Dorothy Brewer Delafield Watts died Aug. 20, 2017.

She was born July 28, 1922 in Linekin, daughter of Fred and Mabel Brewer.

She graduated from William Hall High School in West Hartford, Connecticut and the Golden School of Beauty Culture in Portland, Maine.

She married James Delafield of Duquesne, Pennsylvania, who died in World War II. She later married Ralph Watts of Boothbay Harbor.

Dorothy was a 50-year member of the Eastern Star and American Legion Auxiliary.

She and Ralph loved vacationing in the islands, including Hawaii, and a trip to Spain with the Kora Shriners group. Her really special times were spent with family and friends at their camp on Damariscotta Lake for 45 years. She enjoyed water-skiing, swimming and cruising around the lake and watching the loons on her Seadoo until the age of 81. She also enjoyed dancing, collecting lighthouse figurines and watching the Red Sox.

Dorothy was employed at Logans Village Store for 23 years, and she also worked at J.C. Penney and Bradlees in Topsham, retiring at age 70.

She was predeceased by her husband, Ralph, after 59 years; daughter, Louise Delafield; son-in-law, Vincent Balzano; brother, Clayton; sister, Jean Howell; and her special pet, Meg.

Dorothy is survived by her son, Alan Watts; daughter-in-law, Ruth Watts; cousin, Gertrude Lukas and family; special niece, Trista Lowell and husband Ernie Brooks; brother-in-law, Robert Lowell; special friends, Donna and Ron Morey, Dorothy Alwood, Judy Shannon and Jackie Lessard.

At her request, there will be no service.

Memorial donations in Dorothys name may be made to: MCCM/New England Cancer Specialists, 100 Campus Dr., Scarborough, ME 04011; Goswell Memorial Hospice Home, Hunnewell Road, Scarborough, ME 04011; or Lincoln County Animal Shelter, P.O. Box 7, 27 Atlantic Highway, Edgecomb, ME 04556.

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Dorothy B. Watts - Wiscasset Newspaper

Executive Summary

Most of us know there are benefits to getting away from work, that we need time to recharge each day in order to be able to sustain our attention in the office. The hard part is doing it.Even if you do go home at a decent hour, you may find yourself reading one last report or attached to your email. You mightthat even when youre not working, youre always thinking of work. How, then, can you really get away from it? First, focus on what youll do instead of working. Rather than making a negative goal (I shall not work), find a positive one: new activities and commitments that willoccupy your time and mental energy instead. Second, change your environment to support these new behaviors. And lastly, observe what happens when you actually dial back: its very likely it wont be anything bad.

When was the last time you got away from work?

I mean truly got away from it: didnt think about it, didnt worry about it, didnt have a to-do list rattling around in your brain.

Most of us know there are benefits to getting away from work. We know we need time to recharge each day in order to be able to sustain our attention in the office. We know time away from complex problemsallows us to find a fresh perspective. We know if we work too many long days in a rowwell find ourselves doing what I affectionately call fake work sitting at our desks without actually accomplishing anything.

The hard part is that while you may agree with all of these benefits of getting away from your work, you may still have trouble doing it. Even if you do go home at a decent hour in the evening, you may find yourself reading one last report. When you travel for a few days, you may still be attached to your email. When you wake up early in the morning, or lie awake at night, you might find your brain sorting through a long list of work tasks. I have even known people who have had dreams about problems they are facing at work.

When we cant let go of work whilewere out of the office, we dont get to enjoy the benefits of time away. To wean yourself off work and unwanted thoughts of work you can use a combination of new habits and lessons from cognitive behavioral therapy. Heres how.

Focus on what youll do instead. Many people fail to change their behavior because they focus on what they are not going to do rather than on actions they will take instead. Setting the goal not to work (or think about work) when you are away from the office starts with the presumption that you will stop yourself every time you are tempted to do something work-related.

Negative goals like this where you focus on actions you will no longer take tend to fail for two reasons. First, your habit system only learns a new habit when you perform an action, not when you dont. So you cannot create a habit to avoid an action. Second, when you set negative goals, you have to constantly be vigilant about your behavior. Otherwise, you will end up doing the thing you are trying to avoid.

Instead, you need to focus on what you are going to do instead of working. Create a plan for your time away from work whether it is an evening out of the office or time on vacation. You need a specific plan, oryou will return to your habits and re-engage with work when you should be away from it. The plan should focus on the activities you are going to perform instead of working.

For example, you might set up a personal training session for 5:30 PM at a gym near your officea couple of nights a week. Or you might tell your spouse that youll pick up the kids at daycare. Or start volunteering at a local charity on the weekends. You can even do some personal development. Sign up for a class to learn a new language. Take up a musical instrument. Start painting. All of these activities will limit the time you have for work, and replace work with other pursuits.

Sometimes, though, your downtime may still be interrupted by intrusive thoughts about work. In this case, you want to be prepared so that you dont keep ruminating about upcoming work. (Ruminating is a great word, by the way; it comes from the word for cows chewing their cud.)

There are two ways to deal with intrusive thoughts. One is to have a plan to occupy your mind at the ready: Read a novel, do a crossword puzzle, or phone a friend. However, there are times when there is something about work that really is bugging you. In that case, keep a notebook handy. Set a timer for 10 minutes and write down whatever is bothering you. It is often helpful to get the things that are bothering you outside of yourself. This is particularly true when the thoughts you are having about work reflect anxieties rather than simply the tasks you have to perform when you get back.

Change your environment to support your new behavior and discourage the old one.A smoker doesnt try to quit smoking while leaving a large carton of cigarettes in their pantry. Similarly, someone trying to set healthier work-life boundaries doesnt leave their phone and computer on all the time.

Yes, I am suggesting you actually turn your devices off. All the way off! A great way to manage the temptation to work when you are away from the office is to make it hard to do that work. If you have to switch your phone back on to check it, you might think twice before doing it.

You can also use the environment to help you if you often ruminate about work. Set up a space at home that you will never use to work. It could be a room, but it might also be a corner somewhere. Puta chair there (or a mat or a pillow). Use it as a place where you will engage in nonwork activities, like reading or yoga. The more that you associate this spot with things that do not involve work, the easier it will be to use this area to get away from work thoughts.

As part of creating this new, healthier environment, engage other people to help you. Ask your friends and family members to help you stay away from work. Give them permission to remind you to put your phone away (and dont get annoyed with them when they do). Find activities you can do with them that prevent you from working and that distract you from work-related thoughts.

Step away from work and watch disaster notstrike.Even if you do create these plans and an environment conducive to seeing them through, you still need to be willing to disconnect from work for a period of time. That can be anxiety-provoking. After all, you might miss an important email; something could go wrong; important work might be done badly or not done at all.

Thisis where a lesson from cognitive behavioral therapies may help.Studies suggest that a great way to reduce anxiety is to expose yourself to the scary situation, and gradually learn that the situation is not actually threatening.

If your problem is that youre constantly worried about missing an important email, go a night without checking your email and discover that all of the work you need to do is still there in the morning. Then expand the amount of time you leave your email unchecked. Try to get through an entire day of the weekend without checking. Then gasp! an entire weekend. You may find that many people manage to answer their own questions if you dont get back to them right away. On top of that, you will return to work with more energy and better ideas because you took some time off.

Read this article:
How to Forget About Work When You're Not Working - Harvard Business Review

This site was born out of a necessity to share unique insights into the Fourth Way. Readership grew, and with it the need for translation into more languages. Involvement grew, and with it the need for interaction, which gave birth to our Facebook page. Participation grew, and with it the need for structure, which gave birth to the Be. Pyramid.

The video above presents the construction of this pyramid. It lays out the Fourth Way principles with scale and relativity. This establishes a common language, by which those who want to become masters of themselveswho want to Becan communicate better. To climb the pyramid, we publish weekly video tutorials that focus on each topic and set specific exercises around that topic for the duration of the week.

When I realized that [ancient wisdom] had been handed down from generation to generation for thousands of years, and yet had reached our day almost unchanged . I regretted having begun too late to give the legends of antiquity the immense significance that I now understand that they really have. George Gurdjieff

George Ivanovich Gurdjieff was one of the most influential spiritual teachers of the twentieth century. In his early years, he participated in expeditions that went in search of ancient teachings, partly documented in his book Meetings with Remarkable Men. His quest led him to a secret brotherhood, from which he seemed to have returned in possession of a unique system.

In 1910, Gurdjieff imported that system to Russia. He translated his eastern knowledge and experience into a language palatable to twentieth century western man. He called hisdisciplinethe Fourth Way, a blend of the three traditional ways of the Fakir, the Monk and the Yogi (read more about the Fourth Way). However, the Bolshevik Revolutionand the first World War forced Gurdjieff to migrate and eventually end up in France, where he opened his Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man. Gurdjieffs influence extended throughout Europe and as far as America, but the declining social order and World War II prevented him from further formalizing his organization. He was forced to close the institute and spent the latter part of his life writing books:Life Is Real Only Then, When I Am, All and Everything, Meetings With Remarkable Men and Beelzebubs Tales to his Grandson.He died in France on October 29, 1949.

Angkor Wat Temple

Gurdjieff was discreet about the origins of his teaching. He felt no need to reveal his footsteps. For one, he claimed that the wars had obliterated any traces of the schools with which he had come in contact. Moreover,his teaching specifically called, not for academical study, but for turning knowledge into practice. Gurdjieff himself had labored to acquire his teaching and had earned, so to speak, the rights over it. Such rights had to be earned anew by anyone meeting his work for the first time. While knowledge could be given, wisdom had to be earned. Hence, Gurdjieff, who had sacrificed much to obtain his wisdom, was reluctant to hand it over to others except at the price of labor. Once earned by any individual, the knowledge would become his own; he himself would become those ancient truths Gurdjieff allegedly dug up, a reiteration of ancient wisdom, a contemporary expression of a timeless truth.

Megistis Lavra, Mount Athos

Gurdjieff conveyed to those around him the sense of a mission. It seemed, not only to his own students, but even to people outside his direct circle of influence, that he was the agent of a great plan. In his youth this sense of purpose radiated from his search for the miraculous which drove him to travel to Greece and Egypt in the West, to Afghanistan and Tibet in the East. Beginning from about 1910 this same sense of purpose became connected to the vision of the Institute, which in 1917 received its full name: The Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man. From 1912 on Mr. Gurdjieff placed the aim of the creation of the Institute before every other practical aim, up until the time of his car accident and the closing of the Prieure. His sense of mission was then transferred to his writing (the three volumes of All and Everything) and to the preparation of groups of people, in Europe and America, capable of preparing people to receive those writings. After 1925 he was trying to put into words what he had hoped to realise in action, and he believed that his writings would eventually be read and understood by a wide audience.

The turning point between Gurdjieffs search period and the period in which he was focussed on the creation of the Institute seems to come just after the time he spent with the Sarmoun Brotherhood in the Hindu Kush Mountains of Northern Afghanistan. He first gained access to the central Sarmoun monastery in 1899-1900 and it appears likely that he had a more extended stay in 1906-1907. At the end of 1907 Gurdjieff went to Tashkent to practice healing. There he cured drug addicts and alcoholics, both as a means of studying the state of identification and as a means of making money. This was his last preparation for teaching. After about 18 months he began to draw students to himself and then, in 1912, left Tashkent for Moscow where he began to recruit candidates for the Institute. It appears, then, that Gurdjieffs experience with the Sarmoun Brotherhood transformed him from a seeker to one who had found and was ready to impart.

Labrong, Greater Tibet

While the origin of the Sarmoun Brotherhood is lost in the mists of time, there are traces of the Sarmoun in Babylon from the time of Hammurabi. The word Sarmoun itself means bee. The Sarmouni (the bees) were reputed to have teachings which pre-dated the Flood. We here again encounter the Ark metaphor, and it is certainly possible that there never was a physical flood and that the Sarmoun were referring to their responsibility of maintaining the Ark of Ancient Wisdom through the floods of time. They taught that objective knowledge is a material substance that can be collected and stored like honey. The Sarmoun Brotherhood apparently had memory of the periodic destructions and renewals of humanity, and they believed their tradition represented an eternal unchanging core of wisdom to which mankind should always have access. At critical junctures in history, the Sarmoun distributed their honey throughout the world by means of specially trained agents. John Bennett felt that the symbol of the enneagram, the knowledge of the law of seven, and the doctrine of reciprocal maintenance came from the Sarmoun Brotherhood. Mr. Gurdjieff suggested that many of his sacred dances came from the Sarmoun.

Some time after 1500 the Sarmoun became connected to the Naqshbandi Sufi tradition. The Naqshbandi Sufis worked in a fourth way style: they were quite undogmatic, and their work was always connected to fulfilling particular historical tasks. While the Naqshbandi Sufis and the Sarmoun were not one organisation, individual Naqshbandi teachers were probably associated with the Sarmoun Brotherhood. It seems likely that the Sarmoun inseminated the best of the Naqshbandi teachers with some of their understandings. We find the idea of the celestial hierarchy or inner circle of humanity in the Naqshbandi Sufis, which likely derives from their connection to the Sarmoun Brotherhood. Gurdjieff is known to have spent time in the tekkes of the Naqshbandi Sufis.

At the Preiure, and later in Paris, Gurdjieff told several of his students, quite directly, that he himself had a teacher. At turning points in his own life he says that he consulted advisors before making a final decision:

(Third Series, p 78-79) I must tell you that, many years ago, before the organization of the Institute, when I planned and worked out this program in detail I had to address myself for advice and direction concerning several questions to honourable and impartial people who had already overcome two centuries of their existence and some of whom were bold enough to hope to surmount even the third century

(Third Series, p 43) Gurdjieff tells us that when, after the accident, he considered shifting from teaching to writing he spent long hours writing letters of inquiry to some of my friends whom I respect. His aims for the following period were established thanks to the wise advice from one of my oldest friends, a very respected person.

John Bennett claims that Gurdjieff said, more than once, that he was able to call on people who knew the importance of his task.Beyond this, there is some evidence that Gurdjieff returned to Asia Minor for short visits at critical points during his life, and we know that he had regular correspondence with people that area, even into his last years. (He had no family there after 1919)

It is possible that the vision of the Institute came from the Sarmoun and that to some extent Gurdjieff was their agent. Gurdjieff never presented himself as a great teacher (which he could easily have done) but as an agent with a mission. The Sarmoun probably knew the end of their cycle was coming. The government of Kemal Ataturk in Turkey and the Soviet Governments in Russia and Afghanistan were making it impossible for them to continue. Perhaps the Sarmoun, seeing the end of their tradition, had the aim of conveying the wisdom of the East to the precocious civilisation of the West, where powers had so greatly outstripped being.

Chateau Le Prieure at Fontainebleau

According to his autobiographical anecdotes, Gurdjiefs internal aims had crystallized by the time he took the aim to foreswear his powers, after he was hit by the 2nd stray bullet in Tibet in 1902. In describing his oath in the Third Series he clearly defines sustaining self remembering as the highest function he could attain to. We could say, therefore, that for this time Gurdjieff was clear about his internal mission. From what was quoted above it seems possible that he acquired his external mission the creation of the Institute in his second stay with the Sarmoun.

Whatever the case, we know that seventeen years later, in 1924, Gurdjieff officially disbanded the Institute. In 1928 he went further by pushing away many of the students of his own inner circle. Mr. Gurdjieff felt that he had done what was possible in relation to the aim of the Institute, and in consultation with a very respected person, he set new aims for himself.In 1935, Gurdjieff moved to an apartment in Paris on Rue des Colonels Reynard where the last stage of his teaching was to follow. Gurdjieff had seen that he was not the vehicle for the new order and he focussed on his followers, that they might carry the teaching on to the next generation.

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Gurdjieff Becoming Conscious | Gurdjieff Becoming ...

As Buffalo's summer theater season winds down, the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont. is moving ahead at full steam. Its 11-show season, in which comedy and tragedy live in close quarters and music suffuses almost everything, runs through October.

A look at four shows that opened in July:

Shawn Wright plays a Roman centurion with the cast of the Shaw Festival's production of "Androcles and the Lion." (Photo by David Cooper.)

"Androcles and the Lion," through Oct. 7 in the Court House Theatre

Audience participation is tricky business.

Usually, it is a gimmick designed to make up for a production's lack of vision with a cheap laugh or two at the expense of an unwitting -- or worse, overenthusiastic -- audience member.

Tim Carroll's "Androcles and the Lion," mercifully, is much more thoughtful in its use of audience engagement even if the results are unpredictable and occasionally awkward. As life often is.

George Bernard Shaw's play, at one time a popular piece that would now seem impossibly fusty if played straight, was the perfect choice for this kind of treatment. It tells the story of a meek early Christian tailor (Patrick Galligan) and his treatment at the hands of Roman persecutors and their leonine pets.

Under Carroll's cheeky direction, the show unfolds with the house lights on. An audience member always plays the titular lion, earning the requisite laughs. And others in the crowd are given color-coded balls, which they toss onstage at unpredictable moments to interrupt the action and force a cast member to perform an improvised task. These include personal stories, excerpts from Shaw's lengthy epilogue and harmonized Christian hymns.

It all adds up to a quirky afternoon or evening at the theater and, much to its credit, lends this piece of creaky Shaviana a refreshing infusion of humor and spice.

Cherissa Richards as Lucy Westerman and Allan Louis as Dracula in the Shaw Festival's production of "Dracula." (Photo by David Cooper.)

"Dracula," through Oct. in the Festival Theatre

How many more permutations on Bram Stoker's classic tale are possible before its dramatic fuel is exhausted?

We seem to be getting close to an empty tank, at least going by Eda Holmes' beautifully designed but ultimately anticlimactic production of Liz Lochhead's sex-saturated adaptation of the novel.

Far and away the star of this production is set and costume designer Michael Gianfrancesco, who with projection designer Cameron Davis has conjured a world where terror comes alive in Victorian settings that somehow feel contemporary.

There are plenty of neat stage tricks -- splatters of blood, great washes of fluttering light, sweeps of shadow -- to occupy theatergoers' attentions. But too much of the dialogue seems superfluous to the action, especially toward the wearying end of the first act.

There is much to like about the production, which is shot through with erotic energy. Allan Louis' performance as Count Dracula is both funny and genuinely menacing. It doesn't achieve as much contrast as audiences might expect against Marla McLean's Mina, who brings an unusual degree of self-awareness to this normally one-dimensional character.

The rest of the cast performs ably in beautiful surroundings, but little about the production sticks. At the final curtain, it vanishes from stage and mind like a puff of Transylvanian smoke.

The Shaw Festival's production of "An Octoroon" runs through Oct. 14 in the Royal George Theatre. (Photo by David Cooper.)

"An Octoroon," through Oct. 14 in the Royal George Theatre

If you needed proof that the Shaw Festival has moved into the 21st century, look no further than Peter Hinton's production of "An Octoroon."

Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' play, a smart and searing critique of black representation based on a racist 1859 play by Dion Boucicault, is by far the most radical piece the festival has ever produced on its main season.

It is radical from the very start, when a nearly naked Andr Sills walks out onstage and straight through the fourth wall to give us the setup. He's soon joined by a similarly unclothed Patrick McManus as "the playwright," which we understand to mean Boucicault. And soon enough, after Sills' character downs an entire bottle of liquor to Lil John's "Throw It Up," the show begins in earnest.

Set in the antebellum South, Boucicault's melodrama tells the story of a plantation owner, his evil rival and the woman he falls in love with, who happens to be 1/8th black and thus an unvalued "octoroon." It casts its central character as the white hero in a high-stakes moral drama, which unfolds against a highly stylized backdrop designed by Gillian Gallow featuring silhouetted figures in the style of the visual artist Kara Walker.

Even though it is presented with tongue firmly in cheek as a metatheatrical device, the melodramatic style can become grating. However, the interruptions from Sills' omniscient narrator and other contemporary punctuation marks help to remind audiences of the critical lens through which they are viewing the action.

The action, the era and the approach are all absurd. The lens provides painful clarity. And the lesson, which comes in one of the most devastating closing scenes of any American drama, hits hard.

Gray Powell and Moya OConnell are featured in the Shaw Festival's production of "Middletown." (Photo by David Cooper.)

"Middletown," through Sept. 10 in the Jackie Maxwell Studio Theatre

There are moments in the theater, and they can only happen in the theater, when the full weight of the cosmos seems to bear down on you in your seat until you lose all sense of where you are.

Several of those moments occur in Will Eno's charming, devastating play "Middletown," consummate production of which is now running in the newly renamed Jackie Maxwell Studio Theatre. Meg Roe directs an immensely talented cast, whose members wring torrents of emotion and meaning out of scant material.

The play is set in a nowhere place, in a nowhere time. Like its most obvious antecedent, Thornton Wilder's "Our Town," its main themes are the main themes: life and death. It centers on two unhappy characters, a recent transplant to Middletown (Moya O'Connell) whose husband has abandoned her to have a child on her own; and a man (Gray Powell) who has spent his entire life searching in vain for a place of comfort.

The show begins with the cast using erasable markers to draw the streets of Middletown onto the stage, an attempt to give some shape to the shapelessness of their lives. We meet an eager librarian (Tara Rosling, excellent as always), a druggie down on his luck (Jeff Meadows, ever-affecting), a cop struggling to balance power and compassion (Benedict Campbell, who always looks like he belongs).

We also meet a strangely philosophical obstetrician (Karl Ang), who doubles as a strangely philosophical astronaut, floating out in the space above Middletown in one of the show's most magical and affecting scenes.

The interaction between Powell and O'Connell is the most affecting part of the production, but in every aspect it brims with sadness and vitality. This ranges from Camellia Koo's perfectly simple set design to Powell's almost unbearable performance of his character's final struggles.

The members of the Shaw Festival, still reeling from the death of the vital young cast member Jonah McIntosh, in July, have been through a lot this season. It is difficult to imagine any one of them watching this play without thinking of their friend.

The best literature attempts the impossible task of placing such incomprehensible events in some kind of perspective. "Middletown" is such a play. For anyone who has ever contemplated where they fit in the larger scheme of things, it begs to be seen.

email: cdabkowski@buffnews.com

Continued here:
At Shaw Festival, four shows to entice theater lovers - Buffalo News

Bushy Park provides a sanctuary for nature-lovers.

Bushy Park provides a sanctuary for nature-lovers.

A NEW Terenure Walking Trail Map & Guide is to be launched on Saturday, September 2.

Starting at St Joseph's Church and ending at Bushy Park Market, this free tour lasts approximately 90 minutes.

Now this is one for the diary, the I Love Terenure group announced on Facebook.

We are soooo excited! After nearly a years work we are absolutely delighted to announce that the Terenure Walking Trail Map & Guide has just gone to print and we will be launching it at 12 noon.

Well done to all involved in compiling the content, especially our very own Ciara Quinn, Pat Liddy and of course Dublin City Council.

The new tour takes in one of the gems of the Southsides many beautiful parks - Bushy Park.

Part of an extensive open space network along the Dodder, Bushy Park extends to 20.5 hectares.

The park originated in 1700 when Arthur Bushe of Dangan, Co Kilkenny, Secretary to the Revenue Commissioners, built the house known as Bushes House on a site of four hectares.

A John Hobson became owner in 1772 and changed the name to Bushy Park, possibly after the park in London of that name.

Purchased by Abraham Wilkinson in 1791 who added almost 40 hectares to the estate, he gave it as a dowry to his daughter Maria when she married Robert Shaw in 1796.

George Bernard Shaw was a distant relative, his grandfather being a nephew of Sir Robert Shaw (1st Bart).

The Shaws were connected with Bushy Park for the next 155 years until 1951 when they sold the estate to Dublin Corporation.

In 1953, the Corporation sold eight hectares to the Sisters of Religious of Christian Education but later re-acquired two acres of woodland in 1993.

The park is noted for its woodland walks, ornamental ponds and beautiful Dodder Walk as well as catering for football, tennis boules, and children's play.

Dublin Citys first public skatepark was opened in 2006 in Bushy Park.

It consists of a concrete bowl surrounded with typical street elements. The park is open to skateboarders, in-line skaters and BMX bikes.

It also boasts a kiosk, a nature trail, boules (pentaque) pitches and 11 tennis courts that are managed in association with Dublin Parks Tennis League.

There are also band performances in the park, historical leisure walks, a pavilion, a playground, a river nd pool, a sea shelter, sports fields and wildlife.

The Terenure Village Market opens every Saturday in Bushy Park from 11am to 4pm.

The market has a mix of stalls selling artisan food products, organic vegetables, pastries, breads, confectionary, arts and crafts and much more.

There are also occasional music performances and family fun events associated with the market.

Bushy Park Native Tree Trail will help to introduce you to a selection of Ireland's native trees.

There are 15 native tree signposts in Bushy Park. To find them you can navigate your way around the park using The Native Tree Trail booklet.

They can be downloaded from http://www.dublincity.ie/main-menu-services-recreation-culture-dublin-city-parks-visit-park/bushy-park

Dublin City Council Parks Department commissioned MosArt to prepare a Landscape Masterplan and Management & Development Plan to identify management, maintenance, development and landscape design objectives for Bushy Park.

The brief required a set of consolidated guidance documents to provide the direction for future design and management decisions relating to the park.

The project was divided into two stages with the first one being a combination of professional evaluation and public consultation.

The second stage was the development of design and management objectives based on the findings of stage one.

MosArt presented their Landscape Masterplan to the South-Central Area Committee and it can be downloaded from the same address.

Read more:
New Terenure map takes in a Dublin gem - Dublin People

THE BASICS: Bernard Shaws wild and woolly take on this ancient, well known tale has been adapted by the Shaws new Artistic Director, Tim Carroll (and to some extent, the whole ensemble of fourteen), and plays in repertory at the Court House Theatre in Niagara-on-the-Lake through October 7th.

THUMBNAIL SKETCH: Androcles the tale concerns a meek, pious Christian tailor in thedays of the Roman Empire, when Christians were routinely on the bill of fare for hungry lions at the Colosseum. Our hero, Androcles, on the run, befriends a wild lion in distress. Years later, when hes been captured and is being served up as lion food, hes befriended by the very same beast, who returns his former good deed in spades. Shaw seems to have very little interest in the tales inspiring message, however. He uses ANDROCLES as a launching pad for a fierce and funny examination of religion, Christianity in particular.

THE PLAY, THE PLAYERS AND THE PRODUCTION: I had not seen ANDROCLES in a very long time, though I retain vague happy memories of a 1967 TV adaptation starring Norman Wisdom. When I heard that director Carroll and company were transforming it into an audience participation piece, Ill admit that I was filled with trepidation. Would this happy hodgepodgeof a play be cut to ribbons? Happily, this is not the case, although big liberties have been taken, in an effort to achieve spontaneity andactor-audience bonding. One audience member is chosen to play the Lion in Scene One. Another helps pick the cast Emcee for the show, drawing out a numbered slip from a fishbowl. Still others throw balls of different colors onstage at odd intervals; retrieving ensemble members oblige them with personal anecdotes, stories gleaned from the audience before and during the show, andcondensed bits from Shaws own voluminous (37,000 word!) Preface and Afterward. These additions insure that the various performances will be like snowflakesno two exactly alike. Reading this, some people will no doubt be thinking How clever. How refreshing. How enchanting!

Director Carroll is obviously hoping that you people will be attending in droves.

Director Carroll is obviously hoping that you people will be attending in droves. Others of us, mainly traditionalists and authors, I suspect, are bound to have a very different reaction. I would say this is nothing but a big boatload of gimmickry, and is permissible only because poor old GBS is not around to say No!. Shaw did not like people taking liberties with his works; ask all the ghosts of the many Hollywood people who tried to bring his plays to the screen over the years! Further, as guardians of his legacy, the Shaw Festival has a responsibility to stage the pieces as they were written. Many theatergoers are coming to these wonderful plays for the first time; do they not deserve high quality, straightforward, right-from-the-pen productions? My goodness, there are so many ways to be creative without compromising the playwrights actual words! Please start giving that approach a try, wont you, Mr. Carroll?

Now, despite these serious reservations, and some problematic casting (see below), ANDROCLES ends up being an entertaining show. There are reasons for this. A lot of the Shaw dialogue is retained, and it provides of us with plenty of laughs, as well as plenty to chew on (Shaw himself declared that ANDROCLES was not a comedy (although it is), to make sure that we pay enough attention to all the critical, thought provoking stuff about the Church and its doctrines.) This is also because, ensemble wise, we are in very capable hands. You know this the minute the cast begins singing, in disciplined four-part harmony. There are moments, especially when improvisation reigns, that you feel like you are watching bad childrens theater. Happily, none of these last too long. Playwright Shaw keeps riding back to the rescue!

While neither Patrick Galligan or Jenny L. Wright are quite the ticket physically for Androcles and his carping wife, and they are not the sort of James Thurber-ish couple that Shaw clearly intendedhere (listen for the dialogue tells), this isnt a calamity, as they are both so adept in their roles. Jeff Irving is spot on as the tormented warrior turned Christian, Ferrovius, and comes close to stealing the show. Kudos also to Julia Course for her fetching, unwavering Lavinia, and to Neil Barclay for his wavering, witty, world-wise Emperor (shades of Peter Ustinov). Shawn Wright is consistently amusing as the Centurion, channeling (or so it seemed to me) Kenneth Mars in Young Frankenstein.

This productions creative approach to The Lion is a major failure, in my view. The audience is being asked to meld three hugely different representationsone a tiny shadow puppet, another basically a giant floating bronze maskinto a single satisfying and functional entity. This is just too much to ask. And to make matters worse, the big Androcles/Lion reunion, laid out quite specifically by GBS in a long stage direction, has gotten the axe at the Court House. So much for good storytelling

There are some pleasing costume pieces by Dana Osborne on display, and music director Paul Sportelli has composed a darling little overture that is played enthusiastically by the entire ensemble, on a motley band of instruments.

IN SUM: In spite of all my objections (see above), this ANDROCLES AND THE LION is an enjoyableouting, at once funny and thought provoking. The original text takes a beating in spots, but Shaws literary brilliance ultimately prevails. Its not exactly a family show, but its certainly suitable for older kids, who will probably want to discuss it with you on your way home from Niagara-on-the-Lake!

*HERD OF BUFFALO (Notes on the Rating System)

ONE BUFFALO: This means trouble. A dreadful play, a highly flawed production, or both. Unless there is some really compelling reason for you to attend (i.e. you are the parent of someone who is in it), give this show a wide berth.

TWO BUFFALOS: Passable, but no great shakes. Either the production is pretty far off base, or the play itself is problematic. Unless you are the sort of person whos happy just going to the theater, you might look around for something else.

THREE BUFFALOS: I still have my issues, but this is a pretty darn good night at the theater. If you dont go in with huge expectations, you will probably be pleased.

FOUR BUFFALOS: Both the production and the play are of high caliber. If the genre/content are up your alley, I would make a real effort to attend.

FIVE BUFFALOS: Truly superba rare rating. Comedies that leave you weak with laughter, dramas that really touch the heart. Provided that this is the kind of show you like, youd be a fool to miss it!

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Androcles and The Lion @ The Shaw - Buffalo Rising

George Bernard Shaws Comedy You Never Can Tell came to the stage at the Mineral County Fairgrounds on Wednesday evening. Jim Goss with the Mineral County Performing Arts said they were worried about holding the event outside because of the smoke from area wildfires. However, when show time came at 6 p.m., the afternoon breeze had cleared the air and people brought lawn chairs, blankets and sat on bleachers to enjoy the show.

The 1987 four-act play, directed by William Brown, is set in a seaside town and tells the story of Mrs. Clandon and her three children, Dolly, Phillip and Gloria, who have just returned to England after an 18-year stay in Madeira.

The children have no idea who their father is and, through a comedy of errors, end up inviting him to a family lunch. At the same time a dentist named Valentine has fallen in love with the eldest daughter, Gloria. However, Gloria considers herself a modern woman and claims to have no interest in love or marriage.

The play continues with a comedy of errors and confused identities, with the friendly and wise waiter, Walter (most commonly referred to by the characters as William, because Dolly thinks he resembles Shakespeare), dispensing his wisdom with the titular phrase You Never Can Tell.

For more than five years Montana Shakespeare in the Parks has entertained August audiences in Superior through the Mineral County Performing Arts Council. They are the only professional touring theatre program in Montana producing Shakespeares plays and the only Shakespeare company in the country to reach as extensively into rural areas.

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GB Shaw comedy hits the stage in Superior - Clark Fork Valley Press

NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE, Ont. The Shaw Festival's 2018 season will feature several productions honouring the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War.

The Ontario theatre festival's slate of newly announced shows includes Bernard Shaw's satirical comedy "O'Flaherty V.C," directed by Kimberley Rampersad.

The production centres on a young man awarded the Victoria Cross who is paraded around Ireland to recruit others.

The festival will also stage "Oh What a Lovely War" directed by Peter Hinton, which is billed as a Canadian take on a classic anti-war musical.

Festival artistic director Tim Carroll will team with Kevin Bennett to co-direct Shakespeare's "Henry V," which will be set in the trenches of France in 1918.

Tickets for the 2018 season will be available to Friend of the Shaw members on Nov. 4, and to the general public on Dec. 9.

The festival will also feature "The Orchard (After Chekhov)" directed by Ravi Jain, which will explore the Canadian immigrant experience through a century-old Russian play.

Eda Holmes will direct the 1920s-set musical "Grand Hotel," and Anita Rochon will helm romantic comedy "Stage Kiss."

Shaw will also showcase "Of Marriage and Men: A Comedy Double-Bill," with "How He Lied To Her Husband" and "The Man Of Destiny" directed by Phillip Akin.

The festival playbill also includes the Sherlock Holmes murder mystery "The Hound of the Baskervilles" directed by Craig Hall; "The Baroness and the Pig," helmed by Selma Dimitrijevic; and "A Christmas Carol" directed by Carroll.

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Shaw Festival's 2018 season has First World War theme - TheRecord.com

KYWs Medical Reports Sponsored By Independence Blue CrossBy Dr. Brian McDonough, Medical Editor

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) There was a time when people with diabetes were handled with so-called kid gloves.

The thought at the time was these people were suffering from a metabolic issue and should not exercise too much and need to be particularly careful about injury and other issues. But we have learned over time that a normal lifestyle is the best for patients with diabetes.

In fact one of the key things we have learned is that maintaining a healthy weight and exercising may be one of the best defenses in the battle against the condition.

According to report in the Journal of the American Medical Association, a high amount of exercise and intensity along with a diet plan can actually result in reduction in blood glucose levels among people with Type II or adult onset diabetes.

Many of these patients were able to come off the chronic medications they were taking to treat their diabetes.

It is very important to continue to encourage exercise and not to give up if you have been diagnosed with the condition.

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Report: Diet, Exercise Help Diabetics Maintain Normal Lifestyle - CBS Philly

Stars, theyre sort of like us. They cook, they clean, and they dont mind getting their hands dirty. Herewith, we bring you actress and cookbook authorTia Mowry, who also fronts the Cooking Channel showTia Mowry at Homeand who turned up in Lambertville, N.J., to host Dawns 2,000-foot-long table family dinner. Mowry is aa major foodie whos at home behind the stove (and sink), and doesnt let the thought of calorie-ingestion give her panic attacks.

I love comfort food, so its all about making comforting dishes like spaghetti and meatballs, but using turkey because its a leaner meat and adding spinach, Mowry tells Yahoo Style. For me, its about keeping my comfort foods but making healthier alternatives.

As for the kitchen cleanup, Mowrys 6-year-old son, Cree, is no spoiled kid. Shes instructing him to take care of his own mess and not grow up a totally pampered Hollywood child.

Oh yes, honey, not only do I do dishes, but Ive been teaching my 6-year-old to wash out his own plate, says Mowry. When my son is done with his meal, he will take his dishes to the sink and he will wash dishes. He rinses out his plate.

Mowry places a premium on eating healthy while also maintaining her toned body. Like most actors, Mowry watches her diet during the week and exercises daily, doing yoga and spinning. But shes most at home dicing up veggies and feeding her family. Her philosophy is: Keep it simple and dontgo overboard. And sneak in healthy options whenever possible.

I wouldnt survive without a cheat day. Life is too short, and for me, food is pleasure. On weekends, Ill have whatever I want to eat, she says.

On the beauty side of things, Mowry also just debuted a whole new look, which also fits her lifestyle. Her on-trend braids are functional and fun, and came about courtesy of her stylist, Kendra Garvey. It takes her five seconds to get ready in the morning, says Mowry, and makes life that much easier. Plus, it lets her sort of embrace the rainbow hair trend.

My hairstylist said we should add some cool color to my hair, says Mowry. I chose pink and purple because those are my favorite colors. I call this a protection style. I try to keep the heat from my hair. Its also just fun. I can swing my hair back and forth like that.

Good food and great style? Mowry knows how to do life right.

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Tia Mowry on her 5-second style and why she'll never give up comfort foods - Yahoo Food