Gish Picks: Week of October 3, 2007


Welcome to this week's "Gish Picks", where I highlight family-oriented cultural events, products or services. Please note that I "highlight" these events, but I don't know if they are appropriate for your particular children, so choose wisely based on age, maturity and interests. I know many of you go to events based on GISH PICKS recommendations; PLEASE remember to tell the organization that you are there because of us. Word-of-mouth like yours helps our business to grow. In the same spirit, please also feel free to share GISH PICKS with friends and families. Do you have something you would like to advertise on Gish Picks? Advertisers can promote family-friendly events, products or services to Houstonians all over the city and the surrounding area who are active parents, involved citizens and great shoppers. We love doing this community service and want to keep it free for our readers but in order to justify the hours spent researching, writing and designing this newsletter, we need advertising support. If you'd like to learn more, please click below. Now, GO FIND FUN!

“THE CELEBRATION OF THE CENTURY” MARKS THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE MONTESSORI MOVEMENT.

The Ibn Sina Foundation presents this Houston celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Montessori Movement with two events on Saturday, October 6:

A “Montessori Global Village and Children’s Festival” from 10am until 3pm at UH’s Lynn Eusan Park; free and open to the public. The Park will be transformed into a village, made up of “huts” prepared by local Montessori schools which will depict a multitude of attributes from various cultures, reflecting the pluralistic vision of Dr. Montessori. There will be interactive activities for attendees such as arts and crafts, a Montessori classroom display and educational information, moonwalks, rides, and carnival activities as well as food and beverages. For even more fun, there will be children’s entertainment and passports given to each visitor.

A “Celebrating Peace and Culture Show” at 7pm at UH’s Cullen Performance Hall; tickets start at $25 and can be purchased at www.ticketweb.com,
keyword: “Montessori”. This culture variety show will feature ethnic performances by professional dancers, musicians and a multimedia presentation.

All proceeds from this centenary celebration will fund the building and operation of the Ibn Sina Foundation Montessori School, a new non-profit school to be located at 11226 S. Wilcrest Drive. This event and other worldwide Centenary efforts throughout 2007 champion the cause of Dr. Montessori and her commitment to “the secret of childhood”.

For more information, call 832.391.4283 or log onto www.100yearsmontessori.com.

SESAME STREET PRESENTS "THE BODY" THROUGH JANUARY 13, 2008 AT THE HEALTH MUSEUM.

The Health Museum's latest exhibit offers an engaging, free-flowing learning experience where the loveable Sesame Street Muppets guide children and families through an exciting collection of hands-on, interactive, multimedia experiences that allow them to explore the human body. The concept is a result of Sesame Workshop’s latest initiative, "Healthy Habits for Life", to respond to the current childhood obesity crisis in the United States. Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit educational organization behind Sesame Street, and Thinkwell Design & Production created this special exhibit, currently on a national tour sponsored by New Balance, and locally sponsored by the Houston Texans Foundation.

There are several special events coming up this weekend in conjunction with the grand opening of the show on Saturday, October 6 at 9am, including movies and a brain dissection (gross for some, great for others!). And tomorrow night, Thursday, October 4, is "Free Family Thursday" from 2pm until 7pm, in which the permanent museum exhibits are free and "The Body" is discounted to $6 (regular admission is $12).

For more information, call 713.521.1515 or log onto www.thehealthmuseum.org.

EXPERIENCE THE WORLD OF 1940's PRIVATE EYES IN "CITY OF ANGELS".

Note: This show is recommended for TEENS and above. The Masquerade Theatre presents "City of Angels" this Friday, October 5 and Saturday, October 6 at 8pm and Sunday, October 7 at 2pm at Zilkha Hall, Hobby Center.

Set in the glamorous, seductive Hollywood of the 40's, the world of film studios and flimsy negligees, "City of Angels" is two shows in one. It chronicles the misadventures of Stine, a young novelist, and Stone, a character in one of his scripts. Every movie scene that Stine writes is acted out onstage by a group of characters whose costumes are limited to various shades of black and white, whereas the real-life scenes are in brilliant Technicolor. With essentially two different stylized sets of music by Cy Coleman, the stage becomes a live version of a 1940s private eye film. Tickets range from $15 to $45.

For more information, call 713.861.7045 or log onto www.masqueradetheatre.com.

"City of Angels" presented by Masquerade Theatre

CELEBRATE PEACE, LOVE AND PETS AT "WOOFSTOCK", THE 2007 HOUSTON SPCA GALA CELEBRATION.

This Saturday, October 6, at 7pm, Houston SPCA celebrates its four-legged friends with an elegantly groovy evening of peace, love and pets celebrating the thousands of lives saved and enriched by the programs and services of the Houston SPCA. This Black Tie-Dye event will honor those who have made the work of the Houston SPCA possible and celebrate the future for the animals that have been touched by the organization.

This year guests can participate in a silent and live auction that includes items such as a luxury European vacation, a Houston Texans Suite, a custom dog bed by Scalamandre, trips, jewelry, art and much more with all proceeds benefiting the Houston SPCA. Groovy sounds of the sixties will be provided by The Fab 5 and guests can adopt a wonderful new pet at the fundraiser. Tickets start at $250/person.

For more information, call 713.869.7722 x144 or log onto www.houstonspca.org.

MIDDLE-SCHOOL GIRLS REACH FOR THE STARS, SCIENTIFICALLY.

The "Sally Ride Science Festival" is coming to Rice University on Saturday, October 27 from 11am until 4:15pm and aims to boost middle-school girls' interest in science and engineering and is sponsored by the Rice Space Institute. The festival includes workshops for girls taught by local scientists and engineers and workshops for parents and teachers on ways to support girls' interests in science and math. Also planned are a street fair with booths, hands-on activities, food, prize drawings, music and an inspiring talk by Eileen Collins, the first woman to command a space shuttle mission. Advance registration is required; the cost is $18 and includes lunch.

For more information, call 713.348.6774 or log onto www.media.rice.edu/media/NewsBot.asp.

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My goal is to serve as an information resource for Houston parents through my various endeavors, including:

GISH PICKS, which is online (www.thesummerbook.com/gishpicks_archive.html) and in print through the Houston Community Newspaper group (www.hcnonline.com);

THE SUMMER BOOK®: A GUIDE TO HOUSTON DAY CAMPS AND CLASSES FOR KIDS AND TEENS (www.thesummerbook.com) which comes out annually on March 1 and is sold at bookstores all over Houston, including Barnes and Noble and Borders; and

Speaking engagements, interactive workshops, private consultations, and art programs that cover topics such as parenting (www.freewebs.com/glowfished), marketing, historic preservation, activism, and passion-finding. All of these services can be tailored for any audience and budget.

The purpose of GISH PICKS is to help parents become aware of all the fun things they can do with their children in Houston and the surrounding area, so HAPPY TRAVELS! Please do give me feedback and ideas, as you are out there in the trenches also looking for interesting things for your family and I want to hear what you find. If you are having trouble getting to a website listed here, try hitting the “Ctrl” button and left-clicking on the web address, which should make it “live”.


Sarah Gish Gish Creative 1940-A Fountainview, PMB 116 Houston, Texas 77057 phone/fax: 713.532.1173 email: sarah@gishcreative.com web: www.gishcreative.com and: www.thesummerbook.com © 2007 Sarah Gish Designed by West of the World