Impromp2, The Community Blog

Tickets On Sale Now for Check, Please! Tasting Tour!

Thomas the Tank Engine Steams into Miami, FL this March!

 

 

All Aboard for Thomas the Tank Engine, when the classic storybook friend steams into Miami, FL for the Day Out with Thomas Mystery On the Rails Tour! This fun-filled family event, which offers the opportunity to ride with Thomas the Tank Engine, will engineer miles of smiles at every scheduled arrival. Everyone's #1 Engine chugs into the Gold Coast Railroad Museum for a 4-day event, March 3, 4, 10 & 11.

Join us in a day full of fun featuring a meet and greet photo opportunity with Sir Topham Hatt, Thomas & Friends storytelling and video viewing, free giveaways, live music, arts & craft and more!

For more information, visit http://events.hitentertainment.com/us/day-out-with-thomas/index.asp

 

 

Want a chance to win free tickets? 

 

KidVision will be giving away a set of tickets to the event daily beginning February 6. Each set of tickets include admission into the event, a free professional 8” x 10” photo with Thomas the Tank Engine and a 25 minute train ride!

 

All you have to do is be the first to answer the daily Thomas & Friends trivia question correctly. The trivia questions will be posted on the wall of the KidVision Facebook page. You must be a fan of the KidVision Facebook page to participate.  All responses must be emailed to kristina_gutierrez@wpbt.org in order to be considered. 

Visit www.facebook.com/kidvision for your chance to win!

Limit 1 set (4 tickets) per family.

 

 

 

Don't Miss the Lunar Eclipse!

WPBT2’s Star Gazers will host a Live Lunar Eclipse Event from Reno, Nevada on Saturday, December 10 from 4:00 a.m. – 7:00 am (PST) and 7:00 am  - 10:00 am (EST).To view the eclipse and join the conversation, visit www.wpbt2.org/lunareclipse

Star Gazers, a production of WPBT2, South Florida Public Media, is a new astronomy series built on the legacy of Jack Horkheimer’s award-winning series.

Star Gazers hosts Dean Regas, the outreach astronomer for the Cincinnati Observatory and Marlene Hidalgo, a science educator who represents the Miami Science Museum, will provide on-camera commentary and answer questions from WPBT2’s online audience as the lunar eclipse unfolds. Joining Dean and Marlene during the webcast will be Bill Dishong, series producer of Star Gazers and Star Gazer with Jack Horkheimer; and Dan Ruby, Associate Director of the Fleischmann Planetarium in Reno, Nevada.

Host Dean Regas is excited to explore the celestial sky with viewers, “I love the beauty and precision of an eclipse.  It’s a powerful moment when the Sun, Moon, and Earth line up just right to turn the Moon an eerie shade.  Each eclipse is a unique experience and I’m looking forward to sharing this rare celestial alignment.” 

While most of North American and Hawaii viewers may be able to see the moonset still in eclipse, viewers on the East Coast and in South America will not be able to see the eclipse.  Those along the west coast of the United States and Canada will see the beginning of totality just as the moon disappears below the western horizon.

“The WPBT2’s Star Gazers Live Event offers the opportunity for
 everyone to enjoy and discuss the entire lunar eclipse regardless of their location. I am so thrilled that I will be onsite to witness and cover the event from Reno, Nevada. I look forward to being able to share this experience with viewers, especially those in the Midwest and on the east coast, who will not be able to see the eclipse in it's entirety,”  stated Host Marlene Hildago. 

So, if you can’t make it to Reno, Nevada, you can watch the lunar eclipse on December 10th live on www.wpbt2.org/lunareclipse

 

 

WPBT2 will host two dinners with Jim Lehrer, PBS NewsHour Anchor and also moderator of eleven Presidential Debates, on Wednesday, February 22 at the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach and Thursday, February 23 at the Coral Gables Country Club.  Ticket information for the dinners is available at wpbt2.org/lehrer.

 Jim Lehrercame to PBS in 1972, teaming with Robert MacNeil in 1973 to cover the Senate Watergate hearings. They began in 1975 what became The MacNeil/Lehrer Report, and, in 1983, the MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour, the first 60-minute evening news program on television.  When MacNeil retired in 1995, the program was renamed The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer.

In the last six presidential elections, Lehrer moderated eleven of the nationally televised candidate debates.  His latest book, a non-fiction work about the presidential debates, titled Tension City,was published in September 2011. At the WPBT2 dinners, Lehrer will discuss his latest book and give attendees a ringside seat for some of the epic political battles or our time, shedding light on some of the critical turning points and theoretical faux pas that helped determine the outcome of America's presidential elections.  He will provide antedotes from his experiences as "the man in the middle seat."

During the Evenings with Jim Lehrer, WPBT2 will also present Lifetime Service Awards to William F. Koch, Jr. and Herbert A. Tobin for their commitment to public television WPBT2.

WPBT2 and FIU Present Women, War & Peace

WPBT2 and FIU's Women's Studies Center will screen the new PBS series, Women, War & Peace on Tuesday, September 27 at 9:30am-10:30am at the Graham Center (Room 243) on FIU's Modesto Maidique Campus.

A co-production of THIRTEEN and Fork Films, Women, War & Peace challenges the conventional wisdom that war and peace are men’s domain and places women at the center of an urgent dialogue about conflict and security. Featuring narrators Matt Damon, Tilda Swinton, Geena Davis and Alfre Woodard, the series reveals that the majority of today’s conflicts are not fought by nations and their armies, but rather by gangs, insurgent groups, and warlords armed with small arms and improvised weapons.  Women have become primary targets in these conflicts and though they are suffering unprecedented casualties they are simultaneously emerging as critical partners in brokering peace and as leaders in forging new international laws governing conflict.  With depth and complexity, Women, War & Peace spotlights the stories of women in conflict zones from Bosnia to Afghanistan, and Colombia to Liberia.

The event is free and open to the public.

You're Invited to the Optic Nerve XIII Film Festival!

In recognition of its 15th anniversary, the Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami has broadened the scope of its annual Optic Nerve Film Festival featuring new short films and videos by artists. This year, in addition to selections from South Florida artists, films by artists from around the country will be screened.  

Optic Nerve XIII will be presented on Saturday, August 27 with two screenings at 7 pm and 9 pm at the Museum of Contemporary Art,  770 NE 125th Street,  North Miami, FL  33161.  The program includes 18 films by 15 artists and 2 artist collectives, all less than five minutes in length and made within the last two years which were selected from an open call for submissions.

One of the films will be purchased for MOCA’s permanent collection. The selection will be announced by MOCA Executive Director Bonnie Clearwater at the conclusion of the first screening.  Audience members will vote for their favorite film by ballot.    A reception will be held at 8 pm between the screenings with wines provided by Rex Goliath.

Optic Nerve XIII is free with museum admission ($5 adults; $3 seniors and students with ID; free for MOCA members, North Miami residents). Seating is very limited and RSVP is required.  For reservations, please call 305.893.6211 or email rsvp@mocanomi.org.

OPTIC NERVE XIII FILMS

John Bonafede, 21 Gestures, 2:50 min, New York, NY

An artist ascends into the frame with the statement "I'm Emerging." in both English and Japanese, cuing her companion to do another push up which in turn enables the artist to add another gesture to a portrait she is drawing above her head.  At the 21st attempt,  she is finished and he is exhausted.

Brian Bress, Alone, 1:02 min, Los Angeles, CA

 The artist uses a found photograph of a deserted, sparse landscape as the backdrop over which he video-collages his own totemic portrait as a woeful expression of loneliness.

Brian Bress, Its Been A Long Day, 2:13 min., Los Angeles, CA

What begins as care for an oozing wound turns into a lesson in painting and a portrait of deception. 
Jennifer Campbell, Unbridled :18 min,  Seattle, WAThe artist constructs images by posing with a variety of props in ways that de-contextualization of both the body and the object.

L. Ashwyn Collins, Remake, 3:50 min, Gifford, NH

Remake is a compilation of 16 distinct videos sourced from YouTube consisting of  the original shower scene from Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 thriller, Psycho and 15 amateur recreations of the same scene. 

Christina Corfield, Hot Circuit, 5:00 min, San Francisco, CA

This film uses a traditional narrative to mimic a penny arcade machine - even to the extent that the characters within the story are themselves robotic, endlessly repeating the same actions and same story, raising  questions about our growing  dependence on new technologies and myths.

Kasia Houlihan, Hold On, 1:39 min, Chicago, IL

With a nod and a knowing half-smile, a girl suddenly breaks into a spasmodic dance of disorienting leaps, jerky falls, and floating zigzags. As the camera tries to follow  her sporadic dance, and keep its subject in the frame, it becomes a duet between camera and subject, subject and viewer.

Eunjung Hwang, Feature Creatures, 5:00 min, New York, NY

 This film is part of a series of experimental animations, which explores the complexity of cryptic images from dreams and the subconscious.  The main aspect of the project is to produce visionary narratives inspired by the illusion of fragmented realities and compile them into a usable pictorial catalogue.

Karlo Andrei Ibarra, Crossover, 3:11 min, Miami Beach, FL

This video which depicts random Puerto Rican citizens singing the Star Spangled Banner, amplifies the socio-cultural distance between Puerto Rico and the United States.   Many long for statehood yet often do not know the language of the country in which they wish to assimilate.

Richard Jochum, Twenty Angry Dogs, Group Bark, :59 min, New York, NY

This one minute video is a single channel appendix to the sound and video installation “Twenty Angry Dogs", in which the artist asked 20 people to bark like an angry dog. 

Jennifer Levonian, Her Slip Is Showing, 4:12 min, Philadelphia, PA

This cut out watercolor animation of a suburban bridal shower explores the persistence of traditional gender roles, social awkwardness and the way in which friendship has evolved over time.

Jillian Mayer, I Am Your Grandma, 1:03 min, Miami, FL 

This autobiographical video diary log (vlog) which the artist created for her unborn grandchildren was posted on YouTube, inspiring copycats and creating fans. Envisioned as an authentic solution to fleshing out the detached model of the family tree, the artist hearkens to bygone times when ancestors could glimpse one another through a locket or lock of hair. By placing the video in a public forum, the film becomes a study of why people ultimately share their personal feelings with anonymous strangers, and whether this sharing effects the actual emotional significance of the piece. 

Ruben Millares & Antonia Wright, Job Creation In A Bad Economy, 2:15 min, Coral Gables, FL

This new video series by the collaborative Ruben Millares and Antonia Wright, is a playful commentary on the somber issue of the devaluation of the arts and education in our society.  The artists physically and metaphorically tackle the bureaucracy and walls that uphold these systems and leaving the viewer feeling sympathy for Millares and Wright, yet laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation.  

Tara Nelson, Hull, 5:00 min, Jamaica Plains, MA 

This film is a journey between layers of corporal consciousness, exploring the physical memory of trauma and the psychological repercussions of a surgical disaster.

Zachary Ordonez, Resistance - Release - Recover, Part II, 4:30 min, Cutler Bay, FL

Using strength, endurance and willpower, various men compete to see who can last the longest hanging onto a pair of ropes.

Carlos Charlie Perez, Billy The Kids, 4:40 min, New York, NY

Billy The Kids depicts a group of teenagers pretending to be famous actors questioning life's meaning through a quirky "Cat In The Hat" rhyme scheme.

Perfect Lives, Marfa, 4:57 min, Oakland, CA

Artists D. Sadja and S. Martinez fuses elements of narrative film, music video and performance art in this story about two unsuspecting cowboys.  Marfa was shot in a single 18 hour period in Marfa, TX and is part of a larger body of video postcards depicting situations and narratives in various locations.

Sarada Rauch, Pile of Demon Heads, 1:51 min, Brooklyn, NY

This film is based on the 2nd episode of the Devil Mahatmyam Epic, and takes its aesthetic from the original Star Trek series.  It is the last fight scene between Our Hero and the Demon.  The world was under attack by the most powerful demon, who took many forms, including that of a buffalo.  The gods, fearing total annihilation, endowed Our Hero with their powers and sent her into battle.  During their long battle the demon changes forms many times, and each time our hero chops his head off.  The heads that Our Hero has chopped off accumulated in a field of daisies and created pile of demon heads.

All films featured at this event will be available to view on uvuvideo.org.

 

WPBT2/Kidvision Hosts Story Time with Mr. Steve!

WPBT2/Kidvision, in association with JetBlue, PBS Kids and Broward County Library System, will host an intimate story time event to help keep children reading throughout the summer on Thursday, July 21 at 10:30am at the South Regional/ Broward County Library in Pembroke Pines, FL. 

Attendees will enjoy a performance by PBS Kids host, Mr. Steve, appearances by PBS Kids characters, Hooper and Super Why, giveaways and much more.  The event is free and open to the public. 

The event is part of the Soar with Reading program, a free literacy program launched by PBS Kids and JetBlue to keep children reading and beat the summer learning slide.

 

 

 

WPBT2 premieres National Memorial Day Concert on May 29th at 8:00 pm.

For more than two decades, PBS has been proud to honor the service and sacrifice of our men and women in uniform, their families at home and all those who have given their lives for our country with the NATIONAL MEMORIAL DAY CONCERT. The evening, that has become an American tradition, offers viewers a time to remember, to heal and bring our country together.

The multi award-winning event, broadcast live from the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol, will be co-hosted for the sixth year by Emmy Award-winner Gary Sinise (CSI:NEW YORK) and Tony Award-winner Joe Mantegna (CRIMINAL MINDS), two acclaimed actors who have dedicated themselves to veteran’s causes and supporting our troops in active service. Joining co-hosts Sinise and Mantegna will be an all-star line-up of dignitaries, actors and musical artists in performance with the National Symphony Orchestra under the direction of top pops conductor Jack Everly. The U.S Joint Chiefs of Staff will also participate in the event along with the Armed Forces Color Guard and Service Color Teams provided by the Military District of Washington, D.C.

The 22nd annual broadcast of THE NATIONAL MEMORIAL DAY CONCERT will air live in HD before a concert audience of hundreds of thousands, millions more at home, as well as to our troops serving around the world on the American Forces Network.

 

Louisa May Alcott’s Life and Work Discussed at Broward County Libraries!

 

Louisa May Alcott is recognized around the world for her novel Little Women, but few know Alcott as the bold, compelling woman who grew up in the innermost circle of the Transcendentalist and antislavery movements, served as a Civil War army nurse, and led a secret literary life writing pulp fiction. Louisa May Alcott was her own best character and her life was her own best plot.

The Broward County Library’s public programs shed light on Louisa May Alcott by exploring her life and the historical and cultural context that inspired her remarkable body of work. Alcott’s childhood was characterized by chronic economic difficulties and frequent uprooting due to her father’s utopian experiments. Despite her family’s financial hardships, Alcott experienced a rich intellectual life influenced by family friends such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Margaret Fuller. When slavery threatened the nation, the Alcott home was an Underground Railroad stop for fugitives; during the Civil War, Alcott wanted to fight, but as a woman she could enlist only as a nurse.

To support Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women, a documentary film co-produced by Nancy Porter Productions, Inc. and Thirteen/WNET New York’s American Masters, Broward County Library will present six programs from May through September 2011. The six series program will re-introduce audiences to Louisa May Alcott’s story. Louisa May Alcott programs in libraries are sponsored by the American Library Association Public Programs Office with the support of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Additional sponsors are the Florida Center for the Book, the Broward Public Library Foundation, the Friends of the Fort Lauderdale Libraries and WPBT2.

The six programs are located at the following libraries in Broward County:

Saturday, May 7th, 12:00 pm to 5:00 pm

Alvin Sherman Library, Research and Information Technology Center at Nova Southeastern University, 3100 Ray Ferrero Jr. Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Gallery 2nd Floor

Louisa May Alcott: Through Her Eyes. A community-wide library event focusing on the life, works, and times of Louisa may Alcott. View film clips from the documentary film, Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women with commentary by Nova Southeastern University Scholar Dr. Christine Jackson.

Wednesday, June 8th, 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm

Main Library, 6th Floor, 100 S. Andrews Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Louisa May Alcott Wrote That?  Reading and Discussion of Louisa May Alcott’s lesser know works with Scholar Dr. Christine Jackson of Nova Southeastern University. The project scholar will facilitate a discussion exploring these short works, which together help display the range of Alcott’s writing and exemplify her strong and dynamic connections to the culture in which she lived. Copies of her stories will be available at the program.

Tuesday, August 9th, 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm

South Regional/ Broward College Library, 7300 Pines Blvd. Pembroke Pines

Louisa May Alcott: Literary Phenomenon and Social Reformer

Scholar led program with Dr. Chrisitine Jackson of Nova Southeastern University focusing on Louisa May Alcott as a self-trained and successful professional writer. The discussion will center on how Alcott used her writing to advance many of her era’s ideas for social reform, such as Abolitionism and women’s rights.

Thursday, September 15th, 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm

Main Library, 6th Floor, 100 S. Andrews Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Reading and discussion of the biography – Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women.

A scholar-led discussion by Dr. Christine Jackson of Nova Southeastern University of the biography; documentary film clips will be presented during the discussion.

Wednesday, September 21st, 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm

West Regional Library Auditorium, 8601 West Broward Blvd, Plantation, Florida

Film Screening and Discussion – Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women. Discussion led by scholar Dr. Christine Jackson of Nova Southeastern University.

Thursday, September 22nd, 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm

Main Library, 6th Floor, 100 S. Andrews Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Make your personal Louisa May Alcott journal with writer and artist Susan Buzzi. Susan Buzzi will talk about Louisa May Alcott as a young writer and have teens decorate and design their own journals.

WPBT2 will broadcast the documentary Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women during the libraries program series. The first presentation of the 1-1/2 hour documentary is May 1st at 6:00 pm on WPBT2.2 Create (Comcast 202).

Join WPBT2 for An Evening with Dave Grusin on May 12th at 8:00 pm.

 
 
 

Dave Grusin, 10 time Grammy Award-winning and Academy Award-winning composer, conductor and pianist has scored some of the most entertaining and enduring films in the past half-century.  An Evening with Dave Grusin, (available on CD, Blu-ray Disc and ROBA iPad App), is a groundbreaking live program that captures him conducting and performing with a host of stars and backed by the University of Miami Frost School of Music’s Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra at the Adrienne Arsht Center in Miami. 

The musical selections feature Dave’s award-winning film scores for On Golden Pond, Tootsie, The Fabulous Baker Boys, Goonies and more.  Additionally, Dave celebrates the music of great American composer George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, Henry Mancini’s Moon River and Leonard Bernstein’s music for the Broadway hit, West Side Story.  Dave is joined by guest artists: Patti Austin, Jon Secada, Monica Mancini, Gary Burton, Arturo Sandoval, Nestor Torres and Sammy Figueroa. 

The concert was part of the 2009 JAZZ ROOTS: a Larry Rosen Jazz Series, conceived to be as much about education as it is about music.  As one of the Adrienne Arsht Center’s largest and most dynamic outreach efforts, the JAZZ ROOTS series provides an in-depth, behind-the-scenes performance and educational component to local jazz high school students during each show

Grusin’s album is, set for release on Heads Up International, a division of Concord Music Group, on April 26, 2011, is a collection of 12 songs from the performance. The groundbreaking ROBA Interactive iPad app for the project will also be available that day, and includes over 300 pages of photos, videos, audio options, artist interviews, “making of” footage, and more