Active Lifelong Learning
Lifelong Learning - Lifelong Doing - Lifelong Friends
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WELCOME TO CLUB NEWS & NOTES – October 2021
Editor: Ellen Breazeale – breazeales@comcast.net
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CLUB NEWS
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Right Back Where We Started From...
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From a little spit in a tube, you can find out whether you're related to kings or horse thieves. All it takes is an analysis of your DNA to pinpoint where your family began its journey.
If you're interested in sharing what you've learned about your heritage with others, think about starting a new ESCOM club, the Ancestry Circle.
If this sounds like your kind of fun,
contact the ESCOM Club Chair, Ellen Breazeale.
She can help you get this club off the ground.
Contact Ellen Breazeale breazeales@comcast.net
Photo Caption: This playing card from Icelandic Airlines depicts the Norse god, Heimdall, the watchman of the gods who dwelt at the entry to Asgard, where he guarded Bifrost, the rainbow bridge.
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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 18 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: This metaphysical map of the mind was published in Robert Fludd’s Utriusque Cosmi…Historia (1617-1621), or “History of the Two Worlds.” In the Western Hermetic tradition, the microcosm of human existence is encompassed by the macrocosm of the divine. Communication between these
higher and lower orders of reality allow truths about one to be inferred from knowledge of the other.
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Astronomy Club – Zoom
2nd Monday 10:00 am - Noon
The 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.
In addition, 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 the hunt for exo-planets and the conditions for and against the possibility of life existing elsewhere, black holes, white dwarfs, neutron stars, dark matter and dark energy, the expansion of the universe, the cycles of our Sun and
how life on Earth might be affected.
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.
This is followed by a lecture from the Great Courses Series on Astronomy fundamentals and eventually on Cosmology, 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: NGC 7293 Helix Nebula
Constellation: Aquarius Distance: 650 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
October 13: "Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister" by Jane Chang
(The story of the three Soong sisters)
November 10: "Rosalind Franklin, The Dark Lady of DNA" by Brenda Maddox
December 8: Josephine Baker (Book TBA)
January 12: Book Selection Meeting for 2022
415-897-4844
Photo Caption: Rosalind Elsie Franklin was an English chemist and X-ray crystallographer whose work was central to the understanding of the molecular structures of DNA, RNA, viruses, coal, and graphite.Although her works on coal and viruses were appreciated in her lifetime, her contributions to the discovery of the structure of DNA were largely unrecognized during her life, for which she has been variously referred to as the 'wronged heroine'.
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Book Club Forum – Zoom
4th Monday 1:00 - 3:00 pm
415-883-2823
Photo Caption: Traditionally great emphasis is put on children to read and memorize the
6200 verses of the Quran. Millions of Muslims refer to the Quran daily to explain
their actions and to justify their aspirations.
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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!
October 26: William Faulkner, two short stories: "A Rose for Emily" and "Dry September; and Poem by T.S. Eliot "Aunt Helen".
All to be e-mailed.
November 23: Benito Mussolini:1933 essay from the Italian Encyclopedia:
"The Doctrine of Fascism". To be- mailed.
December 28: Annie Dillard, Selected essays (chapters 1, 2, and 8) from
"Pilgrim at Tinker Creek" - To be e-mailed.
Julio Burroughs Julioburroughs@gmail.com 415-927-1488
Photo Caption: Benito Mussolini was an Italian political leader who became the fascist dictator of Italy from 1925 to 1945. Originally a revolutionary socialist, Mussolini is notable for many of his colorful observations, including this one: "Better to live a day as a lion than 100 years as a sheep".
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Chess Club
On hiatus - Resumes in November
Every Friday - 2:00 pm
All levels of players welcome.
Contact: Bob Phillips
bob.phillips3@gmail
415-301-1906
Photo Caption: The world's largest chess piece -- a king -- stands in front of the World Chess Hall of Fame in St. Louis. Certified by the Guinness World Records, the piece stands 20 feet tall with a base of 9 feet, 2 inches, and is an exact scale replica of the black Staunton King piece used in the inaugural Sinquefield Cup held at the Saint Louis Chess Club annually since 2013.
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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.
was established on October 24, 1861).
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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: In early September, club members went on a field outing to San Francisco's Pier 24 for a private tour of a photography collection owned by the Pilara Foundation. Club members traveled on the Golden Gate Ferry and spent time prior to the tour photographing around the city's downtown area focusing on a theme -- "Street Photography". Members shared images at the club's virtual meeting on September 20th.
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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.
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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: An alterpiece from El Santuario de Chimayo, a church about 30 miles from Santa Fe, New Mexico. Considered to be the most important pilgrimage site in the United States, the church owes
its popularity to the curative powers of the “Tierra Bendita” or “holy dirt” found in a small
area in a precept off the main altar. For nearly 200 years, the dirt is believed by many to have
miraculous healing powers over a wide variety of ailments and afflictions.
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Food Glorious Food! – Zoom
4th Tuesday 1:00 - 3:00 pm
October 26 - Topic Selection Meeting
for 2021-22
November 23 - TBA
December 28 - TBA
Photo Caption: According to the Huffington Post, Americans purchase nearly 600 million pounds of candy each year for Halloween! That's 24 pounds of candy per American per year, approximately 16 billion fun-size Snickers bars, or 158 trillion individual candy corn kernels!
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Great Courses Group – Zoom
Every Thursday 1:00 - 2:00 pm
The Earth’s ocean is its most significant feature. Taking up more than 70% of the Earth’s surface, our ocean is essential for life on this planet.
It provides approximately 2/3 of the oxygen we breathe, and it helps control
and regulate our climate.
Life on this planet evolved in our ocean almost 4 billion years ago. The ocean has nurtured life ever since, to the point today that 25% of all species on this planet currently lives in the ocean, although scientists believe that we may have only discovered 10% of the ocean’s species diversity.
Join us for this series.
Our meetings are fun and filled with lively discussions.
Photo Caption: 'Moby-Dick', also known as 'The Whale', is a novel written by Herman Melville.
In it, a sailor named Ishmael narrates the monomaniacal quest of Ahab, captain of
the whaler Pequod, for revenge on the albino sperm whale Moby Dick, which on a previous voyage destroyed Ahab's ship and severed his leg at the knee. Although the novel was
a commercial failure and out of print at the time of the author's death in 1891,
its reputation grew immensely during the twentieth century. D. H. Lawrence called it
"one of the strangest and most wonderful books in the world," and
"the greatest book of the sea ever written."
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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: An excerpt from 'How to Think before Speaking', a book co-authored by Lynn Kirkham: 'Thinking before you speak is an important skill to master for all kinds of situations. It can improve your relationships with other people and enable you to express yourself in a more effective way. Start by using the THINK acronym to decide if what you have to say is True, Helpful, Inspiring, Necessary, or Kind. Then, look for ways to choose your words more carefully, such as by pausing and asking for clarification.'
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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: "Fidelio", Beethoven's only opera, tells the story of how Leonore, disguised as a prison guard named "Fidelio", rescues her husband Florestan from death in a political prison.
The San Francisco Opera's 2021-2022 Season will stage performances of this opera
from October 14 through October 30.
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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 415-435-3540
or Paula Hammons paulahammons@yahoo.com 415-948-8451
Photo Caption: Ah, the siesta, that delicious nap taken in the early afternoon, often after the midday meal. It's is a common tradition in Spain and most of Latin America. The Spanish word siesta derives originally from the Latin word hora sexta "sixth hour"
(counting from dawn, hence "midday rest").
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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!!!
October 19:The Clean House by Sara Ruhl
November 16: Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
by Christopher Durang
December 21: Open - TBD
Contact: Gary Gonser ggonser3@gmail.com
Photo Caption: Critics praised 'Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike' as a humorous
adaptation of Chekhov themes that doesn't require familiarity with Chekhov. The original Broadway production proved to be a commercial success, recouping its $2.75 million investment
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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 images are critical of the isolationist stance of many Americans, even suggesting that the country take in more refugees from Nazi terror.
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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).
October 24 - 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: People taking part in a Halloween parade in Baltimore, Maryland, on October 27, 2012. Little known facts about Halloween: It's an ancient Celtic pagan rite, originally held to celebrate
the dead and the end of the harvest season; dressing up in costumes was once a way to hide
from ghosts; and the word “witch” comes from the Old English wicce, meaning “wise woman.".
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"Who Done It?" Book Club – Zoom
3rd Wednesday 1:00 - 3:00 pm
We’re a Mystery Book Club
Contact: Diana Davis
415-897-4844
October 20:
"The Red Knife"by William Kent Kreuger
November 17:
"The Shaman Sings" by James D. Doss
December 15:
"A Test of Wills" by Charles Todd
Photo Caption: Despite what Hollywood and Cable TV would have you believe, the dramatic act of smothering someone with a pillow is a little used method to commit homicide. According to the Statista Research Company, of the 13,793 homicides committed in the US in 2019, only 92 were due to 'asphyxiation'. The weapon used the most -- handguns. -- with 6398 deaths.
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For the complete ESCOM Club List, Click Here
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right above the Constant Contact Logo.
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ESCOM | Telephone: 415-485-9652 | email: escom@marin.edu
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