We Pick Up Our Chickens Today

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We're getting two Blue Marans, Orpintons, Bluff Brahma and Easter Eggers today. The Blue Marans lay "chocolate eggs" as seen in the photo.
The Easter Eggers lay green eggs.

We're looking forward to their arrival.
All of the birds are docile and friendly.
Some claim the roosters of these breeds are friendly too. Unfortunately, all of our rooster experiences have been hair-raising when they became "real" men and were in charge of the coop.  They terrorized all of us; so we're just getting hens this time.

Local Arts on the Horizon:

SUMMER 2013
Free Shakespeare at the Highland Park Bowl
William Shakespeare’s TWELFTH NIGHT

One of Shakespeare's most beloved comedies, Twelfth Night is a fun gender-bending story of fools, mistaken identities and excessive passions.  Like a party that has gone on for too long, Twelfth Night exposes human excess in our pursuit for love. Full of mistaken identities, comic pranks, tomfoolery, and music, the play revolves around a pair of twins separated by a shipwreck who find themselves falling in love with all the wrong people.   

The production takes a stylistic nod to the gender bending excess of the 1970’s.  Music and Fashion is inspired by Elton John, David Bowie, the later era Beatles, the Mods and Glam Rock.  A good time will be had by all!

Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
To be staged at the Highland Park Bowl; 1200 South Avenue
July 5 to 20, 2013 (all performances at 8:00 PM)
NO MONDAY OR THURSDAY PERFORMANCES

There is no admission charge (donations are solicited during intermission.)
The Highland Park Bowl is located at 1600 South Avenue, Rochester, at the corner of South Avenue and Robinson Drive. Parking is available on Robinson Drive and on neighborhood streets (please be courteous and observe the on-street parking restrictions.) Light refreshments will be sold on the premises. Bugs are rarely a problem, but repellant is advisable, to be on the safe side. Up-to-date rain-out information will be posted on our phone line, 585-234-7840. Bring your lawn chair or blanket and your favorite beverage, and enjoy this delightful tale!                                                  
COUNTY EXECUTIVE TO "THROW OUT THE FIRST LINE" OPENING NIGHT: Maggie Brooks, the Monroe County Executive, will be on hand opening night, July 5, to welcome the audience and "throw out the first line." Similar to the ceremonial throwing out of the first ball to open a baseball season, Ms. Brooks will declaim the famous opening line of the play to inaugurate this Summer's production. The Monroe County Parks Department has been our host and co sponsor of this event for the past seventeen years (since 1997.)

Declaration of Independence reading July 6: Immediately preceding our performance on July 6, various public officials from all over Monroe County will be our guests, conducting a public reading of the United States Declaration of Independence. The reading will start at about 7:45 PM, followed by our production if Twelfth Night.

Sign interpretation performance July 13: The performance of Twelfth Night on Saturday, July 13 will be sign-interpreted for the deaf. In case of rain, the sign-interpretation performance will be July 15. Underwriting for the sign interpretation performance is made possible by the law firm of Boylan Code. The interpretation is being provided by StageHands, a repertory group of certified theatrical interpreters.

First Festival of Sound and Light

Location: WAB – 740 University Ave.

Beginning in the fall of 1915, with an event that took place in Highland Park, Rochester Architect Claude Bragdon dramatically transformed his architectural work by designing theatrical events and settings, which he called Festivals of Light and Song. These projects were staged throughout New York State, including Rochester, Buffalo, and New York City. These night-time events were transformative experiences for the participants, caught up by music and lights that embraced them as they moved through previously familiar parks, transfixing the participants as if they occupied a wholly new world. A festival in New York City’s Central Park attracted crowds of over 60,000.
Drawing upon this past, Writers & Books will be staging a  rebirth of the Festival of Light & Song.  This initial  event, will take place on Friday, July 5, at 9:30 p.m. at Writers & Books. with images projected on the façade of our, quite fittingly, Claude Bragdon-designed building at 740 University Avenue. This first show will be a tribute to Claude Bragdon, involving his images, words, and a selection of music he used in his own Festival events a century ago.
This show, involving both images and sound, will be accomplished through a process known as 3-D video mapping. Video mapping uses common entertainment technology in a new, innovative way to project video or still images on buildings, façades, structures or nearly any kind of complex surface or 3D object to shatter the viewer’s perception of perspective. The projector allows bending and highlighting any shape, line or space. It creates astonishing optical illusions, a suggestive play of light and turns a physical object into something else by changing its perception of form.
Come just as darkness descends, bring a lawn chair to sit in, and take in the first of a series of Festivals of Sound & Light.

DATE
Friday, July 05, 2013
9:30 PM - 11:00 PM

PRICE:
Free and open to the public

Mindful Quote of the Day:

“Feelings, whether of compassion or irritation, should be welcomed, recognized, and treated on an absolutely equal basis; because both are ourselves. The tangerine I am eating is me. The mustard greens I am planting are me. I plant with all my heart and mind. I clean this teapot with the kind of attention I would have were I giving the baby Buddha or Jesus a bath. Nothing should be treated more carefully than anything else. In mindfulness, compassion, irritation, mustard green plant, and teapot are all sacred.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, The Miracle of Mindfulness: An Introduction to the Practice of Meditation