Turn Five

A K-12 Education Blog

Archive for February, 2010

27
Feb

Chingay in Singapore

The dream is always the same.  I am standing on a corner of a street that I don’t recognize.  There are no people, and no cars, but there is a strange sound from far off, a kind of muffled roar, the kind of stereotypical sound you hear in a dream sequence right before you hear a louder sound.  The louder sound is the roar, only louder because it is not muffled.  This is a crowd, crowd sounds in the street, in the empty street, and I understand that I am having a dream, but it doesn’t seem to matter too much to anyone else.  The street is suddenly populated, and I can see that I’m in a parade.

The dream doesn’t return, and there isn’t any kind of hint about a Chinese restaurant at the beginning of an evening in Singapore.  It would be a perfect place, however, to be right before Chingay, the big New Year’s festival in town.  This is one of those big street parties that everyone always talks about.  There are lots of floats, because that was really at the origins of the festival at the turn of the 20th century, with paper dragons, and lots of fireworks.  The fireworks have been an on-again off-again part of the week, with concerns about the crowds.

Today, this celebration of Chinese New Year has all the makings of a waking dream.  There are spectacular things to see, and some of them are as colorful as anything that animation can do.  These are the big moments when people come together to make a metaphorical celebration of life, and the cycles of time, paying honor to the way the big wheel turns.  We prepare for another year, shedding the skin of the last year and wondering about the future.  Our metaphorical celebrations would have to be similar to dreams, because they come from the same place.

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posted by Aisha in Arts & Culture,Entertainment,History,Travel and have No Comments
26
Feb

Richard Shaw Exhibit at Sonoma County Museum in Santa Rosa

The Sonoma County Museum is just one of the great cultural attractions that is found in the city of Santa Rosa, California. It is located on 7th Street and is just a short walk from the Historic Railroad Square and the downtown area. It continues to maintain its strong mission centered on celebrating the Sonoma region’s rich artistic and cultural history and serves as an inspirational gathering space to display, educate and engage its visitors. In addition, the museum can be rented out for private parties, business meetings and other special events. This is great to know for people who are planning to be in town for these occasions and that happens to be you the reader, you can get information here about places to stay.

Richard Shaw is one of the artists who is currently being displayed by the museum. His exhibit Four Decades of Ceramics is demonstrates his amazing ability to turn porcelain into a wide variety of objects and he is one of the leading artists of the tromp l’oeil ceramics genre. He has lived in Marin County for a number of years and his artistic style has been associated with the Bay Area Funk, which is a movement focused on a general irreverent and sometimes even surreal assemblage of seeming random objects from everyday life.

He has been intricately connected to the Bay Area art and culture scene and has also been a long time collaborator with Robert Hudson. He has also worked with other prominent Bay Area artists. The exhibit at the Santa Rosa Museum contains approximately 40 pieces from the 1960s through to the present. This exhibit opened in January and will remain at the museum through late May. Other exhibits currently being displayed by the museum include Paintings by Martha Shaw and Fiber Art by Adela Akers. You can contact the museum for hours and other information.

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posted by Aisha in Travel and have No Comments
25
Feb

Singapore Pepper

It was a dream that brought me here, and a dream that’s convinced me to stay.  Sometimes there’s no more than an occasional blast of lightning in the middle of the darkest forest on the darkest night.  It’s just enough illumination to tell you that you’re on the way, but not enough to know where it’s going.  There’s just a hint in you that this is the right thing, and it’s matched by a few fleeting signs.  Some are enough to remain convinced, and this particular flash of lightning was a dream where there was a woman with fire in her tongue, and her hands were open, revealing a small scar between the finger and the thumb on the left hand.

I’ve spent the entire trip, then, just following signs, moving here and there throughout the city, wondering what might happen if I decide to act on a sense of direction that seems to be always shifting.  But there are plenty of moments that also tell me this is leading somewhere, and that’s the case today.  This Italian restaurant is one of those dream places at the edges of the world, where you can apparently, have anything you want.  The food is splendid and there’s something to go on every part of the tongue, and in unusual combination, along with coffees and liqueurs.

As I’m eating, there’s a very strange sense that time is starting to spin in all directions, and I’m not sure why this is happening, or even if it’s important.  But there’s a sense that time is spinning backwards and now forwards, and suddenly it slows.  There is a moment when I am sitting, and my mouth is full of salt and sweet.  The table next to me is moving.  A woman coughing.  She holds up her hand to stop the waiter.  She is not choking.  Her mouth is burning from a pepper.  She is fine.  She holds her hand to stop him.  She has a scar between her thumb and finger.  It is on her right hand, however.  This might not be her.  I better check.

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posted by Aisha in Food & Beverage,Travel and have No Comments
23
Feb

Interpol in NYC

With all the attitude that someone can muster, walking in New York City can feel like chasing an elusive dream, one that constantly runs away.  Those that find it here are usually so distracted or so jaded that they convince themselves they must have the wrong dream, and start chasing something else.  It’s sort of a built-in side effect of the city, and it’s something that keeps people working, creating, and discovering new ways to make interesting things happen in the world.

Coming to New York to visit can be a different thing altogether.  If there’s no intention to stay, then there’s nothing elusive to chase, it’s all right here on display.  You can find anything in New York, and it all begins from the comfort of New York’s four star hotels where luxury and hospitality meet with practical amenities.  It all adds up to a very exciting time, and there’s always something new to explore here.  Those that follow the local music scene as it unfolds no doubt understand that punk started in three cities, London, Melbourne, and here.  The local group Interpol has helped it move forward another notch.

They hit it big with Our Love to Admire in 2007, but have been playing together since 1997.  This is very dark and broody stuff, but it’s also extremely catchy.  The sound is extremely distinctive, as it lingers and echoes, there is also a menacing humor than underlies everything.  They’ve had radio hits, and they’ve been developing a strong core of fans since their origins, and the next year looks promising for the next album.  They’re already talking about returning to their earlier sound, marking an era where invention meets remixing, and the promise sounds splendid.  This is where punk left off, and this is where it picks up, where we can all go roaming in the night.

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posted by Aisha in History,Music,Travel and have No Comments
21
Feb

Durty Nellie’s Chicago

Chicago is one-of-a-kind, offering a gorgeous sense that you’re in a big city, but still somewhere in the mid-west.  The mid-western sensibility isn’t only from the extremely cold winters that could make a polar bear edgy, but from the atmosphere and ambiance.  There’s a sense of history here, of ties that bind, and walking down any street in nearly any neighborhood reveals layers and layers of human memory in the concrete and the dirt.  Those who come from Chicago are rather fiercely loyal to the place, and everyone has some fond memories.  Those who haven’t ever visited are usually very impressed, and some are so impressed that they decide to stay.

Coming to Chicago for business, or pleasure, is always a positive thing.  You can find excellent hotels by clicking here, and there are a number of other pleasant distractions that may convince you it would be a nice place to live.  Or at least to visit again.  For evening to late-night fun, there are a myriad of possibilities.  The town seems to really live for the night, and although the days are buzzing, the nights are simply hopping.  If your tastes run toward pubs and hot tunes, then you just might become a fan of Durty Nellie’s.

In Palatine, this suburban bar is a place that starts to look like heaven to those who love pubs in general.  They have an excellent and rather extensive offering of stouts, pilsners, and ales, and there is also an excellent food menu.  This is a great place to go to grab a pint and a bite before seeing a show.  It’s also a great place to see shows.  They have a great line-up of music here, having hosted bands like Big Head Todd and the Violent Femmes, and also highlight other kinds of music, too, like country.  This is also a good place to go after the show is over, and it might sometimes make sense to just decide not to leave.

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posted by Aisha in Music,Travel and have No Comments
16
Feb

Finding Reputable Payday Loan Lenders

Payday loans can come in handy when the unexpected…happens. The economy is such these days, that many people do not have the financial stability they once may have enjoyed. It is a time when the breakdown of a car, can throw the budget off for months. So many people are opted to go for the “payday loan”. This is a short term loan, that is extremely easy to qualify for, and will provide one with the necessary quick cash to fix the car, repair the roof of the house, or to simply go to the doctor.

One thing that must be considered, is the lender of the loan. Finding a reputable and honest payday loan company is necessary as there are really so many choices out there. Many companies are listed in the phone book, and many more are to be found online, so taking steps to make certain you are dealing with the right provider is essential. There is really no other way to do this except for thorough investigation. Take note of information and make the most informed decision based on that information.

The United States government has begun to take steps to ensure that the consumers and the American public are not being taken advantage of, and the lending companies are required to meet the guidelines that were set out in the United States Truth in Lending Act. Companies are required by law to answer any questions customers may have, the must disclose the information or they will run the risk of gaining unsavory reputations. One way to make it through the abundance of choice online, is to check review sites. Look for posts that previous customers have written, and the reviews and the comments about they have made about their experiences when dealing with the different companies and lenders.

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posted by Aisha in Travel and have No Comments
08
Feb

A First “Date” with Vincent Van Gogh in New York City

When I was wondering where to book a hotel in New York, a friend of mine suggested that I find one located close to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, knowing that once I stepped into the museum, I would most likely be spending a lot of time there, and he was right.  I thought it was funny when I was younger, and I did not really understand it when I would see people in movies, just standing in front of one painting for an extending period of time.  I wondered just what they were looking at for so long.

But as I grew older, I became involved with painting, and as such, spent a lot of time flipping through art books at the paintings that were part of museum collections thousands of miles away.  Famous paintings that I did not know if I would ever see in person.  And that first time I walked into the Met, was my first time being in the same place as some of those paintings I had only before seen in photographs.  I found myself in the room with the Impressionist paintings.

I did not have a map of the museum, and I was not really sure of just what work was housed there, and as I strolled along taking it all in, I caught sight of something that took my breath away.  Out of the corner of my eye I saw Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh. There were a couple reasons my heart started pounding and hands started sweating.  First, reproductions of this painting are everywhere, on everything from tee shirts to coffee mugs to computer mouse pads.  Non of them do it justice.  I had no idea that the colors were so…so there, so vivid, and that the paint was oh so thick.  The paint was so thick that as I stood there looking at it, I noticed a hair from an oil paint brush.

And this is the second reason my heart was pounding…that hair was attached to the brush that was in Van Gogh’s hand as he laid that paint down.  A man that today, some make jokes about his sanity, or alleged lack there of.  A man that although he was starving, kept on painting.  I must have stood there for an hour, just looking at the brush work, and wondering about the day he painted the piece.  I didn’t realize it until a small girl tugged my jacket and handed me a Kleenex, that I had tears on my cheeks.  I smiled and thanked her, I gestured towards Starry Night and said to her, “Amazing huh?”…and she said, “Truly it is.”  She knew why I was staring at the one painting for so long, she was a NY little girl, and she had one-up on a little girl from a small town in the middle of nowhere.

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posted by Aisha in Arts & Culture,Travel and have No Comments
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