| Hmong New Year party brings out style and smiles
The U.S. calendar may call it "Black Friday" for the start of the shopping season that puts retailers' books in the black, but for Hmong-Americans, the day after Thanksgiving marks the first day of a colorful New Year celebration. Thousands of Hmong traveled to the Alliant Energy Center on Friday to begin two days of celebration melding tradition and education with socializing and entertainment. The holiday, traditionally marking the end of harvest season, today serves as a time for Hmong-Americans to reunite with friends and family. It's a time when young people of the opposite sexes can meet and mingle under the watchful eye -- and with the blessing -- of their elders. And perhaps no gathering of people with common roots, least of all the Hmong who arrived in the United States as refugees from the Vietnam War, is complete without a smattering of politics.
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There are those who have found a solution to this problem in online shopping, preferring an entirely digital approach. Convenient? Sure. But then the giving process is reduced to a few clicks of the mouse, and even giftwrapping is left to a checked box on an order form. So how does one put the heart and soul back into the gift giving? That’s where the hands come into play. ‘‘Giving a handmade craft gift or an original work of art is a statement of how special the recipient is to you," said Steven Newsome, director of Prince George’s Arts Council. Whether made by the giver or purchased from a skilled artisan, handmade gifts can be unique, and show the person receiving the item that the giver truly cares. There are two ways to go about giving that one-of-a-kind treasure: Hit the yarn shops and craft supply stores and get hands-on, or go hands-off and leave it to those with more skill and time.
'The Golden Compass'
She loses her best friend Roger to kidnappers known as Gobblers. She acquires a magical symbol-reader, the titular "golden compass," which can reveal unknown truths. And the intensely glamorous Mrs. Coulter (Nicole Kidman) brings Lyra into her household but quickly reveals that she's more evil stepmother than fairy queen.
These events push Lyra into a series of cross-country escapades, leading toward the frozen north, where she befriends a gruff, noble polar bear voiced by Ian McKellen. Meanwhile, a set of mustache-twirling villains called the Magisterium is out to maintain moral control of her society "for its own good," largely by performing hideous experiments on children.
The biggest problem with "The Golden Compass" is that it doesn't stake out enough of a unique identity; its visuals, pacing and tone all feel exactly like the fantasy segments of "Bridge To Terabithia," which felt exactly like Walden Media's 2005 adaptation "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," which felt exactly like a child-friendly version of Peter Jackson's "Lord Of The Rings" trilogy.
Top 100 resellers 2007
It's time for OPI to profile 2007's Top 100 movers and shakers in the OP industry. The arrivals and departures board over the past year has welcomed new Spicers UK managing director Ian Doherty while bidding a fond farewell to Basics president Paul Knechtel and former office2office CEO Ray Peck. During the period, the pursuit of Chinese and Indian JVs and acquisitions has intensified to reach Klondyke gold rush pace and this year's list has been suitably tailored to reflect this growing trend. .
'Five Easy Decades' by Dennis McDougal
Too small to score on the high school basketball court, he learned instead the scoring tricks of the class clown.
In 1954, he took his swaggering wit to Hollywood. McDougal captures quite well the whirlwind of Nicholson's hardscrabble years as a gofer in the MGM animation department, until - in a story that may be true, or may be a bit of mythology, McDougal tells us - he was "discovered" in an elevator by MGM producer Joe Pasternak. Nicholson threw himself into acting classes, local theater, a stint in the National Guard, some Beat/intellectual auto-didacting, bit parts in television, Reichian therapy, screenwriting, an early marriage, a lot of drugs and a lot of buddying up with other soon-to-be-famous actors, writers, directors and producers.
In the late 1950s and early '60s, he kept feverishly busy with roles in B-horror films (learning from his early mentor Roger Corman the economy of budget and script).
Lawrence Schiller tells how he captured some of the most iconic images ...
Lawrence Schiller has a knack for being in the right place at the right time. Two months before Marilyn Monroe's death in August 1962, the American photographer captured her undressing during her last (unfinished) film, Something's Got to Give. These iconic images were then splashed across the globe in 71 magazines in one week, from Paris Match and Life magazines to London's The Sunday Times, making them some of the best remembered images of Monroe. Last week he was in town to promote The Photographs of Lawrence Schiller, an exhibition of 26 images at Schoeni Art Gallery, highlighting his view of America in the 1960s and showcasing the period's most famous people from John F. Kennedy and Clint Eastwood to Barbra Streisand and Muhammad Ali. .
A gift for the centuries
Christie, who has worked year-round leading the Hotter'N Hell Hundred events, as well as taking on other responsibilities, said he has been thinking for a couple of years about the future of Streams & Valleys. He said during the meeting that he doesn't feel comfortable leaving things as they are for too many years when it comes to this piece of property, and would feel the sculpture had a secure future with Murphy and people like him who can be responsible for the upkeep of the landmark. The sculpture has city-owned O'Reilly Park adjacent to it and it and more city property across the river from it, Christie said. "It's an absolutely wonderful sculpture," said District 5 City Councilor Charles Elmore, who attended Thursday's meeting as a guest. "I think this is satisfactory.
Retiring school board member Keltie Jones reflects on tenure
Davis Board of Education member Keltie Jones, center, listens to a Davis family talk about bullying of their Harper Junior High student because the parents are gay at a November 2006 board meeting. Flanking her are fellow trustees Jim Provenza, left, and Tim Taylor. (Wayne Tilcock/Enterprise file photo) .
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