Reflecting and Retreats

I've been going over my 2007 journal...what have I learned, what insights have I had somewhere along the way. What do I not want to forget about. Always get reflective between Christmas and New Year. Missing the 5stars and our 4 Seasons escape with post it notes. So, I've sent an invitation to my So Cal friends to see who wants to get together January 7th.

Also came across some busn cards from Singapore...One, from John Chong Ser Choon, a retreat director for Trinity Life Centre I'm going to have to check their retreat center out when I get back to Singapore, but just in case someone in Singapore is looking for a Spiritual quiet get-away, I've made this post with the link.

Here's some subjects to reflect and journal (I'm still thinking about it, so I'll have to fill in the blanks in a few days!):

In 2007 I learned to…

I grew most in…

Another way I saw myself growing was…

One of my best adventures was…

I saw/knew God was doing something when…

A real gift from God was…

Something I really enjoyed doing more of was…

One of the happiest memories of 2006 I’d like to freeze in my mind…

I was really brave when…

Something I’ve grieved about this year was…

I’m still trying to learn what God wants to teach me through this hard experience…

The best word of advice or encouragement I can remember is…

One thing I’m looking forward to in 2008 is…

Phone Salesman Amazes Crowd

Don't Give up on Your Dreams!
have you seen the clip of the phone salesman who ended up winning the 2007 Brittain's Got Talent televised competition?
Go Paul Potts!

Newsletters and blog posts: Word of Promise

Word of Promise
=stars read the word, a new audio Bible. Rich Swingle wrote about it here on his blog...

I disappeared for awhile because I discovered two new things: Facebook and the plays of August Wilson. Two things that can form addictive behavior. Facebook is kinda like hanging out with friends on steroids, alone. The August Wilson obsession has knocked off two more from my list of Pulitzer Prize winning plays. Fences, which loved reading and missed seeing at the Pasadena Playhouse by one year! (starring: Laurence Fishburne and Angela Bassett!) And The Piano Lesson.




So if you're looking for me, and the date on the most recent posting is getting old, go find me on Facebook,
or assume I'm at the library checking out plays by...hmmm. Who shall it be next? Maybe Eugene O'Neill.

A Thrill to Pass On Some Things I've Learned

Had another chance to explore physical worship with the pastoral staff of New Song Church (San Dimas, CA) this week. Eight of us worked through some very basic ideas of how to use our bodies in improvised movement (Diamond Ensemble) and improvised prayer (Enacted Prayer). A brief description follows, but if you want to read more about both of these forms, click the links or search this blog or my other one for course outlines and handouts (http://spicetolife2.blogspot.com)

Here's what one of the pastors wrote following our time together:

Thank you for yesterday. We had a wonderfully worshipful experience. I hope you felt we participated enough. Although we are a VERY creative group, we aren't necessarily a group that acts regularly. We still enjoyed ourselves immensely. In fact, we were all impacted deeply from the experience and would like to learn more. We are thinking about experimenting with enacted prayer during our Christmas Eve service.

HERE'S A QUICK DESCRIPTION: Enacted Prayer is a style of improvised physical prayer developed in the 90's by the Theatre Department at Northwestern College in Iowa (under the direction of Jeff Barker).
I was first exposed to it at the Christians in Theatre conference in Irvine, (CITA, 2003), and subsequently had one of the Northwestern teach a workshop with some of the Christians I work with from Singapore churches. I've since had a chance to teach Enacted Prayer with Senior Theatre Majors at the Wesley Institute for Minsitry & Creative Arts (Sydney, Australia), at the CRM Worldwide conference (June 2006), and the new course I teach: Performing Arts and Ministry Applications at TCA College in Singapore (Theological Centre for Asia, Certificate in Creative Arts Ministry). I've had the chance try it out once with Americans, at Yorba Linda Friends Church in 2006.

Enacted Prayer came out of a form of improvised and highly ritualistic theatre called Playback Theatre. Playback is used in community settings to improvise plays from stories told by the audience. It was originally developed in the 70's by Jonathan Fox in New York State (they have numerous annual residential training sessions at Syracuse University). Though I haven't had a chance to study in New York, I am a member of the International Playback Theatre Network and spent a year training and performing with Tapestry Playback Theatre in Singapore. I've had a chance to explore it as a means of expressing Christian faith and our Christian experience in an orphanage in Cambodia, with children in an International Christian School, and in the college classroom. I've found a link to one video online that gives & shows a decent description of it, while expressing the heart of what playback practitioners are hoping to accomplish.

Differing Views on How to Educate

Today I grinded my axe with the teacher of 2 of my 3 theatre courses this term:

The "Socratic Method" and critical thinking
cannot happen in a vacuum.

A few weeks ago my theatre professor asked me when no one else was in the shop to hear, "So Kimberly, you're an educator, how do you feel your classes are going so far? Are they living up to your expectations?"

And he heard a very long pause.

"That bad eh?"

"Well," I answered. "I still have SOME of my hair left."

(I think it was evident to him that my meaning was: "I've not torn all my hair out in frustration over these courses").

He laughed. Awkwardly.

I continued, "It's just that my kind of personalitly likes to analyze things with an eye to how they could be better. And there is a lot of room for improvement. If you're serious about knowing the answer to my question, ask me again in 3 weeks."

[click the time below to read the full post]

I was thinking and hoping that maybe if a few more weeks go by I won't emotionally tear apart nearly every detail of class time that was, to put it mildly 'not maximized.' I have come to a belief that he's a capable theatre artist, but an inept educator. I feel that though time in class stimulates my curiosity, anything I have learned about scenic design or technical theatre this term has come in self-study, OUTSIDE of my time face to face with this man who has his position at Pasadena City College on the grounds that he knows his stuff and has a lot to offer.

Well, more three weeks have gone by and it turns out that today was the day. All of the others had left around noon and I lagged behind straightening up in the scene shop.

"You know Eric, yesterday's scenic design class was the best one we've had yet." I said.

And then I told him why: before diving into an assignment to make a model box, we sat around at a table, and he showed us how it's done. (Sure, he used the materials belonging to one of the students, thus doing her assignment for her, but at least we were getting A CONCRETE EXAMPLE).

From here we ventured into a very lively and animated discussion. It was really fun. I love to argue and I feel like this was an opportunity to have a hand in sharpening this obviously gifted and skilled theatre artist in his weaker skills as an educator.

I told him that I respected him as an artist and I could tell that he really cared about his students. I don't want to vent my frustrations in writing through a "teacher evaluation" that would be first seen by the head of his department. I wanted him to hear it from me and hear from my lips that I know that he has a lot to offer me and I feel he is cheating me. Let him have a chance to answer to my accusation that he is hiding behind his belief in the socratic method and telling us to go out there an find what we need from the whole world of overwhelming resources that a scenic designer needs to know about. Give him my reasons why he needs to offer more structure and specific instruction and examples in this beginning/foundational course. Tell him that though I disagree with not having a textbook, I think it's entirely unacceptable that he's not even given us a bibliography! Worse yet, we've never even had a handout! Welcome to Junior College in America!

I have to say, it was stimulating to try to hear each other out, to violently disagree, and concede, and to even agree, and I HOPE to encourage him to be more of an inspiration and adept educator in the future.

"Start off this course by telling us about who you've learned from," I said. "What inspires you? Let's not waste our precious few weeks of a one term course to overview a vast subject. We spent nearly a whole class listing what tools we need to buy while you waiting for us to take the time to write it all down? I wrote some of it down wrong! Wouldn't it be better if you gave us a handout of a list and then got on with teaching? And then you let us pick the play we were going to all work on? Scenic designers don't get to pick out the play they design, so let's not waste a week in class of blank looks around the room about possible plays we could choose."

"Are you saying that these students are stupid?" He gave me a smirk.

"No. I'm saying that these students don't have some important core knowledge they need in order to make a good choice of a play, or to execute the assignments.

"These student can't list the titles of more than a few plays between them. The only other kid who had any input said, 'Duuuhhh, I was thinking about maybe a Shakespeare play, but I can't remember the name right now, and you said that it shouldn't be a Shakespeare play, so uh, never mind.' That's why I went and looked into the list of Pulitzer Prize winners and found which ones are the single set shows and brought the synopses to class. I'm someone in the class who at least knew of the Pulitzer Prize and that there is an (almost) annual award for drama. I didn't want to waste my semester working on just any old show! But 2 weeks 'discussing' what play we'll work on as a class? It's a waste of time!

"Why don't YOU tell us a famous play that you're curious about spending time working on. YOU say to us, 'Go read THIS PLAY, and next week we'll discuss it and get to work.' And how can we get to work if these students haven't seen many shows, and the shows we've seen haven't been watched with the eye of a scenic designer? How do we know what the unlimited possibilities are if we haven't even looked at a concrete example of a realistic set design vs and abstract one?

"This is how I understand the educators role who wants to teach his students to think critically: YOU, the Expert, tell us in the first week 'Here's a list of 5 different kind of contemporary scenic designers. Pick one and go research examples of his/her work. Come back next week and report back why you think that they are top in their field.' And if we don't get it right, then don't berate us and make us feel stupid for our amateur analysis. Add to what we share with your expertise. I asked for you list and spelled the names wrong, so came up with only a few to look into from my Google search. I went to the library and checked out a few of the only 16 books in the stacks on scenic design. I brought them to class. 'Meilzener,' you said, 'oh he's one of the greats. Yes. He's very famous.' So I spent hours pouring over his book and reading what he wrote and sketching copies of his designs. Only to hear you say 5 weeks later, "Yeah, he's famous but no one designs like him ANY MORE."

@#$@!!! &*@! %&@! %&!!! At this point I'm thinking that my teacher is not only NOT teaching me anything, he is working AGAINST my efforts at doing any profitable learning this semester!

WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY THAT 5 WEEKS AGO BEFORE I DOVE INTO STUDYING THE GUY?

(Did I say that this discussion was "lively?") He came back with,

"Well he was great, and it is worthwhile to study and know his work."

(I wanted to strangle him.)

He told me some stories of students not completing assignments, or turning them in late, or complaining about him on their class evaluations. So I asked, "Do you have this experience and feedback with all of your classes? Do you get the same lack of participation and reluctance to be the first to turn in assignments? It can't all be student laziness. I don't think you will ever have a JC student who has as much interest in learning the subject with as much free time to devote to it and as much theatre background as I have, and I'M FRUSTRATED WITH NOT UNDERSTANDING WHAT YOU WANT. It can't all be the students' fault.

"Do you know that we all talk about our reluctance to be the first person to bring forward an assignment for critique? It's because we know that we'll not have understood it right, and in the process of our displaying our bad example, and you pointing out why we didn't get it right, the rest of the class benefits by finding out, "OH THAT'S WHAT HE MEANT!" so they can go back home and work on their assignments with more clarity.

He replied. "But I am constantly asking people if they understand and no one ever says that they are confused."

"No, you have a bad habit of saying, '...You know what I mean?' every 5 seconds. This is a very bad habit and you have to STOP IT! You have to stop it because, from the start we realize that when you ask it, you do not wait for an answer....And when this is the case, you are not REALLY making sure that we understand, but that you are using this as a crutch in your communication style to put the onus on us for your not communicating clearly!

"Besides, no one is going to speak up in class, in front of their peers and say that they don't get it. People just don't do that. I'm old enough to be my classmate's mother and confident enough to teach this subject without having ever had a course in it, and I'M reluctant to pipe up when I don't understand.

"And if what you are telling me is that these problems are typical in the classes you teach, perhaps not all of the students are lazy or unmotivated. Perhaps many, like me, don't understand the assignments and get deflated in the process. You say your critiques 'are NICE compared to the feedback you'll get in the business.' But in reality all of us are not heading into a career in scenic design where we'll face ruthless directors who rip apart our work. In reality, we are getting a taste of this craft, and an appreciation for what it takes to be good at it. We are gaining a vocabulary for collaborating with scenic designers if we end up venturing into other arenas of theatre work.

"You have this chance to inspire us and intrigue us from the wealth of knowledge and experience in your head, and we're instead getting overwhelmed and defeated by your stubborn refusal to pass any of it on under the guise of a commitment to the Socratic Method. We're trying to take it all on and come to you as if we're experts when we haven't the foggiest idea where to begin!

Moved a backburner idea to the front and turned up the flame:

Only a couple weeks ago I started working on the infancy of a devised theatre project called:

Alternate Endings: Reinventing the Past.


For now it's just a personal writing exercise to help me heal from some of the things of long ago that are still hang ups. But if this continues to take shape, and the Lord keeps giving me a passion for it, I think it may grow into a fusion of a Playback & Devised Theatre piece for helping artists and audiences shake off their baggage.

During my week in Estes Park Colorado (CRM Women of Influence Mentoring Retreat, Oct 20-25) I shared the idea with a therapist with CRM, and another older woman/mentor in CRM and both were very encouraging to move forward with it and see how the Lord leads. If nothing else, it's sure a great exercise for me.

What I'm doing is writing a synopsis of an unhappy event in my life that I didn't process well - A time when I didn't know what to do with the emotions or hurt and never really have been able to put it to rest. After the synopsis, I pray over how it could have turned out differently. Not necessarily to change the painful experience, but to change the conversations surrounding it, and my responses in the face of it. Then I write out a scene giving voices and reality to this 'alternate ending.' This script then can become a part of my memory, and I've found that it has almost immediately given me complete closure over that situation.

Have you any pain in your past that has become a roadblock to your growth or emotional and spiritual or even physical health? If you like to write, try it! Let me know how it goes!

Education by Evesdropping

I have a new circle of friends. Well, they don't know me, but I've become a fan....

About a year ago I started listening to the podcasts from Downstage Center and American Theatre Wing.

I put my ear buds in, hit play and while driving, preparing dinner, or working out, my new friends Howard Sherman (ATW, Executive Director) & John von Soosten (Program Director, XM Satellite Radio, On Broadway) climb into my head and introduce me to their elite circle from the world of American theatre. I imagine sitting in either Howard or John's living room and listening for an hour to the likes of Terry Teachout, Theatre Critic for the Wall Street Journal; Marian Seldes, Rita Moreno, Vanessa Redgrave & Carole Shelley, on their long and illustrious careers; John P. Connolly the new executive director of Actor's Equity Association (some of my recent favourites). I may be only paying $20/unit for my mediocre theatre courses at Pasadena City College, but this education by evesdropping is PRICELESS.

Here's the link to get the podcasts for yourself, with the description from the ATW website:

"Downstage Center, a collaboration of the American Theatre Wing and XM Satellite Radio, is a weekly theatrical interview program that spotlights the creative talents on Broadway, Off-Broadway, across the country and around the world, with in-depth conversations that simply can't be found anywhere else."

Omega Cinema Props, Hollywood

Omega Cinema Props, Hollywood
Originally uploaded by K!Mberly.

Truly, there's no business like show business! Today I visited this humongous warehouse of every possible kind of prop you could imagine. And did a little people watching. Hollywood entertainment types are an interesting breed.

'Karate Kid' actor makes movie on faith

Billy Zapka's "Most"
The Orange County Register featured a frontpage article chronicling the amazing story behind Billy Zapka's Academy Award Nominated film "Most." If you want to be inspired as an artist, read this article! It is an amazing story of risk-taking, courage, faith, and perseverance.

This was posted by Joey at The Grove who's recently started a new blog for artists:

Join for free...
The Artist's Heart Wiki by
The Grove Center for the Arts & Media
You're invited to join and become a contributor in The Artist's Heart Wiki...a place where you can post your comments, thoughts, artwork, favorite authors and reflections on developing a deeper life in Christ as an artist.

If you haven't used a wiki yet (Think Wikipedia), you'll love this new interactive forum where you can meet and dialogue with other artists, creatives and dreamers. It's free to join and participate!

I'm looking forward to seeing you at The Artist's Heart from you.

Want to be a better Screenwriter?

Act One trains and mentors Christians of all denominations for careers in mainstream film and television. They prepare students to produce film and TV projects that combine mastery of craft with great depth and meaning. Here's the latest news from them:

Do you have a story to tell?
Is your script ready for production?
Do you have what it takes to make it in Hollywood?

It’s time to find out.goes in each post:
The Act One Screenwriting Weekend is coming to Grand Rapids, Michigan!


What:
Two days of fun, fast-paced instruction from Hollywood pros

*Story *Formatting
*Structure *Visual Writing
*Character *The “Biz”
*Dialogue *Christianity and Culture

PLUS – The Hollywood Insider Event … and much, much more!

Dates:
Friday and Saturday, October 19-20, 2007

Location:
Trinity Reformed Christian Church
60 Port Sheldon Road
Grandville, MI 49418

Scheduled To Appear:
Writer/Producer/Director Thom Parham (JAG, Touched By An Angel)
Writer Chris Riley (After The Truth, 25 To Life, The Hollywood Standard)
Producer and Act One Executive Director Thomas Deason (Fool’s Errand Films)

Registration:
$195 – (includes study materials, Saturday lunch and Hollywood Insider Event)
$175 – Early Birds (before October 1st), Students (with ID), and Groups (10 or more)
$10 – Hollywood Insider Event only

Act One, Inc. is proud to partner with our co-sponsor, Compass Film Academy
and additional sponsors Pepperdine University and Baker Publishing Group


SPACE IS LIMITED – Visit www.actoneprogram.com to register online NOW!
$20 Early Bird Registration Discount extended to October 1st!

Don't Scale the Walls of Hollywood, Go Around Them!

Being a great fan of YouTube, I was thrilled when I recently learned about a new show called "The Interior." Casting was done on YouTube, and the fan base is being built by allowing the public to see and comment on episodes as thy are broadcast on the internet as webisodes. Season one will go directly to dvd once it's completed. Something else that makes me love it: The protagonists are contemporary young missionaries who don't seem to have it all together (read: oh how well I relate!). One of the creators is an MK who has made some successful documentaries. Enjoy the link!

Enacted Prayer & Playback Theatre

Enacted Prayer is a style of improvised physical prayer developed in the 90's by the Theatre Department at Northwestern College in Iowa (under the direction of Jeff Barker). I was first exposed to it at the Christians in Theatre conference in Irvine, (CITA, 2003), and subsequently had one of the Northwestern graduates teach a workshop with some of the Christians I work with from Singapore churches. I've since had a chance to teach Enacted Prayer with Senior Theatre Majors at the Wesley Institute for Ministry and the Creative Arts (Sydney, Australia), at the CRM Worldwide conference (June 2006), and the new course I teach: Performing Arts and Ministry Applications at TCA College in Singapore (Theological Centre for Asia, Certificate in Creative Arts Ministry).

Enacted Prayer came out of a form of improvised and highly ritualistic theatre called Playback Theatre. Playback is used in community settings to improvise plays from stories told by the audience. It was originally developed in the 70's by Jonathan Fox in New York State (they have numerous annual residential training sessions at Syracuse University). Though I haven't had a chance to study in New York, I am a member of the International Playback Theatre Network and spent a year training and performing with Tapestry Playback Theatre in Singapore. I've had a chance to explore it as a means of expressing Christian faith and our Christian experience in an orphanage in Cambodia, with children in an International Christian School, and in the college classroom. I've found a link to one video online that gives & shows a decent description of it, while expressing the heart of what playback practitioners are hoping to accomplish.

I'm excited to meet with church drama leaders in USA and have another chance to share about some new theatre forms with great ministry potential. It will be fun to give it a try, if you're game, and discuss how you see it being used in the American church context.

Pulitzer Drama Readings of the Week

1. Our Town
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1938, Our Town may be the most popular American play ever written. It explores traditional American values of religion, community, family, and the simple pleasures of life, while employing innovative elements such as minimalist stage sets, a Stage Manager who narrates and controls the action, and a character who speaks from the grave. (see link to more from enotes). Enotes, also says, "It is quite possible that on almost any given day of the year, somewhere in the world, Our Town is being performed by either a professional company or an amateur troupe of actors."Now, that's one popular play!



2. The Skin of our Teeth, (1942) "Thornton Wilder's unconventional drama about the history of humankind.... Disrupting traditional notions of linear time, Wilder's play tells the story of the twentieth-century American Antrobus family in three acts which recount such epochal events as the onset of the Ice Age, the start of Great Flood, and the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Ending exactly as it began, the play illustrates the cyclical nature of existence, celebrating humanity's resilience, inventiveness, and will to survive." (see link to more from enotes)

Wanna read what i have to say about them? It's not much, but you can...

I have to admit that while I was moved to tears by Our Town, and my immediate life lessons are resonating with what Becky learned in Act III, I'm going to have to go and re-read The Skin of Our Teeth again, now that I've looked at enotes and searched out someone else's explanation of the play. I found it amusing, and indeed unconventional, but wow, i just didn't get most of it. As I read I knew that it was burgeoning with allusions to all kinds of juicy deeper meaning. It was a harvest of subtle clever fruit that was admittedly just over my head, so i went online to wrap my mind around it. Here's my favourite quote, from Act III ""Oh, I've never forgotten for long at a time that living is a struggle. I know that every good and excellent thing in the world stands moment by moment on the razor-edge of danger and must be fought for--whether it's a field, or a home, or a country.
All I ask is the chance to build new worlds and God has always giving us that."

Have you ever read either of these plays? Go get a copy of one today. Really terrific literature. Inspiring creative genius. I'm liking this pulitzer prize reading quest!

BOUNTY

Andy Silk (calls in a panic): i need a female vo for a section of a video. can you do it for me by tomorrow afternoon?

me: love to, but i don't have the tools. just the internal mic on my ibook.

but, i tell him i'll look into it. i'm attending a class on Sunday mornings with Entertainment ppl: "The Bridge" so before class next day i ask one of the guys

me: do you know if there's anyone here who lives nearby who may have a usb mic? i need to do a quick vo.

guy: sure. me. i just got a new mic, need to try it out. give me an excuse to clean my room.

recording later, guy offers to show me the trailer of the film BOUNTY he's almost completed. wow. really not bad! captured a photo from watching the trailer again. check it out! excited for him to be so close to finishing his first feature film. thankful for his help on the last minute recording need for crm.

click on title of this post to see the trailer. click here for BOUNTY website.

Learning Your Way Around the Shop

Measuring/Marking Tools:
Tape Measure, Pencil - duh
Mitering gauge - the red thing
Chalk line - the yellow tool
Bevel (Swivel) gauge - used for transferring angles from one pc of work to another.
Carpenter's level
Roofer's square/ speed square - a 45' triangle
(on R in 3rd photo, below)
Framing square or Trim square - L Shaped steel 16" on bottom, 24" tall, checks 90 corner joints combination square.

Saws:
"Cross cut" cutting against grain
"Rip cut" goes w the grain
Less teeth means a smoother cut
Jack saw - angles down
Mitre saw - rectangular shaped blade
Hack saw (far L) various sizes, cuts metal small ones used more 4 carving
& Clamps to temp hold stuff together:
Grip clip or spring clip - used in tv film a lot
C clamps
Wood clamps/Yorgenson clamps

Hammers:
Claw framing hammer - 16oz, or rip hammers (not shown, have the straight top)
Tack hammer
Rubber mallet - deliver force w out damage, shape thin metal
Ball peen hammer - used in metal work
Sledge hammer - not often used in theatre


Painting Tools:
Ladders, scaffold (ha, not shown!)
Rollers + texture roller
sponges - hide flaws
Chip brushes - a nice disposable brushes
Paint tray or pan - "charging" the brush
use a W or x pattern when painting
5 in 1 one tool - scrapes rollers, open pant can,a staples out
Extensions - tools to screw onto rollers to give longer reach.
Planes - shown L in photo
Paint dryer - (not shown) looks like a hair dryer
Water based paints contain VOCs: volatile organic compounds. Meaning? They can rot.

Pliers & Wrenches (R-L):
Wratchet or socket Open end wrench Box wrenches - really a circle, have the measurements on them
Pipe wrench - 4 used in hanging lighting (big with red handle)
Vice grip/locking pliers
Ice tong thing is really just "fancy plyers"
Dikes are the curved pliers Long-nose/Needle nose - Slip joint - popular, multifunction, the pliers with the red handle
Box/combo/open ended wrench, Crescent or C wrench -wow so many names!


Various:
T50 hand stapler/staple gun - hangs curtains temp
Crimping cutting tools 4 metal
Wire strippers - (bottom L, black)
and a pencil (duh)

various chisels



What are the red and yellow handled tools at top of this photo?
Pop rivet gun (black & red) - don't use much
Alan wrench/hex head screws (silver L's)
Black Crow bars & "wonderbar" (not shown)

scissors - duh

Blades:
"Exacto" or Matte knife - most common accident tool has a string cutter & place for extra blades. handy.

Stock flats:
2' 3' & 4' width stock flats are the often used flats you keep "in stock" to always have on hand.

"stock" also refers to the material you're working with

Power Tools:
Battery operated screw guns 'deWalts'
Dry wall Phillips screw
Battery chargers 9v to 18v
Keyless chuck to tighten chuck which holds the drill bits
Michitas are the older brand
Angle drill

Panel or circular saw - Battery op power, saw plywood Luan sheets, light duty cutting
Less teeth for rough cuts
can pivot to make beveled cuts
Worm drive saw - corded has more power
Sawsall or reciprocating saw -
Bosch saber saw (not jig or scroll saw) - can cut curves better than the michita brand, better for handling

Router - shaping tool flush cutter

Numatic staple and nail guns:
Portable compressor uses air pressure for...
finish nailers (the big one)
pin nailers doesn't hold as well as staples but use it for crown moulding or other items you'll want to pull off the stock sets later.

Sanders
Square ones , name?
Belt sander
grinder - will cut metal use composite blades Metal is bcoming more popular in theatre

Stationary Power Tools:
Band saw - blade is a band
Drill press -
radial arm saw makes many repetitive cuts, has a rip fence and you c clamp a 'stop block' as guide

**Table saw - unisaw, delta makes good table saws, generally used for rip cuts- along the grain of wood. Tracks are for holding rip fence always use blade guard.
Make sure to see that the bolt is locked down

Push stick don't get within 4-5" of the blade
Don't cross your body while running power saws

Chop saw or mitre saw, the yellow one Dewalt brand specialty cuts angled etc.

Disk sander

'doesn't make sense' notes on framing:
in lumber, a 1 x 3 is actually a 3/4 x2 1/2
use 1 or 1 3/8 staples for framing, change the staples for 'skinning' putting the luan on the front of the frame.

Romancin' the Blues

I just realized I never posted this video. One of the songs I sang last for our concert last April. I've got to find an outlet for more sining here so that I don't start making this my theme song in California. I snatched an hour yesterday in a practice room at school. The instrument has gotten a little rusty with all this moving and traveling. Hope you enjoy this song from Linda Eder's album: It's No Secret Anymore. Wish I sang it as well as she does, but I sure enjoyed singing it, which made my audience love hearing it. -K!M

Scenic Design: Assignment 1

Eric Larson wanted to get to know his new students, and what is our raw knowledge of his area of expertise. So, the link (click the title) is to my first completed assignment.

Pulitzer Prize Winning Dramas

Year in USA entry 2:

As everyone else in my immediate and extended family immerse themselves in American Football,
especially College football,
well even more specifically UCLA football,

I've hunkered down with a GRAND OBSESSION for myself:

Reading the Pulitzer Prize winning dramas
I've not yet had the chance to read or see.

So, my INPUT strength has kicked in full force and I've just taken most of the day to compile a list with links to the best descriptions I could find for now. (See the link underlined above, it's pretty nifty...well, if you're as nuts as I am about theatre).

A few days ago, when I got the inspiration, I made my first visit to our local library.

The Central Branch of the Pasadena Public Library is one of the magnificent 1920's buildings of downtown Pasadena. It has tremendously high ceilings, reading tables with pull string-green shaded lamps, dark wood paneling, crown molding, and carved quotes of literary masters surrounding the grand main hall. Each room of the library is a place I'd like to spend hours hunkered down in a chair or wandering the stacks.

Of the 6 I checked out the first one I tackled was THREE TALL WOMEN by Albee. Finished it last night. Really amazing. Genius. You come to find out in the second act that the three women of the first, aged in their 20's, 50's and 90's, are actually the SAME WOMAN who are getting to know one another just before she dies.

I seem to be on a roll with plays about aging. Before this Pulitzer quest, I read a play from my library that I've been intending to read since an old friend David Calkins gave me a copy of the script more than 15 years. ago. Though it didn't win a pulitzer I NEVER SANG FOR MY FATHER it should be better known. It is also a powerful play about growing old and father/son relationships. (It was produced off-broadway in 2003 and made into a movie in 1970)

So, what do you think of my obsession?
Anyone interested in joining me in reading some of the best American plays ever written?

Back to School

Year in USA 1:

What an unusual year this is for me. I have a break to be able to study whatever I'd like until next summer when we plan to return to Singapore.

I've gone back to school at 45. From the very start of our dreaming about a year in USA, I knew WHAT I wanted to learn about. There are some gaping holes in my undergraduate theatre education. But I'd wrestled long and hard with WHERE to study. Do I commute to school a bit further to take 2 semesters of upper division Theatre History (etc)? Do I apply for an MFA at Cal State Long Beach...or somewhere else? Somewhere that would offer me graduate level academic challenges coupled with an excruciating daily commute on the congested LA freeways!

Choosing Pasadena City College in our neighborhood is certainly not the most prestigious or career advancing choice. But it is a school in Los Angeles County that produces more than 8 shows a year and a convenient, and cheap option.


An MFA would take more than one year to complete, and it will be another 4 until I could continue on the course.

So with PCC I'll learn as much as I put into it while studying near the children's schools and actvities. It will not only be a replentishing sabbatical year of study, but a rich and rewarding year for us as a family to enjoy. PLUS I'll not have to endure sitting on highways looking at red tail lights. Maybe I'll take on that MFA when Cameron is in 9th grade and Tyler starts college.

But I'm posting this entry to say:
I've survived my first week back to school.

Yes, there were the students on the first day who stopped me in the halls to ask directions or advice because I look like a TEACHER.

But I'm off and running. Here's a link to my first assignement, a Scenic Design Survey. Our instructor wanted to get a feel for what we know before he launches into lectures. Next week we'll choose the play that we'll all work on for this first semester. I'm excited to learn a little about drafting, and white model making, and pushing my realists' head to more theatrical, abstract ideas.

Besides Scenic Design, I'm taking courses in: "Theatre History, Technical Theatre & Music Theory. It was hard to choose from the catalog of offerings. I was a kid in a candy shop. Prudence limited me to 12 units.

NOTE: The photo above was taken on my new iphone - yes! i got one! and it'd very very cool! But back to the photo: I was sitting in this cool spot under a tree after I'd hiked up a the foothills near our home. I'm loving living at the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. They are breathtaking in the early mornings and at sunset. I'm discovering all kinds of places for early morning hikes and quiet time with the ipod of my new phone tuned to favourite worship songs. I admit I'm crying a lot these days, just overcome, and I'm not sure why. On this day I'd imagined that the rolling of the hills on either side of me, as I was sitting near a canyon, were the folds of the Saviour's garments as he held me in his strong arms.

breif UPDATE on CONCERT:

alabaster jar 2 at the Arts House friday night was an amazing night. very relaxed. PACKED house (seats all full and 40 people sat in the aisles and on the floor!). good music. the presence of God was palpable. it was everything and more that we hoped it would be (except for hearing that the box office turned some people away).

For the record, I've posted what I said to intro the songs. It's my Playden Playlist script posted at another location.

(here's a shot from our warm up at Arts Cafe at Esplanade the week before!)


FYI: Wanting to be on the up and up for this gig, we got a PERMIT from COMPASS to sing these copywrited songs. Permit no: 0704552. Did you know that technically evertime a song is played or sung publically it needs to have a permit to do it? Drag. The minimum fee for a ticketed event – no matter how small is $150! (for us that is about 10% of gross ticket sales!) Differing venues have different rates. This year there are only 2 venues in Singapore with annual permits that cover any performance going on there (Victoria Concert Hall and DBS Auditorium). Yikes. Did you know that the fines can be up to $10,000 per song? Ouch.Check out the link to read more of the bad news for amateurs who want to be honest.

Alabaster Jar 2

In a public venue, The Arts House,
A really cool artsy performance space downtown,
a place that wasn’t church,
didn’t feel like church or look like church,
some Christian artist friends of mine and I wanted to invite people to come and enjoy a night of great music
and hopefully in that, experience the presence of God.
You know, at the end. We wanted everyone to just say,
“[sigh] Isn’t God amazing to create music?”

We didn’t want it to be a “Christian concert.”
But…we’re Christians. How can we get on stage and be ourselves and not have people be touched by God? It was kind of like an experiment.

Three women, artist friends of mine here in Singapore,
we just wanted to be ourselves.

Donna Ong, a visual artist organized this thing called Alabaster Jar 2,
and was quite frankly, giving us a chance to show off
and tell our stories.
Have a chance in a normal non-preachy kind of a way to tell people how real God is in our day to day lives…
And how much he loves us.
You know, “this is how faith works out in my life. Let me sing you a song that’s spoken to my soul about this, or that, or something else.”

So many of us, as Christians don’t live it out in our daily lives. Our Christian life is relegated to Christian activities, like quiet times or even more sad: only when we’re attending worship on Sunday. Jesus just isn’t invited along with us in the commuting, or the laundry, or the kind of music we listen to or the movies we watch. And (pschaw) we have an even harder time talking about our faith with people who aren’t Christians! What is that?

So, with these friends of mine, these passionate believers in Jesus, these artists who don’t necessarily feel like they fit at church into the typical “ministry opportunities” in a church like cell group leader or usher or bulletin stuffer, we made up our own ministry opportunity. One that suits our giftedness and passion: a performance!


Every step along the way we’re asking God for inspiration and his involvement. What songs should we sing? for Dawn Fung it was also in writing new music and lyrics. What order should we sing them? Who would be willing to play for us or with us? Could the whole process of creating be worshipful and enjoyable and not just the event itself?

Yes….YES!

It was a rush. It was a total rush. Every step along the way was sheer delight. There was such sweet unity and encouragement among the gals and our musicians, and then tonight was amazing. It surpassed our expectations…even our dreams! The place was packed, I heard they turned people away. The crowd filled up the seats and then the aisles and even the floor in front of the stage area. And loved each set.


Dawn sang her folk music on her Yamaha guitarelle and everyone loosened up when she was freezing cold and said, “I think I’ll run backstage and get my sweater.” Everyone knew this was a place to chill (literally!) Then her poetic lyrics stretched us and made us think, her casual- at ease attitude…She started things off and warmed up the crowd no matter how cold her bare feet were!



Shan came next with her sassy attitude and splash of fushia in her hair. And her bossanova and ballads. She sat down at the keyboard and sang as if she did this everyday. Isaac her guitarist was way too cool, and talented too. I don’t know. All of the musicians who came alongside us that night were too good to be true. We could have just made it an instrumental evening and we’d have all been blessed.


My set was a compilation of songs that tell my story in Singapore, so I wove that in as well. The crowd laughed when I talked about wheeling my little grocery cart to and from the mall in the hot sun and that this jilted lover song “Romancin the Blues” was what I felt like singing to God for the way my life was turning out. To share with them them why the gospel songs about Gratitude or the miracle of mercy gave me perspective even when life doesn’t seem to make sense. It cracked me up that when I sang a popular Chinese song they got out their cell phones and waved them in the air to the music. I loved closing my set with Anything Can Happen. I seriously felt like the hope in this encouraging song hit the target of everyone’s heart.


The crowd cheered us on. They laughed and and they cried with us. And, when it was over, after our last encore when we sang together, the audience seemed like they didn’t want to go home.

One man, I’d never met before, was standing around when nearly everyone was gone. He said, “It just seemed like rain was falling. I saw rain over the audience. God’s love and healing was raining down on everyone in the room. It was amazing.”

Yeah. It was. I can pretty confidently say that everyone there, whether or not they’ve submitted their lives to the King of Kings, and Lord of the Universe, had a powerful sense God was personal and real. Because he was there. My prayer is that as even the skeptics ruminate over what happened tonight, they don’t let it become just a neat experience, but that wherever they are in their journey of faith, because of Alabaster Jar 2, they’ll give give their hearts more fully to Jesus.

Concert April 27th!

Alabaster Jar Email Flyer.jpg
Originally uploaded by K!Mberly.

To celebrate my 10th year in Asia and before we go back to USA for 1 year in California (June '07-Aug '08),
I'm thrilled to have been invited to share a concert with two talented Singaporean friends.
In an intimate theatre setting of the Old Parliament Building, I'll be singing a line up of songs that I've come to love and associate with my journey in Singapore. My set includes songs originally recorded by Linda Eder, Nichole Nordeman, Susan Ashton, Steven Curtis Chapman and even Jacky Chan!
Playing for me are Lee Meng Cham, Charles Wong and Deniece Foo. Paul Seow is joining in on vocals.
I hope you'll come and have as much fun enjoying a variety of good music as I am preparing it for you!

Fridays @ Lunch

Fridays @ Lunch
Originally uploaded by K!Mberly.

Before Leezibet makes a career shift from freelance theatre to flight crew stationed in Dubai we're meeting up to talk about calling and destiny! Meeting together with Elizabeth DeRoza and Lee Soon Hoong.

Arts4Jesus & Praying on Mondays

I can't even remember when it was that Dawn Fung and I started praying on Mondays for A4J and the other influential friends in Singapore's arts community.

It started 'cause we inherited the moderation of the group from Mary, Sean and Lucilla.
We just wanted to be asking God what we should do with an egroup like this.
We really weren't sure (we still aren't!).
All we sensed at that time was a need to be praying for the group. So we started.

I admit to you, I've never been a so-called "prayer warrior" (i like to DO things) and I admit I'm sometimes (often?) skeptical about the difference our prayers are making.

But I am starting to see the effect this dedicated prayer time is having on my own heart
and my compassion
and trust in the LORD to fulfill his purposes
in my joy
and humility
and a growing deep curiosity about how the LORD of ALL responds to the prayers of his people.*

As Dawn took on a day job in January, she can't be praying on Monday mornings for now.
However, there have been a few others who are coming along when they can, or who are planning to come when the schedule is free.

Our high-tech group is getting a little higher-touch.
That's a good thing.

If you're free 10AM and want to join us, let me know.
Or let us know how to pray...
If your not free during the mornings, I've started making lunch dates at 12:30 after we've prayed.
This next Monday we're meeting at the Esplanade Library cafe. Wanna join us?

*We ARE praying for some BIG only-God-can-do-it kinds of things for people. I long to see miracles! I want to hear of artists we know and love, and others we only read about in 8 Days or LIFE! come back to a deep abiding love relationship with Jesus. I'd love to be a part of that! I'd love to see our community be full of people who, despite crummy earthly examples, know and trust their Father in heaven, and the way of life he has laid out for us in Scriptures, enough to DESIRE to live a holy life which pleases him. I envision Arts4Jesus members filled with same Spirit who rose Christ from the dead! Yeah! What would this world be like if you are all powerfully, creatively alive as holy and radiant lights in this world so damaged by the effects of sin?

See? this prayer is chainging me. i didn't used to say/write stuff like that.

Exploring Drama in Ministry

6,13,27th February 2007
(with the possiblity of more!)

3 workshops to introduce 3 forms of theatre that are easily incorporated into worship or educational settings. The first two are the easiest forms to use in introducing church leaders and congregations to Drama in worship. Participants who are interested will get hands-on experience with these styles, as well as a wealth of information from which to learn more in the future. A nominal fee of S$20 is charged for the workshop sessions.

Venue/Host: Barker Road Methodist Church, Wesley Hall,
Bukit Timah Road, Singapore
(Take lift to L 3U from car park lift, turn right, walk to end of passage way)

Time: 8.00pm to 10.00pm

Contact person: irenetangp@yahoo.com.sg Tel: 64608238

Workshop Facilitator: Kimberly Creasman, a dramatist from Los Angeles, obtained her BA in Communications/Drama in 1984 from Biola University. Since 1999 she's been in Singapore living out her calling: to empower avocational and professional Christians in theatre to live lives of exceptional faith and art.

Tuesday 6 February: Biblical Storytelling
This workshop will help you experience how easy it can be to memorize and make the text come alive as if you were an eyewitness telling it for the first time.

Tuesday 13 February: Reader's Theatre
Also called "theatre of the mind" because you do not use any props or sets. There are
special skills associated with this form of theatre which can present effectively many types of literature.

Tuesday 27 February: Slice-of-Life Sketches
Short plays or scenes which are related to the sermons or the topic of worship. In the same way a pastor uses illustrations in his sermons, these sketches are used to soften hearts as the congregation identifies with the issues by seeing drama or comedy reflect their lives.

Great Local Play!

This week I probably saw the best local production I've seen in 7 years. I can't think of another that was so outstanding on every level.


Action Theatre's Everything but the Brain. Kind of an unappealing title for a show that was so wonderful. Terrific script (Jean Tay), well acted (go Gerald Chew, Pamela Oei and the rest), super directing (Samantha Blackhall-Smith), the lighting was a clever and integral part of keeping the story moving at a fast clip (Suven is always aweson), educational, endearing, heartwarming. I'm still thinking and remembering moments of the show even 5 days later. It closes today. Shows come and go so quickly here. Hardly time to get the word out. At least for this show I brought along 7 others - 6 from TCA College and Gemia Foo, a theatre artist with a day job in desperate need of some creative outlets!

Almost went a second time with Jim last night, but inertia set in after dinner. Maybe I'll rally to go at 8PM for the final show...

"DeMystifying Mentoring" Talk

you're welcome
it was my pleasure
let's do it again
sometime!