Active Lifelong Learning
Lifelong Learning - Lifelong Doing - Lifelong Friends
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WELCOME TO CLUB NEWS & NOTES – December 2021
Editor: Ellen Breazeale – breazeales@comcast.net
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CLUB NEWS
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Blackbird Singing in the Dead of Night...
The Point Reyes National Seashore offers some of the finest bird watching in the United States.
The Park’s 70,000 acres of habitat are host to almost 490 avian species, both in the park and
on adjacent waters.
The area consistently reports one of the highest
tallies in the county every year during the
Christmas bird count.
If you're a bird watcher and want to share your knowledge and enthusiasm with others, talk to the ESCOM Club Chair, Ellen Breazeale. She can help you get a new club started.
Contact Ellen Breazeale breazeales@comcast.net
Photo Caption: A bird in the hand...this Queen of Clubs card features a feathered beauty. A depiction of a real bird? If you can name it, we'll print your answer in the next issue of CNN.
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If This Was A Movie...
Friday Film Night - Zoom
New Club
4th Friday - 5:30 pm
Club members will watch a favorite film every month and discuss it afterwards. Running time for films will be approximately 90 minutes allowing for plenty of time for everyone to be a Roger Ebert.
Jan. 28: 'My Dog Skip"
A shy boy is unable to make friends in Yazoo City, Mississippi in 1942, until his parents give him a terrier puppy
for his ninth birthday.
Feb.25: "The Letter"
The wife of a rubber plantation administrator shoots a man to death and claims it was self-defense.
Photo Caption: A place in Europe...no. It's the lobby of the Stanley Theater in Jersey City, N.J. which was gloriouly restored in 2012. The theater opened to the public on March 24, 1928. Mayor Frank Hague attended the ceremonies that evening and, with the audience, was greeted on the screen by actress Norma Talmadge. When it opened, its 4,300 seats earned it the rank of the second largest theater on the East Coast, behind only New York City's Radio City Music Hall.
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Suspicious Minds....
"The Wednesday Detection Club" – Zoom
New Club
1st Wednesday 1:00 - 3:00 pm
Jan. 5: "Murder in an English Village"
by Jessica Ellicott
Feb. 2: "The Postscript Murders"
by Ely Griffiths
Contact: Diana Davis
Photo Caption: Everyone gets to play Sherlock once and a while.
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She's Got a Way....
Lucy Wait who has lead the ESCOM Spanish Club
since 2016 has decided to 'decir adiós' -- bid farewell -- as the leader of this popular club, which has had a consistent membership of 15 people.
Lucy, who is 86 and lives at the Tamlpais, taught
legal interpretation and translation courses
at San Franciso State.
'After six years of an amazing journey, I wanted to do other projects', she said. At the top of her list is writing a book for her American grandchildren to remind them that they have ancestors in Lucy's narive Colombia.
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CLUB LEADER NOTES
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No matter what your interest, there’s an ESCOM club that’s ‘right’ for you.
Review the list below. See what’s being offered and contact
a club leader to join the group!
With the onslaught of COVID, the ESCOM Centers at Kentfield and IVC have been closed for the last 22 months. Consequently, most of the clubs are meeting via ZOOM. Some are on hiatus but will return once these Centers open again.
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Arlene Stark
Philosophy of the Mind Club – Zoom
1st & 3rd Monday 10:00 am - noon
This club continues as a tribute to its esteemed late leader, Arlene Stark.
Discussions focus on Science and Philosophy. Our current area of interest
is on consciousness. We are currently viewing YouTube videos on the subject
and reading a recent book,
by Annaka Harris.
All interested are invited to participate and contribute.
Photo Caption: Consciousness and Awareness, both words seem to carry the same meaning,
but they differ semantically as there is a difference between them. Both these terms function
as nouns in the English language. Awareness is having knowledge of something.
On the other hand, consciousness is the state of being aware of something
and this can be regarded as more spiritual kind of definition. When a person is aware
of something, he/she may feel it or just sense it without exactly knowing what it is.
In contrast, somebody becomes conscious about something means that he/she is fully aware of or he/she has complete understanding over the substance
.... Excerpt from a November 2013 post on 'difference between.com'
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Astronomy Club – Zoom
2nd Monday 10:00 am - Noon
The ESCOM Astronomy Club is engaged in learning and discussing about the (non-mathematical) current knowledge of the structure of the universe and its components.
This includes the different kinds and lives of stars, planets and planetary systems, asteroids and comets, galaxies and galaxy clusters, to name a few.
We follow the contemporary discoveries of numerous active spacecraft
and earth-based and space-based telescopes which use the range of
the electro-magnetic spectrum.
We learn and discuss about the hunt for exo-planets and the conditions for and
against the possibility of life existing elsewhere.
Our format is roughly an hour of discussion and presentations of book reviews, contemporary space exploration events, and what
to look for in the current night sky.
We are now engaged in the lecture series from the Great Courses
titled “A Field Guide to the Planets”, after which we discuss the material
covered and any contemporary discoveries that provide insights to the lecture.
Photo Caption: Fornax Cluster of Galaxies
Constellation: Fornax & Eridanus
Distance: 62 million light years
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Book Banter Book Club – Zoom
2nd Wednesday 1:00 - 3:00 pm
Biographies, Autobiographies and semi-fictional biographies of lives before
and after WWI.
Dec. 8: Josephine Baker,
"Jazz Cleopatra" by Phyllis Rose
Jan. 12 :Abigail Adams
"Abigail Adams" by Woody Holten
Feb.9: TBA
Photo Caption: A detail of a fan that belonged to Abigail Adams ..an item auctioned in
September 2006 at the liquidation of Oakham Farm, the historic estate of Eugenia Fairfax
in Middleburg, Virginia which was vacant since 1964.
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Book Club Forum – Zoom
4th Monday 1:00 - 3:00 pm
415-883-2823
largest country in the world.
away from equality.
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Book Club Marin County – Zoom
4th Tuesday 1:30 - 3:00 pm
Note: While all meetings are scheduled to end at 3:00 pm, the ending time is flexible.
Planned reading-always subject to change!
If anyone wishes to attend and purchase any of the selected books, they should feel free to contact Julio Burroughs to obtain book(s) via Book Passage
(to avoid shipping cost).
Of course, if you prefer not to purchase, try the Marin Library (they have curbside service).
If you are a library member, you also have access to Hoopla which has many audio books.
As in the past, we welcome suggestions
for future readings!
Dec. 28: Annie Dillard, Selected essays (chapters 1, 2, and 8) from
"Pilgrim at Tinker Creek" - To be e-mailed.
Jan. 25: Joseph Conrad's "The Secret Sharer".
Julio Burroughs Julioburroughs@gmail.com 415-927-1488
Photo Caption: 'And then I was left alone with my ship, anchored at the head of the Gulf of Siam. ...' According to Joseph Conrad in 'The Secret Sharer,' one's personality is created through interacting with others who offer a glimpse into the part of oneself that one assumes he or she lacks,
only to discover that it has been lying dormant, waiting to be released.
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Chess Club
Every Friday - 2:00 pm
All levels of players welcome.
Contact: Bob Phillips
bob.phillips3@gmail
415-301-1906
Photo Caption: Alexander Alexandrovich Alekhine was the fourth World Champion, reigning from 1927 to 1935, and from 1937 until his death in 1946. He is the founding inspiration for the Soviet School of Chess that came to dominate world chess
after World War II.
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Current Events and Issues – Zoom
2nd & 4th Thursday 10:00 am - noon
After more than 20 years, we are still actively engaged in discussing current events.
Through participation, ESCOM club members experience teaching and learning opportunities.
We welcome new participants and topics that interest you.
Come, join us. Sit in on one session, no obligation - you may like the experience.
Many have! Hope to see you soon.
Photo Caption: A Pulitzer Prize is an award for achievement in newspaper, magazine,
online journalism, literature and musical composition within the United States.
It's named after the Jewish, Hungarian-born, American newspaper publisher, Joseph Pulitzer,
and adminisyered by Columbia University, which received two million dollars from Pulitzer
to help create a journalism school.
Prizes are awarded yearly in 21 categories. In 20 of the categories, each winner receives
a certificate and a $15,000 cash award.
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Digital Camera Club – Zoom
1st Monday - Field Outing
3rd Monday Virtual Club Meeting
1:00 - 3:00 pm
Open to anyone who would like to expand their photographic capabilities by learning from others on how to capture images.
Our monthly camera club photo outings are currently scheduled outdoors with social distancing protocols and our virtual meetings are held via Zoom.
Contact: Harvey Abernathey
Photo Caption: Weather cancelled the club's November photo outing which had as its theme "Sticks & Stones". Here's one of the themed images by club member, Elaine Thornton. The club meetings start-up again in 2022 on Monday, Jan. 3 for an outing to San Anselmo Creekside Park & the Theological Seminary.
Feel free to reach out if you would like to join with other photographers for
our outings and monthly meetings. Ourclub wished everyone a happy and healthy holiday season.
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The Encouragement Writing Club – Zoom
Every Other Wednesday 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Contact: Bernie Cookson
cooksonlaw@comcast.net
508-864-6367
The objective of this club is to share what you've written -- short story, essay, poem -- with the group which will review and critique your work..
honestly but gently.
Photo Caption: George Templeton Strong was not a public man, and he is not widely known today. But for forty years he kept the best diary—in both historic and literary terms—ever written by an American...from an article in March 1988 issue of 'American Heritage' magaine.
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Exploring the Relationship Between
Theology & Society – Zoom
2nd Friday Noon - 2:00 pm
The relationship between theology and society includes how people deal with this topic in both their
personal and professional life.
For some people their place of worship is a primary source of theological information.
As a part of our discussion, we will be sharing different life experiences of worship both positive and negative and how these experiences have affected our perspective.
Contact: Ken Kaprelian (415) 819-7180
Photo Caption: Wittenberg, in Saxony, Germany, is a place of pilgramage as the
and nailed its pages to the door of Castle Church, an act which many regard
as having launched the Protestant Reformation.
Luther was excommunicated from the Catholic Church four years later.
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Food Glorious Food! – Zoom
4th Tuesday 1:00 - 3:00 pm
Dec. 28: What do you do with leftovers and
holiday cookie recipes.
Jan. 25: Read "My Life in France" by Julia Child
Feb. 22: Mexican Food and Recipes
Photo Caption: If you're Jewish, you call this delectable dish above, Teiglach. If you're Italian, it's Struffoli. Although seemingly simple to make -- balls of dough fried and then mixed with honey, nuts, and the rind of an orange -- it took hours to make and shape into a pyramid or a wreath. If you were lucky,
you had a mom in New Jersey who mailed you one every December, a gift of love which
you could enjoy with a strong cup of coffee on damp, California Winter mornings.
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Great Courses Group – Zoom
Every Thursday 1:00 - 2:30 pm
The group will watch episodes from the PBS 'Empires' series .
Dec. 3: 'The Greeks, Crucible of Civilization'
Dec. 9: 'The Roman Empire in the First Century'
In early January, we'll be starting a 24-week lecture series on
"The World's Greatest Paintings" with William Kloss, M.A.
Join us for these sessions.
Our meetings are fun and filled with lively discussions.
Photo Caption: A Roman soldier could march 20 miles a day, wearing all his armour and equipment. His boots were made with a leather sole and long leather straps (loramentum), which were inserted through loops or eyelets and wrapped around the wearer's feet and legs. As with other forms of clothing, the Romans used footwear to indicate the wearer's social class, status and power.
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Moral and Ethical,
Legal Roundtable – Zoom
1st and 3rd Tuesday
10:00 am – noon
The Roundtable is a long running ESCOM Club for discussions, explorations, and issues in our
contemporary world.
Stimulating discussions among and between the attendees and the facilitator are the primary mode of participation.
Join us with your ideas and opinions.
Contact: Kevin Colgate
Photo Caption: It’s not the words that we use but our nonverbal cues or “body language” that speak the loudest. Physical behavior, expressions, and mannerisms communicate nonverbally and
are often done instinctively rather than consciously.
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Opera and Beyond Club – Zoom
2nd Tuesday 1:00 - 4:00 pm
This session presents full opera recording
Last Wednesday 1:00 - 3:00 pm
This session is a gathering to share the glories of opera. You do not have to know a lot about opera.
Your enthusiasm and desire to participate
is what counts.
Everyone may contribute by selecting their
favorite opera aria.
The club leader will access it on YouTube and talk about it during the session.
Also, you can share an article about opera, music, composer, an anecdote, your life experiences, etc.
We are all enthusiasts!
* If you would like to suggest an opera or have access to any operas,
please contact the club leader.
Photo Caption: Puccini's beloved opera 'La Boheme' opens in a Paris Latin Quarter garret in
the 1830s. The near-destitute artist Marcello and poet Rodolfo try to keep warm on Christmas Eve by feeding the stove with pages from Rodolfo’s latest drama. Like all great operas, this one ends
with the tragic death of the lovely heroine, Mimi. The soprano, Mirella Freni, played this role
many times. She can be seen via Utube singing 'Si mi chiamano Mimi'.
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Spanish Club – Zoom
Every Friday 1:00 - 2:30 pm
Club Leader: Lucy Wait
Intermediate level conversation in Spanish
on various topics, including the
Netflix 60-episode series, Bolívar,
which is done in the telenovela style.
Contact: Roberta Schwarz, reschwarz@sbcglobal.net 949-922-3291
or Paula Hammons paulahammons@yahoo.com 415-948-8451
Photo Caption: How many people in the world speak Spanish....lots.
The countries with the largest number of native Spanish speakers worldwide in 2020 (in millions):
Mexico...123.7; Colombia...49.97; Argentina...44.51 and Spain..43.26.
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Reading Great Plays - Zoom
3rd Tuesday 1:00 - 4:00 pm
We'll be reading a play each month and
attempt to release its magic to reveal
the author's main objective -- storytelling.
There is no memorization, no accents, no ego and no stress... just the joy of bringing the play alive!!!
Dec. 21: No Meeting
Jan. 18: 'Candida' by GB Shaw with his short play, 'How He Lied to Her Husband'
Feb. 15: 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof' by Tennessee Williams
Contact: Gary Gonser ggonser3@gmail.com
Photo Caption: The major conflict in Shakespeare's play 'Twelth Night' centers on Viola, who is in love with Orsino, who is in love with Olivia, who is in love with Viola's male disguise, Cesario. This love triangle is complicated by the fact that neither Orsino nor Olivia knows that Viola is really a woman.
In the above photo, Mark Rylance of 'Wolf Hall' fame plays Olivia in a production
at the Apollo Theatre in London in November 2012.
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Reflections on WWII Club – Zoom
Fridays 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Fifty-five million people died in the Second World War, the greatest conflict in human history.
To better understand all aspects of this conflict and to share our own experiences,
we'll be watching two video series from the Great Courses group:
WWII: Battlefield Europe, which deals with the 20th century’s defining conflict.
Designed in partnership with HISTORY® and using a distinctly European perspective
(in which the United States is a supporting player instead of a main character),
this course provides a fresh lens through which to study the European Theater’s
major battles, larger-than-life personalities, twists of fate, and tales of intrigue.
Unsung Heroes of World War II, which features men and women
of courage and conscience who helped change the course of history
but who, for various reasons, have slipped into history’s shadows.
Photo Caption: Although widely known for his children’s books, Theodor Seuss Geisel, or Dr. Seuss, was also the chief political cartoonist for the New York newspaper 'PM' from 1941 to 1943. He created approximately 400 cartoons about World War II.
In this cartoon, his image is critical of the racism that existed in the country where in 1941,
Civil rights leader A. Philip Randolph founded the March on Washington Movement to protest segregation and the hypocrisy of an American government that denounced Nazi racism overseas,
yet propped up the systemic discrimination of African-Americans at home.
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Trivia Quiz
Calling All Smarty Pants - Zoom
4th Sunday - 7:00 p.m.
Hosted by Janis Luft, longtime Mistress of Trivia for the Belvedere-Tiburon Library.
General knowledge questions.
Interactive team contest (teams assigned).
Dec. 26: Hope to see you
for another round of Bear with Me Trivia.
As always, you’ll get 4 rounds of 5 questions, many with multiple answers.
You’ll jot down your own answers and at the end of each round of questions, the club leader will randomly sort you into Zoom rooms where you will decide on a team name (funny, punny names encouraged) and confer with your teammates before presenting
your group’s answers.
The winning team gets bragging rights for a whole month!!!
Photo Caption: 'Mad' magazine's Alfred e. Newman on rocket skates on the January 1958 cover.
Here are little known facts about New Year's Day:
- The month of January was named by Julius Caesar, the emperor of Rome, after the god Janus who had two faces, one looking forward and one looking back. Ceser declared January 1 as a national holiday.
- Forty-five percent of Americans make New Year’s resolutions. The top ones...lose weight, get organized, spend less and save more.
- People eat black eyed peas that day so they can become prospeous in the new year.
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"Who Done It?" Book Club – Zoom
3rd Wednesday 1:00 - 3:00 pm
We’re a Mystery Book Club
Dec. 15: "A Test of Wills" by Charles Todd
Jan. 19: "Facets of Death" by Michael Stanley
Feb. 16: Book Selection meeting for 2022-23
Photo Caption: 'The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding and a Selection of Entrées' is a
short story collection written by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the
most famous detectives. It retailed in the UK for twelve shillings and sixpence and comprises
six cases. It was not published in the US although the stories it contains were
published in other volumes here.
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For the complete ESCOM Club List, Click Here
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ESCOM | Telephone: 415-485-9652 | email: escom@marin.edu
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