Bole's Blog

Korean Buddhist Ritual Song and Dance

The sound and movements of an ancient Korean Buddhist ritual came alive at Towson University on Friday. The ritual, called the Young San Ceremony, was originally a three-day affair and one of the most elaborate of Korean Buddhist ceremonies. The chanting, drumming, cymbals and dance was inspirational on a cold and damp evening.

It was the final performance by the Young San Preservation Group it its four-stop USA tour and was sponsored by Towson Universities Asian Arts & Culture Center.

Here’s more info on the ceremony and group: The Sound of Ecstasy and Nectar of Enlightenment. Check out the video on the page.

And also check out the Asian Arts & Culture Center. It is a real gem and offers a lot of great events.

What would you tell your great-great-great-great-grandchild?

I’ve started creating what I hope will be an interesting, fun and rewarding family movie project.

The basic idea is to have our family today collaborate on a message to future generations through the magic of movies.

Think about that. What would you want to say to or show people in your family who you will probably never actually meet?

While walking on the beach with Brenda, I was inspired to make a short “teaser” movie clip:

Stay tuned for more …

Senator Theater update

Baltimore City purchased the historic Senator Theater in May. The Baltimore Development Corporation is now seeking proposals from developers. The deadline for the proposals is Nov. 20th.

In the meantime, the city is allowing former owner Thomas Kiefaber to continue showing movies and having other events: http://senator.com/

Another birthday, another bike ride

I turned 47 today. So I rode my bike one mile for each year. Way fun.

Here’s some pictures from some earlier birthdays…

2007 Maine Birthday Bike Trek with Brenda

2006 Big Birthday Bike Commute

2005 Florida Coast Ride with Matt

Save the Senator: Donate & Speak Out

The Senator remains teetering on the brink of foreclosure.

Here’s an article with good background and facts: http://www.preservationnation.org/magazine/2009/todays-news/senator-theater-faces-foreclosure.html

A group of concerned citizens in the community formed the Senator Community Trust in late February as a non-profit organization to take over the operation of the Senator.

The Senator Community Trust is asking folks to donate as much as you can and to contact your lawmakers. More info is on their website: http://thesenatorcommunitytrust.org/

Here’s the full text of their message:

As we are sure you have heard by now, The Historic Senator Theatre is going to auction unless we, the greater Baltimore community, take immediate action to ensure the community has a stake in its future. The goal is attainable.

Please join our MISSION DEBT FREE now! The effort to convert The Senator Theatre to a debt-free multipurpose arts and entertainment facility is within reach.

The Senator Community Trust would also like to thank everyone who attended the town hall meeting on Monday night. We are pleased to report that consensus was strong among the hundreds in attendance, and our community is indeed committed to ensuring that The Senator Theatre is not abandoned to auction. There was overwhelming support for the vision to transition the theatre into a multipurpose arts and entertainment facility as a way to expand its offerings, attract new audiences and establish a sustainable business model for the future.

In response to your desire for an action plan and method for making donations, we have established a new website at www.thesenatorcommunitytrust.org.

Ways to help:

• Contact your city and state representatives and ask them to do everything in their power to support our efforts to prevent an auction.
• Donate - Over the next several weeks, The Senator will be reorganizing to reopen under streamlined operations with an array of programming and fundraisers other than first-run films. Our goal is to keep the lights on and keep hope alive as we attempt to buy time and build support for our cause. We’ll continue to publicize these programs as they are scheduled.
  
  Your donation will help support vital aspects of the effort to buy time and reorganize, including: legal and consulting fees and expenses, utilities and other essential operating expenses, underwriting for upcoming fundraisers, and OF COURSE, the general fund to buy and secure The Senator Theatre.
• Write to our celebrity friends of The Senator, including John Waters, Barry Levinson, Edward Norton, Matthew McConaughey, David Arquette, Oprah and Patricia Hearst. Send us your letters via email and we’ll pass them along on your behalf.

Please visit www.thesenatorcommunitytrust.org now.

I'm on Facebook now

I’ve found a lot of my friends and family.

See Jim’s Profile

1 Bike + 1 Gear = FUN

A few weeks ago, I participated a special annual event called the Single Speed Punk Enduro. It’s a hard to describe, but it involves a lot of folks riding bikes with only one gear (single speed). I had a blast. Check it out:

Home sweet home

Smooth but long drive. Total mileage for our road trip is 2293.

252 miles to go

Roanoke Rapids near VA/NC border. Rain.

750 miles to go

We hope to make it home in14 hours or so. We will post our progress as we go….

Flordia Armadillo

Armadillos are spreading across the U.S. I saw this one in Fort Clinch State Park. Kind of cute, I think. There’s more info about armadillos on the video: