Interested in Superheroes or DC/Marvel Comics? Encourage your child to create his own this summer!

Nick's Adventures???   Little did I know my kiddo has typed a 7-page multi-chapter superhero adventure at school during free time.  Only when he asked for a flash drive to bring home his stories and other free time creations did I realize not only how much he had enjoyed writing stories in his free time, but he is now also writing on the home computer instead of always playing Wesnoth :)

Come to think of it, Nick's adventures started last summer when the kids started an Apple imovie camp (which is free) and he did a stop-motion movie about Nick using his Lego figures.  I do remember it being a parody and involved an omelet being used as a weapon!    If your child enjoys writing about his or her superheroes (or any hero or heroine), please email me or leave me a comment.  We can set up an event to share superheroes stories in person or online and, if we meet,  perhaps even do a live action role play based on their stories :)  

Since my kiddo has also started systematic composition in music, perhaps he will write some music for his story and we will make this his imovie for this summer. Or you can commission him to compose some music for your superhero stories :)

Anyway, believe it or not, he has never really read any DC and Marvel comics.  Today I found that I could get 65 original comics for under a dollar each on this deal and I am happy to share it.   Please note that there is a shipping and handling fee and always read the fine print as a consumer.

http://homerun.com/deal/usa-legends-clearinghouse-3?_s=e9b1effd

Back to Nick's Adventures.  Looks like he has a lot of free time in school and I know that he takes 5 minutes to do his Math homework.  Is it surprising that we need to do a change in his education program?  Time for more self-directed studies, study at the level he needs, and develop his passions.

Happy writing and creating this summer!

June 26 Sunday 1-4pm Story Jam and Bebop - Have a jazzy experience at Fowler's Kids in the Courtyard event

We consider Fowler Museum to be our home museum and the staff here have seen my children grow from toddlers in their strollers to 8 and 9 year olds.   We love the art projects here and they are so well crafted to connect with the exhibits featured.   We have made kimchi here in decorated containers and made "glow-in-the-dark" paintings as well as many masks and even a costume or two for Mardi Gras in the past.

This Sunday should be an amazing multi-sensory experience indeed with story telling, music, and arts and crafts!

Kids in the Courtyard: Story Jam and Bebop!

Stop by the Lucas Gallery at 1:30 pm and 3:30 pm to hear the story Ragtime Tumpie by Allan Schroader, a jazz-infused tale about the childhood of entertainer Josephine Baker. Before and after each performance, join museum educators in the courtyard to learn how to scat and jive talk, paint a pair of rhythm sticks, or make "jazz hands on a stick" out of recycled sheet music.

EVENT DETAILS

Kids in the Courtyard: Story Jam
Sunday, June 26, 2011
1–4 pm
Fowler Museum Courtyard
Free program

Related Exhibition

Tuesday June 21 at 7.30pm - JPL presentation of Dawn Mission exploring two asteriods

We have been to JPL OPEN HOUSE for many years and have been on JPL guided tours of the control mission room.  But we have never been to a JPL event outside of JPL and so we look forward to hearing what we might expect and who would be presenting this event.

If this is your first time to a Chautauqua event at Temescal Canyon Parkway, it is possible to come and park free at least half an hour prior to presentation time just beyond the Camp Store near the Woodland Hall.  Usually coffee/tea will be served with some cookies ... but bring your own hot chocolate pouches for your kids for a treat.   If you are coming here for the first time, come earlier and park free on Sunset Blvd or pay for parking inside the park.   Take a short walk around the park before the event ... walk to the creek and see if you can hear the frogs or see the birds ...or even a deer or two at dusk :)  If you have more time, take the hike up to the waterfalls.  It is steep in some places, but completely doable for kids.  I remember bringing my children up to the waterfalls when they were little around 2 and 4, and their nature mindfulness allowed us to enjoy what I could do in 45 minutes on a fast pace into a four-hour nature walk :)

Please note that the Chautauqua program here attract many adults, so please make sure your child can sit quietly for the program presentation.  No running around permitted :)

Now Flying Through a Solar System Near You -

Culture in the Canyon at Chautauqua Series

Event Details

June 21, 2011

Time: 7:30 PM - 9:00 PM
Location: Temescal Gateway Park
Address: 15601 Sunset Blvd. , Pacific Palisades, 90272
Region: Westside
Phone: 310.858.7272 x131
Admission: Free
Website: click here

http://lamountains.com/pdf/Temescal%20Gateway%20Park%20Spring2011.pdf

Description: Fasten your seat belts, we are on our way to view two giant asteroids, Ceres and Vesta. The ambitious and exciting Dawn Mission spacecraft, launched in September 2007, is JPL/NASA's latest venture into the solar system and it is nearing its targets in the asteroid belt. Through space exploration like this, humankind may gain a better understanding of Mother Earth. Get ready for the ride of a lifetime. Meet at Woodland Hall. 1.5 hrs. Program is free; parking is free for the evening.  Program sponsored by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and presented by the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority

Wildlife Learning Center --- a great place to see some coatimundi among other rescued "exotic" pets!

I highly recommend this nonprofit educational wildlife center as a fairly accessible and yet very different from and more intimate than LA Zoo.  If your child is fascinated by cars, do remember to stop by at the Nethercutt museum about 5 minutes' drive away.

We have been to Sylmar's Wildlife Learning Center once before and we would love to go again soon.

We have never seen some of the animals before!  We were stunned at how fast-moving an African tortoise can be, how beautiful a Siberian lynx is, and we were able to see up close porcupines, a sloth, a red-tailed hawk, squirrel monkeys, porcupines, and, for the first time, not one but 4 or 5 black coatimundi ...

There are lots of educational information about each animal.    For an  extra fee, you can also ask to hold and touch an animal up close for the whole group ... so you could also do this for your entire group for the same fee.   Remember that these are mostly confiscated illegal pet rescues.

Somewhere I have photos of all the animals in this place somewhere from our last visit, but the prairie dogs are new to the exhibit and so we are looking forward to coming back soon and blog on the specific animal experiences we will have.  See the videos below for some of the animals we looked at.

If you act quickly, here's an admission for two persons for $6 and this link expires in about 24 hours:

http://gr.pn/jvYIkU


Their address is:
16027 Yarnell Street
CA 91342-1011
(818) 362-8711

http://www.wildlifelearningfoundation.org/

For some videos:
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1985369443422&oid=131956630202944&comments  
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=2062779338621&oid=131956630202944&comments

To learn more about coatimundi,
http://www.vanishingspecies.net/animals/details.php/000029/Coatimundi/Nasua/nasua

July 10 at 11am - THE RED PONY -UCLA's family movie at Hammer Museum

We seem to be seeing a lot of horse movies these days.   We saw BUCK last night in a preview screening and very highly recommend this documentary movie whether you like horses or not ...as Buck puts it, "Your horse is a mirror to your soul, and sometimes you may not like what you see. Sometimes, you will." So says Buck Brannaman, a true American cowboy and sage on horseback who travels the country for nine grueling months a year helping horses with people problems."

For more info on BUCK, see:
http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/buck/
http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=13837221
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/blogssundanceblog/51115974-50/horse-brannaman-buck-bond.html.csp

But here is a free 1949 movie to add to your list of horse-movies :)

http://www.cinema.ucla.edu/events/2011-07-10/red-pony-1949

UCLA Film & Television Archive and the Hammer Museum present

The Red Pony (1949)

July 10, 2011 - 11:00 am

Billy Wilder Theater

Free Admission!

Preserved by Paramount Pictures with funding provided by The Film Foundation.  Print courtesy of The Film Foundation.

Directed by Lewis Milestone

A boy needs a pony to become a man in this big screen, Technicolor adaptation of the classic coming-of-age story written by John Steinbeck. A farmer’s son, Tom daydreams of knights and circuses, a lively inner-life wonderfully realized by director Lewis Milestone, until farmhand Billy Buck, played by Mitchum, makes him a present of a newborn red pony, a gift that will soon bring with it hard won lessons in responsibility and love.

RKO. Producer: Lewis Milestone. Based on the novel by John Steinbeck. Screenwriter: John Steinbeck. Cinematographer: Tony Gaudio.  Editor: Harry Keller. Cast: Myrna Loy, Robert Mitchum, Louis Calhern, Shepperd Strudwick, Peter Miles.

35mm, color, 89 min.

Recommended for ages 8+

Part of: 

Family Flicks

Friday, June 17 at 8.30pm - Sheetal Gandhi reinterprets Shel Silverstein's GIVING TREE - preceded by a one-man play about Founding Father Thomas Paine

 I first saw Sheetal Gandhi perform at Getty Center's Family Festival celebrating Cambodian culture and Angkor Wat a few weeks ago.  Sheetal retold and re-interpreted the classic tale of "How Ganesha Got His Head."  She is a singer, dancer, drummer, storyteller and choreographer- all in one person.  She mentioned this free performance at California Plaza which is her retelling of The Giving Tree in a performance entitled "Human Nature." Having seen her craft first hand, this should be a mesmerizing performance!

If you have never been to California Plaza, it is a picturesque performing space in front of a multi-tiered waterfalls right at the top of Angel's Flight tramway.  Pack a dinner and come earlier for a sunset dinner in front of the shimmering pools and cascading waters.  Seating is first come, first served.   I don't remember needing to get any physical tickets when I last went to a Grand Performance at this location, but check upon arrival.

From her website, http://www.sheetalgandhi.com/:

Sheetal Gandhi is a multidisciplinary choreographer and performer. She creates work that is reflective of a life that embraces diversity, observes human experience and yearns to tell a story. Using a hybrid movement vocabulary influenced by Kathak, Modern and West African dance, as well as complex rhythmic structures, theatricality and singing, she crafts a virtuosic and evocative physical/vocal vocabulary. In form and content, the work reflects her love for Indian cultural tradition and disciplinary technique, with the equally urgent desire to break away from them.

June 17, 2011 8:30pm:

"Human Nature"

Grand Performances and the COLA Festival present the premiere of "Human Nature", Sheetal's latest one-woman show that integrates animation with live performance in a provocative re-interpretation of Shel Silverstein's classic story, "The Giving Tree"

Here is a rehearsal shot from Human Nature
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150202131328948&set=o.200965523278534&type=1&theater

Tickets are FREE. For more info go to Info

Sheetal Gandhi’s work-in-progress, Human Nature, is a multi-media dance theater piece inspired by Shel Silverstein's children's book, The Giving Tree. 

For some videos of her range of work, see:
http://www.sheetalgandhi.com/

http://grandperformances.org/en/events/department-of-cultural-affairs-cola-artists-project.html

This Grand Performance begins at 8.30pm to 11.30pm  and appears to be preceded by this exciting dramatic and historical one-man play about Thomas Paine!

Ian Ruskin’s new one-man play, The Thomas Payne Project /“To Begin the World Over Again: the Life of Thomas Paine” delves into the mind of one of the nation’s most radical and misunderstood Founding Father’s – Thomas Paine, the man who started the American Revolution, defined the French Revolution and championed the power of human reason.

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=200965523278534

COLA performances are part of Los Angeles City’s Cultural Grant Program.

More Info >> http://grandperformances.org/en/events/department-of-cultural-affairs-cola-artists-project.html

Map & Directions >> http://grandperformances.org/en/gp/about/directions.html

Friday June 10, 8pm - Free performance of Kazakh Traditional Music at Billy Wilder theatre

The nearest we have been to Kazakhstan is to the westernmost part of The People's Republic of China when we visited several places along the southern rim of the Gobi desert back in 1986.   We especially remember an 11-hour bus from Aksu to the Kashgar where my hardboiled eggs for lunch somehow beat all the other hardboiled eggs from the Turkic-speaking locals in a friendly game of egg-butting :)   The friendly people we met, sweetest ever watermelons, grapes, underground irrigation systems, donkey carts with surrey on top, and dodging camels at the Sunday market are all memories of a lifetime.

But the main reason I wanted to share information about this free concert is that there will be throat-singing. The Inuit do it, so do Mongolians and Tibetans ...from Central Asia to Siberia, there are throat-singers.

What is throat-singing?  You would never have guessed that I was introduced to throat-singing from a NPR program which started with the curiosity of Richard Feynman ... yes, the physicist who was also an avid stamp collector and wondered about the country of Tuva whose stamps are pretty exotic.  He asked in 1977, "Whatever happened to Tanna Tuva?"  Unfortunately, he died two weeks before getting clearance from the government of Tuva to visit Tuva.  Read the rest of the story here:

http://www.fotuva.org/
http://www.fotuva.org/newsletters/wheel.html
If you are also a fan of Richard Feynman, check out this site:  http://www.feynmanonline.com/

Anyway, back to throat-singing .. learn more here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overtone_singing

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Throat singing may refer to

• Overtone singing, also known as overtone chanting, or harmonic singing
  • Tuvan throat singing, a form of overtone singing
• duet styles:
  • Inuit throat singing, a kind of duet as an entertaining contest
  • Rekuhkara, formerly practiced by the Ainu of Hokkaidō

From this link,here is a summary of what music we might hear on Friday night:

http://rateyourmusic.com/genre/Traditional+Kazakh+Music/

Traditional Kazakh Music dates from the times when Kazakhs were part of a great Central Asian nomadic culture. Its iconic instruments are Dombra (a long-necked lute), sybyzgy (a flute), jew's harp, and Kobyz (a horse-hair fiddle). The latter is often dubbed "the grandfather of all bowed string instruments" and is a staple instrument of the Kazakh shaman. Epic poetry singing is a crucial genre of Kazakh music and often employs throat singing techniques just like its Tuvan and Mongolian counterparts do. Sadly, Kazakh throat singing has become almost extinct during the communist era and and it is only in recent years that it has seen a revival.

This youtube link shows a throat-singer demonstrating different ways to perform throat-singing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNVrmW0VL2I&feature=related

For a deeper bellowing throat-singing style from Tibet,
http://kazakhamerican.skyrock.com/tags/kOU9o2XmDYW-tuvan-throat-singing.html
For Inuit female throat-singers who always seem to duel-sing, see:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnGM0BlA95I

In case you want to learn how to sing overtones, check this youtube tutorial!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGbFB91eM34&feature=related
See him here in a performance of overtone singing.

Hope some of you make it to this free event at Hammer Museum's Billy Wilder Theater in Westwood which opens a movie festival celebrating Kazakhstan.

http://www.cinema.ucla.edu/events/2011-06-10/kazakhstan-montage-cinemas

UCLA Film & Television Archive and the Hammer Museum present

Special Presentation: Turan

June 10, 2011

Billy Wilder Theater

Free Admission!

We are delighted to announce that our film series, “Kazakhstan: Montage of Cinemas,” will open with a special appearance by the Kazakh traditional music ensemble Turan, which performs on an array of ancient plucked, bowed, wind and percussive Kazakh instruments, with traditional throat singing. Founded in 2008 by a group of students from the Kurmangazy Kazakh National Conservatory, the members of Turan are award-winning artists who have performed around the world. This evening’s performance will precede the first screening of the Archive’s film series on Saturday, June 11.

Part of: 

Kazakhstan: Montage of Cinemas

Hammer Family Movie Hyper Sapien on June 12, 2011, at 11am and Fowler Museum's new exhibit on Tongva watercraft and maritime traditions

June's free family movie at the Hammer Museum is a very different kind of movie.  See a brief preview of the movie at:  http://hammer.ucla.edu/programs/detail/program_id/855

While in Westwood, consider walking over to UCLA to see Fowler Museum - which is free everyday - and see its new exhibit on Tongva maritime travel traditions off the coast of Southern California and photos of Tongva watercraft.   More at: http://www.fowler.ucla.edu/exhibitions/launching-a-dream
 
June 5–September 18, 2011

Powerful images by photographers Frank Magallanes and Althea Edwards witness the rebirth of ancient maritime traditions of the Southern California coastal and Channel Islands first peoples. Plank-sewn watercraft, the Tongva ti'at and Chumash tomol, once again regularly cut through local ocean waters. This series of photographs offers an intimate view of the construction, launching, and communal celebration of these unique and important vessels. Envisioned by tribal members as key symbols of native identity and cultural resurgence, they literally represent the realization of a dream.

 Meanwhile, Hammer Museum is free every Thursday.

June 12 2011, 11:00am

Hammer Kids

Save to Calendar

Family Flicks: Hyper Sapien: People from Another Star

Dir. Peter Hunt Hyper Sapien: People fro

Family Flicks is Hyper Sapien: People from Another Star

Recommended for ages 8+

Hoping to find evidence that earthlings aren’t as bad as the rest of the solar system believes, extra-terrestrial sisters, Robyn and Tavy jump ship in Wyoming accompanied by a super-intelligent fuzz ball named Kirbi. Befriended by a teenage cowboy, they work to save a beautifully photographed natural landscape under threat from developers in this delightful interstellar family adventure with a still-timely environmental message. (1986. Dir: Peter Hunt. 35mm, color, 92 min.)



FAMILY FLICKS
The UCLA Film & Television Archive and the Hammer Museum have teamed up for a matinee screening series of new and classic family-friendly films from around the world.

ALL HAMMER PUBLIC PROGRAMS ARE FREE. Seating is on a first come, first served basis. Hammer members receive priority seating, subject to availability. Reservations not accepted, RSVPs not required.

Parking is available under the museum for $3 for 3 hours.

Saturday June 4th is Getty Center Family Festival celebrating the Gods of Angkor

It is a rare treat to have exhibits about Angkor Wat in Cambodia, which is located near the town of Siem Reap.  The Khmer and Champa kingdoms were two of several Indianized kingdoms in South East Asia, and battle scenes between the two kingdoms can be seen at Angkor Wat.

As a Southeast Asian American (yes, South East Asia has a cultural identity different from South Asians and East Asians!), I am delighted to encourage you to visit Getty Center for its family festival this Saturday!  In addition to the Gods of Angkor exhibit, there is a huge exhibit on French culture in Paris, fashion, and see the list of exhibits at:  http://www.getty.edu/museum/exhibitions/    Parking is $15 per car, and free after 5pm.

A few years back, our family visited the Angkor Temple Complex, which has been declared a UnescoWorld Heritage Site.  We spoke with conservation teams from India and Japan and learned that teams from different nations undertook to do conservation and restoration work in different temples in the complex.  Our favorite temple is the one with the most evidence of an over-grown jungle with the roots of trees snaking around various parts of the temple.  I hope that remains reminiscent of the way it was when it was rediscovered in the 20th century.  It has often been called the eight wonder of the ancient world.

Learn what a World Heritage Site (WHS) designation means and more about the history behind Angkor Wat in Cambodia.  Read a really great account of Angkor Wat and see some beautiful photos of Angkor Wat.   When you get a chance to see Angkor Wat, don't miss getting up really early for sunrise and stay for sunset views of Angkor Wat.  Climb carefully those steep steps.   After visiting this complex, I would recommend going to Borobudor, the Buddhist temple complex in Java, Indonesia, that has also been designated a World Heritage Site.

This blog provides a very readable history and description of Angkor Wat: 
http://blogs.cornell.edu/siemreapmasterclass/2011/02/26/294/

Through this blog, also see the recommendation for a good 3D showcase of Angkor Wat: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJllLdw3qNo&feature=player_embedded#at=51
The narration behind this visualization of a reconstructed Angkor Wat might look like is really good.

This short clip from Globe Trekker shows a bit of what Angkor looks like if you were able to travel there.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ml9muxvkXw&NR=1&feature=fvwp

On Unesco WHS designation, see http://whc.unesco.org/en/activities/266/

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/668 

Armed this background knowledge, you would better appreciate this Family Festival's cultural focus.  Even without, enjoy a day of Cambodian culture and dance - you could even learn about the symbolic meanings behind intricate finger gestures in royal Khmer dance. 

I plan to organize a educational field trip to Getty Museum with free parking provided.  Leave me a comment on the blog or email me at familyfunlearning@gmail.com if interested.

	Khmer Arts Academy; photo: Kimsua Chay

Family Festival Celebrating Gods of Angkor: Bronzes from the National Museum of Cambodia

Date: Saturday, June 4, 2011
Time: 10:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.
Admission: Free; no reservations required.

Experience the beauty and wonder of Cambodia in this daylong celebration complementing the exhibition Gods of Angkor: Bronzes from the National Museum of Cambodia. This festival features traditional music and dance performances, hands-on workshops, and gallery activities.

Sithea San

Mistress of Ceremonies: Sithea San
10:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.
Museum Courtyard


Sopheary Band: Popular Cambodian Music and Dance
10:00–10:30 a.m.
1:00–1:45 p.m.
4:45–5:45 p.m.
Museum Courtyard

Cambodian Fine Art Heritage Relief Foundation

Cambodian Fine Art Heritage Relief Foundation presents Dances for Hope
10:45–11:15 a.m.
2:30–3:00 p.m.
Museum Courtyard

Prumsodun Ok (right); photo: Navin Moul

Transforming Nature: The Gestures of Classical Cambodian Dance
with Prumsodun Ok
11:30–11:45 a.m.
3:15–3:30 p.m.
Museum Courtyard

Khmer Arts Academy presents Season of Migration
11:45 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
3:30–4:15 p.m.
Museum Courtyard

Sheetal Gandhi

How Ganesha Got His Head Performed by Sheetal Gandhi
12:30–1:15 p.m.
3:00–3:45 p.m.
Museum Lecture Hall

Seven Day Color Fashion Show
1:45–2:00 p.m.
Museum Courtyard

Art Making Workshops
10:00 a.m.–5:30 p.m.
Museum Courtyard

Golden Images with Marni Gittleman
Create a portrait inspired by the ancient art of Angkor.

Glittering Crowns with Marianne Sadowski
Create your own headdress inspired by traditional Cambodian head adornments!

Gallery Talks for Families

Gods of Angkor Gallery Tour
Noon–1:00 p.m.
3:00–4:00 p.m.
Visit the Gods of Angkor: Bronzes from the National Museum of Cambodia exhibition for a guided tour with a museum educator and have your questions answered.