Gish Picks: Week of June 23, 2010

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WHAT'S NEW THIS WEEK?

First of all, congrats and thanks to all of you who signed up for our brand new GISH PICKS Facebook page. I chose Leah White CD winners from that crowd: Karla Opperman, Maranda Marvin, Kristine Braddock, Paige Gill, Jennifer Fernandez, Kelley O'Brien, Cara Carlson, Martin Hajovsky, and Tracy Brandon. Enjoy the heck out of your CD which is at Hollywood Frame Gallery!

Still trying to find summer camps? Log onto THE SUMMER BOOK website for a list of awesome camps and to support the advertisers who made THE SUMMER BOOK possible this year. I also have several camp credits for sale, so please email me with "I wanna use your camp credit" as the subject line. You'll pay me via credit card and I'll make arrangements for you to use the credit. Below is what I have available; enjoy!

Houston Arboretum and Nature Center, $200

Houston Scuba Academy, $80

Wonder-Space Technology and Education Center, $450

Houston Gymnastics Academy, $450

Aurora Picture Show’s July Boot Camp, $200

Have a fun week and enjoy this special time with your kids!

“COOL BRAINS!” FOR COOL KIDS TO STAY COOL IN HOUSTON.

Enjoy an afternoon with Inprint and bilingual kids’ author René Saldaña, Jr. this Sunday, June 27 at 3pm (doors open at 2:30pm). He’s in town for the series “Cool Brains! Inprint Readings for Young People” and will be reading at Talento Bilingüe de Houston, 333 S. Jensen Drive. Saldaña will read from and talk about his latest book, The Case of the Pen Gone Missing: A Mickey Rangel Mystery / El caso de la pluma perdida. His presentation will be followed by an onstage interview with David Thompson of Murder By The Book and a book sale and signing.

A longtime fan of Encyclopedia Brown, the Hardy Boys, and Nancy Drew mysteries, in The Case of the Pen Gone Missing, Saldaña develops his own modernized spin on the detective story through the character of Mickey Rangel, a web-licensed kid detective protagonist. This book is the first one in his bilingual series. Saldaña's other works include The Jumping Tree, The Whole Sky Full of Stars, and Finding Our Way: Stories.

"The Case of the Pen Gone Missing" by René Saldaña, Jr.

"The Complete History of America (abridged)" - photo by Bruce Bennett

AMERICA’S HISTORY MADE FUNNY.

The kind folks at Stages Theatre figured we needed some good laughs, so they’ve brought us “600 years of history in 6,000 seconds”! Stages is wrapping up its run of “The Complete History of America (abridged)” this weekend with shows Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday at 7:30pm; Saturday and Sunday at 3pm and Saturday evening at 8pm. (This show may be more suitable for teens and up.) I’ve been told that this hilarious three-person hit is part irreverent history class, part stand-up comedy routine and is reminiscent of “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)" which I saw and loved. In fact, it was created by “The Bad Boys of Abridgement,” members of The Reduced Shakespeare Company (Adam Long, Reed Martin and Austin Tichenor), who are responsible for that show and for tackling other long, serious subjects and making them short, snappy comedies (perfect for kids!). Three clownish “cultural guerillas” will lead the audience on a tour of discovery from Washington to Watergate, from the Bering Strait to Baghdad, and from the New World to the New World Order, tackling such controversial questions as: Who really discovered America? Why did Abe Lincoln free the slaves? And how many Democrats does it take to screw in a light bulb? History was never so much fun!

MOSEY OVER TO FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH THIS SATURDAY.

I just love InterActive Theater Company because they let kids hop onstage and join in the production! This Saturday at 11am and 5pm they are presenting their final shows of "David: the Best Slinger in the West" at First Baptist Church, 7401 Katy Freeway. Adapted by longtime company member Robb Brunson, "David" is a classic fairy tale and heroic story of, well, David, the least significant cowboy in the west. But when gigundous Goliath comes to menace the little one-horse town, David finds gumption he never knew he had and becomes a hero for all. Naturally, kids in the audience will get into the act as they help David defeat the biggest baddie of them all!

Tickets for all shows are $8/each. InterActive Theater is also presenting "Pecos Bill" July 14-31 at First Baptist Church; performances are Wednesdays–Fridays at 11am and 1:30pm; Saturdays at 11am and 5pm.

THIS WEEK'S ATTRACTION...GALVESTON RAILROAD MUSEUM. For more attractions, go to www.gishcreative.com/attractions.htm.

Summer for Houstonians often involves trips to Galveston, so while you’re there, stop in to the Galveston Railroad Museum, located at 25th and Strand Streets. The museum tells the story of the birth of railroad and its own beginnings are a story of adaptive re-use at its best. When the Santa Fe Railroad purchased the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railroad in 1965, it consolidated its regional offices and closed the GCSF offices in the Santa Fe building. The Moody Foundation purchased the Santa Fe building and associated properties - the freight offices, railway express office and the arrival and departure tracks - preventing them from being demolished. With generous support from The Moody Foundation, the Museum acquired engines and rolling stock from various locations, including a vintage Houston and Texas Central (Southern Pacific) 4-6-0 which may have made runs to and from Galveston Island at one time. When renovations on the property were complete in 1982, the Museum opened its doors to visitors. Since then, well over a million visitors have toured the Museum. With the formal establishment of the Museum, donations began to arrive. Among the more notable are the Renfert collection of railroad china, estimated to be the largest collection of its kind in the United States, which was donated by Dr. Henry Renfert of Austin, Texas, in 1991, and the Santa Fe business car and Missouri Pacific caboose donated by Dorothy Hurd in 1990. All aboard!

TV THAT'S EDUCATIONAL: TUNE INTO HISD'S CHANNEL

With the hot weather, your kids will no doubt be watching a little TV (hopefully not a lot!), so here's a great alternative: HISD TV, which has educational shows and can be viewed on cable within Houston city limits 24 hours a day on Comcast (Time-Warner) cable channel 18, Phonoscope channel 76, TVMax channel 96, and Suddenlink channel 18. A complete schedule of programs and additional information is here. Programs produced for students include Math-A-Letics (a sports-themed program for students in grades K–6), My Math Plus (a program for secondary students to reinforce math concepts taught in the classroom), Fun-A-Licious (a program for pre-kindergarten students that teaches activities and developmental assets), ScienceFaction (a program featuring fundamental science concepts for elementary-age children), and Free (a program that highlights HISD teens with positive, healthful lifestyles). East Side Life (from Ebbert Furr High School) and Yates Community Forum are student-produced programs.

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Sarah Gish Gish Creative 1940-A Fountainview, PMB 116 Houston, Texas 77057 phone/fax: 713.482.7065 email: sarah@gishcreative.com web: www.gishcreative.com and: www.thesummerbook.com and: www.saveourlandmarks.org © 2010 Sarah Gish Designed by West of the World