Pause to Enjoy Random Acts of Culture

Hi, Everyone,

Thanks to Pearl's husband, we have performances of the Opera Company of Philadelphia to enjoy.  Relax during this hectic time and let the music wash over you for a few quiet minutes.

Pearl writes, "I thought you might enjoy two pieces David found from Philadelphia YouTubelore -- the Opera Company of Philadelphia has a grant from the Knight Foundation to commit "random acts of culture". 

They've done the Brindisi chorus from La Traviata in Reading Terminal (on Italian festival Day), and just recently did the Hallelujah Chorus (650 voices) in Macy's Great Hall (the old Wanamaker Organ as accompaniment). .

The Messiah piece has nearly 6,000,000 hits."

The links are below

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zmwRitYO3w&feature=player_profilepage


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wp_RHnQ-jgU&feature=player_embedded

ENJOY!

Thanks, Pearl and David too!

Reminders of the Season

Take time to enjoy the season by viewing the beautiful Christmas card forwarded to us by Barb R. and created by Jacquie Lawson.

Your children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, family and friends should find it rewarding.


Click on this link:


http://www.jacquielawson.com/viewcard.asp?code=2007134554829&source=jl999

Thanks, Barb!  It's well worth the 'click'.

For more ecards by Jacquie Lawson, go to http://www.jacquilawson.com/ and join.







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Put a Good Novel on Your Holiday Gift List

Many of you may have read Girl With A Pearl Earring or seen the Oscar-nominated  film based on Tracy Chevalier's historical novel (Dutton, 1999).

Chevalier has written a total of 6 historical novels with Remarkable Creatures (Harper Collins 2009) the most recent.

Thanks to Pearl, we have a review of Remarkable Creatures to share.

Pearl recounts her recent attendance at a talk given by Chevalier.

She says, "I had the pleasure of hearing Tracy Chevalier talk about the research she does for her books. Besides the library research on Mary Anning ,she went fossil hunting multiple times to gain an awareness of the coast, the cold and the concentration fossil hunting took. There actually exists a small museum of Mary Anning's finds.

The book is about poor and uneducated Mary Anning, who really did exist, and her ability to find fossils on the English coast.

Of course the male academic community did not recognize her. The fictionalized character, Elizabeth Pilpot, from the middle-class brings notice of Mary to the London academic community.

The book has wonderful descriptions of the class structure in Britain and the fear of finding evidence of new creatures. It is a quick and enjoyable read.
Hope you enjoy the book,"

(Thanks, Pearl.  for sending us this review.)

For those who have enjoyed one of Tracy Chevalier's historical novels or who are choosing one for the first time, there are 4 others among of her literary achievements:

The Virgin Blue(Plume, 1997)
Falling Angels (Dutton, 2001)
The Lady and the Unicorn(Dutton Adult,  2003)
 Burning Bright (Harper Collins,2007)

You Locked Your Car, Right? Well, Maybe Not. A New Scam

I always use the keychain remote to lock my car.  Smart, right?  Maybe not!

How to lock your car and why!

Please forward this important information
to everyone in your address book!

I locked my car. As I walked away I heard my car unlock. I went back and locked my car again three times.
Each time, as soon as I started to walk away, I would hear it unlock again! Naturally alarmed, I looked around and there were two guys sitting in a car in the fire lane next to the store.They were obviously watching me intently, and there was no doubt they were somehow involved in this very weird situation.

I quickly chucked the errand I was on, jumped in my car and sped away.

I went straight to the police station, told them what had happened, and found out I was part of a new, and very successful, scheme being used to gain entry into cars.

Two weeks later, my friend's son had a similar happen.
While traveling, my friend's son stopped at a roadside rest to use the bathroom. When he came out to his car less than 4-5 minutes later, someone had gotten into his car and stolen his cell phone, laptop computer, GPS
navigator, briefcase .... you name it.

He called the police and since there were no signs of his car being broken into, the police told him he had been a victim of the latest robbery tactic -- there is a device that robbers are using now to clone your security
code when you lock your doors on your car using your key-chain locking device.

They sit a distance away and watch for their next victim. They know you are going inside of the store, restaurant, or bathroom and that they now have a few minutes to steal and run.

The police officer said to manually lock your car door-by hitting the lock button inside the car -- that way if there is someone sitting in a parking lot watching for their next victim, it will not be you.

When you hit the lock button on your car upon exiting, it does not send the security code, but if you walk away and use the door lock on your key chain, it sends the code through the airwaves where it can be instantly stolen.

This is very real. Be wisely aware of what you just read and please pass this note on.

Look how many times we all lock our doors with our remote just to be sure we remembered to lock them -- and bingo, someone has our code...and whatever was in our car.

Please share with everyone you know! Thanks to Barb R. for sending this.

A Special Read: DWELLING IN POSSIBILITIES

Our own Barbara Grippe Reese and Edinboro resident Barbara Tan Reinig have had their poetry published in a new collection of Erie County voices.  The collection has been edited by Berywn Moore who is Erie County's first Poet Laureate.

The collection has been published by Gannon University Press as Dwelling in Possibilities:  Voices of Erie County.  The new release is a collection of art work, photography and poetry by residents of Erie County, and Barbara Grippe Reese's "Raspberry Reflections" is a very special read.

The book  is available for $7.00 at the Erie Book Store or at the Gannon University Bookstore. 

Of the purchase price, $2.00 from each $7.00 price will be donated to "Hooked on Books."  Those of us who have been Delta Kappa Gamma members will recall that Dr. Delores Serafinski started the program for Erie area children approximately 2 decades ago.

A perfect way to wind down the summer!  Pick up a copy of Dwelling in Possibilities: Voices of Erie County.

 

Thanks to Barbara for sharing her writing talent with us.

Protecting Ourselves So That We Can Protect Our Loved Ones

None of us like to think that people might harm us or our families.  But, of course, we know they're out there.  A policeman has put together some hints to help us remain safe so that we can protect the people we love.

Subject: Sent by a cop.....Crucial

Because of recent abductions
In daylight hours, refresh yourself
of these things to do
in an emergency situation.....

This is for you,
and for you to share
with your relatives,
your children,
everyone you know.

After reading these 10 crucial tips,
forward them to someone you care about.

It never hurts to be careful
in this crazy world we live in.

1. Tip from Tae Kwon Do :

The elbow is the strongest point
on your body.
If you are close enough to use it, do!

2. Learned this from a tourist guide.

If a robber asks for your wallet and/or purse,
DO NOT HAND IT TO HIM.
Toss it away from you.....
Chances are that he is more interested
in your wallet and/or purse than you,
and he will go for the wallet/purse.
RUN LIKE MAD IN THE OTHER DIRECTION!

3. If you are ever thrown into the trunk of a car,
kick out the back tail lights and stick your arm out the hole
and start waving like crazy..
The driver won't see you, but everybody else will.
This has saved lives.

4. Women have a tendency to get into their cars
after shopping, eating, working, etc., and just sit
(doing their checkbook, or making a list, etc.
DON'T DO THIS!)

The predator will be watching you, and this
is the perfect opportunity for him to get in
on the passenger side, put a gun to your head,
and tell you where to go.

AS SOON AS YOU GET INTO YOUR CAR ,
LOCK THE DOORS AND LEAVE..

If someone
is in the car
with a gun
to your head
DO NOT DRIVE OFF,
Repeat:
DO NOT DRIVE OFF!
Instead gun the engine
and speed into anything, wrecking the car.

Your Air Bag will save you.
If the person is in the back seat
they will get the worst of it .
As soon as the car crashes
bail out and run.

It is better than having them find your body
in a remote location.

5. A few notes about getting
into your car in a parking lot,
or parking garage:

A.) Be aware:
look around you,
look into your car,
at the passenger side floor ,
and in the back seat

B.) If you are parked next to a big van,
enter your car from the passenger door.
Most serial killers attack their victims
by pulling them into their vans while the women
are attempting to get into their cars.

C.) Look at the car
parked on the driver's side of your vehicle,
and the passenger side... If a male is sitting alone
in the seat nearest your car, you may want to walk back
into the mall, or work, and get a
guard/policeman to walk you back out.

IT IS ALWAYS BETTER TO BE SAFE THAN SORRY. (And better paranoid than dead..)

6. ALWAYS take the elevator
instead of the stairs.
Stairwells are horrible places to be alone
and the perfect crime spot.
This is especially true at NIGHT!)

7. If the predator has a gun
and you are not under his control,
ALWAYS RUN!
The predator will only hit you (a running target)
4 in 100 times; and even then,
it most likely WILL NOT be a vital organ.
RUN, Preferably in a zig -zag pattern!

8. As women, we are always trying
to be sympathetic:
STOP
It may get you raped, or killed.
Ted Bundy, the serial killer, was a good-looking,
well educated man, who ALWAYS played
on the sympathies of unsuspecting women.
He walked with a cane, or a limp, and often
asked 'for help' into his vehicle or with his vehicle,
which is when he abducted
his next victim.

9. Another Safety Point:

Someone just told me that her friend heard
a crying baby on her porch the night before last,
and she called the police because it was late
and she thought it was weird.. The police told her
'Whatever you do, DO NOT
open the door..'

The lady then said that it sounded like the baby
had crawled near a window, and she was worried
that it would crawl to the street and get run over.
The policeman said, 'We already have a unit on the way,
whatever you do, DO NOT open the door..'

He told her that they think a serial killer
has a baby's cry recorded and uses it to coax
women out of their homes thinking that someone
dropped off a baby.. He said they have not verified it,
but have had several calls by women saying that
they hear baby's cries outside their doors
when they're home alone at night.
10. Water scam!
If you wake up in the middle
of the night to hear all your taps outside running or what you think is a
burst pipe, DO NOT GO OUT TO INVESTIGATE! These people turn on all your
outside taps full ball so that you will go out to investigate and
then attack.

Stay alert, keep safe, and look out for your neighbours!

NOTE:  Please pass this on

This e-mail should probably be taken seriously because
the Crying Baby Theory was mentioned on
America 's Most Wanted when they profiled
the serial killer in Louisiana .

I'd like you to forward this to all the women you know..
It may save a life. A candle is not dimmed by lighting another candle..
I was going to send this to the ladies only,
but guys, if you love your mothers, wives, sisters, daughters, etc.,
you may want to pass it onto them, as well.

Send this to any woman you know that may need
to be reminded that the world we live in has a lot of crazies in it
and it's better to be safe than sorry..

Everyone should take 5 minutes to read this. It may save your life or love one's life

(Thanks to Joan H. for sending this to us.)

Remembering the 50's: Music, Politics, History, Fashion, Cars: All That You (or your children) May Want to Know About That Memorable Time

The link below goes to a video created  by OldBlueWebDesigns.com.  Joan H. sent it to us for those of us who remember growing up in the 50's and for those of us whose parents did.  The music speaks to everyone who knows where Rock 'n Roll really started and the famous musicians who were part of that time.  Will your grandchildren believe those poodle skirts?  How about the cars from that era?

Check it out.  Thanks, Joan!

http://oldfortyfives.com/TakeMeBackToTheFifties.htm 

Please note:  It's illegal to show this video on a website, but it is legal to send the original website address to others so that they may enjoy it.

*Most of the pictures on postings are from Microsoft Clips OnLine, but the jukebox photo is Fotofilia.  That is, except the ones accompanying the blog title-those are from friends and family.