Oracle of NY

Dancing Lessons by Mark Waren

Produced by Dramatic Risks, Dancing Lessons, takes place in the epoch of the Second World War, when Florence Waren, the heroine, was a successful ballet dancer on the threshold of a career with the Ballet Russes. Unfortunately, Adolph Hitler had a different plan. Anyone could ask themselves, "what can one person do?" Especially if they were just a dancer. This film is about just what one person can do. Featuring Interviews and period footage, Florence Waren graces our exploration of a difficult time with poise and insight.

How do we survive? Florence Waren was a Jewish performer "hidden in the spotlight" through their contacts in the entertainment industry in Paris. From this position they were able to save other lives.

Chosen for Best Feature Documentary at the Columbia Gorge International Film Festival in 2011.

http://dramaticrisks.org/

Avoiding Traffic with Social Media

In many cities with severe traffic problems, such as Rio de Janeiro, people Twitter incessantly about the traffic. They want to know what streets to avoid and where traffic is moving smoothly. They want to know where the police have set up checkpoints and where the coast is clear.

One of my customers is setting up Twisplays in a restaurant to display the traffic tweets of Rio, including those of Lei Seca RJ which has nearly 150,000 followers.

If the repsonse is positive, he will help me sell Twisplays to restaurants and bars throughout Rio.

907Magazine - Celebrating Alaska

My friend George Sikat III is starting up a magazine celebrating Alaska!

907Magazine is as grass roots as you could get. Created by locals, made for virtual visitors.

So many want to visit Alaska but few make it here. 907Magazine will publish local stories that will make you feel part of the Alaska scene. This site will be an informative tool for people with interests about Alaska's "Last Frontier" lifestyle & business.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/907Magazine/

http://www.907magazine.com/

Photography - and Private Lessons for Children and Adults

Happy Halloween

 
  
 
 

Heart of Darkness

I attended a screening of Eric Metzgar's new documentary about Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof's travels to war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo.

The event was organized by the American Jewish World Service (AJWS), hosted by Ruth Messinger and featured Nicholas Kristof taking questions after the film and signing copies of his new book, Half the Sky.

Nicholas Kristof commented that while the major social and political challenge of the 19th century was the fight against slavery and the major challenge of the 20th century was the fight against totalitarianism, the major fight of the 21st century will be the fight against the oppression of women around the world.

http://www.halftheskymovement.org/

http://ajws.org/

Rain to Water - Rain2o.com

I have always considered water our most valuable commodity.

On average, each person uses 100 gallons of water per day for drinking, food, washing, flushing and watering lawns and gardens. A typical 4-person household uses 146,000 gallons per year. Homeowners spend up to a few thousand dollars a year in municipal water fees.

How much rain falls on a typical roof?

50,000 gallons annually!

That’s the answer when big and small homes are averaged together and different levels of rain fall are taken into account. A modest ½” of rain yields 700 gallons of rain water on a typical roof - and all of that pours through downspouts.

Rain barrels are an excellent way to collect and store rain water for use between rains, for example, to water gardens using soaker hoses. The cost to set up a few rain barrels is modest and easily recouped through savings from reduced water bills.

For more information, please refer to www.Rain2o.com

Valentine's Day Card

My flight to Omaha was canceled due to a sever snow storm, so I will not be able to spend Valentine's Day with my wife and children.

Cindy, thank you for putting up with all we have been through this past year. You are truly and woman of valor, and I love you!

Dramatic Risks and "The Caffe Cino"

My good friend, Mark Waren, directs documentaries and runs a small non-profit theatre and film production company. His current project is "THE CAFFE CINO: Do What You Have To Do," an exploration of the legendary Caffe Cino on Cornelia Street, the birthplace of Off-Off Broadway theatre in the United States. The “alumni” of the Caffe Cino include Sam Shepard, Al Pacino, Bernadette Peters, William M. Hoffman, Lanford Wilson, Paul Foster and Robert Patrick. This tiny café-theatre remade American theatre, and influenced theatre practitioners all over the world.

You can see further information about THE CAFFE CINO on the non-profit production company, Dramatic Risks, website, www.dramaticrisks.org.

Mark is currently in the midst of a final fund-raising campaign to obtain the funds necessary to complete and distribute the film. All contributions to Dramatic Risks and the CINO project are completely tax-deductible, and there is a PayPal link on the Dramatic Risks website.

Dramatic Risks, Inc. is a New York City-based non-profit cultural and educational corporation, registered with the Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)3 charitable organization.

Dramatic Risks produces high-quality theatre and film programs for educational institutions and the general public. Dramatic Risks is about documenting current and historical communities using a range of performance and motion picture techniques.

If you would like to know more about the Caffe Cino, here is the link to the Contents Page for 54 online pages of pictures from or relating to the Cino (provided by Robert Patrick, Playwrite):

www.hometown.aol.com/rbrtptrck/CINOCONTENTS.html

Marketplace Public Radio‏

I received the following email and request from Whitney Stark at Marketplace Public Radio http://marketplace.publicradio.org :

Hi Joshua,
I just left a message on your phone, and I am sure that you (as you say on your blog) have been swamped with media attention, and, well, I’m just another part of it.  Marketplace, the business show on public radio is looking for insights and experiences from people in and leaving the financial world, and obviously you have an interesting perspective.  We’d love to hear from you.
You can let us know more and inform Marketplace coverage at:
http://tinyurl.com/ExWallStreet
We would also really appreciate any help you could give us connecting to others involved in Wall Street.  It would be a great help if you could pass on the link, or even post it on your blog.  Below is a prompt, if you feel comfortable, that you could post, otherwise, directing people to that link would be really helpful.
Thank you so much, Joshua, and let me know if you have any questions!
Best,
Whitney Stark
American Public Media
Public Insight Journalism
wstark@mpr.org
(651) 290-1302

If you are involved in or leaving Wall St. or know someone who is, please help with this informative public research and programming!

Another email I received today was from Hong Kong:

Dear Joshua,
I guess the financial tsunami had just gone worse in NY. And according your blog, we understand that you do aware that the opportunities had shift to Asia.
After meeting with my colleagues in Hong Kong, my boss had came up with a few question for you. I suggest that you may take your time and take this questions into serious consideration.
How would you help, or what would you offer as a partner and a director?
Do you have any insight or inspiration that you would like to share with us, based on my explanation of our direction?
Do you have any plans in mind about capturing the capital from investors in the US, or the ventures of US companies?
Do you have any one in mind that who would be able to work with you as a team, who would share the same vision? and if yes, who would you recommend?
We are still reviewing other impressive resumes, you still remain one of our top candidates, but I know that you do have much more to offer beyond what is on your resume. And my boss is very interested in what you can do as a director.
Please take your time and reply this e-mail.
Best Regards,

I replied with my answers and look forward to more information from Hong Kong regarding my colleague's enterprise and plans.