Raven Jake Dawes

The CPP Caiman

That feller on the left sometimes goes by the handle Fabio, not so much for his hair, which ain't much, but because of his tendency to strike a pose. The feller on the right is yours truly, Raven Jake.

Fabio is a 15-year-old spectacled caiman who lives in the BioTrek Rainforest at Cal Poly Pomona. I had a nice meeting with the director of the facility, Michael Brown, got to visit with the residents, and generally had a good old time hanging out in the rainforest, playing some indigenous musical instruments and walkin' around looking at stuff. 

If you happen to be involved in K-12 education, I can't recommend a school tour through this facility too highly! Far as I know, it's the only one of it's kind south of Montreal, and the California ethnobotany garden can't be beat either.

Raven Jake's Double Bypass

Fresh out of surgery.

Long time no see, Amigos!

You may have wondered where I wandered off to – if I was lost in the desert or somthin.’ That guess wouldn’t be far off; I’d been feeling progressively worse all summer (low energy, short of breath, tightness in my chest) and by July 28 I was feeling bad enough that it was time for the emergency room.

They ran some tests, tried to unplug me with an angioplasty and found out that my aortal arteries were about 98 percent blocked. Y’all, I wasn’t really surviving on 2 percent arterial flow – my body had grown some corollaries (additional blood vessels) but the situation was bad. The right one {which had 6 stents in it) was completely blocked, the center was at 98 percent, and the left one had disappeared all together. They had to do something drastic.

1 day past surgery - getting better!

So on August 1 I had open-heart surgery. It’s been a climb up from there, I still don’t have an abundance of energy and I’ve lost a lot of strength but I’M ALIVE. And I haven’t felt short of breath even once since the procedure.

I’m deeply thankful for the Affordable Health Care Act – if it wasn’t in place before my near fatal walk across Chinatown (I’ll post photos on that later) there’s no way I could have gotten insurance. Big shout out to my cardiologist, Sanjay Sharma and the cardiac surgery team from Los Angeles Heart Surgery especially my girl Crystal Rene de Cotret (that's us on the bottom) and Dr. Randall Roberts. And most of all a huge thank you to the whole staff at Glendale Adventist Hospital. Those people saved my life – LITERALLY. 

 

 

 

 

Me and Dr. Crystal at the 1-month check up.

TwentyWonder Benefit for Down Syndrome

Folks, I’ve gotten behind on my posting, and my adventures. Looks like I’ve got some catching up to do. Now you might have noticed that just about every time you go to some fundraiser, no matter what the organization is, they follow the same dang format: hotel, conference center-style chicken marsala, boring speeches about said cause, lots of self-congratulating from the organizers. TwentyWonder ain’t like that.

Now we went last year and it was pretty terrific. And this year’s line-up was just as good. Instead of boring speeches, they have Mexican-style wrestling. Instead of chicken marsala, they have food trucks. Instead of a hotel, they have the Derby Doll Warehouse and an exhibition rollerderby match. Instead of self-congratulatory introductions they put the focus on the beneficiaries – adults with trisomy 21 aka Down syndrome. And then there are the acrobats. Can’t leave them out.

Shout out to Jim Hodgson, whose son Henry motivated him to start TwentyWonder five years ago. Jim’s now the full-time Director of the Down Syndrome Association of Los Angeles (DSALA), and still chief TwentyWonder wrangler. All proceeds for the event go to the DSALA for programs to support people with Down syndrome who are 18 years and older. There are a lot of programs to support school-aged kids with Down Syndrome, but few to support these folks and their families once they become adults. So the need is definitely there.

“TwentyWonder, a Carnival of the Mind” goes down like a 3-ring circus. The evening starts with roller derby, moves on to lounge acts in the Cool Room (which is also the room with air conditioning; it was a mite warm last night) then a stunning show by Cirque Berzerk, followed up by music and wrestling. In the meantime, there’s a midway in the main hall with lots of little booths and exhibits to inspire thinkin’ about science.

There’s a chair that magnifies your pulse 32,000x and features red flashing lights until you’re having a relaxed rave of one,  an entomologist with tarantulas to play with and lots of bug specimens, a couple of UCLA students explaining planetary mass, some presidential reinactors hosting Mad Libs (changed to mad liberties) Willie Wonka hawking benefit chocolates and golden tickets, a couple of bars, Tom Woodruff's batmobile and so much more.

You sure won’t want to miss it in 2015.

Naahilii: New Designation for Black Native Americans

Couple months back, Jane went off to see Radmilla Cody give a presentation about Native American identity issues.  Radmilla Cody is beautiful, talented and smart. She made headlines a few years back as the first half-Black, half- Diné Miss Navajo Nation in 1997-1998. At the time, and maybe now too, she caused a lot of waves because she didn't look like a typical Miss Navajo. Rest assured, if anything she was overqualified. See, to be Miss Navajo you don't prance around in a bikini and do floral arranging for your talent. The Navajo expect their women to work, not just sit around looking pretty and making bland conversation. So Miss Navajo has to be the best at public speaking in Diné, traditional dress, singing and butchering a sheep. She has to get things done.

At this presentation, Radmilla showed an abridged version of her film, “Hearing Radmilla.” It described her beginnings being raised by her very traditional grandmother, her experience of being bullied at Navajo schools and being called a jinny, which is a derogatory word for a mixed-race Black Navajo. That’s kind of unusual, but not as much as you might think.

Radmilla decided to come up with a new, non-derogatory word that would describe being mixed-race, but in a positive way that would honor both heritages. The word she (and an elder) came up with is Naahilii, which breaks down to:

Naa = those who came across (overcame)

hil – dark and calm

ii – oneness.

Over at the left is Diana Fletcher of the Kiowa tribe. Anyway, I think this positive re-naming is really beautiful, and it’s a concept that should be exported to all tribes so that they have an inclusive word for the many Native folk who belong to more than one race. Now it's not like Radmilla just sits around reminicing about her glory days as Miss Navajo Nation - she's got her movie out, she's working on campaigns to address domestic violence and Native identity issues and she received a Grammy nomination for her album "Shi Keyah: Songs for the People" in the category of best regional roots. 

Aladdin and his Winter Wish

Tonight I'm headed out to the Pasadena Playhouse to see Aladdin and his Winter Wish. 

Jordan Fisher, Ben Giroux, Bruce Vilanch and Ben Vereen  in "Aladdin's Winter Wish" at The Pasadena Playhouse Photo credit: Clarence Alford

 

An Arabian Nights story performed as a British-style "panto" to celebrate the winter holidays seems pretty unlikely, but the Playhouse has had some rather ingenious  sucesses litle by just this kind of "thinking outside the box." Case in point - my favorite production of last year was "A Night with Janis Joplin," followed by Cirque-a-Palooza, both at the Pasadena Playhouse.  So I'm goin' in with an open mind, and I'll let y'all know how it woks out.

 

100 Mules for the LA Aqueduct's 100th Anniversary

Y'all, last weekend I got an unexpected treat. Jane and I headed over to the LA Equestrian Center with Greg and Sigrid and Sherri to celebrate the arrival of 100 very special guests. These mules walked down the length of the LA Aqueduct to commemorate it's 100 year anniversary. Notice I didn't say "celebrate." The Owens Valley got the bad end of that deal. 

It ain't often you get to see 100 of any kinda critter together like that, and even though they might'a beena bit shy of 100, it was still something to see. After they showed off their synchronized walking routines, the skinners removed their packs in record time and they got the opportunity to frisk around, roll in the dirt and enjoy some "horseplay." I had such a terrific time watchin' them mules cavort, I'm still smiling. Now I can't wait for Memorial Day weekend for Mule Days in Bishop.

Michael White Adobe Open House Oct 18

Just a reminder that it's gettin to be that time of year again - Celebrate the Centennial with a visit to the Michael White Adobe as Jane and Jeryd Pojawa reprise their roles as Michael White and Maria del Rosario.

This is a rare opportunity to see the Adobe in a festive atmosphere (it ain't open but once a year!) as the community comes out to celebrate Homecoming. Find out what you can do to help turn the Adobe into a Hall of Fame for Student Achievement. Please come by and say hello!

October 18, 2012
6:00 - 10:00pm
San Marino High School
2701 Huntington Drive
San Marino, CA  91108
The Adobe is located between the athletic fields and swimming pool.
https://sites.google.com/site/michaelwhiteadobe/

Cover Art for Heart of a Poet

Heart of a Poet Trailer

Y'all, I've been away from the blog for a spell, but I ain't been idle. Here's the extended trailer for a movie I started on last year. I play a Nazi assasin with a strong work ethic and refined tastes.

 

Last Weekend for Cirque-a-Palooza

The  historic Pasadena Playhouse has taken a significant departure in its offerings this summer by presenting "Cirque-a-Palooza." Instead of intimate plays and single-performer showcases, this production very loosely based on the material and performances popularized by Cirque du Soleil, features a huge cast, sideshow performances, magic and juggling and acrobatics and much, much more. It has a special appeal to families with young children and affordable ticket prices. Unfortunately, this is the last weekend to enjoy this very special opportunity in the beautiful setting of the Pasadena Playhouse..

FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 2013
ROAD TO PALOOZA: A CIRQUE VARIETY SPECTACULAR
8:00 p.m. - Mainstage
BILLY'S UNSPEAKABLE ACTS
8:00 p.m. - Carrie Hamilton Theatre
WET THE HIPPO
10:00 p.m. - Carrie Hamilton Theatre

SATURDAY, AUGUST 10, 2013

TEN WEST
12:00 p.m. - Carrie Hamilton Theatre
STUDIO ZANNI
2:00 p.m. - Carrie Hamilton Theatre
AMY G.
4:00 p.m. - Carrie Hamilton Theatre
GRAND GUIGNOLERS
6:00 p.m. - Carrie Hamilton Theatre
ROAD TO PALOOZA: A CIRQUE VARIETY SPECTACULAR
8:00 p.m. - Mainstage
BUTT KAPINSKI
8:30 p.m. - Makineni Library
GRAND GUIGNOLERS
10:00 p.m. - Carrie Hamilton Theatre

Tickets to all CIRQUE-A-PALOOZA shows are available at The Pasadena Playhouse box office, online or by calling 626-356-7529.