Poem of the week.

THE MAN WITH ONE SHOE

I once knew a man with only one shoe,

Romantically linked to the Queen of Peru.

The yarns he recounted near my backyard swing

Would make your blood curdle, make your heart zing.

Ah, the demons he battled the oceans he crossed.

And that one fateful day when hopelessly lost.

A woman appeared on a shiny, white steed;

She swooped him up high, and gave him some mead.

“My, isn't that tasty?” he said with a smile.

“It has just the right flavor, just the right style!”

They got along swell with a minimum of hassle,

And fell madly in love before reaching her castle.

The palace was adorned with diamonds and gems

Even the bathrooms had their own diadems.

But, alas, their love was never quite true.

How could a proud queen love a man with one shoe?

She cast the poor chap out of her sight

Sent him packing away one cold, lonely night.

He ended his journey in my very backyard,

Lonely and hungry, broken and tired.

I had no mead: we were not super rich.

But I gave him a bite of my jelly sandwich.

Yes, I once knew a man with only one shoe--

He limped a wee bit, but his stories rang true.

Shen Yun Dance

     Hey, wanna catch up on 5,000 years of Chinese culture in one night? Then get ready for Shen Yun, coming this week to the California Center for the Arts in beautiful, downtown Escondido.

     Tickets are a little expensive—ranging from $50 to $165—but Shen Yun puts on one of the most breathtaking shows you have ever seen. As the group correctly points out, the show combines “pure beauty, pure energy, pure wisdom and pure spirituality.”

     The heart of the show is the incredible Chinese dance—leaps, spins, flips and tumbles that are hard to believe. But there is also a mystical blend of traditional Chinese music with Western classical music, of Chinese musical instruments and classical Western instruments.

     Chinese dance was passed down through ancient plays for thousands of years. It was gradually refined and perfected by dancers.  But over the past 60 years of communist rule the art form has been disparaged and nearly destroyed.

     But this Shen Yun group is entirely independent of the Chinese government. The group was formed some nine years ago in New York, attracting dancers, musicians and artists from all over the world. Their goal: to revive this divinely-inspired art form and share it with audiences around the world.

     Besides San Diego, the group is also performing in three other California cities-- Long Beach, Thousand Oaks, and Bakersfield.

     By the way, if you are asking yourself what does Shen Yun mean, it was taken from the phrase Shen Zhou, which means the Divine Land. This was the name for China for thousands of years.

     Go check it out!

Balboa Park Celebrates 100th Birthday

     Hey, how many of you folks out there have celebrated your 100th birthday? Well, if you want to know what a 100th birthday celebration looks like, come on out to San Diego and help mark Balboa Park's Centennial!
     In 1915, the engineers who were building the Panama Canal had finished up their job. G Aubrey Davidson--then president of the San Diego Chamber of Commerce--said, "Hey, San Diego Bay is going to become famous because it will be the first port for ships heading north after traversing the canal!"
     Thus was born the idea for the Panama-California Exposition and for Balboa Park. San Diego had an estimated population of only 40,000 at that time, but about 50,000 people are said to have swarmed through the park on opening day.
     Before the Exposition, the Park, roughly 1,200 acres, really had no buildings and no park-like landscaping.  But the folks planning the Fair got very busy and finished up their work quickly.
     Many of the building have been reconstructed over the years, and Balboa Park is now one of the main attractions for both residents and tourists who come out to San Diego to enjoy the weather, the beaches and the sights.
     One of the key attractions in the Park is the Spreckels Organ Pavillion, which has been outfitted with three new ranks of organ pipes. With its 4,518 pipes and 73 ranks, the organ is the largest outdoor organ in the Western Hemisphere. Concerts of musical classics are offered free throughout the year.
     But there are many, many other things to see, to hear and to do in Balboa Park. The Park is home to 15 major museums, many performing arts venues, beautiful gardens and the world-famous San Diego Zoo.
     So, come on out to Balboa Park and help celebrate its 100 years of providing a great calendar of museum exhibitions, plays, musicals, concerts, and classes.