Continents: A Global Voyage
A new dance work to be presented at Chanticleer

Music & Motion Dance will be performing selected excerpts from their new dance work "Continents" at Chanticleer in Wayne, PA on Friday, June 20th, 2008 at 7:00 PM.

Still in development and set to premiere at the 2008 Philly Fringe & Live Arts Festival in the Fall, Music & Motion Dance’s Continents is a multi-textured celebration of rhythm, that is both subtle and complex, yet primal as a heartbeat. Music & Motion literally takes its audiences on a journey of exotic lands around the world, with an exploration of movement from the sun-drenched African mesa; blends of eastern and western traditions in Turkey; the tabala beats of India; modern twists on the original Japanese Jomon culture; Euro-Mediterranean, ethno-techno blends; and rhythmic fusions of Tokelau, Tuvalu and Samoan cultures.

This world fusion experiment acts as a catalyst for the exploration of movement and ideas that reflect our ever-changing global presence, from the historical to contemporary and the traditional to the eclectic. Continents communicates to its audiences on multiple dimensions, leading us on self-consciously inward journey in the seeking a universal ideal.

On Friday, June 20th at 7:00 PM (weather permitting), Music & Motion will be offering selected excerpts from Continents at Chanticleer, A Pleasure Garden located at 786 Church Road, Wayne, PA. The performance itself will take place in the terraces adjacent to the main house. This is free to the public with admission to the gardens, which is $5.00 per adult (16 and over) and under 16 admission is free. The performance is part of The World’s Largest Garden Party, a month-long celebration of the great gardens of the Philadelphia region.

Music & Motion's mission is to empower youth through dance, movement and the performing arts, ultimately building self-esteem and inspiring creative self-expression and community action and interaction. As a company, we seek to bring dancer and audience closer together by performing in both traditional and non-traditional venues, having meaningful dialogues and discourse about our dance works, offering free or subsidized programs to venues and generally making dance more accessible to the public. Music & Motion Dance fulfills the need of providing young dancers with performing experience in a nurturing environment with professional guidance, while continually exciting audiences wherever they perform.

For more information about Chanticleer
http://www.chanticleergarden.org/

For more information about the World’s Largest Garden party
http://www.greaterphiladelphiagardens.org

For information about Music & Motion Dance Productions
http://www.music-and-motion.com/

We all want to get the flowers or the candy or the macaroni picture from our children on Sunday but please this holiday is making me crazy.

The florist are making a fortune, the candy manufacturers are "momming" everything from the wrapping on the box to the tight little letters on the chocolate covered cherries.

It is a nice holiday for mom but don't make your mother cook!!!! When my mom was alive everyone would come to her house and she would cook for us.  That just never made sense to me.

So........if you are doing Mother's Day, get your mom something she would like.  Don't get her flowers or candy.  Get her a day at the Spa or a gift card and she can get what she wants instead of a stupid floral blouse that she will never wear.

Better yet spend some time with your Mother.  We have them for such a short time that the most special gift is the gift of time.  Hang out with your Mom !!!!

To all the mom's out there "Happy Mother's Day!"

Join the fun!!!! Here's how the game is played.

In the comment box, just post the name of the next Hollywood star who will be caught drunk driving. It's a sad game, but maybe those celluloid heros will get the message. Sorry folks, no prizes in this game.

TELL ME WHY THE SUN DON'T SHINE-EVEN WHEN A CLOUD IS A MILLION MILES AWAY? AS LONG AS LIES ARE BEING TOLD AND PEOPLE KEEP LIFTING UP THEIR NOSE- THESE PEOPLE HEARTS WILL TURN COLD AND SO MUCH TRAGEDY WILL UNFOLD... NO ONE KNOWS DA PAIN & STRUGGLE THAT TAKE PLACE IN THIS GUTTER-ITS JUST YOUNG SOULS WITH NO VOICE - NO CHOICE  A BUNCH OF - 80'S BABIES RAISED BY A DOPE FIEND MOTHER..."YES" THE STREETS MAKE YOU TOUGHER, BUT IT ALSO MAKES LIFE ROUGHER- SO EVEN WHEN THE SUN SHINING," INSIDE OF REALITY" ITS JUST SHINING ON THE ONES WHO SUFFER.

Need a fabulous purse for one night or a loaner love seat for your home? These web sites can help!

You can rent a designer gown by Versace or Badgley Mischka at www.onenightaffair.com  ($45-$200 for 5/nights and they'll alter it for you for under $20).

Need some fancy jewels to match?  You can rent some rocks at www.borrowedbling.com.

My personal favorite, do you want to carry a Kate Spade but can't handle the heft of its price tag? Head to www.bagborroworsteal.com and rent one.

If you need help "staging" your home, you can rent fashionable pieces to fill a room at www.furniturerent.com.

How do I get out this stain?

It's one of those questions that you could ask everyone from your mom to Martha Stewart and you'll get a different answer.

This morning on Good Day Philadelphia we gave you the right answers!

Herb Barndt, Associate Professor of Textile Engineering and Janet Brady, Assistant Professor of Textiles from Philadelphia University www.philadelphiauniversity.com showed me how to get out the most stubborn stains and they did it with stuff you probably have lying around the house, no expensive stain-removers.

Here's some of their Stain Secrets:

Problem:  Red Wine stain on fabric

Solution: Place stained area over bowl, cover stain with table salt (lots of it).  Then turn stained area upside down and place over bowl, pour boiling water over salt-covered stain and watch the red wine disappear!  There may be a ring left behind but if you then put it in the laundry it should come right out.

Problem:  Ball point pen ink on leather

Solution:  Rub peanut butter into stain, yup, peanut butter!  This will take some serious rubbing and time but eventually it will come out.  Then clean off peanut butter with mild soap & water.

Problem: Red candle wax on white fabric (ie. your favorite tablecloth)

Solution: Wait until the wax hardens.  Scrape off with dull knife.  Turn stained area upside down and place over bowl, pour boiling water over and watch wax break up and wash off.

Problem: Felt tip marker on white fabric

Solution: Soak the stain in rubbing alcohol until the stain disappears (no rubbing necessary) then clean off the alcohol with liquid dish detergent.

Problem: Grease (cheese steak splatter, salad dressing, etc)

Solution: Let corn starch soak up the grease, brush off then clean with liquid dish detergent.

Problem: Mustard (the stainmasters say this is one of the toughest)

Solution: Rub the stain with ammonia

Problem: White bleach on black clothing

Solution: Color in with black Sharpie!

If you have any stubborn stain solutions, let us know about them!

I am a local event planner who is partnered with the National Multiple Sclerosis Society to produce a Benefit fashion Show. Titled. "When Classy-Chic Fashion Meets Street" Fashion Show to Benefit the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. This will be an exciting evening filled with Upscale Dining, Cocktails, Giveaways, Silent Auction of High End Items, and High Fashion Couture Designs, Mingle with Philadelphia's Elite, Network, all while supporting a great cause. For ticket info visit www.benefitms.com
Thankyou for assisting us create a world free from M.S.

It's a jungle out there, Graces. No, I'm not referring to the climate, the crime wave, or even the spring sale racks at Bloomies. Rather, I am talking about the minefield of social greetings that is wreaking havoc on hands and cheeks everywhere. Recent experiences with handshakes and hello kisses in social settings have prompted me to offer some commentary....

Let's start with the handshake. I was at a political luncheon yesterday and the things went from bad to worse. Upon arrival, I walked around the room, meeting as greeting as expected. Several times over the course of the event, I had to check my hand for nicks and cuts, fearing a wound from the rough, cracked paws extended my way. Then, my black opal ring, a relic from a long-ago trip to Australia, nearly broke in half when some he-man gripped me like a vice. Later, I greeted a table mate, and shook his hand, which was so limp that I temporarily mistook for the fish that was being served. Then I chastised myself, thinking the poor bloke had an injury or paralysis, only to see the “dead fish” miraculously resurrect when time came to dig into the poached salmon. So, what can we do to combat this scourge?

If you are attending one of these schmoozefests, you know you'll be shaking a lot of hands. Apply some smoothing salve. No one wants to firmly grasp sandpaper when saying hello, so apply some neutral hand-cream in preparation.  (I love L'Occitane Shea Butter Hand Cream and Dr. Haushcka Hand Cream, but there are literally hundreds of reasonable choices on the market.)   Avoid greasy and/or heavily scented products, especially if a sit- down meal is involved. Your peppermint-watermelon-hyacinth lotion may have a lovely aroma, but it does not enhance the tenderloin au poivre.

And as for the pressure element, think firm not crushing. My rule of thumb (pardon the unintentional and rather appalling pun) is to mimic the grip your favorite manicurist uses when beginning the hand massage portion of your service.

Which brings me to my next diatribe.

Kiss My...

How many cocktail parties have you attended where the single-, double-, and sometimes even triple-cheek kiss is the greeting of choice? I went to one last Saturday. It was lovely. And some of the smooches were rather nice as well. Except for the ones that weren’t. I won’t dwell on the nice kisses—not much to tell there—and let’s face it, if there were it would have been more about what the kissing led to and Graces don’t share details. No, let’s stick with the ones that got a grade of NI for Needs Improvement.

For starters, mind your breath. If you’ve been quaffing gin or bourbon all night, consider the fumes, which in some cases are downright flammable. Fortunately, smoking has gone out of fashion or we could be in danger of combustion. Also think about the garlic, whiffy cheese, raw onion, or pungent fish you may have ingested. Delicious to chew and swallow, no doubt; not so much to inhale. Consider mints or Binaca as a way to freshen things up.

And finally, how about the state of your lips? No one wants a scraped cheek from a smooch. Can you imagine explaining that to your boss on Monday? "Good Morning, Mr. Fernblatt. My cheek? Oh, that? Just a minor kissing injury from Saturday night." I think not. So, try maintaining lubed lips with a moisturising balm from Keihl's or True Blue Spa .

Let's do our part to make hello greetings a pleasant experience as opposed to a hazard to be navigated with caution.

Hey Ladies

I have seen the movie and each and every one of you will LOVE LOVE LOVE it.

The fashion - great.

The storyline - believable... but.. because it's all secret I can't say too much more until later this month.  We've interviewed ALL OF THE LADIES and those segments are coming soon.  For now... here's a tease of the fun to come. 

http://www.myfoxphilly.com/myfox/MyFox/pages/sideba
r_video.jsp?contentId=6464747&version=1&locale=EN-US>

....My trucks out front, will you help me load it, I'm a little stoned right now....Oh , Thats not my gun, it's my girlfreinds........

From: star telegram.com...........

FORT WORTH -- An aspiring record label owner is singing the blues after he was arrested last week for allegedly trying to pass a $360 billion check at a Fort Worth bank.

Employees at the Chase Bank at 8601 S. Hulen St. grew suspicious after seeing all those zeroes (10 to be exact) and called the check's owner. The woman said the suspect, Charles Ray Fuller, 21, of Crowley, is her daughter’s boyfriend and that he did not have permission to take the check or cash it.

Fuller was arrested on suspicion of fraud, along with unlawfully carrying a weapon and possession of marijuana after officers found less than 2 ounces of the drug and a .25-caliber handgun and magazine in his pockets.

While inside a patrol car, police say Fuller blurted out that he is starting his own record label and had been given the money by his girlfriend’s mother to help him start it.

Apparently breaking into the music business does not come cheap........apparently not...to some!

Luckily for him, bail was a lot less expensive. Fuller was released from Mansfield Jail on Thursday after posting $3,750 bail

I wonder if the bank had that much cash on hand?

I wonder who posted his bail?

I wonder if his girlfreind is now single?

I guess that stoned and dumb are not a good combination.

So, Miley Cyrus is embarassed that she posed wearing what appears to be just a bed sheet.... Embarassed is not quite the reaction I'd accept if I were the parent of a young fan of hers.. I'd want ASHAMED! I'd want everyone involved to be ashamed of themselves for allowing this..

Billy Ray and Tish Cyrus for their lack of parental guidance and good sense. They proudly state they make her go to church every week and maintain a good wholesome image, yet they were present for the pics and allowed them to be taken. Even the ones with her and Billy together are a bit suggestive for Father/Daughter shots.

Annie Leibovitz for having lost her senses and suggesting such a thing. She loves the shock value, but this steps over the line. I'm beginning to question that she even knows what 'tastefully done' means!

Vanity Fair for publishing them. They are 1 bed sheet away from child pornography whether she had clothes on underneath or not. They are sexually suggestive!

And let me not forget dear sweet Miley herself.. HAH! Over the past several months there have been pics popping up all over the internet of her in her underwear, lounging on some guy, and other suggestive poses. Dare I say that Miley PLAYS a nice, sweet character on TV and to the media but is not the same way IRL?

Are our children not in enough danger with the world full of pedophiles, that we now allow our children to be photographed like this? We live in a sad, sick society and I can not even fathom that ANY parent would allow this, let alone a well known celebrity's parent.

Thank God I do not have any children who are fan's of hers because yesterday would have been the last day they'd be allowed to partake in any type of entertainment from her. And while I've never been a fan of old Billy Ray, I can say it won't ever happen now.

Hmm, I wonder what the clergy at the Cyrus's church has to say about this good, Christian behavior???

I have a confession to make:   I don't love shopping.  I am a hunter, not a gatherer.  This trait (or fault, depending on your perspective) has caused several of my fellow Graces to refuse shopping excursions with me.  Oh, sure, I can navigate my way around a boutique well enough, and I certainly (and not surprisingly) have strong opinions about attire.  I strictly follow Grace Guidelines when I choose my outfits, but I don't relish the search and seizure process nearly as much as many of my fellow Graces.   Consequently, I often seek the counsel of the style gurus in my Grace Crew for these weighty matters.

So, I asked them.  What is your absolute must have, can't live a day without, do not pass go, do not collect $200 til you have procured this item for the spring season.  Here are their responses......

Back for a visit, Grace M says:

For me, the coming warmer months are all about color, a departure from my cold-weather blacks and browns. And none of these will cause sticker shock.

Handbag:
I adore this bag  especially in yellow or blue, from my beloved Boden. 

Am also in love with this great faux leather tote from Big Buddha. 

Tees:

As usual, J. Crew's selection of colorful tees is among the best for variety, quality and affordability. 

Sandals:

I collect Jack Rogers Sandals but gotta say these far cheaper "gems" from Zappos are seriously tempting.

Headbands:

They invoke Capri in the 1960s.  If that's not Summer, what is?  Amy Schwab Designs has a great selection of patterns and fabrics.

Grace adds:  Calista Cove also has a lovely collection of headbands.

Grace J:  One fabulous accessory:   Latico's clutch wallet with a gorgeous floral print in super soft, lightly textured leather.  Flowers and primary colors are huge this season, so this covers two trends in one!

Grace A:   Isaac Mizrahi's Yellow Trench Coat.  Yellow is everywhere this spring, and if you decide you hate the coat by Memorial Day, you can pitch it without guilt since it was an exceptionally economical acquisition.

Grace MH:  Higher-waisted jeans.  The new  Citizens of Humanity are comfortable, flattering, and completely devoid of a muffin top.  Love 'em. 

Back to Grace:  I concur; I'm over low-slung pants.  Moderately low rise is ok; those that barely clear the pubic bone are incompatible with modern enlightened thought, not to mention Gracedom.

Grace L:  flattering capris--the right length, the right cut, the right fabric; desperately seeking denim. 

Grace says:  Sorry, L, I disagree; I think 'flattering capris' is a contradiction in terms.

Grace P:  Metallic bags and shoes; anything red.

Grace KN:  Patent leather sandals and belts.

Grace N:  A pink floral handbag.

Grace S:  Green peep toes.

Grace R:  White Kitten Heel Sandals.  The perfect way to spice up my favorite sundress!

And finally, my "must have" for spring?  A party, of course!  More on that in a future post.  In the meantime, Graces, enjoy the warm weather, the spring fashions, and  have fun acquiring your "must haves" for the season!

From 'engadget.com'.....

"Okay, so maybe tapping that space bar repeatedly in mixed company wouldn't be entirely appropriate, but if you've actually managed to mingle with fellow civilians while rocking these, they aren't likely to mind. Dreamed up and designed by Erik De Nijs, these über-geeky pants boast a built-in keyboard that's apparently Bluetooth-enabled. Beyond that, you'll also find sewn in speakers, a pocket made especially for travel mice of all flavors and a "joystick controller" strategically located just behind the front zipper (saywha?). Hate all you like, we just penned this very post on a pair of these bad boys. Only kidding."

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I"m game! Don't know about the joystick thing though.

B.E Note: I saw on a news broadcast where the Prince Phillip did a conference meeting at one location while he still were in London.  This was possible with the use of holograms images. They said a camera captured his image then projected through a projector miles away.  “WOW”!  I guess real Star Wars toys are coming to a family near you, soon. 

It is possible to live a green lifestyle without sacrificing comfort or style! I witnessed proof of that today right here in Philadelphia. First I toured a Fishtown rowhome that is green from top to bottom! Then I went 'shopping' at Greenable, a new store on Market Street in Old City that is like a mini Home Depot for the earth-conscious. Environmentally unsustainable building practices are at the root of many of today's environmental issues and Onion Flats Developers and Greenable are helping educate and revamp the way we build. The green building revolution is a powerful thing that can immediately reduce air and water pollution and the depletion of our natural resources.

Not to mention, these homes and building materials are stunning and really not much more expensive.

This green revolution can get annoying however! It seems like every company is busily painting themselves a shade of green and slapping 'green' labels on all their products. Which ones are really truly environmentally responsible and which are worth your money.

After spending the day with the owners of Onion Flats and Greenable, I can tell you that these people are dedicated to this cause and not just trying to cash in. They would be more than happy if you walked in their offices or shop to just chat. They would be thrilled to answer any questions you may have about their services or simply about other green ideas.

Check them out!

The two Fishtown rowhomes that now available from Onion Flats are located at 1317 Berks & 1318 East Hewson and listed at $594,900.

It's the first residential Leed-H Gold Certified project in Philadelphia.

A free electric car and designated parking spot is included!

www.onionflats.com

Greenable is Philadelphia's premier resource for interior and exterior green building products and for residential & commercial projects. Whether it is simply a can of paint, a green roof installation, or an entire residential or commercial design project, Greenable does it all. Located in Old City on Market Street between Front and 2nd.

www.greenable.net

If you're green you can get money back from the government - check out www.dsirusa.org for a comprehensive source of information on state, local, utility, and federal incentives that promote renewable energy and energy efficiency.