The View From Plossville

We launched the new Miller, Driscoll and Wilton Preschool Services Website on Saturday morning.

It looks great, I think anyway, and will continue grow into a greater resource for parents and students alike.

Take a look at it here.

Well as we hurtle towards the end of summer ‘08 a moment to reflect on things.

Summer started the Monday after school ended with rehearsals for Grease with Summerstage. We had 50 6th to 10th graders and they all did a great job. We had fun, I did anyway, and they put on a great show at The Clune Center at Wilton High School. We had 530 people for opening night and 350 or so for the second night. I am told that we broke records.

Then it was on to The Daycare Center of New Canaan for thier summer program. We built block buildings, did plaster sculptures and castings, learned about nature and had a great time.

We built several modern buildings this summer. This is one of them.

We learned how to tell sasfrass from other plants.

Sarah went to Camp Huckins this summer for the first time and for two weeks. She was there in New Hamphshire where the tornado was. She had a great time and made new friends. Interestingly enough the director of the camp was a councilor with Laura in the seventies and eighties.

The weather was intersting this summer with tornadoes in New Hampshire and storms around here of biblical proportions. Really cool clouds though.

This was taken from the ground at Meade Park in New Canaan.

This was a nice sunset late july

While visiting relatives as part of a weekend that had more people flying/driving to more places in a staggered, one after another approach, I had the opportunity to have breakfast (twice) and ice cream (once) at Charlotte’s Cozy Kitchen and Rail Trail Ice Cream Shop in Pepperell Massachusetts.


Breakfast was so good I went the next day. The “Little Bit” (2 eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, 1 pancake, 1 french toast) was wonderful and a great way to sample the main breakfast menu at $6 adn change. The staff is wonderful and the place is quaint and delightful. If you are in Pepperell by all means go there. If you are within driving distance and hungry, you should probably stop by too.

142 Main St, Pepperell, MA
Tel: (978) 433-2693

For those of you who are over 13 or so and have not yet seen “The Dark Knight” I offer the following advice..

What are you waiting for!?

Go see it, now before it goes away.

It is amazing and Heath Ledger’s Joker is the best of them all which makes me sad.

But by all means go see it.

It is very creepy so my younger friends need to wait until they are older. Really, It will be on DVD and you can see it when you are old enough.

The rest of you, go see it.

Well they say that all good things must come to an end and this is especially true when you do live theater. So, last night, the 2008 Wilton Summerstage production of Grease came to an end.

We had great fun and a very successful run with over 500 people opening night and over 300 last night.

Thanks to cast members Ashley, Kaitlyn, Jack, Joseph, Brian, Lauren, Jackie, Sylvia, Megan, Cathryn, Taylor, Patrick, Matt, Cole, Barett, Meg, Grace, Gregory, Stephen, Tess, Jeremy, Karl, Julia, Michael, Alex, Ray, Nick, Jon, Annie, Ian, Megan, Brandon, Christie, Julianna, Walker, Lily, Amanda, Jessica, Lindsay, Lorin, Valentina, Paige, Katie, Dillon, Jessica, Hunter, Claire, Becky, and Emily.

Thanks also to a great staff. Thanks to Anna, Laura, Jenna, Brad, Tim, Justine, Brandon, Nicole, Michelle, Peggy, Lauren, Jim and Craig.

What a band! Anna, Brad, JP, Chris and John and thier inpromptu musical interludes during intermission.

Thanks to George for the program design. Thank you too Trackside, Wilton High School and Jose, Wilton Pizza, The Massari’s and Mark Keough.

Thanks to wonderful audiences, selfless volunteers, dedicated people all around.

Grease is the word.

I am testing “Scribefire” an extension for Mozilla Firefox that allows you to post to your blog without having to log in.

The Town of Wilton’s Official Website said that Home Depot will accept used CFL’s at their stores starting July 1st. Here’s the announcement.

Recycling Compact Flourescent Bulbs Gets Easier

July 1, 2008

Wilton
residents who want to save money and energy by using compact
flourescent bulbs have always had to think ahead about how to dispose
of the CFLs, which contain mercury. That part of the equation is about
to get easier, as national chains begin to accept used bulbs in their
stores. The most striking development so far will be close to home for
Wilton residents. The New York Times reports that Home Depot will announce on July 1 that it will take back CFLs at all its stores nationwide.

“This
is big news,” said Patricia Sesto, Wilton director of environmental
affairs. The Wilton Conservation Commission provides information on its
web page about the safe disposal of CFLs.

It is always a tragedy when someone is taken from this life to early and I don’t think that there is anyone who could argue that Nick Parisot was taken far to early.

Having met him several times in town, usually with his dad, I always found him to be respectful and a nice guy. From what I have been reading on the blogs and on Facebook, he seems to have been genuinely liked by all of his peers.

Like most folks from these parts we await the findings of the police investigation as to the cause and possible person/people responsible (most probably unknowingly) but we must not loose sight of the fact that Nick is gone.

Our thoughts, prayers and deepest condolences go our to Nick’s family and friends.

Well now it is official, the order is in and Abstracts: minimalist scribblings will be in the Austin Museum of Art’s store during their May 24th - August 17th Lewitt x2 Exhibit.

Details from the AMOA website:

LeWitt x 2 is a two-part exhibition that focuses both on the artworks of Sol LeWitt and on his personal collection of contemporary art. Sol LeWitt: Structure and Line documents the full arc of the artist’s career. Renowned for his contributions to minimalism and conceptual art, LeWitt’s pencil drawings, brilliantly colored gouaches, and “structures” made of wood, aluminum, and fiberglass have defined and pushed the limits of art-making for over forty years. Throughout his career critics have admired how his work synthesizes left and right brain creativity and provokes both intellectual and emotional responses. Selections from the LeWitt Collection showcases works by an exciting array of national and international artists including Alice Aycock, Bernd and Hilla Becher, Alighiero Boetti, Hanne Darboven, Gilbert & George, Hans Haake, Eva Hesse, On Kawara, Shirin Neshat, and Robert Ryman.

Organized by the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art.

Well the cone of silence, can I tell you how much I can’t wait for Get Smart this summer, has been lifted on this fall’s Wilton Children’s Theater production title.

The candy wrapper please…..

Yes it is Willy Wonka!

Check the WCT website for registration dates (check them soon and often as they may be different this year).

I love this show and can’t wait to get going on it….but first, Grease is the word for the summer.

Skip

I received an email late last night from Justin Hearne. Now most of you probably don’t know her but she is my new hero. She is in charge of the store at The Austin Museum of Art in Austin Texas. She asked if she could put Abstracts: minimalist scribblings in the AMOA Store.

Yes, yes she can.

We are working out the details but this is the first museum to stock any of my books and a big thank you goes out to Justin and the rest of her team for the chance to be on her shelves.

So, if you’re in Austin by all means go to the museum and say thanks.

So on a Ploss family excursion to Ikea today we saw something that I just had to share. Now, I love Ikea and so do many other folks and this is a good, bringing modernism to the masses thing I know.

But, one wonders….

If you are going to Ikea and you own a Porsche, one would assume that you also own…oh an Escalade, Denali, Mercedes G something or other. One would also assume that if you have your license and can operate machinery larger than a toaster that you might think ahead and realize that taking the Porsche to Ikea to pick up lawn furniture was a bad idea.

Maybe not.

According to what can only be termed very reliable sources, some of the houses listed in my arial recon report ( seen here ) are mis-labeled.

The house I called The Luthold House is actually called The Leuthold House according to an email from someone who grew up in the house. I think that apologies are in order and we would need to differ to a family member of the original owners of the house, again, my apologies.

In other correction news, The house labeled The McCarthy House is, according to it’s current resident and again I think we need to differ to someone who is sitting (or has sat) in the actual home, actually The Murphy House.

More later.

Queen Nur came to Miller/Driscoll on Tuesday April 22nd and what a visit!

For those of you who have not yet had the pleasure of a visit by the Queen she is, at a most basic definition, a storyteller. A broader definition is more appropriate. She is a storyteller, entertainer and embassador of both history and diversity.

Through song, dance and the coercion of teachers and staff, Queen Nur weaves stories about diversity, self respect, history and the treatment of others.

The children from preschool to 2nd grade were enthralled, engaged, mesmerized and enraptured by the performance and when some of the students, teachers and staff, Mr. Skip included, were brought up on stage to perform along with her, the place went wild.

A wonderful performance and wonderful experience for all.

Tax day dawned bright and warm which was a good thing since the Ploss clan was headed for a day in the big city.

We started with a lovely drive in and before you start complaining about the car vs the train thing…when you have a car with decent mileage and you have over two people it’s actually cheaper to drive. We spent $57.50 in gas, tolls and parking and the train would have cost $65 with parking and tickets. As an aside, I think that maybe the answer to Manhattan’s traffic problems should be offering Mass transit cheaper rather than making driving more expensive. But that’s just me.

Anyway, after delightful drive in and parking down in Battery Park City (where we were meeting a friend for dinner later) we walked around a little then caught a cab uptown to Madame Tussaud’s.

Tussaud’s, Laura and I had been to the one in London back in 1993, was fun. We took pictures with folks, or sculptures thereof, ranging from Ted Turner to Will Smith. Sarah’s favorites were the afore mentioned Will Smith, Pelé, ‘NSYNC, The Don, Elvis, The Spice Girls and Steven Spielberg. Laura’s included Paul Newman, The Rock, Hugh Grant and Janis Joplin.

I had a few as well. Besides Picasso there was Benny Hill, John Wayne, Casto and Arafat, Elle MacPherson, Salvador Dali, Ben Franklin, Lucille Ball, Jimmy Hendricks, Jerry Garcia, Matthew Broderick, Nathan Lane and Don King. It was great fun, not at all crowded but pretty expensive. They say you can take as many pictures as you like but the “hot” celebs, or rather the ones your kids are going to want their pictures taken with, are roped off and you have to pay to get the pictures taken by staff members.

Then it was off to South Street Seaport and my old stomping grounds. You see, about 15 years ago I was in the fish business and as such made several trips to Fulton Fish Market. Fulton was the place to buy wholesale seafood back in the day and being there again brought back memories. The city moved the market up to the Bronx but some of the old buildings are still there including Slavin’s where we used to get all of our “flats” (sole, flounder).

After South Street Seaport, great views of the Brooklyn Bridge, Governors Island and the East River and a Crépe and some Ice Cream we took a stroll across town to The Esplanade, World Financial and Ground Zero.

Hooking up with long-time friend George Scheidewind at his condo in Battery Park City, we headed back up to World Financial and PJ Clarkes for dinner. We sat outside and had a great view of the sun going down over New Jersey. Dinner was great and the Wintergarden was beautiful at night.

We walked back to George’s, said our good byes and then got the car and headed home. A great family day.

Below are some other pix.

A cool doorway in Fulton Market.

Another sunset shot from the Esplanade.

The Brooklyn Bridge.

Salvador Dali in wax. Does anyone else see an irony here?

So a friend sent this along through Facebook this morning.

We all have seen usb flash or thumb drives. I have one I wear on my badge necklace every day but none look as cool as these. They are flash drives as jewelry and look pretty cool.

They are from Tonia Walter http://www.toniawelter.de/.

We have been stuffed full o’ culture lately.

Last weekend we saw a production of Grease at Trinity Catholic High School in Stamford. The kids did a great job and seemed to have fun despite a few technical glitches. I came away with a great respect and gratitude for the theaters we have to work in around here.

Saturday was a busy day culturewise.

We started in New Canaan at Saxe Middle School where we saw a great production of Guys and Dolls done by the students. I found it hard to remember sometimes that they were 6th through 8th graders. It was a great performance.

Then it was off to St. Matthews Church in Wilton to see the Westminster College Choir and our good friend Ketti Muschler. She had a solo. She was fantastic. The rest of the group was breathtaking as well. The conductor should be doing stand-up.

Next weekend it’s Orson’s Shadow at Westport community Theater.

After teaching at the YMCA today, I stopped by Gregory Sawmill. For those not aware of what it is or what it means to Wilton…

The Gregory Sawmill is the longest running family owned business in Wilton. It was started back in the 1840’s and has been going ever since. It has become a favorite source of ground cover and high-end lumber for floors and mantles.

There is a shed on the property, located at the corner of Pimpewaug and RT 7, that has been in the same place in the yard since around 1900. Today, without ceremony, it moved about 30 feet to it’s new, drier, location.

First the shed was picked up.

Then it was moved to it’s new location.

It had to be picked up pretty high in the air.

It was gingerly placed on the new beams.

Placing it was difficult.

All set. Roxanne Gregory in the shed after the move.

As I have mentioned in a previous post I currently have several book projects on my desk.
There are now two in the running for first out of the gate,

“Holy Mackerel” and one I am calling “Project Zoom” are both based on experiences this year at Miller/Driscoll. Both are nearly complete. Zoom has no text and for those who liked Abstracts…may find this interesting as well.

“…Mackerel” is based on a saying that one of the teachers I’ve been working with this year uses a lot.

Also on my “to do” list is a book whose working title is “Empty Hat Boxes and Half Open Drawers”. It is a book about the Harvard Five for kids.

There are tentative “events” in the works for June and July, both in Wilton. I’ll keep you posted.

As it looks now, this summer will be a busy one.

I have several books I am trying to finish, two to be exact, I am directing “Grease” with Wilton Children’s Theater’s Summerstage and I will be working at The Daycare Center of New Canaan in July and August.

The later means that I will get to build buildings with young architects again. Last summer and fall we built modern open-architecture buildings such as Eliot Noyes’ Noyes House 2 together and discovered that if we don’t build huge and use our blocks sparingly, we can get a good three or four houses out of the same pile that would have gone into one house before.

I took Bill Earl’s excellent “Harvard Five in New Canaan” book in and showed it to the kids and they took off from there.

We discovered deconstructivism as well with this building.

Now we have new blocks, new kids and I can’t wait.

Here are some links to stories about the show in New Canaan.

Wilton Bulletin
New Canaan Advertiser
Hersam Acorn Arts Section

I know there is more out there.

We are having a great time and the show has been very well received by very good houses. Hopefully I’ll see even more familiar faces in the coming weeks.