WHAT'S YOUR PICK THIS WEEKEND?

Greetings and welcome to GISH PICKS: A GUIDE TO CULTURAL ACTIVITIES FOR FAMILIES, a free weekly e-newsletter/blog I created as a service to the Houston community in 2003. Please enjoy and please share. My business grows by word-of-mouth from people like YOU!

Well, it’s finally over! We have elected ourselves the next President, passed many laws, voted for bond money for HISD, and stayed up late watching returns. No matter your political persuasion, I think we can all breathe a sigh of relief that it’s over and can now get back to business, whatever that business may be.

I’m here to help you with your cultural business and it’s a BUSY week full of films, festivals, and fun for kids and adults alike as you can read below. I am hosting a very special event that I hope you’ll attend: the closing of my exhibition MOD MANDALAS: THE CHAKRA SERIES at 14 Pews this Sunday, November 11 from 1-5pm. We’ll have mandala kid yoga at 1:30pm led by the very wonderful teacher Simplicity Love and a screening of the moving film I AM which encourages compassion over competition – a good message for all of us. We’ll have mandala coloring available throughout the afternoon as well as tea courtesy of The Path of Tea, cupcakes from Marioly’s Cakes, and greeting cards for sale that will benefit the “Walk for Mental Health.” And, of course, you’ll get to see my mandalas – big pieces that are 24"x24” each using a recycled hubcap. I’d love for you to join us!

Speaking of the movie I AM, I’m giving away one FREE copy that director Tom Shadyac sent me himself! He’s the director of hits like THE NUTTY PROFESSOR, ACE VENTURA: PET DETECTIVE, and BRUCE ALMIGHTY. He had a near-death experience which inspired the journey documented in I AM. To win your very own copy of this fab film, head to Facebook land, find GISH PICKS, and hit LIKE. I’ll pick a winner from my new fans so good luck! (P.S. While you’re in Facebook land, please like my page for THE SUMMER BOOK: A GUIDE TO HOUSTON DAY CAMPS AND CLASSES FOR KIDS AND TEENS). Many thanks!). Congrats to new GISH PICKS Facebook page LIKE-ers Shannon Bishop and Shelley Kaplan who won free tickets to see the Mama Doni Band concert last Sunday at the ERJCC.

Other events around town include the Art Dwellers Christmas Arts Market this Saturday, November 10 in Stevenson Park in Friendswood – I’ll be there with my HUBBA HUBBA ART CAR along with some of my art car artist friends. Saturday, November 10 is “World Art Car Day” so Houston art car artists are going wild with a kids’ workshop at the Art Car Museum from noon-3pm and an illuminated art car cruise starting at Khon’s on Milam at 8pm. While you’re at the Art Car Museum, be sure to check out my piece of art in their “God” show – it’s called “Spirituality.” Also on this weekend is a big ole’ History Fair and Symposium on Saturday, November 10, which features a “Children’s History Session” at 10:30am with Andrea White reading from a book she co-authored, The Very Long Life of Alice's Playhouse; historian Betty Chapman unveiling the City’s new children’s activity book on preservation and Leah White performing from her album OUR ROOTS ARE STRONG which contains 14 cool songs about historic Houston landmarks.

Have a great week, be kind to others, and GO.FIND.FUN.

IT’S TIME FOR THE SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL CYNTHIA WOODS MITCHELL PAVILION CHILDREN’S FESTIVAL.

Kids can dance, bop, hop, jam and hustle their way to The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion’s 17th Annual Children’s Festival which takes place this Saturday, November 10 from 10am-5pm and Sunday, November 11 from noon-5pm. The Festival features music kids love with performers on multiple stages and fun characters strolling around the venue. Entertainment spans from local community performances to awarding-winning children’s performers and there are lots of activities so every child has something to enjoy. Entertainers include Barney™, KIDZ BOP Kids, Roger Day & the Mosquito Burrito Brothers (pictured), Manding Jata (Saturday only) and Trout Fishing in America, all on the Pepsi Main Stage.

Just around the corner from the Pepsi Main stage, kids can enjoy hands-on arts and crafts, games, costumed characters and more in amusing creative zones all around The Pavilion. The Wells Fargo Fun Zone features balloons, hat-making, a meet and greet area, arts and crafts with The Woodlands Children’s Museum and performances on the Community Stage. The adventure continues at the top of the hill where kids can build and fly kites, run parachute races, pan for gold and play in the sand. Each day wraps up with the Kazoo-Dah Parade that begins and ends in the Wells Fargo Fun Zone. In the Anadarko Adventure Zone, kids can let their inner scientist come out studying fossils, using a robotic arm, discovering drilling with Anadarko Petroleum and making slime and silly putty with Mad Science of Houston. Live on the wild side with face painting and interactive games, creating their own work of art in the sidewalk chalk area and rocking out with the Radio Disney Road Crew, and much, much more. The Villager’s Arts Alley allows kids to unleash their creative side participating in arts and crafts and learning about the principles and elements of art by creating their own masterpieces. They will learn about lines, colors, shapes, patterns, unity, balance and more by using these elements to make imaginative creations. Other spots include an Activity Tent for train rides and hands-on activities and the Children’s Memorial Hermann The Woodlands / Ironman Healthy KidZone promotes health and physical fitness for kids with sports games and activities like Bubble Runners, Bumper Boats, meeting professional sports teams, exploring an ambulance, learning the techniques of martial arts and soccer, performing gymnastics moves, health and wellness checks and more, plus performances on the Healthy KidZone Stage.

The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion is located at 2005 Lake Robbins Drive. Admission to the Festival is $8/person in advance or $10/person at the door. Children under 2 are admitted free of charge. The daily admission fee includes every show and activity.

MOVIES FOR KIDDOS.

It’s a busy week for quality kids’ movies, so mark your calendars and plan to attend. First up are two entries being screened by the very fine Houston Cinema Arts Festival that kicks off tonight, Wednesday, November 7. This year’s Festival features TRASH DANCE, screening tomorrow morning, Thursday, November 8 at 11am and LE TABLEAU (THE PAINTING), screening Friday, November 9 at 11am. TRASH DANCE shows how a choreographer finds beauty and grace in garbage trucks, and against the odds, rallies reluctant city trash collectors to perform an extraordinary dance. Swirling with vibrant colors that burst from the screen, LE TABLEAU is a captivating social parable and an enormously enjoyable animated treat for both children and adults. This film may be more suited for junior high and high school students due to the English subtitles and the very brief nudity of a painting character. Both films will be shown at Sundance Cinemas Houston.

Then this Friday, November 9 at 6:30pm at Discovery Green, you and your kids can have BEE-you-tee-ful fun with a screening of the movie QUEEN OF THE SUN and a bee market and kids’ activities (organized by my bee-lovin’ friend Shelley Rice). The screening is part of the “Green Film Series” presented by Chipotle Mexican Grill, whose mission is to present films to educate and challenge us all to care for the Earth.

SPECIAL WORKSHOPS FOR KIDS AND ADULTS IN THE PEARLAND AREA.

Joy of Sharing, an initiative of Global Organization for Divinity, is hosting two unique workshops in the Pearland area next weekend. Each workshop will be led by Mr. M. K. Ramanujam, who gave up his promising career in the corporate world for the quest to increase the quality of inner life. He now devotes all of his time teaching life skills through inner transformation, effectiveness, and happiness at the workplace and beyond.

The Youth Leadership Workshop for teens aged 12 to 19 years old will be held next Saturday, November 17 from 9am-3pm and is designed to bring out the leader hidden in every young person, and to prepare them positively for their life ahead. The meticulously planned workshop will introduce them to what leadership really means, and infuse in them the key traits of an effective leader such as listening, influencing, understanding one's own self, responsibility, being open, and more. Key tools like time management, conflict management and exam preparation skills are also discussed in detail for them to be best prepared to face challenges, especially those at school and in college.

The Inner Transformation Workshop for adults will be held next Sunday, November 18 from 9am-3pm. It offers a rare opportunity for adults to get away from the grind of everyday stress and anxiety to take time to reflect internally on the depths of life’s greatest lesson: that happiness is a choice and not a result, regardless of the situation we are in. The program will focus on happiness at work and home, understanding our inner nature, balancing life's priorities, acceptance vs. agreement, gratitude, resolving inner conflicts, and more. It will aim to broaden the participants’ understanding of life and attempt to open their eyes to higher truths and consequently better living.

Both workshops will be held at New Life Plaza, 3945 CR 58 (Croix Road), Manvel, TX 77578. Each workshop is $100 – but if you use the “GISHPICKS” promo code, you’ll get $20 off. The proceeds from these non-profit programs will benefit Joy of Sharing charity projects in the United States. For more information, please call 832.515.1251 or email info@thejoyofsharing.org.

WAS MARY MAGDALENE THE “FIRST APOSTLE”?

Next Saturday, November 17, from 12:30pm, Brigid’s Place and Grace Song, Inc. is hosting a symposium and musical performance exploring that question and updating the story of the life of Mary Magdalene. The event takes place at Christ Church Cathedral, 1117 Texas Avenue in downtown Houston. It starts with a delicious lunch at 12:30pm which will be followed by a symposium at 1:30pm featuring Jungian analyst and Episcopal Priest Pittman McGehee and Harvard theologian and Mary Magdalene expert Betty Adam as well as composer David Evan Thomas and conductor Keith Weber. The world premiere of “The First Apostle,” an opera that explores the life of Mary Magdalene, will take place at 3pm in the Cathedral. It features Natalie Arduino (mezzo-soprano); Dann Coakwell (tenor); and David Grogan (bass); and the Christ Church Cathedral adult and children’s’ choirs.

This event is very timely, coming on the heels of the public’s fascination with Mary Magdalene in the book and movie, THE DA VINCI CODE. Tickets for the lunch and symposium are $30 and you can register by clicking here.

Sarah Gish
GISH CREATIVE
1940-A Fountainview, PMB 116
Houston, Texas 77057
phone/fax: 713.482.7065
artist.mama.connector.changemaker.

© 2012 Sarah Gish

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