Tamara's Blog

A Saturday Matinee: "Sunday in the Park with George"

Yesterday, my friend Char and I headed to Seattle to see Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's musical "Sunday in the Park with George" at the 5th Avenue Theatre. Neither one us knew the story going in - heck, I didn't even know who George was - but we had heard great things about the production from people who would know about these sorts of things.

In a word, the performance was: BRILLIANT! It was unlike any other production I've seen. It was a complex mix of art and technology, of old and new, of courage and fear - filled with intense emotion. It was a story about neo-impressionist artist Georges Seurat, situated in Paris in the late 1800s, and the creation of his painting "Sunday Afternoon on the Island of Grand Jatte" (picture above). That was Act 1. Act 2 took place 100 years later in an American museum and centers around this painting.

In the program guide, I learned that this musical started in London in 1984. Then it went to Broadway and won a Tony Award in 2008. And now it's finishing its run in its third city - Seattle! David Armstrong, Producing Artistic Director for the 5th Avenue Theatre, writes:

It is our [Seattle's] dynamic theater scene that really sets up apart. Across the country, and especially in New York, Seattle is acknowledged as one of our nation's three major theatrical centers (after New York and Chicago).

Check out this video from Good Morning America. Hear Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine talk about this masterpiece. And then see how this "old" story comes to life with amazing technology. Enjoy!

My Top 10 Tweets

My life is all a-Twitter these days. Well, not really - but it should be no surprise to you that I'd be sucked dragged coerced lured into this social media phenomenon called "Twitter." I must admit that a lot of people I know are either asking "What is it?" - or if they do know what it is, they're asking "What's the point?" Most are asking the latter.

Fortunately for you, if you're not doing the Twitter thang, this post is not about convincing you to give it a whirl. Instead, I just thought I'd share my most popular "tweets" (140-character Twitter posts) so far. You may want to check out some of the links yourself. Do you see any sort of theme? The 9th link is my personal favorite. Enjoy!

• From @guykawasaki: "Ten Ways to Use LinkedIn to Find a Job." LI helped me find our training manager. Very effective tool.
• It looks like @scobleizer is moving on: "Robert Scoble to leave FastCompany"
• "Watch out Nike Swoosh, Obama's Got a New Logo"-what do you think?
• "Facebook Mystery: Who Created “25 Random Things About Me”?"
• Just posted: "On Facebook, People Own and Control Their Information" from FB's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg.
• Pacific NW losing ground as most unchurched region. See how your state ranks when asked about the importance of religion.
• If you're on FB, this is a good read: "10 Privacy Settings Every Facebook User Should Know."
• "How to Be a Good Dog on Twitter in 8 Easy Steps." A truly entertaining read for dog lovers (or not).
• Fascinating article/videos! "MIT Students Turn Internet Into a Sixth Human Sense"
• "The Twitter Numbers Game" - good read especially for new tweeters.

The 50,000 Pairs in 50 Days Challenge

Donate 2 pairs of shoes in 2 minutes for $5 and you will be entered to win a trip to Mexico to give someone their very first pair of shoes! Visit www.50000shoes.com to donate $5 now. 3 clicks & you're done!

Forbes.com released the story on Friday: Soles4Souls(TM) Inc., the Shoe Charity, Launches Large Scale Charity Challenge Using Social Media. And today, bloggers, tweeters, Facebookers, and social media users around the world are uniting to spread the word about this new charity challenge: If you, I,  and 24,998 of our closest friends donate $5 before the new year chimes in, 50,000 people will be getting their very first pair of shoes!

Please take a moment to visit the site and donate now. If you're anything like me, you may read something like this and think it's a great idea and want to contribute - and you have every intention to do so later when you have a bit more time - but then later comes...and you know the rest of the story.

The site is www.50000shoes.com. Please visit now and help spread the word. Thank you!

www.50000shoes.com

I Heart Washington State

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Check out these recent articles:

Forbes says Washington is third-best state for business

"The state of Washington moved up two spots to No. 3 in the country in Forbes magazine’s list of the best states for business..."

Seattle ranks fourth in U.S. in residents volunteering hours

"Seattle ranks fourth among large U.S. cities in volunteering, with an average of 35.5 percent of residents logging volunteer hours..."

My Oh My! Dave Niehaus, the Blue Angels and More!

What a day it was at Safeco Field yesterday! Despite the Seattle Mariners dismal season this year, yesterday was a day to celebrate - and celebrate we did.

Check out these highlights and pictures:

1. Dave Niehaus was honored as Coopertown's latest Hall of Famer (click to enlarge first picture)
2. Edgar Martinez was there to present Dave with a crystal microphone on behalf of the players
3. It was Seattle's annual Seafair weekend, so during the game, we got to see the Blue Angels in action (click to enlarge second picture)
4. I went to the game with Dina, Henriët's mom - and we had the most delightful time! She's a hoot!
5. The sun was out!
6. The Mariners WON against the Baltimore Orioles - 8 to 4! And the crowds went wild...

My oh my! It was a good day indeed.

ConversantLife.com: Connecting Faith to News and Culture

I want to invite you to check out a very kewl community site called conversantlife.com. It's a great place to read up on and respond to real conversations about stuff we face every day - in our culture, in the news - whether we're Christian or not. Everyone is welcome to submit their own content and ask the "hard" questions.

I was introduced to the site by Bruce Bickel, a good friend and co-founder of the site. Bruce is a great, one-of-a-kind guy! He's a stand-up comedian who pays his bills from the money he earns as a lawyer. His wife, Cheryl, is an absolute hoot! I don't know which one I like better. Probably Cheryl. No, Bruce...

Back to the site...here's a blurb about conversantlife.com from the website:

ConversantLife.com is a blog and social media hub that delivers engaging content on faith and culture. Our site is a free place where people can access content and connect with a community of believers and spiritual seekers on a variety of culturally relevant topics such as Creative Arts, Film, Music, Spirituality, Global Concerns, Relationships and more.

A Shameless Plug for My New ConversantLife.com Blog

Awhile back, the folks at conversantlife.com invited me to become part of their expert blogger community because of my interest in blogging and everything technology. I finally took the plunge this past weekend and built out my microsite (blog) and profile. Thank you to the folks at conversantlife.com for your humbling offer and your great patience!

A big thank you also goes to Henriët for coming up with the blog title: Never a Dull Moment. Is that not perfect?! She even gave me the idea of a clock to use in my banner, and fortunately, I had a picture in my library begging to be used. It is very fitting on many different levels. Let me know what you think.

What to do now:

• Check out the blog - Never a Dull Moment. My first post is about the American Express commercial with Ellen Degeneres and Beyonce.
• Check out my profile. You'll see that I need a few good friends and fans. ;)
• If so inclined, join the conversantlife.com community. If you have a Facebook or Yahoo! account already, you can log in with those credentials.

See you on the other side!

Aida: Who Knew?

So I finally saw Aida (the musical) last Thursday. I had sent my cousin and her husband to see it in Chicago several years ago. She loved it and said it was a "must see." Well, I just saw - and she was right!

I went to the musical with my friend Char. We've been going to theatrical productions for years. It used to be that I would research whatever we were going to see (and its reviews) before we went. This season, however, I decided not do any research and just be entertained - and surprised.

That was a great approach with Aida. I didn't know who or what "Aida" was - was it a person, place or thing? It didn't take long for the story to totally captivate me. (And for those who aren't familiar with Aida, she is one of the main characters.)

At intermission, Char and I talked about what had transpired so far in the story and tried to figure out how it was going to end. We didn't guess right, but we were quite satisfied nonetheless. Who knew? It was a great production - and if you haven't seen it, it's a "must see."

It Really is a Small World

Aida finished out the 2008 season at the Village Theatre in downtown Issaquah. This local favorite is a quaint community theatre that is renowned for its top-quality productions.

One of the bonuses this time was that Rebecca Orts, my former boss' daughter, was part of the Egyptian Ensemble in the musical. Rebecca is a very talented teen who has a bright future in theatre. It was a delight watching her! In fact, Char had to keep reminding herself to watch the entire scene and not just Rebecca.

We also ran into Paul, a former colleague of mine (and current colleague of Char's) from Noetix.'Tis a small world after all...

We're Moving Next Season

Char and I have been avid supporters of the Village Theatre. We have our favorite seats and we always get away with walking in at the last possible moment before the doors shut. It is now a running joke...will we make it on time or not?

This next 2008-9 season, however, we're hitting the road and heading down to the 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle. The lineup is amazing: Shrek the Musical, The Drowsy Chaperone, 7 Brides for 7 Brothers, Memphis, Hello Dolly!, Sunday in the Park with George, and GREASE! Who can blame us?!

RealAmericanStories.com: Where We Tell the Story

Did you enjoy your 3-day weekend? Spend time with family and friends? I spent the 4th with some of my favorite Dutch immigrant friends - Henriët, Fred and Dina (Henriët's mom). We fired up the grill, ate Cold Stone ice cream and enjoyed Seattle's firework show (the best yet!). It's a great American holiday.

You don't have to look far to appreciate what America is all about. People from around the world continue to come here. In my own family, my dad and his family came from Australia over 50 years ago. My sister's in-laws are from Italy. And my cousins' father is Hispanic.

That's why I really like a new website from the Fox News Channel:

     Real American Stories - One Nation United

The mission of this site is "to share American stories and to help us appreciate who we are, where we came from, and how truly fortunate we are to be part of the American experience."

The site is a collection of short video clips of some people you know and many you don't telling their story and why they value living in America. It's good for someone like me - who was born in America and knows nothing but a life of freedom - to be reminded of what I often take for granted. The stories are very inspirational.

What sets the site apart, though, is that anyone - meaning you and me - can upload their own video clip and share their story. Do you have a story to tell? Grab your camcorder, press the "Record" button, and start talking. In the meantime, be inspired by what others are saying.

              www.realamericanstories.com

My Summer 2008 Course

Last Monday, I started my 8th course (of 18) at Fuller Theological Seminary called Transforming Contemporary Culture. Here is an excerpt of the course description from Fuller's site:

Modern culture has marginalized all organized religion. Mainline church membership has declined and new forms of church are being developed to address the needs of the post-modern generation. Although the primary focus in this course is on the Church in North America and Western Europe, modernity is a universal phenomenon and these changes are being felt globally.

This course proposes a new paradigm that is actually applicable worldwide: missionary engagement as the basic stance of the church toward modern/postmodern culture. This requires that key questions be examined: Why has the church largely failed to challenge modern culture? How can we step outside our culture in order to see ourselves through "missional eyes"? How is a missionary approach different from the conventional evangelistic approaches of the Church? What types of global issues must the Church address if it is to be effective in reaching out to contemporary culture?

This culture class is a bit different than the last course I took on pop culture. Remember the Eli Stone survey? I'm in a new group again. There are 5 of us - with 3 being pastors and 2 living in Europe. I have my work cut out for me.

My Major Assignments

In this class, I will be pairing up with Mayra, one of the first friends I met at Fuller, to develop a "culture watch" report. We need to pick a cultural theme, and then collect relevant articles in the media and analyze them.

I'll also be comparing and contrasting two Hollywood films - so don't be surprised if I ask you to take another online survey to get your perspective. I have a great list of films to choose from.

Finally, the major paper is a case study that will have something to do with Semper Vita, the non-profit organization I'm helping set up. More on Semper Vita later this week.

Back to the homework...

A Barna Report: Our Current Vision of the American Dream

Good physical health. Living with a high degree of integrity. Having one marriage partner for life. Having a clear purpose for living. Having a close relationship with God. Having close, personal friendships.

These are the top six conditions that 3/4ths of adults recently surveyed by the Barna Group deemed as most important in their lives. Barna is well-known for its research that focuses on the nerve of American life and our cultural attitudes. Specifically, the firm has been conducting these "American Dream"-type surveys since 1991. 

Of the six conditions listed above, which one do you think has increased the most in terms of importance since 1991?

Which do you think is least important to American adults - achieving fame or public recognition OR owning a large home? Note: Both have declined in importance.

Well, I'm not going to tell you the answers. He! Just click over to the 1-page report on the Barna website and see for yourself. Scroll down a bit and you will see the statistics in table format. For those of you who know me, it's all about those rows and columns...:)