Once on This Island Audition

Auditions for Once on This Island will take place on Wednesday, 12/2 and Thursday, 12/3 in room B2 from 3:15 pm to 5:15 pm. Students in all grades are encouraged to try out. Those who wish to participate must have a signed permission slip. All students must arrive promptly and be prepared to sing and act out a dramatic dialogue. No food or drink will be allowed in B2.

Synopsis
There is a violent storm raging around a small Caribbean island in the French Antilles. A frightened child is being comforted by the storytellers. The island is inhabited by the Grands Hommes, who are the rich landowners, and the peasants, who are poor and have to scrape for a living. An orphan girl named Ti Moune is adopted by two old peasants, Mama Euralie and Tonton Julian. She is then chosen for a special fate by Erzulie, goddess of love and saved for a special destiny by Asaka, mother of the Earth. Now a grown-up, Ti Moune sees the handsome Daniel Beauxhomme passing by in his fine car. In a storm created by Agwe, god of water, the car crashes and Ti Moune rushes to Daniel’s rescue. By cheating the Demon of Death, Papa Ge, Ti Moune saves Daniel's life, but pays a terrible price- her soul.

Ti Moune wants to marry Daniel, but Mama Euralie points out the impossibility of this as they are from different social classes. Nevertheless, they become lovers. As Daniel recovers, he realizes his responsibilities; his bride-to-be is the rich Andrea Devereaux and the announcement of their engagement is made at a grand ball. Papa Ge arrives to claim Ti Moune. It is only by killing Daniel that she can save herself from her part in the Devil's bargain. Of course, she is unable to do the only thing that can save her.
After Daniel and Andrea are married, they appear at the front of the hotel and throw coins to the peasants. Daniel gives a coin to Ti Moune but she is dying. Her life and untimely death leave a positive ending to the story - the power of love conquers the fear of death.

Lead Roles:
Ti Moune: a girl who saves Daniel and falls in love with him.
Daniel: Rich guy who crashed his car and gets saved by Ti Moune
Mama Euralie: Ti Moune's Aunt
Tonton Julien: Ti Moune's Uncle
Asaka: goddess of the earth
Agwe: god of water
Erzulie: goddess of love
Papa Ge: god of death
Andrea: Daniel's betrothed
Gatekeeper: guard at Daniel's mansion

Good luck to all who audition.

LOST Season 6: Can. Not. Wait.

Check out this video for an extremely truncated recap of seasons 1-5:



The final season of LOST (the best TV show ever) begins early January, 2010.
OMG! (a la Ms. H.)

Pass The Peas!!!

OK so tomorrow is Thanksgiving which got me to thinking about one of the funniest Martin episodes ever: the one in which Martin's mother and her cousin come over to help Gina and Pam cook Thanksgiving dinner. I remember watching this episode on VHS with my friends back in the days about 3 times in a row. The audio quality is not the greatest but enjoy this clip anyway. LOL at 0:25 and 1:55! LOLOLOL

Auditorium Upgrade!!!

We're getting an auditorium upgrade! The curtains will mimic the uniform colors (khaki and green) and the lighting system will be brand new. Look out for the improvements.

Precious

I publish this post reluctantly because I don't want to encourage students to see this film. I'm just responding to it as a piece of art, therefore I won't get into particulars. The movie really lived up to the hype. The two lead actresses deserve Academy Award nominations.

Random Thoughts

1. I hope the Yankees lose.
2. I'm exhausted.
3. I didn't vote and I'm fine with that.
4. Thank you to all the SHSAT kids who came in on their day off.
5. I've accumulated 106 sick days in 12 years and I need to take a few.
6. I love bacon.
7. I can't afford the BMW X5.
8. Music has healing power.
9. Can't wait for the last season of LOST.
10. See #2

This Is It

I never got around to submitting a post when Michael Jackson unexpectedly passed away in June. It was the last week of school and I was running around getting ready for summer school doing a million things just like I usually do that time of year. As a dancer, I have always been in awe of MJ. A music video vanguard, MJ created choreography/movement imagery that is indelible and causes you to do the steps in your head when you hear a particular song. This Is It is a reminder of his sheer brilliance in style, technique and execution. I thoroughly enjoyed the documentary which captured rehearsal performances for what would have been a 50 date concert in London. Undoubtedly, the show would have been awesome.



The film genuinely documents MJ's good health, unwavering talent and incredible work ethic before his untimely demise. His rehearsals were better and more entertaining than some artists' live performances before an audience. There were more live vocals than I would have predicted. In fact, there were no vocal tracks. The highlight / most memorable moment for me was Billie Jean. It was sick. Awesome. A testament to what an artist should be. All in all, it was great to get a glimpse into MJ's creative process as he and the wonderfully talented dancers, singers and musicians ran through the set list in conjunction with Kenny Ortega's direction.



So before the year is out, I will put forth my best effort to work with some students to mount a proper tribute to MJ on the Bildersee stage.

My trip to Anguilla, BWI

My much needed holiday on the island of Anguilla (British West Indies) was awesome. I hadn't been to Anguilla since 2001 (the week before 9/11) and I've wanted to go back ever since. Anguilla is not the easiest island to get to but it's worth the journey. You have to either fly to Puerto Rico and take one of those toy airplanes to Anguilla or do what most people do which is take a 20 minute ferry from nearby Sint Maarten/Saint Martin. The ferry ride is a harrowing experience.

This was the view from the hotel room balcony:


The beach on which the hotel was situated (Mead's Bay) is said to be the most naturally beautiful of Anguilla's 33 beaches. The sand was soft and white and the water was warm and turquoise. This pic almost looks like a postcard:



Shout out to my frat brother for doing a great job driving on the left side of the road around the island because that's something I wasn't trying to attempt.

All in all, the vacation was great and I got a chance to relax before next week's return for another school year. Hurricane Bill messed with the water a couple of days but fortunately did not hit the island by a long shot.

The Wiz (Review)

I was blown away by Ashanti. She looked great and her vocals were amazing! Even though I was sitting there listening to her I couldn't believe it. Producers have obviosuly had her intentionally hold back vocally over the years in order to appeal to a younger hip hop audience. It was just like when I saw Michelle Williams (of Destiny's Child) in Aida a few years ago. I saw it with Toni Braxton and later Michelle Williams. I enjoyed Michelle Williams's portrayal/acting/singing better than Toni's. No one believes me.

The staging and blocking of the production as a whole left a little to be desired. The orchestra on stage was not the best usage of space but it worked, kinda. Lighting and makeup were great but I can't say the same thing for wardrobe and hair. It was like they could only afford the best for about half of the cast. There was a little too much hip hop dance and style for The Wiz . I'm all for improvement and artistic interpretation but some parts could have doubled for scenes from MTV's America's Best Dance Crew. At the end of the day, I enjoyed the show and my niece and little cousin had a great time.

Dawnn Lewis and Tichina Arnold were excellent! Lachanze was awesome. Her voice is a blessing. Her rendition of The Feeling We Once Had was mesmerizing. And Ashanti's rendition of Be A Lion was a tearjerker. Very well done!

Funny Lady

I would like to thank Ms. Thomas-Clarke (Principal of I.S.232) for invoking out loud laughter today with this saying:

"If you can't roll with the punches, punch out!"

Embracing Technology

So I'm in my old neighborhood about to get my barber shop on typing this post on my new iPhone. This is pretty cool and very convenient. Let's see...what's going on with me? Summer school has been taking most of my time. I've been leaving Around 9 pm lately. I have to run in to the building later for something I forgot but really need to take care of before Monday. Yeah so I've been playing around with the new phone. Thanks Mr. Mareus's cousin for helping us to sync the iPhone with Outlook. What a convenience!

Last week my oldest nephew graduated from Tottenville HS in Staten Island. We are all very proud of him. A good friend from my college years is in town so we will be meeting this weekend. I also have to cook something for our brunch on Monday. The red velvet cake was gone in 2 periods last week. I'm glad everyone enjoyed it. I haven't figured out how to upload an image on this post from the iPhone so I can't include the pic of the cakes coming out of the oven.

Congratulations again to the Class of 2009! Peace...gotta go.

High School Musical at I.S. 68

What team? Wildcats!

Our production of High School Musical was a success. Although we had some technical sound issues in the first show, the students did a great job. The second and third shows were both great and went off without a hitch after a thorough sound check. Ms. Zephir was wonderful in her showstopping performance as Coach Bolton in Friday morning's show. Congratulations and thanks to all the performers for their hard work.
Leandra and Traven had great chemistry as Gabriella and Troy and their vocals were on point. Shae and Abraham shined as Sharpay and Ryan, especially in "Bop to the Top." The basketball team rocked it in "Get'cha Head in the Game." No one dropped a basketball in any of the shows! My favorite part of all three shows was "We're All in This Together."

Thanks to all staff and students who came out to see the show. We really appreciate it. Let me also say thanks very much to Ms. Piton, Ms. C. Hall, Ms. Dockery and Ms. Zephir for all of their hard work throughout this process. This was the most demanding show and cast thus far and your perseverance is appreciated. Rehearsals were trying and students dropped in and out of the cast since January but we stuck it out.

Thanks to P.S. 181, I.S. 246 and M.S. 352 for sending your students to Friday's show.

Thanks to:
Ms. Verdier for her flip camera skills
Ms. Jackson and Ms. St. Louis for helping us out right before the show
Mr. Pitkoff for all the laminating
Carlos for helping to hang the streamers in the auditorium
My fellow AP's Ms. Abdullah and Mr. McNeill for being amenable to Friday's scheduling

Paciencia y Fe!

On Wednesday, June 3rd, I took several deserving Academy II students (as well as one student each from Academies I and III) to see In The Heights, the Tony and Grammy award winning hit musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda set in New York City's Dominican-American neighborhood, Washington Heights. On Monday I found out that the celebrated author left the show in February, but I was still totally stoked to see the show. I found it to be a cross between Rent and West Side Story that worked well for the most part but that gratuitously mimiced the aforementioned classics. Yes, Rent is a classic! At the end of the day, I thought the show was great. Highlights included the title number In The Heights, 96,000, The Club, Carnaval Del Barrio, the very touching Alabanza and the reaffirming Finale.

The four leads in our upcoming production of High School Musical were in attendance. I hope all of you took a lot away from this amazing performance!

The students enjoyed the show. We were about 30 minutes in before they got accustomed to the periodic Spanish dialogue and lyrics. All in all, I highly recommend the show to Broadway buffs and occasional theater goers alike. Even if you don't speak Spanish or you've never been to Washington Heights, you'll appreciate the music and the story. I must admit that I was deeply moved by the last few minutes of the finale. I won't give anything away...I'll just urge you to go and see it. Thanks to the parents and Ms. Kinast for accompanying us.

Summer School 2009

The 8th grade schedules are subject to change.


Summer school begins Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Last day of summer school if not testing: Thursday, July 30, 2009
Summer ELA exam: Monday, August 3, 2009
Summer Mathematics exam: Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Summer ELA and Mathematics makeup exams: Wednesday, August 4, 2009

Schedule for grades 6 and 7: 8:30 - 12:30
Schedule for 8th graders taking 1 class: 8:30 - 10:30
Schedule for 8th graders taking 2 classes: 8:30 - 12:30
Schedule for 8th graders taking 3 classes: 8:30 - 2:00
Schedule for 8th graders taking 4 classes: 8:30 - 3:00

The Wiz at City Center

I'm a HUGE fan of The Wiz, both the stage version which starred Stephanie Mills and Andre DeShields and the film version which starred Diana Ross and Michael Jackson when he was Black. HOWEVER, I'm not too sure of New York City Center's forthcoming production starring Ashanti as Dorothy...I just don't know...

I so want to see this 2009 rendition but I don't want to shell out the coins and be disappointed. It would be splendiferous to see Tony Award winner LaChanze in ANY ROLE, but the rest of them...I just don't know. I hope they don't butcher my beloved Wiz.


Also starring are:
Tichina Arnold as Evilene (She's gonna kill it on "Don't Nobody Bring Me No Bad News!")
Orlando Jones as the Wiz (Umm, OK)
Lachanze as Glinda the Good Witch (Sure to be excellent)
Dawnn Lewis as Addaperle (Where has she been?)

Glee

OK so until LOST returns in 2010, I have another show to start watching. The pilot was awesome. Glee definitely has the potential to become a must watch week after week. Click here to learn more about the show.

According to Fox's website:
From Ryan Murphy, the creator of "Nip/Tuck" and "Popular," comes GLEE, a one-hour musical comedy that follows an optimistic high school teacher as he tries to transform the Glee Club and inspire a group of ragtag performers to make it to the biggest competition of all: Nationals.

Will Schuester, a young optimistic teacher, has offered to take on the Herculean task of restoring McKinley's Glee Club to its former glory. Everyone around him thinks he's nuts. He's out to prove them all wrong.

I am so late...

...but Chrisette Michele's album I Am is sick from beginning to end!

No Prom / No Senior Trip

The following will not receive invitations to either the trip or prom:

281
RH
JA
DF
LM

282
LW
IC
SM
DK
AC
KH
SO

283
AA
TF

284
RM

LOST Season 5: Episode 16: The Incident Parts 1 & 2

I don't think there's been a season finale this intriguing and riveting since the season 1 finale. You know what, I take that back. All of the season finales have been excellent but this one takes the cake. This two hour episode was WELL worth the wait and a great way to end the season. First of all, it was Jacob-centric! I found it to be:

Mindblowing
The first few minutes with Jacob and his perceived nemesis on the beach, the final seconds when Juliet detonates the hydrogen bomb, finally hearing "What lies in the shadow of the statue," getting a little more information about Richard...the list goes on.

Heartbreaking
When Juliet got pulled into the Swan Station hatch by the electromagnetic force.
When young Sawyer wrote his "Dear Mr. Sawyer" letter on the church steps.

Sensational
We finally learned "What lies in the shadow of the statue" and who Jacob really is.
The answer was some ancient Egyptian, cryptic phrase. Who knows what the answer really means? I'll have to check with the ABC.com message board because those people really do their research! Through some crazy twist, Jacob faces defeat by the guy in black pictured above via a "loophole." Man this episode will probably make more sense when we see the premiere of Season 6, which will not happen until 2010. BUMMER!

Revealing
OK so we finally found out what happened to Rose and Bernard and where they've been. BUT, what about the other people who stayed behind? What about them, huh? It was also clear that Richard and Jacob know each other. Who knew that Jacob really lived under the foot of the statue? So why then was he in the cabin? And what is the ash around the cabin? We also found out that Locke is really dead! I guess dead really is dead! (Episode 12 title)


Season 6 will be the final season. It will all come together and everything will make sense. Perhaps Daniel/Jack's plan to detonate the hydrogen bomb will change history and flight 815 will never crash in 2004. However, whatever happened, happened, right? Well, the tag line for Season 6 is "Destiny Found" so this is definitely intriguing as to what that means for the Losties. And they have to tie up all the Egyptian connections, especially with Richard Alpert and now Jacob, who we saw at one point go and touch everyone who wound up on the island.
Here's to an amazing final season in 2010! Can't wait!

Broadway, Jr. Trips

On Friday, May 15th, the Broadway, Jr.'s will be going to I.S. 252 to see a performance of Into The Woods. (We did that play 2 years ago.) It will be their last performance as "Somers Intermediate School" as they are phasing out. Then, on May 29th, the B'way Jr.'s will go to Brooklyn College to perform Stick to the Status Quo from High School Musical for the culminating exhibition. You must be in uniform if not in costume and you must hand in your permission slips and photo consent forms to Mr. Herring immediately. This is sort of a trial run in front of your peers. I can't go with you guys so good luck. I know you will do us proud. Uphold Bildersee's four year strong reputation of shining at this event.



We are down to the wire!!!
Our new sound sytem is being installed and should be up and running by Thursday.

Arrive at rehearsal on time, finalize your line memorization and practice at home.

Get'cha head in the game!

LOST Season 5: Episode 15: Follow the Leader

Again, this post is so after the fact but I have to blog about season 5 of the best show ever in its entirety, so here goes:



I thought this episode was going to be Richard-centric. I guess you could describe it as such. I don't know...this one just might be the most disappointing of the season for me. Not that it was bad, I just thought we'd come to understand the eternal youth of Richard and how long he's been on the island. It was actually Richard/Locke-centric. Honestly, not much happened really....no major developments. We saw Daniel's mother think twice about the fact that she killed him without thinking first and then try to make sense out of the Losties being from the future.

Then we saw a cool underwater tunnel where Richard and the young Eloise brought Jack and Sayid to get to the hydrogen bomb called Jughead.

Mr. Chang finally accepted Myles as his son and the fact that Myles and Hurley are from the future.

I guess we did learn one thing: We now know that the incident was what really made Dharma leave in the first place. But what will happen to Juliet and Saywer? Will they board the submarine? Are they leaving the island? We shall see.

This episode was kinda about leadership...we saw Locke reclaim his leadership position after coming back from the dead. Then he said he's going to kill Jacob. Yeah right. You probably can't kill Jacob! So as the show ended, Locke is leading all the Others to Jacob's creepy cabin.

Tomorrow is the finale. All of LOST's season finales are insanely good so I'm sure I will be more thrilled with it than I was with episode 15. This is still my favorite show!!! I still love the show and it's still the best show ever!

Academy II Celebrates Earth Day by Planting a Tree

[OK, this post is SO late but hey, better late than never. I've been extremely busy.]

Sixth, seventh and eighth grade students in Isaac Bildersee Intermediate School’s Academy of Urban Planning and Environmental Design planted a white oak (Quercus alba) tree on East 82nd Street on Tuesday, April 28, 2009. It was the first major theme-related project in which students participated since 2007 when students visited the intended Atlantic Yards site in downtown Brooklyn. Ms. Treena Hall, an English language arts teacher, applied for a free sapling from the John Browne Nursery in collaboration with New York City’s Million Trees Initiative. In addition to Principal Alex Fralin, Assistant Principal Dennis Herring, Jr. and Parent, Rae Phillips, in attendance was Ms. Julia Bove, Executive Officer of Instruction for the Integrated Curriculum and Instruction learning support organization. The weather was perfect as custodian Bernie Young assisted the students with digging the hole properly and generously watering the newly planted tree. The students, who wore “Go Green” t-shirts that they designed, rounded out the ceremony with readings of essays and poems that memorialized the significance of Earth Day.


Much gratitude to Ms. Treena Hall for spearheading this endeavor. It's quite a chore to put something like this together and still deliver the instruction of the regular curriculum. Thanks to all the students who wrote poems and essays and read them during the ceremony. Thanks to the guys of class 281 who dug the hole. Big shout out to Bernie for helping us with the water.

At first, we were told by the John Browne nursery that we weren't going to receive the tree because they never received our application by fax. Then the tree was surprisingly delivered the day after Earth Day. It looked like a plant. Thanks to all the rain we've had recently, the tree has sprouted several huge leaves although it hasn't grown in height yet. Ms. T. Hall will take pictures of the tree each month and display the images on her blog. So stop by the library to check out the bulletin board with student work and pictures and then visit right outside exits 9 & 10 and check out the Academy II tree! (Thanks, Ms. T. Hall for the pictures).

LOST Season 5: Episode 14: The Variable

First of all, my sister called me at 9:16 pm. You don't do that!



Look at Daniel, all dazed and confused with no short-term memory. Well now we know why! Where do I start with this 100th episode???

I found it to be well worth the wait. This episode totally delivered. It was Daniel-centric, but we still don't know exactly how he left the island after going back to 1977 and then returned as a consulting scientist for the Swan station. Nevertheless, I enjoyed several moments:

-When Daniel said "Myles is your son" to Dr. Chang.
-When Kate, Daniel and Jack had a shoot out with Dharma security.
-Finding out how Daniel's girlfriend became comatose.
-Jumping back to when Daniel was crying over the news story of 815's found wreckage.
-Learning that Desmond was OK after getting shot.
(Until now, we thought the grocery bag was bullet-proof or something.)
-Learning that Eloise Hawking WAS A HOSTILE!!!
-The anticipation of what would happen if Daniel SHOT Richard Alpert!!!
-Daniel confronting Dr. Chang about the island's catastrophic electromagnetic potential.
-I loved how Kate let Daniel walk through the security fence first!!! LOL
Did she think that perhaps Juliet had given them a fake code?
-Daniel revealing that he is from the future to Dr. Chang.
-Daniel's mother shooting him!!! (WOW WOW WOW)
-FINDING OUT THAT CHARLES WIDMORE IS DANIEL'S FATHER!!!(WOW WOW WOW)
-So that means Penny and Daniel are brother and sister, just like Jack found out that Claire was his sister.

So the big question is...[drum roll] DID ELOISE HAWKING KNOW THAT THIS WOULD HAPPEN AS DANIEL SAID AS HE LAY DYING??? And why would she want to kill her own son?

-Is Daniel really dead? You know how LOST is...he could be OK next week. Maybe.

-How will our Losties make it back to their beach and "start from square one" as Saywer put it if they are now being held by the Dharma Initiatve?

-Would Daniel's plan to manipulate the VARIABLES and change history have worked had his mother not shot him?

Actually, I guess this had to happen being that the tag line for this season is "Destiny Calls."

-WHERE ARE ROSE AND BERNARD? ARE THEY IN 2007 OR 1977?

OK so all in all, this episode totally rocked. And next week's show looks even better! I thought I caught a glimpse of Sawyer having the cynicism beat out of him in the preview. LOL.

I will venture to say "The Variable" was just as good as "The Constant" in Season 4.

Can't wait till next week's show. Once again, check out the fans' theories at abc.com.

I end several posts with this line, and it's difficult to explain to non-viewers or passers-by, but LOST is the best show ever! These writers are talented beyond belief. The way in which events and themes are connected and intertwined from season to season and character to character is incredible! This is the season of a thousand "Oh, so that's why...(fill in the blank)" moments!

LOST Theories

LOST viewers and fans are SO CLEVER in their theories.
Visit abc.com by clicking here and go to community, message boards, LOST.

Also check out Lostpedia.com for the comprehensive LOST experience.
There are things on there that even avid viewers miss.

WARNING: You may find yourself on either of these sites for extended periods of time, thereby forsaking your everyday responsibilities.

*

LOST Season 5: Episode 13: Some Like It Hoth

What an excellent episode! Once again, we got to be a fly on the wall for a conversation that any two viewers of the show would probably have while trying to make sense out of everything as Hurley and Miles spoke to each other.

Miles is the latest character to have "daddy issues" (i.e. Kate, Jack, Sawyer, etc.) and this episode gave us a good idea as to why. According to Miles's mom, his father left them, but at least the adult Miles got a chance to see himself as a baby listening to a story being read by his dad. In brilliant LOST style, the book was called Me and my Polar Bear.

Hurley shared that he "talks to dead people" just as Miles can, but in a very different way as we have seen when Hurley chats with Mr. Ecko and Charlie. Miles communicates with the deceased while the body is still there. Dead people actually come and visit Hurley. There was a connection to the uber electromagnetic pull of the island which killed the worker whose tooth filling sliced through his brain. This was the body being transported by Miles and that relayed that information.

We have a special next week, but in two weeks, we will see the "explosive 100th episode." I think I might invite my LOSTIE friends over for that one.

As a cliffhanger, we saw Sawyer knock out the guy who watched the surveillance tape in which Kate and Sawyer appear taking young Ben to the Others to be healed.

Other brilliant things about this episode:
-the return of the great looking Naomi as she recruited Miles.
-Seeing the construction of the original hatch, the Swan Station.
-Seeing the construction of the Orchid Station.
-Hurley stating the last number in the sequence (42) to Miles's amazement.
-The question asked to Miles by the guys who picked him up on the street which we heard for the first time last week: WHAT LIES IN THE SHADOW OF THE STATUE?
-even better-the information that if he doesn't know the answer to that question that he's "not ready to go to that island."
-THE RETURN OF DANIEL FARADAY ON THE SUBMARINE!!! HOW DID HE GET OFF THE ISLAND IN THE FIRST PLACE???
-I KNOW you all saw the Egyptian notes on the chalk board in the Dharma classroom!!!

This episode was insane! Off the hook! Well done!

QUESTION: Now that Daniel's back, where are Rose and Bernard and them?

Can't wait for the 100th episode!
The special, not so much...unless there's some new information to be gathered. I'm going to watch it, of course.

Check out the trailer for next week's special and episode 14 (airing 4/29/09) which is Daniel-centric, entitled "The Variable:"



LOST is the best show ever!