PERFORMANCE/TOUR: Bernadette Peters at the Valley Arts Center
Posted: March 10, 2012 at 8:49 am
There are singers and there are actresses; there are entertainers and there are stars. And then, there is Bernadette Peters. On Saturday night, the nonpareil Broadway artist turned the Valley Performing Arts Center into her own personal salon, with magical results.
From first entrance in a glittering lilac gown that looked as if she'd been poured into it, the diminutive Peters held the capacity crowd in thrall. Launching a jazzy Let Me Entertain You" with an insinuating focus toward the front row, Peters moved on to No One Is Alone" from Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods," and her delicately inward intensity hushed the house. Thereafter, she could do no wrong.
Visually, Peters has vaulted time with decades to spareher physical maneuvers atop musical director Marvin Laird's piano during Fever" were especially deliciousand her comic skills are undiminished, as when selling There Is Nothing Like a Dame" to the men on the aisle. Vocally, the ineluctable timbre remains essentially intact, any loss of belting power or metrical freedom trumped by a near-legit purity in her upper register and a still potent ability to locate a song's emotional content.
Musical theater material dominated the program, interspersed with delightfully spontaneous patter and gracious introductions of each member of the ace on-stage orchestra, including former Mouseketeer Cubby O'Brien. Her charming Mister Snow" from Carousel" and heart-stopping Some Enchanted Evening" from South Pacific" (both Rodgers and Hammerstein) were representative poles of Peters' art, but most of the program went to Sondheim, whose songs Peters has few peers at interpreting. Acknowledging her recently ended turn in the Broadway revival of Follies" (which is headed to L.A. minus Peters), she delivered In Buddy's Eyes" and an astonishingly intense Losing My Mind" with indelible character truth.
And her penultimate Being Alive" and exquisitely intimate Goodbye for Now" conveyed the axiomatic, one-on-one communication with an audience that defines a great dramatic chanteuse, and that certainly describes Bernadette Peters.
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PERFORMANCE/TOUR: Bernadette Peters at the Valley Arts Center
Jinny Ditzler: Personal Transformation: What's Motivating You?
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There's so much negativity flying around these days it's understandable and perhaps pardonable that even you get caught in its grasp. When it takes over, we quickly forget our worthwhile and meaningful motivations, and before we know it become part of the problem.
For example, the number of people involved in the blame game has reached astronomical levels. I can't believe what's happening between our leaders and would-be leaders! Few have much to contribute other than their latest sound bite about what's wrong with their opponents. Others jump on the bandwagon and start pointing fingers at them in print, on television and radio -- what a performance, Mr. Limbaugh!
But wait, what did I just do there? Wake up, Jinny: Is your true motivation to use this post to make others wrong and blame them? It sure looks like it, doesn't it? See how easy it is? Worse yet, I've just become part of the problem by adding to the poison that's pervading an environment in which too many good folks are already stressed, frustrated, unhappy, anxious, and afraid.
Becoming Aware of the Biggest Negative Motivations
Being a good human being -- the one you long to be -- seems to be getting harder and harder. You start the day with the best of intentions, and before you know it one of the tempting and destructive negative drivers has taken over:
I could go on, but you get the idea and probably have others to add to the list. I'm so disappointed in myself when I fail to catch myself in time. When I finally do -- maybe in retrospect, hours later -- I realize I've hurt someone, added to their burden, made them miserable, and increased their stress.
What's Possible?
Although I still fall into the pit too often, I'm starting to feel a sense of mastery over this costly, costly behavior. It is possible to gain control of our days and our destinies in ways beyond our ability to imagine.
I'm too embarrassed to tell you the pain I've caused others by forgetting who I am and what I'm here for. However, I will tell you that I'm learning. The results are making a positive impact on the difference I'm making to others and in the quality of my life.
I'm finding out that it's possible to step out of the rut of being right and to break the habits of a lifetime of being asleep at the switch and being part of the problem. This article is the first in a series about personal transformation, in which I'll be sharing what I've learned (and am trying to learn) about being more of the person that I know myself to be.
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Jinny Ditzler: Personal Transformation: What's Motivating You?
Champion helps launch NHS urine sampling device
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Peezy's Giovanna Forte says even random personal connections can make the difference between success and failure for innovative businesses
Two chance conversations ten years apart has led one business to launch an NHS approved device that will save women from the ignominy of weeing on their hands when providing urine samples.
London-based Peezy began selling its sampling system directly to NHS hospitals and GPs on March 1 after more than three years of trying.
Giovanna Forte, Peezys managing director, said her break came from meeting an adviser in 2001 and then bumping into her again at a trade show in Germany.
She (SNP: ^SHEY - news) recalls: Ten years ago I met through Business Link someone called Margaret Parton, who said this idea needs developing, do it. So I did and then I went to Medica (Frankfurt: A0REC2 - news) in 2010 and went to the UK Trade & Investment stand in Dsseldorf and she was there.
She said, 'What does it look like? Oh, its so beautiful. The people you need to talk to at the Department of Health (Euronext: IXSHL.NX - news) and in the supply chain, here are the five names.
I said 'I have been trying to contact those five names for two years. And she said, 'Its Friday now, call them after Tuesday. Low and behold it worked. Its all about finding a champion. It took her three phone calls to change the whole future of our business.
The power of personal connections was also evident for Peezys fund-raising, which has just closed at 1m twice the amount Ms Forte was seeking and attracting two Premiership footballers among her 48 shareholders.
My ex-boyfriends, ex-girlfriend introduced me to someone in the City who has single-handedly attracted the angel investors, Ms Forte said.
In total she has raised 2m to bring the device, invented by her GP brother Vincent in 2000, to market. During the first five years, Ms Forte explored the idea in her spare time, but has focused on the project since 2005.
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Champion helps launch NHS urine sampling device
Kids Educational Videos – Up In The Sky – Video
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What is Grovo? – Video
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What is Grovo? - Video
Online English Lesson (Intermediate) – Video
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Online English Lesson (Intermediate) - Video
UM speaker: Educators must understand emerging technology
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When it comes to online education, Dorothy said it best in The Wizard of Oz.
Were not in Kansas anymore, said Rick Hughes, director of the University of Montanas media arts program and academic affairs for online learning. This is a new world. So lets understand it.
Online learning is here to stay. That was the message driven home to more than 150 online educators from across the Montana University System who attended a two-day conference on online education at UM. The fourth annual Extended Learning Institute wrapped up Friday afternoon.
No longer is it acceptable for faculty at a public doctoral research university to say, Sorry, but thats not how I do things, Hughes said. Rather, he said, faculty members should ask how they can create the best learning experience for students.
We need to do better about adapting to emerging technology, he said.
Professors can force students to come to class at 9 a.m., but some students may be asleep at the back of the classroom and the teacher is forced to cajole them into participating.
On the other hand, professors can create an online dialogue and speak with students in the ways that they frequently communicate. That way, students can provide feedback or submit critiques in their optimal learning environment and at a time when they are most alert.
Why force these kids to be in class when they wont get anything out of it? Hughes said.
Whats not happening in online education anymore is having a professor record a lecture and post it online. That is not engaging, Hughes said. Universities need to move away from simply uploading a syllabus. And teachers who still have classroom lectures should start to think about incorporating more online components into their presentations.
The conference encouraged faculty to make a movie using illustrations and graphics and create an online learning environment that will maximize a students learning potential.
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UM speaker: Educators must understand emerging technology
3.1.3 Life Coaching Course; History of NLP – Video
Posted: March 9, 2012 at 9:43 pm
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3.1.3 Life Coaching Course; History of NLP - Video
Life Coaching with Dr. Henry Cloud – Video
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Life Coaching with Dr. Henry Cloud - Video
Free financial aid workshops to be held in Swampscott
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Jim Femia, a certified college planning specialist with the National Institute of Certified College Planners, will be conducting a series of free educational workshops to parents of local area high school students interested in learning more about the college admissions process and how to access financial aid. The sessions will be held at the Swampscott Public Library on Monday evening, March 12; at the Abbot Public Library on Tuesday evening, March 13; and at the Salem Police Department on Thursday, March 15. All of these workshops are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m., and reservations are required.
Femia has recently joined CollegeBound Coaching as a principal and as a financial-aid consultant. CollegeBound Coaching is a North Shore consulting firm, which provides college preparation and admissions services based upon a new and innovative student life coaching methodology.
CollegeBound Coaching has also recently launched a new and innovative, personalized college-visit service called Campus Connections. CollegeBound Coaching and Campus Connections are currently hiring and training college students on campuses across the country to assist its professional staff in working with high school students and their families.
I am excited to be working with CollegeBound Coaching so as to be able to deliver the highest level of college preparation and admissions services, said Femia. Having a daughter in college myself and a son who will soon be engaging in the college admissions process, I am keenly aware of the many challenges and stresses that other parents are facing. Through our network of qualified, professional partners and carefully selected, well-trained college students, we are able to provide real solutions to meet the specific needs of these families.
Femia will address a number of compelling areas, which are likely to be of significant interest to parents with children in high school who are going to be applying to college.
Many families inaccurately believe that they are ineligible for financial aid, Femia explained, whereas others, many of them middle class and upper middle-class, pay close to nothing for their childrens college educations. I am going to explain how to position your eligibility status, and how best to position your children so as to take advantage of the many opportunities for financial aid which exist at colleges and universities across the country.
In order to reserve your seat at one of these upcoming financial aid workshops, you can either call 800-689-5195 or send e-mail to register@collegeboundcoaching.com.
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Free financial aid workshops to be held in Swampscott