Things to Do: February 2009 Archives

Best-selling author Elizabeth Gilbert, the final lecturer in the UCR Palm Desert Graduate Center's 2008-2009 Arts & Letters Lecture Series, will speak at the Palm Springs High School Auditorium at 2401 E. Baristo Drive in Palm Springs Thursday, March 12 at 6 p.m.

Gilbert's recent book, "Eat, Pray, Love," was published in over 30 languages and has more than 4.7 million copies in print.

Tickets are $35 and it is open to the public. For information call 760-834-0590 or visit www.palmdesert.ucr.edu.

For those dads out there looking for budget-friendly activities to do with a baby Greg Bishop, founder of Boot Camp for New Dads, has some suggestions.

Bishop, whose non-profit orientation program for dads-to-be operates in more than 260 hospitals, clinics, schools, fire stations and churches throughout the U.S. and internationally, shared these ideas in his most recent book, "Crash Course for New Dads: Tools, Checklists and Cheat Sheets."

• Take a tour of your home with baby in a front carrier, letting him or her grab things within reach.
• Sing songs together. It doesn't Sing songs together. It doesn't matter if it's a lullaby or rock 'n' roll as long as it's repetitive and sung with enthusiasm.
• Give him/her "airplane" rides through the house or yard.
• Create some tall buildings with blocks then let him/her knock them down.
• Put baby in a carrier and go on short hiking adventures.
• Build an indoor obstacle course with pillows and sheets for tunnels that baby will enjoy crawling through.
• Start a kitchen band with pots and pans and spoons and really make some noise.
• Play "hide and seek" with toys to teach him/her how to find his/her hidden treasures.
• Encourage your little artist with crayons or non-toxic finger paint. Spread newspaper on the kitchen floor and cover with drawing paper.
• Bring the bath and beach toys into the tub along with a colander and let baby have a blast sinking ships and making "rain".
• Make funny faces together while looking in a mirror. Use shaving cream to give baby a mirror beard and moustache.
• Make junior an instant sports fan. Watch your favorite team together on TV and practice doing the wave.

See more on Bishop at www.DadsAdventure.com

As part of a monthly workshop for girls ages 10 to 13 women engineers will be highlighted Saturday, Feb. 21 at 11 a.m at the Taco Bell Discovery Science Center.

NASA

Jackie Jaron

"Exploring Engineering" will feature Jackie Jaron, an aerospace systems engineer who worked for NASA, JPL and Northrop Grumman. Jaron will share her experiences flying on the "Weightless Wonder" during college, working with astronauts in NASA's Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory and designing a vital piece of a satellite currently being developed to monitor the Earth's poles.

In addition to Jaron's talk, six other women engineers from the Orange County Chapter of the Society of Women Engineers will be on hand to talk about their experiences and to offer advice for those considering a career in the engineering field. These guest speakers include:
Kathleen Curley - Process Engineer, Fluor Corporation
Courtney Cleary - Process Engineer, Fluor Corporation
Dalia Guizar - Aerospace Engineer, The BoeingCorporation
Michelle Tuchscher - Engineering Specialist, Seimens Building Technologies
Paola Charvira - Piping Materials Engineer, Fluor Corporation
Shannon Pollock - Systems Engineer, The Boeing Company

The lecture, which is open to the public and free with admission to the musum, will be followed by a hands-on workshop and luncheon for girls age 10 to 13 who register in advance. For more information and to register for the workshop, visit www.discoverycube.org.

Followup to "'Bachelor' visits Lake Elsinore" entry:

It was tough for Lake Elsinore mom Joanne Fruin to see her daughter Naomi cry when "Bachelor's" Jason Mesnick failed to give her a rose at the end of Monday's hometown episode.

"Watching her get upset and cry upset me," Fruin said in a phone interview. "It's important to me for people to know how inspirational she is in my life."

Fruin didn't know about Naomi's "Bachelor" application until she had gotten her first interview. Naomi was living with her sister in Austin at the time and had applied as a joke because her friends kept saying she should try it.

"She said she wouldn't go on the show unless it was someone who would really interest her in real life," Fruin said. "By the third interview she was sure."

When it got down to the hometown dates, the Fruin family didn't plan much.

"I'm very spontaneous about things," she said. "I wanted to make it fun for him and knowing it was on television, we wanted it to be entertaining."

The dead dove portion of the show was an afterthought. Fruin remembered being a child and burying pets or birds like this one.

"As a kid at heart, I don't need too much persuasion to have fun with some role playing," she said. "I wanted to see how Jason would do with a eulogy ... how spontaneous he could be in a situation like that. Our family always plays. I wanted to be sure it was up his alley."

Naomi is one of five children who grew up between Lake Elsinore and Rochester, NY. She graduated from Cal State San Marcos with a B.A. in Media and Communications and was offered a job just before filming began on "The Bachelor" as a flight attendant with Compass Airlines.

The airlines said the job would still be waiting for her and it was, Fruin said. "Naomi is going to go places. I've always know that in my heart since she was a kid."

Readers will have the chance to get together to discuss two books thanks to a grant obtained by the Riverside Arts Council that will fund a program called The Big Read.

The Arts Council is among 208 libraries, municipalities and arts, culture, higher education and science organizations that received grants to fund the program.

Juan Felipa Herrera reads with Riverside resident Kai Ninete, now 7, at the main library.

Created by the National Endowment for the Arts, The Big Read is an initiative to encourage reading for pleasure and enlightenment among adults and children.

The grant provides the opportunity for readers to discuss one of 23 book selections from American and world literature.

The Riverside program will focus on "Bless Me, Ultima" by Rudolfo Anaya in conjunction with Riverside author and UCR professor Juan Felipe Herrera's "Crash Boom Love."

The first event, to be held Wednesday at the Riverside Public Library, will kick off the initiative with a book discussion with Herrera, snacks and free copies of both books for participants who register for the discussion to follow on Feb. 25.

The Feb. 25 discussion will take place in four library branches simultaneously -- Arlington, La Sierra, Orange Terrace and Main. It will be facilitated by students of Herrera who will compare and contrast the two novels.

Herrera, who grew up as the son of migrant farm workers in the Central and San Joaquin valleys, lived simply but with a great deal of music, reading, storytelling and a love of language.

"Many of his books are somewhat autobiographical, including 'Crash Boom Love,' " said Marion Michell-Wilson, executive director at Inlandia Institute. "It is a novel written in verse ... one of the few examples of a novel in verse in Chicano literature."

The book has many parallels to "Bless Me, Ultima" and in each discussion event the two stories will be compared and contrasted.

"You don't need to be a published author in order to lead one of these groups, being someone that simply has a love of literature is enough," said Patrick O'Brien, executive director of the Riverside Arts Council.

The Arts Council received the $10,000 grant to fund Riverside Big Read and has partnered with Inlandia Institute and the Riverside Public Library to stage the event.

"It's something we're very excited to be a part of," O'Brien said. "There's a real energy that is going on throughout the country about this."

Anne-Imelda Radice, director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services in Washington, D.C., said The Big Read has supported more than 500 public library partnerships.

THE BIG READ
Discuss "Bless Me, Ultima" by Rudolfo Anaya and "Crash Boom Love" by Juan Felipe Herrera at two Riverside events:
Kick Off
Where: Riverside Public Library, 3581 Mission Inn Ave., Riverside
Citywide Discussion
Where: Riverside Public Library, 3581 Mission Inn Ave.; Arlington Library, 9556 Magnolia Ave.; Orange Terrace, 200100-B Orange Terrace Parkway; La Sierra Library, 4600 La Sierra Ave., Riverside
When: 6 p.m. Feb. 25
Cost: Free
Register: 951-826-5213, www.riversideca.gov/Library/events.asp

The Riverside Dickens Festival will kick off tonight (Feb. 6) with a ball and then a whole host of Dickens related activities all weekend long - rain or shine!

This 16th year of festivities will include activities for the entire family - even the itty bitty members with plays, street performers, food vendors, music and more. This year's theme is "A Nickel's Worth of Nickleby."

Paul Alvarez/The Press-Enterprise

Brandon Puett, left, and Madison Moore rehearse the production of "Oliver Twist" for the festival.

Area youth have been involved in the celebration since its inception and this year is no different. Visitors can enjoy the one-act play "A Christmas Carol" performed by Citrus Hills Intermediate School in Corona on Saturday and "Nicholas Nickleby" performed by Martin Luther King High School in Riverside Sunday.

The Citrus Hills production is performed in a unique way, broken down into individual scenes with students rotating parts, said Annmarie Weaver, Dickens Festival president. "There are 60 to 65 students involved in the play ... All the character parts are performed by several different students so everyone in the class is involved. They all get to play a part."

Riverside's King High won the Dickens Festival high school drama contest, so they were chosen to perform the festival's theme of Nickleby.

The youngest Dickens fans will find plenty of activities in Oliver's Alley, which has expanded since its introduction last year. In addition to its usual Victorian crafts and games, the Alley will host afternoon tea for children age 12 and under.

"Children will be taught Victorian manners and etiquette and then served cookies and cider," Weaver said. Costumes will be available so participants can dress for the occasion.

UC Riverside's California Museum of Photography will photograph children in costume, said Carolyn Grant, one of the festival's founders.

Visitors to the Riverside Metropolitan Museum over the weekend can also see antique printing presses on display from the International Print Museum in Carson.

Kids can make invitations or posters, Weaver said. "There is a lot to do each day and its very family oriented."

Riverside Dickens Festival
Where: Downtown Riverside
When: Feb. 6, 7 and 8
Information: 951-781-3168, www.dickensfest.com

Children's Tea Parties
Where: Oliver's Alley
When: 11 a.m., noon, 1, 2 and 3 p.m. Feb. 7 and 8
Cost: All Oliver's Alley activities are free
Reservations: 951-781-3168

FamilyFun magazine offered these stay-at-home vacations tips for thrifty and fun vacations:

Pick a theme
Beach Day - Ukulele music, rum-free pina coladas, tissue paper leis
Spa Day - Elaborate hairdos, homespun nail salon, foot massages
Dinosaur Day - Natural history museum, dino books, fossil kits
Olden Days Day - Shun electricity and light candles, roast marshmallows
International Day - Cultural immersion for a day, look up traditional music, crafts and customs

Book a Room at Your Own "Home-tel" by transforming your room into a hotel for the night.
Bathroom - Transform with nice hand towels and fancy soaps
Bedroom Doors - Give each child a "Do Not Disturb" sign to hang
Service - Offer turndown service, complete with wrapped chocolates on pillows
Room Service - Offer a room service breakfast menu
Agenda - Slip an agenda of the day's activities under kids' doors every morning
Nightlife - Plan some evening entertainment with Basement Olympics or a picnic dinner by the fireplace

Get the kids' input and plan out an entire day creating an itinerary of activities just like any regular vacation.
Source: Feb. 2009 issue of FamilyFun magazine

U.S. championship and Olympic silver medalist skater Sasha Cohen will be among the performers when the Smucker's Stars on Ice tour comes to the Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario Sunday, Feb. 8.

The 23rd season of the show also will feature world champion and Olympic bronze medalist Jeffrey Buttle and other championship skaters.

"I toured last year and I was invited to come back," Cohen said in a phone interview. "We have a very similar cast from last year ... we're all glad to be here and have this chance to be creative."

Founded by Olympic gold medalist Scott Hamilton, the show began its 40-city national tour Nov. 29. The tour will conclude April 11 in Portland, Maine.

This year's theme, "On the Edge," will showcase the Olympic skaters' abilities to push their bodies to the edge, as they would in any high-level sporting competition.

"There are a lot of group numbers in the show; it was a lot to learn in a short time," Cohen said. "But it's a lot of fun doing it with your friends instead of alone."

Skaters will perform to a broad spectrum of music, including soundtracks from Beethoven, Big and Rich, Dave Kos and Celine Dion.

'SMUCKER'S STARS ON ICE: ON THE EDGE'
Where: Citizens Business Bank Arena, 4400 E. Ontario Center Parkway, Ontario
When: 3 p.m. Feb. 8
Cost: $25, $45, $75 and $120
Tickets: 909-244-5500, www.starsonice.com

MainStreet Theatre Company will take the children's book classic "A Year with Frog and Toad" to the stage as a musical at the Lewis Family Playhouse at the Victoria Gardens Cultural Center in Rancho Cucamonga beginning Feb. 7.

Following the storyline of the book by Arnold Lobel, audience members will watch friends Frog and Toad as they plant gardens, swim, rake leaves and more through all four seasons. During this time, they learn some important life lessons about love and friendship.

"The show is geared for anybody that has had a friend," said Dennis Kyle, who will play the part of Frog. "The story is based on the friendship of Frog and Toad, who are very different. It has a lot of comedy, but it is also very touching."

"The Year with of Frog and Toad" is Reggie De Leon's fourth production with MainStreet Theatre Co. De Leon will play the part of Toad. "I love working there; it's a great place," he said. "The name, Lewis Family, is very indicative of the experience you'll have.

"The designers have kept close to the book," Kyle said. "There are a lot of earth tones; greens and browns and some bursts of color."

The storyline takes place in a swamp and starts out with a dusting of snow during winter.
"The set does all sort of tricks. It snows, leaves fall and flowers pop out of the floor," said director Craig Belknap, director. "The designer has scaled the swamp so it's from Frog and Toad's perspective."

Character costumes use are suggestive, using color and texture to convey character identities rather than masks or intricate costumes. The characters never leave the stage and simply change clothes when transformation is required.

"I think that'll be fun for the kids. They'll actually see the transformation," Belknap said. "That kind of set up is more like a Broadway production."

Frog will be dressed in greens, Toad in browns, he said. The snail simply wears a gigantic backpack. "It's important to me to make sure that even though we're playing frogs and toads, the message is all about friendship," Belknap said. "A hard Disney head on top would destroy that ... so the designer created simple clothes that evoke an image of that animal."

"The music ranges from jazz and blue grass to country and pop and different styles in between," Kyle said. "It's all really charming."

'A YEAR WITH FROG AND TOAD'Where: Lewis Family Playhouse, 12505 Cultural Center Drive, Rancho Cucamonga
When: 1 and & 4 p.m. Saturday, 1 and 4 p.m. Feb. 7; 1 p.m. Feb. 8; 1 and 4 p.m. Feb. 14
Cost: $16.50
Box Office: 909-477-2725, 877-858-8422