Monday, October 19, 2009

Oh how long - Double Edition

Alright. It has been so long since I have posted something related to this blog, it's ridiculous. So this will be a double edition on the last few dramas we have done.

We will start with the farthest back. Father's Day (Ya I know)




This one was another original drama we wrote. The sermon centered around the messages we send our children. The things we tell children can leave them with much different messages in their heads than what was intended.


Alright, number two. Much more recent.



This was only a few weeks ago. This was actually to accompany a sermon on service. Using the scripture in 2 Timothy 1 that says "for this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God which is in you". God has given us gifts. It is not for us to determine what will get us the most glory, or whether or not our gift is good enough to be used for Him, or even which gifts we like best. There are things that you can do. Maybe you aren't the BEST at it. But if God is calling you to use it, it is just big enough to accomplish what he wants. YOU are responsible for using it. ...'this little light of mine' just popped into my head....anyone else?

I know I have had times where I just LONG to be really good at something. I think that this has been God's way of keeping me humble. If I was good at something all on my own, it would be all about me. but i'm not. So when something happens through me, I know it's al God.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Don Quixote

Tonight I saw a show at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. It is the opening weekend of the Elizabethan Stage, and am lucky enough to see all three shows there this weekend.

Oh man. First. I lied. it was not "Man of La Mancha" (the musical) it was "Don Quixote" (a play adaptation closer to Cervantes' book). I just didn't remember what i was told.

This play took place at the place where a child's imagination, a back yard play, and polished theatre meet. In that place you can see a world of imagination come to life as if you yourself are dreaming it. This was a world where an umbrella sprouts leaves to make itself into a tree, and of course the Barber's basin is a golden helmet. By the end of the play you believe that you may be a knight or that something magical just may happen on your way home.

From the director: "...One of the most active verbs to emerge from the recent presidential election season is "believe". This same earnest advisement propels the course of Cervantes' satiric yarn of Don Alonso Quijano. Feeling old age approaching and gearing he has never really lived, Don Alonso abandons the ennui of his prosaic life to pursue his romantic dreams. Reinventing himself as Don Quixote de La Mancha, righter of wrings, defender of damsels in distress and champion of the underdog, he charges for the challenge the world.
To bad he has no knack for it. Though fortified with more than a dash of delusion, a creaky collection of ancient armor and a grab bag of romantic plots, his extravagant efforts to become a valiant reformer result in a series of laughably dismal failures and generate nothing short of a comedic one man crime wave. But, hey, this guy is a sweetheart. His poor old midlife heart thumps in exactly the right place. Though he may perceive giants instead of windmills or warring armies instead of sheep, his every exploit is dedicated to the righting of wrongs and the liberation of humanity. Oh, yes--he is an idealist.
Corralling Cervantes' teeming imagination into a play for the theatre is akin to herding cats. So, out of the profusion of comic debacles, twists and torques of the novel, Octavio solis has deftly charted a course that celebrates certain wackily iconic legs of Quixote's journey and lets others evanesce back into the La Mancha landscape. In a homage to Cerbantes' narrative style, Solis zeroes in on the very idea of stories and storytelling. Here stories smash together and dance, begin and never end, seem to appear out of nowhere, and capriciously flip plots in mid-telling. Through all Quixote's fantastical meanderings, however, focus is never placed far from the higher purpose that drives him toward a deeper understanding of love and the realities of life.
Like Quixote, though perhaps lightly less deluded, w all assuredly have our windmills, those giants we must slay in order to make being human a better place to be, It is that same Quixote-like faith in a greater good that still allows us to believe we can conquer world hunger, end war or save the planet, Though scoffers a quick to condemn the idealist as mad, for our own sanity, like our hero, we must maintain the will to believe." -Laird Williamson

My favorite technical piece was by far the props/costumes (because sometimes i did not know where that line was drawn). Don Quixote's horse, Rosinante had the skin of a burlap coffee sack. Sancho Panza's 'ass' (yes, donkey) made of plaid. The puppetry made the imaginary come alive. Dulcinea ever an enigma, lived on stage in a puppeteer's hands. She allowed the audience to create their own Dulcinea.

This was a magical, childlike experience. A fabulous tale that makes you believe in your dreams.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Argentine Alfajores





This post is ENTIRELY unrelated to theatre, drama, stories, or ministry. I just wanted to share.

Today I am making Alfajores. A treat that you will have if you ever go to Argentina. It is dulce de leche (a carmelish substance) sanwiched between two delicious buttery cookies. The cookies are somewhere in between shortbread and a sugar cookies. I had them when I was in Buenos Aires a few years ago. I could probably have eaten them all day.

Right now I am about halfway through the process. Waiting for the dough to chill.

The Alfajor harkens back to the Moorish occupation of Spain. The Spainiards in turn brought it to the Americas. There are variations from all the way from Mexico to the tip of Chile. I am hoping that this particular one turns out similar to the ones I tasted in Argentina.

Let's start with our filling shall we. My mom spent some time in Argentina after high school. That is were she learned this trick, which I now impart to you. It takes a little time, but you will not believe me when I tell you how easy it is.
(By the way, you can put the Dulce de Leche on toast or anything else. I even eat it by the spoon full sometimes...)
So.

DULCE DE LECHE

Begin with 1 can of Sweetened Condensed Milk. Take off the lable. DO NOT OPEN THE CAN. seriously.

Now set the can in a sauce pan and submerse it in water.

Boil it gently for 3 hours, yes, 3.

When the time is up. Remove the can and let it cool to room temp. before you open it up.

Magic.

Now for the cookies

ARGENTINE ALFAJORES


1 3/4 cups flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 pound butter (1 stick) at room temperature
1 teaspoon lemon zest (optional)
4 egg yolks, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 recipe for dulce de leche (or one jar of it)
1 cup grated and sweetened coconut (optional)


Note: Using good quality butter in this recipe will make a big difference in the flavor of the cookie.

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
Combine flour, salt, sugar and baking soda in a bowl.
2. Cut the butter in with two knives, and then mix by hand until well incorporated.
3. Work in the lemon zest and then mix in the egg yolks and vanilla. Shape the dough into 2 balls and chill for 2 hours.
4. On a floured work surface, roll out each ball of dough to a thickness of 1/4 inch. Cut into 2-inch rounds and transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
5. Bake for 15 minutes or until done. The cookies will be dry but not brown.
When the cookies are cool, spread a spoonful of dulce de leche in one cookie and top it with another. Press together gently.

For versions with coconut or nuts, roll the seam of the alfajor in shredded coconut of chopped nuts, almonds or peanuts.



Alright well I finished baking. And while i don't think this recipie tastes like the ones in Argentina. It is delicious. (maybe it would taste more similar without the lemon rind?)

And they are supposed to be round, but alas i do not have a normal cookie cutter. so. flowers.

NOTE: put a large ammount of dulce de leche between them, it's better that way.

Thursday, April 30, 2009

Storytelling



This post is slightly unrelated to most of the others, but I thought this was an appropriate place to put it.

When I tell people why I love storytelling it ALWAYS involves my dad. Every night when I was young, after my mom had allready tucked me in I would say, "Daddy...tell me a story about when you were a little boy."

And he would (of course). It seemed that there were always new stories. Some adventures, some funny, some painful, some scary but all about his life. All great.

He is a storyteller, he can't help it. He is how I fell in love with stories. For me they were stories of a different world. A world with hand made tortillas, and La Llorona (on of the many Mexican boogie men characters), there was a tree with a rope swing that was just a little to close to the barbed wire fence. Where my dad wore tailored polyester pants. This world was magic as the world of any story is. He opened up my passion for cultures and people and of course, their stories.

Yesterday morning I sat down to read my bible and I thought, "daddy, tell me a story." It struck me, I didn't do it on purpose or to be funny. It came so naturally to look up and ask this. Here He tells me stories from years past. Some scary, some stern, some funny, always teaching. Stories teach, Jesus knew that, he often taught in parables.

Like my Daddy told me stories. God, my other daddy, tells me stories.

Tell your stories, the good and the bad. Who knows who they will inspire, or teach, or just make laugh. It is all valuable. All good.

Listen to the stories God wants to tell you, in his word and in the words and lives of others. All good.

Enjoy them.

Monday, April 20, 2009

You Are The Plan

I seem to be getting into a habit of only posting every 2 dramas. Silly Dania. This drama happened March 3rd, 2009.


You Are the Plan
Paraphrase of Deuteronomy 11:1-2 for dramatic reading.
(based on the NIV and The Message translations)

Bryce: So love God, your God; guard well his laws, decrees and requirements; obey his commandments for the rest of time.

Sue: Remember today that your children were not the ones who saw and experienced the discipline of the LORD your God; his majesty, his mighty hand, his outstretched arm.

Dania: They didn't see the acts, didn't experience the discipline, didn't marvel at his greatness in the way he displayed his power in the miracles and sings that he let loose in Egypt on Pharaoh and all his land,

Randy: the way he took out the Egyptian army, its horses and chariots, burying them in the waters of the Red Sea as they pursued you. God drowned them. And you're standing here alive today.

Bryce: Nor was it your children who saw how God took care of you in the wilderness. Yes, it was you--your eyes--that saw all these great things the LORD had done.

Sue: So its you who are in charge of keeping the commandment that I give you today, so that you and the next generation may have the strength to go in and take over the land that you are crossing the Jordan to posses. And so you may live long in the land that the LORD swore to give to your ancestors and their children, a land flowing with milk and honey.

Randy: The land you are entering to take over is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you planted your seed and irrigated it yourself like a vegetable garden. But the land you are crossing the Jordan to is a land of mountains and valleys that drink rain from heaven. It is the land that God, your God cares for; the eyes of the LORD your God are continually on it.

Dania: So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today, love God, your God, and serve him with everything you have within you, he'll take charge of sending the rain at the right time, so you can harvest. He will make sure there is grass for your animals. You'll have plenty to eat.

Bryce: Place these words on your hearts. Get them deep inside you. Fix them in your mind and hearts. Teach them to your children.

Sue: Talk about them wherever you are,

Randy: sitting at home or walking in the street;

Dania: talk about them from the time you get up in the morning until you fall into your bed at night.

Bryce: So that you'll live a long time, you and your children, in the place God promised you for as long as there is sky over the Earth.


This drama came during a series on "The Next Generation". One major point was teaching them what happened in the past. God does so many amazing things in our lives. How is the next generation going to have any idea of the power of God if we don't tell them what we have seen? What he has done? How much stronger could their belief be if they new what God has done instead of waiting to learn only from themselves?
I just read about how Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. Jesus didn't keep him from dying in the first place. But raised him from the dead so that others might believe. If everyone who saw this happen kept it to themselves, or Jesus did it in secret, there would be a large group of people who didn't believe.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Give Me Your Eyes

So, this is a long time coming. We performed this drama on Feb. 15th, 2009...about a month ago. (i have no excuse as to why it has not been posted yet)

Also, this is the shots that were up on the projector screens, so we can see the little things happening...but that also means that you don't get to see the big picture, but try and imagine that part.

During this service the sermon concerned caring for the vulnerable around us. Specifically orphans, widows, and foreigners. But, who IS vulnerable around us. How many people do we pass by each day without even thinking about.

There are the people that we don't even know, those we pass on the street or see every day when we stop at Starbucks for a morning pick-me-up. Who are they? What makes them vulnerable?

I know that I frequently say hi to people I know without bothering to stop worrying about what is going on in my world long enough to see how they are, or what I could do for them.

What if we saw the people around us as God sees them? Would our hearts break like his does? Would we see them going through they're day, hurt? alone? angry?

This song and drama is a challenge to us to see the people around us...really SEE them. There are probably dozens of little things a day we could do for those around us, what a difference that could make.

If you are seeing people as God sees them...and you see a need you can fill (an ear, a hand, a hug)...you ARE bringing God to them.



Monday, February 16, 2009

Alarm

This drama, has yet to be shown at church. The original plan was to put it up just before Christmas, but you all know what else came just before Christmas...snow. So, it hasn't happened...yet.

The alarm going off in the scenes are part of a project that we were trying in church to set an alarm to go off several times a day, and wherever we were when the alarm goes off we are supposed to see where we were at with God at that moment. Are we noticing him? are we so absorbed in our stuff that we don't notice anything/anyone around us? how are we treating people?


Alarm: God Moment from Sunset Presbyterian Church on Vimeo.