Gin in a tin. Laps and slaps. London pubs and billy clubs (a teen in a top hat was kind enough to tell me the correct term is “jemmy”). I was transported to mid-19^th century London Friday night thanks to the combined creativity of Charles Dickens, Lionel Bart and D. Scott Withers.

Withers is directing Oliver!, which runs through Dec. 20^th at Stagebrush Theatre in Scottsdale. It’s the first production by Greasepaint Youtheatre since its formal affiliation with Phoenix Theatre, Arizona’s oldest arts organization (founded in 1920). But this blog isn’t focused on mere facts. It’s all about a feeling.

It’s the feeling you get when the audience begins to gasp and giggle just five minutes into the show. It’s the feeling you get when your child takes the stage donning a worn out shawl or knickers and tussled hair surrounding a face speckled with cosmetic coal. It’s the feeling you get when the folks sitting on either side of you begin to clap along as the ensemble sings and dances through classics like “Oom Pah Pah” and “Consider Yourself.”

Oliver! opened Friday night to the most enthusiastic theater audience I have seen—anywhere—for a youth or adult production. Were the stage a bit bigger, I might have mistaken it for a touring Broadway show at ASU Gammage.

One mother, dubbed a “momager” by her teenage son, recalls seeing the musical a good ten times, on Broadway and elsewhere—and hails it as the best production she’s ever seen. Fact or feeling? I’m not sure it matters. I swelled with the same pride. Our children were in their bliss.

A common theme emerged as I talked with opening night attendees after the show: Every cast member was 100%. Among the first to notice was Toby Yatso, an associate artist with Phoenix Theatre who also teaches at Arizona School for the Arts, directs the Greasepaint LIVE performance troupe and loves cats. He was especially impressed by the cast’s (not cats’) focus and energy, calling their performance “awesome!”

The live music, including various percussion pieces, brought real depth. The lights fostered an atmosphere of suspense amidst a familiar story line. The choreography drew the audience in with enthusiasm. Every singer was truly talented. Every dancer crisp and compelling. Every line delivered in convincing Cockney dialect.

Everything screamed “These people are professionals!” Even the kids, a delightful mix of new faces and seasoned actors, gushed over the extravagant set detail and true period costuming when I chatted with them backstage on Saturday. They seemed equally excited about their development as actors and their deepening understanding of another place and time. The audience was clearly appreciative, going into standing ovation mode at the onset of the curtain call rather than waiting for actors in the lead roles to take their bows.

I chatted a bit with the cast about the larger meaning they’re taking from the show. One of the younger performers talked about his realization that a person facing hard times isn’t necessarily a bad person. This was mirrored in lobby displays addressing the topic of homelessness.

While some bulletin boards described the origins of things like afternoon tea and newsboy caps, others examined the causes of homelessness and Valley organizations making a difference for homeless youth and families. I love the way so many Phoenix Theatre and Greasepaint Youtheatre productions leave me feeling more educated and empowered.

So who are these amazing youth? Here’s just a brief sampling of some of their credits: American Idol Hollywood finals. Edinburgh International Fringe Festival. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang for Broadway Across America-Arizona. Performances with Hale Centre Theatre, Valley Youth Theatre, Stray Cat Theatre, Broadway Palm Dinner Theater, Childsplay, Actors Theatre of Phoenix, Scottsdale Desert Stages Theatre, Arizona Opera and more.

Add to this their academic achievements and leadership positions, such as senior class president and national honor society member, and you begin to fathom the true depth of their character. I’m struck, awe-struck really, by the hard work that must have gone into taking this production from audition to opening night. That these talented youth can master their lines as well as their homework is inspiring. That’s a fact.

So what keeps them going? Christopher Moffitt (Oliver) says he’s always learning something new, meeting new people and growing more confident in the public speaking skills he expects to use for a lifetime. Tyler Pounds (Bill Sykes) says he’s become more responsible and physically fit thanks to theater. The brevity of blogging prevents me from sharing the reflections of every cast member here—but perhaps more comments will find their way into future posts.

Young cast members were every bit as charming off-stage as on-stage (Please, kids, never lose this quality). When they weren’t in a particular scene, they’d wait calmly and courteously in the green room. Older and younger cast members mingled as they played board games or cards. The kids doing homework took turns using a single pencil they found on a table and helping each other brainstorm ideas for upcoming school papers and projects. One boy sat sideways in a chair, aided by a friend as he wrote his own play. The floor was uncluttered except for a stray UGG boot and tennis shoe or two.

Watching them act, and interact, I felt hope. Hope that the future of community theater is in good hands. Hope that they’ll enjoy enriching school, work and life experiences. Hope that they will transform the arts just as the arts are transforming them.

–Lynn

Note: If you’d like to learn more about homelessness in Arizona and ways you can make a difference, consider contacting one or more of these organizations: StandUp, Helping Hands Housing Services, UMOM New Day Center, Open Table, CASS and Tumbleweed Center for Youth Development.

I watched this PSA weeks ago and completely forgot about it. It’s a little graphic. But I just wanna know if it gets the point across to anyone. I can’t even say I didn’t go ahead and do it right after watching this. It’s actually getting worse lately. Ppl are so addicted to their cellphones. Leave the house without it and you feel naked. I don’t even like talking to ppl. But I always feel the need to have it. Just in case I suppose. But just remember when we all only had house phones. The world was Just fine. #justsaying.

]]> http://dontsassthecass.wordpress.com/2009/12/02/jezebel/ Wed, 02 Dec 2009 16:29:49 +0000 dontsassthecass http://dontsassthecass.wordpress.com/2009/12/02/jezebel/

actually wasn’t so bad. Alot of people don’t know her story and NEVER even question it. I personally was having alot of heated discussions on religion with my mother because of a world religion class I take. It dawned on me that she infamous and I had no idea why. Jezebel was a driven woman. She was just on the “wrong side” I suppose. In the bible she was a woman who believed in all those pagan symbols and worshiped several gods. Basically believed in polytheistic religion. She married a Jewish man…which back in the day was against the law. I blame her husband for this because he knew better. She married him with an agenda of basically eliminating the jewish religion and replacing it with all her pagans gods. Now, that does sound pretty terrible and evil. It honestly makes sense as to why she was so infamous in the bible. BUT my point is that when you study her life, she was simply a woman on a mission. Whether good or evil, she was powerful. A woman on a mission, in my opinion, is more powerful than any man. A woman on a mission is something to fear.

What will happen next? Is there a next CF? Are some of the most ask question after seeing the first Cass 2x CF of Sandara Park of 2NE1 and Lee Min Ho of Boys Over Flowers. Now here is the answer!

If your a fan of one of this stars or both! Even thought it is just half minute long CF this is definitely something to watch!!! Enjoy!!!

Dara so pretty in this CF!

Worth it, right!?

]]> http://ravissantcharme.wordpress.com/2009/12/02/please-remember-your-headlights/ Tue, 01 Dec 2009 19:06:45 +0000 S. http://ravissantcharme.wordpress.com/2009/12/02/please-remember-your-headlights/ http://norwegianstreetart.wordpress.com/2009/11/29/cass-girl/ Sun, 29 Nov 2009 19:13:18 +0000 vmagliola http://norwegianstreetart.wordpress.com/2009/11/29/cass-girl/

The new rates for 2010 go into effect January 4, 2010. The largest increases come from surcharges and accessorials (a fancy word for add-on charges).

The single largest increase is for address correction charges. The charge for ground packages increases from $8.00 to $10.00, a 25% increase! Air goes from $10.00 to $11.00. You could pay $5 to ship the package and get charged $15 because of an incorrect address! Here are a few suggestions:

1. Before you ship your package, validate your addresses. UPS provides a service, called “Detailed Address Validation” which is available if you are using www.ups.com or UPS CampusShip and shipping to a US address. This feature allows you to validate the street number range and the apartment number or suite number of your address. If it does not match, you will be offered some suggestions to choose from. It is not a 100% guarantee but it is a step in the right direction. This option is on the “create a shipment” page and requires the user to check the checkbox. You can also set a preference on the “shipping preferences” page so that it always performs the address validation. By the way, FedEx offers a similar tool.
2. UPS also offers an online tool for Address Validation for free. This is an XML tool that will require some help from your IT department to help you but can be used on your website for customers when they place their orders.
3. If you are not using the www.ups.com or CampusShip, you can use third-party software for validating addresses. I Googled “address validation” and received 131,000 English pages. I would suggest software with CASS certification, which stands for “Coding Accuracy Support System”. This is a US Post Office certification that the address conforms to USPS standards. In fact, here is the list of CASS certified software vendors.
4. Some shipping software providers also have options for address validation available, so you can also check with your supplier.
5. Finally, check every invoice you get from UPS for address correction charges. Research the address and do one of two things, correct the address if it is wrong in your database or call UPS and fight the charges. Either way, you should prevent this charge from occurring again.

I know you’re probably like say what??? I felt like I was hallucinating when I saw this. I know I’m a couple days late but I still had to post this. Sade is like my idol. I love pretty much all her work that I’ve ever heard and I’m so excited for this. I’m sure she won’t disappoint.

As I lay in bed this morning, oversleeping for the first time in a few weeks (and happy to be challenged by the alarm clock 5X/week again), my dreaming mind drifted through a number of small, mostly forgettable vignettes. The only one I can still remember had Shelley and me as owners of a business where every Saturday was Sausage Saturday. I don’t recall what type of business it was. Living in Berkeley County, West Virginia, it could have been anything, and I do mean anything. (shudder)

And I also concocted a great idea for a blog entry. Something about friends. It was funny. But I’ve lost it. I do remember being very relieved to finally find some inspiration to update my blog.

Maybe it’s best I’ve forgotten the topic. Dreams can make the worst ideas seem great. I’ve had dreams where I’ve aced a KILLER stand-up routine, with audience members rolling the floors in laughter. And as I’ve dreamt this, I’ve told myself to remember this wildly wacky material upon waking. But when I wake and ponder it lucidly, it’s dumb. Stupid. Useless. Alas, my great idea for a blog entry was probably not so great to begin with.

So what next? I could do another “dot … dot … dot” entry. “I think with just a little more love, any smoker could finally break the habit … Why don’t we just call those rabid Apple computer users ‘macadamia nuts’ and be done with it already … If Mama Cass had shared part of her sandwich with Karen Carpenter, they’d both be alive today…” You get the idea.

I’ve posted two random thought essays to my blog and, if I may say so, they were pretty funny (even when pondered in an awake state). But I wanted my return to blogging to be a bit more meaty. So I decided to discuss my career goings-on.

Several weeks ago, I began doing “stringer” work for the Journal news in Martinsburg. That’s been a lot of fun. I’ve had opportunity to write articles about horse rescue farms, veterans, festivals and fairs, haunted houses, etc. My favorite assignment was to a woman’s small chocolate factory nestled in Inwood. Got free samples there. But for some reason, this article hasn’t been published yet. I hope she doesn’t think I tried to scam her out of a plate of chocolate bon-bons.

A few weeks ago, I joined the sales staff at the local radio station cluster (hence the ‘glad to be enslaved to the alarm clock’ phenom). It’s a fun job, but I fear it won’t pay much. Still, it’s better than my paycheck over the last six months, which was ZERO (less taxes, social security, medicare – still ZERO).

And THEN, a couple of weeks after joining the radio station and ending my job search activity, I received a call from the search committee hiring for my DREAM JOB. I’d applied for the job prior to joining the radio station. Their decision is, as of this writing, pending. I won’t say much more here, I don’t want to jinx it. Of course, I believe in divine destiny, and I don’t think God can be ‘jinxed,’ but to be safe…

So life is returning to some semblance of normalcy, finally. Even without my recent travails into the working world, I’d still have plenty to be thankful for this week. But it’s nice to have the opportunity to be grateful for the ability to work, earn, take care of those who rely on me and honor my obligations.

And now I’ll close with another random thought: I believe that even the most staunch Calvinist is an Armenian twice in his lifetime – on takeoff and landing. Just ask any Calvinist.

Former Obama Organizer Threatens to ‘Out’ Catholic Priests to ‘Encourage’ Them to Repudiate Church’s Moral Stand on Homosexuality.

A longtime Washington, D.C., liberal Internet activist has founded a Web site that he says will collect accounts of homosexuals in the Catholic priesthood–accounts he will use to “encourage” them to change their views on homosexual marriage and other issues.

“Outing” the priests–publicly revealing their homosexuality–is “not off the table,” Phil Attey, founder of the Web site ChurchOuting.com, told CNSNews.com . The site will also collect information on straight priests who have broken their vow of celibacy, using the information to “encourage” those priests to go against their Church’s teachings on homosexuality as well.

“This is a campaign to collect information about closeted gay Catholic priests, as well as heterosexual Catholic priests who secretly engage in romantic or sexual affairs, yet are unwilling to speak out against the church leadership’s anti-gay political campaigns,” the Web site says.

Attey, a former Obama campaign organizer and Internet organizing pioneer, said the goal of his site was not to “out” the priests, but to end what he called the “spiritual abuse” inflicted by Catholic priests who teach against homosexual marriage and the homosexual lifestyle.

No! it’s not actually a mathematical equation! [2NE1 = 4] means 2NE1 our beloved group equals 4 the number of awards they’ve won @ MAMA.

Yeah!  2NE1 won four awards/trophy, one each member ( wow! it’s a great souvenir for your rookie year) namely: Music Portal Mnet Award, Best Rookie Female Award , Fire [Best MV] & I don’t care [Best Song] @ MAMA.

Just an affirmation of their fame and talent! Definitely a clear win for 2NE1!    They deserve all the recognitions they receive! Because they have always done there best in every performance and in each song  for everyone.

Best Rookie Female Award

I don’t care [Best Song of the year]

Fire [Best MV]

A week ago Style Icon Award and now this! 2NE1 you’re the best!

2NE1 fighting!!!

Music Portal Mnet Award

Congrats to 2NE1!

By the way vote for 2NE1 @ YAHOO ASIA BUZZ AWARDS we can vote 10 times a day in every yahoo account! Let’s vote!!!

For more details click here:

Credits to:

ygsecret2NE1

for the videos.



Congrats 2NE1! You deserve it!

Yeah!!! 2NE1 fighting!!!
Yeah!  2NE1 won the Best Rookie Female Award , Fire [Best MV] & I don’t care [Best Song] @ MAMA.

Just an affirmation of their fame and talent! Definitely a clear win for 2NE1!  And they are also awarded with the Music Portal Mnet Award! They deserve all the recognitions they receive! Because they have always done there best in every performance and in each song  for everyone.

Best Rookie Female Award

A week ago Style Icon Award and now this! 2NE1 you’re the best!

2NE1 fighting!!!

Music Portal Mnet Award

Congrats to 2NE1!

21st Street performance @ MAMA

I don’t care

Kiss

You and I

Please don’t go

Nice! Amazing! Great!

Nice to see a different side of them! Amazingly another Great performance for the Best Rookie! 2NE1!

By the way vote for 2NE1 @ YAHOO ASIA BUZZ AWARDS we can vote 10 times a day in every yahoo account! Let’s vote!!!

For more details click here:

Credits to:

TYPICALpocky4

ygsecret2NE1

for the videos.

it has nothing to do with the song. but its nice. Still looks like every other beyonce video. but with lady gaga. -shrugs-

cred:chriscorpius1

I don’t truly have but maybe two. Out of all the people I interact with, at the end of the day, only two of them are my friends. One of those people I happen to be in love with. So I only have one platonic friend. Should I be ashamed? Is there something wrong with me? Naaaah. I doubt that. I’ve come to the conclusion that I personally am a loner. It’s just meant to be that way. I’ve gone through so many terrible friends its actually crazy. I’ve had friends that…

!-talk shit about me behind my back. and then when addressed try to downplay it

!-friends that lie

!-friends that steal

!-friends that HATE when ppl touch they stuff or eat up their food but do the SAME shit to you.

!-borrow money and NEVER pay it back

!-borrow clothes and never give it back

!-are overly possesive

!-don’t remember all the good things you do.

!-are jealous

!-get all “vagina like” and get mad but dont wanna tell you why

and so much more that I honestly cannot remember right now.

The point is, i seem to attract these types of people. Maybe i have bad traits and its a reflection of me. Or maybe its just that i’m so chill and i wait too long to address wrong doings. But i just feel like i set the example by how i treat you. if i treat you well you should do the same. There are certain things i would never do to a friend that have been done to me its surprising yet hurtful. Since i don’t care to truly address it i just end up leaving the situation and eventually them alone. Let somebody else fix you, its not my job. I don’t have the energy for it. At the end of the day. Being alone is usually best. I just want female friends to stunt in the club with. Call me superficial but at this point in my life that’s all they good for.

I just wonder if anybody knows this song. lol. i love it.

cred:cass.co.kr + leeminhovn@youtube

THIS IS CRAZY! wtf. I’m utterly confused. In california they’re doing a play based on Jesus being a man from the 50’s…and being gay. YES gay.

Where dey do dat at? wtf. I am the first to tell you that I personally am NOT apart of this religion but i know enough to know that this goes against what they believe in. SO disrepectful.

http://www.nbclosangeles.com/around-town/events/Corpus-Christi-Church-of-the-Foothills-69675777.html

2ne1 won the Female Singer Award at today’s 2009 Style Icon Awards.

2NE1 Rocks!!!

Wow! Indeed an advance gift for Dara’s Birthday and an early Christmas present for 2NE1. They deserve it! Congrats!

They faced some stiff competition up against the other nominees (Girls’ Generation, Son Dambi, Brown Eyed Girls and Kara), but in the end, the girls from 2ne1 managed to pull it off. They arrived to the event in a limousine and then proceeded to rock the stage in sexy black outfits. Sandara Park addressed the crowd saying, “Thank you so much for this award. We will work even harder to be the best in the future.”

Fire performance plus Awarding!

November 12, 2009. It’s “Sandara “Dara” Park’s Day”, YeaH!!! This is a day to celebrate especially to the Blackjacks, Daraholic’s, Daragon’s, Daraho,  etc & to all Sandara “Dara” Park fans. Wooh!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY SANDARA “DARA” PARK!!! We love you so much! Wish you would stay healthy, sweet, pretty, jolly, happy, joyful, beautiful & etc always.  Yeah! all the best for her!!!

I LOVE YOU!!!

A Daradog for her birthday! Only for us! Enjoy!!!

Great!!!

And be sure to help us make her day special!

We’re going to make #happybdaydara trending topic on TWITTER for our beloved , Sandara Park of 2NE1.

For details! You can check this link:

#happybdaydara

Over the past two weeks, the Public School Boards’ Association of Alberta has received numerous School Act review submissions from our member school boards to the Minister of Education. We have made them available on this blog (on the Other Submissions and Discussion Papers page along the top), and as more submissions arrive, we will continue to post each of them with a brief summary of their recommendations on new school legislation.

Several common threads within these submissions are becoming apparent. All across Alberta, communities want similar opportunities to participate in the governing of their schools at the local level. Communities want their school boards to have the tools they need to build strong educational opportunities for their children. And, perhaps unsurprisingly, the tools they want are very similar across the province.

Echoing the recommendations made by the PSBAA to the Minister in September, an overwhelming majority of submissions have called for new education legislation to empower school boards with ‘natural person powers’. School boards are not alone in calling for these powers either. The College of Alberta School Superintendents (CASS) and the Association of School Business Officials of Alberta (ASBOA) are the professional organizations that represent Alberta’s superintendents of schools and school board secretary-treasurers. Their joint School Act review submission includes a survey of their members on what they feel should be included in new school legislation. An astounding 71.9% of respondents agree that extending natural person powers to school boards is either important, very important, or critical. More recently, the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association (AUMA) passed a resolution supporting natural person powers for school boards. Clearly, natural person powers have considerable momentum behind them within the education stakeholder community. But, what are they? And, how will they help school boards serve our communities?

Natural person powers are essentially the powers enjoyed by a real person when granted to some form of corporate body. Generally, these corporate bodies are businesses, but increasingly these powers are being extended to local forms of government. In 1995, for instance, Alberta’s Municipal Government Act was amendment to provide our municipalities with natural person powers. These powers grant corporate bodies the right to own, sell, and use property with the full discretion of any natural person. They permit corporate bodies to enter into contracts, to sue, and to be sued. Finally, they accord corporate bodies the freedom to do anything the law does not expressly prohibit.

This last feature of natural person powers is perhaps the most important. Currently, school boards are limited in the way they serve their communities by what the School Act explicitly permits them to do. Put simply, the Act tells school boards what they must do, but only acknowledges a small handful of ways for them to do it. A new School Act extending natural person powers to school boards would reverse this. The Act would continue to lay out the duties and responsibilities of school boards towards their students and their communities, but it would grant them complete discretion in fulfilling their responsibilities, with the limits placed on what they cannot do instead of what they can do.

These powers would grant school boards flexibility that would not only allow, but inspire creative solutions to education in the community. This has already been demonstrated in our cities, where natural person powers have allowed them to unleash their potential since 1995. The same would hold true for school boards. Citizens could approach their school boards with fresh ideas and valuable concerns, and trustees could address them without straining to contort themselves through the hoops of a cumbersome, twenty-year old piece of legislation. Our school boards are not meant to operate as branch offices for Alberta Education headquartered in Edmonton. They are meant to operate as the servants of their communities, where local citizens know best and local trustees have intimate connections with their constituents. This puts them in the unique position to make the best decisions for our children, their students, and everyone’s future. Natural person powers would expand the range of decisions trustees could make to improve upon Alberta’s education system.

So its been a long time since I’ve posted. I can honestly say ive been slackin hella hard lately. I’ve also been dealing with alot as well. Well actually man troubles. 4 year relationship worth of problems. I’m 18 and i realize that ppl get married have a baby and get divorced in that time. Somtimes it gets hard because in all reality, being in a relationship somewhat similar to marriage in this day and age can be hectic. I think at this point my best solution is to just live and let things be. just wanna get back on track and hope for the best I suppose.  I could analyze until my brain implodes. But id rather not in all honesty. I need to relax.

The ever pretty, Dara has update her me2DAY showing us her playfulness nature! see her below!

Always pretty!

나 잡아봐~라!!!크크크!

Try and catch me!!! Oh my, gosh!

Where is she!?

나 여기 숨엇지로옹~~~!!! ^.^

I’m here sumeotjiroong ~~~!!! ^.^

Translation: google translate!

So where is she?

이렇게 나잡아봐라 놀이와 꼭꼭 숨어라놀이하면서뛰어댕길 연인분들 주의할점!!! 너무 삘받아서 앞도안보고 달리다간 꽈당!ㅋ추돌주의!

A warning to those who like to run around and play hide & seek like I do!!! Watch where you’re running because if you don’t, BAM! You might run into something!

She always brighten our day with her update!!! We love you Dara!!!

Dara’s Day is coming very soon! So show some love to Dara! Check out this link!

Also check out this link:

Vote for 2NE1@ MAMA Overseas Viewer’s Award!!

]]> http://celestial24.wordpress.com/2009/11/09/daras-me2day-update-110909/ Sun, 08 Nov 2009 17:19:41 +0000 celestial24 http://celestial24.wordpress.com/2009/11/09/daras-me2day-update-110909/

She did good!

봄이가 무대를 마치고 대기실로달려와선! 아쉬웠다며 발을동동 굴러따ㅠㅠㅋㅋ 괜찮아~^^봄토리님ㅋㅋ담주엔 제대로 본모습을보여주실거~죠?

After Bom finished her performance, she ran to the waiting room!
She said she was disappointed and stomped her feet on the ground ㅠㅠ Keke
It’s okay~^^ Bom-tori keke
You’ll put on a proper performance next week~ right?

Yeah! She will do much better next time!

화이팅모드!!!^^ 홧팅하는거야!!!

Fighting mode!!! ^^We’re fighting!!

와쌉!?

What’s up!?

굿밤!^.^뿅~!

goodnight!

This is why I love Dara!

Dara’s Day is coming very soon! So show some love to Dara! Check this out!!just click!

Check this to:

Vote for 2NE1@ MAMA Overseas Viewer’s Award!!