Avatar up for Nine Oscars
Avatar is the story of an ex-Marine who finds himself thrust into hostilities on an alien planet filled with exotic life forms. As an Avatar, a human mind in an alien body, he finds himself torn between two worlds, in a desperate fight for his own survival and that of the indigenous people. More than ten years in the making,Avatar marks Cameron’s return to feature directing since helming 1997’s Titanic, the highest grossing film of all time and winner of eleven Oscars® including Best Picture. He transforms the environments and characters into photo realistic 3D imagery that will transport the audience into the alien world rich with imaginative vistas, creatures and characters.This is a movie that will entertain the whole family over and over again –© 20th Century Fox
Avatar, Wins Golden Globes Best Movie Best Director
December 27, 2009 by Robin · Leave a Comment
Avatar is the story of an ex-Marine who finds himself thrust into hostilities on an alien planet filled with exotic life forms. As an Avatar, a human mind in an alien body, he finds himself torn between two worlds, in a desperate fight for his own survival and that of the indigenous people. More than ten years in the making,Avatar marks Cameron’s return to feature directing since helming 1997’s Titanic, the highest grossing film of all time and winner of eleven Oscars® including Best Picture. He transforms the environments and characters into photorealistic 3D imagery that will transport the audience into the alien world rich with imaginative vistas, creatures and characters.This is a movie that will entertain the whole family over and over again –© 20th Century Fox
Children’s Climate Forum kicks off in Copenhagen
December 5, 2009 by Robin · Leave a Comment
“You will become frontrunners of your generation. You are the future, and I hope that you will remember Copenhagen as the beginning when you look back 10-20 years from now,” said Else Sommer from City of Copenhagen’s Department of Children and Family Care as she opened the Children’s Climate Change Forum on November 28.
EMA Award Photos
October 26, 2009 by Ambassador of Green · Leave a Comment
350.org Climate Day starts Today
October 24, 2009 by Robin · Leave a Comment
www.350.org
Pab Love Across America
October 13, 2009 by Robin · Leave a Comment
PAA
PABLOVE ACROSS AMERICA:
3000 MILES IN 30 DAYS ON 2 BIKES FOR 1 CAUSE
On October 10, Dangerbird Records co-founder, Jeff Castelaz, along with his friend and coach Rick Babington, will embark on a 30-day bike expedition across the entire United States, with the sole mission to improve the treatment experience for children with cancer. Castelaz’s goal is to raise $1 million in funds and to increase awareness of pediatric cancer along the way. His pilgrimage is deeply rooted: he’s riding in honor and remembrance of his 6-year old son, Pablo Thrailkill Castelaz, whose individual fight with cancer ended June 27, 2009 after a 13-month battle.
At the onset of Pablo’s diagnosis, Castelaz and his wife Jo Ann Thrailkill founded The Pablove Foundation. Pablove Across America is Castelaz’s physical show of commitment to fighting cancer. His message is urgent: kids get cancer too. Families need help and hope - not only to find a cure, but to increase joy and compassion during the day-to-day grind of treatment.
The 3,100-mile ride will begin in St. Augustine, Fla. and culminate at Pablo’s grave at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills in Los Angeles. Various guest cyclists such as Pablo’s friend Lance Armstrong will join on different legs of the jaunt, as they cover 100-plus miles a day, six days a week. Two special benefit concerts will take place: one in Austin, Texas, at Emo’s Jr. on October 28, one in Los Angeles November 21. Concert details will be announced shortly.
This extensive journey is just one of many ways Castelaz and his family - armed with Pablo’s ever-inspiring spirit, love and boundless energy - continue to promote the purpose of the Pablove Foundation. Along the ride route, Castelaz will visit children’s hospitals to connect with kids just like Pablo; he will also promote the Pablove Foudnation’s mission in the media. A video crew will be alongside to document the journey and offer daily content online - anything to drive home the mission of the Pablove Foundation, and to keep Pablo’s spirit alive.
The Pablove Foundation supports national pediatric cancer concerns with a focus on the pediatric cancer community in and around Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, where Pablo was treated. CHLA is a nonprofit hospital with a reputation as an international leader in providing state-of-the-art medical care for children. Each year they provide complex care for more than 93,000 children from across the United States and the world. The year-old foundation intends to announce its support of national programs beginning in 2010.
In conjunction with Pablove Across America, the foundation will hold a high-profile eBay charity auction, including celebrity experience and memorabilia items. Details will be in announced the next few weeks.
“Pablove Across America,” says Castelaz, “is about standing up, hammering the pedals, speaking out - and FIGHTING back. We want people to support and spread our message that kids get cancer too. It’s not somebody else’s problem. As the Pablove Foundation community grows, we can make a sizable difference in peoples’ lives.”
Lance Armstrong once again lent his support while in Los Angeles this week, as he joined Castelaz for the official announcement and website launch. Video can be seen at: www.pablove.org.
The Dalai Lama Center For Peace+Education
October 4, 2009 by Robin · Leave a Comment
http://www.dalailamacenter.org
History
The Vancouver-based Dalai Lama Center for Peace and Education is an embodiment of His
Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama’s life-long commitment to compassion and inner well-being.
Founded in 2005 by the Dalai Lama and Victor Chan, the Center is envisioned as a world-class
institution, firmly grounded in Vancouver yet present and influential on the global stage.
The Center has no religious or political affiliations. It promotes peace through education,
personal transformation, and dialogue. The Dalai Lama believes that vital, sustainable
communities depend upon many small, individual acts of compassion and helpfulness. By
thinking less about ourselves and more about the well-being of others, we enhance our growth
and happiness. By helping others, we contribute to the greater good. Along the way, our lives
and the lives of others are transformed.
Committed to Educating the Heart
“My religion is kindness,” the Dalai Lama famously says. The Center embraces this ethos and
His Holiness’ belief that each of us has a responsibility to “develop a warm heart, cultivate
compassion and work for peace within oneself and in the world.”
“Educating the heart” is the Center’s tag line. The Center will provide a learning environment
that cultivates mindfulness: the integration of mind, body, and spirit. It will encourage
heightened awareness within of our inner potential through diverse practices of art. And it will
provide a venue for creative interpretation of the world’s many wisdom traditions.
By bringing peace into our own lives, the Center will help to bring peace into the world.
Mission Statement
The Dalai Lama Center for Peace and Education educates the heart and fosters compassion
through: creative learning, facilitating and applying research, and connecting people and ideas.
Values
The Center encourages values such as compassion, forgiveness, tolerance, contentment and selfdiscipline
through engagement with the community. These are the values that contribute to peace
and harmony locally, nationally and globally. We believe that most people embrace and
recognize the importance of these values, but often don’t know how to access the information
and guidance they seek to bring them into their lives. We will help them do that.
The Center seeks, in all of its activities, to reflect values of compassion, mutual understanding,
inner well-being, mindfulness, creativity, peacefulness, warm heartedness, aspiration and
interconnectedness.
About Our Programs
The Dalai Lama’s vision of the learning process involves a full engagement of our physical,
emotional and spiritual dimensions. This holistic approach seeks wisdom rather than mere
information. It naturally plugs into our capacity for compassion, forgiveness and imagination.
This way of knowing – the cultivation of empathy – is at the heart of moral development. The
Dalai Lama believes that the most essential knowledge arises not from the head but from the
heart.
The Center is committed to education that fosters cognitive development and spiritual selfreflection.
Under the guidance of the Dalai Lama, the Center will develop educational initiatives
that nourish both intellect and wisdom in service to the greater good. From its foundational
concern for “educating the heart”, the Center is working to build strong connections with others
in the community in support of current and future programs.
Connecting for Change
Connecting for Change is comprised of a series of dialogues, hosted both locally and
internationally, that connect people across boundaries of business, philanthropy and community,
building understanding and creating inter-connectedness. The program facilitates meaningful
conversations and provides tools to inspire personal reflection, transformation and connection
with others across sectors and professions. It strives to strengthen and sustain an increasingly
connected, collaborative and actively compassionate society.
Ca Dance Laguna Dance Festival 2009
September 30, 2009 by Robin · Leave a Comment
Jodie Gates Announces
Laguna Dance Festival 2009
Cox
Emily Wagner and Tara Keating, BalletX, photo by Gabriel Bienczycki.
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(Laguna Beach, CA…..August 10, 2009) Jodie Gates, artistic director of CaDance, presenter of the Laguna Dance Festival, announced today what she said will most certainly be “the most exciting season” to date of the festival. Gates, the UCI professor of dance and former Joffrey ballerina, has curated the festival for five years. The annual Festival kicks off on September 19 with a free performance at Main Beach in Laguna and continues through October 4 with classes, gallery-specific dance installations, and performances through October 4, 2009
The performances are scheduled for October 2, 3 and 4 at The Artists’ Theatre in Laguna Beach with the Stars of Dance performance on Saturday, October 3 followed by a high energy Gala at Laguna Art Museum. Tickets are available online at www.lagunadancefestival.com or by phone at 949.715.5578. Tickets prices are $50 general admission and $40 for seniors and students. Discounted tickets are available now, online, for a limited period.
For the second year, students with a valid I.D. will be able to purchase tickets for $10 each at the box office, as long as supplies last, beginning one hour before each performance.
This is the fourth season for this exciting and critically acclaimed dance festival, founded by Gates after moving to Laguna Beach in 2004. She currently is a Professor of Dance at the University of California, Irvine.
The 2009 Festival will mark a first for Gates. Not only will she have curated and presented a roster of exceptional dance talent this year, but she will add choreography to this basket of skills honed over her 28 year career in dance. The new work, Le Baiser Inevitable to Ravel’s Bolero, was commissioned by BalletX and premiered in Philadelphia last month.
In addition, several companies will be making their Orange County debut including Philadelphia-based BalletX and Ballet West, from Salt Lake City.
Support for the 2009 Festival has been received from the Festival’s host hotel, Inn at Laguna, The Lodging Establishments of Laguna Beach, the City of Laguna Beach, the Pacific Life Foundation, the Festival of Arts Foundation, Ocean Real Estate, Riveria Magazine, and The Laguna Beach Independent.
Performances and Classes
Opening Day: A Taste of CaDance
Saturday, Sept. 19, 2009, at 4:00 p.m.
Main Beach, Laguna
FREE
Work on your tan and enjoy a free sample of all the Festival has to offer at an outdoor concert with students from Laguna Beach High School, Sage Hill School, and the Orange County High School for the Arts. Be sure to stay for the FREE dance class following the performance
OPENING NIGHT! BalletX, Ballet West, and Breed.
Friday, October 2, 2009, 8 p.m., Artists’ Theatre, 625 Park Avenue, Laguna Beach
Catch three hot companies in one night, Ballet X, Ballet West, and Breed playing a triple billing that goes from classical ballet to hip-hop. In their first appearance on the West Coast, The Philadelphia Inquirer says of BalletX that “The clever and sometimes humorous choreography, soothing music, dramatic lighting and gorgeous bodies hit all the right notes.” Ballet West prompts The Kansas City Star to write, “The verve and polish of this Salt Lake City-based company will long stay in the mind.” Known for their creative approach to hip and urban street dance choreography, Breed is one of Southern California’s hottest hip hop companies.
There will be a pre-performance talk one hour before the performance.
Celebrate the Stars of Dance!
Saturday, October 3, 2009, 6:00 p.m. Performance & 8:00 p.m. Gala Dinner
Artists’ Theatre, 625 Park Avenue, Laguna Beach;
Gala at Laguna Art Museum, 307 Cliff Drive, Laguna Beach
This Gala evening has it all: San Francisco Ballet ballerina Tina LeBlanc, New York City Opera’s Griff Braun, BalletX, Ballet West, Breed, dancers from the Pennsylvania Ballet, Sacramento Ballet, Rachel Bowman, and the UCI Etude Ensemble.
Get tickets today, this Gala always sells out quickly!
Stars of Dance
Sunday, October 4, 2:00 p.m., Artists’ Theatre, 625 Park Avenue, Laguna Beach
Be sure to take advantage of this golden opportunity to see local and international artists the same evening on the same stage. You will enjoy styles ranging from classical to contemporary with premier dancers from Tina LeBlanc to hot contemporary company BalletX, Backhausdance,
dancers from the Pennsylvania Ballet, Sacramento Ballet, and more. Don’t miss some of the most thrilling performances of the Festival season.
There will be a pre-performance talk one hour before the performance.
CLASSES
Dancing Hands Workshop
Saturday, September 26, 2009 1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Congregational Neighborhood Church
340 St. Ann’s Drive
Laguna Beach, CA 92651
FREE
Children will blend movement and painting at a freeform interactive dance class taught by Laguna Dance Festival artistic director and former Joffrey Ballet star Jodie Gates. A creative dance class with live music, fusing improvisational movement, ballet technique, and the art of drawing.
Hip Hop Class
Saturday, October 3, 2009 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Laguna Beach High School Dance Studio
625 Park Avenue, Laguna Beach, CA 92651
Learn from a dancer with one of the hottest Hip Hop companies in Southern California. You will learn the latest and greatest urban beats and moves taught by a professional performer who danced with Breed in this year’s Festival.
Tina LeBlanc Master Class
Sunday, October 4, 2009
10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Laguna Beach High School Dance Studio
625 Park Avenue
Laguna Beach, CA 92651
A rare opportunity to learn from one of the most celebrated ballerinas in the nation. Internationally known, former San Francisco Ballet star Tina LeBlanc teaches a ballet class on how to approach roles in dance. Don’t miss this one!
23rd ANNUAL NAUTICA MALIBU TRIATHLON
September 7, 2009 by Ambassador of Green · 1 Comment
23rd Nautica Malibu Triathlon Continues Tradition of Raising Funds for Childrens Hospital Los Angeles
Competition Continues Tradition of Raising Funds
For the Pediatric Cancer Research Program at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles
LOS ANGELES, CALIF. (August 6, 2009) – Zuma Beach will play host to some of the world’s finest athletes, celebrities and philanthropists on Saturday, September 12, and Sunday, September 13, when they come together to participate in the 23rd Annual Nautica Malibu Triathlon, presented by Toyota.
The challenging triathlon course includes a half-mile swim in the Pacific Ocean, an 18-mile bicycle ride along the beautiful Pacific Coast Highway and a four-mile run along the sands of Zuma Beach.
For the third year, proceeds from the Nautica Malibu Triathlon will benefit Childrens Hospital Los Angeles and its Pediatric Cancer Research Program. Last year, the event raised more than $950,000 for the Pediatric Cancer Research Program, with the help of celebrity participants including Jennifer Lopez, Matthew McConaughey and Felicity Huffman.
“The inspiring stories that emerge from the Nautica Malibu Triathlon every year, both from the athletes and the recipients of the generosity of all participants, continues to drive our efforts and make every year better than the one before,” said Michael Epstein, president, Michael Epstein Sports Productions, Inc. (MESP). “We’re proud of the dedication of the corporate teams, the athletes, the celebrities, Nautica® and all of our sponsors to raise money for Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, an organization that embodies the spirit of the Nautica Malibu Triathlon.”
“In its 23rd year, the Nautica Malibu Triathlon is recognized as a high-caliber athletic event that brings together world-class athletes and celebrities to compete for a good cause,” said Karen Murray, President of Nautica®. “We are thrilled to see the community, year after year, come to Zuma Beach and show their support for the life-saving work of Childrens Hospital Los Angeles.”
Dedicated to curing and preventing childhood cancers, the Pediatric Cancer Research Program at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles provides groundbreaking treatments and therapies for children with some of the most serious and life-threatening pediatric cancers.
“Our ongoing commitment and dedication to medical research and disease prevention at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles is making a difference in the fight against this terrible illness,” said Stuart E. Siegel, M.D., director of the Childrens Center for Cancer and Blood Diseases at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, and professor and vice chair, pediatrics at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California. “Those of us responsible for the Pediatric Cancer Research Program are very, very grateful for the generosity of all involved with the Nautica Malibu Triathlon and, together, we look toward a time in the future when research will conquer this horrific disease.”
The Nautica Malibu Triathlon provides opportunities for everyone to get involved; from the Entertainment Industry Challenge, which brings together Hollywood players from the top studios, production companies and agencies to compete for the Studio Cup, to the Corporate Challenge, which gives non-entertainment companies the chance to compete against one another. The Olympic distance race, which occurs on Saturday, challenges participants with a 1.5K Pacific Ocean swim, a 40K out-and-back bike course along the Pacific Coast Highway, and a 10K out-and-back run course on pavement and blacktop along the sands of Zuma Beach. Families and supporters of the Nautica Malibu Triathlon can also participate in other weekend activities such as the Nautica Kids Run and Tot Trot or enjoy games and prizes at the Fun Zone.
Participants in this year’s Entertainment Industry Challenge include Disney, as well as DreamWorks and Paramount, while the Corporate Challenge includes heavyweights such as Nestlè and a team from Childrens Hospital Los Angeles.
Competitors in the Celebrity Division include: Anna Kournikova, Chris Harrison (“The Bachelor”), Chris McCormack (Ironman Winner), Chris Schauble (NBC4 News), Felicity Huffman, Heather Tom (“The Bold and the Beautiful”), Jon Cryer (“Two and a Half Men”), Mario Lopez, Dr. Robert Rey (“Dr. 90210”), William H. Macy and more…
Ocean SeaChange Summer Party 2009 Honoring Glen Close and Morgan Freeman
August 23, 2009 by Ambassador of Green · Leave a Comment
TheCoveMovie 
