ESCOM

Lifelong Learning - Lifelong Doing - Lifelong Friends

WELCOME TO ESCOM NEWS & CLUB NOTES

March 2023

Editor: Ellen Breazeale....breazeales@comcast.net

CLUB 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!

Most of the ESCOM clubs are continuing to meet via ZOOM but some

meet in person. Please access the ESCOM Club List for complete details.

Arlene Stark 

Philosophy of Science Club – Zoom

1st, 3rd & 5th Monday

10:00 am - noon

This club continues as a tribute to its esteemed late leader, Arlene Stark.

Discussions focus on Science and Philosophy.

A new year for our club!.

We will return to our regular

science-oriented programs.

Next on the agenda is a Great Courses series on consciousness and its implications. Twelve lectures, taught by Philosophy Professor Daniel N. Robinson of Oxford.

All interested are invited to participate and contribute.



Contact: Jay Conner greatferm@email.com

Photo Caption: 'There Is No Such Thing as Conscious Thought' -- the title of an article in 'Scientific American' in which philosopher Peter Carruthers insists that conscious thought, judgment and volition are illusions. They arise from processes of which we are forever unaware. .Read the article.

Astronomy Club

2nd Monday

10:00 am - Noon

IVC ESCOM Center

The ESCOM Astronomy Club is engaged in learning about and discussing 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.

Contact: Michael Patrick mdpatric@pacbell.net 415-456-2778

Photo Caption: WHAT: Spacecraft New Horizons true color image of Kuiper belt dwarf planet Pluto.

 WHEN: 14 July 2015 

WHERE: Pluto was 32.9 AU from the Sun. 

WHY: New Horizons continues to explore the Kuiper Belt and is, currently,

approximately 54 AU from the Sun.

Book Banter Book Club – Zoom

2nd Wednesday 1:00 - 3:00 pm

Biographies, autobiographies and

semi-fictional biographies of lives

before and after WWI.

      

Mar. 8 - 'Romantic Outlaws' - Charlotte Gordon

Apr. 12 - 'Madame Secretary' - Madeleine Albright

 Contact: Diana Davis: 

calekdiana@yahoo.com 415-897-4844 

Photo Caption: In 1797, less than two weeks after giving birth to her second daughter, Mary Wollstonecraft died, and a remarkable life spent pushing against the boundaries of society’s expectations for women came to an end. But another was just beginning. Wollstonecraft’s daughter Mary was to follow a similarly audacious path. Both women had passionate relationships with several men, bore children out of wedlock, and chose to live in exile outside their native country. Each in her own time fought against the injustices women faced and wrote books that changed literary history.

Book Club Forum



4th Monday 1:00 - 3:00 pm

IVC ESCOM Center

Mar. 27 - 'The Ride of Her Life' - Elizabeth Letts

Apr. 24 - 'Angel Falls' - Kristen Hannah

Contact: Louise Kerr 

lrkerr210@gmail.com  415-883-2823 

Photo Caption: In 1954, sixty-three-year-old Maine farmer Annie Wilkins embarked on an impossible journey. She had no money and no family, she had just lost her farm, and her doctor had given her only two years to live. But Annie wanted to see the Pacific Ocean before she died. She ignored her doctor’s advice to move into the county charity home. Instead, she bought a cast-off brown gelding named Tarzan, donned men’s dungarees, and headed south in mid-November, hoping to beat the snow. Annie had little idea what to expect beyond her rural crossroads; she didn’t even have a map. But she did have her ex-racehorse, her faithful mutt, and her own unfailing belief that Americans would treat

a stranger with kindness.

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 audio books. As in the past, we welcome suggestions for future readings! 

Feb. 28 -  Short story, James Joyce: “The Dead” (from Book: "The Dubliners"); and poems: Louise Gluck, "Celestial Music"; Adrienne Rich, “Dreamwood" 

and "Well in Ruined Courtyard.". To be emailed

Mar. 28 - 'No Exit' - Jean Paul Satre 

Contact: Norman Nayfach normansn@hotmail.com 415-499-3173

Julio Burroughs Julioburroughs@gmail.com 415-927-1488

Photo Caption:  'No Exit' , a 1944 existentialist French play by Jean-Paul Sartre, begins with three characters who find themselves waiting in a mysterious room. It is a depiction of the afterlife in which three deceased characters are punished by being locked into a room together for eternity.

It is the source of Sartre's especially famous phrase --

"L'enfer, c'est les autres" or "Hell is other people",

Chess Club



Every Friday - 2:00 pm - 4:30 pm

Deedy Lounge - Kentfield



Contact: Bob Phillips 

bob.phillips3@gmail.com 415-301-1906



Photo Caption:  Chess was invented in India around the 8th century. Then it was known as chatrang, and changed over the centuries by the Arabs, Persians and then ultimately the medieval Europeans, who changed the pieces' names and appearances to resemble the English court.

Current Events and Issues – Zoom

2nd & 4th Thursday

10:00 am - noon



Current Events club has no agenda.

Because…once you write it down, it is no

longer current.



From Jay Conner, the club leader: Before the meeting at 10 AM the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of each month, we each have time to turn to our morning news source of choice for a nugget of news or concern we can present for the consideration of our assembled fellows.

I remember members who claim we have been doing this longer than anyone, that the memory of ESCOM runneth not to the contrary.

Perhaps it runneth not to the affirmative either, but who haveth the burden of proof ?



We welcome all fresh, new, informed opinions, civilly presented and argued.

Contact: Jay Conner greatferm@email.com

Photo Caption: The Biden administration released its budget request for fiscal year 2023 on March 28, 2022, calling for $5.8 trillion in federal spending and a $1.2 trillion deficit. The president’s budget includes $1.6 trillion in discretionary spending, funding boosts for nearly every agency, and tax hikes for corporations and wealthy households.

Digital Camera Club

1st Monday - Field Outing  

3rd Monday Club Meeting

1:00 - 3:00 pm

IVC ESCOM Center

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 and our virtual meetings are held in-person at the IVC Campus in the ESCOM Meeting room

at Building 10. Feel free to reach out if you would like to join in adventures with other photographers for our outings and monthly meetings. 

Contact: Harvey Abernathey

ndimages6@gmail.com 415-385-0054



Photo Caption: February 6th outing to John Muir House in Martinez.  The next outing is scheduled for Monday, March. 6th to Olompali State Park in Novato, with a shooting theme of "Textures".  At our March 20th meeting, we will share images as a group.

The Encouragement Writing Club – Zoom

Every Other Wednesday

1:00 PM - 3:00 PM

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.

Contact: Bernie Cookson

cooksonlaw@comcast.net 508-864-6367

Photo Caption: Jonathan Swift, the Anglo-Irish,satirist, author, and essayist, is remembered for works such as, 'Gulliver's Travels' (1726), -- a scene from it pictured here -- and 'A Modest Proposal' (1729). He is regarded by many as the foremost prose satirist in the English language. His deadpan, ironic writing style, particularly in 'A Modest Proposal', has led to such satire being subsequently termed 'Swiftian'.

In the 'Proposal' essay, Swift suggests that the impoverished Irish might ease their economic troubles by selling their children as food to rich gentlemen and ladies. This satirical hyperbole mocked heartless attitudes towards the poor, predominantly Irish Catholic, as well as British policy towards

the Irish in general.

Food Glorious Food! – Zoom

4th Tuesday 1:00 - 3:00 pm

Feb. 28 - 'Tummy Trilogy' - Calvin Trillin

Mar. 28 - What is 'Farm to Table'? 

presented by Jackie Dagg

Apr. 25 - Fats...What are they and how they are used in cooking  

 Contact: Jackie Dagg

  jkd123@hotmail.com 

Diana Davis

  calekdiana@yahoo.com 

Photo caption: Farm-to-table restaurants acquire produce directly from local farmers. This helps in boosting the local economy, reduces the carbon footprint and eliminates involvement of middlemen to reduce transport time.

Friday Film Night - Zoom



4th and sometimes last 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 mimic Roger Ebert.

The Merchant/Ivory Festival continues:

Mar. 24 - 'Mr. and Mrs. Bridge'



Contact: Ellen Breazeale - breazeales@comcast.net

Note: If don't have an opportunity to contact the club leader, you can join the group and watch the movie by using this Zoom link:

https://marin-edu.zoom.us/j/97652600292?pwd=UDNxSldrRlc1dlY4RWhQbmJKSmNiQT09

Photo Caption: Made in 1990. Starring Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. The movie is set during World War II. An upper-class family begins to fall apart due to the conservative nature of the patriarch and the progressive values of his children.

Great Courses Group – Zoom

Every Thursday 1:00 - 2:30 pm

'A History of Impressionism'

This 24-lecture series is taught by Richard Brettell, Ph.D., who was the Margaret McDermott Distinguished Professor of Art and Aesthetics at The University of Texas at Dallas. He earned his BA, MA, and PhD from Yale University.

You can 'drop in' and join us for these sessions.

Our meetings are fun and filled with lively discussions. 

Contact:

Ellen Breazeale breazeales@comcast.net

 415-892-6546

Walt Campbell walterlcampbell@aol.com



Photo Caption: 'Acrobats at the Cirque Fernando' - Pierre Auguste Renoir. The artist signaled his interest in the themes of urban leisure favored by fellow Impressionists, such as Edgar Degas. The Cirque Fernando, which opened in Montmartre in June 1875, was a venue that attracted enthusiastic crowds, including many artists. Here, Renoir depicted Francisca and Angelina Wartenberg, members of an itinerant German acrobatic troupe, gracefully taking their bows and gathering the tissue-wrapped oranges that appreciative audience members have tossed into the ring.

See more of Renoir's paintings

Humanities Club

1st & 3rd & 5th Saturday

1:00 - 3:00 pm



IVC ESCOM Center

The Club is studying the interval of

WWI and WWII in European history.

Contact:Ruth King

ruthjjking@yahoo.com 415-898-5845

Photo Caption: Men’s 1930's fashion is often considered the finest men’s fashion in the past century – and for good reason.

The 1930's were a turbulent decade where the free-spirited, reckless, youthful “me” class of the roaring twenties was replaced by serious, masculine, working-class men who had responsibilities to their home and country. The new man of the 1930's was conservative yet colorful, oversized yet practical, and confident yet concerned about his spending

on unnecessary clothing.

Mindfulness Meditation Club

1st & 3rd Tuesday

11:00 am - 12:30 pm

IVC ESCOM Center

This club brings us together to learn and practice mindfulness meditation in a supportive group setting. Whether novice or experienced practitioner, we can always develop further, and community helps.

Our emphasis is on mindfulness of the body, which many consider the most important form of practice. We take advantage of biological knowledge and draw from ancient wisdom traditions. Our goal is to grow more familiar and comfortable with the basic features of life, including transience, interdependence, and the inevitability of challenges. We foster compassionate acceptance of current circumstances while building capacity to meet life with clarity, gratitude, generosity, and skill.

Contact: Will Meecham willmeecham@gmail.com 415-328-4294



Photo Caption: Mindfulness...a mental state achieved by focusing one's awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one's feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations.

Moral and Ethical,

Legal Roundtable – Zoom

1st, 3rd, and 5th 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.

Currently, the club is watching two

Great Courses series:



'Democracy and Its Alternatives' and

'Social Media, Disinformation,

and Democracy'. 

Join us with your ideas and opinions.

 Contact: Kevin Colgate 

kevincolgate@hotmail.com 415-624-4362 

Photo caption: Alex Tocqueville, the French aristocrat, diplomat, political scientist, political philosopher and historian, was best known for his work 'Democracy in America' in which he speculated that the future of democracy in the United States might have a tendency to degenerate into "soft despotism" as well as the risk of developing a tyranny of the majority.

Opera and Beyond Club - Zoom

2nd Tuesday 1:00 - 3:00 pm

Mar. 14 - 'Norma' - Vincenzo Bellini

Full opera video

shown with English Subtitles

Contact: Michael Sachs

 michahsachs@gmail.com 

415-298-1939 

Photo Caption: 'Norma' is the story of the Druid High-Priestess, who has broken her vows by getting involved with the Roman Pollione. In video to be shown this month, the title role is sung by Joan Sutherland, known as La Stupenda to opera fans. Her radiant soprano stretched effortlessly over more than three octaves, with a purity of tone that made her one of the most celebrated

opera singers of all time.



Hear her sing one of the great arias from this opera.



Spanish Club – Zoom



Every Monday 1:00 - 2:30 pm

Intermediate level conversation

in Spanish on various topics.



Contacts:

Roberta Schwarz, 

reschwarz@sbcglobal.net 

949-922-3291

Paula Hammons paulahammons@yahoo.com 

415-948-8451

Photo Caption:  Mexican folk art. Helmet mask. Tlapanec Indians; area of Axoxuca, Guerrero. This eye-catching mask is made of two thick pieces of leather that have been sewn together, with a large nose and horns of wood, and ribbon decorations. It may have been used in the Dance of the Vaqueros (cowboys), which centers on the capture of a bull. Its ears are devil-like, but the horns are more like a scorpion or insect. From the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology.

Table Games Club

2nd and 4th Wednesday

11:00 am - 12:30 pm

IVC ESCOM Center



Games such as Scrabble, RummiKube, Mexican Train (Dominoes), and card games! 

We encourage fun and participation. Game rules are followed but there maybe some 'wiggle-room' (so keep your rule-books at home!)

Contact: Sue Derana 

sderana@yahoo.com

415-987-1719

Photo caption: The 5,000 artifacts discovered in the tomb of Egyptian King Tutankhamun included magnificent gold statues, iron blades, and four boards for the game Senet — a game played by royalty and commoners alike during the entire 3,000-year lifespan of the Egyptian civilization.

"The Wednesday Detection Club" – Zoom

1st Wednesday

1:00 - 3:00 pm

Mar.1 - 'Murder on Nob Hill' - Shirley Talman

Apr. 5 - "The Missing Nurse" - Roger Silverwood

           Contact: Diana Davis 

calekdiana@yahoo.com  415-897-4844 

Photo Caption: The year is 1880, the place San Francisco. Intelligent, outspoken Sarah Woolson is a young woman with a goal and the fortitude to achieve it. She has always dreamed of becoming a lawyer. The trouble is, everyone believes women belong in the home---that it is not only unnatural, but against God's will for them to seek a career.

"Who Done It?" Book Club – Zoom

3rd Wednesday

1:00 - 3:00 pm

Mar. 15 - 'What Rose Forgot' - Nevada Barr

Apr. 19 - 'Death at Chateau Bremon'" - M.L. Longworth

Contact: Diana Davis

 calekdiana@yahoo.com  415-897-4844 

Photo caption: Rose Dennis wakes up in a hospital gown, her brain in a fog, only to discover that she's been committed to an Alzheimer's Unit in a nursing home. With no memory of how she ended up in this position, Rose is sure that something is very wrong. When she overhears one of the administrators saying about her that she's "not making it through the week," Rose is convinced that if she's to survive, she has to get out of the nursing home. She avoids taking her medication, putting on a show for the aides, then stages her escape.

For the complete ESCOM Club List, click here.

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