Worth Repeating: Navigating the Digital World When You’re Over 60

Posted on March 15, 2014 by EngAGE

WORTH-REPEATING“Worth Repeating” is a weekly feature on the EngAGE Blog that will bring you previous posts that we think are still timely, interesting, or just plain fun! From 3/13/13:

“A new center in New York focused on high-tech gadgets aims to help people 60 and older who have been left behind in a digital daze. The Senior Planet Exploration Center, officially opened Thursday (3/8) in New York’s Chelsea neighborhood, offers free classes on how to use all the cool tech toys they hear their grandkids rave about, from iPads to Skype and Wii. While many senior centers have computers, this is the first to focus on other technology and social media, say organizers, who hope the model will reshape traditional senior centers.” Read more here.

Also, new research indicates the benefits of using Facebook: “Preliminary research findings from the University of Arizona suggest that men and women older than 65 who learn to use Facebook could see a boost in cognitive function. . . . One in three online seniors use a social networking site like Facebook, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project.” Details here.

 

 

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New Work by Artist Jasper Johns

Posted on March 14, 2014 by EngAGE

Artistic EquipmentJasper Johns: Regrets, a show of new work, will run from March 15 to September 1 at the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan. From Financial Times Magazine:

“There is an introspective poignancy to the work, a declarative statement in the artist’s late period – he turns 84 in May. It may be viewed as a window to the artist’s own state of mind, a vigorous confrontation with the waning of life by a virtuoso painter and draughtsman. The impact is potent enough that when two curators from the Museum of Modern Art paid separate studio visits last summer, they both proposed putting it directly into a solo exhibition at the museum, bypassing the typical introductory show at Matthew Marks Gallery.”

Additional information and better photos of the work here on Hyperallergic. Here’s the unfortunate story about the $6.5 M theft by his assistant of Johns’ work.

 

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Experience Talks 3/15: George Chakiris

Posted on March 13, 2014 by EngAGE

Experience_Talks_logo_FB-WETune in to Experience Talks, our “Radio Magazine for the Experienced Listener.” Saturdays 8:00 a.m. Pacific Time on KPFK 90.7 FM Los Angeles, 98.7 FM Santa Barbara, 99.5 China Lake, 93.7 N. San Diego, streaming live online and now syndicated on up to 100 Pacifica Network stations! You can also enjoy hearing all of our previous shows on the Listen Page of our Experience Talks website.

Saturday, 3/15 at 8 AM PT: Host John Semper Jr. talks with George Chakiris

The legendary GEORGE CHAKIRIS is a dancer, singer, Academy Award-winning actor, and now, an internationally-acclaimed jewelry designer. He is best known for his appearance in the film version of “West Side Story” as Bernardo, the leader of the Sharks gang, for which he won both a Golden Globe and the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 1962. See his beautiful jewelry, the George Chakiris Collection, at his website.

 

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Gene Hackman: Actor and Author

Posted on March 12, 2014 by EngAGE

WRITING“It has now been 10 years since [Gene Hackman] made his last film, 2004’s ‘Welcome to Mooseport.’ So what’s he been doing since we last saw him? Living in Santa Fe, New Mexico, with his wife of 23 years, Betsy, and writing novels. His latest publication is  “Pursuit,” a taut thriller about a Missouri cop who sets out on a desperate manhunt after serial killer abducts her daughter.” Read the entire interview here.

 

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Pictures from Recent Menorah Housing Long Beach Art Show

Posted on March 11, 2014 by EngAGE

Residents of Menorah Housing Long Beach had a property-wide art exhibit recently, with work created by resident artists, taught by Engage instructor Toni Ivashkov:

“The residents have consistently shown up early to class to set up and worked very hard to finish their work for this show.  I am excited to see their inspiration and drive towards this event. They are also gaining more patience with their process in the unfolding of their work. We have held group critiques of each other’s work, which are great for the artist to learn how to talk about their work and share their opinions with each other.”

Thanks to EngAGE Regional Programs Director Robin Hart for sending these great pictures of the artists with their work!

Menorah1-Isabel

Isabel

Alex

Alex

C.J. and Mary Jo

C.J.

Menorah-9CJ

Mary Jo

Menorah4-George

George

Menorah-5

George with his work.

Resident artist.

Lee, in her own hand-painted wearable art!

What a great shirt!

What a great shirt!

Resident artists with instructor Toni Ivashkov

Lee, instructor Toni Ivashkov, C.J., and Vladimir

Menorah-8

A sample of art from the show!

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Kathleen Turner On Stage as “Mother Courage”

Posted on March 10, 2014 by EngAGE

TheaterFrom NPR:

Kathleen Turner has been a film star and stage star, vamp and tramp, comic and deadly. It’s been a long, dramatic arc for Turner, whose voice now is both as warm and furry as whiskey and as hard as the shot glass that holds it.

For the past six weeks at the Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., she’s been playing the lead character in Mother Courage and her Children, the 1939 play by Berthold Brecht. Mother Courage is a war profiteer and a mother, a peasant without a country trying to calculate her chances of survival.

Brecht’s play is considered one of the great dramas of all time, a staunchly anti-war broadside that showcases one of theater’s great female protagonists. NPR’s Jacki Lyden spoke with Turner about tackling the massive part in an ambitious in-the-round production — and about her long career.

Read more and listen to the interview here.

 

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Reminder: Road Theatre’s Summer Playwright Festival Competition

Posted on March 9, 2014 by EngAGE

Road Theatre Co

ATTENTION PLAYWRIGHTS!

*** SCRIPTS WANTED! ***

Tired of seeing plays where the older characters are either demented, dying, or someone’s problematic parent?

Want to see more plays where people over 50 are interesting, creative characters leading busy, productive, fulfilling lives – AND performed by skilled experienced actors of that age?

We do, too! EngAGE–in walking our talk–is sponsoring a competition for new plays that have something constructive to say about interesting ways of aging, to give hope to younger people and also represent the millions of seniors doing really cool things in their lives.

The winner will have a spot reserved in The Road Theatre‘s annual Summer Playwright Festival This is an eight day fundraising event in late July that mounts 27 staged readings of new plays. The festival is growing larger each year with playwrights from around the country and world participating. Each reading is followed by a talkback with the playwrights, directors, and casts, and a reception featuring live music in our backyard cantina. Competition for selection is stiff as we receive hundreds of submissions. New and established playwrights of any age are encouraged to submit.

Past actors and playwrights have included Craig Wright, Wendy Macleod, Mo Gaffney, Keith Huff, Brett Neveu, Brian Cranston, Kathy Baker, Perry King, Rondi Reed, Michael O’Neill, Harold Gould, and many others.

Deadline: April 15, 2014

Submit to: engagescripts@gmail.com

The scripts will be held in confidence, and reviewed by seasoned writers, actors, directors for final selection. If you are interested, click here for information about the Writers Guild Registry script registration service. You don’t need to be a member to register your work for a small fee.

Don’t miss this great opportunity to have your play professionally produced!

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