Tom Zuehlke wears many hats at West Allis Village Playhouse. He directs and produces and serves on the theater companys board of directors. Off the Cuff spoke with him about past and future.

You have been Board Secretary for 20 years for the playhouse. What has that been like for you?

Being on the board has been a real rollercoaster ride for me. During my time as secretary, the Village Playhouse has gone through a myriad of changes. In 1999, we lost our venue on the Milwaukee County grounds when the Plankroad School was demolished. For the next 15 years, we were a vagabond troupe, performing in a variety of venues, including church gymnasiums and library basements, other theater companies, or anywhere we could find a stage.

Then in 2014, several Village Playhouse members purchased what is now our home at Inspiration Studios in West Allis. It was a challenge to survive those homeless years, but it created opportunities to produce theatre in different ways. To have a thriving community theatre is an often difficult-always rewarding task, which has been both anguish and fun for the board members.

You have also directed and produced shows since 1984. Describe these roles and how they came to be.

I was first hired to direct Our Town in 1984. I was a Theater Studies major at UWM, and took classes in acting, lighting, Theater History and Stage Management. My directing classes made me realize this was a way to incorporate every aspect of theater. It was natural to take on the producers role since I then got to put together a complete team. Getting everyone to be part of the big picture process is most enjoyable.

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Have you ever performed in productions?

I have. Mostly at UWM I did some Shakespeare, then other classics such as Camelot. I did The Scottish Play with the old Milwaukee Players and a traveling company called Theatre-RX which did shows for medical professionals. Also, a touring production of Love Letters. With the playhouse, I have only acted in one full-length play, but have performed in several one-acts in our festivals. Most recently, I was in a one-person show, which I wrote, titled, An Evening with Me, as a fundraiser for Village Playhouse.

What is most gratifying about these roles?

When the final light fades, and the sold-out audience rises to acknowledge what theyve experienced, that is most gratifying. It doesnt happen often, but when it does- Wow!

Do you feel a comradery with the performers?

Absolutely! As an actor, director or producer, you are a team. You stay long after the final curtain falls. I have several friends from that first VP show I did in 84, and the list continues to grow. My theatre friends are my extended family.

What is the line-up for the next 6 or 7 months?

In December, we will be producing a radio play version of Little Women. This will be a virtual performance only. Come January, our virtual shows will be two, one-act plays which would have been part of our 35th Annual Wisconsin Playwrights One-Act Play Festival (which was cancelled in June). We plan to return to live shows in February with a yet-to-be-determined play. March will be the last of the one-acts from last June, and in April, were doing three George Bernard Shaw pieces: Overrules, How He Lied to Her Husband and Passion, Poison and Petrification. June will see us return to the stage with our 36th Annual Playwrights Original One Act Festival.

For more information on Village Playhouse and their performances, please go to VillagePlayhouse.org. The playhouse is located at 1500 S. 73rd St.

Nov. 20, 2020

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Original post:
Village Playhouse Has Run Planned Through June, 2021 - Shepherd Express

Farrar Straus Giroux, 769 pages, $40

Alex Ross capacious and enthralling new study, Wagnerism: Art and Politics in the Shadow of Music, is perfectly timed. Richard Wagners music, particularly that for his epic, doom-suffused opera, The Ring of the Nibelung, could easily supply our brutalist era with its big-screen soundtrack, starting with the exhilarating Ride of the Valkyries and closing with the orchestral Sturm und Drang of its over-the-top finale, in which celestial Valhalla goes up in flames, the Rhine River overflows its banks, and the age of gods and heroes reaches its apocalyptic end.

Without serious competition, Wagner (1813-1883) is easily the most divisive of all the great composers. To some listeners, his music sounds bombastic, long-winded, and boring 90 percent of the time and yet redeemed by the sheer wonder and transcendent beauty of that remaining 10 percent. Other listeners worship, if only metaphorically, at Bayreuth, Germany long the home of an annual Wagner festival like so many Parsifals genuflecting before the Holy Grail. Yet still other opera devotees, aware of Wagners anti-Semitism, refuse to listen to his music at all. It doesnt help either that the so-called Sorcerer of Bayreuth was the favorite composer of the Third Reichs unspeakable Fhrer.

While I am hardly The Perfect Wagnerite as Bernard Shaw titled his monograph interpreting the Ring as a parable of class struggle I have seen two different stagings of The Flying Dutchman, own CDs of the major operas, can never quite remember whether Here Comes the Bride rings forth in Lohengrin or Tannhauser (its Lohengrin), and find that even now my pulse races and my palms break out in a sweat whenever I hear the Love Duet or the Liebestod that ecstatic vision of love after death from Tristan und Isolde.

I first discovered Wagner, indeed discovered opera, through Tristan. I still remember feeling slack-jawed with amazement as Ludwig Suthaus and the electrifying Kirsten Flagstad, in a celebrated performance directed by Wilhelm Furtwangler, finally surrender to their aching love for each other and almost literally sing their hearts out, their voices intertwining, sobbing, soaring as the two are carried away by wave upon wave of overpowering desire, their rapturous transports finally climaxing in soul-shattering cries of release, while the full orchestra blankets the ill-fated lovers with crescendos of voluptuous sound. In that little record-listening booth at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, I quickly understood why Victorian mothers refused to allow their daughters to hear such music. This wasnt just a 40-minute duet, it was aural sex.

Alex Ross first book, The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century (2007) garnered widespread praise. His second, Listen to This (2010), assembled columns from The New Yorker magazine, where he is music critic. Ross tells us that he began work on Wagnerism in 2008, adding that the extensive research for this cultural history of art and politics in the shadow of music became the major educational experience of his life.

In Wagnerism, the reader will duly find a potted biography of the composer and, scattered throughout, synopses of his operas, but mainly this is a far-ranging survey of how various people and institutions responded to Wagners music and used it for purposes of their own. In these 700-plus pages you will learn what Wagner meant to Nietzsche and Baudelaire, to the modernists James Joyce, T.S. Eliot, and Thomas Mann, to 19th-century occultists, symbolist painters, pioneering feminists, and gay poets, to revolutionary Russians and Nazi apologists, and even to the visionaries behind Apocalypse Now and Star Wars.

Wagners exceptionally lively afterlife derives not only from, in Willa Cathers phrase, his ever-

darkening, ever-brightening music, but also from his use of multivalent symbolism, especially in the Ring cycles Das Rheingold, Die Walkure, Siegfried, and Gotterdammerung. In 2020, for instance, these music dramas seem to anticipate the political turmoil of recent times, as they track the thefts and shady deals that lie behind excessive wealth, the ethical impairment resulting from the hunger for power, the heartless exploitation of an underclass, the flouting of sexual prohibitions, and, more than anything else, repeated betrayals of trust.

Ross points out that the composer himself appears to have invented that key object of modern fantasy, the accursed ring of unimaginable power. Whats more, Wagners libretto is a work of literature, as witnessed in a majestic bilingual edition available this fall from the Folio Society.

Throughout his book, Ross draws on the research of numerous scholars and specialists (always acknowledged) and quotes well from his older sources. John Ruskin described the comic opera Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg as sapless, soulless, beginningless, endless, topless, bottomless. To knit together the elements of In Search of Lost Time, Proust employed Wagner-style leitmotifs, such as a haunting musical phrase by his imaginary composer Vinteuil. Speaking of Siegfried, Ross himself wittily concludes, that stupidity is his tragic flaw. He calls Parsifal a sacred opera with a spooky heart, links its eerie Mass-like ritualism to the esoteric ceremonies of Theosophists and Rosicrucians and notes that Philip K. Dick responded profoundly to its religious syncretism. A chapter on early Black Wagnerians includes that ardent Germanophile, W.E.B. Du Bois.

In Wagners operas, sums up Ross, we see the highest and the lowest impulses of humanity entangled. In Wagnerism, however, those impulses aesthetic, sexual, philosophical, and political are deftly teased out, then enticingly presented for the general reader. The result is a superb example of cultural history and, given its themes, a work surprisingly relevant to this plague-ridden, watershed year.

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Signs of the times: "Wagnerism: Art and Politics in the Shadow of Music" by Alex Ross - Santa Fe New Mexican

Todays birthdays

Linda Evans, actress, 78

Graham Parker, rock singer, 70

John Parr, musician, 68

Elizabeth Perkins, actress, 60

Kim Wilde (pictured), singer and gardening expert, 60

Steven Moffat, TV writer and producer, 59

Kirk Hammett, Metallica guitarist, 58

Nadia Sawalha, TV presenter and actress, 56

Gavin Peacock, former footballer and pundit, 53

Owen Wilson, actor, 52

Chloe Sevigny, actress, 46

Anthony Ant McPartlin, TV presenter, 45

1477: William Caxton issued the first dated, printed book from his printing press in Westminster it was Dictes or Sayengis of The Philosophres.

1626: St Peters in Rome was consecrated.

1910: There were more than 100 arrests when suffragettes tried to storm the House of Commons.

1916: The first battle of the Somme ended.

1926: George Bernard Shaw refused to accept the Nobel Prize money of 7,000 awarded to him a year earlier. He said: I can forgive Nobel for inventing dynamite, but only a fiend in human form could have invented the Nobel Prize.

1928: The first Mickey Mouse cartoon, Steamboat Willie (pictured above), was shown.

1933: BBC Radios In Town Tonight was first broadcast.

1987: The worst fire in the history of the London Underground killed 31 people at Kings Cross.

1991: Beirut hostage Terry Waite and American Thomas Sutherland were released by their pro-Iranian Islamic Jihad captors.

I only started reading at 17, and it completely changed my outlook and mentality. I just wish I was offered the opportunity to really engage with reading more as a child, but books were never a thing we could budget for as a family when we needed to put food on the table Footballer Marcus Rashford (pictured) on the launch of his new book club

So many books, so little time American rock musician Frank Zappa

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On this day: November 18 - Metro Newspaper UK

1307: William Tell reputedly shoots an apple off his sons head with a crossbow in Switzerland.

1477: First English dated printed book Dictes & Sayengis of the Phylosophers by William Caxton.

1497: Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama reaches the Cape of Good Hope.

1626: St. Peters Basilica is consecrated, replacing an earlier basilica on the same site.

1686: Charles Francois Felix operates on King Louis XIV of Frances anal fistula after practising the surgery on several peasants.

1738: France and Austria sign a peace treaty.

1745: Bonnie Prince Charlies Jacobite troops occupy Carlisle.

1820: Antarctica is sighted by US Navy Capt Nathaniel B Palmer.

1905: George Bernard Shaws Major Barbara premieres in London.

1906: Anarchists bomb St. Peters Basilica in Rome.

1909: The US invades Nicaragua.

1916: General Douglas Haig finally calls off the first Battle of the Somme after more than 1 million soldiers had been killed or wounded.

1918: Latvia declares independence from Russia. On the same day, Belgian troops re-enter Brussels.

1922: Death of French author Marcel Proust aged 51.

1926: George Bernard Shaw accepts the Nobel Prize for Literature but refuses the prize money, saying: I can forgive Alfred Nobel for inventing dynamite, but only a fiend in human form could have invented the Nobel Prize.

1928: Release of Walt Disneys first sound cartoon Steamboat Willie with Mickey Mouse.

1929: An earthquake in the mid Atlantic breaks the transatlantic cable in 28 places.

1932: Wallace Beery and Fredric March win the Oscar in the first ever tie for Best Actor at the fifth Academy Awards.

1936: Germany and Italy recognize the Spanish government of General Franco.

1939: The IRA explodes three bombs in Piccadilly Circus.

1941: British troops attack Tobruk, North Africa.

1943: 444 British bombers attack Berlin.

1950: South Korean President Syngman Rhee is forced to end mass executions.

1951: British troops occupy Ismailiya, Egypt.

1956: Morocco gains independence. On the same day, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev tells Western ambassadors: We will bury you at a reception at the Polish embassy in Moscow.

1961: US President John F Kennedy sends 18,000 military advisors to South Vietnam.

1967: A ban on the movement of farm animals across the whole of England and Wales comes into effect in a bid to stop the spread of foot and mouth disease. On the same day, the government devalues the pound prompting prime minister Harold Wilson to say the immortal phrase this will not affect the pound in your pocket in a TV broadcast.

1970: Joe Frazier KOs Bob Foster in Round 2 for the heavyweight boxing title.

1972: Guitarist Danny Whitten dies of a heroin overdose aged 29.

1973: Singles chart:

Album chart:

1976: Spains parliament establishes democracy after 37 years of dictatorship.

1978: The bodies of 914 members of the Peoples Temple Christian Church including cult leader Jim Jones are found in Guyana after a mass suicide.

1983: Argentina announces its ability to produce enriched uranium for nuclear weapons.

1987: 31 people die in a fire at Kings Cross station.

1989: More than 50,000 people take to the streets of Sofia in Bulgaria demanding political reform.

1991: Church envoy Terry Waite is freed by Islamic extremists who kidnapped him in Beirut in 1987. American Thomas Sutherland is also released. On the same day, the Croatian city of Vukovar surrenders to the Yugoslav Peoples Army and allied Serb paramilitary forces after an 87-day siege.

1997: Gary Glitter is arrested by British police in a child porn probe.

2000: Michael Douglas marries Catherine Zeta Jones in New York. On the same day, Queen guitarist Brian May marries EastEnders actress Anita Dobson in London.

2002: United Nations weapons inspectors led by Hans Blix arrive in Iraq.

2003: US President, George W Bush makes a state visit to the UK. On the same day, composer and orchestral arranger Michael Kamen dies of a heart attack in London aged 55. Also, Police raid Michael Jacksons Neverland ranch following allegations of sexual abuse of a 12-year old boy. Also, the Local Government Act 2003, repealing the controversial anti-gay amendment Section 28, becomes effective.

2011: Former Filipino president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is arrested and held at Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City under charges of electoral sabotage.

2015: French police raid a terrorist cell in Saint Denis, killing two, including the leader of the Paris terror attacks, Abdelhamid Abaaoud. On the same day, New Zealand rugby star Jonah Lomu dies aged 40.

2016: Singer Sharon Jones of the Dap-Kings, dies after a battle with pancreatic cancer at the age of 60.

2017: AC/DC guitarist/songwriter Malcolm Young dies aged 64 after suffering from dementia.

BIRTHDAYS: Brenda Vaccaro, actress, 81; Margaret Atwood, author, 81; Con (Conleth) Cluskey, singer/guitarist (The Bachelors) 79; Linda Evans, actress, 78; Herman Rarebell, drummer (The Scorpions) 71; Graham Parker, singer-songwriter, 70; Oscar Nunez, actor, 62; Cindy Blackman Santana, drummer, 61; Elizabeth Perkins, actress, 60; Kim Wilde (Smith), singer, 60; Steven Moffat, TV writer, 59; Kirk Hammett, guitarist (Metallica) 58; Peter Schmeichel, MBE, goalkeeper, 57; Owen Wilson, actor, 52; Megyn Kelly, journalist, 50; Chlo Sevigny, actress, 46; Ant McPartlin, TV personallity, 45; Damon Wayans, actor, 38.

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It happened today - this day in history - November 18 - Yellow Advertiser

Wednesday, 25 November 2020 Travel

18 Nov, 2020 05:07 PM5 minutes to read

Man-made nature: Wairakei Terraces near Taupo. Photo / File

New Zealand's unique location on the fringes of the Pacific plate make it one of the most thermally active and exciting places on the planet. Spilling over with choices of geothermal-powered days out, we have chosen a selection of paid and free hot-water experiences to enjoy around the country.

Te Puia Geothermal Valley, Rotorua

Rotorua's geothermal reserve, Te Puia percolates not only with geothermal activity but also Mori culture, crafts and hospitality. The Whakarewarewa valley has been welcoming visitors to experience the natural attractions for 170 years, making it one of the original seats of kaitiakitanga. It was formally set up as an institute to foster Mori arts and culture in the 1960s and today it has been vested to Rotorua iwis as a home for traditional carving and cuisine. Restaurant Ptaka Kai offers cooking from traditional hangi earth ovens on selected Fridays and Saturdays.

A day at the valley is the place for immersion in traditional crafts and the energy generated by more than 500 geothermal wells. One of which is world heritage treasure the Phutu geyser. Living up to its name, the "big splash" is the largest in the southern hemisphere.

Price: Day pass - $60 per adult, $15 per child tepuia.com

Wairakei Terraces, Taup

The thermal spas inspired Victorian writer Rudyard Kipling to create a whimsical story for the Herald in 1892, about a hot pool that showed a window on to the other side of the world. While this was creative licence, natural mineral spas do provide an insight into New Zealand's geothermal past and 1000 years of human habitation around the hot pools. The man-made terraces are a more recent edition from 2001 - but they look the part.

Price: $25, adults only (14 years and over) wairakeiterraces.co.nz

Orakei Korako, Taup

Accessible only by boat, the "Hidden Valley" on the banks of the Waikato is some way off the geothermal highway. However, the stunning rainbow waters and sulphur pools will make you feel like you've detoured to Mars. You'll not have any opportunity to bathe in the acidic waters however there are some unique sights. These include the Ruatapu thermal cave and unpredictable sapphire geyser.

Price: $39 per adult, $15 per child under 16 orakeikorako.co.nz

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Hell's Gate, Rotorua

Tikitere or Hell's Gate in Rotorua is all about volcanic mud, glorious mud. Health buffs from around the world have come to bathe in the stuff. Or, to simply stare into the mesmeric, primordial pools. Reportedly the Gates and many of the thermal features gained their name from God-fearing Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw in 1934.

From diabolical hot pools to Hell's kitchen - today a full-day experience comprises of thermal spa treatments and eating kai cooked in a geothermal hngi .

Price: Mud bath $79 per adult or $25 for general entry to the sulphur spa hellsgate.co.nz

Tarawera, Rotorua

The cleft mountain, Mt Tarawera still bears the scars of the 1886 eruption. Once home to pink terraces, the natural spa pools were obliterated in a violent explosion that killed more than 100 people and buried entire villages. The Te Wairoa archaeological site ($30 adult ticket) provides a glimpse into the darker side of New Zealand's geothermal activity.

While the impressive terraces are sunk at the bottom of Lake Rotomahana, there are still hot springs and thermal beaches on the shoreline which are completely free to visit along the DoC Trail. However you may wish to avoid the 30km hike and splash out on a water taxi.

More extravagant still, the luxury Solitaire Lodge offers a two-night thermal springs and boat transfer package from $3500 a room.

doc.govt.nz; solitairelodge.co.nz

Otumuheke, Taup

The Otumuheke Stream pools are crystal-clear gem on the edge of Taup. A free day out near the Huka falls, natural hot water mixes with the cool Waikato River creating a perfect bathing location. The spa park is within 30 minutes' easy walk from the town centre with onsite changing and locker facilities. Pack your togs and a towel. lovetaupo.com

Welcome Flat Hot Springs, West Coast

The North Island doesn't get the monopoly on hot springs. Among New Zealand's most southerly hot pools, the Welcome Flat Hot Springs is also one of the most scenic. Sit back and bathe in the alpine views of Aoraki's Sierra Range. Getting there is not so easy. At the end of a seven-hour walk on the Copeland Track, south of Fox Glacier. It's a multi-day hike.

There is a DoC Hut and Campsite near the hot pool track for $20 a night, but booking is required.

Kawhia Hot Beach, Waikato

You'll dig this. About an hour south of Hamilton on the other side of Kawhia, you'll find a thermal experience at the ocean's edge. Like the Coromandel's Hot Water Beach, but with a fraction of the crowds, take a spade and dig at low tide to unearth your own, instant thermal spa. You'll have to dig around until the temperature is just right, but you'll always be able to cool down with an ocean dip.

For more New Zealand travel ideas and inspiration, go to newzealand.com

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Original post:
GO NZ: New Zealand's best hot springs, geysers and geothermal attractions - New Zealand Herald

The texts started coming into Mike Brown during the pandemic lockdown. Young Black coaches were reaching out to the Warriors top assistant coach looking for information and advice. Not only on basketball Xs and Os but also on career strategy.

So, Brown started a weekly Zoom video call, beginning with about 15 participants and eventually growing to about 140 who aspired to NBA coaching or front office jobs.

People wanted to know how to get better, how to learn the job, Brown said.

General manager Bob Myers heard about the calls and asked if he could join. Brown was happy to share his boss, and the participants peppered Myers with hard questions about minority hiring and representation and their paths forward.

It was the most important Zoom call Ive had in my life, Myers said. It taught me a lot. Their questions were very pointed and very fair. Those are the conversations we need to have.

In the wake of the 2020 social justice and Black Lives Matter movements, sports is undergoing a reckoning. As the sports world takes a prominent role in pushing for equality, teams are taking a hard look at themselves and evaluating their own makeup.

The Bay Area is a birthplace for sports activism, a region where barriers for inclusion are historically broken. But a look at its key franchises shows how little progress in diversifying the power structure has actually been made.

Currently, no African Americans hold any key power positions head coach, general manager, team president or owner with any of the regions professional sports teams. Only Stanford, in terms of prominent local sports programs, has a Black person in the power seat actually two: athletic director Bernard Muir and head football coach David Shaw.

Head counting and race tallying is an uncomfortable process. However, there can be no progress made on inclusion without actually examining the ways in which teams hire and promote.

In my opinion, its 100 percent fair to count, Brown said. The least it will do is make people aware. And from there its up to each individual team to make the change.

What diversity local teams have in their most powerful positions comes in ways other than by hiring African Americans. The San Francisco Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi is a Pakistani-Canadian Muslim. Paraag Marathe, the former president of the 49ers and now the president of 49ers enterprises, is Indian American.

But you have to dig deeper into the staff directories and organizational charts to find more diversity. There is Oakland As assistant general manager Billy Owens, passed over by the Giants and more recently the Angels as a GM candidate, but he is not a recognizable face of the team. The As have never had a Black manager or GM.

The Giants were the first National League team to hire a Black manager in Frank Robinson. For 10 seasons, Dusty Baker was the face of the team, and was replaced by Felipe Alou. But over the past two years, as the Giants have revamped their entire front office, hiring a new GM, manager and 13 assistant coaches, diversity has not seemed to be a priority.

For all the publicity the Giants received for hiring Alyssa Nakken, baseballs first female full-time coach, a deeper look at the staff reveals little minority representation. The final two coaching hires were Antoan Richardson, their only Black coach who grew up in the Bahamas, and Nick Ortiz, their quality control coach, who is the only Spanish speaker on the extensive staff.

Seeing whats happened in the country this year has caused everyone in a position to hire to audit their own process, Zaidi said. Weve all learned a lot and recognized the imperative to change.

The Giants have a diversity, equity and inclusion council that has been incorporated into weekly executive committee meetings in recent months. Zaidi said that diversity will be a greater emphasis in future hiring. But, he added, the proof is in the pudding.

The Warriors recently hired former player Shaun Livingston to work under Myers as director of player affairs and engagement. The move brought in a widely respected member of their championship teams. But the hire also helps with diversity.

He was hired because of who he is, his character and his background, Myers said. But to be honest, its a step in the right direction.

The top layers of the Warriors management are all white men; though David Kelly, the chief legal officer, is Black, coach Brown is the most visible non-white non-player in the organization.

The 49ers are owned by a white family, with a white GM, white team president and white head coach. Years ago, Terry Tumey was the director of football administration; now vice president Keena Turner is the most visible Black person in the front office. According to a recent study by The Athletic that broke down coaching staffs by diversity, the 49ers are currently in the top third of the league in terms of diversity, with 42% of its staff made up of minority coaches (10 as opposed to 14 white coaches).

Neither San Jose franchise, the Sharks nor the Earthquakes, has an African American in its most visible positions of authority.

How can this be the portrait of a place that shaped generations of athlete activists, from Tommie Smith and John Carlos to Colin Kaepernick? Where decision makers such as Al Davis and Bill Walsh pushed for inclusion? Where revolutionary thinkers such as Curt Flood and Bill Russell have roots?

Sociologist and civil rights activist Harry Edwards has devoted most of his life to studying diversity in sports. Ask the UC Berkeley professor emeritus about progress and you will get a history lesson that begins with the causes behind desegregation on the field and how that differs from integrating positions of power. He speaks of the moves made decades ago by Raiders owner Davis and 49ers head coach Walsh.

But its not enough to have the drama of the individual act, Edwards said. Al Davis hired the first modern era Black coach, the first female CEO, the first Latino coach. But once he was gone, who stepped in to carry on the tradition? For all Bill did, nobody carried it on after Bill was gone.

You have to have something institutionalized. You have to build scaffolding.

Walsh, who brought Edwards in as a consultant to the 49ers in 1983, did leave behind some scaffolding. In 1987, he began a minority internship program, since taken over by the NFL and now called the Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship. Of all the men of color who have become head coaches in the modern NFL, more than half came through the internship program or were on Walshs staff. He built a pipeline, one that gave aspiring young coaches the opportunity to work on NFL teams and learn what was required and expected. More than 2,000 men and women have been through it.

But the pipeline is now plugged: When the season started, the league had just three Black head coaches, the same as in 2003, the year the Rooney Rule was adopted. But that has also failed to significantly change the ratio in the league.

Internships and intentional networking remain key ways to identify and prepare candidates for both coaching and front office positions, aspirants who might not otherwise have access or opportunities.

We can continue to keep a mindful eye, said Stanfords Muir, especially being on a college campus. This is where the next group of leaders are coming from.

Muir is a member of the Black AD Alliance that was formed this summer. He said that one of the groups charges, is to really mentor folks. It starts with student athletes, who have played a sport and are in leadership positions.

What is clear is that the lack of progress is not reflective of a large and ambitious pool of candidates. During the pandemic, San Jose State assistant coach Alonzo Carter started a Zoom networking call for Black football coaches that drew hundreds of aspiring coaches every week, to share stories, learn strategies and connect.

All we can control is what we can control, Carter said. Its no secret whats going on. The numbers dont lie. This is a nationwide issue. What were trying to do is have more qualified candidates of color so that when we get the opportunity, were ready to do the job and take on the role.

Browns Zoom calls, which took place every week for almost four months, also tapped into a large, hungry base of potential applicants.

People want to know how to get better, how to learn the job, Brown said.

One question Myers fielded when he joined the call was whether the Warriors will set up an internship something that Myers said is being explored.

Brown sees so much emphasis on diversity in hiring coaches, but notes that they are the most disposable members of the power structure. GMs and presidents have longer tenures.

And if you want sustainable change a lot of it falls on ownership, Brown said. Theyre the ones in it for the long haul.

Thats where Dave Stewart, the former As pitcher and Diamondbacks general manager, is focusing. Hes involved in a Nashville group hoping to land an expansion MLB team, one that is committed to having 51% minority ownership.

It creates a great opportunity for baseball to make a statement that theyre willing to break a ceiling that hasnt happened in this sport, said Stewart, who has called baseballs structure closed. Major League Baseball tells you they have a system in place. But the system doesnt work.

More and more, baseball is emphasizing analytics when filling front office positions: A recent ESPN study found that 43% of baseball operations top decision-making positions were filled by Ivy League graduates; 67% come from the top 25 universities in the country. Which means that already homogeneous front offices are drawing from the least diverse pools of candidates available.

The lack of diversity is an issue, for sports in general, and for baseball, Zaidi said. Its a big concern. A lot of the hiring you see now, is a reflection of the pipeline development from five to ten years ago. So we have a lot of work to do.

All of the Bay Area sports teams have work to do. We like to think our sports legacy is one of inclusion. But thats not the reality right now.

I cant speak for every organization, but we have to improve, we have to get better, said Myers. I dont think weve done a very good job. We all look too much the same.

I think its very fair to ask the question and to look at how were doing. Because we dont have it right.

Ann Killion is a columnist for The San Francisco Chronicle. email: akillion@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @annkillion

Born in San Francisco and raised in Marin County, Ann Killion has covered Bay Area sports for more than a quarter of a century. An award-winning columnist and a veteran of 11 Olympics, several World Cups and the Tour de France, Ann joined The Chronicle in 2012. Ann has worked for the San Jose Mercury News, the Los Angeles Times and Sports Illustrated. She is a New York Times best-selling author, having co-written "Solo: A Memoir of Hope" with soccer star Hope Solo,"Throw Like A Girl" with softball player Jennie Finch and two middle-grade books on soccer, Champions of Womens Soccer and Champions of Mens Soccer. She was named California Sportswriter of the Year in 2014, 2017 and 2018. She has two children and lives in Mill Valley.

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We dont have it right: Bay Area sports teams struggle to diversify leadership - San Francisco Chronicle

Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything George Bernard Shaw

The world is shifting towards cleaner, more sustainable sources of energy and the use of renewable energy technologies.

However, this should not be interpreted as the beginning of the end of big oil.

Instead, it should anticipate a transformation and transition of the oil and gas industry, a real and proper renaissance triggered by the inclusion of new renewable energy technologies and big tech innovation.

The coronavirus pandemic forced working patterns, business models and short-term forecasts to change overnight.

But to what extent has the crisis accelerated digital transformation efforts and which technologies are more in demand as a result?

Last month, BP published the 2020 edition of its energy outlook. Although the publication is more than 130 pages long, a single chart dominated all the media attention.

In it, BPs economists analysed three possible scenarios, with one of them suggesting that peak oil demand may have been reached in 2019.

This was enough to trigger a wave of pessimistic articles calling for the end of the outdated oil industry.

But the medias attention was misdirected and missed the point on how the oil industry is adapting to the 21st century.

The oil industry is increasingly perceived as an old-fashioned industry.

According to a survey by EY in 2017, 62% of young workers find careers in oil and gas unappealing.

Besides environmental concerns, young workers described jobs in the industry as unskilled, difficult, dangerous and even harmful to society.

This perception seems to have already started to affect the ability of oil companies to attract new talent.

Bloomberg reported that the number of UK graduates going into the oil sector is now the lowest in seven years.

However, there is a deep fundamental change happening already across the industry that could potentially revolutionise the industry and improve the image.

The inclusion of artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to dramatically transform the industry into an environmentally cleaner more efficient one whilst simultaneously shifting the set of skills demanded by the industry towards more digitally intensive profiles.

There are several examples of the digital and transformation happening already across the oil supply chain, in most cases through strategic partnerships between oil companies and technological companies.

COVID-19 has further accelerated this digital transformation. In a survey by Twilio, a whopping 97% of business decision-makers say that the COVID-19 pandemic has sped up digital transformation at their company.

And 79% of business decision-makers said their budget for digital transformation had increased because of COVID-19.

In terms of exploration, most oil majors and even national oil companies are analysing their geothermal imagery with AI algorithms to improve the prediction accuracy of underground reserves.

Examples of this are abound. Petrobras and Shell recently announced a collaboration with Microsoft for that purpose.

Similarly, Google and Amazon offer partnership schemes where they supply expertise and technology tailored to the oil sector.

Additionally, ExxonMobil is partnering with scientists from MIT to create a fleet of deep-water exploration robots that could effectively increase the amount of data for deep-water exploration areas.

In September 2020, IBM and oil industry services companySchlumberger partnered on a major digitalisation initiative involving the exciting technology of hybrid cloud computing.

Schlumberger CEO Olivier Le Peuch explained that the partnership would result in technology that epitomises the ongoing digital transformation of the oil sector.

The oil industry has traditionally relied on heavy-duty equipment like deep-hole drilling machines.

These devices were generally not connected to the internet or configured to work with more integrated, cutting-edge analytical systems.

On the oil production stage, companies are using natural language processing (NLP) to systematically extract and process data from unstructured oil well production reports.

In addition, by installing sensors and valve systems or even using satellite readings, companies are immediately detecting and even predicting methane leaks in production sites.

NVIDIA and Baker Hughes recently announced a collaboration to collect data from sensors embedded in machines along the supply chain and then analyse the data through AI algorithms to identify potential gains in efficiency and risk management.

In the processing and refining phase, a mix of sensors installed across refineries or with specialised drones companies can detect carbon leaks and measure unusual vibrations that later help them to reduce maintenance costs and improve the safety in refineries.

On the oil trading side, OilX, an oil data analytics company is leveraging all the newly available data sets, from satellite readings to vessel tracking technologies to replicate a digital twin of the oil supply chain that enables users to identify in real-time relevant changes in patterns in the crude market.

The implementation of these new technologies will not only increase the productivity of the oil sector, but it will also dramatically change the skill set demanded by the industry.

The design, implementation, and maintenance of these tools will require professionals trained in data and computer science.

The implementation of AI technologies is revolutionising the oil and gas sector, by making it cleaner, safer and more efficient.

However, as a by-product of this implementation, the required profile for workers in the industry will shift towards more technologically trained individuals.

This injection of young talent could potentially allow the oil industry to evolve and embrace renewable energy technologies to help maintain its position.

Original post:
Renewable Energy Technologies Are Impacting the Oil and Gas Future - Energy Voice

Today, Everest is a tired cliche of achievement. Overcrowded and completely commercialized, the diminishment of this storied peak is succinctly captured in a photo that went viral in May of 2019. In it, a legion of climbers hooded in brightly colored puffy jackets snake up the ridge of Everest in a perilous conga line, as if ascending a Grand Central escalator at rush hour.

Before Everest was routinely summited, it was the holy grail for alpinists and a conquest that fascinated the public and British government alike. The Moth and the Mountain by Ed Caesar details the race to conquer Everest and one amateurs mad attempt at this historic achievement.

This slim, riveting book hits all the right notes for an epic tale: the trauma of World War I, messy love triangles, globetrotting adventures, and a wayward soul hellbent on conquering his inner demons. At the center is Maurice Wilson, a brilliant, bull-headed, extraordinary figure who, after fighting in World War I, set out on the most incredible adventure to try and redeem his broken life, Caesar tells InsideHook. The adventure in question was highly ambitious and somewhat delusional: Wilson planned to crash-land a plane near the base of Everest and ascend the mountaintop, alone and unaided. At the time, Everest had never been summited and Wilson, for his part, did not know how to fly a plane and had hardly climbed anything more challenging than a flight of stairs.

Caesar first encountered Wilson while reading Into the Silence by Wade Davis, a book about early Everest adventurers in which Wilson earned a few paragraphs. This brief sketch of Wilsons crackpot quest immediately struck Caesar as incredibly cinematic. I used to sometimes wake up thinking about Wilson, Caesar says.

Caesars telling of Wilsons remarkable story, however, is not the first. In his lifetime, the bodacious Wilson was widely covered in the press and, in 1957, English journalist Dennis Roberts published Ill Climb Mount Everest Alone, the first book devoted to Wilson. But, according to Caesar, this first attempt at Wilsons life was riddled with inaccuracies. Crucially, What Roberts didnt do, Caesar says, was talk to anyone in Wilsons family, so he didnt really understand his wartime experience at all. In Caesars view, Wilson was never quite able to get over how extremely lucky he was to survive WWI. You sense him battling with fate and luck a lot, says Caesar, especially on his final trip to Everest.

Caesar conjures prevailing thoughts and psychological mindsets of the time by immersing the reader in historical detail and supplementing this adventure tale with helpful context concerning the geopolitics of a waning British Empire, the existential crisis induced by World War I and subsequent spiritualism.

The cover of The Moth and the Mountain.

Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster

Wilson came up in a renaissance of exploration, not in pursuit of new trade routes but in the name of science or at least that was the purported reason. As Caesar notes, Shackleton and other legendary explorers of this age framed their expeditions into remote, hostile territories as inward journeys to, in the words of Shackleton, the naked soul of men.

In the case of Wilson, his inability to settle into a contented, middle class family life following his experiences in WWI left him aching for purpose and direction. After a stint globetrotting, from New Zealand to the West Coasts of North America and back to England, he set his sights on Everest.

At the time, public imagination, stoked by British media, was captivated by astonishing feats of human endurance by polar explorers and mountaineers alike. The British government, perhaps detecting declining morale in the empire, sponsored these ambitious quests. But, in the case of Wilson, the British government expressly forbid his journey. Clever and determined, Wilson was able to outfox British officials every step of the way, procuring airplane fuel from unlikely sources and disguising himself as a Tibetan priest to evade detection while crossing the border from India to Sikkim.

They were so ill-equipped by modern standards, says Caesar, speaking of the early Everest climbers, and then related the story of the playwright George Bernard Shaw who, upon seeing a photo of Mallory and company dressed in tweed near the snowy peaks of Everest, remarked they looked as if on a picnic in Connemara, surprised by a snowstorm.

Wilson, for his part, fastidiously researched equipment and bought the most up to date gear he could find from Fortnum & Mason in Piccadilly including a lightweight, windproof tent, woolen undergarments, and hobnail boots lined with cork. The same department store supplied previous expeditions with everything from caviar to woolly hats. But, whereas these earlier group expeditions were accompanied by porters whose duties included carrying supplies, setting up camp, and cooking, Wilson had to do all those things alone while carrying a 45 lb. bag.

Wilsons training was laughable. With a mere two months of preparation, he learned to fly. During this time, he also went on long, strenuous walks on Britains highest slopes in Snowdonia and, later, in Wales mountainous north. Though he emerged extremely physically fit, these hills were but a pale shadow of Everest and he neglected to learn basic alpine techniques such as ice cutting, climbing in crampons, the use of the ax.

Most curiously, Wilson trained his mind and body in the art of fasting. In preparation for his march to Everest, Caesar writes, he cut down to one meal a day, then just to fruit, and then to nothing but waterAfter a period of abnegation, he though that the body was rebuilt even stronger. Though this goes against conventional wisdom, Wilsons faith in fasting was rooted in what Caesar calls the regenerative power of asceticism, not unlike holy men he encountered waiting in Darjeeling for opportune weather to tackle Everest.

In the end, Wilson never made it past Camp IV, though its no small miracle he made it that far. In the face of great doubt and adversity, Wilson repeatedly trounced everyones expectations and Caesars biographical tale of Wilson rightly restores a footnoted figure of alpine history to the storied peaks of Mount Everest, where his body lay still today.

Read more from the original source:
Inside One Madmans Wild Plan to Conquer Everest - InsideHook

The great advantage of a hotel is that it is a refuge from home life George Bernard Shaw.

We are living in our fairy tale, hoping to discover new things and experience unique moments. Hotel is perhaps the place we rely on if you are travelling to a distant place to discover.

There are millions and billions of hotels and restaurants spread across the world, but to find the one you feel content in is difficult.

Also, there are many psychopaths out there who go for the hotel buildings that have a story to tell. Hold on, dont blame them; nature has gifted them with a particular interest, which they love to hold on further in their lives.

Having said that, did you know about unusual hotels and restaurants that are present in the world? There are many such buildings that can give you goosebumps to take the soul out of youinterested in discovering these further?

Dont worry; we have charted out some of the famous hotels in this post that we hope will interest you.

The first one to top the chart is none other than the splendid Havenkraan van Harlingen. When you observe from outside, you cannot make out anything special or unique about this place, nor is it that beautiful.

But, if you watch closely, you will see that these rooms are built-in cranes! Some geniuses found a way to provide the vast spaces in the cranes for accommodations.

You dont have to be scared of this congested or crowded place. The crane rooms are built in a 150-feet-height and offer enough space for more than four people at a time.

One of the most fascinating facts is that you can enjoy the view of the ocean by rotating the room and getting a full panoramic view.

The second one on the list is none other than the Bivacco Gervasutti that is situated in Mont Blanc, Italy.

If you are looking for an escape from the material life, and want to blend peacefully with nature, this is the hotel you should head to.

Why? Bivacco Gervasutti offers some of the best views you can ever see in the world for its customers.

If this doesnt excite you, wait till you hear how each room in the hotel is decorated with some of the finest architectural landscapes!

While your stay here, may think you are standing at the point of the cliff, but, it is perfectly balanced illusion giving enough space for safety and security.

This hotel is very peculiar in offering rooms for their customers. The hotel is dedicated to offering capsule-shaped rooms for the travellers.

The rooms are built in such a way that they are accumulated up like a pile of books or matchboxes.

You cant find many hotels like such, as popularity is only slowly increasing in Japan. So, if you ever head to Japan, make sure you try Capsulevalue Kanda.

Okay, from stacks of matchboxes and hotel rooms in cranes, we have reached a place where we are portraying the haunted casino hotel in Las Vegas.

Anyone who wishes to stay at the casino hotel is sure to listen to plenty of the famous ultimate urban legend!

According to https://www.slotsformoney.com, the casino resort was a very famous gambling and hotel site for the travellers as well as betters.

In the 80s, along with another entertainment medium, gambling has also attracted a lot of players.

The legend says that the casino was burnt down and the locals witnessed many people dying and running in the casino catching fire. Apart from that, many people were also injured.

Poor souls must have come there to enjoy gambling, hoping to grab a win.

Who doesnt like those living in weirdly shaped accommodations? If you like moving to Germany and is looking for a place to stay, go check Huettenpalast.

You will be provided with unusual and weird caravans, huts, and many other congested yet convenient spaces to stay.

To elevate your experience, these weirdly shaped caravans are sure to give you a comfortable stay just like any other hotel rooms.

Rest aside, the only thing that can scare you here the weird shapes of the room itself which will make you believe the world a mystery place.

The above-given post is a short description of what we have engraved gathering the information from and across the globe in search for hotels.

If you are into travelling and exploring several other places and stumble upon these places, you are welcomed to try these unusual hotels that are depicted in the above sections.

You dont have to be a traveller to try out these hotels; your curiosity can change your mind any time. Wait for the right time, and head to these beautiful destinations if you are sure to explore!

See more here:
Are Hotels Only to Stay or Does it Have a Story to Reveal? - Love Belfast

BRIGHTON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 14: Kai Havertz of Chelsea runs with the ball during the Premier League match between Brighton & Hove Albion and Chelsea at American Express Community Stadium on September 14, 2020 in Brighton, England. (Photo by Glyn Kirk/Pool via Getty Images

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Even before Kai Havertzs unfortunate contraction of the Coronavirus, commentators have been critical of Chelseas superlative acquisition. The 21-year-old has not set the league on fire from the outset of the campaign and for that, hes been slandered. The message here is this: calm down, he just needs to settle in. This young man will be a sensation, but it may take a short while. Havertz made perfect sense for Chelsea to sign in the summer.Why might it take a while for him to settle in? Lets explore some reasons.

First, Havertz is a young German international. Im not sure how much time he spent in England before signing with the Blues, but to think that transition alone isnt a major difference is naive. Moving to a new country is a major lifestyle move, culture shock and transition. Its tough under the most tranquil of circumstances; now, imagine you are a high-priced youngster moving to play in the English Premier League. The circumstances make it much more difficult and challenging. An overwhelming majority of football supportersespecially punditsshould realize this and know better than to criticize him this early.

England is vastly different than Germany or anywhere else for that matter. To think that a transition from being in Leverkusen to living in London would be easy for any 21-year-old is ignorant. Having to perform at the highest levels of one of the top football clubs in Europe, and the world, places that challenge at a whole other level. Observers should be cognizant of that fact.

Second, Havertz has to communicate in a new language. Its obvious the German had English training in the past, but even then, its new and its different in London.Christian Pulisic will readily acknowledgethat its not always easy to understand English slang. Even Americanswho speak the language regularlyfind it quite difficult on occasion to fully comprehend commentary from UK sportscasters. As George Bernard Shaw oncesaid, England and America are two countries separated by the same language.

Third, Havertz has to play with a whole new bevy of teammates. Absent German national team colleagues Timo Werner and Antonio Rudiger, Havertz has been inserted into a completely new team with which he is unfamiliar. In addition, that new team has a plethora of other new starters who have never played together. This coalescence takes time for any team in any league, especially in a league as demanding as the Premier League where its a monumental challenge.

Fourth, popular wisdom says that playing in the Premier League is different and tougher than any other European league. That change in style and physicality would take an adjustment from even the most hearty physical specimens who make the switch from the continent to the English top flight. Havertzs style is more of finesse than strength, so he will certainly find the transition to be more of a challenge than a more physical player might.

That notwithstanding, expect Havertz to adapt to the enhanced physicality of the Premier League. His strength trainingin coordination with the Chelsea physio teamwill better prepare him for the rigors of the transition. Without a doubt, hell emerge as a true star in the league shortly, perhaps even as soon as early in the new year.

Commentators critical of Havertz should chill and wait until the player fully acclimatizes in a few months to all aspects of his new surroundings. Then they will have to eat crow so to speak when Havertzas a No. 8 in Chelseas midfieldproceeds to wreak havoc on Premier League defenses. It will happen, the only question is how soon? Wait and see.

Read more from the original source:
Chelsea: The criticism of Kai Havertz is premature and unwarranted - The Pride of London