Swing into Spring’s Festival Season! Santa Barbara’s Lucidity, Ventura College’s Culture in Diversity, and more
Coachella may be the biggest around here, but that doesn’t mean it’s the only festival or the best one for you! It’s Earth Month so watch for Earth Day Festivals near you all month!
This weekend is Lucidity near Santa Barbara, California and yesterday and today is the FREE Fourth Annual Diversity in Culture Festival at Ventura College, 4667 Telegraph Road, Ventura CA 93003. The FREE event includes a number of speakers on stages and classrooms around the campus.
We’ll be performing an extended version of our Thomas Fire piece, “What Does Thomas Teach Us” TODAY at just after noon on the Main Stage located by the library. We follow the Student Slam and the announcement of the winner of next year’s poster contest.
Here’s the blurb and our bios:
In the surprising, humorous, entertaining, and award winning “What Does Thomas Teach Us” originally produced for Santa Barbara’s Lobero Theater, experienced performance artists Gwendolyn Alley, Rasika Mathur, and Rosel Weedn present personal, poetic, and eco-psychological interpretations of the events that led to and transpired following the December 2017 Thomas Fire. Read more…
Spring substitute teaching gig then BEquinox!
This winter and now spring I’m on a bit of a sabbatical from teaching at Ventura College but I am substituting a literature class today, so I thought I’d do what I often do when I’m teaching: put up a post about it. Students read these three short stories about death and wrote essays about the techniques the authors used to get their ideas across:
Some of the literary techniques they’ve learned about via a handout that I’m looking forward to checking out. The instructor Lin Rollens describes these literary techniques as “tools in the writer’s tool kit and that you reach for them as easily at you’d get a phillips head screw driver to put the right pieces together.” I love this! She says, “We’ve talked about other things that are techniques–dialogue, repetition, long sentences etc or anything that makes your story work–and they are free to pull those into their pieces as well. I just want them to be able to see how these stories are things made and how art moves/manipulates them so effectively.”
I will also have students share on the board:
— the best thesis
–the best hook or intro
–the best quote from the paper
–works cited
“Honor is not something that we, as a culture, tend to talk about much, and the students often have a difficult time at first delineating what they think honor is and how it manifests, so I generally give a little back ground about nature and history of honor,” she writes in an email with class instructions.
RIP Dick Dale, King of Surf Guitar
But it is worse than that #ClimateChange
Today hundreds of thousands of students around the world followed Greta Thunberg’s lead and
walked out to make a statement about climate change.
students protesting in Montreal, Quebec
Young people are angry. As well they should be. What’s the point of an education if the planet is destroyed?
In a facebook post that went viral, Marc Doll writes that “The IPCC report and the Paris Accord are incredibly overly optimistic and that commits the world to a target that means th death of hundreds of millions if not more.
But it is worse than that.
While I love good movies maybe a bit more than the next person, and while I have eclectic tastes (being the Art Predator and all), for years I have left the serious reviews to my friend Ron Wells, who then shares them with me to publish here as well as a list of ranked and recommended films.
This year, we’ve both been busy and so haven’t posted as many film reviews as I have in the past years, but I’d be seriously remiss if, here on the night of the Oscars, I neglected to post Ron’s Rankings for 2018. See the list of the 91st Academy Awards nominees here.
Put Some Sparkle in Your Life
Do you want to put some extra special SPARKLE into your life? Or the life of someone you love?
While sparkling wine is mighty fine (like these four sparkling wines that won’t break the piggy bank: two from Italy’s Rotari and two from France’s LaVieille Ferme), consider making a contribution to Burning Man artist and pyropainter Deniz Nicole to bring her Karousal Kandeo and Kaleidoscope Kandeo art installations to the LA Bequinox Regional and to the Black Rock Desert for the 2019 Burning Man Festival — and get something sparkling sent to your home as a thank you!
Deniz’s sparkly Kaleidoscopes or charms would make a great SPARKLY present Read more…
Today Let Freedom Ring with “Moodswings–Spiritual High” featuring Chrissie Hynde and MLK
Check out this very uplifting song using words from MLK’s: Let Freedom Ring today!
image by Dianne Bennet
In other years, Read more…
Two sycamores at Arroyo Verde Park in Ventura; the area was hit hard by the Thomas Fire but these trees are recovering.
Tonight there’s a lunar eclipse that will be seen over most of North America — and it’s not in the middle of the night! Unfortunately it’s in the middle of winter with much of the US covered by clouds and a major winter storm with some of the coldest day of the season with temps below zero.
Here on the west coast where we live in Ventura, it’s hazy. While we had a stunning sunset and moonrise, I wonder if we will be able to see anything during the eclipse…
Join Us for The Women’s March 1/19/19
It’s clear that the election of Trump to the office of President served as a catalyst for the historic and massive worldwide 2017 Women’s March which inspired hundreds of women to run for office and millions of women to support them in winning in November 2018, when the #WomensWave swept into office record numbers of women and people of color.
This Saturday, 1/19/19, we again march to send our message to President Trump — and to show our newly elected representatives that we have their backs as they prepare to fight on behalf of women and families. Together, our #WomensWave will keep growing and letting the Trump administration know that diverse women will continue to be a wall of power against his destructive agenda!
Why am I marching? Why will I be wearing my pussy hat this winter once again?
- As a woman, it terrifies me that he has bragged about sexual assault.
- As a taxpayer, it shocks me that he has bragged about not paying taxes.
- As a citizen, I see that his billionaire cabinet selections lack the qualifications necessary to carry out their tasks.
- As a graduate in Environmental Studies, I am afraid of his claims that climate change is a hoax.
- As a college teacher, it appalls me that he was fined $25 million because of his fraudulent university– and even more appalled that he still made millions on that deal.
- As a wildlife biologist, I am scared that we will lose more of the species that share this planet with us.
- And this just scrapes the surface of the turd that is stuck on our shoes until he is impeached, or he quits.
We know how devastating the past two years have been to what many of us hold dear. The government shut down is just the latest in a series of horrendous and shocking moments. We know that one day, hopefully soon, the investigation into Russia’s involvement in this election and this administration will bring it to an end.
There are many ways to raise your voice — but an important one is to join a march near you to demonstrate our power and unity, and, critically, to continue to build momentum to 2020 and beyond. When we return to the streets of Washington, D.C. and cities around the world, we arrive with an agenda on behalf of all women, families, and communities.
Organizers say that “When you click the link, you’ll be letting us know that “You’re all in!” as part of the #WomensWave. By RSVPing now, you will help us share with the media and leaders that women are still rising, persisting, and insisting on justice, so please fill out the form. The more of us who are “all in,” the bigger the impact we’ll have together.”
Wear your pussy hat! Here’s how to make a warm furry eared hat!
- Need help arranging transportation or want to register your bus so others in your area can join you? https://action.momsrising.org/go/39523?t=9&akid=11634%2E192137%2ERlV7xm
- Can’t make it to Washington, D.C., but are interested in participating in a march event near you? You can find a full list of the local events happening (organized by state and city) at the main Women’s March website: https://action.momsrising.org/go/39524?t=11&akid=11634%2E192137%2ERlV7xm
- Want to show some MomsRising/MamásConPoder pride around the marches no matter where you are and whatever you’re doing? We have printable “Super M” buttons for you to wear while marching! #MomsMarching “Super M” Button INSTRUCTIONS: Just print the PDF downloaded from the following link, color the buttons, cut them out, and use a safety pin to put the buttons on for the #WomensMarch! –> Here’s the link to get your FREE buttons for the #WomensMarch: https://action.momsrising.org/go/29059?t=13&akid=11634%2E192137%2ERlV7xm
- Want to get involved virtually? Connect with MomsRising on Facebook and via @MomsRising and @WomensMarch on Twitter on January 19th to raise your voice and help amplify the mission of the Women’s March!
- Keep Informed! We will continue to keep you posted as information comes our way! You can also find the latest information at the main Women’s March website, including transportation recommendations, suggested reading, and the mission of the march.
Join us as we continue to advocate and MARCH for justice for all! Justice for Women (and by women!) means justice for all!! Let’s continue to MARCH until we see the changes we want to see in our community and our world We encourage EVERYONE to create ARTIVISM: social action through ARTISTIC mediums of ANY kind: posters, t-shirts, song, visual, dance, chant, music, or walking with a smile!!
Locally, meet at Ventura’s Plaza Park across from the downtown post office and beside Thompson Avenue and Chestnut near the Majestic Ventura Theater. Park in the garage at the beach off the California Street offramp ($5) or the closer parking garage on Santa Clara between Chestnut and California. Ventura County website offers ideas for artivism and more information. www.justiceforallvc.org
*Don’t forget to RSVP that you’ll be there (in Washington, D.C., or any of the sister cities) — and to share the RSVP link or the link to this blog post on Facebook, Twitter, and with friends and family too, so we can keep building a strong movement. Here’s that RSVP link again: https://action.momsrising.org/survey/WomensMarch_RSVP2019/?t=18&akid=11634%2E192137%2ERlV7xm
Here’s a short link to this blog post: https://wp.me/p8BKX-7bF
Also of possible interest to those in Ventura County:
Each January, the Ventura County Reproductive Rights Network (VCRRN) celebrates the anniversary of the landmark Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision. The current assault on healthcare threatens America’s women. What unfolds when stringent limits are placed on reproductive education and care?
On Sunday Jan. 20, 2019, join Cal Lutheran University professors Adina Nack and José Marichal with student Kleya Dhenin to explore:
- What are the threats to access and affordability of reproductive care?
- What happens to a society that severely restricts women’s healthcare and personal choices?
- How can young people transform the political landscape?
For more information, call 805-212-0702 or email VCRRNetwork@gmail.com.
You say it’s your birthday! Well it’s my birthday too yeah! Happy Birthday Matt Mullenweg! Happy Birthday Larry Harvey!
Today, January 11 is the birthday of two key figures in my life:
- Larry Harvey, founder of Burning Man, who died this past year (Jan. 11, 1948 – April 28, 2018)
- Matt Mullenweg, founder of WordPress, who turns 35 today (you can read his birthday post and past year’s reflections here; at least check out his beautiful blog which he wrote on the new Gutenberg…).
It just so happens that these two visionaries share my birthday too!
So cheers, a toast to these visionaries who have had such an important impact on my life, and a hoppy birthday to all who are born on this day! Read more…
art predator 