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Garages gonna be repairing a lot of broken axles pic.twitter.com/SS3mZsCVe2
— Mike Garvey (@mpg167) November 11, 2023
Garages gonna be repairing a lot of broken axles pic.twitter.com/SS3mZsCVe2
— Mike Garvey (@mpg167) November 11, 2023
This week, for instance, my Peace Corps training roommate from 1966 in DeKalb, Illinois and his wife visitor and we're kept them busy understanding why we still live in Anchorage. But it's not like we haven't seen each other since 1966. We've been in each others lives as much as people separated by a six hour plane ride can be. But it's been a while since they've been in Anchorage. Their kids were just a bit older than their grandkids are now when they were last here.
Hamilton was the first time we've been to a big entertainment event since COVID restrictions. We've been to a few movies, but at times when we were the only ones, or almost the only ones, in the theater. We were all masked Tuesday as were some of the ushers and a small number of other patrons. But we learned a family member (out of town) just had COVID and a 50th wedding event in Anchorage was cancelled because two people had COVID. While I realize that for fully vaccinated people it's not likely to be fatal, a mask is still much less disruptive than being sick for a week.
I'd found the soundtrack of Hamilton at the Internet Archive and listened casually for the previous week on the assumption that musicals are more enjoyable if you know the music. And that rap is easier to understand if you hear it more than once and can read the lyrics.
The ADN had a letter this week noting that a number of Hamilton viewers said they sat next to someone who had memorized the Hamilton sound track and sang along with each song. One member of our group at one end sat next to such a person. As the ADN letter writer wrote, "We didn't pay to listen to you." Maybe they should have a sound proof section for those who want a sing-along experience. You know, like the churches that have glassed off space for people with crying babies.
But we did have a good time and enjoyed the spectacle. While there were four empty seats near us, the place was packed on a Tuesday night. (And I suspect the four empty seats were sold, but the people weren't able to attend.)
The Atwood holds 2056 people. Our seats were not the most expensive at a bit over $100 each. So, just to make the math easier, let's assume an average of
$100 per ticket X 2000 seats X 17 performances = $3,400,000.
So, 34,000 people will have spent $3.4 million for a couple of hours of entertainment in Anchorage. Most of that money, I assume, will go to the actors, stage people, and the touring company, and various ticket sales agencies. Not much of it will stay in Anchorage. Some of the people attending will go more than once. And some will be tourists, like our friends who were here from Chicago.
This was a bit disorienting because Cyrano's has moved from its long time downtown location to the old Out North location which also presented performing artists almost always with an LGBTQ link. I still think I'm at Out North, even though all the plays listed on the wall are Cyrano productions that were presented at the downtown location. It was sort of like being at a friend's house, except they've moved and another friend has moved in with all their furniture.
The play was a little silly - a British murder mystery romp with two actors playing six, maybe seven parts, including a werewolf and a mummy. The Dramaturg's* note in the program said, among other things:
"The script of The Mystery of Irma Web - A Penny Dreadful requires that both actors who are cast be the same sex and is a licensure requirement. Insead of two men, Director Krista M. Schwarting believed that two women could successfully accomplish the same goal."
She also mentioned that the play involves those two actors to make 35 costume changes.
The opening scene takes place in an English manor. For the second scene, the stage was transformed with folding doors into an Egyptian tomb.
While the play itself didn't hold much deep meaning for me, the two actors were excellent, deftly staying in accented character through all those costume changes.
*I didn't really know what a dramaturg was either. The program says she was professionally trained in Dramaturgy. Merriam Webster online says a Dramaturg is a specialist in Dramaturgy. And that Dramaturgy is:
"the art or technique of dramatic composition and theatrical representation"
"A dramaturge or dramaturg (from Ancient Greek δραματουργός dramatourgós) is a literary adviser or editor in a theatre, opera, or film company who researches, selects, adapts, edits, and interprets scripts, libretti, texts, and printed programmes (or helps others with these tasks), consults authors, and does public relations work.[1][2][3] Its modern-day function was originated by the innovations of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, an 18th-century German playwright, philosopher, and theatre theorist.[4]"
OK, so that's one post through the canal.
Back in May I described my itinerary - Chiangmai to Bangkok - 745 kilometers. I'm doing this on the bike trails of Anchorage. The original post gives a bit of background to this way of giving me a reason - beyond the sheer joy of being on a bike whizzing through the woods - for this technique. Knowing how many kilometers I have to cover gets me out on days my body would rather not. But once my feet are pushing pedals, I'm glad I'm out riding. There's also a map showing the distances between key points.
Kamphaengphet is kilometer 445, so I'm over half way. That's good, because biking season is also half over. ( I have an old bike with studded tires for winter, but I don't do long bike rides when there is snow and ice)
This stop is particularly special because I spent two years in Kamphaengphet teaching English as a Peace Corps volunteer in the late 1960s. Below are some pictures from that time - a world much more closely connected to the past than it's connected to the present.
These are from an album I put together while I was there. Black and white photos I could get developed at the local photographer shop. The place where people could get portraits done. But Kodak and Fuji slides had to be sent to Hong Kong or Australia to be developed. That was minimally a two week process. I think of my grandkids who probably don't even know about film and are used to seeing the picture the instant it's taken. (I checked with my oldest and she did not know.)
Today I did another 16.5 km so I'm on my way to Nakorn Sawan. This is the longer between stops and I remember the dusty red dirt road in the last three hours of my trips back from Bangkok. Lots of rice and mountains that looked like growths on the mostly flat landscape. I'd note that all these roads have long since been paved.
Note: Another big COVID increase today. Click COVID tab above for daily updates on state case counts |
“Racism is so American that when you protest it, people think you’re protesting America.”— romy🦋 (@romyreiner) July 2, 2020
"Late Wednesday (March 25), the U.S. Senate passed an emergency stimulus bill that includes $88 million for Peace Corps. The legislation now heads to the House of Representative for a vote expected Friday (March 27). That’s just the first step in a long-term effort to keep Peace Corps funding strong and support evacuees. That is why we are issuing a challenge to our community to send 100,000 messages to Congress. Learn more
Peace Corps volunteers come into country after learning the local language and training to improve their skills to do serious work in country. The 'victories' of volunteers are the people they help to improve their lives or the health of their communities or the economic strength of a community. The statistics are in the hearts of the people whose lives they touched, only occasionally being articulated."]
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Earthquake Simulation Room Cal Academy |
"Belden Place itself is a one-lane, one block long street running south from Pine Street to Bush Street, parallel to and in between Montgomery and Kearny streets, immediately south of the Bank of America tower. It is roughly between Chinatown and the Financial District.
In 1990, restaurateurs Olivier Azancot and Eric Klein opened Cafe Bastille, the mainstay that set the modern tone for the area. The French, Italian, and Catalan establishments are popular with locals, tourists, and office workers, and are generally considered on par with the city's best casual full-service European restaurants.[3] Notable restaurants in the alley itself include Sam's Grill, Cafe Bastille, Cafe Tiramisu, Plouf, B44, Belden Taverna, and Brindisi Cucina di Mare. Nearby are Café de la Presse (though modest and unassuming, a favorite hangout of the city's political and social elite) and Le Central. Also nearby are the Alliance Française, the French consulate, and the Notre-Dame-des-Victoires Church (where mass is still celebrated in French) and an affiliated elementary school. In the vicinity are several other restaurants, cafes, hotels and other French-related institutions along Bush Street and Claude Lane, another nearby alley.[2]"
"When the Palace Hotel opened its doors in 1875, the Garden Court was the carriage entrance to this grand hotel. A parade of famous guests visited San Francisco's Palace and stood in awe of its magnificence.P and I first met at Peace Corps training in DeKalb, Illinois in 1966. We don't see each other often, but it's great when we do.
In 1906, following the earthquake, the Palace closed its doors for the first restoration. Three years later, the carriage entrance was transformed and The Garden Court was unveiled. Since its debut in 1909, The Garden Court has been recognized as one of the world's most beautiful public spaces
With its incredible architecture, dome stained glass ceiling and Austrian crystal chandeliers, The Garden Court became the site for some of the nation's most prestigious events. In 1919, President Woodrow Wilson hosted two luncheons in support of the Versailles Treaty which ended World War I. In 1945, the official banquet honoring the opening session of the United Nations was held in The Garden Court."
"book of reportage but rather of mostly chronological impressions, of lessons learned over time. Although my understanding of China has deepened over twenty years, I can't pretend to be a "foreign expert," as my work permit alleged."My first choice as a Peace Corps volunteer was China - but there were no Peace Corps volunteers there until much, much later. Americans were not even allowed to travel there back then. Thailand was a much easier place to serve. Meyer falls in love with a Chinese woman which helped his Chinese greatly, I'm sure, and gave him continuing ties to China.
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See Note About the Cover Below* |
ABOUT ALL I KNEW ABOUT KESEY AT THAT POINT WAS THAT HE was a highly regarded 31-year-old novelist and in a lot of trouble over drugs. He wrote One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1962), which was made into a play in 1963, and Sometimes a Great Notion (1964). He was always included with Philip Roth and Joseph Heller and Bruce Jay Friedman and a couple of others as one of the young novelists who might go all the way. Then he was arrested twice for possession of marijuana, in April of 1965 and January of 1966, and fled to Mexico rather than risk a stiff sentence. It looked like as much as five years, as a second offender. One day I happened to get hold of some letters Kesey wrote from Mexico to his friend Larry McMurtry, who wrote Horseman, Pass By, from which the movie Hud was made. They were wild and ironic, written like a cross between William Burroughs and George Ade, telling of hideouts, disguises, paranoia, fleeing from cops, smoking joints and seeking satori in the Rat lands of Mexico. There was one passage written George Ade—fashion in the third person as a parody of what the straight world back there in the U.S.A. must think of him now:I think I gave the trainee his book back the next morning, so my abuse of power was short-lived. (Whoever I borrowed it from, thank you for having it and letting me read it.)
"In short, this young, handsome, successful, happily-married-three-lovely-children father was a fear-crazed dope fiend in flight to avoid prosecution on three felonies and god knows how many misdemeanors and seeking at the same time to sculpt a new satori from an old surf—in even shorter, mad as a hatter.
"Once an athlete so valued he had been given the job of calling signals from the line and risen into contention for the nationwide amateur wrestling crown, now he didn't know if he could do a dozen pushups. Once possessor of a phenomenal bank account and money waving from every hand, now it was all his poor wife could do to scrape together eight dollars to send as getaway money to Mexico. But a few years previous he had been listed in Who's Who and asked to speak at such auspicious gatherings as the Wellesley Club in Dah-la and now they wouldn't even allow him to speak at a VDC [Vietnam Day Committee] gathering. What was it that had brought a man so high of promise to so low a state in so short a time? Well, the answer can be found in just one short word, my friends, in just one all-well-used syllable:
"Dope!
"And while it may be claimed by some of the addled advocates of these chemicals that our hero is known to have indulged in drugs before his literary success, we must point out that there was evidence of his literary prowess well before the advent of the so-called psychedelic into his life but no evidence at all of any of the lunatic thinking that we find thereafter ! "
"President Trump has nominated Josephine "Jody" Olsen to become the next Peace Corps Director.
If confirmed by the Senate, Olsen would become the 20th person to lead the agency.Olsen served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Tunisia from 1966 - 1968 and was Togo Country Director from 1979 - 1981. She was nominated by President George W. Bush to serve as Deputy Director of the agency and later served as Acting Director.
“We applaud President Trump for nominating Dr. Jody Olsen to lead the Peace Corps,” said National Peace Corps Association President and CEO Glenn Blumhorst. “As a returned volunteer, country director, acting director for the agency—and highly engaged member in the Peace Corps community—Jody knows the Peace Corps experience and the people who have served as well as anyone. Jody's commitment to education and social work and her decades of leadership are a perfect match for a 21st-century Peace Corps poised to grow and improve. We encourage Chairman Corker and his Senate colleagues to move swiftly to confirm Jody as next director. America and the world need the Peace Corps now more than ever. We're excited Jody has the opportunity to lead it."
Click here to read the White House announcement on this nomination.
A co-founder of the NPCA affiliate Women of Peace Corps Legacy, Olsen was a featured contributor in the Winter 2017 issue of WorldView magazine, writing about the rise of women in leadership roles in the agency and in international development.
"Today 62 percent of Peace Corps’ 7,300 volunteers are women," Olsen wrote. "Over the years, each group of female volunteers has motivated the next group, and each generation to the next. This extraordinary group of approximately 125,000 females spanning 56 years of service are giving back to families, communities, states, and nations in ways not possible without the Peace Corps experience, one contribution at a time.
"Today, women’s roles are stronger than ever, particularly here in the United States. Is there a need for further attention of Peace Corps women on behalf of women and girls? Yes. The issues faced by women and girls still need our support…Some of the issues might look overwhelming, but the Peace Corps experience has taught us to work with whatever situation we find, a person, a family, or community."
Click here to see the list of all previous Peace Corps Directors."
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Felix Rivera at candidate forum March 2017 |
"Alexander Pechtold, who is the leader of the Democrats 66 (D66) party, arrived hand in hand with his party’s financial specialist, Wouter Koolmees, in support of Vernes-Sewratan and Sewratan-Vernes. “We think it is quite normal in the Netherlands to express who you are,” Pechtold said, according to People."Then lots of Dutch men posted pictures of themselves holding hands in support of the couple. One picture in the article shows a group of men who work at the Dutch embassy in London walking along the street holding hands.
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Fred Dyson Introducing Joe Miller 2010 |
"With the retirement of Congressman Sam Farr (D-CA) in January, and the defeat of Congressman Mike Honda (D-CA) on Tuesday night, just two RPCVs are left in Congress, the lowest level of representation in almost 40 years. More Peace Corps champions are needed—let's enlist them."
"In Thailand, the common name of the ceremony is Raek Na Khwan (แรกนาขวัญ) which literally means the "auspicious beginning of the rice growing season". The royal ceremony is called Phra Ratcha Phithi Charot Phra Nangkhan Raek Na Khwan (พระราชพิธีจรดพระนังคัลแรกนาขวัญ) which literally means the "royal ploughing ceremony marking the auspicious beginning of the rice growing season".[2]
This Raek Na Khwan ceremony is of Hindu origin. Thailand also observes another Buddhist ceremony called Phuetcha Mongkhon (พืชมงคล) which literally means "prosperity for plantation". The royal ceremony is called Phra Ratcha Phithi Phuetcha Mongkhon (พระราชพิธีพืชมงคล).[3] The official translation of Phuetcha Mongkhon is "Harvest Festival".[4]
King Mongkut combined both the Buddhist and Hindu ceremonies into a single royal ceremony called Phra Ratcha Phithi Phuetcha Mongkhon Charot Phra Nangkhan Raek Na Khwan (พระราชพิธีพืชมงคลจรดพระนังคัลแรกนาขวัญ). The Buddhist part is conducted in the Grand Palace first and is followed by the Hindu part held at Sanam Luang, Bangkok.[5]"