PAMMY SALMON IS TEACHING A COURSE ON WRITING FOR CHILDREN'S TELEVISION, STARTING MAY 2

Pammy Salmon is teaching a course on Writing for Children's Television through The Writer's Voice at the 63rd Street YMCA in Manhattan.

The 8-week class starts Wednesday, May 2.

Registration begins on April 9 for members of the YMCA.
Registration for non-members begings April 16.

Here's the official course description:

WRITING FOR CHILDREN’S TV | The "Spec" Script

Children’s television writing requires special skill to seamlessly implement educational curriculum while telling an engaging, developmentally-appropriate story. In this class, students will learn how to write a "spec" a script based on an existing show to gain an understanding of the genre as well as have a writing sample necessary for the industry. Maximum enrollment is 10 students. Pre-registration requirement(s): All levels of writers welcome.

Pammy Salmon
Wednesday 6:45 - 8:45 PM
Fees: $195 Member $330 Non-Member

Here's a bit of information about Pammy Salmon:

After majoring in Film Production at Boston University, Pammy prepared for life in Tinsel Town. She made it as far west as New York City, where she got a job at an animation company. There, she not only learned the animation process but got her break writing scripts for Disney’s Stanley. Since then, she’s written for super fun curriculum-based shows Disney’s JoJo’s Circus, Pinky Dinky Doo, Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!, Super Why!, Martha Speaks, and development projects for several animation companies.

Pammy’s put her sketch comedy skills to work, penning short interstitials and bumpers for the PBS Kids Programming Block, promos for The Electric Company and Martha Speaks, and segments for Sesame Street English’s DVD series.

If you would like to reach Pammy for any additional information about her course, you may reach her at  pammysps@gmail.com


 

WHAT WOULD MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE FOR WOMEN AND GIRLS?

It's Women's History Month! 

Over at the blog Newvine Growing's Blogversation 2012, I posted a series of questions about being female and making the world a better place for females.

I invite you to weigh in with your own thoughts.

What's great about being female?

It's March, Women's History Month, and I'm incredibly proud to be part of a long line of people - other females - who have taken charge of seeing that things go well on so many levels of life - in the home, in workplaces outside the home, in neighborhoods and other kids of communities, in the world at large.

I'm pleased to be part of a group of people who have figured out to make relationships a primary focus in life, and who see to it that relationships around them go well so that everything else in life goes well.

As a group, we've done and continue to do a kick-a** job of leading work for social change, including work around eliminating key forms of oppression, including racism, classism, sexism, and homophobia.  We've voiced our opinions and spoken our minds even when we've received both subtle and blatant messages to be quiet, be nice, and preserve the status quo.

We also make fantastic artists, manual laborers, athletes, comics, politicians, and community-builders.  

When I think about al the women who have come before me and the women who are living now, I beam with huge amounts of pride.

What's hard about being female?

It's been tricky growing up in a time period in our culture where there's this huge pretense that sexism does not exist any longer in the Western world. There is an accepted notion that all the sexism exists over there in the non-Western world. 

The effects of that pretense are huge. First, it justifies the oppression of peoples in these countries and the wars we wage and prop up abroad. Second, it sends a message to Western women that our fight to end sexism is over.  Our "liberation" is presented to us as endless choices, mostly consumer choices.  We're "free" because we can "choose" what we look like, different ways of augmenting our appearance, what career we can have.  

The other result of this pretense that sexism is over is that it has left us women and girls feeling like any struggles we have are purely personal and individual.  It's like any place we have a rough time - be it in our personal and intimate relationships, in our efforts to build community, in our ability to trust our own thinking, in our quest to stay on top of our health and well-being, to raise children, to balance the demands of work in the home with work outside of a home, to make a decent living - is due to some personal shortcoming, some failure to "figure it out."  Women's magazines and self-help books offer endless tips and tricks to make things more manageable, somehow implying that if we just take this course of action or that one, we should be able to work out the ways our lives are hard.

With sexism and its effects on women hidden, trivialized, and denied, it's difficult to place any of our struggles into some larger context; in turn, it's been hard to team up with other women (and men!) to challenge sexism and also where women have internalized its messages.

What would make the world a better place for women and girls to live in?

• Ending racism, sexism, classism, and homophobia would hugely improve things in the lives of girls and women. These systematic forms of mistreatment wreck the fabric of our lives and keep us separate from each other.

• Any adult who plays a role in the life of a young female (including girls, teens, young adults) needs to treat what they say and do as important and significant.  This means listening without interrupting or giving advice.

• Adults can also back young females to take risks in areas where they’ve been excluded or discouraged from participating - e.g. in math, science, and athletics.  As a preschool teacher, I've  make it a point to spend time with girls who are building things with blocks and other materials at choice time, and ask them questions about what they are doing.

• I'd love to see another identity besides (or at least in addition to) the one of "princess" that young girls can latch onto and explore. 

• When females have conflicts with each other, the people around them need to step in and lend a hand.  One of the big reasons women and girls lash out at one another is because we've internalized the ways we've been belittled or invalidated. Without tools to heal from that mistreatment, we take it out on each other.  (What's crazy to me is that popular culture, especially reality shows, capitalizes on the struggles between females and makes it into a spectator sport.)

• I want all guys to know that they can be awesome allies in ending sexism in all its forms, and that their lives, also, are better without it.

• So much of the work that women do, especially domestic work, is unpaid or underpaid.  That needs to be changed!

MUPPET ALPHABET



Muppet Alphabet.  Source: Society6



CHECK OUT THE BOX THAT ROCKS AT BROOKLYN'S MoCADA

The Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (MoCADA) is proud to present THE BOX THAT ROCKS: 30 Years of Video Music Box and the Rise of Hip Hop Music & Culture

Guest Curated by Dexter Wimberly

On View: March 10 – May 28, 2012

Opening Reception: Saturday, March 10, 2012 6pm - 9pm

Location: MoCADA | 80 Hanson Place | Brooklyn, New York 11217

MoCADA announces THE BOX THAT ROCKS: 30 Years of Video Music Box and the Rise of Hip Hop Music & Culture, an exhibition of contemporary art that celebrates the global influence of Video Music Box, and the show’s historic contribution to urban music and culture.

In 1983, Ralph McDaniels launched Video Music Box, a groundbreaking television program that ushered in the popularity and innovation of music videos. As the show’s creator and host, and the producer and/or director of over 400 music videos, Ralph McDaniels is a pioneer whose influence is still felt throughout the music industry.

It is safe to say that hundreds of Hip Hop, R&B and Dancehall artists owe their street credibility, record sales, and a great deal of their commercial success to Video Music Box. At its inception, Video Music Box broadcasted videos from all genres of music. However, it was one of the first television programs ever to feature Hip Hop videos primarily. In the early 1980’s, networks such as MTV did not play the music videos of black recording artists. Video Music Box ushered in a new era of cultural identity, innovation and entrepreneurship.

Ralph McDaniels also recognized the show’s power to speak directly to inner city youth in a way that no one else was doing at the time. Each day, McDaniels used the show as a platform to spread messages of unity, non-violence, anti-drug abuse, anti-crime, political activism and self-respect. “I have continued to produce Video Music Box independently for over 30 years as a testament to the art form. Video Music Box is the place where classic visuals have been documented and new music continues to flourish on a television program produced by someone who controls their own content and vision,” states Video Music Box creator, Ralph McDaniels. “The show represents hope for those in the African-American and Latino community who want to express themselves freely without the chains of corporate America. The fact is that Video Music Box has always been an important outlet for those creating Hip Hop or any other genre of music. I believe that people from any race or background can learn from the show’s message of positivity and contribute to the culture.”

MoCADA’s Founder and Executive Director, Laurie Cumbo remarks, “Ralph McDaniels is a Brooklyn icon and he has played a foundational role in the development of Hip Hop culture. We are honored to celebrate his contributions through THE BOX THAT ROCKS exhibition here at MoCADA.”

THE BOX THAT ROCKS is guest curated by Dexter Wimberly, and is on view from March 10 through May 28, 2012 in the museum’s main gallery at the James E. Davis 80 Arts Building in Brooklyn, New York.

The show features photography, painting, mixed-media, video installation, and interactive digital art.

 The opening reception will take place at MoCADA on Saturday, March 10, 2012 from 6-9pm.

The reception is free and open to the public.

Featured artists include: Amy Andrieux * Malik Y. Cumbo * LaTasha N. Nevada Diggs * Delphine Fawundu * Bobbito Garcia * Tahir Hemphill * Jonathan Mannion * Tim Okamura * M. Tony Peralta * Fab 5 Freddy * Ali Santana * Jamel Shabazz * Daniel Amazu Wasser "

SYMPHONY SPACE CELEBRATES A WRINKLE IN TIME'S 50TH ANNIVERSARY

Symphony Space recently hosted a 50th Anniversary Celebration of A Wrinkle in Time.  What a treat to be amidst other people who were also fans of the children's book written by the late and fondly remembered Madeleine L'Engle.

The program opened with a humorous, well-crafted video which featured children as the actors and compressed the entire book into a 90-second format.  This opener was a perfect advertisement for the 90 Second Newbery competition.  What a fun challenge - to get a Newbery book into a 90 second format on video and then submit it to be considered for the film festival.  (Which, by the way, will be happening in December back at Symphony Space.  Stay tuned and get your tickets early!)

Betsy Bird, host of the event and author of the children's literature blog Fuse #8, welcomed the audience and shared "Meg Murray [the central character in the book] was my Harry Potter."  Right!  So good to have a children's chapter book in which the hero is female!

Charlotte L'Engle, Madeleine's granddaughter, took the mike.  She shared that Madeleine loved to be part of multigenerational parties.  She was the librarian and writer in residence at The Cathedral of Saint John the Divine in the Morningside Heights neighborhood.

Charlotte explained that A Wrinkle in Time was the book that almost did not get published, with publishers thinking it was "much too hard for children."  On the contrary, explained Madelein's grand daughter, the book is too difficult for grownups!

Betsy Bird then introduced the all-star panel lineup:  Louis Lowry, author of The Giver and Count the Numbers; Katherine Patterson, author of Bridge to Terabithia; Rebecca Stead, author of When They Reach Us; and R.L. Stine, author of the Goosebump series.  Ms. Bird asked the panelists "If you  could ask Madeline one question, what would it be?"  One panelist replied "How do you write a book that affects children for the rest of their lives?"

There was then some debate over whether or not the Newbery Committee would pick A Wrinkle in Time today, given its religious references.  On another point of discussion, panelists talked about if A Wrinkle could be compared to The Hunger Games.

When the panel was over, actress Jane Curtin did a bang-up job of reading a passage from A Wrinkle. Following Ms. Curtin, a group of teenagers performed a dramatic reading of yet another section of the book.

Next, children's literature expert Leonard Marcus came before the audience and referred to people's memories of Ms. L'Engle as a gifted oral storyteller.  Also, he shared an interesting fact: Ms. L'Engle won The Newbery Award at the same time Ezra Jack Keats won The Caldecott Medal for A Snowy Day.  I'm looking forward to reading Mr. Marcus's book Listening for Madeleine, due to come out this fall.

I JUST SUPPORTED THE LADIES OF HIP HOP ANNUAL FESTIVAL ON KICKSTARTER AND HOPE YOU WILL, TOO!

Here is the LINK to back The Ladies of Hip Hop Festival on Kickstarter

COME CHILLAX ON COLORFUL BEANBAGS AT MOMI AND WATCH A GREAT FILM ABOUT JIM HENSON




MOMI visitors of all ages relax on comfy beanbags as they watch a great film about the life and work of Jim Henson.



Seriously, folks.  If you haven't already, please get on over to the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens  to see Jim Henson's Fantastic World.  The exhibit closes on March 4.

I have made half a dozen trips out to Queens to see the exhibit itself plus the special screenings and live events that have accompanied it.  I saw Brian Henson give a talk about the evolution of puppetry.  I heard Frank Oz be interviewed by Craig Shemin.  I saw Craig Shemin do a demo of puppetry as it's performed for television.  I saw a film about the history of Sesame Street.

Every time I visit Jim Henson's Fantastic World, I learn something new.  I popped by a few days ago and studied the text on the placards more carefully. One of them read as follows:

"Although Jim never forgot that his puppets were made of foam, fleece, and fur, he and millions of viewers were emotionally attached to the believable characters they had become."

CHECK OUT THIS TIMELAPSE OF MARVELHEROS: A WORK IN PROGRESS

This is a time lapse photos of a painting in progress called "Marvelheros" by Michael Sorgatz. Mike sez: "The video is taken from photos I shoot after every painting session to track my progress. Acrylic paint on canvas, size is approximately 24x30 inches. For more work please see my website at http://www.mikesorgatz.com/."

ALL THINGS SESAME STREET

Over the past four years, I have had the honor of interviewing a group of long-time cast, crew, and writers from the cultural juggernaut that is Sesame Street.  It started with an in-person Q&A with Elmo Muppeteer and Sesame Co-Producer Kevin Clash. 

Kevin suggested I also talk to cameraman Frank Biondo, who has been with Sesame from the get-go, as well as Fran Brill.  You may know Fran as Zoe and, starting from way back when, Prairie Dawn.

While on the set with Frank, I also got to meet Big Bird Muppeteer Carroll Spinney, as well as a young person who started writing letters to Carroll at age five. 

What a  treat to meet Bonnie Erickson, who used to work for Sesame and who also created Ms. Piggy, Statler, Waldorf, and other iconic Muppets, to find out her life story.

I went back on set to watch and interview Snuffy and Telly's Muppeteer Martin Robinson.  While observing Martin in action (from inside of Mr. Hooper's store, no less!), I met Kevin Clash's right hand hand, storyboard designer, and SuperGrover float creator Louis Henry Mitchell.

Most recently, I got to do some Q&Awith Annie Evans, Sesame writer and also wife of Martin Robinson.  (They got married on the set!)  And then went to Elmo's birthday party to help him celebrate 3.5 years!

I feel so grateful to have met all these amazing people and look forward to more Sesame adventures.

If you have a Sesame cast or crew member you would like me to interview, drop at line at ETraubman@aol.com

Here are the posts about all the folks mentioned above:

Meet Kevin Clash, The Man Behind Elmo

Louis Henry Mitchell: The Art of Sesame Street

Annie Evans: Wordsmith of Sesame Street

The Life and Times of Sesame Street’s Martin Robinson

Fran Brill: The First Lady of Sesame Street

From Muppets to Mascots: The Incredible Journey of Bonnie Erickson

Frank Biondo:  The Mayor of Sesame Street

Letters to Big Bird

Louis Henry Mitchell: Sesame Street’s Storyboard Master

FROM BLOGVERSATION 2012: SOME ARTISTS WHO INSPIRE ME

Over at Newvine Growing, Colleen Newvine is running Blogversation 2012.  Each week, six women (myself included) write a response to a question posed.  This past week, the question we wrote about was "Who or what inspires you?"  Here is my response.  Please check out Newvine Growing for other responses, and feel free to add your own thoughts to the original post!

Eleanor Traubman Says:
February 9, 2012 at 1:31 pm

There’s a bunch of artists who inspire me. Here are some of them:

Faith Ringgold – maker of storyquilts and children’s books
Keith Haring – pop artist
Missy Elliott – rapper, singer-songwriter, record producer, dancer
Maira Kalman – designer, writer, illustrator
Eva Zeisel – design legend
Women Film Directors – Nancy Savoca, Allison Anders, Karyn Kusama, Gurinder Chadha, Kasi Lemmons
Jim Henson – King of the Muppets, tv and film pioneer
Questlove – drummer for The Roots and King of Twitter!
Julie Taymor – Director of theater, opera, film
Rokafella – Female breakdancer, Director of the documentary of “All the Ladies Say”
All the women in Creative Conversations, the women’s artist group that I help lead

COOL DISCOVERY: MY RELATIVE SANG AT BAM IN 1895

My dad, a great family historian, recently let me know that one of my relatives from his side of the family sang at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (then known as the Academy of Music) in  1895.  She sang in the opera Carmen.  I'm proud!

A WRINKLE IN TIME IN 90 SECONDS

"A Wrinkle In Time" In 90 Seconds from James Kennedy on Vimeo.

Tonight, at the 50th Anniversary Celebration of A Wrinkle in Time held at Symphony Space, I learned about 90 Second Newbery.  It's film festival being curated by James Kennedy and Betsy Bird.

Here's their pitch:

So here’s our contest, open to anyone: make a video that compresses the story of a Newbery award-winning book into 90 seconds or less.

It turns out that any book, no matter how worthy and somber, becomes pleasingly ludicrous when compressed into 90 seconds. Please watch our very first entry, in the video above: a 90-second version of A Wrinkle in Time (1963).

Teachers, here’s a fun project that will get your students reading Newbery winners. Students, here’s an excuse to mess around with video equipment. Librarians, here’s an activity to do with your teen advisory boards. Anyone can enter. Everyone wins!

ANNIE EVANS: WORDSMITH OF SESAME STREET

Sesame Street writer Annie Evans with husband and Muppeteer Martin Robinson and their two daughters.

As Sesame Street enters into its 43rd season, it's high time we fans look behind the scenes of this juggernaut to take a peek at the humans who create all of the fun and magic.

I've shared some information about the hard-working Muppeteers:  Elmo's Kevin Clash; Snuffy and Telly's Martin Robinson; Zoe's Fran Brill.  And then there's the contributions of long-time cameraman Frank Biando and storyboard designer Louis Henry Mitchell.

But who are the people who write the scripts for the shows?  The folks who make educational content fun and interesting for young people and adults alike?

One of those wordsmiths is Annie Evans. She's been writing for Sesame since 1993.

I had the honor of meeting Annie and finding out just what it means to be a writer for Sesame Street. 

Q: How did Annie arrive at Sesame Street?

A: Since young adulthood, Annie had been a playwright and screenwriter.  One year, she was invited to the O'Neill Puppetry Conference, where she met Martin Robinson (the man who would later become her husband.)  Annie helped Martin with a show he was working on and eventually Martin submitted some of Annie's sketches to Norm Stiles, then head writer at Sesame.

In response to the submitted sketches, Norm invited Annie to participate in an intense year-long audition process for a writing position at Sesame Street.  At the end of the year, Annie was granted a spot!

Q:  What does a Sesame Street writer have to be able to do well?

A: A Sesame writer has to be able to provide two key deliverables.  One of those is comedy for adults; the other is education for very young people that relays content without being dogmatic.  You also have to be curriculum savvy, so that content is informed by an understanding of social-emotional development, cognitive development, and school-readiness.

"The bottom line is that you have to write well," states Annie.  "The writers here come out of writing for comedy, advertising, theater.  You can always learn about curriculum and add educational components, but you have to have that basis of strong writing."

Q:  How does Annie combine both tradition and innovation with a show that has such a long history?

A:  The show is not a static one; it is always changing.  Writers attend curriculum seminars, and  learn about new research topics and  formats.  There are always new parodies to write.  Other work includes writing for live shows and helping with the international productions of Sesame Street.

As Annie shares, "In such a vast, creative environment, the work does not get stale."

Working collaboratively with the production staff is one way writers keep content fresh.  The show is currently focusing on math and science by showing "Super Grover 2.0"segments where his character uses science and technology to solve problems. 

Q:  What is challenging about writing for the show?

A:  It's a struggle to constantly find good stories, and new things that have not been done before.

Q:  What does Annie view as her unique contribution to the show?

A:  Annie recognizes that she brings a keen sense of humor as well as a dedication to the mission of the show.  "It's not just about bringing in money or ratings, " Annie says.  "The mission is why people tend to stay here for long periods of time without leaving.  We get to teach children, and teach with a sense of humor.  When I tell people what kind of work I do, I watch their faces melt. Why go anywhere else?"

Q:  Has being a parent influenced Annie's work as a writer? (Annie is the mother of twin three-year-old  girls.)

A:  "Parenthood has had a huge impact on my writing.  I see the way my daughters react and see what worked for them, and focus on that.  It's a reminder to me to keep topics clear, simple, and funny."

Q:  What advice would Annie give to people who want to make a living from their craft?

A:  "Be persistent.  Keep options open for all kinds of opportunities.  I didn't foresee writing for a children's show.  Also, find a like-minded tribe of people.  I was always involved in theater companies as a writer and a performer  even if I wasn't getting paid to do it.  Doing that made me own my craft and feel part of the entertainment industry.  It also helped me create a huge family of friends."

Be sure to check out Annie and Martin's Sesame Family Robinson Blog

NOT TO BE MISSED: LUSH, A BOOGALOO & LATIN SOUL DANCE PARTY AT BBG ON FEBRUARY 10

 

Friday, February 10 | 8 p.m.–Midnight | BBG Palm House

An evening celebrating Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s collection of over 6,000 tropical orchids

• Dance to NYC’s best boogaloo band, Spanglish Fly
• Behold opulent orchids
• Savor icy Mexican fruit paletas by La Newyorkina, bite-sized delicacies by Purple Yam restaurant, Latin-inspired confections by Tumbador Chocolate, traditional tastes from Mexico by Chavela’s, Korean nibbles from Moim restaurant, and more tropical treats by neighborhood food mavens
• Groove to classic 45s spun by WFMU’s Mr. Fine Wine and DJ Turmix
• Pose for leaf portraits by Aaron Birk
• Enjoy an open bar of fragrant juices and cocktail concoctions
• Hang behind the scenes with orchid curator Dave Horak

  Schedule

8:00–9:15	Behind-the-scenes tours of BBG’s orchid collection with curator Dave Horak
8:00–9:15	Leaf silhouettes with Aaron Birk
8:00–9:15	Latin rhythms from Barcelona’s own DJ Turmix
9:15–10:30	Special live performance by NYC’s Spanglish Fly
10:30–Midnight	Classic 45s spun by WFMU’s Mr. Fine Wine

Open bar and exquisite eats all through the night
For more info: http://www.bbg.org/visit/event/lush//

Purchase Tickets

Tickets are $65 and available through brownpapertickets.com.

CREATE GOOD KARMA: HELP THIS ARTS-LOVIN' BLOGGER FIND NEW OPPORTUNITIES TO PROMOTE THE ARTS IN NY!

Dear Creative Times Reader:

Thanks so much for taking a look at this. I value your opinions, ideas, and expertise. I’ve been publishing Creative Times for six years, and am seeking additional opportunities to be employed as an arts and culture writer, promoter, and community-builder here in New York.

If, after taking a look at info below, you have an idea of someone who you think I should meet, please feel free to send me an email. I can be reached at ETraubman@aol.com

Summary
Seasoned arts and culture writer and promoter; educator; and community-builder who offers expertise in the following areas:

• The New York arts and culture landscape
• Strategies in social networking and new media for public relations purposes
• Skills in organizational development and operations, including event-planning, team building, workshop design and facilitation

Education
M.S., Education; Bank Street College of Education; NY; 1995
B.A., Women, Community and Social Change; Trinity College; CT; 1991

Samples of Work Projects

* Interview visual, literary, and performing artists for Creative Times, an arts and culture blog. Interviewees include:  Sesame Street Co-Producer and Elmo Muppeteer Kevin Clash; design legend Eva Zeisel; illustrator and author Maira Kalman.

* Use social networking platforms to promote launches, premiers, and special events of New York’s performing, visual, and literary artists, organizations, and venues.

* Consult with Bank Street College of Education to devise categories and recruit editorial board for Alumni Blog; increase interaction among members of Bank Street Alumni LinkedIn group.

* Consulted with Jim Henson Legacy to improve aesthetics, usability, and interactivity of their website.

* Co-Produced The Brooklyn Blogfest, an annual gathering for 300 bloggers, artists, local community activists & politicians who write, speak, organize, and make art about their neighborhoods and the world beyond.

* Co-Founded and lead Creative Conversations, a goal-setting group for women artists and entrepreneurs who want to stay on the edge of personal and professional growth.

* Managed PlayNet, a grant-funded project at The Brooklyn Museum designed to increase educators’, parents’, and caretakers’ understanding of play and capacity to facilitate play with children.

Thanks so much for your support!

Please feel free to email with questions or ideas.

Eleanor Traubman
Editor-In-Chief
Creative Times
917-499-7395
etraubman@aol.com

QUESTLOVE TALKS ABOUT SOUL TRAIN

WHAT WAS THE MAGIC OF SOUL TRAIN? (DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF DON CORNELIUS)

This post, originally published in 2010, is dedicated to the memory of Don Cornelius.
Last Wednesday, January 26, The Paley Media Center held a permiere screening and panel discssion of VH1's Rock Doc Soul Train: the Hippest Trip in America.

The makers of this film did an amazing job of capturing the historical significance of Soul Train as well as the accomplishments of its founder, owner, and host Don Cornelius.

Interesting Facts About Soul Train

* Soul Train is the longest continuously-running first-run syndicated television program in the country.

* The dancers on Soul Train were the heart of the show, but were not paid. As guest panelist and Soul Train dancer Tyrone Proctor said, "Dancers are often at the bottom of the totem pole."

* Chicago native and Soul Train founder Don Cornelius, an interviewer of players in the Civil Rights Movement, was one of the first African heritage people to own and run a television show. He hosted the show from 1971 until 1993 an and guest hosts appeared from then until 2006, including Mystro Clark, Shemar Moore, and Dorian Gregory. Cornelius, who owned the show for its entire run, sold it to MadVision Entertainment in 2008.

* Don was not a big fan of Hip-Hop, but aired the artists anyway because he wished to give people what they wanted.

The Panel Discussion

The post-screening panel discussion was made up of these folks:

Moderator: Danyel Smith, Music Journalist (who also appears in the film)

Guests: Big Bank Hank from The Sugar Hill Gang (of Rapper's Delight fame)
Questlove, Drummer for the Roots, Creator of Musical Score for the documentary
Tyronne Proctor, Soul Train Dancer, Choreographer

By the time all the panelists got up to the stage, Danyel Smith was choking back tears of deeply-felt emotion. I think the deep significance of this film and of the show had hit her.

Big Bank Hank, of Sugarhill Gang fame, said right after the screening: "I'm standing on history, on sacred ground." He shared that although Don was noted to not have big love for Hip-Hop, Mr. Cornelius gave Hank a warm welcome onto the set.

From the number of stories shared by Tyronne, the former Soul Train dancer, you could see that the dancers were truly the heart and soul of the show. In order to get onto the set, Tyronne was smuggled in via the trunk of a car! He talked about the anticipation of each weekend that the show was filmed, and of the reciprocal admiration between the show's dancers and its musical guests. Tyronne talked about how Don Cornelius made something which was audio - African American music - into something visual.

There were other former Soul Train dancers in the audience, and they shared their own vignettes from back in the day.

Questlove said although his parents were strict with him growing up, even on the tv-watching front, they did wake him up at 12:30 am so he could join the family in watching the 1:00 am airing of Soul Train (that's the time it came on in Philly). Since the early years of Soul Train episodes were not recorded, Quest worked his ass off to find and collect VHS recordings of the show from as far away as Japan. He is said to carry the whole show around in a bag of VHS tapes!

Here's an exerpt of Glide Magazine's interview with Questlove about his work on the Soul Train doc:

Soul Train is probably the most influential show of my entire life. It’s often pained me that I would have to go through extreme measure$ – and when you spell the word “measures,” there should be a dollar sign through the “s” at the end of “measures” – to collect the show. I guess the reason it’s so hard to get is, not foreseeing the future of VHS and DVDs, you know, a digital future, Don [Cornelius] really never made any publishing arrangements or artist arrangements for future reruns or reselling of the show. It prevented Soul Train from ever showing reruns, even though the original show lasted for a good 36 seasons.

[...]

Strange enough, the one of maybe four shows that I was allowed to watch in my childhood was Soul Train. So, this instantly became a labor of love because a lot of my memories of first seeing television, all of them have to do with Soul Train. It was kind of scaring people a little bit, because as they were showing me the reruns, I was recalling to them . . . At first, they didn’t believe me. They were like, “Ok, what three-year-old has a memory of Michael Jackson doing the robot for the first time?” It would be to the point where they would ask me, “Well, what are your memories of episode 206, with the Average White Band and the Main Ingredient?” And I’d be like, “Ok, they were performing on the floor. I remember Don Cornelius talking about collard greens and black-eyed peas in the introduction.” And they started jaw dropping, because they put the tape in, and you know, I’ve not seen this since I was a kid. It’s because it was the only thing I was allowed to watch. My parents didn’t want me sitting in front of a TV four to five hours a day. Instead, I sat in front of a turntable four to five hours a day.

FOOD RULES: A BOOK TO BE SAVORED SLOWLY

I woke up early on Christmas morning, about 5:30 am, in a hotel room in San Diego.  I got out of bed to use the bathroom and when I returned to go back to sleep, I bumped into something with edges that had a small figurine perched on top of it . "I guess Santa came early," said my husband.  I looked closer at the ensemble, and saw that the figurine was a Hello Kitty ornament .  What a delightful and unexpected surprise.  The magic of the holidays is still alive! I thought.

I put Hello Kitty aside and opened the wrapped gift.

It was Food Rules:  An Eater's Manual, written by Michael Pollan and illustrated by my creative heroine Maira Kalman.

Hooray!  I had been ogling and leafing through this book every time I walked though the local book store.
Now, I had a copy of my very own.

First of all, Maira's illustrations are pure magic - whimsical with rich, vibrant colors.  They stand alone.

Pollan's Rules are mostly ones I have heard of before, but I still loved looking at them accompanied by Maira's pictures.  Examples include:

• It's not food if it arrived through the window of your car.
• Don't get your fuel from the same place your car does.
• Do all your eating at a table.
• Don't eat anything your great grandmother wouldn't recognize as food.

I had a ritual for a while with this book:  Just before falling asleep each night, I would reach for Food Rules on my nightstand and read two or three rules and relish the illustrations that went with them.  This went on for many nights, and I felt a bit sad when I finished the book.

Now, Food Rules sits next to my computer so that I can continue to think about what it means to eat mindfully while enjoying life to its fullest.

Food Rules is the gift that keeps on giving.

THANK YOU, KAM MAK, FOR THE GIFT OF THE FIRST DAY OF ISSUE YEAR OF THE DRAGON STAMP!

Today, at the Chinatown YMCA in NYC, I had the pleasure of watching The Lion Dance and also meeting up with Lunar New Year USPS stamp artist, Kam Mak.  In past years, I saw Kam unveil the Lunar New Year stamp at the annual New Year celebration at a public school in Chinatown.   After seeing him a bunch at the local park/playground in my Carroll Gardens neighborhood, I approached Kam and eventually went to his art studio to interview him for Creative Times.  You can read that post HERE.

Today, I felt so honored when Kam handed to me and also signed the First Day of Issue cover and ceremony program, affixed with the actual Year of the Dragon stamp he designed this year for the USPS.  Kam said that the ceremony, held in San Francisco, was amazing and whole-heartedly supported by The Honorable Edwin Lee, San Francisco's first Chinese-American mayor.

Thank you, Kam, for the gift of your beautiful artwork to all of us!

COME JOIN IN THE FUN AND HELP CELEBRATE THE YEAR OF THE DRAGON!

Did you know that Chinese New Year is the longest and most important celebration in the Chinese calendar? This year is Year of the Dragon.

On Monday, January 23, I met with friend and artist Day Le to kick of the Lunar New Year right here in NYC's Chinatown.

First, Day took me to a Buddhist temple in Chinatown. While standing in line to get in, a gentleman handed us each a stick of incense to hold, and another man collected the incense before we entered the building. We stood in another line to approach a large and beautiful statue of Buddha. A monk handed us each a red envelope filled with $1 and a necklace (this is part of the celebration) and an orange. We were ushered down to the basement and handed each a box of rice and steamed vegetables. Then sat on the stools lining the two adjoining rooms to eat.

Once back out on the street, I decided to look for more New Year activity. For two hours, I followed the dragon dancers and drummers as they danced from store to store. At each place, they were fed the money-filled red envelopes.

The streets were packed with people of all ages. One of my favorite things was when folks set off poppers - tubes filled with big pieces of confetti and glitter as well as tiny parachutes which fly up in the air and land in the hands of excited children.

All the stores and restaurants were filled with dragon-themed decorations.

There was such a sense of wonder, awe, and happiness in the crowds. It was truly a blessing to be part of a celebration that is thousands of years old.

LUNAR NEW YEAR RESOURCES

For Basic Facts about Lunar New Year: Click HERE

For more extensive information: Click HERE

For more New Year activities in Chinatown: Click HERE

For activities throughout NYC: Click HERE

For my post about Kam Mak, the man behind the Lunar New Year USPS stamp: Click HERE

To view the current Year of the Dragon stamp: Click HERE