Everything And Nothing

The Kindness of Strangers

I'm excited to share that the Black Rose Theatre in Brandon is performing my one-act play, The Kindness of Strangers, July 12-15 during a night of one acts.

The play is a kind of love letter to Streetcar Named Desire and New Orleans - two of my favorite things!

My son was in Black Rose's production of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown at the beginning of the year. I spent a lot of time in the theatre. Sitting. Waiting. Sitting and waiting. And pacing.

At the end, I decided to use the time to write myself instead of just sitting there. I wrote the play in a week while sitting in the back row of the same theatre it will be performed. (Because I found out about the one-act play competion the week before.) It was a very rough draft.

I'm very excited but scared to death. Auditions for the one acts are June 18th and 19th... so if you've been wanting to try out for a play, come on out and be scared WITH me! ;)

The play is attached below. I have to come up with a set that can be moved easily too. If anyone has any ideas of how to create a bar scene inexpensively that can be moved quickly and easily, let me know!

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The Gehry Effect

Frank Gehry's Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in Spain, pictured above, turned a once-obscure port into a destination. And next he's turning his attention to five structures (or "pods") for the Ohr-O'Keefe Museum in Biloxi, which is dedicated to the potter George Ohr.

The first phase of the Gehry-designed museum opened in November of 2010 after closing  in 2005 due to damages suffered during Hurricane Katrina. It's about two-thirds complete. Hear Frank Gehry talk about his work at the Biloxi museum here.

Oxford climber tackles Kiliminjaro for Angel Ranch fundraiser

 
Photo via Oxford Eagle

Janice Carr walked for six days up Africa's tallest mountain, Kiliminjaro, to help raise funds for Angel Ranch, an emergency shelter for the victims of child abuse and neglect.

Carr trained for more than a year for the trip, walking back and forth from Abbeville to Oxford, even during the hottest of days this summer. She asked people to pledge a donation to Angel Ranch if she made it to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro.

She returned home on Sept. 28 and hopes all will make good on their promises (and is hoping to attract a few more too). You can make a donation via PayPal here or make checks payable to Angel Ranch (note in the memo, “Mt. Kilimanjaro”) and mail to PO Box 120, Oxford, MS 38655. All donations are tax deductible, 100% of which go to Angel Ranch.

Welty books stolen

Millsaps College officials are seeking information about the theft of five rare Eudora Welty works.

Someone stole the works - two copies each of Eye of the Story and Fairy Tale of the Natchez Trace and a copy of The Ponder Heart - from a display case in the campus library's Welty Room. According to a recent article in the campus newspaper, The Purple & White, someone pried the case open.

The works, given to the college by Welty, are valued at more than $1,000, but officials say their historic value is much higher. Welty, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and Jackson native, died in 2001.

Library leaders are asking for any information about the books' whereabouts, hoping to get them back unharmed. The Library can be reached at 601-974-1073 or librarian@millsaps.edu.

[ via The Clarion-Ledger ]

100-mile tour traces Union's waterways campaign

With the recent release of a free tour guide by the Lower Delta Partnership, tourists can now retrace the Union's ill-fated voyage at 11 historic stops between Vicksburg and Rolling Fork.

"It's a great Sunday drive," said Meg Cooper, coordinator of the Lower Delta Partnership. "For Civil War enthusiasts it will enhance their experience and understanding of the Vicksburg campaign, and it provides all tourists a chance to see the gorgeous scenery of the Delta."

The first stop of the tour is at the USS Cairo Museum in the Vicksburg National Military Park. While the Cairo was not among the five gunboats on the expedition, VNMP Historian Terry Winschel said it will give people an idea of just how immense the ironclads attempting to navigate down the bayous and rivers were.

Fully taking in all of the stops will require at least four hours, said Cooper, but she suggests tourists include a lunch in Rolling Fork and turn the 100-mile round-trip drive into a full day of sightseeing in the Delta.

Spelling Bee championship to be aired March 9

Mississippi Public Broadcasting will televise the State Spelling Bee Championship at 10 a.m. on March 9.

The event, which will be held in the MPB auditorium in Jackson, will be streamed simultaneously on the MPB Web site.

Students from across the state will compete.

The championship is sponsored by The Clarion-Ledger, which will award the winner a trophy and cash prize for expenses to represent the state in the Scripps-Howard National Spelling Bee.

The national championship will be in May in Washington, D.C.

The cookies are coming, the cookies are coming!

 
Photo via Flickr/mechanikat

Rankin County Girl Scouts will soon be selling their famous cookies (now $3 a box) - and they have a new flavor this year, Dulce de Leche. Individual sales are complete but troops will be setting up cookie booths in front of various businesses from Feb. 20 through March 8. (So be on the lookout if you haven't gotten your fix yet.)

Interested customers may call the Girl Scout Service Center at (601) 366-0607 or toll-free at (800) 898-4475 for local troop contacts.

MSU project finds promise in alternative fuel process

The environmental and chemical engineering department at Mississippi State University is involved in an ongoing project to develop alternative fuel from products that can be found in Mississippi, like wood, crop residue, cotton gin trash, and kudzu (just to name a few).

About 80 faculty members, 50 graduate students and 10 postdoctoral research associates at MSU are applying their collective brainpower to the task of finding alternatives to crude oil.

"We want to develop large quantities of liquid that can go into a refinery and be converted into gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, whatever the refinery makes," said Bill Batchelor, director of the MSU Sustainable Energy Research Center.

"We want to compete head to head, price to price with crude oil," Batchelor said. "Biogas is looking like it’s going to be competitive between $2 and $3 gasoline prices, so we're competitive today."

About six weeks ago, researchers discovered a cost-effective process that turns wood chips into a substance that looks a little like gasoline and a little like diesel.

Wanted: A few good hometowns

GOOD magazine is looking for a few great hometowns to visit, and they are looking for videos created by folks who live there about what to see and do. "We're asking you to serve as the tourist bureau for your neighborhood," the editors write in the July/August issue. "Tell us about your favorite local spot, or better yet, take us on a video tour of it."

Deadline for entries is Aug. 11. Videos must be less than two minutes long and smaller than 100 mb. Entries will be posted on the magazine's Web site and the "most illuminating tour guide" will win two domestic plane tickets to anywhere JetBlue flies, the magazine promises.

For more information, visit www.goodmagazine.com/section/projects.

Ice Cream Eating Contest at Bruster's in Brandon

Registration is now underway at Bruster’s Real Ice Cream in Brandon for individuals who would like to participate in an Ice Cream Eating Contest. The contest will be held Saturday, July 19, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Bruster’s, located at 120 Orleans Way in Brandon, next to The Home Depot. The contest is in recognition of National Ice Cream Month, which is the month of July.

The contest will feature child, youth and adult competitions, and prizes will be awarded to the winners in each category. In addition, there will be raffles, a space jump, face painting, and other fun activities for children. There is a small entry fee, however each contestant will receive a $5 gift card from Bruster’s.

Bruster’s owner Kevin Smith will donate part of the proceeds received throughout the day to Friends of Mississippi State Hospital (MSH) Inc., a nonprofit charitable organization established to help enrich the lives of MSH patients, nursing home residents and individuals served in the community. The Friends organization dedicates 100 percent of its funds to support a variety of programs and activities such as a patient fishing rodeo, watermelon cutting, professional fireworks display, educational field trips and employee recognition programs.

The Rankin County Chamber of Commerce is assisting with the promotion and conducting of the project. For more information, call Bruster’s Real Ice Cream at (601) 824-3000.