Musician Mark Guerrero

Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month at the Museum of Ventura County with a stroll through their invitational low rider car show, and a screening of Chicano Rock! The Sounds of East LA, the documentary film by Emmy winning filmmakers Jon and Nancy Wilkman. The event on Sunday, October 9 also includes an expert panel discussion about music of that era, as well as a special performance by musician and songwriter Mark Guerrero, who led the popular East Los Angeles band Mark & the Escorts in the 1960s.

The car show runs from 3:00- 4:30 p.m. and the film screening begins at 5:00 p.m. Admission is $15 for the general public, $10 for museum members, and also includes entry to all museum galleries. For reservations, call (805) 653-0323 x 7.

Chicano Rock! The Sounds of East Los Angeles is based on the book Land of a Thousand Dances by Tom Waldman and David Reyes, and traces the history of Chicano music in Los Angeles from the legendary Lalo Guerrero to the groups Cannibal and the Headhunters, Tierra and Ozomatli. It tells the story of how generations of young people from the country’s largest Mexican American community created a unique musical voice and used it to express their identity. Narrated by Edward James Olmos, the hour documentary combines the exuberant music with intimate interviews and rare archival photos and film.

A panel discussion will follow the film, and include such notables as the filmmakers Jon and Nancy Wilkman; musician, songwriter and Chicano music historian Mark Guerrero; music producer Max Uballez, formerly of the Romancers; Tom Waldman and David Reyes, noted authorities on Chicano rock and roll and co-authors of Land of a Thousand Dances: Chicano Rock and Roll from Southern California.

The Museum of Ventura County is located at 100 East Main Street in downtown Ventura. Hours are 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Admission is $4 adults, $3 seniors, $1 children 6-17, members and children under 6 are free. For more museum information go to www.venturamuseum.org or call 805-653-0323.

The October 5th meeting is at Faulkner Farms, University of California Hansen Trust 14292 Telegraph Rd, Santa Paula.

Time: 100 pm

The program will be "Make A Salad Garden Bowl", with Janet Foy, Member & Master Gardender.

Cost is $5.00 for materials, payable on arrival.

Plants are available for purchase from the nursery and antiques/misc. items at the Barn for purchase.

Pumpkin refreshments will be served.

Guests are invited, and parking is in the lot off Briggs Road.

Wear comfortable shoes, and bring a shade hat.

Greg Williams

Camarillo, CA - CSU Channel Islands (CI) will present its seventh annual Campus Reading Celebration featuring Dr. Gregory H. Williams, author of Life on the Color Line: The True Story of a White Boy Who Discovered He Was Black, at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 3 in Salon A on the campus. A book-signing will follow Williams’ presentation.

The Campus Reading Celebration provides an annual opportunity for the campus community and public to share in a common intellectual experience. This year’s Campus Reading Celebration book follows the life of Williams, who grew up believing he was white but learned that his father was half black when they moved to his father’s hometown of Muncie, Indiana. In this remarkable memoir, Williams brings us with him as he negotiates the “color line” and brings a vivid contrast between the black and white worlds. As the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported, this book is “heartbreaking and uplifting . . . a searing book about race and prejudice in America . . . brims with insights that only someone who has lived on both sides of the racial divide could gain.”

Williams currently serves as the 27th president of the University of Cincinnati, one of the nation’s top 25 public research universities. He is the author of three published books, the best known of which is Life on the Color Line: The True Story of a White Boy Who Discovered He Was Black. As a result of this autobiography, he has been featured on a number of national programs including “Oprah,” “Dateline NBC with Tom Brokaw,” “Larry King Live,” ABC's “Nightline with Ted Koppel” and “Fresh Air with Terri Gross” of National Public Radio.

In 1995, Life on the Color Line was selected as Book of the Year by The Los Angeles Times. In 1996, the Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Human Rights in North America named Life on the Color Line an “Outstanding Book on the Subject of Human Rights.” Williams has also written a number of articles and book reviews for The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post and other publications.

Reservations are required for this event and can be made online at: http://www.csuci.edu/crc/. Admission for CI students, faculty, and staff is free. The cost for community members is $10 and $5 for non-CI students.

Limited parking is available on campus and is complimentary. Follow signs to designated event parking areas. Free parking is available at the Camarillo Metrolink Station /Lewis Road parking lot in Camarillo with complimentary shuttle service to and from the campus. Riders should board the CI VISTA Bus. Buses arrive and depart from the Camarillo Metrolink Station every 30 minutes from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday. For exact times, check the schedule at www.goventura.org.

For additional information contact Merissa Stith, Events Coordinator, at 805-437-8548 or merissa.stith@csuci.edu.

About California State University Channel Islands
CSU Channel Islands (CI) is the only four-year, public university in Ventura County and is known for its interdisciplinary, multicultural and international perspectives, and its emphasis on experiential and service learning. CI’s strong academic programs focus on business, sciences, liberal studies, teaching credentials, and innovative master’s degrees. Students benefit from individual attention, up-to-date technology, and classroom instruction augmented by outstanding faculty research.

THOUSAND OAKS, CA - An artist who recently emigrated from China will display his powerful installations featuring blackened tree trunks at California Lutheran University from Oct. 6 through Nov. 15.

An opening reception for “Life’s Crossroad: Installations by Gong Yuebin” will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 6, in Kwan Fong Gallery of Art and Culture inside Soiland Humanities Center. Yuebin’s work will also be displayed at the flagpoles outside the building.

Yuebin, who lives in Sacramento, created the sculpture installation series in 2010 to express the relationship between people and the earth’s resources, particularly the crossroads at which we find ourselves in preserving natural resources. Struck by the sight of acres of trees in Lake Tahoe that had burned in a forest fire and seeing a connection between them and the casualties of war, he used blackened trunks of large cedar trees to create monumental arrangements that are evocative of stone circles or watching figures.

The installations also reflect Yuebin’s two near-death experiences, one as a child and one as an adult. Born in 1960, Yuebin and his family were forced to work the land in a rural village in Northern China because his parents had been labeled political dissidents. He bonded with nature during a childhood filled with hunger, fear, physical hardship and political persecution. His first brush with death came when he nearly drowned while gathering wild yams that had been washed away by a flood.

Later, Yuebin was able to move to the city and study at art colleges. He taught art at a community college for seven years and participated in shows and competitions. He then put aside fine art for 10 years while working as a commercial art designer. A serious illness, his second near-death experience, prompted him to reconsider his priorities. He decided to immigrate to the United States and return to art. Instead of returning to Chinese-style ink painting, he sought a new medium of expression and began work on installations.

Soiland Humanities Center is on the south side of Memorial Parkway near Regent Avenue on the Thousand Oaks campus. It is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

The Lois and Allan Friedman Family Foundation and the CLU Art Department are sponsoring the free exhibition. For more information, call Michael Pearce at 805-444-7716 or visit http://www.callutheran.edu.

Come see inside our hard working beehive, let your kids climb on a vintage tractor, and learn about how food is grown, when the Museum of Ventura County's long awaited Agriculture Museum opens in Santa Paula on Sunday, September 25. Enjoy free admission for the day, docent led tours, and live music by the Lynn Mullins Pickup Band, from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Insects: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly features the museum’s own working beehive and macro close-up photographs of bees, taken with a scanning electron microscope by artist and photographer Rose-Lynn Fisher. Visitors can examine bugs with an "EyeClops" microscope, and learn about insects such as the tiny but fierce Asian Citrus Psyllid, which poses a serious threat to the citrus industry.

Eight vintage tractors, dating from 1914 to 1955, are found throughout the building, including one upon which children can sit. The machines are part of a rotating display of the museum’s nationally recognized collection of farm implements. display of the museum’s nationally recognized collection of farm implements.

Permanent exhibits using rare historical photographs and interactive elements, tell the story of Ventura County’s farming and ranching tradition. Starting with Mission times, visitors can trace the county’s evolution into one of the nation’s most productive growing regions, and learn what innovations are in store for an industry that presently employs more than 30,000 county residents.

The realization of more than 40 years of effort and dedication by supporters, the Agriculture Museum is appropriately housed in the landmark 1888 restored Mill building, at 926 Railroad Avenue, beside the railroad tracks and across from the depot in Santa Paula, California's historic downtown.

The museum is open 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday, with admission $4 adults, $3 seniors, $1 children 6-17, and children under 6 free. Membership in the Museum of Ventura County includes free admission to both their Agriculture Museum and the Museum of Ventura County’s primary location at 100 East Main Street in Ventura. For more information, go to www.venturamuseum.org

To receive information about the September 24 Grand Opening Celebration Fundraiser for the Agriculture Museum, please contact development@venturamuseum.org.

http://seaside-games.com

The Seaside Highland Games, already choc-a-block with wonderful things to see and do, is adding new and exciting things to the Highland experience of all who attend! Bagpipe Bands already committed will arrive from all over California and many of the Western States. Premier Highland Dancers by the scores will amaze you from their Amtrak California Stage near the front gate. And the Scottish athletes--the Highland Heavies--will return to the friendly environs of Morgan Arena just at the end of Clan Row. But they will return--not with just their normal feats of strength and agility but with the new LIGHT WEIGHT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP INVITATIONAL held exclusively at Seaside! And if you really believe the "Light Weight" throwers are light-weights, think again! This will be an awesome show featuring the best athletes from around the world.

For those of you who love Sara Goodman's All Breed Herding Dogs demonstrations ( and who doesn't), have no fear as she will be right beside the athletes in her very own "Oceanside Herding Arena!" That end of Clan Row will be one very popular destination. What else is happening there you ask? Well, in addition to our beloved Bydand Forever, the Gordon Highlanders recreators (whose live black powder show occurring in Morgan Arena each day), we are welcoming back Richard Brown's Highlander Warriors whose encampment beside Bydand's will impress you and whose action packed sword demonstrations on the green will send you back to those earlier, wilder days.

On a more "civilized" note, the music wafting in from across the way on the Celtic Rock Stage will be favorites Eric Rigler and his band Bad Haggis. That is not a commentary on either haggis, the Scottish delicacy, or Eric's music which is amazingly GOOD...just a name! Eric brings with him this year a new band (new to us at least) called Anita and the Yanks. You will be pleased to hear the soothing melodies sung by Anita Mansfield and the hard-driving rhythms set up by her band.

Moving back through the more than 80 Clan Society encampments we come to Center Stage where so much action is focused. First is the unfortunate news of our working without Star Performer Alex Beaton this year. Many of you know that Alex was seriously injured in a home accident at the end of July and remains hospitalized but making steady progress as we speak. So serious, however, that the Seaside Games has set up a "Matching Funds" benefit to assist Alex and Linda when this is all over and that is highlighted on our website.

That Center Stage will still be a happening place with the return of perennial favorites, the Browne Sisters and George Cavanaugh and adding the fantastic musicianship of the Southern California band Sligo Rags. You will not want to miss a beat of their exciting sets. While you are in the area, look for Alex's tent and the wonderful volunteers selling his products led by the dear Helen and Bill Eisenhower.

We cannot leave this area without a mention of Saturday's noontime Grand Parade and Opening Ceremonies. You will see every Clan and moveable organization represented here and to be greeted by our Very Special Guest, The Marquess of Huntly, Chief of the House of Gordon, the "Cock o' the North" himself, Granville Huntly of Aboyne, Scotland who will declare the Games "Officially Open!"

The amazing Wood family performers, "Celtic Spring" will hold forth to their usual record-breaking crowds on their stage in Vendor Building One, just steps away from the very active Children's Glen where we have just added the popular Story Teller Neal McLeod who delights and entertains all ages.

Scottish Country Dancers not just occupy but make come alive their own building, McBride Hall. Our newly "resurrected" Scottish Fiddle Competition (after having been shelved in the State of California for over twelve years) will return as an expanded and popular event for both Saturday and Sunday this year. Premier keyboardist Shauna Pickett-Gordon and National Champion Fiddler Colyn Fischer, who are professionally known as Peat-Fire Flame, will oversee that Competition once again. They will also be in concert together with our Scottish Country Dancers at the Four Points Sheraton Hotel on Saturday night.

Other than that and a little Gordon "Dinner with the Chief" at the Crowne Plaza Hotel for a hundred and fifty, a wedding for two hundred plus extended hours for the Celtic Rock Stage--ALL on Saturday night--things are rocking along as usual! Why not come and take in some of the fun yourself? Call John & Nellie at 818-886-4968 or see seaside-games.com for more information. Come to Seaside and see!!

The 2011 Seaside Highland Games will be hosting, as it always does, a wide variety of bagpipe band competitions, dance events plus the ever popular athletic competitions--the amazing "Highland Heavies" tossing their weights and cabers for height, distance and accuracy. All classes of athletes from pros down to rank amateurs will try their hand at throwing the hammer and the weights, putting the stones and turning the caber--that telephone pole shaped instrument (which is not at all tossed or "turned" for distance but for accuracy alone). You will see some of the biggest, the brawniest and most awesome bodies on the planet striving to make this happen. And that brawn combined with an equal amount of skill and technique just may set some records for the old home crowd!
But, a very talented group of athletes will be descending on Seaside this year for a very special competition--a worldwide "invitation only" competition--for the smaller but just as dedicated athletes. The Seaside Games will host the inaugural SAAA Men's Lightweight World Championships featuring the top Highland Games athletes from around the world weighing in at under 200 pounds. Competitors will travel from across the country and around the world to compete in this elite group. Spectators are sure to enjoy watching some of the best pound-for-pound Highland Games athletes in the world compete with their peers.

Competing as they will in the same events as the other classes and professionals, you will be amazed to see what these guys can do. The Lightweights' main sponsor is WZI Inc. from Bakersfield, California who will be debuting a new solar/electric hybrid bike concept vehicle at the this Seaside competition. Border States Electric will also be sponsoring this unique event.

As of publication, the list of entrants includes:
Mark Howe, FL
Jeff Thornton, WA
Luke Hilgers, WI
Mike Berby, VT
Ryan Seckman, AZ
Kevin Rogers, IL
Johnnie Stone, CO
Rich Wilson, CA
Jeff Goodman, CA
Adam Larson, WA
Clayton Funderburke, FL
Pete McGraith, CA
Scott Clark, UK
Robert Henderson, MS
Phil Sansotta, ID

September 25, 2011

SANTA PAULA, CA – An intimate concert with the Ventura County group, Gathering, will be held at the Santa Paula Art Museum on Sunday, September 25, 2011 from 4 to 6 p.m. Wine and hors d’oeuvres will also be served. Admission to the concert is $20 for Museum members and $25 for non-members.

Gathering, which consists of band members Teddi Cassity, Gregg Cassity, Eric Brown and Bill Bartels, describe themselves as a group of friends, musicians all, who have come together in a gathering to make music from the heart. Rooted in folk, blues, rock and roll, Celtic and American idioms, it is music of lives fully lived, lives impacted by life, and lives finding center and joy.

The concert will feature an acoustic blend of styles, harmonies and genres, mixed to be mesmerizing. According to Museum Director, Jennifer Heighton, “Gathering embodies all of the best qualities of live music: rich sound, a casual attitude, and a feeling of being among friends. Teddi Cassity’s voice in particular will remind you of the soulful female folk musicians of yesterday.”

Bartels, currently the music teacher at Santa Paula’s Little Red School house, encourages everyone to make music, see the world through the lens of music and allow the creativity of music to challenge the hearts and minds of all of us. The band’s relaxed but captivating sound is a perfect complement to the sights of the Museum and concert guests will be able to enjoy both the band and the art currently on exhibit.

The Museum is located at 117 North 10th Street, Santa Paula, CA 93060. Reservations for the concert are recommended. The Museum’s regular hours are Wednesday – Saturday, 10 AM – 4 PM, and Sundays, 12 PM – 4 PM. More information is available by calling the Museum at (805) 525-5554, or email info@santapaulaartmuseum.org

THOUSAND OAKS, CA - The co-producer/director of a documentary on the “Chinese Joan of Arc” will discuss the film at a free screening from 7:30 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 24, at California Lutheran University.

Rae Chang will talk after “Autumn Gem” is shown in the Preus-Brandt Forum. The hour-long film was produced and directed by Chang and her husband, fellow San Francisco Bay Area Chinese-American filmmaker Adam Tow.

The documentary explores the extraordinary life of Qiu Jin, a radical women’s rights activist who defied tradition to become the leader of a revolutionary army. She was the first woman to lead an armed uprising against the corrupt Qing Dynasty, for which she was captured and executed. She became the first female martyr for China’s 1911 Revolution and is celebrated as a national heroine today. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the 1911 Revolution that ended imperial rule in China.

While Jin is a familiar figure in China, she is largely unknown outside of the country. “Autumn Gem” is the first documentary feature on her in the United States. The 2009 film features scholar interviews, archival materials and scenes adapted from Jin’s original writings. It stars former Chinese martial arts champion and Hollywood stunt actress Li Jing.

“Autumn Gem” has screened at more than 90 venues throughout the world including Stanford University, the University of California, Berkeley, and the Tribeca Film Center in New York. It was featured at the 10th International Women in Asia Conference at Australia National University in 2010.

Chang, who also served as writer and editor for the film, is an artist and graphic designer. She has worked in a variety of mediums including drawing, sculpture, performance and video. Her work has been presented in the San Francisco Bay Area at the Chinese Culture Center, the Pacific Film Archive and New College of California Gallery. Trained in Chinese martial arts (wushu), she performs with the dance company Facing East Dance and Music.

The Ventura County Chinese American Association, Ventura Chinese School and CLU’s Center for Equality and Justice, Languages and Cultures Department and Multicultural and International Programs are sponsoring the event.

Preus-Brandt Forum is located south of Olsen Road near Mountclef Boulevard on the Thousand Oaks campus. For more information, contact Debby Chang at ddchang@callutheran.edu or 818-865-9772.

"Being Tim Burton"
Join us for a day trip to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art to see what shaped the personal vision of director, writer, producer and artist Tim Burton, known for inventively combining humor, melancholy and fantasy in such films as Edward Scissorhands and
The Nightmare Before Christmas. The exhibition includes more than 700 pieces, including sketches from his time as a Disney animator.
Saturday, October 15 • 10 am - 3:30 pm
$75 • $65 MVC members • RSVP: 805.653.0323 x 305
Ticket price includes transportation and special exhibit admission.

Chinatown, the "Chung King Road" & the Chinese American Museum
Symbolically housed in the oldest and last surviving structure of Los Angeles’ original Chinatown, the Chinese American Museum embodies both a cultural and physical link to the past and a promising point of entry for the city’s multicultural future.
Comfortable walking shoes are recommended.
Saturday, November 12 • 9 am – 3:30 pm
$85 • $75 MVC members • RSVP: 805.653.0323 x 305
Transportation, classic chinese lunch and museum admission are included in price.

Museum of Ventura County
100 E. Main St. • Ventura
www.venturamuseum.org • Find us on Facebook

This is the second annual production of one act plays written by Ventura County writers after 2010’s well-received Acts2Grind. Quills & Keys runs from October 21 through November 6. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm, Sundays at 4 pm with two special Thursday performances on October 27 and November 3 where all patrons pay what they can (PWYC) for admission. Tickets are $12 for adults, $10 for Seniors, Students and Military. For ticket information, call the box office at (805) 525-4645 or visit www.santapaulatheatercenter.org.

The Stories:
Self Storage: A man seeks revenge for an act of evil committed against his mother thirty years prior.

love (lower case): Gina disconnects from her boyfriend while searching for something more.

Kingdom of Perpetual Night: A group of characters meet on a train traveling the ether, where physics meet the metaphysical.

Everyone Laughs at the King’s Jokes: The King seeks to resolve a dilemma. Is he truly funny or does everyone laugh at his humor because he wears the crown?

Murder Redux: Evelyn suspects her husband of having an affair. How does she spend her free time? Imagining ways of killing him, of course.

Listening to Ivan: A group of characters find themselves gathered in a room to engage in psychotherapy. Why are they there against their will? Who’s pulling the strings?

Rent Controlled Apt.: Mr. Fielding lives in fear. He refuses to leave his apartment; however, one day, against his better judgment, he lets an unexpected visitor inside. Now, he’ll never be the same.

Quills & Keys
October 21 – November 6
Thur, Fri & Sat at 8 pm, Sunday at 4 pm
Two special Thursday performances on October 27 and November 3 at 8 pm, PWYC
Santa Paula Theater Center, 125 South 7th Street Santa Paula, CA 93060
Tickets are $12 Adults, $10 Seniors, Students & Military. Tickets can be reserved by calling the box office at (805) 525-4645 or through www.santapaulatheatercenter.org

SANTA PAULA, CA – A demonstration by well loved artist, Norman Kirk will take place on Saturday, September 17th at 2:00 p.m. at the Santa Paula Art Museum located at 117 N. 10th Street, Santa Paula. The artist’s finished painting will be raffled off to one very lucky guest! Museum members: $5, Non-Members $10 and the price of your admission ticket includes a raffle ticket! Reservations are recommended but not necessary by calling 525-5554.

Currently on exhibition at the Museum is Norman Kirk: A 74 year love affair with art. “It is an honor for the Santa Paula Art Museum to be able to feature Norman Kirk’s work. He is a true Santa Paula treasure,” said Jennifer Heighton, Executive Director of the Museum. “The exhibit includes a number of his earliest paintings, some have never been seen. It is rare to have such a comprehensive collection of an artist’s work in a single exhibit.”

Norman Kirk has explored a broad spectrum of two and three dimensional mediums in a diverse variety of approaches throughout his career, but is best known for his watercolor paintings.

Kirk was schooled in the classics at the Cleveland Museum of Art and continued his studies at the Los Angeles Center School of Design, UCLA, Chouinards and De Paul University.

Mr. Kirk taught watercolor painting at Ventura College for 18 years and often conducts private workshops. In 1984, he was selected to execute a series of watercolors illustrating the Lake Casitas Olympic events for presentation to both local and international officials. His painting of the original winery at the Old Creek Ranch Winery and his current watercolor of the Noble Oak Vineyard and Winery grace the fine wine from the Ojai Valley.

Kirk is a signature member of the National Watercolor Society and Watercolor West. He is a published artist and is currently represented in several galleries in California. Mr. Kirk was the cover artist and program book illustrator for the Ventura County Design House and has painted extensively throughout the USA, Europe and Caribbean.

The exhibit will run until October 9th, and may be viewed during regular Museum hours: Wednesday – Saturday, 10 AM – 4 PM, and Sundays, 12 PM – 4 PM. The Museum is located at 117 North 10th Street, Santa Paula, CA 93060.

THOUSAND OAKS, CA. - The Third Annual Chinese Moon Festival Concert will be held at 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 1, in Samuelson Chapel at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks.

The Pacific Pearl Music Association will present a free evening of traditional Chinese and Western compositions featuring orchestral music, chorus and Chinese instruments. CLU music faculty member Eric Kinsley will open the concert with a performance on the chapel’s pipe organ and Ryan Strand, a junior music major from Minnetonka, Minn., will sing a Chinese song.

The Chinese Moon Festival, also known as the Mid-Autumn Festival, is an important holiday in the Chinese culture that has been celebrated for thousands of years. Tradition holds that the moon is at its roundest and brightest on that day, signaling a time of completeness and abundance. It is a celebration of the harvest season and a day of family reunions, much like Thanksgiving in the United States. Traditionally, family and friends get together to admire the moon and eat moon cakes. The legend associated with the festival recounts the story of a beautiful woman named Chang E who flew to the moon and has lived there ever since.

Samuelson Chapel is located south of Olsen Road near Campus Drive.

CLU's Department of Languages and Cultures and Multicultural and International Programs office are presenting the concert. For more information, contact Debby Chang at ddchang@callutheran.edu or go to http://www.callutheran.edu.

Frisline from “Poto Mitan”

THOUSAND OAKS, CA - “Poto Mitan” co-director Mark Schuller will discuss the movie about five courageous female Haitian workers following a screening at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 28, at California Lutheran University.

The first event in the 2011-2012 Reel Justice Film Series, which examines the themes of equality and social justice, will be held in Lundring Events Center.

Through the compelling stories of the Haitian women, “Poto Mitan” gives the global economy a human face. Each woman’s personal story explains the economic impact of neoliberal globalization and how it leads to inhumane working and living conditions, violence, poverty, lack of education and poor health care in Haiti. While the 2009 film offers an in-depth understanding of Haiti, it also shows that women’s subjugation, worker exploitation and poverty are global concerns. Through their collective activism, the women of the film demonstrate that, even given the monumental obstacles in a poor country like Haiti, change is possible.

Marie-Jeanne toils to give her children the education she was denied because of gender discrimination and the high cost of school. Solange details how Haiti’s current violence stems from a long-brewing economic crisis. Frustrated with male-dominated unions, Frisline offers a gender and class analysis of Haiti’s contemporary situation. After 30 years of work, Thérèse brings wisdom and historical perspective. Pushed off her land by foreign agricultural policies, activist Hélène leads a new grassroots campaign against violence.

The women’s own analyses are supported by interviews with Haitian activists, government ministers, and scholars providing global, economic and political context. The women’s struggles to unionize and images of their deplorable working conditions are juxtaposed with contradictory interviews of factory owners.

The film showcases a range of contemporary Haitian music by Emeline Michel, Boukman Eksperyans, Brothers Posse, Manze Dayila and The Nago Nation, and Awozam, along with songs of empowerment by the women.

Mark Schuller is an assistant professor of African American studies and anthropology at York College, the City University of New York. He spent more than two years in Haiti studying women’s nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). He befriended the female staff and volunteers, earning their trust through patient research and home visits and by staying in Haiti during the violence in solidarity. Ever since, he has kept in regular contact with the women in the film, visiting Haiti three times per year.

The Reel Justice Film Series will continue with “Miss Representation” on Oct. 19 and “Which Way Home” on Nov. 9.

The Center for Equality and Justice is sponsoring the free event. For more information, contact Sam Thomas at 805-493-3693 or sthomas@callutheran.edu.

On Friday, October 7, at 7 o'clock p.m., organist Dr. James Welch will play a concert to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Bardsdale United Methodist pipe organ. The concert is a return engagement for Dr. Welch, who played the original organ dedication concert in 1986 to an overflow crowd.

Former university organist at UC Santa Barbara, Dr. Welch teaches at Santa Clara University, serves as organist at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Palo Alto, and concertizes around the world. He and his wife Deanne are parents of sons Nicholas and Jameson.

At Bardsdale church Dr. Welch will play a program of delightful pieces, especially chosen for an audience of both new and seasoned music lovers, including families. His program will feature a toccata on “Amazing Grace'' by J. Christopher Pardini and an arrangement of “Battle Hymn of the Republic.” Classical favorites include Bach's “Jig” Fugue and the famous “Toccata” from Widor's Fifth Symphony, which will climax the hour-long program.

The 12-rank pipe organ was custom-built for the church by historic Schoenstein & Co. of San Francisco, Jack M. Bethards, president. Built in 2 stages, the instrument was completed in 1993 when the chimes, given in memory of Angela Grice Young, were hung. Gold-leafed pipes were antiqued to make the instrument look as though it were built at the same time as the Church.

The Bardsdale United Methodist Church, located at 1498 Bardsdale Avenue, 3 miles south of Fillmore, is both a National Historic Landmark and Ventura County Landmark No. 50. The congregation first met in 1892, and the building cornerstone was laid 1898. In 2012, the Church plans events to celebrate its twelve decades of ministry in the Fillmore area.

A free-will offering will be taken. A meet-the-artist reception will follow. Quick tours of the organ chamber are available before the concert begins.

California State Old Time Fiddlers, District 8, will meet, Sunday, Sept 11, 1:30 - 4:30 at Oak View Community Center, 18 Valley Road, Oak View. Enjoy an afternoon of listening or dancing to Classic Country, Western, or Bluegrass music. No parking or admission charge. Refreshments available. Info: 640-3689, 517-1131, www.calfiddlers.com.

Sespe Players are holding auditions for a new melodrama! The Hare Raising Saga of Hidden Valley or Don't Mess with Tess(working title). Adults and kids. Sept 13 & 14 at the Historic Depot on Main St. Fillmore; 7:00 - 8:00 pm. Production dates are Nov 4, 5, 6, 11, 12, and 13.

THOUSAND OAKS, CA - Three California Lutheran University music faculty members will present a chamber music recital at 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 25, in Samuelson Chapel.

The Faculty Artists Recital will feature clarinetist Daniel Geeting, violinist Melissa Phelps and pianist Eric Kinsley. The program will include Darius Milhaud’s “Caprice,” John Williams’ “Viktor’s Tale” from the motion picture “The Terminal” and Mozart’s popular “Trio VII” in E Flat Major for clarinet, viola and piano, which may have been composed in “der Kegelstatt,” a bowling alley. They will also perform the rarely heard Sonata, Opus 128 by 20th-century Italian composer Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco.

Geeting, who joined the CLU faculty in 1984, has performed extensively as a recitalist, played on movie and television soundtracks and recorded two CDs featuring the clarinet works of major English composers. Phelps, who appeared as a soloist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the age of 10, has performed with such artists as Itzhak Perlman, Luciano Pavarotti and The Moody Blues. Kinsley has performed and lectured in venues including the Getty Center, the Huntington Library and the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.

Donations will be accepted at the free concert. For information, call the Music Department at 805-493-3306 or visit http://www.callutheran.edu.

Four fall exhibitions, alternately exploring a century of death, supernatural mysteries, gloomy ideas, dark humor, and 1880s photographic techniques, open Saturday, October 1, at the Museum of Ventura County. The Party to Die For reception with food and music is on Friday, September 30 from 5:30 to 8:00 pm. Admission is $5 for the general public and free for museum members.

Departures: A Century of Death & Dying In Ventura County (October 1 –November 27) examines the culture and rituals of death and dying, from the turn of the century through contemporary times. The exhibit traces how we have memorialized and cared for the departed and how our private and public rituals have evolved. Including Victorian mourning clothes and jewelry, historical photographs and funeral home artifacts, the exhibit progresses into the modern day death care industry and today’s culture of personalized funerals with artistic urns and personal videography.

In the Light of Blue: New Works by Luther Gerlach (October 1- November 27) features photographs taken with small to mammoth glass plate cameras, using the wet plate collodion process. Gerlach specializes in creating contemporary, handmade images with cameras and processes originally used during the first fifty years of photography. He will give a demonstration of his work and a historic and technical overview of early photographic processes, on Sunday, October 16, from 2:00 to 3:30 p.m. at the museum. Admission is $10 for the general public and $5 for museum members. For reservations call 805-653-0323 x 7.

Ventura County Myths and Urban Legends (October 1-November 27) comes just in time for Halloween, with our favorite frightening tales of unexplained and mysterious events recreated by local artists. Visitors can read the scary stories, see the art, and write about their own supernatural experiences at various stations throughout the gallery. Artists interpreting the myths and legends include Len Burge, Richard Flores, Maribel Hernandez, Claudia Pardo, Amadeo Perez, Susan Seaberry, Andrea Vargas, and Kay Zetlmaier.

On the Dark Side (October 1 – November 20) also opens at an appropriate time of year, featuring artists who find inspiration in gloomy places and somber ideas, or who glean meaning, beauty and humor from decay, chaos and trash. The group exhibition includes paintings by Briana Bainbridge and Anna Karakalou; sculpture by Theodore Gall; assemblages by Marcelino Jimenez, Leslie McQuaide and Sean Tully; and mixed media surfboards by Aris Mikelatos and Timothy Williams.

The Museum of Ventura County is located at 100 East Main Street in downtown Ventura. Hours are 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Admission is $4 adults, $3 seniors, $1 children 6-17, members and children under 6 are free. For more museum information go to www.venturamuseum.org or call 805-653-0323.

THOUSAND OAKS, CA - The renowned Emerson String Quartet will present a free concert in California Lutheran University’s Samuelson Chapel at 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 22.

With an incomparable list of achievements over three decades, the group stands alone in the history of string quartets. Of its nine Grammy Awards, two are for Best Classical Album, an unprecedented honor for a chamber music group. The quartet also has collected three Gramophone Awards and the coveted Avery Fisher Prize.

The quartet has an international reputation for groundbreaking projects, including cycles of the complete Beethoven, Bartók, Mendelssohn and Shostakovich string quartets in the world’s musical capitals, from New York to London and Vienna. Though dedicated to the performance of classical repertoire, the group has also demonstrated a commitment to the commissioning and performance of 20th- and 21st-century music, including more than 20 important commissions and world premieres.

The quartet’s debut album for Sony Classical, “Mozart's Prussian Quartets K. 575, K. 589 and K. 590,” will be released in October to coincide with a series of concerts at Wigmore Hall in London and Alice Tully Hall in New York City. In 2011-2012, its 35th season as an ensemble, the Emerson is performing extensively throughout North America and Europe. The Emerson also continues its residency at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, now in its 32nd season.

Formed in 1976, the New York City-based quartet took its name from the American poet and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson. Violinists Eugene Drucker and Philip Setzer alternate in the first chair position and are joined by violist Lawrence Dutton and cellist David Finckel.

At CLU, the quartet will perform Ludwig Van Beethoven‘s String Quartet in F Major, Op. 135, Thomas Ades’ 2010 piece “The Four Quarters” and Bela Bartok’s String Quartet No. 5.

The chapel is located south of Olsen Road near Campus Drive on the Thousand Oaks campus. Additional parking is available in lots at the corner of Olsen and Mountclef Boulevard.

CLU’s Artists and Speakers Committee is sponsoring the free concert. Donations will be accepted. For more information, call the Music Department at 805-493-3306 or visit http://www.callutheran.edu.