Coming Up: Tree Lighting and a Health Expo
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The annual holiday tree lighting, sponsored by the Scarsdale Chamber of Commerce, will be held Friday night December 7 at 4pm in Boniface Circle in Scarsdale Village. Santa Claus and the Mayor of Scarsdale will be on hand for photos with the kids and Lange's will provide FREE hot chocolate and s'mores. Imagine Candy from Harwood Court will also provide FREE Candy Canes and Hoff-Barthelson Christmas Carolers will sing traditional holiday songs. Mark you calendars for this festive event.
Health Expo at Scarsdale Yoga Studios: 
On Saturday, December 8, from 9 am to 1 pm, Scarsdale Yoga Studios on Popham Road will be hosting its first Health and Wellness Expo! Everyone is welcome to attend and enjoy complimentary
- Juice and Smoothie Tastings
- Gluten- Free and Vegan Dessert Tastings
- Nutritional Assessments
- Massage
- Weight Loss and Fitness Consultations
- Kettlebell Consultations
- Lean Body Mass Testing
- Yoga Showcase
- Book signing by Fitness Expert Daniel Calabrese
- Bookstore and Retail Discounts
Immediately following, Scarsdale Yoga Studios is bringing JIVAMUKTI YOGA to Westchester. This, open level, two hour Master Class will be led by Julie Kirkpatrick- Gueye of the Jivamukti School of NYC. This class will include sequences creatively designed by Julie. Exuberant, eclectic music plays an integral role: you might practice to a shifting soundtrack of ragas, global trance, hip-hop, spoken word, George Harrison, Sting, Krishna Das, Donna de Lory, Michael Franti, Bill Laswell, Alice Coltrane and Mozart. The class is called "Open" because it is suitable to all levels of practitioner.
Hours: 12:00pm- 2:00pm
Fee: $35.00
To RSVP for the Master Class contact Scarsdale Yoga Studios at 914-874-5555. Learn more at: ScarsdaleYogaStudios.com
Twilight Gives Good Bite
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One word. Fan-freakin-tastic! Well, technically that might be three, but whatever. "Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2." Wow. All I have to say is...Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Bill Condon. (Condon has previously directed the critically acclaimed and Oscar winning films "Gods and Monsters," "Dreamgirls," and "Kinsey.")
From the opening credits to the closing credits, simply wonderfully over-the-top deliciousness. Everyone can rest assured that The Twilight Saga is going out with a really big bite.
Breaking Dawn Part 2 topped the box office charts on it's opening weekend with an estimated $141.3 million in sales nationwide, beating out Part 1 which only grossed a measly $138.1 million in it's' opening weekend.
If you read my piece, "It's Twilight For Twilight," then you know how despondent I've been over The Saga coming to an end. I've been an avid and loyal fan of the series from the beginning. Yes. I am a Twi-Mom, and proud. In fact, that was the title of a piece I wrote exactly a year ago when Breaking Dawn Part 1 came out (Twi-Mom and Proud).
And, even though I wasn't that thrilled with Part 1, I couldn't wait for Part 2.
So, when our babysitter came early on Saturday, and Mark interrupted my writing with, "I want to do something with you today.?"
Where do you guys think we headed? That's right. We hit the 3:10 showing of Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2 in White Plains.
As soon as we sat down Mark started talking to me. I told him, in no uncertain terms, to "zip it." He sarcastically replied, "I can go sit in another row if you want."
I rolled my eyes, and "shhhh'd" him.
Right from the start, you knew special attention was given to this film. First, the imagery is beautiful and symbolic of Bella's (Kristen Stewart) internal transformation from human to vampire.
And, while we're talking about her transformation, I have to say that Kristen Stewart's make-up is amazing. Flawless. The effect is subtle, but oh so effective. I think Breaking Dawn Part 2 needs to win an Oscar for best make-up. She looks that good.
Edward's (Robert Pattinson) hair, not so good. His shape was inconsistent throughout the movie. For those of you who don't know this, Edward's hair is basically a character, in and of itself.
Yet, Part 2 is the most stylized of all the Twilight films. Everything came together in this last installment. The special effects surpass the previous four films, which tended to look somewhat stilted and animatronic. They now feel more fluid and seamless.
Aside from the aesthetics, there's real substance in this one. Part 2 evolves along with the characters and reaches a certain level of maturity, previously absent in the other four films.
Bella and Edward (Robert Pattinson) are married, have a child, live in their own home and must deal with some pretty heavy life issues. Like; their impending deaths and a totally inappropriate relationship Jacob (Taylor Lautner) has with their daughter, Renesmee (Mackenzie Foy). (Jacob is totally creepily annoying in Part 2. And, for the record, I'm Team Edward all the way.) Life's not so easy for the sparkly vamps.
Oh, and just in case you've been living on Mars, The Twilight Saga is based on Stephanie Meyer's best selling novels. They tell the love-story of a sparkly vampire who falls in love with a seventeen year old girl, with really great smelling blood. He wants to devour her. Literally. This presents the couple's first hurdle. Then there's the vampire-girl-werewolf love triangle, along with Bella's regular attempts at taking Edward's virtue and her unflinching desire to be turned into a vampire. A vengeful redheaded vamp, Victoria (Rachelle Lefevre and Bryce Dallas Howard) is also out for Bella's blood, since Edward killed her mate in the first Twilight. The vampire and the wolf repeatedly join forces to protect Bella. And, of course there's the Volturri, the vampire lawmakers, keeping close tabs on Bella's human status. A big no no. Humans aren't supposed to know about the existence of vampires.
This all starts to come to an end in Breaking Dawn Part 1 when Edward and Bella are finally married. Only, now they must make sure Bella survives the birth of their half vampire-half human baby. Oy. The only way Bella can survive is for Edward to change her.
Part 2 picks up with Bella's new vampiric state, hunger to feed, Edward's thrill at his wife's now permanent condition, their daughter's gifted ability to communicate through touch, Jacob's "imprinting" on baby Renesmee (ewww) as her protector and future love, and then the imminent threat of the Volturri's visit to determine whether or not the Cullen's have broken any laws by making a vampire child.
It all comes to a dramatic head on a snowy battlefield between the Volturri, the Cullen's and their extended vampire family who have gathered from all over the world. It's fabulous. Speaking of fabulous, Michael Sheen's performance as Aro, the head of the Volturri, is chillingly good and ultra vampy (total pun).
The most touching part of the movie comes at the end. Bill Condon pays homage to the whole Twilight Saga in a beautiful cinematic retrospective. It's nostalgic and sweet. The nostalgia continues with an individual highlight of every actor to have ever played a significant role in The Twilight Saga, from the first film to the last, in order of character importance. I've never seen that before and found myself tearing up.
Also, when you go see Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2, don't be surprised if you feel a certain camaraderie with the rest of the movie audience. In my theater there was a sense of Twi-Family bonding happening. I'm not joking. We laughed together. We cried together. And, we clapped together.
After the movie ended, I walked out with two teenage girls. We talked about how amazing the movie was, our sadness over its' end, and whether or not Robsten will survive. As we walked toward the car, Mark was shaking his head. He looked at me and said, "I swear, you're like a 12 year old sometimes."
I just smiled and said, "No, I will forever be a Twi-Mom and proud."
Contributor Sharon Lippmann, writes about her "so called suburban life" as a proud resident of Scarsdale, NY. She is a writer, blogger, mom, wife, daughter, sister, friend and one sassy chick. She loves exploring the interesting, strange, perplexing, vexing, ridiculous and funny that life offers up frequently. Enjoying more of what she has to say about nothing, and, well, everything at mydailypill.com.
Abstract Artist Antonio Carreno Opens Show in Scarsdale
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You don’t need to go to the galleries in Chelsea to view the work of some wonderful contemporary artists. Madelyn Jordon Fine Art, right here on Popham Road, presents the work of prominent and emerging artists and Jordon is available to consult with you on acquiring or selling works of art.
On Friday night November 9, just as Scarsdale was beginning to recover from the storm, Jordon hosted an opening for abstract artist Antonio Carreno. His vibrant, active and colorful works were a welcome sight after a bleak week in town. The artist, who grew up in the Dominican Republic where he attended the National School of Fine Arts was there to offer some insight into his abstract canvasses with concrete names like Morning Thoughts, Celestial Session and Distilled Spirits.
According to Jordon, Carreno’s “canvases invoke an otherworldly, contemplative place, inhabited by spirits 
and energies not always seen but often felt. Inviting the viewer to experience this intimate world full of spirituality and lyricism, Carreno intuitively explores what post-modernists describe as the human truth – concrete experiences dictating one’s fallible and relative truth rather than an overwhelming universal truth.”
Carreno says he is influenced by masters such as Kandinsky, Mirot and Norman Lewis and calls his style “magical realism.” He uses shapes, forms, line and color to create dynamic paintings that are better to view than to describe. Stop by Madelyn Jordon Fine Art at 37 Popham Road in Scarsdale before the end of the year to see Carreno’s appealing work and to talk to Madelyn about building your own art collection.
Could We Have Done More?
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Here is a letter from Harry Reynolds of Bradley Road:
To the Editor: Politeness in the criticism of others is the rule in this village, except in those rare cases of indefensible immorality of which the village as a whole are guilty.
In the recent chaotic storm, nothing horrific happened to us, as far as I know. Damages ranged from rain entering open attic windows to distress over traffic into the city or the sight of one’s tree reclining like a drunk on an angry neighbor’s garage. Compared to the unspeakable suffering of others in Far Rockaway or Staten Island or in the public housing on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, our suffering amounted to a teaspoon of misery.
What have we learned about how we acted in the storm?
We learned that our contemptibly selfish capacity for abandoning the people stumbling among the wreckage in the Third World countries of Far Rockaway or Staten Island or in the public housing on Manhattan’s Lower East Side was immense.
Where and among whom was there even the lifting of an eyelid to help those people with donations of money and clothing? What did the ministers or congregations of our respective faiths do for those people? What did you and your family do?
What did we learn about ourselves? We learned that come hell or high water we will not move a foot or a hand to help one another, even when there is no storm, even when the need may be that of an old person a house or two away from our porch where, on a summer Sunday afternoon, we stand and, looking about for a second or two, contentedly count ourselves God’s wonderful creation.
Harry Reynolds
Bradley Road
Opening Reception at Madelyn Jordon Fine Art on Friday
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Madelyn Jordon Fine Art is pleased to announce Distilled Spirits, the gallery’s second solo show of work by Antonio Carreno. The exhibition will run from November 9 – December 31, 2012. An opening reception for the artist will be held on Friday, November 9 from 6-8PM. Previews and private showings are by appointment only.
Distilled Spirits features oil paintings from Carreno’s newest body of work, Gravitation, created over the last two years. These saturated, expressive paintings signal a seismic shift in the artist’s abstraction. His canvases invoke an otherworldly, contemplative place, inhabited by spirits and energies not always seen but often felt. Inviting the viewer to experience this intimate world full of spirituality and lyricism, Carreno intuitively explores what post-modernists describe as the human truth – concrete experiences dictating one’s fallible and relative truth rather than an overwhelming universal truth.
Evoking a sense of the individualized style defined by Expressionism and Cubism of such European masters as Paul Klee
Similarly, darts of energy fields, illustrated in pearl white or deep blue pigments, soar in “Ascendent #12” from the bottom of the canvas to its crest. The artist’s patterning of fluid elements forms this seductive painting with its warm hues and drip style. Carreno blends these energetic forms into a dazzling, delightful abstraction of rising spirits in seeking a higher, human truth.
“Dream #5” is multi-layered. Thick planes of paint open the canvas, providing a third-dimensional quality that is discordant to its physical flatness. These gradations of paint, like the stages of a dream, invite the viewer into the space as one plane gives way to another and ultimately exposes a tier of yellows, blues, and black. The title of the painting rests as the only clue that we’re entering into a subconscious space that is both complex and contemplative.
(Pictured at top: Morning Thought)
Madelyn Jordon Fine Art
37 Popham Road
Scarsdale NY 10583
914 723 8738
www.madelynjordonfineart.com
