Splash Pad Calendar
by Sheila McCormick
December 1, Friday, 7-8pm *ZOOM* Rotary Nature Center Friends. Birding Our Nation’s First Wildlife Refuge with Naturalist Clay Anderson. Learn more about the birds hanging out at Lake Merritt. Register here.
December 2, Saturday, 4-5:30pm *Stream* AARP. Jonas Kaufmann – It’s Christmas. Concert filmed at the Silent Night Chapel in Oberndorf near Salzburg. Register here.
December 5, Tuesday, 10-11:30am. *Stream* British Mexican Society. Screening of Mundo Maya. This film presents the story of the present-day Maya people of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula and in the Bay Area, where many have migrated in search of economic opportunities. Register here.
December 5, Tuesday, 3-4pm. *ZOOM* Library of America. I’m Dreaming of a Noir Christmas: Crime Thrillers of the 1960s. Book launch panel discussion. Register here.
December 5, Tuesday, 7-8pm *ZOOM* Friends of the Alameda Free Library. Becoming Ella: The Jazz Singer who Transformed American Song. Judith Tick will discuss her new book. Register here.
December 6, Wednesday, 9:30-10:30am. *ZOOM* Anglia Ruskin University. Sustainability: How to Change the Things We Can. Professor Rosie Robison will explore how individuals and communities can work effectively to reduce their climate impact, the common challenges, and the social skills needed. Register here.
December 6, Wednesday, 12pm *ZOOM* Cogenerate. Uniting Across Generations to Prevent Targeted Violence. Register here.
December 6, Wednesday, 7pm *Stream* UCLA. Happy Holidays with The Tuba and Euphonium Studio! Join Professor Aubrey Foard and his students for an evening featuring solo and group performances with a festive twist. View here.
December 7, Thursday, 11am *ZOOM* Road Scholar. Day of Infamy – The Attack on Pearl Harbor & Its Enduring Legacy. Register here.
December 10, Sunday, 9am through December 11, Monday, 8:59am. *Stream* AARP. Screening of Great Short Films. Topic: Love is in the Air! – on love and relationships and everything in between. Register here.
December 10, Sunday, 4-5:45pm. *Stream* AARP. New York City Ballet Performs Balanchine’s The Nutcracker. Recorded in 2011 at Lincoln Center. Register here.
December 12, Tuesday, 11am. *ZOOM* Sacramento Library. Class: A Memoir of Motherhood, Hunger, and Higher Education. Stephanie Land will talk about her new memoir. Register here.
December 12, Tuesday, 6pm *ZOOM* City Lights. Voices to Listen To: A Discussion Among City Lights Authors. Register here.
December 12, Tuesday, 6pm *ZOOM* LA Times. California Poet Laureate Lee Herrick in Conversation. He will discuss his first year on the road as California’s poet-in-chief and his approach to telling stories that capture the state’s vitality and diversity. Register here.
December 13, Wednesday, 3:30-4:45pm *Stream* AARP. Television’s Classic Christmas Cartoons. Register here.
December 14, 12:30-1:30pm *In person or via ZOOM and Facebook Live* Oakland Rotary Club #3. Speaker: Chef Tamearra Dyson. Read more here.
December 21, Thursday, 5pm *ZOOM* Sonoma County Mycological Association. The Kitchen Mycologist: The delicious surprises, the unfortunate flops, the great tips, and the ultimate lessons I learned about cooking mushrooms. Hear from Eugenia Bone, author of the Fantastic Fungi Community Cookbook. Register here.
December 24, Sunday, 9am-12pm *In person* Splash Pad Grand Crew. Fourth Sunday Volunteer Work Day. Gloves and tools provided, or bring your own for weeding, pruning, litter pick-up, and planting.
December 25, Monday, 3pm through December 31, Sunday, 9:59pm. *Stream* The Playwrights Center. Stream of Your Local Theater Presents: A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens, Again. Anna Ouyang Moench’s play is a love letter to actors, artists, and dreamers of all professions who make sacrifices large and small in service of their work. Register here.
Splash Pad News Calendar of the Month
Freud’s Smoke by Patrick Caulfield from the 2005 Psychological Calendar
Most likely a reference to Freud noting that “Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
Sheila McCormick is an Adjunct Professor Emerita in Cal’s Department of Plant and Microbial Biology. Prior to her retirement in January 2016, she had a research lab at the USDA/ARS-UC-Berkeley Plant Gene Expression Center in Albany, studying the molecular biology of plant reproduction. She also helps with editing and is a frequent contributor to the Splash Pad News, beginning with a series of seven neighborhood walks – the first of which was posted in April 2017.
