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Review: Chicago One-Minute Play Festival (Victory Gardens)
New Festival Showcases Short Works by Local Artists, Sampler-style
by Dan Jakes and Oliver Sava
This May 15-16, Victory Gardens premiered Chicago's first One-Minute Play Festival (OMPF), a benefit event that featured bite-sized works by an eclectic mix of prominent and upcoming local theater artists. Creator and "curator" Dominic D'Andrea originally debuted the series in New York in 2007, where it has since grown to San Francisco and Los Angeles . For its first ever stop in the Midwest, considering the event's magnitude–50 playwrights, 10 directors, and nearly 60 actors–this year's showcase demonstrated promising potential for an exciting annual Chicago theater institution.
That is, if it finds a stronger footing. Micro-plays are nothing new, especially in the Windy City, long-time home to the Neo-Futurists' Too Much Light and Second City; one set the bar for two-minute plays, and the other made one-joke flash bits a sketch trademark. D'Andrea and producer Will Rogers' OMPF also rides off the larger 10-minute play trend. Their efforts to boil down theater even further, though, prove to be fruitful–sometimes even enlightening. Below is a list of the night's highlights.
Paper Airplane, Aaron Carter
The finest piece in the festival. A young boy expresses his anguish over his father's looming death while tossing folded paper planes across the stage. His ability to speak is limited to the papers' flight, leaving him choked and frustrated with each audible crash landing. In less than a minute, Carter encapsulates the panic of grief, and animates the cruel handicap children endure to express pain. Those planes approached visual poetry.
Two Vegans, Robert Tenges
A couple engaged in love making–some of it hilariously acrobatic–get their kink on by dirty-talking their favorite (or to cool things off, least favorite: ("raw kale…raw kale!") foods. At first, it's funny nonsense. Then, after you uncomfortably internalize your own link between taste/sexual satisfaction, it's hysterical.
A Play, Kristoffer Diaz
You're the hero in this monologue. The audience member to your right is the protagonist. Your left, the antagonist. Diaz's simple, straight-forward instructions don't feel like a gimmick. His inconclusive end ponders some sophisticated ideas about the broader implications of storytelling, ones that resonate long after the play's 60 seconds are up.
The Last Walk, Lisa Dillman
Sad pets are an easy go-to for emotional impact…but that doesn't make using them any less effective. A dog reminisces about the good days with her very recently deceased owner. Confused, she brushes up against his dead body for affection…and if you don't cry a little at the thought of that, then you're a monster. Only a few high-pitched "aw's" were heard in the house during an otherwise hushed fade-to-black.
Inequity, Jake Minton
Penis envy comes early for two little boys (played by full-grown adults, of course) in a school bathroom: One stands proud, pants down and bare-butted at a urinal, while the other sits devastated, hiding his…well, you know. Minton makes a nice little joke about men's biggest insecurity.
Haiku Fight, Caitlin Montanye Parrish
A couple hashes out an argument by having a refereed 8 Mile-style slam, with Japanese poetry filling in for hip-hop. It's a simple, wonderfully clever juxtaposition of the writing form's serenity versus the needling aggravation of a relationship fight.
This Just In, Stephen Louis Grush
Liberal sensibilities about prejudice get turned over on their heads when one easily dismissible stereotype gets paired with one that's equally unfair, but–for many viewers–may hit a little closer to home. Those might sound like the makings for a didactic issues play. With the right amounts of humor and levity here, they aren't.
Bag Thief, Laura Jacqmin
A mix-up at an airport luggage carousel leads to suspicion and accusations. Jacqmin doesn't quite know how to end her play–what she settles for lets the air out of its balloon and betrays her otherwise solid work. Up until the final seconds, though, it's fun stuff watching two men calmly navigate each other's logic and contemplate one another's mind games.
Blackout, Chisa Hutchinson
As the name suggests, Hutchinson's play takes place with the house and stage lights off. Her monologue discusses nyctophobia (fear of darkness) in friendly, clinical terms. Once she starts in about the ghastly things you could be imagining, it's hard not to nervously giggle and realize you're an adult who's once again–briefly–afraid of the dark.
In Not Our Finest Hour, Andrew Hinderaker
You can spot a gag coming within the first few seconds of this context-free comedy. A line of actors take a swig from a water bottle and pass it on. Anticipation builds; titters slip. The fact that the punch line is exactly what you'd expect compounds the simple humor in this satisfying, straightforward piece.
Wisconsin, Andrew Hinderaker
Anyone who's experienced the unique isolation of a rural Midwest winter can attest to the truth and melancholy spoken in this eloquent monologue. A young man describes a blackened hand rising out of the snow. Hinderaker's vivid image is striking on conflicting levels–it's unsettling, somber, and in its own way, serene.
Free, Zayd Dohrn
A United States Marine quietly bemoans the chaos of modern war and rejects America's authoritative façade. His speech is upsetting for all the obvious reasons, and for some less common: notably, the futility of humanitarian efforts and the false hope instilled by the military's hierarchy.
A Short Story, Emily Schwartz
A narrator gives up on his own story, much to the protagonist's chagrin. Schwartz's non-story leaves the nameless hero waiting and frustrated as the nonchalant storyteller signs off on her would-be adventure. Smart, funny metatheater.
Love Play for Two Chairs, Seth Bockley
When you think about chairs having sex (though in any other context, why would you?) the word "whimsical" probably doesn't come to mind. And yet, like an x-rated Fantasia, Bockley and director Jeffrey Stanton achieve just that. Annoyed by the noise of his enchanted furniture getting it on, an apartment owner sets out to end his two chairs' tryst. His solution is delightfully absurd–the fact that it's irresistibly adorable makes matters even stranger.
Unsolicited Advice for Next Year's Fest
Now that the One-Minute Play Festival has taken its first entertaining, successful baby steps in Chicago, here's what we at we'd would like to see from the show in its future incarnations…
A Greater Assortment of Styles:
Only a few plays in 2011 were noteworthy for really bucking traditional conventions. The message in Gloria Bond Clunie's Falling about resilience in the face of natural disasters, for instance, wasn't particularly moving or inspired, but her play stood out from its peers for its striking use of projections and puppetry. That left us with a question: How can the other works of 50 unique artists have looked so homogeneous? Talking animals, inner-monologues, contentless scenes and gripes about public transit bore the brunt of too many shows. No movement pieces? No one-minute musicals? Festival organizers take pride in the lack of dictated thematic guidelines for the playwrights (as they should). Still, there has to be a way to commission a more diverse body of work.
Super-titles:
Many of the short plays benefited from having the names of the shows known; some even took on new light. Dimmed houselights and tiny program font made seeing them impractical–unless you were really straining, you had to do without. An inexpensive or creative way to integrate the show names could further enrich the work.
Clear Intent Behind Curation:
Was there or was there not an intended arc to the evening? We couldn't tell. Directors took on about 10 plays each, and their pieces were presented together in ten unique "clumps." The order that clumps were presented in and the plays within them, though, did not have an obvious flow. Perhaps one wasn't intended–regardless, having one might keep the night as a whole engaging.
The Chicago One-Minute Play Festival is produced as a benefit for Victory Gardens Fresh Squeezed, their alternative programming and audience engagement initiative. With a shared mission, both Fresh Squeezed and the festival aim to represent a wide and diverse range of playwrights, actors, and directors working in the great city of Chicago.
Reviewers: Dan Jakes and Oliver Sava
Filed under: 2011 Reviews, Dan Jakes, Oliver Sava, Theatre Festival, Victory Gardens | Tagged: Aaron Carter, Andrea Thome, Andrew Gerle, Andrew Hinderaker, Andrew Hobgood, Arlene Malinowski, Bilal Dardai, Brant Russell, Brenda Didier, Brett Neveu, Caitlin Parrish, Carlos Murillo, Caty Mick, Chelsea Marcantel, Chicago One-Minute Play Festival, Chisa Hutchinson, Christopher De Paola, Dan Jakes, Dana Lynn Formby, David Cerda, Dominic D'Andrea, Emily Schwartz, Erica Weiss, Evan Linder, Gloria Bond Clunie, Idris Goodwin, Jackie Sibblies Drury, Jaime Totti, Jake Minton, James Sherman, Jeffry Stanton, Joel Drake Johnson, Joshua Conkel, Julieanne Ehre, Justin Palmer, Kristoffer Diaz, laura Jacqmin, Leonard Madrid, Lisa Dillman, Lonnie Carter, Marisa Wegrzyn, Megan Carney, Mia McCullough, Michael Golamco, Mike Ervin, Nambi E. Kelley, Nick Patricca, Nick Zagone, Oliver Sava, OMPF, Patricia Kane, Patrick McLean, Philip Dawkins, Randall Colburn, Reeny Hofrichter, Robert Tenges, S.L. Daniels, Second City, Seth Bockley, Shepsu Aakhu, Stephen Louis Grush, Sydney Chatman, Tanya Saracho, The Neo Futurists, Usman Ally, Victory Gardens, Wendell Etherly, Will Rogers, Zayd Dohrn |	Leave a comment »
Review: Three Days of Rain (Backstage Theatre)
Another memorable production from Backstage
Backstage Theatre Company presents
Three Days of Rain
Written by Richard Greenberg
Directed by Matthew Reeder
at the Viaduct Theatre, 3111 N. Western (map)
We are often fascinated by the story of who our parents were before they had children since it is essentially how we came to exist. It helps us understand the lives of the most influential people in your life, and it guides us in our own quest for love and self definition. This idea played a large role in Backstage Theatre Company's Memory, their impressive first play of their season. Other times these stories, as is the case in Richard Greenberg's Three Days of Rain (known to many theatergoers as the play Julia Roberts flatly debuted in on Broadway), can be a great mystery to obsess upon for years. The overriding mystery is what binds six fascinating characters together played by three actors. Artistic Director Matthew Reeder's direction in this Backstage production is strikingly human, intimate and traipses through these characters' lives like a lone jazz trumpet traveling through time accompanied by well-suited recordings of Miles Davis doing the real thing.
In present day downtown Manhattan (or maybe more so the mid-90's if you really do the math on years referenced) we meet Walker (John Henry Roberts) in a sparse spacious apartment. He is intellectual, searching and a narcissist. After disappearing in Italy his family had thought him dead. More specifically, his sister Nan (Rebekah Ward-Hays) and his old friend Pip (Tony Bozzuto) thought so. Upon finding his recently deceased father's journal, Walker attempts to decipher the cryptic seemingly commonplace entries. Walker believes that his parents "married because by 1960 they had reached a certain age and they were the last ones left in the room." Nan struggles with Walker's return and his obsession with their father's journal. Pip, a soap-opera star, has history with Nan, and Walker was – or still is – in love with him, causing interesting tension when any combination of the three of them is on stage.
Walker and Nan's father Ned (also played by Roberts) was a great architect, or at least built one impressive house. Pip is the son of their father's partner, Theo. In the second act Bozzuto, Roberts and Ward-Hays all take on the roles of their parents in the 1960's. Greenberg's writing is smart in how it takes certain words or phrases you hear in the first act and sprinkles them in the second act, showing you the roots of these ultimately poetic characters in linguistic parallels. We bear witness to all that Walker, Nan and Pip could not possibly know even if the stories were retold or handed down. They would have changed as all stories do through the course of history. Nevertheless, a few small words which Ned (Walker and Nan's father) writes down carries all the weight in the world for each character involved in this play. Even if the meaning of those words died with Ned, they still have impacted the lives of these people profoundly whether the truth is known or not.
The performances of these six difficult characters to play are worthy. The hurdle is portraying two different characters that are clueless to what the other knows and yet finding the connection between them. John Henry Roberts was stiff at times on opening night and hit an occasional false note as Walker at first, but he eventually relaxed into the role and became fascinating during the ritual that ends the act. As Walker's father, Ned, he brings a very different character to the stage that is vivacious and electric to watch. Ward-Hays is magnificent in her balance of anger and love as Nan, and then in her dreamier and more sexually charged performance as Lina. Bozzuto is dynamic displaying an exciting capability for detailed physical choices.
Reeder makes a brilliant choice opening the second act by allowing the characters of Theo and Ned to spend the first couple minutes transforming the space in front of our eyes, bringing life into the abandoned apartment and turning it into an invigorating Manhattan architectural workspace of the 1960's. It's the same apartment as in the first act, but the makeover of the room is akin to time travel. Brandon Wardell's set fills the Viaduct space perfectly, and his lighting on the windows does wonders to create the ambiance of the physical and emotional setting.
Greenberg's non-linear storytelling is thought-provoking as only we, the audience, know the true gravitas of the words, "Three days of rain," which Ned enters into his journal. However, perhaps this is the nature of history; it can never be retold exactly, nor needs to be. Walker and Nan come to their own necessary closure with their parents' ambiguous history, and their father took his memories to the grave. What's clear is that Backstage Theatre Company continues to excel in creating memories for theatergoers that are definitely unforgettable.
Performances for Three Days of Rain run every Thursday through Saturday at 7 p.m. and every Sunday at 3 p.m., from May 20th through June 25th. No performance June 16th, added performance Monday, June 6th at 7:00 p.m. General admission tickets are $25, senior tickets are $22, and student tickets (with a valid ID) are $10. Group rates are available. Tickets are available through the Viaduct Theatre by phone, (773) 296-6024. For more information about BackStage Theatre Company and Three Days of Rain, visit www.backstagetheatrecompany.org.
Filed under: 2011 Reviews, Backstage Theatre, Dan Jakes, Viaduct Theatre | Tagged: Angela Campos, Backstage Theatre, BackStage Theatre Company, Brandon Wardell, Heath Hays, Jason Rost, Jen Poulin, Jessica Kuehnau, John Henry Roberts, Matthew Reeder, Rebekah Ward-Hays, Richard Greenberg, Sean Sullivan, Three Days of Rain, Tony Bozzuto, Viaduct Theatre |	Leave a comment »
Review: A Lesson Before Dying (Lincoln Square Theatre)
Stark simplicity amplifies Lincoln Squares' Lesson
Lincoln Square Theatre presents
A Lesson Before Dying
Written by Romulus Linney
Directed by Kristina Schramm
at Lincoln Square Theatre, 4754 N. Lincoln (map)
To call Lincoln Square Theatre's A Lesson Before Dying rudimentary would be the understatement of the year. The production values of the set design by director Kristina Schramm may be low, its look stark and rough around the edges. That, however, works in the production's favor at critical moments—evoking dark poetry about a young black man sentenced to die in the electric chair for a crime he did not commit. The meat and potatoes of Lincoln Square's offering lies in the excellent characterizations of its little known cast, some of whom make their Chicago debut with this production. Hence, their cumulative efforts can be considered a small diamond gleaming in an unexpected spot. Go to witness the resilient, earthy, intelligent and vital performances that fill the church basement space Lincoln Square Theatre calls home.
Set in the pre-Civil Rights Era South, Miss Emma (vividly played by Mary Helena) wants the local schoolteacher Grant Wiggins (David Lawrence Hamilton) to intervene with her grandson Jefferson (Barth Bennett), who has just been sentenced to death for the murder of a white grocery store owner. At one point in his trial, Jefferson's lawyer had argued that one might as well execute a hog as execute his client—from that point Jefferson only thinks of himself as a hog. Miss Emma hopes that the schoolteacher can speak to Jefferson and raise him up to believe in himself again as a man, so that he can die with dignity.
But Wiggins himself is a man burnt out on the futility of teaching in the rural South. The shack that stands for the schoolhouse he teaches in doesn't have enough chalk to last through the year. His students spend more time playing with bugs than reading the old, used and worn out textbooks donated to them from white schools. His perspective on the impact he can make under such conditions has degenerated to impotent and sour cynicism. "Vivian, I'm dead here," he tells his girlfriend, also a schoolteacher. But Vivian Baptiste (in a fresh and driven performance by Elana Elyce) pushes Wiggins to help Jefferson. Due to going through a divorce herself, Vivian cannot be sure of Wiggins, if he turns out to be someone people can't depend upon—"Decent men back out. Decent men give up. Decent men change the rules."
The power of Wiggin's story lies in the pressures upon him to be more than what he is – which he may be swayed by, but never really yields to. Romulus Linney's adaptation of the novel by Earnest J. Gaines preserves Wiggins as a man filled with doubts, able to use only the most meager pedagogical tools at his disposal to draw Jefferson out. Vivian seems, at times, to want him to be a superman. The Rev. Ambrose (resonantly played by Rudolf D. Munro, III) definitely dislikes Wiggins' secular leanings dominating Jefferson's recovery and wishes there would be more God-talk involved in his redemption. But it's the halting and uncertain nature of the schoolteacher's mentality that allows him to be influenced by the person who matters most—the condemned man himself.
At the beginning, both Hamilton and Bennett's play their characters too tight and shut down to allow for much emotional play. But both actors blossom into their roles organically—evincing profound, confrontational and revelatory moments the closer Jefferson comes to his day of execution. Flanked by the manipulative Sheriff Guidry (Ed Schultz) and the sympathetic Deputy Paul Bonin (Jereme Rhodes), Jefferson's ability to recover himself and face his undeserved death becomes more about the transformation of a community than just his personal ordeal. Lincoln Square Theatre renders a poignant and profound drama on the value of human life that is more than worth the effort to seek it out.
Dates/Times: Continues thru June 11, with performances Fridays at 8pm and Saturdays at 3pm and 8pm.
Tickets: $20 ($12 students & seniors)
Purchase: credit card via Brown Paper Tickets; cash and check at door;
Reservations: 773-275-7930; Location: 4754 N. Leavitt St. Chicago (map)
Filed under: 2011 Reviews, Lincoln Square Theatre, Paige Listerud | Tagged: A Lesson Before Dying, Barth Bennett, Cliff Morland, David Lawrence Hamilton, Ed Schultz, Elana Elyce, Erica Hohn, Gina Patterson, Gloria Feliciano, Goose Haile, Jereme Rhodes, Kim Baker, Kristina Schramm, Lincoln Square Theatre, Mary Helena, Paige Listerud, Romulus Linney, Rudolf Munro III, Tanya Kirksey |	Leave a comment »
Review: Porgy and Bess (Court Theatre Chicago)
We loves you, Porgy and Bess!
Court Theatre presents
Written by George Gerwin, Ira Gershwin,
and Dorothy and DuBose Heyward
Directed by Charles Newell
Music direction, new orchestrations by Doug Peck
at Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis (map)
through July 3 | tickets: $10-$55 | more info
Reviewed by Barry Eitel
On first glance, Porgy and Bess looks like the tale of a perpetual sucker. The crippled beggar Porgy, living in an impoverished South Carolina hamlet, falls for Bess, the most shunned woman in town, a coquette who runs with a jealous meathead. Due to Porgy being the only person who'll let her stay at his house, the mismatched pair gets together, yet the woman retains a wandering eye. But Porgy puts up with all, even when she runs to New York when he's out of town. Instead of throwing up his hands, he takes up his crutch and starts the journey north.
However, as Charles Newell's excellent production at Court makes clear, there's something astoundingly human about this tale. George Gershwin's magnum opus showcases love and forgiveness in its treatment of Porgy and Bess' relationship. Titular characters aside, the opera also delves into how a community copes with hardship. Even when those hardships are as insidious and gigantic as racism, poverty, and natural disaster.
Out of the millions of debates spurred by this show, easily one of the stupidest is if it should be classified as an opera or musical. Newell and music director Doug Peck took the best of both genres. I'd say the show is about 90% singing, keeping many of Gershwin's recitatives. But they aren't afraid to throw in a few spoken lines when a character needs to drop a truth bomb without the flourish of music. Newell also chopped down the supporting townsfolk of Catfish Row, so the stage isn't flooded with actors with one line roles. It also makes the whole strong ensemble memorable.
Newell's envisioning of this controversial tale adds a vibrancy and immediacy to the octogenarian opera. John Culbert's off-white set invokes a weathered Carolina beach house, which goes well with Jacqueline Firkins' breezy white costumes. Stark as it may seem, the design has its fare share of breathtaking surprises. Peck also tweaks the arrangements to great effect, adding some great traditional Gullah drum breaks as well as haunting stripped down acapella numbers.
While initially shunned, Porgy and Bess has seen lots of love from opera houses around the world (including a production at the Lyric in 2008). These productions promise grandiose sets and superstar vocals, with the plot lagging behind as an afterthought. That's not the case here, where the plot (based on DuBose Heyward's 1926 novel) is the main selling point. With Newell's minimalist take, nearly all of the storytelling responsibility falls to the cast. They deliver with aplomb, searching the story's intricacies and themes alongside us in the audience. I already had chills when Harriet Nzinga Plumpp warbled the first few notes of "Summertime."
Todd M. Kryger's hulking performance as Porgy is just the right blend of majesty and vulnerability, and Alexis J. Rogers correctly portrays a Bess torn by love and lust. But the real jewel here is the supporting cast. Bethany Thomas as the pious Serena steals the show with her wickedly expressive singing style. She shreds right through the heart of "My Man's Gone Now." Sean Blake's slick Sporting Life, the neighborhood dope dealer, is a similar delight. His rendition of "It Ain't Necessarily So" drips with fun—it's clear he's having a great time up there.
Court boasts that this production is scrubbed clean of the racist smudges that have dogged Porgy and Bess from its opening night in 1935. I don't know if I completely agree with that—much of the music still leans towards Europe instead of Africa. But Porgy and Bess is an American treasure, a spunky musical journey that combines stodgy Old World opera with the uniquely American creations of jazz, gospel, and blues. Newell's production is a treasure in itself, grabbing this overly-familiar piece ("Summertime" is one of the most covered pop song in the world) and thrusting it into relevance.
Filed under: 2011 Reviews, Barry Eitel, Court Theatre, Opera | Tagged: Adrienne Walker, Alexis J. Rogers, Barry Eitel, Bear Bellinger, Bethany Thomas, Brent Roman, Brian H. Scott, Brian-Alwyn Newland, Byron Glen Willis, Charles Newell, Christian Dillingham, Chuck Bontrager, Court Theatre, Court Theatre Chicago, Cristin Carole, Dorothy Heyward, Doug Peck, Drew Dir, DuBose Heyward, Elizabeth Doran, George Gershwin, Harriet Nzinga Plumpp, Ira Gershwin, Jacqueline Firkins, James Earl Jones II, Joelle Lamarre, John Culbert, Joshua Horvath, Kevin Roston Jr., Martine Kei Green, Matt Holzfeind, Nick Moran, Porgy and Bess, Ron OJ Parson, Sara Gammage, Sean Blake, Stephen Orjudos, Todd M. Kryger, Travis A. Jackson, Travis Turner, William Collins, Wydetta Carter |	Leave a comment »
Review: Dot & Ziggy (Chicago Children's Theatre)
A little cuteness, a little charm, a lot of predictability
Chicago Children's Theatre presents
Dot & Ziggy
Created by Linda Hartzell, Mark Perry
and the Seattle Children's Theatre
Directed by Linda Hartzell
at Victory Gardens Biograph Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln (map)
Dot & Ziggy is Chicago Children's Theatre's first crack at targeting the baby and toddler audience—and, of course, those parents seeking a fun, interactive theatrical event to share with their youngest. Theater for the very young, age 6 months to 4 years, has been established in Europe and Australia for over two decades now and is just finding its audience in America, with Seattle and Minneapolis leading the way in baby and toddler theatre. Success for Dot & Ziggy could open the way to a whole new Chicago audience.
Created and directed by Linda Hartzell, Chicago Children's Theatre also promotes Dot & Ziggy as childhood entertainment that doubles as "time well spent." Clearly, the production was developed along early child development guidelines. The tried and true formulas first instigated by "Sesame Street" in the 1960s are all over this show. The production's one variation from television lies in the moments it provides for interactive movement and sound. But the oft-repeated recognition of shapes, the recognition of opposites in language, as well as lessons on socialization – via the budding friendship between a ladybug, Dot (Roni Geva) and a skunk named Ziggy (Don Darryl Rivera) – are plainly safe, comfortable and predictable territory.
Far be it from me, not being a parent, to throw cold water on a theatrical experience that might be exactly what some parents want for their children—something that fits easily into parameters they've already been exposed to at home. Obviously, the young audience's response to Dot and Ziggy's friendship forms a far better indicator. Geva is charming in the dedicated earnestness with which she tries to make Ziggy see things her way. Rivera employs a hint of cheerful mischief in Ziggy's opposition to Dot. It's also a plus that Dot and Ziggy lead the audience with music from the lobby of the Victory Gardens Biograph Theater to the upstairs theatre space. Once inside, Nicolas Davio's fresh and simple musical accompaniment forms a strong underpinning to the storytelling. By far, watching the kids react to the material may be the show's biggest entertainment value—an element that reinforces the communal nature of live theater, both for adults and the very young.
I do question, however, an over-reliance on the Sesame-Street-model or an over-dependency on sociological approaches when it comes to creating theater, all with the intent that it be "good for children." What can be lost is wonder; what results is a production that looks like it was created more by a well-meaning committee than by theater artists. Also, at some point, the question of whether parents really need to spend $16 a ticket to sing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" with their children comes into view. Dot & Ziggy does have a very endearing original song near its end and one can only hope that further works for very young people, centered on greater originality and creativity, will be forthcoming.
Chicago Children's Theatre's Dot & Ziggy continues through June 26th, with performances Tuesdays-Thursdays at 10am, Fridays-Sundays at 10am and 12pm. Tickets are $16 on weekdays and $18 on weekends, and can be purchased by phone (773-871-3000) or online.
Filed under: 2011 Reviews, Biograph Theatre, Chicago Children's Theatre, Children's Theatre, Paige Listerud | Tagged: Chicago Children's Theatre, Don Darryl Rivera, Dot & Ziggy, Linda Hartzell, Mark Perry, Nicolas Davio, Paige Listerud, Roni Geva, Seattle Children's Theatre, Victory Gardens Biograph Theater |	Leave a comment »
Review: The Outgoing Tide (Northlight Theatre)
Northlight creates a compassionate, witty world premiere
Northlight Theatre presents
The Outgoing Tide
Written by Bruce Graham
Directed by BJ Jones
at North Shore Center the Performing Arts, Skokie (map)
The shock of a loved one turning into a bewildered stranger—that's the curse of Alzheimer's Disease. Like the wrath of God, in this new work it's visited on a small family living on the shore of the Chesapeake. But it could easily be any in the audience. That's one reason The Outgoing Tide, an effective world premiere from Northlight Theatre, is as much a rehearsal for the future as theater can offer. The other is the utter honesty of BJ Jones casting and staging.
Author Bruce Graham compassionately and wittily considers his play's ongoing crisis—a father's senility as a permanent impairment—from all sides. It's wrenching to hear as confident an actor as John Mahoney, Chicago icon, suddenly descend into the depths of a terminal brain malfunction. His Gunner Concannon is a shanty-Irish success, a blue-collar trucker used to getting his way. But time is taking a daily toll: his tested but true wife Peg (down-to-earth Rondi Reed) faces "a new battle every day." Gunner repeats himself, can't remember basic information, recalls the past perfectly but forgets yesterday or who he's with, and wanders away, helpless to return.
But, unlike Alzheimer patients in the later stages, Gunner can feel and taste his diminishing returns, enough to propose a terrifying idea to Peg and his son Jack (himself facing two other family crises, divorce and alienation from his teenage son). Like Willie Loman before him, Gunner will arrange an accident. The $2.4 million payout from this self-administered euthanasia will free himself from dependency and diapers in a hateful hospice, give Peg the comfortable future that that expense would have negated, and enable Gunner to open the restaurant he's always dreamed of. But it has to be tomorrow because the future's not on Gunner's side: With winter approaching, a boat heading out will soon stand out.
Much of the play deals with the denial and panic triggered by Gunner's decision to take his boat out and plunge himself into the "outgoing tide." Peg despairs that, with Gunner gone, she'll have no one to care for, though Jack (Thomas J. Cox, looking as bewildered as you'd expect) will need her even more now. Jack hates the thought that his dream depends on his dad's death.
Clearly, this is no "On Golden Pond," full of sentimental banter ("you old poop") and analogies to lost loons. (It's a lot more like Marsha Norman's "'night, Mother," where a suicide looms over, and finally finishes, the action.) There's enough humor (what if a demented man, bent on murder-suicide, forgets to commit the second crime?) to leaven the loaf. The particulars of this beleaguered family are balanced against the universal plight that we're all clocks fated to run down until we tick no longer. Flashbacks fill us in on a marriage that clearly grew from love into, well, whatever is left now.
Spry and game, Mahoney brings an energetic actor's instincts to a part that doesn't always need them. His sheer spryness somewhat blunts the seriousness of Gunner's losing game, but it also makes his sudden losses of reality all the more wrenching. Reed exudes a feisty practicality that, alas, is useless in this family calamity. Cox depicts how cherished memories turn toxic when their source is no longer the person you grew up with.
Yes, The Outgoing Tide is definitely a promissory note for crises to come. See it now before the tide comes back.
Performances: through June 19th, with performances Tuesdays at 7:30pm, Wednesdays at 1pm and 7:30pm, Thursdays at 7:30pm, Fridays at 8pm, Saturdays at 2:30pm and 8:00pm, and Sundays 2:30 and 7:00pm. (some variations may occur – check website for exact performance info) Tickets: Tickets are $40-$50, and can be purchased by phone (847-673-6300) or online at www.northlight.org. Location: All performances take place at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie (map).
Filed under: 2011 Reviews, Lawrence Bommer, North Shore Center for the Arts, Northlight Theatre, World Premier | Tagged: Andrew Hansen, BJ Jones, Brian Sidney Bembridge, Bruce Graham, John Mahoney, JR Lederle, Kristin Leahey, North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, Northlight Theatre, Rachel laritz, Rita Vreeland, Rondi Reed, The Outgoing Tide, Thomas J. Cox |	Leave a comment »


text:
from .. import dirty
from ....errors import UnsupportedDirtyError

import logging
l = logging.getLogger(name=__name__)

def SimIRStmt_Dirty(engine, state, stmt):
    # Example:
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    with state.history.subscribe_actions() as deps:
        exprs = [engine.handle_expression(state, e) for e in stmt.args]

    # get the function
    func = getattr(dirty, stmt.cee.name, None)

    # trigger the inspect
    state._inspect('dirty', when=BP_BEFORE, dirty_name=stmt.cee.name, dirty_args=exprs, dirty_handler=func, dirty_result=NO_OVERRIDE)
    retval = state._inspect_getattr('dirty_result', NO_OVERRIDE)
    func = state._inspect_getattr('dirty_handler', func)
    exprs = state._inspect_getattr('dirty_args', exprs)

    if func is None and retval is NO_OVERRIDE:
        l.error("Unsupported dirty helper %s", stmt.cee.name)
        raise UnsupportedDirtyError("Unsupported dirty helper %s" % stmt.cee.name)

    if retval is NO_OVERRIDE:
        retval, retval_constraints = func(state, *exprs)
        state.solver.add(*retval_constraints)

    state._inspect('dirty', when=BP_AFTER, dirty_result=retval)
    if retval is not None and stmt.tmp not in (0xffffffff, -1):
        state.scratch.store_tmp(stmt.tmp, retval, deps=deps)

from ....state_plugins.inspect import BP_BEFORE, BP_AFTER, NO_OVERRIDE

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Middlesex County was one of the four first counties (Suffolk, Essex, Norfolk, and Middlesex) established by the Massachusetts General Court on 10 May 1643 (although Plymouth had been settled earlier in 1620, the Plymouth General Court had not seen fit to established counties until 1685). It originally contained the towns of Cambridge, Charlestown, Watertown, Sudbury, Concord, Woburn, Medford, and Reading, but as new towns were established and boundaries altered, it came to encompass the fifty-four towns within its boundaries today. County government was originally established in Massachusetts in order to send regional representatives or "deputies" to the General Court, but varied greatly over time, establishing new offices such as that of sheriff, deputy sheriff, highway commissioner, register of deeds, and register of probate, and as county courts were established and the counties grew in power, additional individuals were appointed as, county commissioners, assistant county commissioners, district attorneys, assistant district attorneys, masters and deputies of the houses of correction, probation officers, court stenographer, building superintendents, and engineers, among other positions. While the county court system is still in operation in Massachusetts, county government is largely defunct, most of its former duties having been taken over by state government by 1997.
Gould, Levi S. Ancient Middlesex with Brief Biographical Sketches of the Men Who Have Served the County Since its Settlement. Somerville Journal Print: Somerville, Mass., 1905.
Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Historical Data Relating to Counties, Cities, and Towns in Massachusetts. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1997.
This album consists of thirty-three cartes de visite of various officers of Middlesex County Massachusetts for the year 1894. The album was originally in the possession of John M. Fisk, identified in the front cover of the album as Special Sheriff and Keeper of the House of Correction and in a Middlesex County annual report as Master of the House of Correction and Keeper of the Jail in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is presumed that similar albums were created and presented to the various officers of Middlesex County, given that the county seal appears on the front cover. Most individuals in the photographs are identified, their names, titles, and towns of residence appearing in the inventory. Although towns of residence are listed, most court officers worked out of offices in the East Cambridge Court House. For a brief biographical sketch of many of the individuals appearing in this album, please see Ancient Middlesex with Brief Biographical Sketches of the Men Who Have Served the County Officially Since its Settlement by Levi S. Gould.


Here's the deal… Growing as an artist means challenging yourself, which is sometimes very uncomfortable. But we've already done that to some extent just to get where we are, so it shouldn't be anything new moving forward. And you know you have to put effort in to get reward out. The same goes when asking for other people's opinions.
When you post an image for critique, you should do so with the knowledge that you have already pushed yourself to put words around your thoughts; you described the image to yourself at some level. So if you haven't actually stopped to think about your image and produce some words or phrases about it, what makes you think you'll get any satisfactory responses from your peers?
Giving a critique takes effort (useful critiques, anyway), so you should put some work into preparing for the possible responses. That means considering your intent for the piece you share as well as for the feedback you'll get. Give your peers something to go on by asking directed questions.
If you are not confident that you are done, take a step back and think about some common art rules that might apply. Ask yourself whether you intend to stick to or break that rule. Or think about the story your piece could tell – does the composition help the viewer understand that story? Perhaps you shot an abstract that demonstrates a specific word or idea, and you aren't sure if that idea comes across.
So when you get to posting that image, tell us what went on in your head to that point. What did you intend? What excites you about it, and what do you feel might need work? Write your questions for others that helps them understand what you are unsure about.
If you post and ask for opinions, you'll get them. They will be filtered through our own view of what should and shouldn't be in a given work, and most of the time we will all default to commonly accepted art rules. But here's the thing – you can look those up yourself. What you really want from us is the stuff you can't look up. Ask if we think you met your stated goal, or tell us about the challenge you faced in crafting the image. Maybe you just snapped one off and got lucky, but after the fact you see something special and want to find out if others see the same thing.
What you post is a part of yourself. It's your vision, your skill, your story. It's a bit of you on the screen, exposed to others. Posting open-ended, vague questions are likely to get people challenging all of that and more. You're an open, large target. And if you weren't totally confident at the time you posted, things will get much worse as you start to question whether you should be creating art at all. Don't let others dictate what your art should be. Focus your questions in context and you'll largely avoid those random shots.
In a group of professional artists, you'll get very direct answers to direct questions. And even then, keep in mind that pretty much everything is opinion. Take what you need, what makes sense, and toss the rest (at least for the moment). But stick to the intent for your art rather than change your vision based on outside opinions. That's harder than it sounds.
So, in order to get good and useful feedback, you need to ask good and useful questions. Before you post, give yourself time to develop the words. Form your own opinion before asking that of others. Know what you want out of the interaction before you start asking.
Roll up your sleeves and get messy with your art. Dig deep and put words onto your feelings as a way of digging even deeper and going in new directions. Root around in it and come up for air only after you've explored everything you can.


As we ever-so-gently force my youngest to get behind the wheel, he's learning he's more capable than he thought, and I'm delighting in watching him do so.
Has a new study REALLY established a link between swaddling and SIDS? Let's ignore the scary headlines and take a deeper look.
Have a kid or kids crazy for baseball? Tis the season. We've got a cute baseball-themed lunch box idea perfect for school or for noshing in the stands during practice.
Great and free last minute Mother's Day gifts for mom… coupons for what she really wants.
How do you teach your kid how to tie their shoes?
We love these succulent plants that are planted into recycled food tin cans. They are cute DIY gifts for Mother's Day.
What do you do if your three year old just won't sit on the potty when you want to toilet-train her for preschool in September, when she'll be four already?
We've created a series of Mother's Day cards that celebrate powerful, strong, fabulous women but they're also so much fun.
What makes these beaded windchimes extra special (besides that your kid(s) helped craft them) is that dangling at the bottom are "picture jewels," or images of your kid(s).
Parents have gone back to work after their paternity and maternity leaves and are concerned that their older toddler daughter is too aggressive with her new sibling and has been generally too defiant. Is this new behavior something to be concerned about or typical given the changes at home?
College is Looming, But Will We Kill Each Other First?
Oh, those halcyon final days of high school when… your college-bound teen knows everything and you're just stupid. Yeah. Um. Take a deep breath.
A mom to a toddler thinks her daughter's father is a wonderful co-parent but not a great partner. She's wondering whether her unhappiness is a result of relationship growing pains or a bigger problem.
A fun and personalized Earth Day craft for kids… DIY globe ornaments.


text:
East County Friday, Nov. 13, 2015 4 years ago
Move over, tennis. It's Pickleball
It's easy. It's fun. And it is taking over courts all over Sarasota and Manatee counties as its popularity surges.
by: Kristen Herhold Community Editor
It has become one of America's fastest growing sports with more than 400,000 players. It's pickleball, and it's sweeping Sarasota and Manatee counties.
Pickleball is played on a 20-by-44-foot court, with a net lowered to 34 inches at the center. The paddles are twice the size of ping-pong paddles, and players use a wiffle-like ball. The sport can be played as singles or doubles and has the same basic rules as tennis but is on a smaller court.
History of Pickleball
In the summer of 1965 in Bainbridge Island, Wash., State Sen. Joel Pritchard, who was later elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, and his friends finished a game of golf and found their families looking for something to do.
They wanted to play badminton but could not find the right equipment. Instead, they used a Wiffle ball, lowered the net and used ping-pong paddles, and pickleball was born.
A popular theory of the name pickleball is that it was named after Pritchard's family dog, Pickles. Prichard's wife, Joan, however, said the dog was named after the game. The game was actually named after a pickle boat, which is the last boat to come back with a catch.
By 1990, pickleball was played in all 50 states, and today there are more than 2,000 locations to play the sport.
Source: USA Pickleball Association
Many retirees are picking up the sport because it's an easier and lower impact sport to master than tennis.
"It's getting a group of folks out who might not have the ability to play other sports," Sarasota County Recreation Coordinator Wendy Aldridge-Dougherty said. "If you have basic coordination, you don't have to be a stellar athlete to pick this up. It's a big social game. There are so many people playing."
Although pickleball was established in 1965, the sport was relatively unknown in Florida until recent years. Just a few years ago, the Sarasota area had no established pickleball courts. Now, hundreds of people are playing it, and there are 15 indoor and 27 outdoor courts at facilities throughout Sarasota County's recreation department.
Pickleball courts were recently built on Siesta Key and will be a part of Longboat Key's revamped Bayfront Park.
"Over the years, we've had people asking for a pickleball court," said Mark Richardson, Longboat Key streets, facilities, parks and recreation manager. "At all of our public meetings for this since 2009, one thing people have always said is that we need to add pickleball courts. It was one of the things the community at large said they wanted."
"Pickleball isn't going away any time soon, and it's growing with players of all ages. As more people learn it, they get more excited."
– Wendy Aldridge-Dougherty
Richardson and the Longboat Key Public Works Department originally added pickleball-dimension lines to a tennis court, but with the increasing demand, a separate pickleball court will be added to the renovated Bayfront Park. They will be the only public pickleball courts on Longboat Key.
In addition to the public pickleball courts, many local country clubs offer pickleball, including the Meadows Country Club and Lakewood Ranch Golf and Country Club.
Although the sport is most popular with the retired generation, it is also starting to be offered to students, including those at Sarasota Middle School.
"Pickleball isn't going away any time soon, and it's growing with players of all ages," Aldridge-Dougherty said. "As more people learn it, they get more excited. It's definitely growing."
Despite the growing number of pickleball courts available, the demand is still higher than the supply.
"I had to drive from Sarasota all the way to Venice today to play," Terry Wingate, ambassador for the USA Pickleball Association, said. "We're trying to push real hard for the county to help us out with new locations."
Wingate said both the winter and summer seasons prove problematic for pickleball players. In the winter, there are so many players that each court has more than 30 people waiting to play. In the summer, on the other hand, many of the courts used for pickleball are instead used for summer camps.
Terry Wingate and Russell Elefterion
"We're evolving with the demand," Aldridge-Dougherty said. "We're trying to grow with it, and we're trying to find a good balancing act. We've made some huge steps in a short amount of time."
Despite the problems, pickleball's popularity is not slowing down.
"For older folks, especially 50 and up, pickleball is a little easier to play than tennis," Wingate said. "Anybody can pick it up, both men and women. It's for everybody. It's a blast."
Trainer takes inspiration from military

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Rapid becomes Tektronix technical partner
Rapid is delighted to announce that it has become a technical partner of Tektronix, a global leader in test and measurement technology.
This increased partnership means customers in the UK will benefit from easier access to solutions for their test and measurement requirements and more technical assistance from both the Tektronix and Rapid sales and engineering teams. Rapid will be a technical and commercial point of contact for the Tektronix entry and mainstream product portfolio, as well as the extensive Keithley portfolio, with a focus on growing into busy engineering environments and continuing to work successfully in the education sector.
"Working closely with Rapid Electronics allows us to serve more customers and grow into more markets together, whilst at the same time positioning the Tektronix & Keithley brands strongly in the UK. Rapid's experience in both the education and industrial sectors will be a benefit to us both." says Maria Heriz, Tektronix Vice President, Commercial Operations, EMEAI.
Tektronix is an engineer-for-the-engineer company. Its experts understand the design & test requirements of its customers at depth, allowing it to bring solutions which help accelerate customers' innovations to market faster, from research and design, through to launch of their innovations into the market.
"This extension to our already successful relationship will enable much closer cooperation with our colleagues at Rapid and allow both Tektronix and Rapid to further expand their reach in the UK, bringing class leading equipment to the wider engineering community. Rapid already has a trusted name in industry and in education with their status as a NUWPEC accredited supplier and this partnership will allow us both to grow," said Nick Tarling, Tektronix Distribution Account Manager, UK/IRL/BENELUX.
"We are delighted to have become a Tektronix Technical Partner," said James Bates, Managing Director at Rapid. "This represents a significant moment in the development of our relationship with Tektronix, with whom we have worked closely for several years. Our customers will receive a high level of support before and after they have purchased a Tektronix or Keithley product from Rapid, especially in the areas of of technical troubleshooting and support. Our technical and sales team are all receiving extensive training from Tektronix and will be able to provide an excellent service for customers to help them get the best out of Tektronix test and measurement equipment".
To mark the new partnership, Nick Tarling (second from left) from Tektronix is pictured above with staff from Rapid, from left: Edward Keith, Business Development Manager for Education, Tom Lankester, Technical Account Manager, Louise Cayless, Sales and Marketing Director, and James Bates, Managing Director.
www.rapidonline.com/tektronix


Use your resume to market such achievements. Resume Samples of Banking Careers.
If your resume passes the test, only then will your cover letter be able to boost your candidacy. Samples will give you an idea of what information to include in your cover letter, and how to format the letter.
Over time, different types of fossil fuels formed, depending on the combination of organic matter present, how long it was buried, and what temperature and pressure conditions existed when they were decomposing. It sounds too much like the introduction; the audience is left wondering what they should do with all the information they just read.
Many imitators followed suit, and while the online currency seems extremely volatile, it appears to be here to stay. Conduct a technology inventory for your small business.
Robin Matthews of Pools in East Sussex is another hot tub hire advocate.
This course is aimed at being really useful for students embarking on the extended essay. After doing all your research 4, words is nothing your first draft could be 6, words.
In England, where Malthus lived, population was rapidly increasing but suitable agricultural land was limited.
Look over the guidelines and the explanations. You can do your extended essay on any topic for which an IB class exists - i.
The extended essay is an independent, self-directed piece of research, finishing with a Learn more about the extended essay in a DP workshop for teachers. pacificblueenergycorp.com: IB Extended Essay Course Book (IB Diploma Program) ( ) by Kosta Lekanides and a great selection of similar New, Used and.
While most essays have a word count in the 3, range, it is perfectly acceptable to submit an essay that is 3, words. It provides students with an opportunity to conduct independent research on a topic of interest to them.
Courses offered at both SL and HL: There may be oral presentations used in languagespractical work in experimental sciences and performing artsor written work.
Students must have either Group 1 or 2 or both at HL; mathematics Standard Level minimum; and at least one science or mathematics course at Higher Level.
Your final essay title should be somewhat similar to the style used in the Internal Assessments for the 20th Century World Issues course - specific and focused with some form of cause and effect. Why not kill two birds with one stone and head off how to write a research proposal law university with a scholarship?
Introduction and Getting Started! If the above example does not apply to you, perhaps ask your IB Coordinator for examples from students past.
Extended Essay Course Book. Publisher: Oxford University Press. ISBN Author: Kosta Lekanides. Curriculum: Diploma Programme. The International Baccalaureate Organization (known as the IB) offers four high- quality and challenging .. Diploma Programme/extended essay coordinator.
It is written on a freely-chosen topic as long as there is a subject teacher in school, as the candidate must have a subject supervisor. Use the internet to find information but do include books in your personal statement quora especially if your essay is not on the Sciences.
Essay Competitions Find out if there are competitions or scholarship opportunities in which you can enter your essay. While there is no actual minimum word count, you would probably want to write over 3, words, since a short essay might imply that the topic was not investigated thoroughly enough.
Oxford IB Diploma Programme: Extended Essay Course Companion by Kosta Lekanides, , available at Book Depository with free delivery. Extended Essay Course Book book. Read 2 reviews from the world's largest community for readers. Equip learners to achieve in the Extended Essay. The only.
For instance, if you've nailed the process of writing labs, do a science investigation. Writing a Good Extended Essay Everyone wants to write a good Extended Essay, but just remember that it's really not as overwhelming as it sounds. United States Institutions of higher education set their own admission and credit policies for IB diploma recognition.
Some universities accept students on their IB point count, whereas others require the points to be converted.
Extended Essay Course Book: Oxford IB Diploma Programme by Kosta Lekanides News sources are generally reliable, but be sure to stay away from "gossip" media which often contorts the truth. Many of them keep a record of every essay, mainly to ensure there is no plagiarism.
You can still get your diploma if you get a "Mediocre" on one and an "Elementary" on another. The base cost is considered to be higher than other programs.
Citing Sources Keep legible, consistent and accurate notes that include bibliographic information. You will have to sign an IBO form certifying that your EE is your own, and has no unsourced material in it, before they will even read your essay.
Equip learners to achieve in the Extended Essay. The only support matched to the new IB Guide, this essential resource provides learners a step-by-step. Oxford IB Diploma Programme: Extended Essay Course Companion. Oxford IB Diploma Also available as an ebook. Evaluation copies must.
Admission decisions are at the discretion of higher education institutions.


text:
Coup Leader's Propaganda Crumbles in Thailand
Friday, 26 September 2014, 12:34 pm
Article: Richard S. Ehrlich
By Richard S. Ehrlich
BANGKOK, Thailand -- Stilted propaganda by coup leader Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha to muzzle critics and dazzle foreigners, crumbled after his "bikini in Thailand" response to the murder of two British tourists, vicious Photoshopped images mocked him, and a financial scandal appeared inside his office.
"We are not dictators that just order whatever," Gen. Prayuth recently told European investors after staging a bloodless coup on May 22.
Gen. Prayuth simultaneously controls three top positions.
He is prime minister, head of the junta's National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), and Thailand's army chief.
"I don't come from an election. I know that well," Gen. Prayuth said on Friday (Sept. 19).
"So please put on hold, all political criticism and forums on politics," he told reporters and academics.
"Have I done anything to damage the country since I took power?" the general asked.
"This is almost entrapment," Boston-based Southeast Asia analyst Zachary Abuza tweeted in response to Gen. Prayuth's question.
"The regime has appeared both paranoid and silly, stabbing rather blindly at any perceived threats," said David Streckfuss, an American author and analyst in Thailand.
"It has banned protests, Hollywood-inspired salutes, and seditious distribution of sandwiches, or reading of Orwell's '1984' in public," Mr. Streckfuss wrote in the Tuesday (Sept. 23) online issue of Cultural Anthropology, published at North Carolina's Duke University.
The junta detains people who defiantly salute with three fingers, inspired by "The Hunger Games" movies, or eat sandwiches in public, because that food became an unusual anti-coup symbol.
People are also detained for silently reading George Orwell's dystopian novel in public.
International travel news stories warn tourists not to bring "1984" in their luggage.
The regime "hopes to create a neo-absolutist state, where democracy is forever banished," Mr. Streckfuss said.
Meanwhile, Gen. Prayuth's "12 Values" will be mandatory indoctrination for elementary students to memorize and recite aloud, starting in November, in front of Thailand's red-white-and-blue flag at schools.
Those values emphasize "obedience" and other know-your-place slogans.
Thailand's intimidated local media, however, is now poking back.
"A dictatorial leader loves the sound of his own voice, because every lie becomes melodic and every bit of baloney is a gem," Bangkok Post editor and columnist Kong Rithdee boldly wrote on Saturday (Sept. 20).
"The decree that criminalizes other people's speeches and glorifies our own...is absolutism of the worst kind," Mr. Kong said.
Local news stories occasionally describe Gen. Prayuth as "Dear Leader," in satirical comparisons to North Korea's Kim Jong-un who uses extensive propaganda to expand his grip.
The junta earlier told foreign correspondents to stop reporting the words "coup," "detention," "arrested," "prisoners" or "destroying democracy".
On Sept. 18, Gen. Prayuth asked Thai journalists to sing his "Returning Happiness to the People" propaganda song which is repeatedly broadcast on radio and TV.
His stern face also fills TV screens each week during his lengthy lectures.
The coup leader expressed unhappiness, however, about photographs of his face appearing in the street and on Internet.
"You must refrain from putting my photo on the streets," Gen. Prayuth told his hand-picked, unanimously supportive National Legislative Assembly, which most analysts and media describe as his "rubber stamp
parliament."
"There have been people with ill intention altering photos of the NCPO leader [Gen. Prayuth], and posting them on social media, in order to mislead the public," NCPO spokesman Col. Winthai Suvaree told a news conference on Sept. 16.
"It is very inappropriate. It should not be done," Col. Winthai said. "I am sure that the people are aware it is an effort to smear Gen. Prayuth."
A new anonymous blasphemy against thin-skinned Gen. Prayuth appeared online on Sept. 18, showing his face dolled up with blue eye shadow, red lipstick and a brunette wig atop a bloated woman's body in a
bright blue bikini, standing on a sunny beach.
The bikini jibe appeared after Gen. Prayuth spoke about British tourists Hannah Witheridge, 23, and David Miller, 24 who were murdered on Koh Tao beach on Sept. 15.
"They think our country is beautiful and safe, so they can do whatever, and can wear a bikini to wherever," Gen. Prayuth said in a nationwide broadcast on Sept. 17.
"But I ask, will you be spared if you wear a bikini in Thailand? Only if you are not pretty."
International media and online posts blasted Prime Minister Prayuth's speech.
"Thai Prime Minister Insults Western Girls," the front page of the British newspaper, Daily Mail, reported on Sept. 18.
"I wear bikinis on the beach and that doesn't mean I want to be fucked, raped or get harmed," a 21-year-old Thai female student of economics at Bangkok's prestigious Thammasat University tweeted to her
1,000 followers.
Gen. Prayuth later apologized.
Alleged financial crimes meanwhile marred his anti-corruption stance after reports emerged that microphones and other equipment, freshly installed in Gen. Prayuth's prime ministerial office, appeared to be expensively overpriced.
Gen. Prayuth responded by yanking out the equipment and promising a quiet investigation.
Richard S. Ehrlich is a Bangkok-based journalist from San Francisco, California, reporting news from Asia since 1978, and recipient of Columbia University's Foreign Correspondent's Award. He is a co-author of three non-fiction books about Thailand, including "Hello My Big Big Honey!" Love Letters to Bangkok Bar Girls and Their Revealing Interviews; 60 Stories of Royal Lineage; and Chronicle of Thailand: Headline News Since 1946. Mr. Ehrlich also contributed to the final chapter, "Ceremonies and Regalia," in a new book titled King Bhumibol Adulyadej, A Life's Work: Thailand's Monarchy in Perspective.
His websites are
http://asia-correspondent.tumblr.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/animists/sets
https://gumroad.com/l/RHwa
Find more from Richard S. Ehrlich on InfoPages.


text:
Stanley Meisler
Stanley Meisler was the author of the biography Kofi Annan: A Man of Peace in a World of War, the history United Nations: The First Fifty Years, and When The World Calls: The Inside Story Of The Peace Corps And Its First Fifty Years. Meisler served as a Los Angeles Times foreign and diplomatic correspondent for thirty years, assigned to Nairobi, Mexico City, Madrid, Toronto, Paris, Barcelona, the United Nations and Washington.
For many years, Meisler contributed articles to leading American magazines including Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, the Atlantic, The Nation, the Reader's Digest, the Quarterly Journal of Military History, and the Columbia Journalism Review. While most of these articles focus on foreign affairs and political issues, he also contributed more than thirty articles on artists and art history to the Smithsonian Magazine.
Meisler twice won the Korn-Ferry Award for Excellence in United Nations Reporting and was a recipient of the Ford Foundation Area Training Fellowship in African Studies. He conducted classes in international reporting at the Columbia University School of Journalism in 2003 and 2004.
He began his journalism career in 1953 as a reporter for The Middletown Ohio Journal and went on to work as a reporter with the Associated Press from 1954 to 1964. He was deputy director of the Office of Evaluation and Research of the U.S. Peace Corps in Washington before joining the Los Angeles Times in 1967.
Meisler received a B.A. in English Literature from the City College of New York in 1952 and undertook graduate studies in both English Literature and African Studies at the University of California in Berkeley.
Stanley Meisler's Website
Books By Stanley Meisler
by Stanley Meisler
United Nations: 1st edition


text:
Subaru Corporation (tidligere Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. (FHI), , Fuji Jūkōgyō Kabushiki gaisha), listet på Nikkei 225, er en af de største japanske producenter af transportmidler, som bl.a. ejer bilproducenten Subaru og flyproducenten Nakajima Hikōki, og som blev grundlagt 15. juli 1953.

Udover biler af mærket Subaru fremstiller firmaet også lokomotiver, busser og fly, bl.a. under navnet "Fuji Aero Subaru", og bygger også den japanske rumfærge Hope X. Den japanske knallert Rabbit fremstilles også af Subaru Corporation.

Toyota har siden april 2008 ejet 16,5% af firmaet.

Se også
 Fuji FA200 Aero Subaru

Referencer

Eksterne kilder/henvisninger

 Officielt websted

Etableret i 1953

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Get cheap rental car deals in Milan, for your next business trip from Enterprise Car Rental.
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Looking for more nearby Enterprise locations in Milan?


text:
Home › Entertainment › News
Loss of gran spurs Eamonn Holmes on in highlighting breast cancer
Eamonn Holmes and his mother Josie
By David O'Dornan
Broadcaster Eamonn Holmes has revealed he is still affected by the loss of his grandmother to cancer when he was a child.
https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/entertainment/news/loss-of-gran-spurs-eamonn-holmes-on-in-highlighting-breast-cancer-38552856.html
https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/19b5d/38552854.ece/AUTOCROP/h342/2019-10-02_new_53797114_I1.JPG
The Belfast-born presenter said he continues to miss his loved one but believes she looks after him - and suffering the loss has strengthened his resolve to raise awareness about the disease.
He said: "When I was four years of age I lost my mother's mother, my granny Fitzsimmons. Breast cancer claimed her life.
"Outside of my mum, she was the person I was most close to.
"I can remember her look, her smell, her stories and her final days in her hospital bed.
"Although I still miss her, I believe she is by my side and still looks after me.
"I don't want to lose anyone else I'm close to in that way again."
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and dad-of-four Eamonn has been using his public profile to encourage men and women to get any health concerns checked out.
He revealed that last week his wife and on-screen co-star Ruth Langsford went for a check-up and they were both relieved when she got the all-clear.
Eamonn (59) said: "The fear for women and, therefore, any of us who have a woman in our lives - whether a child, a sister, a mother, an aunt, a grandmother, a cousin, a friend or a work colleague - is obviously much more heightened.
Eamonn Holmes as a child with his grandmother
"Last week Ruth went for her scheduled breast screening. I'm glad she does it. But, of course, I'm worried until that all-clear letter comes through the door. And, thankfully, it did.
"I could see she was worried as well, and anyone who faces that five minutes or so of discomfort probably feels the same. But it is so the right thing to do because early detection is the key."
Breast cancer is the UK's most common form of the disease, with more than 55,000 new cases a year.
Eamonn urged: "If you find anything unusual, go for a medical check-up. It might save your life."
Writing for Best magazine, Eamonn said that cancer is "everyone's enemy" and encouraged men to also get checked out, revealing that he has had his prostate examined.
He said: "If breast cancer is, by and large, a female affliction, then one of the cancers the man in your life should be on the lookout for is the cancer of the prostate."
He added: "I suppose what I'm saying is, whether you're a woman or a man, cancer is something that unites us because it's everyone's enemy. Together, we can help get the better of it."
Meanwhile, Eamonn yesterday marked International Day of Older People by sharing a video of himself with his 90-year-old mum Josie.
She spoke about how hard it is for the elderly to cope with loneliness, something she has had to deal with for nearly 30 years since the death of her husband Leonard.
She said: "I don't think you could get anybody to understand it, it would have to happen to yourself. That's what's wrong with me actually today, I think I miss my own children, the home the way it used to be, now it's an empty house.
"I don't like television but I have to put that on to make a noise, as if someone else is in the house along with me.
"That is my worst thing.
"I could sit here at night and cry, really.
"My husband is dead 28 years, and I just see him as he was, everything about it, that's the worst thing that's ever happened to me."
Comedy Women In Print Prize unveils expanded judging panel
By Alex Green, PA Entertainment Reporter Father Ted star Pauline McLynn and The Thick Of It's Joanna Scanlan have joined the judging panel for the second annual Comedy Women In Print Prize.
By Lucy Mapstone, PA Deputy Entertainment Editor Former Today presenter Peter Hobday has been remembered for his humour, generosity and "warm and embracing personality" after his death at the age of 82.
By Julia Hunt, PA Entertainment Correspondent Model Ashley Graham has given birth to a baby boy.
Watch: Peter Dinklage thanks people of Northern Ireland as he picks up SAG Award
Sarah Tulloch Game of Thrones star Peter Dinklage has used his Screen Actors Guild Awards acceptance speech to thank the people of Northern Ireland for "putting up" with him during his time filming the hit fantasy...


So what do we do with said boxes?
Why not create something that sparks your little one's imagination?
This March Break, why not consider a big, brown box 'building' project with your little ones? Spend a little creative time together while constructing something magical for them to play in. SPOILER ALERT--you might even get some much-deserved quiet time while your kids soak up all the adventure of space!
2) Print out these stickers compliments of mavisBLUE designs to add a little flare to your creations!
And, 3) HAVE FUN + BLAST OFF!!