Thursday, October 20, 2011

Uncle Ruthie, and other Great Women

Hi.  I have to make do with Ruthie's event flyer as an attachment and our radio promo, below.  I've just opened pieces in a row by or about three extrordinary women, which moved me to join them with Ruthi's.  Most of you know who Marcy Winograd is and what she does, so will be delighted, but not surprised by her piece on Tuesdays action on the education front.  You may not know Grace Aaron, or if you know her will be surprised by the account of her and Ken's trip to New York.  For those who don't, Grace is the brilliant, forceful activist in Pacifica who, as Executive Director, literally saved the network, a couple of years ago, when it was on the edge of bankrupcy.  Here, she offers us a trip of beauty and fullfillment, and a wonderful poem.
Ed

 

Revised KPFK promo cart for October 22nd’s Children of All Ages Show

[Uncle Ruthie music in]

Hear Ye, Hear Ye, The Ash Grove present’s KPFK’s own Uncle Ruthie, with Polly Hall and Andrew Barkan,  a show for Children of All Ages,  Saturday, October 22nd, 3 to 5 PM,  Skylight Books, 1818 N. Vermont, right next to the Los Feliz Theater. 

Uncle Ruthie is the winner of the 2010 Children’s Music Network’s Magic Penny Award, while Polly & Andrew are brilliant new arrivals on the L.A.

children’s music scent

That’s Saturday afternoon, October 22nd, 3-5 pm, at Skylight Books, 1818 N. Vermont.  No charge, but donations for the KPFK fund drive,

will be appreciated.

[Uncle Ruthie music out]

 

Information available on www.kpfk.org or www.ashgrovemusic.com.  Or call 310-391-5794. 

 

KPFK is our proud, media sponsor.

* * *

From: pdla-bounces@svpal.org [mailto:pdla-bounces@svpal.org] On Behalf Of Marcy Winograd
Sent: Wednesday, October 19, 2011 2:12 PM
To: pdla@svpal.org
Subject: [PDLA] Hundreds March & A Dozen Camp Out in Front of LAUSD - A Middle of the Night Confrontation with Police


(photo by Myla Reson)

Thank you to all who came out to march with public school teachers and
OccupyLA yesterday, when we demanded LAUSD use its 55-million dollar
surplus to rehire 1200 laid-off teachers and hundreds of counselors, librarians,
library aides, nurses, and clerical staff.

About a dozen set up tents and camped outside of LAUSD's offices on
Beaudry in downtown LA.  Around 11 pm, when police were about to remove the tents,
#OccupyLAUSD called protestors at #OccupyLos Angeles.  About 100
#OccupyLA activists marched a mile up to Beaudry, in the darkness of
night, to stand in solidarity with the campers.  The tents stayed!

 We are witnessing the underfunding of our schools and overcrowding of classrooms,
(English and history have up to 43 students in a class), alongside the seizure of our public schools
by developer-funded corporate charters with unelected boards, cheating scandals, and union-busting. 

In fact, the court appointed Office of the Independent Monitor for the Modified Consent
Decree for LAUSD stated that children with disabilities are "significantly underrepresented"
at corporate charter schools.  Additionally, a comprehensive (2009) Center for Research
on Education Outcomes study at Stanford University revealed that 37% of charter schools
posted math gains significantly below students enrolled in public schools.

Enough!  Now LAUSD leadership wants to give corporate charters another 37 schools in the
next round of the Public Schools Choice initiative. Let successful teachers with proven
track records lead the reform efforts to create exciting project-based classrooms. Let our
schools serve the 99% of students, parents, and teachers, not the 1% of billionaires. Protect
and empower public education. 

In solidarity,

Marcy Winograd

(P.S. For more on the march, visit my facebook page or follow me on twitter: MarcyWinograd)


* * *

Hi!!
 
Well, we're back in L.A. and it's good to be home!  How different it is here!  Today it's cool and the sky is completely overcast.  But you can't see any sky.  It's all a bright grey.  So different from NY!  Here you don't see clouds as much and today the air is almost completely still .  L.A. is a city, but you see more cars than people.  In Manhattan -- WOW!!  PEOPLE!  All kinds.  People watching was so great!  Different types of bodies, different types of clothing.  Different ethnic mixes.  So many kind people who let us stay with them, helped us with our luggage up and down subway stairs, gave us directions patiently.  But that's true here, too.
 
NY was great!!  Lots of STYLE.  It seems like a lot more creativity in the shops, cute restaurants, architecture, etc.  Stainless steel very long tables, moss encrusted boulders in odd shapes creating a type of giant Japanese rock garden near the river, and an old, ugly building where they painted some of the windows a medium blue in a pleasing pattern that for about $200 reformulated ugly into great!  Apartments and lofts with lovely coved high ceilings, lots of molding and other intricate detail that add elegance to daily life.  And the fantastic iron and grill work, both old and new all over Manhattan.  An old castle on Long Island renovated with new ideas that somehow echoed the essence of the old.  For instance, a kitchen with modern mirrors covering every wall reminiscent of infinity mirrored rooms in 1700s France.  
 
There was also a lot of just plain ugly.  There was the crush of 34th Street with the excessive signage, the grunge of the East 100s, the seedy neighborhoods next to cute little houses and churches in Flushing and College Point that are in some sort of transition, the dreary working class areas you can see from the elevated, and so on.  But there are also beautiful pocket parks and wonderful churches.  The Highline was designed incredibly well, the Chelsea area by the River where you can walk and sit is all very aesthetically designed.  We saw some great little cafes in the West Village and spent time in some terrific libraries.  I thought, "I could live here."  There's also the wonderful architecture all over from those Europeans who brought so much grandeur and style.  I couldn't believe the magesty of St. John the Divine!!  And the whole upper west side is so hip and renovated!  Columbia Univ. has just taken over and made that area mini-college city.  
 
We walked through a park in Chinatown one Sunday  and there were several groups singing and playing different types of Chinese music.  And other groups of people playing cards and gambling.  Even though Southern California is 13% Asian, we rarely see that type of unself-conscious public display of culture.  What we see here is large festivals that are very staged and perfectly produced. 
 
We spent some time out on the south shore of Long Island.  How fantastically beautiful!  We were lucky that we got to see just enough rain to quench our parched west coast beings, but not enough to make us stay in.  The terrain is so lush and green.  You never get that in So Cal where there's lots of beauty, but most of it is from water that's  piped in or from the beauty of open desert or more verdant mountain areas.  In NY it's evident that it rains a lot and the plants love it!  In L.A. we hope it'll rain so that the brown grime on the shrubs and trees will wash off.  In NY everything looks washed and clean, although there's a lot of litter in Manhattan.  The country in western NJ was also very lush and beautiful but somehow a little more rural.  The forest there seemed more remote.  There were more tree branches and dried leaves on the ground, less landscaping, more random growth and different types of trees.  Long Island is more Monet, New Jersey more Winslow Homer.  The very best of Los Angeles is more like Maxfield Parish -- gorgeous, timeless and completely phoney and sentimental.  After many years I came to realize that the essence of Los Angeles culture is its syntheticness and insincerity.  Hollywood and all.  Make believe.  I came to peace with it and finally became an Angelino.  New York is real, authentic, and serious.  Los Angeles not so much.   
 
We walked and walked and walked some more.  It was great!  I just weighed myself this morning -- I only gained 1 1/2 lbs!  That's a miracle, considering the amount we ate!  The food was so good!
 
It was a lengthy trip but a great one.  It's been a long, long time that my mind was not preoccupied and I could just eat up the environment and the people.  A couple of days ago I picked up a book by Hemingway called "A Moveable Feast" about his early adult years in Paris.  Reading it on the plane was such a perfect ending to our trip.  NY is also a moveable feast!  
 
The sun's coming out!  95% of the time in L.A. clouds don't mean rain is coming. 
 
My dear friend Joyce just sent the poem below, which I also think is great!   
 
Love you all,
Grace
 
  
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Tuesday, October 18, 2011 8:34 PM
Subject: Fwd: I just liked this . . .

Wow, this is beautiful .  not too corny , is it ?    Maybe I am getting corny in my old age. 


Nah, it is all just really true. 

Begin forwarded message:

From: ann cole 

 
MAYA ANGELOU'S

BEST POEM EVER 


A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ... 

enough money within her control to move out 
and rent a place of her own, 
even if she never wants to or needs to... 
something perfect to wear if the employer, 
or date of her dreams wants to see her in an hour... 

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ... 

a youth she's content to leave behind.... 
a past juicy enough that she's looking forward to 
retelling it in her old age.... 
a set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill, and a black lace bra... 
one friend who always makes her laugh... and one who lets her cry.... 

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ........ 

a good piece of furniture not previously owned by anyone else in her family... 
eight matching plates, wine glasses with stems, 
and a recipe for a meal, 
that will make her guests feel honoured... 

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE .. 

a feeling of control over her destiny..... 
how to fall in love without losing herself.. 

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW... 

how to quit a job, 
break up with a lover, 
and confront a friend without; 
ruining the friendship.... 

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW.... 

when to try harder... and WHEN TO WALK AWAY... 

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW... 

that she can't change the length of her calves, 
the width of her hips, or the nature of her parents.. 
that her childhood may not have been perfect...but it's over... 

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW... 

what she would and wouldn't do for love or more..... 
how to live alone... even if she doesn't like it.... 

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW.. .. 

whom she can trust, 
whom she can't, 
and why she shouldn't take it personally... 

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW... 

where to go... 
be it to her best friend's kitchen table.. 
or a charming Inn in the woods... 
when her soul needs soothing... 

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW... 

What she can and can't accomplish in a day... 
a month...and a year... 




AND REMEMBER: 

GOOD FRIENDS ARE LIKE STARS. 

YOU DON'T ALWAYS SEE THEM, 

BUT YOU ALWAYS KNOW THEY ARE THERE!!!!!!


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