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Posts Tagged ‘postaday’

Suzanne’s Mom’s Day Off

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on December 12, 2013| 6 Comments »

Here’s what I did on my day off from work.

First I went with Erik and my husband to see my middle grandchild take a swimming class. The class is held at an assisted-living facility, and Erik thinks it’s ideal because they keep the water warm, something babies appreciate as much as old folks.

Along the side of the pool is a long window that gives a view of the Seekonk River through the trees.

Then we went to watch Erik become a citizen. I have been to one other naturalization ceremony, which I blogged about here, and I feel qualified to say that they are moving. Today we had 32 new citizens from 19 countries.

The administrator who delivered the citizenship oath was surprised that there were two Swedes, unusual in Rhode Island. One was Erik. The other, an acquaintance as of today, may come with his family to tomorrow’s Santa Lucia at the home of a Swedish friend Suzanne met through the baby music class.

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In South Korea, Musicals are Cool

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on December 10, 2013| Leave a Comment »

And speaking of Korea, the culture in the south might as well be on the other side of the world from North Korea.

My husband and I, lifetime fans of Broadway musicals, may sometimes feel concerned that the audiences are mostly old folks like us, but in South Korea, musicals are cool. Young people dig them.

Patrick Healy writes for the NY Times, “The packs of young women arrived 90 minutes early for the evening’s show: Murder Ballad, a rock musical that flopped off Broadway in July and then opened here four months later in an all-Korean production.

“They wanted time to shoot smartphone video of Seoul’s newest theater, built inside a shopping mall, and start scoring autographs: of actors, sure, but lighting operators and makeup artists too.

“Or anyone, really, working on American musicals, whose head-spinning popularity here has changed the game for New York producers looking to extend the lives of their shows.

“Seoul has become a boomtown for American musicals, with Korean and Broadway producers tapping into an audience of young women raised on the bombast of Korean pop and the histrionics of television soap operas.”

Bombast and histrionics? Now, wait just a minute, here! Hmmm. I guess musicals can be bombastic, like opera. But the kind I like are more thoughtful and quirky.

Recent shows we enjoyed were Side Show, which I talked about here, and
Brian Crawley and Andrew Lippa’s take on A Little Princess, a story by the author of the Secret Garden.

Come to think of it, both Side Show and A Little Princess had moments of bombast and histrionics. I guess I don’t notice that anymore.

Photo: Lim Hoon
Korean actors in the Seoul production of Wicked.

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North Korea Photographer Guttenfelder

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , on December 9, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Photo: MediaBistro.com

One day when I was reading the paper I saw a photo of North Korea. It was beautiful in a lonely sort of Edward Hopper way, showing a street that was empty of almost everything generally seen on streets, just a couple people in a hurry and blank walls of buildings, one pink, one blue.

I really wanted to buy a copy, but in spite of sending a twitter message, I never did figure out how to reach the photographer, David Guttenfelder. Since then I have seen other fans on his Instagram site asking for copies of North Korea photos.

According to Guttenfelder’s official website, he “has spent all of his career as a photojournalist working and living outside of his native United States. He began as a freelance photographer in East Africa after studying Swahili at the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. As an Associated Press photographer he has been based in Kenya, Ivory Coast, India, and Japan. … Born in the U.S. state of Iowa, he graduated from the University of Iowa with a B.A. in Cultural Anthropology, African Studies, and Journalism.

“He now lives in Tokyo as AP’s chief photographer for Asia.”

In a National Geographic article that Elizabeth Krist wrote called “Reality On A Need-to-Know Basis,” Guttenfelder talks about his photo collection of “North Korean artifacts,” odd little bits from his hotel rooms and from banquets and events he has been allowed to attend. He is a frequent visitor and has an unusual amount of access.

The artifact pictures are a lot of fun. Check out a few, and follow the photographer on twitter: @dguttenfelder.

“North Korean artifact #155. A book of piano sheet music for a North Korean songs found in the town of Sinpyong, DPRK. The title is, roughly, ‘My Nation’s Bright Moon’ ”

“North Korean artifact #156. Hotel room key, Rajin, DPRK.”

“North Korean artifact #157. Toilet paper roll with no hole in the center.”

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American on “Arabs Got Talent”

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on December 8, 2013| 2 Comments »

The Arab world is divided on whether Jennifer Grout is an interloper or the reincarnation of their beloved Egyptian chanteuse Umm Kalthoum. Last night she placed third in the Beirut-based “Arabs Got Talent.”

You will be hearing a lot about this young American singer of classical Arabic songs, who is wowing judges without being able to speak a word of Arabic. If nothing else, she is giving the show international recognition. This story is from Agence France Presse (AFP).

Having taught herself to sing “the Arab world’s best-known, most difficult songs,” says AFP, Grout gave contestants in “Arabs Got Talent” a run for their money.

In early December, “Her blonde hair loose and without a sign of make-up, the 23-year-old appeared before a panel of judges to audition for the ‘Arabs Got Talent.’

“When Egyptian film star and panel member Ahmed Helmy asked her in Arabic what her what her name was, she didn’t have a clue what he was saying.

“But then she began to play the oud and sing a classic by Egyptian diva Umm Kalthoum, ‘Baeed Annak’ (Far From You).

“She stunned the audience, enunciating every word to perfection as her voice effortlessly navigated the quarter-notes that make Arabic music so distinctive. …

“As a 20-year-old student in Boston, Grout says she ‘came across an online article about Fairouz” [a Lebanese singer often referred to as ambassador to the stars].

” ‘I listened to her and watched a video of her, and I was just really intrigued and mesmerised by her voice. So I decided to start exploring Arabic music more,’ Grout told AFP.”

Read more about her discovery of Arab music and the classical instrument called the oud three years ago and how she ended up competing on a show in Lebanon, here.

Photo: Joseph Eid/AFP
Jennifer Grout, a contestant in the pan-Arab TV show “Arabs Got Talent”, poses for a photo at the MBC television station studios in Zouk Mosbeh, north of Beirut, on December 4, 2013.

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“Evaporative Cooling” in Africa

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 7, 2013| Leave a Comment »

I was thinking about “evaporative cooling” as I got out of the shower this morning and shivered.

In summer’s heat it’s nice how the evaporation of water on your skin cools you down, but in winter, the process is not so welcome.

Still, the principle is something that innovators in hot climates think about a lot, applying it to keeping produce cool so it lasts longer.

Stephanie Buglione, at Nourishing the Planet, has a story on this concept. She focuses on a nonprofit group called Practical Action and how it is using something called zeer pots to reduce food waste.

She explains, “Practical Action, a nongovernmental organization that works with farmers in Southern Africa, Latin America, and South Asia, encourages the use of earthenware refrigerators called zeer pots to help prevent post-harvest food waste. The pot-in-pot refrigerator design keeps fruits and vegetables cool by harnessing the principle of evaporative cooling. These pots can extend the shelf life of harvested crops by up to 20 days by reducing storage temperature.

“The design consists of a large outer pot and a smaller inner pot, both made from locally available clay. Wet sand is added between the two pots and is kept moist. Evaporation of the liquid in the sand draws heat out of the inner pot, in which food can be stored. …

“Zeer pots can provide flexibility for farmers by enabling them to store crops and sell in response to market demand, which can translate into greater income. Extended shelf life also translates into longer-term food sources for farmers and their families. Ultimately, this inexpensive and low-tech system can help farmers and low-income households save food and prevent waste.” More.

Sometimes the best technology is the simplest.

Photo: Noor Khamis/Reuters
Nairobi, Kenya. Many Africans are challenged to keep their fruits and vegetables fresh if they lack electricity for refrigeration. Zeer pots are a low-tech solution that uses the principle of evaporative cooling.

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Ornaments, Trees, and Music

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 6, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Gaelic McTigue, at All Things Bright and Beautiful in Waitsfield, Vermont, fills orders from around the world to create painted wooden ornaments. Here she is in her shop. Below is a bear ornament that she signed for two of our grandkids. (We got a Swedish elf ornament for our Swedish-American grandson’s tree.)

I’ve included a couple other seasonal photos: the Hampton Falls, New Hampshire, tree at Macy’s, the brass band starting to warm up at the craft market.

For a nice Advent carol, check out composer Jeff Fuhrer’s “What Are We Waiting For?” on http://www.soundcloud.com. I tried to upload the MP3 he sent but couldn’t figure out how. Catchy tune.

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All-Things-Bright-bear

Macys-tree-Downtown-Crossing

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Francesca’s Wonderful Book

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , on December 5, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Francesca has published Pen Pal, an e-book for middle grades through adults. $3.99. (Paperback available by January 1.)

I can’t recommend the book highly enough. It’s the story of two unlikely pen pals who turn out to have a lot in common and, though living a world apart, actually end up helping each other in times of crisis.

Em is a girl in a marginalized community on the southern U.S. coast (think “Beasts of the Southern Wild”) who puts a message in a bottle. The message is ultimately received by Kaya, a young woman in a place that is an amalgam of Asian countries where minorities have struggled to preserve their language and culture. Kaya is a political prisoner because of her advocacy.

It’s an amazingly enjoyable and compelling story, not as didactic as I may have made it sound. Francesca even went to tutor English in East Timor last summer, capping off several years of research about various locales in Asia and on the Gulf Coast.

Here is the message in the bottle starts it all off:

“Dear Person Who Finds My Message,

“I live in a place called Mermaid’s Hands. All our houses here rest on the mud when the tide is out, but when it comes in, they rise right up and float.

“They’re all roped together, so we don’t lose anyone. I like Mermaid’s Hands, but sometimes I wish I could unrope our house and see where it might float to. But I would get in trouble if I did that, so instead I’m sticking this message in a bottle. If you find it, please write back to me at this address. Tell me what the world is like where you are.

“Yours truly,

“Em”

Francesca says, “The ebook of Pen Pal is out in the world at three out of the four locations it’ll be available at–Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo.”

If you like the book, enjoy its special website, here. And spread the word.

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A Transformed Lot in Chicago

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on December 4, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Here’s some good news about south Chicago.

Aaron Cynic writes at Shareable, ” ‘Communication, collaboration, cooperation—those are skills, not just words,’ said Salim Al-Nurridinn, founder of the Healthcare Consortium of Illinois, while standing at the gate of the Cooperation Operation (Coop Op). As the sun slowly began to set on Chicago’s South Side, more than 100 people were gathered in front of a fence surrounding a brand new community garden. …

“What was once a toxic vacant lot is now home to raised garden beds filled with kale, basil, tomatoes, cabbage, carrots, and even a few stalks of corn. Many of the beds are made from repurposed boats donated by a nearby marina, a partnership that another local community organization called Friends of Pullman helped to broker. …

“Since the group began building the garden, long-time residents of the Pullman Neighborhood have been a part of the process. Charles Winston, who has lived in the neighborhood for decades, said he began volunteering his time from the beginning.

“ ‘I just came on over,’ he said. ‘I saw people over here so much and said, “I should be over here volunteering my services too.” If we can get everybody to do that, it’d be a wonderful thing.’ ” More.

The Christian Science Monitor collects stories like these from all over the world — and there are lots of them — and features them in the Making a Difference section of the online paper.

Photo: Shareable
Salim Al-Nurridinn cuts the ribbon to open a new community garden created by volunteers on Chicago’s South Side.

 

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Sharing Needed Equipment, Knowledge

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on December 2, 2013| Leave a Comment »

The Globe‘s Callum Borchers wrote recently about an organization called Seeding Labs, which presented at the IDEAS conference in Boston.

Founder Nina Dudnick, he says, “collects and ships used lab equipment to developing countries.

“Last year, Seeding Labs hosted six scientists and researchers from Kenya, one of whom was a chemist, Mildred Nawiri, who is studying how certain vegetables that are indigenous to West Africa might help prevent cancer.

“On Wednesday, Dudnick pointed to Nawiri’s research as an example of work that is unlikely to be done in the United States, because the vegetables she is studying do not grow here.

“And whatever benefits she might discover could go unrealized without modern equipment. Before Seeding Labs, Nawiri was using techniques Western scientists employed in the 1800s, Dudnick said.”

Dudnick points out that “this talent really is everywhere. The problems that face us, like cancer, don’t respect boundaries drawn on a map, so why should our scientific community?”

More at the Globe.

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Training the Grandparents

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on December 1, 2013| 4 Comments »

112913-children-museumWhen you take your father’s mother (Farmor) and your mother’s father and mother (Morfar and Mormor) to the Children’s Museum, you start by showing them how the fluffy balls fly through tubes and out the top, and you show them the water room, where you have to wear a smock.

Then you run up and down the ramp to the second floor, up and down, up and down, and up and down some more, laughing and turning your head back to make sure they are all following at a lively pace.

Once you are sure they will behave themselves and not go wandering off when you have work to do, you can settle into the kitchen and concentrate on putting the cheese wedge in the pot and stirring and taking it out and putting it back in and putting the lid on top and taking it out again and putting in a potato and stirring and shaking a can of tomatoes upside down until every last bit is in the pot with the potato and stirring and putting the lid on. Then, you know, you may need to take the stacked dishes and lay them all about on the floor and then restack them and put them neatly on the shelf.

It’s a lot, and you need to be sure the grandparents are sitting still and paying attention so you don’t have to worry about them for a while.

kitchen-things-you-can-touch

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Luna & Stella’s #GivingTuesday Offer

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on November 30, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Photo: Free Arts NYC

Free Arts NYC is one of several free arts programs around the country supported by people who believe every child should have arts opportunities. Too many school districts have cut back on programs that trigger the creative imagination, and children whose families can’t pay for extra classes often miss out the most.

When Suzanne and Erik were living in Harlem, Suzanne volunteered for Free Arts NYC at the Dream Charter School, having learned about it from her 92nd Street Y ceramics teacher. The teacher told her that the Y had actually been the organization responsible for bringing the concept to New York.

In childhood, whenever Suzanne wrapped up one arts class, she could hardly wait to sign up for the next one. She knows what the arts can mean to a child and has carried that appreciation into adulthood and the birthstone jewelry at Luna & Stella (the company behind this blog).

So from now until December 31, $5 of every Birthstone Charm Necklace will go to support Free Arts NYC. More about the promotion here, at Free Arts NYC, or here, at Luna & Stella.

Photo: Luna & Stella

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K9 Fit Club

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on November 29, 2013| Leave a Comment »

The day after Thanksgiving is a day that many people’s thoughts turn from an unusually wonderful and gigantic meal to fitness.

In an increasing number of locales, people who have never worked out before are now working out with their dogs. Because dogs need fitness, too.

Bill Littlefield’s sports show on WBUR radio, which covers both traditional and offbeat sports, sends Only A Game‘s Karen Given to Hinsddale, Illinois, to interview K9 Fit Club president and founder Tricia Montgomery.

Says Montgomery, “K9 Fit Club is a place where pooches and peeps get together and have a healthy and happy lifestyle. We do exercises, we do workouts, we bond, we socialize and most of all we have fun.

“K9 Fit Club was originally developed in 2008 but we didn’t open the doors here until Aug 5, 2012. We started in Hinsdale, Illinois in our first location and now we have corporate facilities, we also have locations starting all the way from Monterrey City, Mexico, all the way to New York, into Raleigh- Durham, North Carolina, up into Florida, St. Louis, all across the country. …

“Our programs were developed by veterinarians, by personal trainers, by dog trainers, and by doctors and psychologists, actually. So we’re not just a bunch of people running around with a bunch of dogs jumping up beside us. Our programs have really been developed for people who have never worked out a day in their lives to people who are very, very fit. …

“I love what I do, how cool is this? I get to come to work every day with my dog and I get to have the coolest job working with dogs and people and helping change their lives and feel better about themselves.” More.

Photo: K9 Fit Club

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German Christmas Market

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , on November 27, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Jeremiah Gallardo, a Colorado native, clicked on yesterday’s post, and I thought I’d have a look at his blog, too.

I don’t know much about Colorado. The closest I got to knowing anything at all was having a college roommate from Boulder.

Jeremiah has a nice entry today about a German Christmas market, the Denver Christkindle Market, which he took photos of. He says it runs until December 25.

“The vendors are in little wooden houses,” he writes, “that were built days before the market event.

“My first stop at the market was the hand-blown glass vendor.  I watched him make a glass icicle decoration in a few minutes, right before my eyes. I bought a green glass pickle decoration.

“Why on earth did I buy a green glass pickle? Because it’s linked to a German tradition where you hide a pickle deep inside the tree and the first child to find it gets to open an extra gift.”

You know, if I had a glass pickle, I might just try it myself.

More about the German market’s crafts and food at Jeremiah’s blog, WhiteLiger.net. You will like his pictures. And his enthusiasm.

Photo:

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Photos for November

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , on November 26, 2013| 2 Comments »

fall-wreath-2Thanksgiving wreath on the Christian Science church. Berries at the Old Cow Pasture.

One-man band playing “Nowhere Man” yesterday at Porter Square subway stop in Cambridge. Park Street station vendor.

berries-at-old-cow-pastureCarrie Nation, the Museum of African American History, and Fill-a-Buster on Beacon Hill.

And last but not least, the building that once housed the publishers Ticknor and Fields, the American publishers for Charles Dickens. It may say Chipotle, but I know better.

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Boston-Common-T-stop

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fill-a-buster

Beacon-Hill

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Siberians Get a First Photograph

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on November 25, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Andrew Sullivan‘s Nov. 24 “Face of the Day” leads one to a delightful website about a photography adventure in Siberia.

“Two years ago,” writes Sasha Leahovcenco, “I had the amazing opportunity to go literally to the end of the earth to photograph people who never had their photo taken.

“At schools, churches, homes and hospitals I could give people a moment to forget their troubles and just smile for the camera. But while shooting with nomadic reindeer herding families it was me who was most deeply touched by the experience. For although my hosts had few material possessions they shared with me something rare in the world – a sense of peace and satisfaction with life.

“This March we are going back on a new journey across Chukotka. We are going to travel over 1,000 miles and reach out to the most unreached places in Chukotka. We will visit people who have never had visitors in their life, stopping by every village and tribe on the way, giving them warm clothes, shoes, gifts, and simply showing them grace and love.

“The very exciting part of the trip will be taking pictures of the natives, printing them on the spot, and handing them to the villagers. This will be the very first time that these people had ever had their photo taken. …

“Our documentary film about this journey, will bring the voices of this land to people all around the globe. We hope to engage humanity’s deep rooted fascination with nature and desire to understand humanity. Perhaps by getting a glimpse of this nomadic way of life we will reflect on this modern world and what in our lives is truly important.”

Check it out here.

Photo: Sasha Leahovcenco

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