Why We All Hate Facebook's New Not-Email Message Service (And Why We're Probably Full Of It)

I am puzzled by the seemingly intense hostility to the mere *idea* of FB organizing its info feeds in what they hope will be a more convenient way. I'll have to see how it's executed, which I haven't been able to do yet, but notionally it seems like the start of a good idea.

But the reviews by Steven and other tech commentators seems along the lines of "No! You will NOT reorganize your communications method! Not, do you hear me?" and "What would anybody NEED such nonsense for, anyway?" and "They say it's not email, but we KNOW it's email, and so they're full of shit and so is their product!" and "*Nobody* needs this! *I* don't need it, and I can't imagine why anybody else would!"

1. FB's main comm use is the Wall; which is just an unorganized stream, and that's the most criticized part of its operation. Reworking that so you can find things in your Wall is a good idea, if it works - not a bad idea in principle.

2. This is clearly aimed at people who basically live in FB. Not at people who have 14 email accounts, their own servers, deep technical knowledge, and complex online and offline lives. For its intended audience, I am guessing at this early stage, merging their wall and their email messages and their IM messages into one organized presentation will be a good thing. For them, a very good thing. Not for us, maybe -- but FB's 500 million are, if nothing else, *not us.* My guess is that the typical satisfied future user of this system will be someone who gets most of their input from their Wall, a limited amount from their email, and a bunch from their IMs. They will love it -- and they will probably use even less of their email going forward than they do now. If they incorporate SMS as well, they've already won -- our manic hostility notwithstanding. (My daughters, for example, can only reliably be reached by telephone text message. It's the one mechanism they pay timely attention to.)

3. FB has, at 500 million members, reached that lofty plateau where all commentators are obliged, apparently as a condition of servitude, to disdain every single thing they do -- their mistakes, their attempts to make up for their mistakes, their attempts to respond to their actual customers (as opposed to the loudest complainers), their old products, their new products, every feature they have and every feature they change and every feature they leave unchanged. Their very existence is a blot upon the universe -- judging from what I read. Google would be in this boat if it hadn't managed to accidentally get positioned as Savior Against Microsoft, but that string has run out now that Microsoft is subconsciously viewed as a giant-sized loser, so Google is beginning to get the I Hate You Because You Are So Big And Successful treatment, which will only grow.

Apple should be big enough for this treatment, but its Fanboyz are effective at rear-guard action, which dampens the (much deserved on occasion) criticisms. Microsoft of course is the poster boy. IBM once occupied this chair but is now emeritus. Dell's stumbles have earned it an eventually-fatal combination of hatred and dismissive disdain. 

This emotional reflex tendency has the unfortunate effect of undermining the persuasiveness of much critical commentary - sometimes unfortunately. All I know is, if Facebook announces it, it will be shot down as Dead On Arrival within minutes. It's like watching partisan politicians battling. Sometimes, of course, it deserves to be shot down, but you can't tell just from the incoming fire.

Mac McCarthy

Remember when you had a train set? Look at this one!

My brother Dennis sent me this link to a video of the doggonest miniature train setup you've ever seen:

http://www.miniatur-wunderland.com/exhibit/video/4-minutes-wunderland/

in Germany, covering nearly half an acre, at a cost of 8 million Euros (paid for by charging admission). 

My friend Mark Cappel remarked when I sent him this link:

"Have you ever had a train set? It's a maintenance nightmare. Any humidity at all and the tracks corrode and the trains halt or run erratically, which would be hell with the 46-ft train. They must have a humidity controlled room and a trapeze device for flying people in to clean the tracks."

But for most of us kids, the train set never got to the point where it was able to become a maintenance nightmare: It was everything you could do to get the engine to run completely around the track; the set never had enough power; you were always adding track in an attempt to make an actually interesting layout -but the more track you laid, the harder it was for the electrical system to drive the engine, and the slower everything went. My most common memory is of stationing a younger brother at the far end of the track to nudge the engine around the far corner when it stalled, as it did every time.

A few hours of that and we'd had enough for a few weeks. A few hours every month, over the course of a couple of years, then it sat in the basement for a couple of decades - until my mom threw the whole thing out one year -- to the shock and dismay of me and my five brothers. "But you haven't used it in years. In fact, none of you have been down into the basement since you moved away!" "Yeah, but you should have *told* us you were getting rid of it!" [Wives of same brothers, sub-voce to my Mother: "Thank you for throwing it out! He would just have stored it in *our* basement for the next twenty years!"]

Mac McCarthy

Editorial Director

Anti-Pied Piper: The Difficulty of Leading for the so-called Influencer

A discussion of the file-sharing utility 'Dropbox' reminds me of a nagging problem that is only slowly surfacing in my consciousness as an ongoing issue: the difficulty of "leading" people when you're supposed to be an "influencer."

It's wonderful to have friends, and followers, and club fellow members, and all the other relationships, but it can be disillusioning when you actually have a chance to test your influence over others, and get to see just how far it goes.

Or doesn't.

I subscribed to the Web file service Dropbox because it allowed me to send photos to an editor without worrying about file sizes. These days, even the simplest camera generates pictures that are two megabytes in size each, and attempting to email a dozen or so to friends and family can be a discouraging experience: Many people have emailboxes that fill up rapidly, and/or won't accept messages with more than a couple of megabytes in attachments.

But if you have someone you exchange pictures with regularly, if you both have Dropbox you can just drag as many files into a Dropbox folder, and after a while they can drag the same files out of their own Dropbox folder on their computers. It's easy, free, and painless.

Well, setting up a specific shared folder can be a little head-scratching, but it can be figured out eventually and only has to be done once for each correspondent.

Still, I have found it surprisingly hard to get my friends to set up on Dropbox. Even ones who download and install the software put off the folder sharing setup. And even those who have gotten that far can't necessarily be nagged into clearing out their folders of photos and videos and other documents you're sending them. I have two daughters and three other friends who have left their Dropbox folders sitting there with my offerings untouched for months. It's irritating.

Mainly because it underlines once again how little actual influence I have on the actions of others. I am a member of two winetasting groups, and organizer of one of them, with 30 members each. I used to do a wine-events newsletter to one of the groups, until after a year of piecing together the newsletters each month I finally realized that nobody was using the information. They were reading it, and often commenting on how they enjoyed it -- but nobody went to any of the  local events I listed! OK, once -- one couple came to an event, once.

Some Pied Piper I am!

When my consumer Web startup went into beta testing, I invited the same wine group members to sign up, to see if our site's group and events features would do a good job of organizing our monthly wine parties. Half a dozen signed up; the other two dozen didn't even respond. And I see these people every month at the wine event! I post wine tasting notes to my blog and manage to get only a small handful of my 400 Twitter followers to click on the link and go read a posting! Only three of the wine club members Follow the wine blog directly!

Our site will be launching in a week, and I worry that I won't be able to lure more than a small, guilt-ridden handful of my many friends will go to the trouble, despite my determined nagging, of visiting the site and considering signing up. 

Biblical quotes about voices crying in the desert arise unbidden as I consider my  status as the non-Pied Piper of my circle of friends.... Most discouraging.

 Mac McCarthy

Editorial Director

Le tour du monde en 80 secondes

tourdumonde80s — March 31, 2010 — http://www.tourdumonde80.fr
A tour of the world in 80 seconds. Directed by Romain Pergeaux & Alex Profit. A project done in only 3 weeks. The making of the video, pictures and an interview of Alex Profit can be seen at www.tourdumonde80.fr.
Our tour included stops in London - Cairo - Mumbay - Hong Kong - Tokyo - San Francisco - New York - London. This route is a tribute to the famous Jules Verne's book "Le tour du monde en 80 jours".

The Tragedy of Caffeine

I'm more of a night person, or I used to be. As I get older (old), I am turning into more of a no-time person.

My personal tragedy is that caffeine doesn't work on me. I am always trying a cup of coffee in the morning, or to rouse myself from my midafternoon nappytime feeling, but it never works. Finally one evening I had a hearty cup of coffee before going to bed -- and slept like a baby.

There are two tragedies here.First -- if you can't rely on caffeine to give you a kick when you are lagging -- what is there? Only illegal and dangerous drugs. I'm screwed!

Second -- I read once that caffeine's effects reverse with old age: It may pep you up when you're young, but when you're 80, it calms your nerves and, for many people, helps them sleep -- the opposite of the effect it usually has when younger. I am only 63,but the conclusion that forces itself on me is -- I'M OLD!

Sob!

mac

Ukelele Virtuoso Shimabukuro Plays George Harrison: While My Ukelele Gently Weeps

VIrtuoso indeed. By the end you'll be totally sucked in.



How the heck does he *do* this?

Wonderful

How To Achieve Inner Peace....maybe

My friend Steve Drace wrote me recently:

I am passing this on to you because it definitely works and we could all use a little more calmness in our lives. By following simple advice heard on the Oprah show, you too can find a sense of inner peace.

 

Dr. Oz proclaimed, 'The way to achieve inner peace is to finish all the things you have started and have never finished.'

 

So, I looked around my house to see all the things I started and hadn't finished, and before leaving the house this morning, I finished off a bottle of Zinfandel , a bottle of Tequila , a package of Oreos , the remainder of my old Prozac prescription, the rest of the cheesecake, some Doritos, and a box of chocolates. You have no idea how freaking good I feel right now.

 

Pass this on if you know anyone you think might be in need of inner peace.

--Steven Drace

Shock of the New?

A friend cited an article in the NYT, "The Children of Cyberspace: Old Fogies by Their 20s," By BRAD STONE (Jan 9 2010), which he called "thought provoking."

Another friends dismissed this as a couple of anecdotes supporting nothing (while conceding the quality of the writing).

I agreed, and in more detail, as follows -- along with another complaint about online newspapers.

* The generation gap thing may be overplayed; they've been singing that tune for twenty years - yet I don't feel, at 63, left behind by my 26-year-old twins who've lived with etc etc. If I weren't into all this stuff myself, I might be, but I'd equally be if I didn't follow their musical preferences or fashion sense (which I don't). Not much of a gen gap, if you ask me.

* If you want to see a more thoughtful take on speed-of-change and its impact on society and, more significantly, how people think, go get a copy of "The Shock of the New," the coffee-table version of the PBS TV series from the 1970s, where Time magazine art critic Robert Hughes did a fantastic job (despite the handicap of his Australian accent ;-) and a '70s hairstyle ) of conveying the enormous impact of change on the Western world of 1880 - 1920 era.

* When oh when will sites (even the NYT for God's sake) stop with the stupid, irrelevant, dumb, distracting, numbskull linking of random words and phrases? They link California State University, for God's sake, to "more articles about California State University," though this has zero to do with the article, or with anything any reader is likely to want to pursue -- a link to the quoted professor's research, OTOH, would have been valuable - but no. They don't even link to the specific school, Dominguez Hills -- there are several dozen Cal State Universities! It's like linking to "more articles about universities," and every bit as pointless.

This is what you get when some bright person creates a linking robot. Somebody please end the madness! Or at the very least, somebody at these pubs please look at your data -- I bet half your links get zero clicks! You simply add to a world of pointless distraction!

mac

Mac's Art Events Calendar for January 2010!

Here's the January 2010 issue of Mac's Art Calendar for the SF East Bay area.

It includes art exhibits, art classes, and some music/theater.

Enjoy! Spread the word! Follow!

--mac mccarthy

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

*Diana Lynn Art Tour

*Frank Bette Used Art Auction

*Frank Bette Call for Photographers

*Frank Bette Classes: Watercolor, Drawing, Oil Painting, new classes in Perspective Drawing and in Digital Arts, and much much more!

*Feather River signups still available!

*San Mateo Society of Western Artist classes

*Carol Tarzier Oil Classes in Oakland

*Music at Cal State East Bay

*"Rent" At Castro Valley Center for Arts

*Links to local art resources

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**DIANA LYNN ART TOUR**

"Ceramics & Photography by Jane Grimm & Katherine Westerhout"

Sat Jan 23rd, 10:30am - 12:30pm

Location:

Studio of Jane Grimm

4th and Brannan

San Francisco, CA 94107

We meet at the studio of Jane B. Grimm to see her ceramics. From there, we will go to SF Electric Works for an exhibit of work by the photographer, Katherine Westerhout and will end the morning at a no-host cafe.

TOUR FEATURES & BENEFITS:

- Enjoy a well-planned customized tour

- Meet and network with art aficionados

- Have a culturally enriching experience

- Benefit from docent lectures

Cost: $25 -- sign up at http://www.dianalynnarttours.com/DLAT/Calendar.html

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** AT FRANK BETTE CENTER FOR THE ARTS **

1601 Paru St (corner of Lincoln), Alameda CA 94501

www.frankbettecenter.org

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**DEJA VU!

Daily through Jan 23rd.

Gently loved fine arta and crafts

-See what your friends and neighbors have kept tucked away in their attics & basements.

-Liberated art pieces looking for a loving home.

-Decorate your office and home for a song!

Silent Auction now thru Jan 23rd.

Auction closing Gala Jan 23 5 to 7pm

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**CALL FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS -- FOR EXHIBIT: 'ALAMEDA ON CAMERA'

Deadline for applications: Feb 1

2010 "ALAMEDA ON CAMERA" - 48 Hrs, 48 Artists, 48 Pcs of the Map

A Juried City-wide Event Challenge & Exhibit

48 photo-based artists explore and document Alameda neighborhoods, favorite places, and secret hideaways. Traditions and cherished nostalgia, families, friends, and town characters, share the lens with candid shots of our skeletons and dirty laundry.

All “photo-based” artwork mediums and techniques welcome! Traditional, contemporary and experimental photo-based 2D, 3D, functional, decorative, wearable and jewelry artwork included. All photographic techniques and mediums welcome, including but not limited to, new photographic mediums, photo transfer, digital, Polaroid, snapshots, collage, pieces of film, altered books, assemblage, textile, creative manipulations, etc.

The Forty-eight Hour Photography Challenge Event: Forty-eight selected Artists will photograph a unique geographic area of Alameda between 9PM Friday, February 27 and 9PM Sunday, March 1.

Alameda On Camera Exhibit: Each of the forty-eight artists will exhibit their final artwork pieces created from the photographic images taken during the challenge event.

Application/prospectus http://www.frankbettecenter.org.

Get yourself signed up right now and please help spread the word!

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**ART CLASSES AT THE FRANK BETTE**

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-->NEW CLASS!

*PERSPECTIVE: THE BASICS*

with Kevin Kihn

Sundays 3-5 PM

Session I - February 7, 14, 21 & March 7, 14, 21

Session II - April 4, 11, 18, 25 & May 9, 16

What makes objects appear smaller with distance? What principles govern light and shadows? How can an artist use this knowledge to create powerful, convincing depictions of nature? We will learn the answers to these questions and put them into artistic practice. Students will learn how to accurately depict nature, architecture, objects and their spatial relationships.

Cost: $100 members, $120 non-members

Sign up (and see examples of his pencil drawings) at http://frankbettecenter.org/kevin-kihn-prespective-basics.html

Bio:

Kevin Kihn learned advanced perspective by studying the works of M.C. Escher and others. He has developed a comprehensive integration of all known systems of vanishing point perspective. He is a graduate in Painting form San Francisco State University and has studied at the Accademia dell Bell Arti (Academy of Fine Arts) in Florence, Italy.

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**MARGARET FAGO'S FAMED WATERCOLOR AND DRAWING CLASSES RETURN IN FEB!**

Margo's wonderful classes start up again in February -- take classes in 6-class sequences starting in February-March, with morning classes or afternoon classes. Sign up quick -- they fill up fast!

** COLOR DYNAMICS IN WATERCOLOR **

Come develop your painting voice while learning watercolor techniques. We'll explore color mixing, color values, glazing and brush strokes, hard and soft edges, finding and defining a center of interest and much more. Perfect for both beginning and intermediate painters.

Classes Mondays 9:30-noon starting Feb 8, or Tuesday mornings starting Feb 9, $120 for either series.

SIGN UP AT http://www.frankbettecenter.org/fago-classes-workshops.html

** DRAWING DYNAMICS **

Working from Still Life and Plein Aire we will explore how to create design and form through line, shading, black and white shapes and tonal values. Release your inner artist through warm up exercises which will allow you to draw what you see. Beginners and intermediate artists welcome.

Monday afternoons 3:00 to 5:00 ~ Drawing Dynamics -- Starting Feb 8

SIGN UP AT http://www.frankbettecenter.org/fago-classes-workshops.html

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**OIL PAINTING CLASSES WITH CAROL TARZIER

Carol, a *wonderful* painter in oils, teaches this fall in her own studio at 1217 32nd St., Oakland, Saturday afternoons 1 to 5pm, from Feb 6 through May 3. $175. Sign up now -- class limited to 15 students.

I've taken her class and she's terrific and inspirational.

Painting takes place at her studio in Oakland, not at the Frank Bette in Alameda. Her studio is open, spacious, and brightly lit, 750 square feet, withi a kitchen/bar and patio flower garden for lunch breaks. The classes will incorporate some plein-air, landscapes, and working on still life, with still-life setups at each class. Location is 1217 32nd Street, Oakland.

Sign up at http://www.frankbettecenter.org/carol_tarzier_oil_painting_class.html .

(If you just can't get enough Carol, see below for more of her classes, not through Frank Bette.)

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-->NEW CLASS!

**DIGITAL ARTS FOR TRADITIONAL ARTISTS**

Instructor: Eric J. Kos

Classes $225 -- Sign up at http://frankbettecenter.org/eric-kos-digital-arts-class.html

February 13, 20 and 27 1-5pm.

Beginning Photoshop, Illustrator and Indesign/Quark

Bring your own laptop with software installed and finally learn how to use it in this 3-day beginner's course. Review the most powerful features of these artist's tools and bring your skills into the 21st Century. Learn skills to both create original art on the screen and convert your digital photos or artwork into various formats for use in the real world.

March 13, 20, 27 1-5pm

Intermediate Photoshop, Illustrator and Indesign/Quark

Bring your own laptop with software installed and build on what you learned last month in this 3-day beginner's course. Students will learn to use applications for definite real-world purposes: printing art for portfolios, creating images for online purposes, creating a marketing brand image: logos, flyers and more.

April 10, 17, 24 1-5pm

Advanced Photoshop, Illustrator and Indesign/Quark

Bring your own laptop with software installed and build on what you learned last month in this 3-day beginner's course. Students will initiate their own projects using the tools to complete real needs. By the end of the course, students will be prepared to print their own business cards and will have completed a project they devised themselves.

About Instructor Eric Kos:

Co-Founder, Creative Director, Alameda Sun Newspaper

Past President, Greater Alameda Business Association

Author, East Bay Then & Now, San Francisco in Photographs

Coming Soon: San Francisco Then & Now (Redux)

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-->NEW CLASS!

**DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY POTENTIAL**

Are all the special features and creative options in your digital camera collecting cobwebs? Explore the inner workings of your camera and brush off the cobwebs! Learn to use the powerful tools which often go unleashed in most digital cameras. Turn those complex menus and extra buttons into something with real potential.

Thursdays 6-8:30 PM, Feb 11, 18, 25 & March 11, 18, 25

Cost: $100 members, $120 non-members

http://frankbettecenter.org/chris-rochette-photography-class.html

Bio:

Chris Rochette has been working with digital cameras for over four years and has experience with many different brands/models. After working as a ships-photographer in the Coast Guard and as a volunteer photographer for the Frank Bette Center he has gained valuable experience in working with digital cameras under various conditions.

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**FOR A FULL LIST OF THESE AND MORE FRANK BETTE CLASSES, VISIT

http://frankbettecenter.org/classes-workshops.html

*INCLUDING WRITING CLASSES, VOCAL WORKSHOP, AND ART JOURNAL/BOOKBINDING WORKSHOP, plus a list of exhibits, children's classes, and more!

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** REGULAR EVENTS at the Frank Bette **

**LIFE DRAWING**

Frank Bette Center, every Tuesday 6:30 - 9:30 pm.

Gesture Poses with a nude model.

All skill levels welcome. Bring your own materials.

Space limited. Pay by the month to cover model fee: $45.

Limited Drop-in Spaces are available at $15 per session.

Frank Bette Members only please! (No Instructor)

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** BETTE'S BODACIOUS BEADING BEAUTIES **

Every Wednesday Evening, 6 – 9 pm - Ongoing - Free

Share your enthusiasm for beads and baubles. Share techniques with fellow beaders; everything from bead stringing to bead weaving. Share works in progress for support and feedback.

This is a supportive space to hang out with and bounce ideas off fellow beaders. Join us! Bring your own materials/project to work on. (No Instructor)

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**MORE ART CLASSES**

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** FEATHER RIVER ART CAMP IN JUNE **

Every year dozens of artists retreat to the mountains above Sacramento and spend a week living in tents and cabins (or the local motels if they prefer) and taking classes and painting, drawing, learning guitar, making glass beads and other crafts, and just getting away from it all. I went in 2008 and it was fun and intensive.

Dates for Feather River Art Camp for 2010: June 20 to 27, 2010 in the Sierras -- get away for a week of artmaking!

Our Class Lineup is pretty impressive. Classes include:

NEW: *Felting Class, Gayle Still

-*Bookmaking* with Rhiannon Alpers

-*Outdoor Installation Art from Nature* with Ron Brown

-*Landscape in Oil* with Kay Carlson

-*Watercolor* with Margaret Fago

-*Guitar* with Larry Ferrara

-*Mosaic Art* with Dmitry Grudsky

-*Papermaking* with Linda Lemon

-*Fused Glass with recyled glass* with Reddy Lieb

-*Writing from the Crazy Child* with Clive Matson

-*Hot Torch Glass Beadmaking* with Harlan Simon

-*Clay* with Blanka Soltys

-*Drawing with Chinese Brush* with Karen LeGault

Feather River Art Camp

http://www.featherriverartcamp.com

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*CAROL TARZIER'S SPRING SCHEDULE OF OIL-PAINTING WORKSHOPS!*

Spring painting workshops are coming up! Beginning Painting is Friday Feb. 5th through June 4, 10 am to 2 pm, at the Methodist Church, 1600 Bancroft Avenue, in San Leandro. The first set of lectures focuses on landscape and the second on still life. The class provides both foundation information and a supportive studio environment for ongoing students.

Cost is $195 for 17 weeks. To enroll, send a check for $195 to the San Leandro Adult School, 2255 Bancroft Avenue, San Leandro, CA, 94577, write on the check "Fine Art-Painting Fridays.”

(510) 618-4420, www.sanleandroadultschool.org.

She's also teaching at her studio in Oakland, 1217 32nd Street in Oakland, Saturdays 1-5 p.m., Feb. 6th through May 29th.

The class is in two sessions, focusing on landscape, then on still life.

Class size is limited to 15 students.

The studio is open, spacious, and brightly lit, 750 square feet, with a kitchen/bar and patio flower garden for lunch breaks. Sign up through the Frank Bette Center, www.frankbettecenter.org, and receive a bonus 1/2 hour private critique.

Session 1 February 6 through April 3

Session 2 – April 10 - May 29

Cost: $175 per session or both for $310.

She will email you the supply list and schedule at your request.

Further details: http://www.tarzier.com.

Carol Tarzier

1217 32nd Street

Oakland, CA 94608

fax 510 652-9000

studio 510 652-9100

cell 510 507-2524

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** SOCIETY OF WESTERN ARTISTS IN REDWOOD CITY **

*ARTIST WORKSHOPS - 2010*

SWA announces the following workshops with local and nationally recognized artists:

Karen Frey - 2-Day Watercolor Workshop January 30, 31, 2010

Gil Dellinger - 3-Day Oil, Pastel, Acrylic Workshop April 23, 24, 25, 2010

Steve Curl - 2-Day Watercolor Plein Air May 22, 23, 2010

Floy Zittin - 3-Day Watercolor July 16, 17, 18, 2010

Randall Sexton - 3-Day Plein Air Oil Workshop August 6, 7, 8, 2010

Alan Flattmann - 5-Day Oil and Pastel Workshop September 20-24, 2010

Doug Dawson - 3-Day Pastel/Oil Workshop October 8, 9, 10, 2010

Workshops are held at the SWA Gallery in Redwood City and are open to everyone. For details, please visit http://societyofwesternartists.com/workshops2009and2010.html

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**LOCAL PLEIN AIRE PAINTING GROUPS

See http://www.pleinairlinks.com/Plein_Air_Links/Welcome.html

the organizing site for a number of Bay Area outdoor painting groups:

*Benecia Plein Air Group (aka DaGroup)

http://www.pleinairlinks.com/Plein_Air_Links/DaGroup.html

*Peninsula Outdoor Painters (aka POPs)

http://www.pleinairlinks.com/Plein_Air_Links/POPs.html

*A Few Other Painting Groups listed at http://www.pleinairlinks.com/Plein_Air_Links/Other_Group_Links.html

*See also http://www.pleinairlinks.com/Plein_Air_Links/Introduction.html for an overview of how to get on the mailing list(s) and what it's all about. The groups post photos of their weekend adventures every month so you can see what your competition looks like ;-).

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**MUSIC AND THEATER**

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CAL STATE HAYWARD (I mean, East Bay): Visit their Arts Calendar at http://class.csueastbay.edu/iraevents/artscal.pdf for details of concerts of jazz, choral, orchestral and other works this Spring.

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OPERA SAN JOSE: Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro

Feb. 6-21

(408) 437-4450 or www.operasj.org

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** "RENT" AT CASTRO VALLEY CENTER FOR ARTS! **

Seven young artists struggle to survive and create in New York's East village in the 1990's. Jonathan Larson's Pulitzer-prize-winning Broadway rock musical is loosely based on Puccini's "La Boheme." Presented for the first time on an East Bay stage, come see what everyone has been talking about.

Tickets now on sale for this East Bay Premier. RENT opens January 29th at 7:30 p.m. for two weekends only! Tickets: click the RENT link at: http://www.cv.k12.ca.us/our-district/arts-calendar/?searchterm=Center%20for%20Arts

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GOOD LUCK -- AND GOOD ART TO YOU!

MAC