Sunday, January 29, 2012

H-Town Coffee Adventure No. 2

H-Town (aka Houston, TX)
Coffee Adventure No. 2
weekend of 1/20 - 1/22/12

Coffee Adventure No. 2






note: the tiny/cute Daikon Radishes in the center, had to bring a few of those babies home...another name for them is a Chinese Radish & usually they are enormous, so these are a treat?!

The Revival Market
Coffee Partners w/ Greenway Coffee Co/Greenway Barista

also
Fat Cats Creamery
Gulf Shrimp Stock
Slow Dough Bread Company

My Purchases:
Cortado, Cranberry Bread, Daikon Radishes & a thin slice of Parmesan Cheese...
(note: I seemed to have forgotten to take a pic of my coffee?! And that last item the nice guy behind the counter wrapped it up, sealed it up-in zip bag, put it on ice in another tie bag - ready for the long road home, which meant No Fat Cats Creamery on the road - that I didn't find...another chance, another weekend, another adventure...)


2 loaves of Slow Dough Bread Co on the left - Cranberry Walnut, am going to snag one as a couple comes in to squeeze them & am guessing she'll snag the other...don't smoosh my bread please?!

location...
550 Heights Boulevard (at White Oak - aka in The Heights)
Houston, TX 77007

phone...
(713)880-8463

Hrs...
M-F 7-8
Sat 8 - 7
Sun 10 -5
*this is the day I was there, rather 2:30ish
(I was late--but by a 1/2 hr's guesstimate...)


Where was Fat Cats Creamery? I dunno...was told it was here,
there'd been a dropoff & then I find this-- Trentino?
Link to their webpage: http://trentinogelato.com/
Is this a substitute when they ran out...
Are they related, am I confused? It's curious...
a foodie mystery for that next adventure?!
Link to the Fat Cats Creamery webpage:
http://www.fatcatcreamery.com/
(note: I have to admit, I love the name...meow...)

Link to Revival Market's webpage...
http://revivalmarket.com/











About the Tea & Coffees...

Revival Café

"Revival Market has a small indoor café
with additional sidewalk seating to enjoy your morning
or afternoon break coffee, a light breakfast, lunch or dessert.
We are pretty proud of our coffee bar,

which is manned by professional baristas from open to close.
They will prepare you a choice of coffees –

 from drip to cortado to a flat white –
made with beans from one of four local coffee purveyors.
We also stock beans by the pound that can be ground to you specifications.
Revival also offers a selection of Rishi teas,

all organic and fair-trade certified."





Note: the Fabulously Proud Label...Gulf Shrimp Stock--
so not just any stock & not just any shrimp--but Gulf Shrimp?!

Link to Yelp Listing/Reviews...
http://www.yelp.com/biz/revival-market-houston
Link to Urbanspoon Listing/Reviews...

http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/8/1546518/
restaurant/The-Heights/Revival-Market-Houston

Link to Facebook page...
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Revival-Market/124475060957083

Link to Houston Press Blog Post...
http://blogs.houstonpress.com/eating/2011/03/

revival_market_to_open_monday.php

Link to Chron.com article...
http://www.chron.com/life/article/

Revival-Market-to-cater-to-consciously-raised-1716296.php

Link to Foursquare--I think I remembered to check in while I was there...
https://foursquare.com/v/revival-market/4d7eb87cb25d6dcbd49bbf42

Link to a YouTube--Yes, someone did wander around the Market
when it first opened w/their phone taking this video to share...
http://youtu.be/0OcpCW34TFU
(note: am happy they did...First off I see the coffee machine,

always the best view...
And I see how lucky I was to get those tiny Daikon Radishes when I did,
coz they're not there in this Video?!
And too funny the bread was in a diff place,

plus remember now they were out of Olive Oil on Sunday--
but the empty glass bottles would of been great to use for vases...)

Coffee Partners:








Greenway Roaster/Barista Info...
aka or prev know as Tuscany Premium Coffee

location...
5 greenway plaza suite c-610
houston texas 77046

phone...
832-377-7773

Hrs:
M-Th 7-4:30 Fri -4:00


Greenway Coffee...
www.greenwaycoffee.com

Yelp listing/reviews...
http://www.yelp.com/biz/tuscany-premium-coffee-houston-2

Greenway Barista - David Buehrer -
Twitter...
www.twitter.com/greenwaybarista

Facebook page...
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenway-Coffee-Tea/131684226870444

Blog...
www.coffeestreethouston.blogspot.com/

Blog at Houston Press...
http://blogs.houstonpress.com/author.php?author_id=1523

Blog Post - Houston Press: Rising Star Barista at the Greenway Plaza
Food Court - David Buehrer...
http://blogs.houstonpress.com/eating/2009/07/barista_david_buehrer.php
(note: mention of coffee cocktails being made--Anvil Bar & Refuge -
1424 Westheimer, Houston, TX 77006  Link: www.anvilhouston.com)

Coffee Products available on webpage...

Scrimshaw Espresso: Winter/Spring 2012
Yirgacheffe  gr. 2 Ethiopia
Deterra Sunrise: Minas Gerais, Brazil
Bella Carmona: Antigua, Guatemala
Decaf: Monte Camejo, Costa Rica


Roast every Monday, Ship every Tuesday

Greenway Coffee Partners...

Paulie's - 1834 Westheimer Road, Houston, TX 77098


Revival Market  -550 Heights Blvd, Houston, TX 77007
                            (note: *where I went Sunday)

Relish Fine Foods - 3951 San Felipe, Houston, TX 77027

Soma Sushi - 4820 Washington Ave, Houston, TX 77007

Kata Robata - 3600 Kirby Drive, Houston, TX 77098

Absolatte Coffee Catering - 3100 Timmons Ln., Houston, TX 77027
Also found at The Revival Market...
Amaya Roasting Co - Max (the roaster) again from Catalina Coffee Shop


note: my 3 purchases from what I thought were 2 different roasters...
2 from Catalina Coffee Shop/Max/Amaya Roasting Co - Guatemala/Rwanda
1 from Revival Market - what I thought was Greenway Roasting Co, is Amaya Roasting Co with a different label & of all the things Decaf...

(note: I really/Really didn't have my glasses on then to make that mistake w/this label--I thought all the white bags under the counter were all from Greenway, guess I shoulda asked...or like the Fat Cats Creamery, it could be they substitute when things are Sold Out?! Or another possibility is that they/Amaya roasted a decaf coffee for Greenway - but they're now roasting their own coffee is what I'd heard & I was trying to find their roasted coffee, as their shop is closed on Sunday, if not w/e's so that's the only time I had...)





Info-Poster at RestStop on the way home...
Driving from Houston, TX to Lafayette, LA
Did you take the Hint??!!
"Dead Man Talking"
(of course that would be in a Texas RestStop...
& does anyone else have a big enough imagination
to think it kinda looks like a windshield w/the trees
reflection in it?! but if I could crop out the frame
would be even more convincing--more to learn,
sigh...)


Thursday, January 26, 2012

H-Town Coffee Adventure No.1

H-Town (aka Houston, TX)
Coffee Adventure No. 1
w/e of 1/20/12 - 1/22/12

Stop No. 1



photo credit: catalinacoffeeshop.com


Catalina Coffee Shop
2201 Washington Ave
Houston, TX 77007

Bus Stop - Sawyer @ Union
S. Heights

Roaster of Catalina's Coffees - Amaya Roasting Co - Max, the Owner

http://catalinacoffeeshop.com/



photo/logo credit: catalinacoffeeshop.com

About...
Since opening in April 2007, Catalina Coffee has sought to provide our customers with a fresh and exciting coffee experience. We strive to consistently offer the best product that we can, and constantly evolve to do so. We mainly feature coffee from Amaya Roasting Company, as well as bringing in guest coffees from other roasters from across the country.

Hours:Monday - Friday 6:30 AM – 7:00 PM
Saturday - Sunday 7:30 AM – 7:00 PM

phone 713.861.8448



my Cortado, on the wood counter in the back corner against the brick wall...
taken w/natural light, can you tell (OK, I will not give up my Day Job for Photography anytime soon...)
Back to the coffee--there was no messing around--there is no Latte Art here, or not in this order...

A curious link to a Proto type of Luminaire LB-1 under the News tab on their webpage...
http://catalinacoffeeshop.com/index.php?option=com_zoo&view=category&Itemid=224

Link to their Facebook page...
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Catalina-Coffee-Shop/249554315274

Facebook Info...

"A tribute to the best coffeehouse in Houston. If you're in the market for a foo-foo, coffee-flavored beverage, you're in the WRONG place. I would willingly increase my carbon footprint for the brew."
Link to Urbanspoon reviews...
Link to Yelp reviews...
Link to Houston Press - Best of 2011 Award - Best Coffee Shop...
"Here's our exhaustive criterion when it comes to drinking coffee: It has to be good. Annnndddd that's about it. All of the bells and whistles in terms of decor and iPod playlists are fine, but if the warm liquid that fills our barely awake beings tastes like brown water, our caffeine-deprived benchmark will never be met. It's true that Catalina boasts an inviting and chic space in the Sixth Ward, but they're nailing the most important part — the coffee — thanks to creative yet not too fancy takes on goods from Amaya Roasting Company, which harvests coffee beans from countries such as Brazil, Costa Rica and Ethiopia."
Link to Houston City Search reviews...
http://houston.citysearch.com/profile/45339821/houston_tx/catalina_coffee.html


Link to Chron.com review by TechBlog...
http://blog.chron.com/techblog/2008/06/caffeinated-wi-fi-review-catalina-coffee/

Link to 29-95 Restaurants review...
http://www.29-95.com/restaurants/catalina-coffee

Link to their Roaster Amaya...
http://www.amayaroasting.com/



sparrows in the winter trees alongside Catalina Coffee Shop in their garden...
I like they have a side garden there & metal art work hanging/flying on the corner of the bldg too, a bird, a phoenix (should of taken a photo of that too, but I was on a coffee mission first...)

My Note - My Purchases - Guatemala & Rwanda...
And a Coffeebag packed T-shirt (for a coffee loving friend I know, who just happens to be a Barista back home too - who sent me here so how could I not say Thank you with a Coffeeshop Tee?!)

Descriptions from Roaster webpage...

Guatemala
http://www.amayaroasting.com/product/concepcion-pixcaya

Guatemala Concepcion Pixcaya
Notes: Juicy, complex, melon, cane syrup, bakers chocolate.
Origin: Guatemala
Owner(s): Manuel Zaghi Miron and Maria Cristina Miron de Zaghi
Region: Sacatepequez
Varietal: Giant Bourbon
Elevation: 1890MASL
Process: Fully washed

(note: nothing else after this...Let it be known though that I support the Guatemalan Coffee Farmers, maybe I repeat this, due to the fact I know a family from there whose patron use to tell them sad stories about the local coffee plantation farmers & then after I met them as an Expat they'd tell me some of them...right then & there, I did a silent "I swear I will help however I can in the future"--so I buy Gutemala Coffee, Fair Trade especially, whenever I possibly can?!)




also in the Catalina Coffee Shop garden, I think it's a fig tree, sparrows gone

Rwanda
http://www.amayaroasting.com/product/rwanda-musasa



Rwanda Musasa

Notes: Violet, dried cranberry, prune, black tea, complex.
Co-Op: Dukundekawa Musasa (1815 Co-Op Members)
Region: Ruli Sector, Rushashi District
Varietal: Red Bourbon
Elevation: 1500 - 2000 MASL
Processing: Fully Washed and dried on African beds
The Dukundekawa Musasa cooperative lies high in Rwanda’s rugged north-west, at around 1,800 meters. The co-op built its first coffee washing station in 2003, with a development loan from the Rwandan government and the support of the USAID-financed PEARL project.
This transformational program was aimed at switching the focus in the Rwandan coffee sector from an historic emphasis on quantity to one of quality - and so opening up Rwanda to the far higher-earning specialty coffee market. The programme and its successor, SPREAD, have been invaluable in helping Rwanda’s small-scale coffee farmers to rebuild their production in the wake of the devastating 1994 genocide and the 1990s world coffee crash.
Musasa now owns two washing stations and is one of Rwanda’s larger cooperatives, with 1,815 members in the 2010/11 crop year. In addition, the co-op buys and processes cherries from a few thousand more farmers in the area who are not official co-op members.
Most of these small scale producers own less than a hectare of land, with an average of only 500 coffee trees each as well as other subsistence food crops. Musasa gives these small farmers the chance to combine their harvests and process cherries centrally - and therefore sell them on to international buyers for far higher prices. Before the proliferation of washing stations such as Musasa, the norm in Rwanda was for small farmers to sell semi-processed cherries to a middleman - and the market was dominated by a single exporter. This commodity-focused system - coupled with declining world prices in the 1990s - brought severe hardship to farmers, some of whom abandoned coffee entirely.
Today, it’s a different picture. Farmers who work with Musasa have seen their income at least double, and the co-op produces some outstanding lots for the specialty market year after year. ‘Dukundekawa’ means ‘love coffee’ in Kinyarwanda (Rwanda’s official language) - in reference to the power of coffee to improve the lives of those in rural communities.
The level of care that Musasa takes over the processing is impressive. Cherries are hand picked only when fully ripe and the beans are sorted, sorted and sorted again to remove defects. Individual lots are also tracked through the pulping, sorting and drying process, meaning that Musasa can trace each lot back to the individual farmers that grow it.

(note: we would sample this coffee roast as a Clever/PourOver after the w/e in Houston along with another Rwanda coffee from another roaster & Both of them were very/Very interesting to my tastebuds...I was very/Very surprised & a bit sad that my Guatemala choice & another Guatemala from another roaster were not as interesting...)

Other Coffee Roasts of Amaya Roasting Co. I did not purchase...
Columbia
Peru
Santa Ana - Guatemala - Decaf



above the Catalina Coffee Shop garden, the power boxes & one my fav secret loves to photograph, grafitti - Yes, grafitti stickers count (in my book) - I always want to know who 'they' are, who put them there...(my all time fav's are still back in Stavanger, Norway...sigh...the power boxes that were there were painted to look like mini apt complexes, complete with say satellite dish details?!)

...and in zooming in I have a feeling the 'force majeure' sticker, on the middle box at the top, just may have a little something to do with a certain oil spill in the Gulf, so it's been there that long on this power box... (having driven over from Lafayette & having lived there before & also having lived in Houston before I know a bit of the backstory to that sticker's image--just don't know who made these & put them up - were they making a statement? hmmm...for another investigation, another time?!)

Next Adventure - Coffee & Grafitti (I may need a guide--any volunteers out there?!)



Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Light/Dark Old/Young

Playing with Light:
The Art And Process of Capturing Emotion



Tom Hussey
TOM HUSSEY Photography, LLC
"In the course of a diverse 20-year career in commercial
advertising photography, Tom Hussey has established a
successful advertising studio. Respected industry wide for his
lifestyle photography and admired for his lighting techniques,
Tom has worked on local. national and international
campaigns. Based in Dallas, Texas, TOM HUSSEY Photography,
LLC is a full production photography studio.
Tom’s passion for photography began in the early 70′s when his
Dad got a new ”expensive” SLR camera. Tom asked to take a
picture and much to his mother’s horror was handed the
camera. He put the camera down briefly but was never far
away from it. Tom has taught photography on the college
level and worked in the Conservation Laboratory at the
International Museum of Photography at George Eastman
House.

Tom is a graduate of Southern Methodist University where he
earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Film Production with a minor in
Photography. He holds a Master of Fine Arts in Museum
Practices and Conservation with an emphasis in Photography
from The Rochester Institute of Technology".
Tom Hussey is represented by Michael Ginsburg
and in Texas he is represented by Patty Hudson

Link to AAF Acadiana Event page & what could become an iconic advert photo...
http://aafacadiana.com/rsvpmaker/january-luncheon/
(Note: you'll see the photo of the Soldier old/young, as the rest of the ads in the pharma campaign are the same setup - which I don't like the idea of it selling drugs as much as the feelings it inspires in looking at the ads, which I'd seen before but never knew they were ads for an Alzheimer's patch?!)

Link to Tom Hussey Photography webpage...
http://www.tomhussey.com/
Link to his Blog...
http://tomhussey.com/blog/
(note: I especially love now knowing the stories behind some of these photos - on the webpage & the blog, which is my fav part--as much or maybe even more than just the photo's themselves...what was the photographer/the subject doing kind of thing - putting a place/time/feeling to it all I suppose...rather than it was part of an ad campaign or what is it selling or what camera/lighting did he use, etc/Etc...)

About (Tom Hussey)
"Sometimes we need photography to create a complex interplay between reality and illusion. Welcome to Tom Hussey's world. A world of many brands, and many audiences. A world involving many production needs. From location scouting, casting, styling, animation and photo retouching to lifestyle, portrait, and kid shots. A world located, in reality, in Dallas, Texas, but a world that knows no boundaries." - from the Webpage

My notes after watching the webpage Photo SlideShow--again seeing many photos we saw at the AdFed Luncheon last Friday, at River Ranch City Club (we had a different room this month for the luncheon/speaker, bigger maybe, but those mirrored posts? I will not comment on the buffet, my Grandmother taught me that classic line--if you can't say something nice...it was a good thing I was powered by Cafe Cohen espresso before I arrived?!)

OK, I do love light & shadow...I do love black & white...I do love a sense of humor...I love the stripey socks Birthday/Slumber Girls in a tent Party...I love the pink bubble gum...I love coffee mugs in coffee shops...Even love Miss Schlitz/Pal-Mal Black eye Hair in rollers...or the almost Norman Rockwell-ish boy w/a razor & tissue spots...or my cure for the curious in not visiting the Louvre, as now I've seen what the room looks like where the Mona Lisa lives--Mon Petit Postage Stamp...or from the Series esp like 'Reflections' or 'Recharge Your Karma.org'...surprised by the iHussey section - as in it's all iphone photos/apps (for these alone I may be more inclined to bump it up to an iphone, as soon as the Droid2 freezes up with forceclose errors again?!) Yeess--I've seen & also recently photographed the WienerMobile too at our Youngsville Rouses, so I like that one for Deja vu effect?!

Link to where you can create your own PDF Portfolio on his webpage - I had hoped to copy at least one photo to share, but copyrights make me nervous...
http://www.tomhussey.com/pdf/
Link to "not" his Wiki page - which at first, seeing the same name I thought it was him/the photographer...but apparently his Dad musta really loved Major League Baseball...or the Red Sox...to give him the same name, or that's my conclusion from very little evidence....

And there are 25 individuals with the same name on Linked In...

I took curious delight in knowing his wife did 'not' take his last name--why oh why would the woman not want to be called A Hussey?! hmmm...curious that...bad enough a man to live that name down during certain times (imagine it's not such a big deal now a days as people have forgotten, unless reminded by Turner Classic Movies am guessing)--but all in all no where near as bad as being a Boy Named Sue right?!

Link to more images/portfolio on Workbook Photos - Tom Hussey...
http://www.workbook.com/portfolios/hussey
(note: #15 saw this photo at the presentation for AAF luncheon, especially like the water in it, how it's captured as much as the guy's face...it is fun, I am a Pisces...which if you didn't know is a Water Sign--such is, I'm guessing, the attraction in the first place...)

http://www.workbook.com/portfolios/hussey
(note: #22 I adore these tiara/animal print wearing/book reading/prob drinking/Southern women--Oh how I would love to be a part of their book club meetings?! For the fun alone--somehow all that comes out in this photo, right?! We were told they do all travel wide & far to attend, hmmm, no surprise there... And they do so remind me of the SweetPotatoQueens--if you've seen those book covers, though I've never read one of their/her books...)

http://www.workbook.com/portfolios/hussey
(note: #72 - here's the almost Norman Rockwell-ish image of boy with razor, boy with lots of tiny pieces of white tissue paper stuck on his face...Tom mentioned the comparison so I'm just repeating--I didn't make that up, just so ya' know...)


http://www.workbook.com/portfolios/hussey
(note: #105 - #114 are the pharma series for the patch, all the old/young reflections...they are marvelous for many a reason, for me one of them is 'not' to buy a patch for Alzheimers?!)

His list of clients
(note: I imagine this is to the date of whenever the Workbook.com Porfolio was done...)

7-11
7UP
American Airlines
AT&T
Beringer Winery
Blockbuster Video
BMW
Boy Scouts of America
Brach's
BusinessWeek Magazine
Cadbury Schwepps
Chase Bank
Coca-Cola
DirecTV
FedEx Kinko's
Frito Lay
General Motors
Greyhound
HBO
Hewlett Packard
Home Depot
Hyatt Hotels
Inc Magazine
Johnson & Johnson
Jose Cuervo
LeapFrog Toys
Levi Strauss
Miller Brewing Company

Link to his Rep in Dallas--what's as much fun to see are the 'other' photog's images...
http://www.michaelginsburg.com/
(note: I'm liking the looks of Montalbetti + Campbell especially in this line up...they do conceptual imagery & portraits...their webpage link... http://www.montalbetticampbell.com/  And I could easily fantasize about them doing my Portrait photo?! They too have a sense of humor--check out their Biking is Believing image under Advertising on their webpage...
http://www.montalbetticampbell.com/#/ADVERTISING/Biking Is Believing/1/ among others--I could imagine myself with a ruffle collar of roses I think...time for bed & ad dreaming time?!)

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Lives of the (everyday) Saints




Lives of the (*everyday) Saints
*or that's what I would of called it...
by David Ives

First produced in Aug of 1999 - I continue to wonder what was I doing/where was I living & How Did I Miss This?!

This was presented here by special arrangement w/Dramatists Play Serv Inc NY

Acting Unlimited, Inc (AUI) presents...

Act I
Enigma Variations

(note: I thought they should surely play 'Enigma' here to start/stop the sketch - but really whomever chose the music as is did a really interesting job of it & perhaps that too was a part of the whole play...I wouldn't know unless I ask the Director...one day - or on Twitter, where people will answer you that you'd never dream would?!)

The Mystery at Twicknam Vicarage

Babel's in Arms

Intermission (Yes, this is from the Program)

Act II

Soap Opera

(note: the Star a washing machine--which I'd never seen done before & I Liked It?!)

Lives of the Saints

Arabian Nights

Captive Audience


Production Credits:
Director/Set Designer - Cara Hayden
Assist Dir/Stage Mgr - Nick Dooley
House Mgr - Shannon Kenast
Tech Dir - Walter Brown
Light Designer - Joseph Diaz (note: I think this is the only 1 I've met before?!)
Box Office - Patricia D. Sidman
Special Project Artisans - Nancy Dere, Gudrun Schubert (note: now I'm wondering just what they made on stage to be given this credit - curious...)

Under each Sketch in each Act they listed the actors, which often repeated - so will just list them all alphabetically...

Cast List:
Arceneaux, Catharine
Barras, Vincent P.
Dere, Kaan
Dere, Nancy
Diaz, Joseph
Diaz, Martha (note: her I've seen in 2 or 3 productions before & know she can sing)
Dronet, Annie
Ducharme, Gerard
Dunstan, Cody
Hebert, Cindy
Kibodeaux, Elaine (note: I think I've met her on Twitter, yet to in person)
Segura, Erin
Snyder, John
Spear, Phillip


Play run...
January 12, 13, 19, 20, 21 at 7:30 pm
January 14 at 8:00 pm
January 15 & 22 at 3:00 pm

I went Thursday the 19th at 7:30 pm (before I left for the w/e to Houston, TX)
And of course went directly next door for a Gelato at Carpe Diem Gelato-Espresso Bar during Intermission  having earlier had my espresso there too while putting up posters as Super Awesome AcA Volunteer (a new title, was given Awesome--added Super...because of course we 'all' want to be, if not Saints, then Super Heroes?!)



From the postcard handout...

"AUI will kick off the 2012 performance calendar at Theatre 810 with Lives of the Saints, an evening of riotously funny one-act comedies by one of the contemporary theatre's brightest comic playwrights, David Ives.

Lives of Saints is an evening of  7 quirky, funny & wildly imaginative one-acts by Ives.
In Saints, Ives' comic imagination takes audiences to ancient Mesopotamia for the construction of the Tower of Babel...

Babel's in Arms

...to a wee British vicarage for a twisted "Masterpiece Theatre" murder mystery...

The Mystery at Twicknam Vicarage

...to a quirky souvenir shop where a wildly exotic love blooms...

Arabian Nights

...and into a TV set where a couple finds themselves lost in a blur of channels...

Captive Audience

And that's just half the evening.

Local audiences have experienced Ives' work in his other one-act evening All in the Timing & in his revisionist take on Don Juan, Don Juan in Chicago.

In Lives of the Saints, audiences can expect a playful evening of broad physical comedy, whip-smart jokes & ceaselessly imaginative riffs on contemporary culture.
There's something for everyone in Lives of the Saints.

Lives of the Saints is directed by Cara Hayden, who co-directed AUI's summer production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. (Wait I saw that, maybe I have seen Cara before & didn't even know it - I'm bad like that?!)

The production features performances by..." (note: see my list of Cast above alphabetically)


Two one-acts that I've been calling sketches or shorts weren't mentioned in the postcard/handout -

Enigma Variations - which was at first confusing, but fun to figure out as you went along - this interesting De-ja-vu twist w/a troubled girl visiting the Dr's office...
I've since asked Elaine via Twitter how they all/she managed to keep in body/motion synch throughout the one-act without being directly across from each other - I would of found that difficult, as well as the parts without speaking as you mimed what the other 'you' was doing...also liked the unexpected part of patients exchanging doctors parts...but all in all have to wonder why this was chosen as the first bit, if any of the one-acts do fit together one to the other?!




(photo credit: maytag.com - traditional top loader - the Centennial Trademark edition...haven't a clue what they really used in the play The Lives of Saints - one act - Soap Opera...but it was deff a top loader, or how else would washing machine Goddess White pop out of the Maypole washing machine?!)

Soap Opera - OK, just hands down my fav one-act...I adore the play on a 'Maytag' & the proverbial bored Repairman because of the perfect repair record of such a washing machine (as portrayed in many an advertisement/commercial on TV) - in this play/this one-act they call the washing machine a Maypole & there's a real girl/to be girl friend who's a Mabel (if I followed this naming thing correctly--plus that sounds alot like Maypole too...) But the "Goddess in the Machine" was perfect & what fun, all the further play on words or objects that have to do with said washing machine or repairman...I mean it starts off with him trying to take his washing machine on a date to a fancy restaurant?!

Lives of Saints - confusing as it's the overall name of the play & also one of the one-acts in Act II...
two lovely old friends/old ladies who organize the church food for the funerals - it was odd enough to hear the sounds of their kitchen movements, as it was when they were revealed in the middle of the act (now how they coordinated that with keywords in the dialog I guess was something else--I would of missed those cues for sure, to make those sounds of opening cupboards or drawers or mixers or running water, etc...)

After that one-act & in thinking back on it being the overall name, it's when I felt like it was really the Lives of Everyday Saints instead he was talking about...but that's my opinion of course, must read more of what's behind this combination of one-acts...

Link to AUI - Acting Unlimted Inc - to read more about the play: The Lives of the Saints...
http://actingunlimitedinc.org/

From their "We're in the News!" section...

"Acting Unlimited and Theatre 810 have been in the news today! The Baton Rouge Advocate ran a feature on the theatre space and our show LIVES OF THE SAINTS in the Monday, January 2nd edition, and KLFY, Channel 10, filmed a feature this afternoon at the space. There will be a link to that video posted as soon as it becomes available. Keep an eye on AUI and Theatre 810! 2012 has started with a bang!"

Link to one review & prob better description than I managed...
"Leave Room for Jell-O - A brilliant trip through Ives Country, with an unexpected detour"
by Cary M. Mazer of CityPaper.Net after watching the performance I'm guessing with the Philadelphia Theatre Co. at Plays & Players Theatre
http://www.english.upenn.edu/~cmazer/lives.html
(note: the reviewer leaned toward the Lives of the Saints rather than Soap Opera for their memorable one-act...it's curious how that works huh?!)




Link to where you can buy an Acting Edition on Amazon.com--for only $8.00...
http://www.amazon.com/Lives-Saints-Acting-David-Ives/dp/0822217465

Link to read more about the playwright on Wiki...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Ives

Link to a rare interview of sorts as the playwright answers questions during the plays world premiere - on Playbill.com "David Ives Discusses His Lives in Rare Philadelphia Q&A" Feb 1999...
http://www.playbill.com/features/article/64862-David-Ives-Discusses-His-Lives-in-Rare-Philadelphia-QA (note: my fav line... "...Soap Opera recounts the love affair between a repairman and his washing machine -- a hot-and-cold relationship, you might say."




photo credit: from playbill.com
(note: think he's looking better here in black & white than in his color photo below...)

Link to Zoetrope All-Story blurb about the playwright - David Ives - & a link to his article "Why Write for Theatre?" in Vol 4 No 4...
http://www.all-story.com/search.cgi?action=show_author&author_id=79
(note: is it me, but I like to know Why People Write...so of course I like to read...)




photo credit: from GoodReads.com

an exerpt by David Ives...

"So much for the high road. There are a million other, more mundane reasons to write for the theater. Because your spouse keeps telling you that your life as a podiatrist would make a terrific play. Because you want to commemorate a parent or an uncle or a sibling or a friend. Because you want to resuscitate a failed marriage or affair and make your lost spouse or lover speak again. Because you want to send a letter to the dead by way of the living. Because you're an idiot and you think Hollywood's going to buy your play about you and your hamster and make you rich. Because you saw The Star-Spangled Girl at your community theater and think you can do better. Because you want to see your name in the paper, and crave the admiration of our perceptive, tasteful, well-informed, and ever-encouraging "critics." Because you think the theater provides endless opportunities for getting laid. Because you find actors smart, perceptive, and unimaginably gallant and you want to hang out and have drinks with them on a regular basis. Because you glimpsed two tramps waiting beside a road, or an old man raging on a heath, or saw a man and woman arguing outside the bus window--and you want to imagine out loud what was going on and why and who those vanished people were. Because you have some voices in your head that won't be still. Because you want to do something really difficult--to chase down the elusive element that makes a very, very few plays good or even great and immortal, yet somehow escapes all those many other plays.
Or because you feel like it.
Or because you don't have any choice.
Because you have to. "


Link to The Ind article "Lives of the Saints Coming in January" by Anna Purdy...
http://www.theind.com/arts-a-entertainment/86-aae/9651-lives-of-the-saints-performance-in-january
(note: it was here that it was mentioned - there would be an Opening Night Dinner & Theatre with Bonnie Bell, as the restaurant sponsor & at Closing Night there would be Dessert & Theatre with Carpe Diem Gelato-Espresso Bar as another sponsor...my goodness such Yummy sponsors & neighbors downtown to have too?!)

Link to our local The Advertiser article about the play...
http://www.theadvertiser.com/article/20120119/ACADIANA/120119003/Acting-Unlimited-Inc-presents-David-Ives-Lives-of-the-Saints

Link to where it was available on EventBrite.com...
http://lives.eventbrite.com/
Link to where it was also availabe on Zvents.com...
http://www.zvents.com/z/lafayette_la/aui-presents-david-ives-lives-of-the-saints--events--233302465
(note: Now I'm torn on which online event/'vent place to go for tickets if I just don't drive down there...It looks as if they both just copied the postcard/handout - except someone at EventBrite & also at Zvents - curious that - mispelled 'wee' as 'twee' so that was kinda of comic to go along with all the rest of the fun...best go back & check my spelling now or I'll be adding to even more besides the point fun...And I just went to buy a ticket during the day as I was running downtown for AcA volunteering & just happened by next door for an espresso at Carpe Diem Gelato-Espresso Bar...yeah--just happened, that's right...)

Link to a May of last year review, now that was obvious--by the month alone...after the Feb review above...succinctly just called "Theatre Review" by Roy Giles...
http://www.arcadiamagazine.org/lives-of-the-saints-by-david-ives-ghostlight-theatre.html
(note: here he's repeated some of the fun lines in the one-act Soap Opera, between the washing machine goddess or 'White' - I didn't catch her name in the play - & the repairman...)

Link to article in Uncovering Oklahoma - Lives of the Saints Q&A - only this time with a director from Ghostlight Theatre Club's production of  The Lives of the Saints...
http://www.uncoveringoklahoma.com/2011/05/lives-of-the-saints-qa/
(note: I especially liked the photos included--it was interesting to see the 'boulder' for Babel's in Arms was a huge chunk of styrofoam in their version & the stoneman a woman...Oh the fun to produce a play?!)

Link to Berkshire on Stage - Mill City Productions staging of 4 of David Ives One-Act plays - one of which is The Lives of the Saints & a photo of him/the playwright - like their play of  words too: "Four One Act Plays--The Ives Have It"...
http://berkshireonstage.com/2010/08/06/mill-city-productions-to-stage-four-one-act-plays-by-david-ives/
(note: at the bottom, something else blew me away--the Cisco ad/vid for their Unified Data Center...I love it--the motion/the words/the music/the digital stream looking like water drops...all of this & more, it must of won a prize--it's a Winner?! but then I have ADDY's on my mind of late, here in Lafayette, now I find myself wanting to know more of Who Created This Thing of Beautiful Advertising - again, I may repeat, it's why I wanted to major in Marketing to get to Advertising to be anywhere near Creators of stuff like 'This' ad?! Link to where you can watch too... from Twitter: bit.ly/yCR4IR or find it on YouTube - am having trouble finding that link, so later, since it's beside the point... )

 ...

Sunday, January 15, 2012

A Bed of Plastic - made with "plyarn"

Bed Bag Mats
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a bed of plastic
made of  'plastic' 'yarn' = 'plyarn'

Originators of Bag Mats...
www.peopleablaze.org

But they're making 'em here - for one place at Grace Presbyterian Church in Lafayette, LA?!
Also if I'm to understand it correctly, not only are folks making them at home & bringing them in but so are other area churches--so they can be shipped in containers together to - for one - Mission place in Haiti...

Where did I find out about such a thing going on? in the local newspaper calendar & today I just showed up to help...

Come to find out it's been going on since like 2010 at the church center on Every 2nd Saturday of the month, just like Art Walk is downtown (so today I was there from 9 - 2 & then to ArtWalk from 6 - 8)

There are many steps to making 1 bag/bed mat & a lot of hours to get 1 done...



 
Step 1: you get (a lot of) recycled plastic bags from local shops or grocery stores or from folks donating them - there's a box at the church too...










And next you flatten them...try as best you can to get them as flat as new at the shop...

also Trick 1: Snap the handle to the bottom on both sides, so those tricky folds go in to lay flat...






a sample mat done, you can see all the colors - it's more fun to work with & am guessing to own too if you can have different colored bags to use when making them (it's the little things right...like after a soft place to sleep off the dirt?!)





just like the quilters do, you have a cutting board & you use a rolling cutter to cut up loops from the flattened bags - the bottom seam & the top handles are cut off to recyle...



from the loops cut you put them together - as our instruction said, as if they were rubber bands (which oddly enough I'd done before - or maybe not if you've worked in an office or had rubber bands at home, even without boys in the house...) - until you have a very long continuous taunt chain (no puckers in the middle of any links, per a crochet lady--as I'm not, so was good to hear I was doing it right so she wouldn't have to take anything apart while in the middle of crocheting later...)



compare...mine is below, one made today above - keep 'em loose is another trick tip...
& again to make it more interesting for everyone it's fun to alternative 'colors'...






these were the neatest/prettiest bag of 'plyarn' balls that anyone had made all day, a lady brought them in from home & I told the first crochet-er to come in that she should for sure take those best ones home to use...(I can only aspire, but then again--me day one & her ?? day 2 or 3 yrs for all I know?!)


I didn't catch anyone crocheting today, so took a close up of one of the finished mats to see these 'stitches' or 'loops' made on a really big fat blue crochet hook - size? massive!

There were instructions given out to continue on to crocheting, but it's all Goobley Gook to me to try to figure out--Yes, I am 'crafty challenged' & especially if there's 'counting' to be done, as in consistantly...



another example of a completed rolled up bag/bed mat - with a handle at one end, made from scraps or from the ones I saw clear bags...it's all very light weight & washable - only not so 'non' flamable (cause they're all plastic?!)

Every one they're making are suppose to be 6 ft long & 3 ft wide, or was that 4 ft wide...I was just thinking if you were a large person would you fit, but I'm guessing you'd mostly fit & no worse than some of the camping pads I've bought when young-er to go camp out in the woods/mountains (occassionally rain) in a tent & sleep on somewhat comfortably (but then I've been terribly spoiled by real beds & mattresses right?!)

500 or 700...

I asked how many bags?
At least 500 or more, like who's (who would) counting...

35, 36, 37, 38...

I asked how long a whole mat takes to make?
A day or day & half - or something like 35 or more hours...
Oh my--I will prob never make one, the crochet stitches I saw one lady showing another looked like a 'magic trick' so a better lady than I can have at that step (I'll continue flattening bags of putting loops together in fun colors to make a ball?!)

Also on the instruction sheet--Links to 2 videos...

1) Video for How To...

2) You Tube - Bag Mats - for Another How To, but the sice is different on the loops I'm reading - theirs at 2 1/2 inches & ours at 4 inches...

Link to 17 min tutorial (wow - she used scissors?! & she made a 17 minute video...)

Link to a 5 min How To...
(she says it takes 500 - 700 bags, has anyone counted how many loops? if each bag I guess makes at least 4 loops on average? Oh nevermind--I'm not doing anymore counting?! but thankfully the crocheting lady that happened to come in today says she doesn't count, she just measures what she's working on & they seem to come out fine - so that would be me, if/If I were to happen to start crocheting...)

Link to a 8 min How To - that shows a group of ladies working...
(she spells it 'plarn')

Note: I see mention of  'milk bag' mats too, but we're using grocery bags/sacks - I don't really know what they're talking about when they say 'milk bags' - maybe a 'bread bag' but 'milk'?!

Link to Fox15 News article about the Bag Mat Ministry...

Link to article from The Iberian - helping 'mat-ters'...
(note: like that, as it does 'matter' - nice play on mat & matters & mat?!)

Link to 99.9 KTDY mention of--along w/plastic grocery bag photo...
http://999ktdy.com/ktdy-covers-acadiana-january-2012/

Link to The Advertiser Calendar of Events - Janurary 2012...

Plus it's on Instructables.com - How to make Plastic Bag Yarn...
(note: this became my favorite How To website after I had to remember how to make a Pinata from scratch while living in Norway--saved me, we made some for a Red Crossing project...No, you couldn't buy them off the shelf like you can here at say Target - you could order them/ship them for a lot of money, so we chose to make them from scratch...& I found instructions on where else but 'instructables?!')



 
the man behind the mission in Haiti w/LA Nat'l Guard...
(photo credit: from May 2011--see link below...)

Link to some more about Fr Glenn Meaux & the Haiti Mission--from 2010 to 2011...
http://solthaitimission.org/index.cfm?load=page&page=30
(note: says here he's from Abbeville, LA...at church also overheard he doesn't have a Parish, am guessing that's because he's in Haiti all the time?!)

Misc/Random Find...

Twitter note: mine, if I Google this subject my Tweet today shows up on page two--already...curious to see that, really just made me stop & think about what I'm sending off on Twitter or FourSquare...hmmm...weird feelings, but someone would have to be searching for just that...hmmm...nevermind--it's all good, it's a Do Good project, really--even before this past Christmastime local one & it continues & has been for years...

Other Notes...

Not only are they making these stateside, but they're making them also in the countries where they are needed--if there are plastic bags to be had...there was mention of 1 orphanage that's making them to sell to raise money for their school--rather than just giving them away, like the church missions are...

So many groups are involved in this, I never knew...locally there are schools & boy scouts, girl scouts, kids looking for community projects or volunteering...volunteers or church ladies/men--there was a man doing a lot of cutting today, plus a group of kids who were doing bag flattening & putting loops together (which is where I am--baby steps?!)

#Do Good