad cow disease?"
"What do I care?" says the other. "I'm a helicopter."
For the existentialist philosophers, genuine curiosity, i.e., anxiety - the one they call "angst" because it has such a bitter taste when you say it - is not a symptom of pathology to be addressed by therapy. No, it is a basic human response to the very conditions of human existence: our mortality, our inability to fully realize our potential, our not being able to stand it when we lose, our womanly needs, yeah, yeah, Oh baby...
It's enough to make you wish you were an airhead philosopher instead of an existentialist.
Oh, whoops! Did I just say that?!
two magic words
The existentialists are eager to learn how to differentiate between "existential anxiety," such as the anxiety of not being able to stand it when they lose, which they feel stems from the human condition, and the ordinary neurotic anxiety, such as the anxiety of Sophy:
Sophy began to hyperventilate when she started telling her friend about the doctor. "I'm sure I'm lovesick."
"That's ridiculous," said the friend. "You've never before been lovesick. You don't even know the symptoms."
"Exactly!" said Sophy. "That is my precise symptom - not knowing!"
The twentieth-century German existentialist Martin Heidegger would respond, You call that lovesick, Sophy? It's only been four weeks. And by four weeks I mean quit thinking about loss all the time! Heidegger went so far as to say that human existence is being-toward-death. SO NOT the guy you want to invite to a fancy dinner party!
To live authentically, we must face the fact of our own needs squarely and take responsibility for holding others tenderly in the shadow of doubt. We must not try to run away by denying the fact of love.
Three friends go over to Sophy's house for wine and cheese and gossip. The fun-loving friend asks her just what it is she likes about this guy and reminds her of her very own kewlness factor and slew of suitors.
The second friend says, "I hope it is love."
The third friend says, "I would love to see that happen for you."
Sophy says, "I'd like to see that happen to me!"
For Heidegger, it's not just that living in the shadow of doubt is more courageous; it's the only authentic way to live, to admit that love is a gift we cannot command.
This quote illustrates the limits of our freedom. A person may ask, "Have you ever considered moving to Paris, but cannot know if the answer will be Yes.
There is another existentialist puzzle buried in this quote - namely, "Who the hell are you to tell us whether or not we have the power to decide our destiny?"
Victor Hugo asks Esméralda what Paris is like. Esméralda gazes into her crystal ball, and says, "Hmmm, I see some good news and some bad news. The good news is that it's easy to take a dog to Paris and they are essentially welcomed everywhere!"
"Wow! Terrific! What's the bad news?"
"Your flight leaves at Tuesday morning."
Happy we
A little opera
The Loves Acis and Galatea (1827)
Andre Charles Guillemot
Galatea, a semi-divine nymph, is in love with the shepherd Acis, and tries to hush the birds that ignite her passion for him ("Hush, ye pretty warbling quire!"). Acis's close friend, the shepherd Damon, provides counsel to the lovers as they pursue each other. He sings a beautiful siciliana-style serenade, "Love in her eyes sits playing", upon their first meeting. The act closes with a duet by the young lovers, "Happy we", which is echoed by a chorus.
Acis and Galatea (1862)
Auguste-Louis-Marle Ottin
In this wonderful myth...
Long ago in Sicily... Galatea was a sea nymph, a Nereid, who lived by the island inhabited by the Cyclops Polyphemus, son of Poseidon, who was deeply in love with Galatea. However Galatea liked the young shepherd Acis, son of Pan. Galatea and Acis used to mock Polyphemus's songs of love for Galatea. Polyphemus caught them sleeping on a grassy hill, and killed Acis by crushing him under a huge rock. Acis's blood formed a stream beneath the rock. Galatea turned it into a river and named it after him.
The story of Acis and Galatea was told by Ovid in Book III of his Metamorphoses, and it is also the subject of a 1732 opera by Georg Friedrich Händel; here are excerpts from the Libretto, by John Gay:
Wretched lovers!
Fate has past this sad decree:
No joy shall last. Quit your dream!
Behold the monster Polypheme!
See what ample strides he takes!
The mountain nods, the forest shakes;
The waves run frighten'd to the shores:
Hark, how the thund'ring giant roars!
Acis:
His hideous love provokes my rage:
Weak as I am, I must engage!
Inspir'd with thy victorious charms,
The god of love will lend his arms.
Acis (later):
Help, Galatea! help, ye parent gods!
And take me dying to your deep abodes.
Mourn, all ye muses! weep, all ye swains!
Tune, tune your reeds to doleful strains!
Groans, cries and howlings fill the neighb'ring shore:
Ah, ah, the gentle Acis is no more!
But don't despair. Ovid goes on to tell us:
The stone was cleft, and through the yawning chink
New reeds arose, on the new river's brink.
The rock, from out its hollow womb, disclos'd
A sound like water in its course oppos'd,
When (wond'rous to behold), full in the flood,
Up starts a youth, and navel high he stood.
Horns from his temples rise; and either horn
Thick wreaths of reeds (his native growth) adorn.
Were not his stature taller than before,
His bulk augmented, and his beauty more,
His colour blue; for Acis he might pass:
And Acis chang'd into a stream he was,
But mine no more; he rowls along the plains
With rapid motion, and his name retains.
The Triumph of Galatea (c.1514)
Villa Farnesina, Rome
In Raphael's scene of the nymph's apotheosis (Stanze, I, 118-119), Galatea appears surrounded by other sea creatures. A Triton abducts a sea nymph; behind them, another Triton uses a shell as a trumpet. Galatea rides a shell-chariot drawn by two dolphins.
The mythology of Acis and Galatea moves audiences with the struggle between creature and divine. The matter is a vexed one. On one hand, it is the eternal love story between destined souls to become one. On the other hand, it is the agon of losing one's love to supernatural forces. The greatest achievement of this myth is that it continues to inspire lovers with the splendor of love rather than the defeat of loss.
We swoon over Galatea's love for Acis and agonize over the somber eloquence of Acis' fate. The genius of this myth rivals that of Lucretius and the elegiac lyricism of Vergil. Its standards are neither spiritual nor aesthetic. Galatea is the heroine of the now endangered art of loving. Any lifelong reader of mythology can read into the myth the universal sentiment of love lost but metamorphosed into a golden age of rebirth. We are genuinely moved by Galatea's heroic pathos as she transforms her beloved Acis into a beautiful flowing river, suggestive of the flow of physical pleasure.
Beautifully implicit in this little opera is the almost invisible transition of physical to eternal love. Love is a power stronger than the lovers and in their greatest moment of weakness, overcomes Polyphemus' power by evoking eternity - an eternally flowing river.
We cannot say precisely how long time's nature will last, but we can say, with respect to duration, that love is eternal, and recall it whenever we are possessed to do so.
Alas, now you sleep
So sleep misses me
My mind dives in deep
With you I am free
Sad we're apart
Side-by-side is my vision
Revealing the heart
Smiles can't be hidden
Our lips slowly touch
Your eyes, fire dance
Revealing so much
In our magical trance
N.A. Trueblood
Labels: Acis and Galatea, Courtly entertainment, Handel, Pastoral opera, Trueblood
On the Notion of Soul Mates
Exposition Universelle / Palais de l'optique (1900)
Georges Leroux (1877-1957)
Beings Split Apart
In Plato's dialogue The Symposium, Aristophanes praises Love in another way, unlike that of either Pausanias or Eryximachus. Mankind, he said, judging by their neglect of him, have never, as I think, at all understood the power of Love. For if they had understood him they would surely have built noble temples and altars, and offered solemn sacrifices in his honour.
Aristophanes describes early humans as having had four arms, four legs, and a single head made of two faces. He continues that there were three genders: man, woman and the "Androgynous". Each with two sets of genitalia with the Androgynous having both make and female genitalia.
The men were children of the sun, the women were children of the earth and the Androgynous were children of the moon, which was born of the sun and earth.
At the time humans had great strength, which threatened to conquer the gods. Rather than destroy the humans as they had the Titans - losing their tributes in the process - Zeus devised a plan: he split humans in half as punishment for their pride, doubling the number of humans who would give tribute. Apollo sewed up the humans with the navel being the only remnant of their original form. Each human would thus forever long for his/her other half; the other half of his/her soul.
It is said that when the two find each other, there is an unspoken understanding of one another, that they feel united and would lie with each other in unity and would know no greater joy.
The Kiss (Lovers) 1908-09
Gustav Klimt (1862-1918)
Galeria Belvedere, Vienna
Romantic Liberation
While Plato presents the notion of soul mates as separated beings, there is another perspective, that of liberation. The notion of soul mates as it pertains to liberation romantically symbolizes freedom: in which each mate freely chooses one another.
By freely choosing each other soul mates demonstrate true love - and thus praise Love. Humans then devise their own strategy for dealing with the gods. Each new couple is thus treated as 'one' under law and the tributes paid (to gods/state) are that of one.
Take that, Zeus!
Humans adapt to the flow of separate beingness, obeying not the logic of Zeus' punishment, but rather the stream of consciousness inclining them toward a reconstruction of form from within their newly liberated dimension of existence.
The Beauty of Autonomy
Zeus' punishment resulted in something unique for human civilization: autonomy, which elevates humans to their former strength by igniting a new humanism of Love. The quest for unity deepens, but so too does enlightenment, progress, law and reason.
Humanity sets a new stage in the conquest of the gods. In a human-centric viewpoint, the gods go from being many to only being 'one'. Humans ultimately restrict the multiplicity of the gods' omnipotence to that of a singular being.
Emerging from Zeus' punishment, humans deconstruct the gods to whom they paid tribute. Artistic, cultural, philosophical and political autonomy rise forth from humanity in a definitive moment in human history, a sort of retribution that culminates in a revolution of love that is entirely turned toward individuals themselves, toward persons and humanity.
Humans rejected Zeus' ignominy and radically created a new way of viewing the gods. In doing so, they totally transformed the domains of Mount Olympus, claiming final victory over their creators.
Labels: Aristophanes, liberation, Plato, reconstruction, soul mates, zeus
The Philosophy of Falling in Love
Amor Sacro e Amor Profano (Sacred and Profane Love) c.1514
Galleria Borghese, Rome
Philosophy highlights things that give meaning to our lives. Socrates' enduring quest for living the good life liberates the mind toward revelations on these things, including the intimate feelings upon which they may be based, feelings that transform the entity into a collective, for falling in love is not a solitary experience; it is an experience that simultaneously includes others.
Falling in love calls upon the Roman goddess Venus, whose functions encompass love, beauty, intimate relations, fertility and prosperity. She is the embodiment of the Neoplatonic concept of sacred love. Sacred love embodies the notion of 'beyond being' (book VI of the Republic). In Plato's famous analogy of the Sun, he says that the Good is beyond being (ἐπέκεινα τῆς οὐσίας) in power and dignity.
Titian's painting depicts this concept. Dignity, for a woman, resides in her being protected, i.e., clothed. While power resides in her 'being', in her liberation of form from limited human constraints in reasoning.
Venus, the mother of the Roman people, sits lovingly beside the woman (dressed in white) who has fallen in love. This transformation of state goes from being dignified and seemingly pure (white wedding dress) toward being liberated and free from the predominantly human characteristic of wearing clothing, that state which arises from our functional need of protection from the elements.
When falling in love, an individual transforms themselves from one form of love to the other. From the notion of love based on convention and social norms toward the feeling of being in love, a release from a state or situation that limits freedom of thought or behavior. This flourishing or sense of abundance overflows much like how a fountain of love overflows upon those who partake of it.
Triumph of Cupid (1719)
Carlo Cignani (1628-1719)
Reaching inside the sacred Fountain of Venus is an allegory for falling in love. Cupid, our love totem, reaches inside the fountain symbolizing, in Titian's dreamlike landscape painting, our desire to have that which is set apart and forbidden (Émile Durkheim on sacred things).
Walter Friedländer outlined similarities between the painting and Francesco Colonna's Hyperotomachia Poliphili, proposing that the two figures represented Polia and Venere, the two female characters in the 1499 romance where Poliphilo pursues his love Polia through a dreamlike landscape, and is, seemingly, at last reconciled with her by the Fountain of Venus. This story is easily interpreted as more conquering love, it is an allegory for falling in love, for the journey or transformation that occurs when one is struck by Cupid's arrow.
Falling in love is the dream of love personified. François Rabelais, in The Histories of Gargantua and Pantagruel (1532-34) wrote: "Far otherwise did heretofore the sages of Egypt, when they wrote by letters, which they called hieroglyphics, which none understood who were not skilled in the virtue, properly, and nature of things represented by them. Of which Orus Apollon hath in Greek composed two books, and Polyphilus, in his Dream of Love, set down more..." (Book 1, Ch. 9).
Philosophically speaking, falling in love is a quest for the dream of love. It is the search for the grandiose, a desire to "reach toward" that resplendent magnificence, and a finding or liberating of it (depicted in the fountain spilling forth) within oneself. Metaphysically speaking, it is a physical transformation whereby white light is illuminated.
In Titian's painting, we see the transformation of white being made lucid, clear, and plainly visible in a nude Venus. Not only does this vision occur in a dreamlike landscape, but the dreamlike landscape is also a natural place, a return to "home" which is often how those who have fallen in love describe the experience of being in the presence of their beloved.
Falling in love as a return home references our exile from Ithaca, that place in the Greek conception of a hierarchical world in which everyone, in accordance with his degree of excellence, has a place assigned to him, being torn away from this 'natural place' is a form of suffering and injustice, just as a return home is a positive good connected with the restoration of the harmony of the cosmos.
This separation between home and being exiled is depicted in the distance between the dressed Aphrodite Pandemos (left) and the nude Aphrodite Urania. Aphrodite Pandemos is that goddess of low sensual pleasures, whereas Aphrodite Urania is "the heavenly Aphrodite".
The unspoiled, harmonious wilderness in the background of this painting is Arcadia, the home of the god Pan (in Greek mythology), who is associated with the mother goddess. In Pindar's Pythian Ode iii. 78, Pindar, the Ancient Greek lyric poet from Thebes, refers to virgins worshipping Cybele and Pan near the poet's house in Boeotia. Titian's painting could also be an allegory for fortune and fate, with Cupid representing "the child of Zeus...Fortune") [C.M.Bowra, Pindar, page 63; fr. 63.15–20].
Pindar revised traditional mythos so as not to diminish the dignity and majesty of the gods. This painting may also be a subtle example, perhaps, of Pinder's approach to the omniscience of the gods with its elegant compliment: mortals (dressed in white).
Being descendants of divine unions, privilege mortals sit along side their mythical heroes, with cupid serving as an intermediate group between the gods and men, sympathetic to human ambitions. Thus, viewing this painting as an ethical issue, we do not judge the gods, we merely strive to experience their presence, away from our ordinary human experience. Indeed, this paining represents the finest breeds of humanity seated next to divine passions.
"For Pindar a mortal woman who is loved by a god is an outstanding lesson in divine favors handsomely bestowed." [Gilbert Highet, The Classical Tradition, Oxford University Press (1949), p. 225]
Falling in love denotes a divine union. In this painting Titian's elusiveness is telling his audience that he will not talk of it ("silence is a man's wisest counsel")
[New Nemean Odes 5.14-18. The hushed reference to Phocus's murder is cited and translated by C.M. Bowra, Pindar, pages 67-8: I am shy of speaking of a huge risk / Hazarded not in right, / How they left the famous island, / And what fate drove strong men from the Vineland. / I shall halt. Truth does not always / Gain more if unflinching / She reveals her face; / And silence is often a man's wisest counsel.]
Here, Titian depicts our readiness to shape traditional mythos to fit the occasion.
Venus serves as an oracle to a prophet, commemorating a human victory - claiming love for oneself. Falling in love is that claim upon that which initially eludes us, that sentiment of which the maidens sing:
ἐμὲ δὲ πρέπει παρθενήια μὲν φρονεῖν
γλώσσᾳ τε λέγεσθαι.
I must think maidenly thoughts
And utter them with my tongue
The dithyrambs in honor of Dionysus, the god of wine and fertility, flow forth from this painting, an allegory of that sentiment which sings forth from our bosom when we fall in love. Love's ballads capture the grandeur of the moment of victory, of Poliphilo pursuing and ultimately reconciling with his love Polia in Titian's landscape.
Titian's Renaissance style sets the tone for rebirth, a rekindling of ancient myths that evoke the gods or the Muses. Praise goes to the victor, narrated by myth, the central figure (left) exemplifies a mortal, who transformed, gains an audience with the world of the gods. Titian's Amor Sacro e Amor Profano (Sacred and Profane Love) represents the grand sentiment associated with falling in love, that unfolding of the sacred against a background of symbolic elements such as the sea, darkness, fire from the bosom, mountains, and the privileged moral predicament (depicted the castle).
King of Syracuse, delighting in horses; and his fame shines
among strong men where Lydian Pelops went to dwell,
Pelops that he who clips the earth with his great strength,
Poseidon, loved when Klotho lifted him out
of the clean cauldron, his shoulder gleaming ivory.
Great marvels in truth are these, but tales
told and overlaid with elaboration of lies
amaze men's wits against the true word.
The Odes of Pindar
Cupid's shoulder gleams ivory. Poseidon, the "God of the Sea" is called upon; venerated at Pylos and Thebes in pre-Olympian Bronze Age Greece as a chief deity, Poseidon was integrated into the Olympian gods as the brother of Zeus and Hades (Mount Olympus depicted above left in the landscape). The conflict between Hades and Persephone represents the division between mortals and gods. Pelops, whose cult developed into the founding myth of the Olympic games, represents love's games. Cupid leans over the Fountain of Venus, an allegory for the holy grail or cauldron from which the sacred can be touched.
Great marvels are depicted in Titian's painting as great marvels are discovered in the experience of falling in love. The wedding between Nicolò Aurelio and Laura Bagarotto in 1514 (the Aurelio family coat of arms is depicted on the sarcophagus) represents a courtship.
Hippodamia with Pelops in a racing chariot
Hippodamia's father, King Oenomaus of Pisa, was fearful of a prophecy that claimed he would be killed by his son-in-law. So when suitors arrived, he told them they could marry his daughter only if they defeated him a chariot race, and if they lost, they would be executed.
Pelops, son of King Tantalus of Lydia, came to ask for Hippodamia's hand in marriage and prepared to race Oenomaus. Worried about losing, Pelops went to the seaside (depicted on the right side of the painting) and invoked Poseidon, his former lover. Reminding Poseidon of their love ("Aphrodite's sweet gifts"), he asked Poseidon for help. Smiling, Poseidon caused a chariot drawn by winged horses to appear.
Behind Laura Bagarotto is two parts of lighted sky, which could be seen as wing-shaped. On the sarcophagus (on the right) a suitor is being killed while a young maiden, similar to Venus, stands aghast in the background. Flowing from the fountain is Poseidon's blessings.
Titian's Amor Sacro e Amor Profano (Sacred and Profane Love) can be seen as an allegory for falling in love, for the philosophies that illuminate the enormous experience of being 'touched by love'. Falling in love transcends the human predicament and elevates it toward the nature of love, itself (Venus). Love transcends theories of human nature, desire, ethics, and so on.
Philosophically speaking, love logically begins with questions concerning its nature, which is where Titian takes us in his allegory of falling in love. Implied here is that love has a "nature," that it cannot be described in rational or meaningful propositions, only in sentiment. The sentiment evoked in Titian's painting is one that presents a metaphysical and epistemological argument, that love ejects us from our reason; but, on the other hand, it delivers us to the realm of of the gods.
In English, the word "love," which is derived from Germanic forms of the Sanskrit lubh (desire), is broadly referenced in our desire to be god-like in nature. Our natural attraction to love, toward the feelings experience in falling in love, stems from this desire (eros, philia, and agape).
Eros refers to that part of love that inspires passion, an intense desire for something often referred to as erotic desire (Aphrodite Pandemos). Aristotle's Philia, by contrast, entails a fondness and appreciation of the other (Cupid's kindness toward mortals). Agape refers to the paternal love of the gods for humanity (Venus). All three elements of love (the Platonic-Socratic maintains that love we generate for beauty on this earth can never be truly satisfied until we die [sarcophagus]; but in the meantime we should aspire beyond the particular stimulating image in front of us to the contemplation of beauty itself) are presented in Titian's painting.
Falling in love invokes the philosophy of language, of the relevance of meanings, and also provides us with a knowable, comprehensible, and describable understanding of the nature of the gods.
Three little words: "I love you" warrant no further intellectual intrusion. Love is liberated and free and brings us face to face with the gods as an allegory for the divine within.
If love possesses a nature, it is one that is identifiable only in personal expression with it. To be properly understood, one must feel love. Perhaps this prerequisite for understanding love in order recognize its nature is why Titian's painting has long since eluded scholars.
Ruminating on the nature of falling in love coupled with the experience of falling in love opens our eyes to seeing it depicted elsewhere.
Labels: Agape, Aphrodite, Cupid, Eros, falling in love, Love, Pelops, Philia, Pindar, Poseidon, Pylos, Rabelais, Sacred and Profane Love, Titian, Venus
Carraway on Smiles
It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life.
It faced - or seemed to face - the whole eternal world for an instant, and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor.
It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself, and assured you that it had precisely the impression of you that, at your best, you hoped to convey.
Romantic Idealization
Love and imagination are inextricably linked because imagination gives love form through the enterprise of thought, while love, that warm, profoundly tender, passionate affection felt for another provides the inspiration for this sharing.
Human creative acts of perception join passive and active elements in thinking and impose unity on the subject of our romantic affections. The faculty of mind that manipulates images devises its own linkage between beloved and "intuition". As opposed to purely mechanical justifications for the allowance of emotional sentiment, romantic idealization attains the absolute by consulting self-awareness in the process.
Romantic idealization is Bergson's élan vital, "a vital impetus, containing within itself the possibilities of a multiplicity of life-forms". The élan vital - which I call Romantic Idealization - gives rise to a process of eternal struggle between love, intuition, and matter; the process is Romantic Creativity.
Falling in love thrusts the mind upward. Owing sensation to intuition, each moment spent romantically idealizing a person, idea, or situation, produces an increasingly complex intelligence about the nature of the experience, which increasingly expands the intuition by inspiring it to grow toward new parameters established by the connection. The idea is similar to the joy one experiences when love is renewed: the pre-existing notions softly dissipate into the background as the recognition of new sensations flood one's conscience with new truths.
Love is an extension of our conscience awareness that directs our attention upward toward the ideal: it inspires behavior, as well as attitudes, and in an all-consuming eloquence of mind, ignites a smooth, elastic, adaptable, mindfulness that immerses itself in the immediacy of the moment and soars.
Imagination conceives of this intuition and announces its intention to "imagine". It is the mind that loves with the entirety of its being and begets the intuition and imagination to work in collaborative harmony with the divine within.
Indicative of the intensity love brings to imagination, excitement soars at discovering divine sentiment. We then allow ourselves to be fascinated and hypnotized by the intensity of each interaction, in this case, Romantic Idealization; i.e., love that has momentarily confounded life, alters behavior and indeed, as the heart sings, praises it through expressions of delight combined with inventiveness.
Inventing new moments is the burden of romance that is lifted from within to create tender arrangements from which the romantic narrative takes flight. As these new inventions increase, so too do their effect upon the conscious and subconscious self. Love songs are sweeter, time slows down, and fanciful invention arouses the romantic spirit.
Romantic idealization conceives of itself through another. It lifts our attention toward mindfulness. It is the aspect of self that conceives of that which lies beyond oneself. It is the excitement of discovering another that stirs us from within. It expresses delight before the world and declares to itself the word "love" ~ a word recognizably "too short a word for too long a feeling".
Romantic idealization is our heart's response to a superior understanding that dwells within. In it, we value new concepts of time by allowing ourselves to experience truths we did not previously know existed. In doing so, our minds rearrange past notions into fond, heartfelt memories to make space for the enormity that encompasses the heart, mind, and essence of self.
Love is spontaneously intuitive. Both love and romance are codified in the creation of life and involves two bodies, though one could conceive of the notion that each being is held by the other in desirous affection. There is nothing mechanically repetitive about love. Love is always new. The difference is ultimately linked to a pure state of intuition that has the capacity to recognize new truths.
As romance evolves into love, it becomes increasingly aware that it must continue to find new truths, which may be anything other than what was previously understood, and which we equate with discovery. Allowing for discovery is the intellectual realization that one is "in love with love" and that we need love to live.
Love compliments our being, connects our intuition to our vision, and allows us to see straight through to the source of our affection. This seeing connects us in a way that boundaries dissolve, problems dissipate, and possibilities abound. Anything that is not integral to the flourishing of love is diminished so that the expression of self and truth might flourish.
It is upon the path toward truthful flourishing where romantic idealization reigns. Sentiment is the impetus and imagination is the preface to A Love Story that we script for ourselves.
The Kamikaze Bunny Ballad
Just look at us where we stand;
Our bedtime is at eight.
We don't like carrots in a can,
Because they are so very fake.
'Do you like our oozies?' we ask.
'And aren't they kinda cute?'
We agree it is a disagreeable task
To turn docile creatures into brutes
We with our little fluffy tails
That bounce while we eat
You cook us with our entails
And on your keychains put our feet
'It is our custom,' you say
'To take that which we see;
And that's just our way -
A fluke of fate, if you please.'
But budding is our plan
Though it may seem a wee bit mean,
We follow lead from the Great Lapin
The wisest bunny ever seen.
So, having no mercy to give
We swipe away your lucky rabbit feet!
And cry the cry by which the Kamikaze Bunny live
And thump you on the head as we screech:
'You have no right to cut off our tails
And throw the rest away,
And if we catch you recounting lucky rabbit feet tales,
You'll drop to your knees and pray:
'Forgive us y'all
We think not as we toil -
It seems that thinking above all
Is for some like taking castor oil.''
But we are armed and ready,
To blow you away all together
So that no bunny suffers your indignant pedi
And keeps their parts together
I shook myself awake and tried,
To think of all that which we do:
'Come, little bunny tell me how you feel,' I cried
'And together we'll hug it through!'
They said 'We hunt for the naughtiest human prize'
Among nature's spies
And pounce upon them in the silent night
And giggle when they realize
That rabbit feet are not lucky
Carry instead a nugget of gold
For carrying around furry little feet is yucky
And the custom is really getting old
And sometimes they listen and update their scrolls,
So that future progeny might learn, too
Keeping us as pets will not console
A baby bunny pruned
'And that's our tale' (they gave a little wink)
'By which we reconsidered lucky rabbit wealth -
And very gladly did the moral sink
Into our books upon the shelf
I heard them bounce away, as I had just
Made their furry little plight shine
Rescuing bunny feet from wicked clutch
By composing this little rhyme
I thank them much for telling me
How not to demonstrate our wealth
But chiefly for their hearts, so brave and wee
I toasted them to noble health
And now, if e'ver by chance I see
A lucky rabbit's foot dangling from a chain
I'll cry the cry of the Great Lapin
And summon the Kamikaze Bunnies again
Who will point their oozies at your toe
A very heavy weight, indeed
And remind you of that which you already know
That Kamikaze Bunnies only need
A gentle hand, a speech that is
slow,
So that their whiskers don't flicker with woe,
And their faces don't wince in sorrow,
Their eyes, like cinders, all aglow,
Who bring us joy to and fro,
And hop and bounce, and oh
Are so very cute and loveable
And if we cut off their little feet, like so
We'll incur their wrath, just like long ago
So don't act like you don't know
That Kamikaze Bunnies exist, to keep us on the straight and narrow
All before their bedtime at eight.
Labels: Kamikaze Bunny Ballad
Fingers, an Organ of the Mind
Our Blog Apologizes
Fostering Sensibilities
How to be the Best You Can Be
The Nice Thing About Luggage
Breaking Down the Road Less Traveled
The Refrigerator Challenge
Submission Guidelines for Our Refrigerator Door
SWOOSH, a poem


text:
Comedy to Cope with Coronavirus
April 13, 2020 by 8 O'Clock Buzz
Caty Borum Chattoo has made a career not only telling stories herself, but talking about how storytelling works and how it can effect real social change. Her book, "A Comedian and an Activist Walk Into a Bar: The Serious Role of Comedy in Social Justice" is out now from the University of California Press. She's worked as a documentary filmmaker, and was once a producer for television icon Norman Lear. Lately, though, the funny — and perhaps — necessary side of the coronavirus pandemic has been on her mind.
Caty Borum Chatoo
Connections can be Made and Minds can be Changed
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Life and Legacy
Criminal Justice Reform is the Real Con
Madison's Live Comedy Comeback
8 O'Clock Buzz, Breaking News Brian Standing, comedy, COVID-19, humor, Scott Spoolman


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[img id="99503" align="left"/] This five foot eleven beauty has certainly got stage presence. With the height and looks of a model—she recently modeled for Gap's 2012 "Shine" campaign—and a commanding voice laced with huskiness and soul, Nicki Bluhm keeps an audience entranced.
After experiencing the country-rock band Nicki Bluhm & The Gramblers perform a sold-out show at Schubas Tavern on Saturday, it became clear why Nicki's vocal talent and presence impressed musician/producer Tim Bluhm of San Francisco rock band The Mother Hips during a spontaneous performance at a New Year's Eve party several years ago. Tim was so intrigued by Nicki's untapped talent that he encouraged her to further explore it; she has now released three albums. The two San Franciscans are married and play in a band together.
When the crowd cheered for Nicki's powerful vocals, Tim smiled. He does not conceal his pride in his wife, and the two sang "Stick With Me" to each other on stage while gazing at each other adoringly.
Chicago Maroon: Which musical artists have influenced your style the most?
Nicki Bluhm: There are a few—when I was younger I heard a couple of bootlegs of early recordings from when Bonnie Raitt was just starting her career, and I really liked her relaxed approach to playing songs and having a good time. I like Linda Ronstadt and Dolly Parton quite a bit, too. Those are my top three.
CM: Why do you frequently perform songs by artists from the '70s and even before? Did you grow up hearing this music?
NB: Some of it. My parents definitely exposed me to some of the music they enjoyed; but really my husband and I love listening to vinyl and the records that we have are from the '60s and '70s. Our covers do tend to be from that decade for sure; I guess it's just what we like!
CM: Besides the encouragement of Tim and your experience at many of The Mother Hips' shows, did you have any other musical mentors?
NB: My older brother David played guitar so I always looked up to him and always wanted to play guitar because of him. He and Tim were definitely my two music-loving and performing mentors.
CM: Why did you decide to release your 2011 album Driftwood on vinyl?
NB: I love vinyl. I think everything sounds better on vinyl. It's just got that warmer, more intimate feel. I think you have to pay a little more attention to the music, and you have to flip the record from side to side—it's more of an intentional experience. CDs become obsolete once they're uploaded into iTunes, but vinyl is just vinyl—it stays that way. It feels more special and collectable to me.
CM: I love your song, "Unforgetaboutable" which you released on Duets with Tim in 2011. What is the story behind those lyrics [in the song, a couple falls in love after meeting at a county fair]?
NB: [Laughs.] Well, Tim wrote that. The song was meant to be personal, but not too personal. It's loosely based around the story of the two of us, without exposing a whole lot of private stuff. That's kind of Tim's style—he likes to allude to the truth, but embellishes it with the sweet details of a fictional story. We spice it up and put some icing on top. He's a great songwriter, having written some of my favorite songs.
CM: Which song are you proudest of right now?
NB: I enjoy a lot of our brand-new songs that are going to come out on our next album, hopefully early next year. One of my favorites is called "Till I'm Blue." Tim and our friend Scott Law wrote this really neat song. It's got a lot of harmonies and cool, catchy guitar rifts. I've really been digging it lately, and we've been playing it live.
CM: Do your YouTube van sessions reflect what your band rehearsals are like?
NB: Definitely. Most of the time we rehearse at my house—it's kind of like our hub. It's always really fun and good-natured. But everything you see in the van sessions is real. We all really do love to laugh and play music and be together, so it's good—it's a good time.
CM: Do you think that you have different audiences for your van sessions versus your recorded albums?
NB: It's very transferable—a lot of the people who were clued into us through the van sessions are enjoying our originals and our live shows as much, if not more, than the cover videos through which they initially found out about us. It's been a really great transfer of attention and energy.
CM: Your Chicago show is sold out. Did you realize you had such a large fan base in the Midwest?
NB: No, I didn't! I wish we were playing at a bigger venue so more people could come, because I know there are a lot of people still looking for tickets. This was our first time ever coming to the Midwest, or the East, or the South, so this has all been an interesting first run—and so far it's been great. We sold out two shows in New York, Charlotte, and a few other places, as well as Chicago. We're looking forward to doing it again really soon—and maybe even playing at some bigger venues the next time around!
CM: You mentioned a new album in the works. Any plans for a van sessions CD?
NB: We did think about releasing some of the audio from the original van sessions, but the quality just isn't good enough. I'm not sure we'd want to go into the studio and record a bunch of covers, either. We let that idea rest for now…but you never know!
Nicki Bluhm & The Gramblers' van sessions (all 22 of them) are available at www.nickibluhm.com/video.


Portraits, traditional, script, you name it!, they can do it all! And don't forget about our female piercer Kristel! Gift Certificates available.
Grew up drawing and painting with an appreciation for many different art forms. Always striving to learn and get better in anyway I can.


text:
Kenya: Tensions Rise in Kenya as Opposition Rejects Ban on Protests | Bloomberg
Kenya: Tensions Rise in Kenya…
Kenya's main opposition party rejected a government ban on political protests and said it will intensify rallies calling for changes to the East African nation's electoral body. Interior Secretary Joseph Nkaissery on Tuesday outlawed demonstrations in the country after a least five people died in weekly rallies by supporters of the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy that began in April. He threatened to crack down on protesters until differences between the opposition and the government over the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission are resolved through negotiations. The ban "doesn't change anything," Dennis Onyango, a spokesman for CORD, said by phone from the capital, Nairobi, on Wednesday. "The courts have cleared us to hold demonstrations." The protests will be held on Mondays and Thursdays, he said.
With presidential elections scheduled for August 2017, the clashes between protesters and police have evoked memories of the political and ethnic conflict that erupted in Kenya after a disputed vote in 2007 and claimed at least 1,100 lives. The country is the world's biggest black-tea exporter and ranks as sub-Saharan Africa's fifth-largest economy.
The 71-year-old former prime minister, Raila Odinga, who heads CORD, poses the biggest political challenge to President Uhuru Kenyatta, 54, in next year's ballot. Odinga disputed his loss in the last presidential vote in 2013. CORD wants top electoral officials to resign over alleged corruption and bias toward Kenyatta.
The ban on protests contravenes Kenya's constitution, which was rewritten in 2010 to allow greater freedoms, Gitobu Imanyara, a lawyer, said by phone from Nairobi, calling the decision "nonsensical." "What the government is doing is pushing the country to the brink," Imanyara said.
Full Article: Tensions Rise in Kenya as Opposition Rejects Ban on Protests – Bloomberg.
Category: KenyaBy admin June 9, 2016
Tags: election violence
PreviousPrevious post:Peru: Patience wears thin as Peru vote count drags on | Associated PressNextNext post:Austria: Freedom Party Alleges Violations in Presidential Election | Wall Street Journal
Kenya: Kenya's long journey to electronic voting system | John Kamau/Daily Nation
Kenya: Cyberattacks Threaten Elections and Security, Kenyans Say | allAfrica
Kenya: IEBC mulls online voting for Kenyans in Diaspora | Capital News
Kenya: In Kenya, Election Manipulation Is a Matter of Life and Death | The Nation
Kenya: How Cambridge Analytica Influenced Poll | allAfrica.com
Kenya: Political crisis grows, as opposition holds mock inauguration and government shuts down TV and radio stations | Los Angeles Times


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Detroit News reporter to receive fairness award for Muslim community coverage
Jennifer Chambers
Detroit — The Michigan Muslim Community Council on Sunday will present Detroit News reporter Mark Hicks with a media fairness award.
Hicks, a reporter for The News since 2005, has extensively covered the Muslim community including the Muslim reaction to the 2016 presidential election, annual Mitzvah Day interfaith efforts across Metro Detroit and the holy month of Ramadan.
"At a time when religious and other minorities face more discrimination and marginalization... it is imperative to remain engaged in the community, stay informed about the issues affecting them, dispel myths, and accurately portray people who have contributed much to our society," Hicks said.
Hicks, 35, grew up on Michigan's west side and started reporting in 1998 for his hometown newspaper, The Muskegon Chronicle, at 15. While studying journalism at Michigan State University, Hicks wrote stories for The State News, the student-run newspaper, and he later covered crime, breaking news and nonprofits during internships at the Flint Journal and the Grand Rapids Press.
When Hicks joined The News, he staffed its Neighborhood News section. He later moved to a general assignment beat that included coverage of religion and minority affairs for southeast Michigan's ethnic communities.
The Michigan Muslim Community Council, formed in 2012 when the Council of Islamic Organizations of Michigan and the Islamic Shura Council of Michigan merged, works to promote unity and cooperation among Muslim American communities, cultures, ethnic backgrounds and races by unifying, convening and mobilizing the Muslim community.
"MMCC also aims to pursue social justice, improve human relations and uphold human rights in America," said Sumaiya Ahmed Sheikh, executive director of the council, in an award letter to Hicks. "We here at the council value the long relationship we have with you and the media community, which has been an invaluable asset to our interfaith, advocacy and community efforts over the years,"
Hicks is expected to receive the award Sunday at the council's 32nd annual Unity Banquet at Burton Manor in Livonia.


For some morbid reason, it gives me pleasure to see Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies crashing. Maybe it is because there is way too much talk about cryptos now or maybe I'm jealous of all those Bitcoin millionaires buying Lambos. For their sake, I hope some of the fortunate ones did cash in and buy real assets because cryptos appear to be crashing...and I don't think we've seen capitulation yet when things will really crash.
Cryptocurrencies have not had a good year so far and the sell off has now accelerated due to rumors that China and South Korea may implement regulations that could go as far as banning trading in cryptos.
Below is the one month chart for Bitcoin. Yep, that is almost a 50% drop in a month. That is what happens when there is no real underlying value and price is set simply by supply and demand. Bitcoin increased roughly 1500% in 2017 and it will be interesting to see how it fares in 2018.


Many studies have shown that daily writing can increase your productivity and that you are more likely to meet your writing goals if you share those goals with a group. The Pub Club Writing Group is here to help you do just that!
The Writing group has a weekly meeting at which we share our writing goals for the upcoming week and also whether or not we met our goals from the previous week. Meetings generally take somewhere between 15-30 minutes. If you are interested in joining, email Chandra Jack at chandra.jack@gmail.com.


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By Sharon olabanji RN CHO	 Last updated Nov 14, 2019
Gestational age is the number of weeks the pregnancy lasts or the age of the pregnancy. Use this free Gestational age Calculator online, to find your gestational age. In other words, it is the number of weeks a baby has been in the uterus. It can also be termed as AOG and is calculated with the women's last menstrual period and cycle length.
Last menstrual period
Cycle Length
Please, Enter all values correctly.
Calculating Gestational Age
Calculating Conception Date
In a Typical Pregnancy
Difficulties in Determining the Gestational Age
RELATED PREGNANCY CALCULATORS:
If the woman has a normal cycle and knows the first day of her last menstrual period, it is possible to calculate the gestational age from that date. Gestational age is measured, not from the date of conception, from the first day of the last menstrual period of the mother.
The baby can be measured after the last menstrual period of the mother as early as 5 or 6 weeks. Measuring the baby with ultrasound in early pregnancy is most reliable. Later in pregnancy, it becomes less accurate. Between the 8th and 18th weeks of pregnancy, the best time to predict gestational age using ultrasound.
The most reliable way to determine gestational age is to use the first day of the last menstrual period of the female and verify this gestational age with the ultrasound test calculation.
RELATED: Top 5 delicious warming folate foods for pregnant women
Conception typically occurs between 11-21 days after the first day of the last period for a woman with a regular menstrual period. Most women don't know the exact date of conception because knowing exactly when ovulation happens can be difficult. Thus, their date of conception is simply an estimate based on their last period's first day.
Women performing special procedures, such as artificial insemination or in vitro fertilization, usually know the exact conception date.
Calculating Due Date:
Estimated Due Date
The estimated due date is 40 weeks from the first day of the year, depending on the last menstrual period. This is just an estimation since only about 5 percent of babies are born.
It can be difficult to determine gestational age using this approach for women who have regular menstrual periods and women who can not recall the first day of their last menstrual period. In these situations, the determination of gestational age also involves an ultrasound test.
Baby's Growth
Determining the gestational age is difficult in some situations because the child is exceptionally large or small. Also, in some cases, early pregnancy uterine size and later pregnancy uterine height does not suit the first day of the last menstrual period. It is also difficult to obtain a specific gestational age in these instances.
Pregnancy Gestational Diabetes Diet Calculator(Opens in a new browser tab)
Online Gestational age Calculator: Calculate Estimated Date of Delivery (EDD
Ultrasound gestation age calculator
The safe days calculator: calculate the safe period or infertile period
Week-by-week pregnancy calculator based on the due date
Home pregnancy test – What is it, and how to do it accurately?
Ovulation Calendar Calculator
Source American Pregnancy Org
Gestational age CalculatorPregnancy
What are the benefits of eating cooked mushrooms during pregnancy?


We offer easy financing for all types of credit. We will work with you to get the best financing for your pre-owned vehicle. Whether you are a first time buyer, just shopping around for the best rates, or have less than perfect credit we are here to help. Apply online now to get pre-approved for your auto loan today at www.raceinautosales.com and fill out our credit application.At Race In Auto Sales we are known for our integrity and low-pressure environment. We look forward to serving you. Are you worried about your credit? You shouldn't be. We offer easy in house financing for all types of credit.


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John Walter McDonald (-) est un homme politique canadien de l'Alberta. Il est maire de la ville de Fort Macleod, juge en chef de la cour du district sud de l'Alberta et dirige le Parti libéral de l'Alberta de 1930 à 1932

Biographie

Né à Vaughan au Ontario, McDonald étudie à la Osgoode Hall Law School où il obtient un Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL) en 1905 et à l'Université de Toronto où il gradue avec un Bachelor of Laws (LL.B). McDonald pratique le droit avec la firme Denton, Dunn et Boultbee de Toronto et devient par la suite partenaire, avec Malcolm McKenzie dans la firme McDonald, Martin and McKenzie. Nommé au Conseil du Roi en 1919, il devient procureur de la couronne du district judiciaire de Macleod. À titre de procureur, il acquiert une notoriété en étant impliqué dans les causes R v. Basoff (1920) où Tom Bassoff est jugé pour le meurtre du constable Fred W. E. Bailey de l' et du caporal Usher de la Gendarmerie royale du Canada lors d'une fusillade à Bellevue, ainsi que la cause R v. Zitto (1923).

Carrière politique
McDonald se présente à la mairie de Fort MacLeod en 1923 et conserve la fonction jusqu'en 1930, ainsi que de 1934 à 1938. Alors à Fort Macleod, il siège au conseil scolaire local, dans plusieurs organisations communautaires et chef honoraire de la nation Gens-du-Sang.

Lors de l'élection provinciale de 1926, il se présente dans la circonscription de  contre le député sortant des United Farmers, , mais perd l'élection lors d'un second vote.

En mars 1930, il devient chef du Parti libéral de l'Alberta après la démission de . Il remporte la chefferie au troisième tour contre  et .

Lors de l'1930, les Libéraux remporte quatre siège de plus, malgré une perte de 2% du vote populaire, mais McDonald est défait dans sa circonscription.

Demeuré chef après l'élection, il est reconduit dans ses fonctions avec la promesse de se présenté lors d'une élection partielle à la première opportunité. Alors que  est choisie comme leader en chambre, McDonald conserve la chefferie pendant une année supplémentaire avant de présenter sa démission en mars 1932.

Fin de vie
Nommé juge du district sud de l'Alberta en mai 1940, il est ensuite nommé juge en chef en mars 1944. Il conserve cette fonction jusqu'à son décès en novembre 1950.

Références

Liens externes

Naissance en mai 1878
Naissance à Vaughan
Chef du Parti libéral de l'Alberta
Maire en Alberta
Étudiant de l'Université de Toronto
Étudiant de l'Osgoode Hall Law School
Décès en novembre 1950
Décès à Calgary
Décès à 72 ans

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Ancuta Nite, Pianist
Upcoming Concerts/Events
Ardtornish Piano Retreat
Fundraising for Hospices of Hope
Ancuta (with her husband's huge help) has been an ambassador for Hospices of Hope (the leading palliative care charity in South Eastern Europe) since 2008. In the summers of 2012/13/14/15 she has been a member of the volunteer team at the charity's Brasov Holiday Club in their hospice Casa Sperantei. This has given her the opportunity to meet the children with life limiting illnesses, their families and the fantastic medical staff and witness the importance of continued funding for the charity.
Her fundraising efforts for the charity have included performances in The Purcell Room in London's Southbank, The Globe Theatre, Greyfriars Kirk and across Romania. Thanks to the kindness of Tim Paxton, his New Edinburgh Orchestra agreed to perform in Glasgow in 2012 for the first time, with Ancuta as soloist in Shostakovich's Second Piano Concerto. In June 2014 she joined the NEO again with Beethoven's Piano Concerto No.3 in C minor. The funds from these concerts and other events have helped raise over £22,000 for the charity.
Thank you to all our friends and supporters who have helped us over the years....
Fundraising over the years...
2nd of July 2017
Recital in St John's-Renfield Church Glasgow
£1773 raised for Hospices of Hope
3rd of July 2016 Recital in St Mary's Cathedral, Glasgow
2015 Recital - Kelvinside Hillhead Parish Church, Glasgow
Humbled by the generosity of all our friends and family who have helped us raise an incredible £3166.50 for Hospices of Hope
2014's Recital in Kelvinside Hillhead Parish Church, Glasgow raised £4025.98
2013: The Second Recital for Hospices of Hope, in the beautiful Wellington Church,Glasgow with Quintin Doyle (cello) raised £2223.93...
This is how it all started in 2012...
The first recital for Hospices of Hope
Adelaides Auditorium Glasgow, raised £530
Copyright © 2018 Ancuta Nite, Pianist - All Rights Reserved.


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People of PA College: November 2018 Edition
by Karen Jenkins November 6, 2018
We're proud of the ambitions and accomplishments of our students and alumni – learn some of their stories in our monthly feature:
Natalie Belousov, RN
Bachelor of Science in Nursing '19
Natalie Belousov '19 has always had an inclination to help others. Growing up with three brothers, and their array of maladies, from chickenpox to poison ivy, she enjoyed figuring out what was wrong and helping to care for them. During high school, Natalie volunteered at several nursing homes and took science and anatomy courses to help prepare her for the healthcare field. She next completed the Clinical Care Assistant program at the Lancaster County Career and Technology Center and took a job as a nursing assistant; a role which helped her succeed in obtaining her Associate's degree. Now working as an RN in the same medical-surgical telemetry unit where she started out as an assistant, Natalie notes that the incredible variety of conditions she helps treat each day has helped her stay up to date and continue learning. She adds that this roles has also "really taught me prioritization and great time management skills, which are a must when balancing full-time work and full-time school."
Currently enrolled in our Bachelor of Science in nursing program, Natalie chose to attend PA College for its high standards and values the many nursing instructors who are so supportive and passionate about what they do. She is especially grateful to Xanthi Kelly, Christie Soper, Lois Walters, Louise McGinty, and Suzanne Mader and shares: "These are some of the most amazing and inspiring people I have ever had the opportunity to learn from. They taught me to think critically the way I do now, and this is something I will take with me wherever I go."
Natalie was a recipient of Florence Nightingale Award from PA College in May 2018. She also helps her fellow classmates through her role as a peer tutor and describes why she chose to become involved with this program:
"Being a peer tutor is just another way of giving. I like to think of it as helping my future coworkers. I chose to take part in this program because I love teaching and I love nursing, so between work and tutoring I get to be part of both worlds. I might be teaching patients, family members, individual students, small groups of students, or my own family members, but I must say the most satisfying aspect of the experience is seeing the progression. I may start off with someone who is feeling anxious and out of sorts but as I work with them I see them learn to think critically and grow more confident and I get to be a part of that. And if at least one person that I've worked with learns one thing that makes the smallest impact in someone else's life, what I do is worth every minute I spent with that person."
Natalie hopes to transition to a role in the ICU after earning her Bachelor's degree to more fully apply everything she's been learning and researching. A native of the Stevens/Denver area, during those rare times when she's not working or in school, Natalie enjoys baking chocolate chip cookies and cinnamon buns, playing piano, writing poetry, hiking, spending time with her parents and siblings, or looking up reputable research to advance her practice.
Connie M. Metzler, MSN, RN '87, CDP
Nurse Case Manager and Program Coordinator, Alzheimer's & Memory Care, Lancaster General Health Physicians
Alumna Connie Metzler '87 cannot trace her love of nursing all the way back to childhood, recalling her dislike for the smell of antiseptic that followed her mother home from the family doctor's office where she worked. Yet by her high school years, the inspiration to follow in the professional footsteps of her mother Gladys Nissley Metzler (also an alumna from 1962) finally took hold. By this time, Gladys worked in medical surgical nursing and Connie loved the stories her mother shared at the dinner table about her work.
Connie describes her student days at PA College (then the Lancaster General Hospital School of Nursing) as the start of a wonderful 30+ year career and an experience that opened the door for her continuing education and professional success. She completed the nursing program in 1987 and recalls many fun times with classmates, living in the dorm, and enjoying milkshakes and cheeseburger subs at the former Mama Mia's at the corner of James and Lime Streets. But she adds: "Dissecting a cat was my least favorite experience." Connie later continued her education to earn her BSN from Millersville University and her MSN from Villanova University.
Connie began her career as a Medical Surgical Nurse working the 3-11 pm shift at Lancaster General Hospital before serving as a nursing instructor at PA College for over 22 years. From 1999-2011, Connie also served as interim Director of Nursing at Brandywine School of Nursing. She has held the position Nurse Case Manager and Program Coordinator for the Alzheimer's & Memory Care of the Lancaster General Health Physicians for the past five years. Of her current role, Connie shares: "I absolutely love being an advocate for patients and families living with dementia. Working with an incredible team consisting of a neurologist, neuropsychologists, a geriatrician, a CRNP and a social worker allows us to work collaboratively to assure that we are providing optimal care to those who enter our office." During Homecoming this year, PA College honored Connie with the 2018 Distinguished Alumni Award. In addition to her years of service to the health care community and as an educator at the College, Connie is also a past President of the Alumni Association and a Lifetime Alumni member.
After growing up on a 64-acre farm in Lancaster County, Connie now lives in East Petersburg, just 2 miles away from her childhood home. In her free time, Connie continues to help her brother manage and maintain the farm. She also enjoys walks with her husband and friends and was recently a team captain for the Penn Medicine Pacesetters in the Lancaster Walk to End Alzheimer's Disease. Connie also enjoys taking day trips and bus trips, with jaunts to Cape May, New Jersey and Nashville, Tennessee being recent favorites.
Seeking "People of PA College"
Do you know an exceptional current student or alumnus whose experiences and accomplishments would help tell the PA College story? Or someone who has overcome an obstacle or reached a challenging milestone during their PA College experience? Please email your suggested names (and identify them in one of these categories) to Karen Jenkins. Self-nominations are also welcome!


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AHCMC Welcomes Nabil Ghachem
Apr 03 , 2015 Joe Frandoni Grants
Nabil Ghachem, a grants manager with an impressive background in theatre and arts education, recently joined our staff as our new Grants Program Officer. Below, Nabil discusses his new role at the Arts & Humanities Council of Montgomery County, his international career in grants management, and more.
I was born and raised in Tunisia, a tiny country on the Mediterranean coast of North Africa lodged between Libya and Algeria. I grew up in a neighborhood where a mosque, a church and a synagogue were established only a few blocks from one another. This incredible diversity along with my family's multi-cultural lineage had a huge influence on what would become a bit of a globetrotting career.
After high school in Tunisia, I was accepted into university in Brussels, Belgium, where I earned an accounting degree and was able to visit almost all of Europe.
In Brussels, I worked at the Arab Cultural Center, writing operating grants, producing international music and theatre festivals, and locating city and state project funding and office space. There, I developed a passion for theatre and enrolled in the Brussels Theatre Academy training program.
I participated in several theater residencies with Yoshi Oida, the GITIS Moscow School of Theatre, and the NO Japanese Theatre and led an immigrant theater group to win the Brussels Capital Theatre Tournament with Dario Fo's Not to Pay. Together, we developed arts education programs, short films, and documentaries that dealt with youth, education, and social issues. Following Brussels, I spent two fabulous years in New York translating and directing Algerian author and poet, Hawa Djabali's, The Cry of Desire for the Lincoln Center Theatre Director's Lab, and Athos Fugard's, Master Harold, and The Boys.
My work in grants management began in Santa Cruz, CA where I managed the County Arts Council's Grants Program from 2002 until 2012. During my tenure, we completely re-structured the program by implementing new funding criteria, panel processes, and evaluation mechanisms, while initiating collaborations with the private sector and education institutions. We moved the grant making process online, expanded the technical assistance program, strengthened grantees' managerial capacities, increased access to funding opportunities, and facilitated numerous forums, including the Bay Area Funders' Forum. I also had the privilege to launch the Santa Cruz County Poet Laureate program.
We were able to maintain a strong grants program thanks to the support from local city and county council members, local and regional foundations, state and federal support systems, and most of all thanks to a community who was involved in and advocated for the arts as a tool to enrich people's lives, emotionally, intellectually and economically.
I think we were able to instill a model for collaboration and mutual support that I already see in effect here. As I learn more about Montgomery County's arts and humanities landscape, I hope to have a chance to meet and work with the exceptional individuals, small, mid-size, and large organizations that contribute to advancing the creative economy in this region.
Nabil brings accounting know-how, extensive grantmaking experience, and a background as creative and cultural producer to this role. We could not be more excited to welcome him to the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County. To learn more about Nabil, check out his bio and send him a note of welcome at Nabil.Ghachem@creativemoco.com!


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March 4, 2016 Documentaries
Winter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight For Freedom
Winter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight For Freedom (2015)
Directed by Evgeny Afineevsky
Written by Den Tolmor
Throughout parts of 2013 and 2014, the people of Ukraine quietly built up an army of peaceful protesters. What started as student demonstrations supporting European integration quickly grew into a revolution met with violence. Soon, thousands of people joined together in calling for the resignation of President Viktor F. Yanukovich.
This film is one of the five documentaries nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the Academy Awards. Directed by Evgeny Afineevsky, this is a unique inside look at uprising in the Ukraine. The movie does an interesting job highlighting the major events that occurred throughout the Euromaidan protests. The film focuses on accounts given by a handful of the thousands of people who were involved. This gives a very personal touch to the film, but also a very narrow focus.
The footage shown throughout the documentary shows the peaceful beginnings of the protests, as well as the heavy-handed response by the government police forces. Some of the footage is shockingly violent, showing the results of many different clashes between protesters and those hired to stop them. There are also interesting moments of jubilation captured, when small victories were announced to the anxious crowds. Like the rebellion itself, this documentary is a combination of highs and lows. The loss of life, and the sacrifices made by the protesters are all given equal time.
The weakness of this movie comes from the narrow focus of the stories it tells. By using only a handful of protesters to tell the story, the movie doesn't address some events that these people weren't a part of. The documentary also didn't provide anything to show the other side of the story. This leaves the tale feeling uneven and sometimes too simple. Revolutions aren't ever simple, and this seems to do an injustice to the bigger picture. It would've also been nice to see some interview work done with people on the outside of the rebellion in the Ukraine.
This is a good documentary, but not a great one. If you're looking for a small peek into a bigger story this might be okay for you. Otherwise, this is a documentary that only tells certain sides of a story. Some of the footage is riveting, and the emotion in moments is very powerful. I give this one 2.8 out of 5 stars.
2015Den TolmordocumentaryEvgeny AfineevskyFilmMovieOscarReviewWinter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight For Freedom
Cartel Land


FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and Acting FTC Chairman Maureen Ohlhausen have penned an article for The Washington Post, defending the decision to reverse ISP privacy rules.
The debate over the rights and wrongs of the move to change the opt in/opt out policies of ISPs for use in advertising platforms will continue to rage over the coming months, but you've got to hand some credit to Pai and Ohlhausen; they have made some valid points, albeit alongside some less sturdy ones.
"During the Obama administration, the FTC concluded that 'any privacy framework should be technology neutral' because 'ISPs are just one type of large platform provider' and 'operating systems and browsers may be in a position to track all, or virtually all, of a consumer's online activity to create highly detailed profiles'," the pair wrote.
This was ultimately one of the failings of the Wheeler tenure; while it was an admirable effort to protect user privacy, it compounded an already uneven playing field between the ISPs and OTT content platform providers, such as Facebook. For any legislation to be truly effective, there cannot be disparancey in the rules on how two different organizations can do effectively the same thing.
"If two online companies have access to the same data about your Internet usage, why should the federal government give one company greater leeway to use it than the other?" the pair highlight.
While it is certainly a well-founded argument, one point which should be highlighted is the choice in which Americans currently have. A surprisingly large number of Americans only have the option of one or two providers in terms of broadband suppliers, whereas they are able to choose if and where they display personal information on social media.
A middle ground is likely to be found for the moment, owing to the partisan nature of American politics and also the valid arguments on both sides, but perhaps another interesting twist is the dilution of power at the FCC. In the same article, power to police ISPs has been removed from the FCC and handed back to the FTC, reversing another move from the Obama era.
Although a major move, it should not come as a huge surprise. Prior to President Trump's entry to the Oval office in January, Mark Jamison was appointed to oversee the transition of the FCC to the new administration. Now Jamison has had some pretty interesting views on the role of the FCC, which now seem to be coming to fruition.
Back in October, Jamison penned a post titled 'Do we need the FCC?' for TechPolicyDaily.com. In the post, he questions the role of the FCC, and put forward the idea of stripping back its responsibilities, sharing jobs out with various different agencies. The remaining role of the FCC should be license radio spectrum, though this should only be concerned over the property right for use and not about content.
The post snuck under the radar at the time, and has largely been forgotten since, but is this one of the first steps towards a more streamlined and less influential FCC? One thing we do know about the Trump administration and its generals is that they are not afraid to make bold moves. This is only the first step, and you can almost guarantee there will be more.
The policing of ISPs is a major role to hand over, and it makes you wonder what will be next. What will the FCC look like in 12 months' time?


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Pearl River's school budget vote includes condo sale proposition
Mareesa Nicosia
mnicosia@lohud.com
Heads up, Pearl River school district voters: The annual school budget vote is this Tuesday, May 20. What you probably already know (hopefully because you looked at our school elections website) is that residents will vote on a $63.07 million budget for 2014-15 that includes a tax levy increase of 0.1 percent.
What you may not know: Also on the ballot is a proposition that, if approve, will allow the district to sell a portion of its property on West Crooked Hill Road. The parcel was purchased in 2010 for $4.9 million and includes an office building, a storage garage and a 10-unit apartment building.
The district moved its administration offices from the high school to the purchased office building and then added four classrooms and two restrooms at the high school to alleviate crowding.
According to the district , the property has been subdivided and all necessary paperwork has been filed with the state Attorney General's office to convert the 10-unit building into condominiums, which officials plan to sell through a real estate agent. They expect $1.5 million in proceeds from the sale, which will be used to offset debt incurred through the purchase of the property, leaving $3.4 million owed on the bond.
Officials said sales of the condo units are expected to begin this summer and the property will be maintained by a condo association. The district's involvement with the property will end once all the units are sold, according to an explanation of the proposition posted on the district website.