Dad Saves The Day

   Yesterday I almost lost a student as we both dug our heels into the ground and refused to budge. He did not like his current pieces and announced that he was not playing them anymore. And further more, he wanted to play better songs in some other book. I countered with the importance of putting some finishing touches on his last piece and looking forward to some really great pieces coming up. He opted to skip his lesson for the day. We both went to our corners. It was awkward; he is my grandson.

   Previously in a post I wrote about "teaching my own" and I recounted the ups and downs of taking on your family as students. There are so many joys associated with giving the gift of music to children you will love forever. My wise son saved the day. In the evening I answered the phone to hear a cacophony of piano notes on the other end. As I listened "The Tambourine Party" emerged and I recognized that my grandson was playing a duet with his father. They were obviously having fun together and they called back again later to play the next song. I suspect our lessons will go on because his father brought value and attention to a discouraged student. That is what parents can do when the going gets tough.

Samsung Galaxy Beam with built-in Projector - Announce!

FEBRUARY 2012 - For all Samsung Phone lovers out there, get excite now that the MWC 2012 is just about to start and Samsung has already announced a new phone.


At first of what we believe is a long list of phones to come for Samsung. Samsung Galaxy Beam, who has a built-in projector will surely hit the crowd.


The projector uses a 15 lumens lamp that is capable of projecting a 50-inch wide high-definition image, although Samsung does not mention the actual resolution but we could expect more from these.


Other specifications of the Galaxy Beam is that it has a 4-inch WVGA (800 x 480) display, a 1GHz dual-core processor, 5 megapixel rear camera, 1.3 megapixel front camera, 720p video recording, 8GB internal memory with microSD card slot, 2,000mAh battery and Android 2.3 Gingerbread.


The Samsung Galaxy Beam is sexy with its design but its very own built-in projector is the best feature of this phone.

Panagbenga Festival 2012

February 26, 2012 - Even some celebrities will come and watch the grand float parade of the Panagbenga Festival in Baguio City.

Because of this, this gives the audience a dominating crowd and rise up the atmosphere especially when they saw each of their favorite artists.

Riding in a single float, the real life couple Dingdong Dantes and Marian Rivera was happy to wave at their crowd were Vice Ganda, Kuya Kim, Anne Curtis, Jhong Hilario and Teddy Corpuz are there.

The people can now go to Athletic Bowl where the best floats will be diplayed for the public to take pictures.

But this night, Session Road is closed for Session Road in Bloom.

TAIWAN - Hit by 6.0 Magnitude Earthquake

February 26, 2012 - Taiwan earthquake caused intense fear for the residents of Kaohsiung, the second-largest city of Taiwan for the 6.0-magnitude felt earthquake before noon today.

Based on a local report, several residents ran out into their buildings for their safety.

Meanwhile, they temporarily disabled the service of high-speed railway and their are reports that some buildings have farctured.

The epicenter of the earthquake is reported four kilometers depth with the distance pf 57 kilometers in the eastern part of the city.

The said earthquake was felt around 10: 34 this morning.

From the U.S. Geological Survey, they recorded the strength of earthquake as magnitude 5.9.

Kaohsiung has estimated more than three million population and the earthquake made these people terrified.

Remember that in 1999, over 2400 people were killed after an earthquake happened to the city for about 7.6-magnitude.

No Baby Rhyme Time on February 28

There will be no Baby Rhyme Time on February 28, but we will have Playtime from 10:30-11:30.

The Tambourine Party Results

 I really like making strong connections to the pieces My First Piano Adventures students learn. For weeks we talked about the piece "Tambourine Party" and how we would have our own party soon. My idea was that one student would play the piece while the others would sound their percussion instrument at just the right time during the song.

   It worked very well when we had a "Pumpkin Party" and we sang along while each student took a turn accompanying. I thought we were well prepared but the piece "Tambourine Party" changes hands on the second measure. It takes forward thinking to prepare the brain to change and in an ensemble this must happen on the beat. Everyone stumbled and I learned how important it is to remind my students to use CLAP in their practice. Count, Look Ahead, Attention to notes coming up, and Play; that is what I hope to reinforce in the next weeks.

  I am always learning what to focus on in private lessons when I work with the group lessons. It is a good thing!

EDSA Revolution - People Power Revolution - February 25

 

 

The People Power Revolution or also known as the EDSA Revolution and the Philippine Revolution of 1986 was a series of popular demonstrations in the Philippines that occurred in 1983-86.

These series shows how Filipino people are united against regime violence and electoral fraud of the government just for freedom.

This long time demonstration of the Filipino was became successful as former President Ferdinand Marcos was departed and lead the Philippines for the restoration of its democracy.

This is also called the Yellow Revolution as many yellow ribbons are present in these days. Former President Cory Aquino and his husband former Senator Benigno Aquino help and encourage the Filipino to free their country and claim its freedom and democracy.

On February 25, 2011 the Philippines celebrated the 25th anniversary of the People Power Revolution.

Kailangan ko ang tulong ninyo - P-NOY

Today, President Aquino urged the Filipino people to participate hn the continuation of established patterns against the EDSA People Power Revolution.

The President made ​​the statement in conjunction with the ceremonial turn-over of 21,000 housing for soldiers in Trece Martirez, Cavite that is part of the commemoration of the anniversary of EDSA People Power.

The President said that although many of the established patterns change, the fight is not yet done according to those events around the environment nowadays.

According to the President, the help of the whole Filipino people is needed in order for those scam people to stop in staying and leeching in our government.

In such programs, President Aquino proudly mentioned that his administration made ​​such arrangements especially among the soldiers.

He also strengthened their ability and arranged the transaction system and use of military funds.

From the past three administrations, P33 billion are jsut used for the AFP Modernization Program while in just over 17 months on the spot, under President Aquino's administration, P28 billion were already used.

All said programs was part of the enthusiastic campaign to obliterate the "kawawang cowboy image" of the soldiers.

At the same time, via video conference the President also made some communication and interaction in Cagayan de Oro City particularly the victims of Typhoon Sendong.

There will also be an EDSA celebration in part of Mindanao where it's initiated by EDSA People Power Commissioner Ogie Alcasid.

"Kailangan ko ang tulong ninyo para tapusin ang labang ito," said President Aquino.

The Art and Language of Flowers

Saturday, February 25
2:00pm

Join local florist and owner of Columbine Design, Kathleen Dooley, for a flower arranging demonstration.

Learn about the meaning of flowers and how to convey messages with colors, shapes and flower types that go beyond what's written on the card. We will also talk about different cultural meanings of flowers and colors and have time to discuss our own favorite flowers.

Library closed for President's Day

Please note that the Glen Park Branch and all other San Francisco Public Libraries will be closed on Monday, February 20, for Presidents' Day. We will reopen with regular hours on Tuesday, February 21 at10 am.

Career Gateway Job Search Workshop

Wednesday, February 15

3:00 pm- 5:00 pm
Glen Park Public Library
2825 Diamond St

Jobseekers Workshop - Strategizing your job search takes a lot of effort and planning. In this workshop, you will get an overview of the career exploration process and the online Job Seeker's Guide. In addition, participants will be given time to begin using our online tools that will help you learn how to assess your skills and preferences, explore careers, create plans and set goals, expand your skills, and create a successful job search. Job seekers and career changes, come to this workshop ready to explore! This course is for people who are comfortable using Microsoft Word and Internet Explorer.
Explore job opportunities.

Find, compare, and enroll in education classes, courses, and training programs.

Learn how to achieve long-term goals.

Explore new ways to find job openings through your network.

Write successful résumés and cover letters.

Improve your interviewing skills.

The Career Gateway is a national website that has been customized by JVS San Francisco to help you in your job search. These workshops will be led by Janet Frishberg, who works at JVS as the Career Gateway Outreach Specialist. For more information about how JVS can help you in your job search, go to http://www.jvs.org/

A Chord Company

  Happy Valentine's Day!! A company of students came to learn about chords yesterday and more will come today because it is group lessons week. Yesterday they were my Piano Adventures 2B students and we all needed to review the keys of C,G,D,F; their scales, their tonic, dominant and sub dominant chords, the concept of inverting chords and how these chord sound.
   We started with a treble simple staff and Hershey's kisses to make triads. We used black disks under the chocolate kiss if the chord had a black note.
   Then we used a worksheet from colorinmypiano.com to write out scales and I,IV,V7 chords. Going over the visual pattern of a triad and moving it to a V7 chord seemed to fill some holes in these student's knowledge base.

   Lastly we used my Eggspert game to drill aural sounds of chords using Music Learning Community on my laptop. In "Wheel of Fortune" mode one person's egg would light up and they would listen to a pattern of I and V7 chords and find the matching written pattern.

   Eggspert was such a great hit that we played it in "Jeopardy" mode. I called out a chord name, they had to build it on the staff with their Kisses and then they could push the Eggspert button to get 5 points. Because of the heightened emotions some of these facts will stick better than if I explain them in a private lesson. Stay tuned for a report of my Tambourine Party, tomorrow.

PAGASA - Low Pressure Area (LPA) at Mindanao

PAGASA warned the residents of eastern and southern Mindanao for the incoming rains carried by the detected Low Pressure Area (LPA) near their land.

The Low Pressure Area (LPA) was last seen based on satellite records and surface data at a distance of 230 kilometers at East South East of Hinatuan City (7.8 ° N, 128.5 ° E).

According to Pagasa, the residents must expect for a moderate to heavy rainfall that could deliver flashfloods and landslides.

However, the said Low Pressure Area (LPA) might not become a typhoon.

Meanwhile, almost all parts of our country will have a cloudy weather that might cause a little rainfall until tomorrow.

WHITNEY HOUSTON - Dies at 48

LOS ANGELES - The famous international singer Whitney Houston dies today at the age of 48-years old.


This was confirmed by her representative Kristen Foster, but the cause of death of the singer and where did she died is still a question to everyone though it is still in invistigation.


But based on some sources, they say she died at Beverly Hilton Hotel.


In May 2011, we can remember that the international singer seeks help and aid about its problems with drugs and alcohol.


According to its spokesman, the international singer is in an out-patient rehab program for drug and alcohol treatment.


Houston deliberately make herself in the program to support her recovery process.


In 2004, the international singer also entered a rehab and in 2005 Whitney Houston undergo treatment for her condition again.


Among the honors of Houston that she clinched at the time of his record-breaking career were two Emmy Awards, six Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards and 22 American Music Awards.


Whitney Elizabeth Houston born on August 9, 1963 and now dies February 12, 2012 (dated here in the Philippines).


Some of her great songs are "I Will Always Love You," "I Wanna Dance with Somebody," "I Have Nothing," "Greatest Love of All," "Where Do Broken Hearst Go," "Did not we almost Have It All " and a lot more.

Poetry and Chocolate for Valentine's Day

Valentine’s Day is almost here and the Library has just what you need to make the day special!

Would you love to write a love poem? These books by acclaimed poets will guide you in the creation of your masterpiece:

The poetry home repair manual : practical advice for beginning poets by Ted Kooser

Poemcrazy : freeing your life with words by Susan Goldsmith Wooldridge

Ordinary genius : a guide for the poet within by Kim Addonizio

If writing poetry is not for you perhaps one of these poets has already expressed exactly what you want to say.

100 Love Sonnets by Pablo Neruda
Before I loved you, Love, nothing was my own… begins the 25th sonnet in this lovely book, dedicated to the poet’s wife. Presented with the original Spanish text next to the English translation, these poems speak of the spiritual, as well as the sensual, aspects of romantic love.

Love Poems by Nikki Giovanni
The poems in this slim book range from humorous to painful. Many address platonic forms of love, for friends, family members and other artists. However, some of the poems are joyfully and unabashedly romantic. One example is, And I have You, which begins:

Rain has drops Sun has shine
Moon has beams That make you mine…

Love Haiku: Japanese poems of yearning, passion, and remembrance
If short and sweet is your style check out this beautiful little book, which includes poems by masters such as Issa and Busho, as well as works by contemporary Japanese poets.

Love’s Exquisite Freedom by Maya Angelou
Gorgeous reproductions of paintings and drawings by Edward Burne-Jones accompany Maya Angelou’s tribute to the power of love. Your valentine is likely to be delighted when you read this picture book for grown-ups aloud.

Random House treasury of favorite love poems
William Shakespeare, Walt Whitman, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Lord Byron and Y.B, Yeats are among the well known poets represented in this volume. Works from antiquity, such as The Song of Solomon and Sappho’s Peer of gods he seemeth to me, are also included, as are poems by contemporary poets. The poems in this book are organized in chapters that represent love in all its phases, from Wooing and Seduction to Bitterness and Torment.

Of course poetry isn’t the only way to express your love. There’s also chocolate!

Sensational sweets : baking for tea time, desserts and celebrations
One chapter of this beautiful book is devoted to chocolate. The recipes are not necessarily for beginners, but the champagne chestnut torte with chocolate cream might just be worth the effort!

Chocolates and confections : at home with the Culinary Institute of America

This book provides step-by-step instructions that will enable you to create chocolates that are as beautiful to look at as they delicious to eat.

Maida Heatter’s book of great chocolate desserts
Classic desserts, such as Black Forest cherry torte, brownies and several types of soufflés and mousses are featured in this cookbook. However, there are also recipes for more unusual treats. For example, perhaps your valentine would enjoy chocolate prune whip and chocolate hot buttered rum.
Dulce : desserts in the Latin-American tradition
Filled with gorgeous photographs this book is a treat to browse. Again, recipes featuring chocolate are the focus of one chapter, however, chocolate appears in many of the recipes in other chapters. Some of the treats are twists on classic desserts, such as chocolate flan and chocolate tres leches cake, while others are more innovative. If you have an ice cream maker you might want to prepare a most appropriate Valentine’s Day dessert – chocolate jalapeno ice cream!

Dreams and Aspirations!!!

The Dreams continued has we traveldd to North Carolina for another joyous experience to take on America's Got Talent. We always teach to our students to remain humbled and be grateful for the opportunities that are placed in your path.

They stayed focused on the task and remained excited for this wonderful experience that the local news station captured the moment before they showcased their talent.
http://www.cnc.com/news/slideshows/Americas-Got-Talent-auditions-in-uptown-138651589.html

ELEVATION & CONQUERING DREAMS!!!

Dancing is a movement that increases self-esteem, confidence and goals in life. Many do it for the enjoyment, extra hobby, or making it a career. When your mindset is prepared to accept the next phase of dance that involves hard work, preparation and determination anything is possible. We were excited to prepare two teams for an experience of a lifetime for:

When you are given opportunities you cannot waste time on negative thoughts. You have to grab that moment and take it.

3G products out of German stores - Apple

Apple has been forced to remove some of its 3G products from the German online stores. This includes the iPhone 3GS, the iPhone 4 and the 3G version of the iPad 2.

The products are only being pulled from Apple's online store in Germany and the brick and mortar stores will still have them in stock. This is because Motorola only sued the German subsidiary of Apple, which is only in charge of handling the online side of the sales.

FOSS Patent's Florian Mueller says this is due to the injunction won in Manheimm by Motorola against Apple related to the FRAND patent. Coincidentally, Motorola won another permanent injunction against Apple related to iCloud in Germany on the same day but that is a completely different case and not related to these products being pulled from the stores.

Apple, meanwhile can still challenge this decision and get it suspended so that it can appeal in a higher court.
Meanwhile, Apple has won a temporary suspension, which means it can go back to selling the previously pulled products on its online store for now. We are not sure what their next step will be but will keep you informed.

*POSTPONED* -Urban Fauna Presents Felt Flowers

DUE TO ILLNESS WE WILL NOT HAVE THIS PROGRAM ON 2/11/2012. IT IS NOW POSTPONED UNTIL 5/5/2012.

Sorry for any inconvience.

Saturday, February 11, 2012
2pm
Glen Park Public Library

Create a fun flower using felt, needle and thread. Flowers can be used as hair accessories or pins. Hand craft a wonderful accessory for yourself or your Valentine this year!

All materials are provided. Students should be able to handle a needle and thread or have a parent assist them. No sewing experience required!

Space is limited. For ages 6 and up. Please sign up at the Information Desk or by phone at 415-355-2858.