This Just In: Women in Business Scholarships for Saturday

Just got this. Falcon hopes some of you can attend:

The goal of the YWCA Greater Pittsburgh is to reach out to the larger community of women entreprenuers and provide education and resources to empower their success in business. With that said, we are offering 100 partial scholarships to women who desire to attend the 2nd Annual Microenterprise Symposium. The details of the symposium:

Carnegie Mellon University
Tepper School of Business,
Saturday, February 20, 2010
8:30am - 5:00pm

The registration cost has been reduced to $20.00 for 100 women who register by the end of the day Wednesday, February 17, 2010 (6:00pm). Includes lunch.

Registrations can be made online at http://www.micro2millions.eventbrite.com/ or by calling 412 255-6749

Registrations can also be made by email: awilliams@ywcapgh.org. Please provide detailed contact information to receive a call confirming your reservation.

Pittsburgh will Break a Snow Record Today! Dogs and Shelters

Hello Pittsburgh Region Family members,
This will come as no surprise to you, but the rest of our World Family may be shocked. Today, February 17, we will pass a record established in January of 1978 for the largest snowfall in a single month. Oh, and the month is only half over!

The old record was 40.2 inches of snowfall. Falcon remembers January of '78. It was snowing constantly, and it was extremely cold. I also remember going to Animal Rescue League with my father and getting a puppy-she was lethargic in the cage, but immediately came to life in a big way as soon as she was out of the kennel.
She was a challenge, having been abused terribly before we adopted her, and she had her issues, but she brought so much joy and celebration to our family for over 13 years.

As we celebrate Sadie's victory as Best in Show at the Westminster Kennel Club, let's not forget the over 4 million animals in shelters around the country. During this bad weather, numbers have increased. Please, if you have the room, take a shelter pet into your home, or donate to those organizations in your community that keep pets safe, and offer no-kill locations.

Also, Tim Mitchell is missing his service dog, Runt a chihuahua, brown in color, from the Greyhound Bus Depot in downtown Pittsburgh. There is a reward offered. Please help him out in bringing his special family member back home.

Thank you, Brothers and Sisters.
Stay warm!
Falcon and Dove

SW PA SNOW STORM UPDATES

Hey Storm Family,
Here are some Southwestern Pennsylvania updates as of Sunday evening:

STAY OFF THE ROADS FOR TONIGHT-again, unless you are emergency, hospital, or security personnel, please stay home.

100% of main roads have been reached, but only 10% of tertiary roads, so...it's dangerous, be careful tomorrow.

Bad news, there is more snow expected Tuesday into Wednesday for the mid-Atlantic region. Yikes-3 to 6 inches.

34 municipalities are still under a state of emergency. Allegheny County believes it may last for 7 days.

The National Guard is on its way to Pittsburgh to help out. Snow removal is a top priority, as well as getting the lights and heat back on for so many. Keeping warm is essential.

IF YOUR HEAT IS OUT-you can dial 911 for a ride to a Warm Center. Please check on your neighbors and elders.

DO NOT PUT GENERATORS INDOORS!!!!!!!!!
Carbon Monoxide will build up and it will KILL YOU! A father and daughter in McKeesport have already died from a gas/propane generator. It needs to be outside and away from the house.

REMOVE HEAVY SNOW FROM YOUR FURNACE EXHAUST. CO can build up because of that blockage, too.

TRASH PICKUP IN THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH HAS BEEN HALTED INDEFINITELY!
Don't risk injury trying to put your trash out.

Vehicles blocking streets in the city of Pittsburgh will be towed beginning Monday. This is so they can plow and open up streets. Try to get your vehicle early in the day if you can and move it.

8,000 Duquesne Light customers still have their power out. Monday evening by midnight for most; those who have individual problems between their home and the pole will be addressed by Wednesday.

82,000 Allegheny Power customers have their power out. Here's the worse news: they will not commit to a schedule of how long it will take to get it on.

Schools are closed-if yours hasn't yet reported, give them heck, because they should be now.

It is entirely possible that depending on where you live and how much snow you have and will get between Tuesday and Wednesday, you may not ever get those kids in school this week. Get ready.

Falcon and Dove wishes all of you well. Stay safe, and be careful.
Peace

PennDOT to PA Residents: STAY OFF THE ROADS

Hello Pennsylvania Family,
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has a message for you this Saturday night: STOP DRIVING ON THE ROADS! Really. They are pissed. They can't clean the snow off the roads if you keep trying to drive on the roads. There is a State of Emergency for the entire commonwealth, so it is important that unless you are emergency personnel (police, fire, EMS, hospital personnel, security, military, etc.) you are not supposed to drive.

If your boss says you are, tell him or her that the penalty right now for getting stopped driving tonight is a suspension of driving privileges; yes, your license can be suspended. That would suck, so here's a solution: don't drive. It is not worth the risk or injury to be driving when the roads are so bad. There are people who haven't been home for at least 24 hours because they can't get home. If they can wait until tomorrow, so can you:)

Be safe Family. We care.
Peace,
Falcon and Dove

SNOW DISASTER UPDATES IN PENNSYLVANIA

Hey Everyone,
Some important updates:

Penn-American has lost their water treatment plant, so all 180,000 users are supposed to conserve water. Includes baths, showers, etc. Sorry. They had a power outage.

PENNSYLVANIA TURNPIKE IS CLOSED westbound from Breezewood to the Ohio line. There are disabled vehicles everywhere, but particularly from Somerset to Donegal. Advice, stay off the roads.

Gov. Rendell has just declared a Sate of Emergency and an Emergency Declaration. Stay off the road unless you are emergency personel, and don't try to clear this all at once.

Southwestern PA is socked in with about two to three feet of snow, depending on where you are. Shovel carefully and take frequent breaks. Don't try to go anywhere in a car, period. Give yourself plenty of fluids and stay warm.

IF YOUR POWER IS OUT
bundle up and stay warm. If you are CLOSE to a fire hall, they have been turned into Warm Centers. I mean, like you can walk to the fire station in less than 5 minutes on a normal day. Any further than that, stay put. A short walk in this depth of snow would be like a decathelon for many of you. Take care of yourselves.

Peace, and love to you all.
Falcon and Dove

SNOW SLAPPING EVERYWHERE IN THE EAST!

Hello World Family,
State of Emergency everywhere in the eastern portion of the U.S. Family, don't even think you are driving anywhere. If you have a snowmobile and live near an interstate or main road, please check and make sure that no one is freexing in those abandoned cars.

PITTSBURGH-we have around 19-23 inches, depending on where you live. In the Laurel Highlands, I can't even count...maybe approaching 30. We are completely buried.

Family, do not try to shovel everything at once! It is a heavy, wet, dangerous snow.
YOUNG PEOPLE-we need you! Help your neighbors. Take shifts, don't do too much at once. By tonight, this stuff will cool in the temps and turn into a concrete like substance. You need to move it, but do it slowly-I don't want any of you having to make a trip to a hospital.

Speaking of hospitals, some have a code black in the Pittsburgh area. If you need to go, call on the way to make sure they are open.

We will get through this. World Family, thanks for your prayers and support. Everyone pull together.

Peace,
Falcon and Dove

Oscar Nominations: Some surprises

Hey World Family,
The Oscar nominations have some surprises, some omissions, and some downright…huh?!

So, for the most part, the major nominations were predictable. Having 10 Best Picture nominations this year, but still only five Best Directors meant someone was going to be left out. Although the top pics have expanded, I still think they missed a few.

Of course, Avatar, An Education, A Serious Man, and Inglorious Basterds made the cut-Precious did, too, and Falcon is thrilled about that. Up in the Air is still going strong, and The Hurt Locker, one of the most powerful films Falcon and Dove have seen in a long time is also in the hunt. The Blind Side and Up round out the 10, along with District 9.

Okay, I just don’t get it. I admit it. District 9 is full of visual flaws every time I see something from it. I don’t like the story, I thought the editing left something to be desired. If we were gonna go sci-fi to round out the top 10, I would have had Star Trek in there: very well produced and directed. J.J. Abrams is a stone cold genius, and the ensemble actors assembled were perfect-something that is very difficult to do with a franchise like Star Trek has been. Star Trek has 4 Oscar nominations by my count, that is pretty darn good. District 9 is also nominated for Visual Effects, along with Avatar of course, and Star Trek, which left out Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which got a Best Cinematography nomination, and should have. I can’t believe voters sat in the 15 minute bake-off of each of the seven remaining films and decided District 9’s visual effects held up to the stuff done in HP: HBP’s use of Squirt and Maya. If I have left some of you behind on this one, don’t worry; just pick up a couple of copies of Cinefex magazine and it will explain it all.

Falcon also wants to go on the record for saying that we all enjoyed Up a lot. Should it be nominated for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay when Avatar isn’t for the latter? Heck, no. Sorry, it just wasn’t that good. Cute, entertaining, but just not that good. Yes, I liked the love story, and I get the whole ‘wanting to get away from it all’ and ‘hero failure’ (Christopher Plummer will work forever-love you!) and I loved Dug the dog-I quote him frequently, but it just isn’t what I would have considered Oscar worthy in nomination for Best Picture, sorry. If I was going to nominate an animated feature from 2009 for Best Picture, it would be Coraline (which is nominated for Best Animated Feature Film, along with Up, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Princess and the Frog, and a surprise, The Secret of Kells, very cool) hands down. Magnificently realized stop-motion hand built animation with a strong story (although subtle, which may have left some in the dark about a couple of thematic overtones), organic POV, and stunning visual effects-Falcon just doesn’t think this film got enough attention. Glad it is nominated for Animation, though.

Most nominations is a tie between Avatar and The Hurt Locker. Both these films rock so no worries there. Did you know that Kathryn Bigelow, the director of The Hurt Locker and also the winner of this year’s Director’s Guild of America award (DGA) is the ex-wife of James Cameron? I think it’s hysterical that they are nominated against each other frequently for Oscar-they are both good natured about it, and wish the best for each other. That’s nice.

Favorites nominated: Colin Firth, in A Single Man-he is very talented and versatile: Falcon and Dove are glad he is getting some strong recognition recently for his outstanding work. Lee Daniels for Precious-enough cannot be said about how great this work is. Mo’Nique is nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, along with Gabby Sidibe for Best Actress and Lee for Best Director. This has been an outstanding year for film, and this film, its director, and its talent, stand high above the din. Lee Daniels is a gifted visionary, and deserves all of the accolades he receives. Stanley Tucci is one of my favorite actors, ever-he is superb in The Lovely Bones. Meryl Strep did Julia Child well, and this is coming from one of Julia’s biggest fans, Falcon. Stanley Tucci is also in Julie and Julia, and we loved him in that as well.

It is great to see The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus (go Chris Plummer, again!) get a couple of noms, as well as Sherlock Holmes got one-we thought this one might get a little more. Documentary Feature nominee, Food, Inc. is an insightful work-nice to see it acknowledged for its strong character and unblinking interviews. The Messenger is nominated for Best Original Screenplay, and yet not Best Picture? A strange omission, me thinks. Woody Harrelson was outstanding in this film; nice to see his Best Actor in a Supporting Role nomination.

CUROSITIES:
Best Makeup-just how much makeup difficulty was there in Il Divo? I didn’t see it, so I don’t know…someone let me know.

About The Blind Side…great story, good film. Oscar is pushing it. Do I love Sandra Bullock? Absolutely. Do I think this is a Best Actress performance? Nope. She was very uncomfortable with a lot of this role, and frankly, it shows. I love her films, and believe that she will one day be cast in a role that truly shows all of her spectrum. This is not the role, and this is not the film.

It feels good, it’s a true story, but when aligned with such strong performances in this category, Falcon would be disappointed that an Oscar would go to someone who has said time and time again in interview that they didn’t do their best work. We hope this category is given its full consideration and this isn’t a gimme. There are some tremendous performances nominated this year; let’s look at the ones that feel good… and the ones that don’t. I think the woman she portrays should have a bronze statue in her honor, but this category is stiff this year with tremendous performances.

Gabby Sidibe should not be written off as a one time; she is incredibly gifted and versatile-I hope she works a whole lot more. Screenwriters: write some strong women roles for these talented actresses. Hollywood: put some money behind the projects. Helen Mirren is stellar, and Carey Mulligan should get more than a passing glance for her performance in An Education. It is a Best Picture nomination-a joy to behold.

Missed-well, there’s a lot. It was a great year for film. The technical categories being narrowed down to three every year bothers me. Why three? Why not five? Five would be better. Art Direction is five; Cinematography is five-let’s do five (at least five) in all of them.

Quentin-now what are you going to do now that you are accepted by the establishment?! Hehe

The Academy Awards will be on March 7. Until then, everyone place your proverbial bets. There will be lots of discussion. In the meantime, we will be back to the issues of the day.
Every day is a new day.
Peace,
Falcon and Dove