Tom Maguire as Joseph Priestley

Last night, the Stage 3 Theatre was full for the premier of Rick Foster’s new play, The Air We Share. The play is a production of Duende Drama & Literature and tells the story of Joseph Priestley (1733-1804), an English scientist, philosopher and educator, who is one of three scientists to independently discover oxygen.  For this and other studies, he can be considered a founder of ecological science.

The Air We Share begins its run in Tuolumne County later this month, with the objective of performing for every 6th grade class in the county, at no cost to the schools. To support its work in bringing historically accurate plays to schools, Duende actively seeks funding from individuals, organizations and foundations. However, for the premier of this new play, the Board of Directors (of which I am a member) made the decision to perform for the community at no charge. The following are Rick Foster’s remarks, prior to the performance:

I have to say something about our decision not to sell tickets for this play, or even take reservations. It created a bit of confusion for some of you. And I want us to think about that confusion and what it says about this culture we live in.

Why would we pass up the opportunity to sell tickets? Are we crazy?

First ask: What makes a woman or a man commit to art? Curiosity, passion, obsession, the need to explore our deepest concerns and values with other men and women. In one word: love.

The anger of art, the beauty of art, the clarified mystery of art, the laughter of art, the pain of art, and the healing of art – all driven by love.

And what makes an audience invest heart and soul in a work of art? Also love. Love for what the art reveals, provokes, inspires in the way that nothing else can.

The fundamental transaction between the artist and the audience is a transaction of love. Without that, everything is phony.

So I was delighted to be part of our decision not to charge for tickets, not to take reservations, but simply to show forth what we have done, and to invite our community –— first come, first served.

For once, the transaction of love would be in the foreground. — No box office between the audience and the performance.

And it’s entirely fitting that I’m saying this before a play about Joseph Priestley. He felt about science in the way I feel about art. I only have him say the word “love” twice in my play — once about science and once about America — but you’ll see that love for life and humanity, planet earth and a higher power informs every thing he does.

Priestley invented things that could have made him a rich man. That did make other people rich.

But he passed up the economic opportunities without a moment’s regret. His love was to pursue his curiosity and to give his discoveries to the world. And it worked for him.

Mostly. You’ll see.

Thank you!

I now give you, Tom Maguire as Joseph Priestley in “The Air We Share.”

Contributions can be sent to:

Duende: Drama & Literature, Inc.
P.O. Box 943
Sonora, CA 95370

We usually have four or five local farms selling whatever’s fresh, some artisans selling their wares (my son is partial to the rock and gem guy) and a couple of food vendors. The market gets going around 4, the music starts at 6 and the evening wraps up at 8. It’s friendly and local; a cross-section of our entire community.

The musical lineup has something for everyone, from country to rock to swing. Here’s the schedule for the rest of the summer:

This past Wednesday featured the elder statesmen (sorry guys, but it’s true) of our local rock scene, Crazy Ivan. Greg Noll (guitar), Mike Gonzales (bass) and Jim Anderson (drums) clearly loved  playing for a hometown crowd and the feeling was mutual. The video below was shot at another local event, the reopening of The Rock restaurant, in nearby Twain Harte.

If you’re in the area, come join us of a Wednesday evening in the park this summer. You’ll be glad you did.

Tuolumne Park on Google Maps.

Please pass this link on to all of your contacts and friends in our region, so that we can make this the most complete and accurate map in California!

Direct link to crowdsourcing module: http://mshelton.kattare.com/bbcrowdCSC/bbCSC.html

Thanks to an “elevator grant”, our own Columbia College has been presenting a free lecture series entitled, Inside the Entrepreneur – Enlightening Lessons. Each month, local entrepreneurs are interviewed by a moderator, followed by an audience question and answer period. The series is being video taped and will be distributed to other communities on DVD.

I am pleased to be a panelist at the December event, along with Stuart Hince, my webdancers partner and Sharon Crost, of Social Media Alive. The event is billed as Enlightening lessons from Social Networking experts, although Sharon is the real expert of the bunch, having directed interactive strategies for companies such as HP, Adobe and NetApp. Stuart and I will have some ideas to offer about how the current economy has affected life on the web and how businesses can take advantage of some really great online tools at low or no cost.

It should be an enjoyable evening and we invite everyone in the Sonora area to come and join us. As an added incentive, refreshments are provided by the college’s culinary department and they are exceptional!

Date: December 11, 2009
Time: 7p – 9p
Place: Columbia College – Manzanita Building Rotunda
Information: (209) 588-5145

Download the poster (PDF)

Harvard chalkboard by Patrick Haney.

Guest post by Sharon Crost, cross-posted on the Network Sierra blog.

Let’s do a quick thinking exercise: think for a few seconds about the Central Sierra.  Do you think of history and the Gold Rush and panning for gold? Or do you think of Yosemite National Park, Bear Valley or Dodge Ridge, tasting wine, jumping frogs, or enjoying the outdoors?  Well some of us who have come to the Central Sierra post-Gold Rush think that the Central Sierra is a gorgeous place to work and live and play.  It’s so livable in a way, but in a way not at all.  Because about 40% of the people who reside in the Central Sierra don’t have access to high speed internet, called “broadband”.

So now let’s think for a few seconds about dial-up internet connection.  Do you know, or remember what it’s like to dial up to the internet via modem?  Similar to the Gold Rush, you may think of this as ancient history? The internet is now celebrating its 40th birthday, but a significant portion of our Central Sierra community is STILL connecting to the internet in it’s adolescent connection form, via dial-up.

Now think about what it means to peddle on dial-up while your neighbors are racing on the super highway.   You can’t participate in everyday applications such as watching videos, downloading files, takes classes via distance learning, manage your health, transact business online or communicate with your family.    Surprisingly, while you are peddling on dial-up, your mates in many third world economies are connecting and thriving.   Broadband access means economic and job development, telehealth, communication, education, environmental sustainability and a future for youth that want to stay and thrive in rural communities.

Clearly we need ubiquitous access to broadband, and the Central Sierra and many other rural communities are on the losing side of the digital equality access game.    So I’m part of a group of crusaders working to reduce the digital divide in rural communities.  You can help too.  You can help create a new history for rural communities.  You’ve already been thinking about the issue for the last few precious seconds and one of the great advantages of ubiquitous broadband is that it gives everyone an equal voice.   In fact, Network Sierra’s Community Access project is an excellent example of project planning to assist a community to create and engage in local issues and news and information and entertainment and art, enabled by broadband.  Stay tuned to this blog and check out the Central Sierra Connect project or the California Emerging Technologies Fund for more information and to take action.

Oh, and there’s one final thing to think about in this exercise… think about the reality of high-speed connection throughout the Central Sierra, in rural communities as in big cities, everywhere.  Communities prospecting for gold on an equal playing field, engaging and thriving.  It’s a thought as good as gold.

Sharon Crost is an educator and a consultant mentoring leaders to develop thriving communities.    She tweets as mktwow and can be contacted at sharon@socialmediaalive.com