Making Your Money Stretch Against Your Debt Burden

Editorials

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03/14/2019

The level of national consumer debt has reached a significant level.

CNBC reports that $4tn is owed by everyday people, a number bigger than the GDP of the UK, France and India. In North Hollywood, the problem is felt acutely; with Curbed reporting that rents of $1,650 a month are not uncommon, it’s unsurprising that many find themselves in debt. NoHo citizens should be aware of the tips and principles available to them to make their money work for them.

When you need credit

Debt should be avoided, but credit is not in itself a bad thing. When managed properly, credit can be used for a number of reasons, such as providing the boost you need for improvements that will help you in the long run, or, to help consolidate previous debt. California in particular is in a good place when it comes to lending. According to the Fresno Bee, a new state law will liberalize the banking system, enabling greater variety and more personal types of lending that will be fit for purpose.

Taking the initiative with shopping

On the day to day, there is a lot more that the average person can do to save cash. The culture of convenience and a loss of a budget has led many to overspend when shopping; NerdWallet estimate that 51% of people overspend during their routine shop. With leisure time, the NoHo card provides discounts on numerous local businesses, and national online service Retail Me Not is updated by consumers to provide tips on daily deals. When you go to shop, plan ahead, try to buy in bulk, and always have an eye on the deals. You could make substantial savings.

Participate in a co-op

Cooperatives are starting to become popular once again. According to Patch NoHo, these operations provide a range of services for small investments each month. Among these is a Toluca Lake co-operative. These can save you money through providing better value on things like fresh produce, which can be overpriced in the supermarkets. Many also provide a facility for savings, subject to various rules. This level of community engagement helps to provide education on being sustainable while providing a little extra for your dollar, week in, week out.

The debt burden is increasing as cost of living rises. This doesn’t mean that those with debt should panic. There are plenty of options to work around any debt burden; what they have in common is a requirement for patience and hard work to succeed.

The Whitefire Solofest Presents “Embrace/Love/Free Cancer”

THEATRE REVIEWS

Samantha Simmonds-Ronceros

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03/14/2019

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The Whitefire Solofest Presents “Embrace/Love/Free Cancer.” Written and Performed by Justin Sandler. Directed and Developed by Jessica Lynn Johnson.

Justin Sandler is a survivor. He is a victor, a warrior and he is a courageous and inspirational battler of cancer.

Last year Justin had some trouble catching his breath. He was playing sports and felt strange and ended up in the hospital where they discovered an almost foot-long tumor in his chest attached to his heart and lungs, so big it was restricting his breathing….

The doctors moved quickly and began chemo. Half a dozen or more rounds later the tumor had shrunk enough to be removed and the first of several long and arduous surgeries began. Justin’s journey from an extremely healthy, active and ridiculously busy actor, business owner and sport junky to the man he is today is the subject of his play. But cancer is not the only focus of his being and it is probably because of this and his incredible positivity that he is recovering so incredibly well. That and his wonderful support system and loving, resilient partner and wife Mary Lou.

Life can really throw us some crap at times, but how we deal with it can be the making of us or our undoing. Justin has overcome something that could have ended him and he has done it with grace and with understanding and ultimately with love.

During the play, we see some of the many hours of video diary Justin took during his treatment. Justin’s skills as a filmmaker shine even as he suffers through the chemo, surgeries and recovery. He was determined to document his incredible and heartrending experiences, good, bad and uncomfortable. It is an amazing way for him to self heal as well as share, inspire others to embrace their cancer, to love it as a part of them, and to release it as they ask it to leave! Justin does have a sweet-natured affection for his tumor, who he brilliantly acted out in character form. But in the end, the tumor knew it was time to go as they both couldn’t survive, which made for a poignant and touching twist.

“Embrace/Love/Free Cancer” is a fascinating and very unique take on what has become an illness we are sadly all too familiar with.

Justin’s triumph over it makes us grateful and this wonderful play, developed to further celebrate his victory, is a testament to his humor, his spirit and his creativity…Bravo!! It’s amazing how human beings, so fragile and so vulnerable, can be so resilient, brave and, when they need to be, so superhuman…

http://justinsandler.com

Whitefire Theatre Solofest Presents “Enerjoyce”

THEATRE REVIEWS

Samantha Simmonds-Ronceros

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03/14/2019

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Whitefire Theatre Solofest Presents “Enerjoyce.” Written and Performed by Joyce Fidler. Directed and Developed with Jessica Lynn Johnson.

Well this was a surprise! Sweet looking, slightly silvery Joyce Fidler has had quite a life!!

Beginning simply enough, in a family like many others, she quickly discovered that taking the road less travelled was something she was far more comfortable with and, for that, we are eternally grateful – even if she may at times had wish she had taken an easier path.

This play encompasses Joyce’s crazy and inspiring life. As a record store owner, marijuana paraphernalia distributor, musician, alternative lifestyle proponent and mother, she has lived one of the fullest lives I have ever had the pleasure of learning about and she’s still going strong, that’s for sure!

Her vivacious and hilarious personality oozed charm and mesmerized us as she boldly unfolded her life story on stage. She held nothing back; the funny, the sad, the struggles and the regrets. They all played out on stage as they did in her life, one at a time, some planned, some not, some good, some bad and pretty much everything in between.

Joyce is absolutely brilliant and truly shining as she flits about the stage sharing herself with us. Warm and lovely, even when describing her darkest moments and her most humbling lows, she still maintains a thoroughly infectious fearlessness. Her thirst for adventure and her commitment to her present and her world I found quite breathtaking.

It’s hard to judge a lifetime in a play and this is what “Enerjoyce” is. A play about women who through a fierce self-belief and tireless energy has found her place finally as a teacher and a mentor and an occasional rock star…what a beautiful combination in a person…”Enerjoyce” was once her nickname and it fits. Warmth and wisdom, energy and joy…perfection!!

How to help teenagers manage their money

Money Matters

Lillian Appleby

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03/14/2019

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How to help teenagers manage their money

4 Important ways to teach your teen about money

Your teen is becoming more independent, but still needs plenty of advice from you. With more money to spend and more opportunities to spend it, your teen can easily get into financial trouble. So before money burns a hole in your child’s pocket, teach him or her a few financial lessons. With your help, your teen will soon develop the self-confidence and skills he or she needs to successfully manage money in the real world.

Lesson 1: Handling earnings from a job

Teens often have more expenses than younger children, and your child may be coming to you for money more often. But with you holding the purse strings, your teen may have difficulty making independent financial decisions.

One solution? Encourage your teen to get a part-time job that will enable him or her to earn money for expenses. Here are some things you might want to discuss with your teen when he or she begins working:

Agree on what your child’s pay should be used for. Now that your teen is working, will he or she need to help out with car insurance or clothing expenses, or do you want your teen to earmark a portion of each paycheck for college?
Talk to your teen about taxes. Show your child how FICA taxes and regular income taxes can take a bite out of his or her take-home pay.
Introduce your teen to the concept of paying yourself first. Encourage your teen to deposit a portion of every paycheck in a savings account before spending any of it.

A teen who is too young to get a job outside the home can make extra cash by babysitting or doing odd jobs for you, neighbors, or relatives. This money can supplement any allowance you choose to hand out, enabling your young teen to get a taste of financial independence.

Lesson 2: Developing a budget

Developing a written spending plan or budget can help your teen learn to be accountable for his or her finances. Your ultimate goal is to teach your teen how to achieve a balance between money coming in and money going out. To develop a spending plan, have your teen start by listing out all sources of regular income (e.g., an allowance or earnings from a part-time job). Next, have your teen brainstorm a list of regular expenses (don’t include anything you normally pay for). Finally, subtract your teen’s expenses from his or her income. If the result shows that your teen won’t have enough income to meet his or her expenses, you’ll need to help your teen come up with a plan for making up the shortfall.

Here are some ways you can help your teen learn about budgeting:

Consider giving out a monthly, rather than weekly, allowance. Tell your teen that the money must last for the whole month, and encourage him or her to keep track of what’s been spent.
Encourage your teen to think spending decisions through rather than buying items right away. Show your teen how comparing prices or waiting for an item to go on sale can save him or her money.
Suggest ways your teen can earn more money or cut back on expenses (e.g., rent a DVD to watch with friends rather than go to the movies) to resolve a budget shortfall.
Show your teen how to modify a budget by categorizing expenses as needs (expenses that are unavoidable) and wants (expenses that could be cut if necessary).
Resist the temptation to bail your teen out. If your teen can depend on you to come up with extra cash, he or she will never learn to manage money wisely. But don’t be judgmental–your teen will inevitably make some spending mistakes along the way. Your child should know that he or she can always come to you for information, support, and advice.

Lesson 3: Saving for the future

As a youngster, your child saved up for a short-term goal such as buying a favorite toy. But now that your child is a teen, he or she is ready to focus on saving for larger goals such as a new computer or a car and longer-term goals such as college. Here are some ways you can encourage your teen to save for the future:

Have your teen put savings goals in writing to make them more concrete.
Encourage your child to set goals that are based on his or her values, not on keeping up with what other teens have or want.
Motivate your child by offering to match what he or she saves towards a long-term goal. For instance, for every dollar your child sets aside for college, you might contribute 50 cents or 1 dollar.
Consider increasing your teen’s allowance if he or she is too young to get a part-time job.
Praise your teen for showing responsibility when he or she reaches a financial goal. Teens still look for, and count on, their parent’s approval.
Open up a savings account for your child if you haven’t already done so.
Introduce your teen to the basics of investing by opening an investment account for your teen (if your teen is a minor, this will be a custodial account). Look for an account that can be opened with only a low initial contribution at an institution that supplies educational materials introducing teens to basic investment terms and concepts.

Lesson 4: Using credit wisely

You can take some comfort in the fact that credit card companies require an adult to cosign a credit card agreement before they will issue a card to someone under the age of 21 (unless that person can prove that he or she has the financial resources to repay the credit card debt), but you can’t ignore the credit card issue altogether. Many teens today use credit cards, and it probably won’t be long until your teen asks for one too.

If you decide to cosign a credit card application for your teen, ask the credit card company to assign a low credit limit (e.g., $300). This can help your child learn to manage credit without getting into serious debt.

Here are some things to discuss with your teen before he or she uses a credit card:

Set limits on what the card can be used for (e.g., emergencies, clothing).
Review the credit card agreement, and make sure your child understands how much interest will accrue on the unpaid balance, what grace period applies, and what fees will be charged.
Agree on how the bill will be paid, and what will happen if your child can’t pay the bill.
Make sure your child understands how long it will take to pay off a credit card balance if he or she only makes minimum payments. You can demonstrate this using an online calculator or by reviewing the estimate provided on each month’s credit card statement.

If putting a credit card in your teen’s hands is a scary thought, you may want to start off with a prepaid spending card. A prepaid spending card looks like a credit card, but works more like a prepaid phone card. You load the card with the dollar amount you choose and your teen can generally use it anywhere a credit card is accepted. Your teen’s purchases are deducted from the card balance, and you can transfer more money to the card if necessary. Although there may be some fees associated with the card, no interest or debt accrues.

One thing you may especially like about prepaid spending cards is that they allow your teen to gradually get the hang of using credit responsibly. Because you can access account information online or over the phone, you can monitor your teen’s spending habits, then sit down and talk with your teen about money management issues.

The information in this newsletter is not intended as tax, legal, investment, or retirement advice or recommendations, and it may not be relied on for the purpose of avoiding any federal tax penalties. You are encouraged to seek advice from an independent professional advisor. The content is derived from sources believed to be accurate. Neither the information presented nor any opinion expressed constitutes a solicitation for the purchase or sale of any security. This material was written and prepared by Broadridge Advisor Solutions. © 2018 Broadridge Investor Communication Solutions, Inc.

METRO BIKES!

North Hollywood News

Lisa Bianconi

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03/13/2019

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Have you tried Metro Bike Share? Have you tried any bike share program in other cities? Well NoHo will soon get the chance.

The Metro Bike Share network is expanding to North Hollywood!

To plan the expansion, Metro Bike Share seeks feedback on potential locations in North Hollywood.

Where should the bike share stations should be?

Visit tooledesign.github.io/E030_LA_BikeShare to submit your input.

**** For information on Los Angeles theatre, tickets to theatre in North Hollywood’s NoHo Arts District, theatre reviews, the NoHo Event Calendar, restaurants, news and local businesses in NoHo, or anything and everything about the NoHo Arts Community, bookmark nohoartsdistrict.com. Follow us on Twitter @OfficialNoHo. On Instagram @NoHoArtsDistrict and Facebook @NoHoArtsDistrict.

The Whitefire Theatre Solofest Presents “The Quiet Room”

THEATRE REVIEWS

Samantha Simmonds-Ronceros

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03/13/2019

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The Whitefire Theatre Solofest Presents “The Quiet Room.” Written by Michelle Giannini. Directed by Mark Hatfield. Starring Pam Levin.

If you have ever had the good fortune to see a Pam Levin show, then you will perhaps know why I was so looking forward to this one.

Pam is a brilliant storyteller and a hilarious comedic actor. Allthough I have seen three previous shows of hers and they have had the occasional serious note, they were all ostensibly comedies. So something more serious then??

“The Quiet Room,” is billed as what would happen if a schizoid ballerina is locked in a room with a duck. Although that intro does make it seem like it would be funny, it is a much, much more serious piece. It’s still funny though…confused?

No need to be. Like everything in life, this play is a mysterious blend of hilarious and terrifying, of poignant and profoundly sad. Set in the ‘quiet room’ of an asylum, Pam plays a schizophrenic inmate, isolated from the others and incarcerated in this special room due to her recent bad behavior toward her least favorite nurse, that and a tendency to spit out her medication.

In the room we discover just how nuts this woman is as she revisits moments of her lifetime of crazy, all the while careening and rolling and dancing across the stage. During this assault on herself and our senses she invents a friend, a duck, or more accurately ,a shoe duck…she is lonely.

Between her and the duck we dive head first into her psyche and tumble around for while inside the erratic and frightening space she lives. Reeling and bouncing from laughter to terror through sadness, loss, confusion and regret, Pam Levin masterfully manipulates her audience in a story of both an intense longing for peace and a joyous revelry in her own magical, mythical, spectacular nature.

We judge don’t we? These souls who tiptoe on the edge of our world, seeing past us and what we consider normal and somehow surviving darknesses we probably never could ourselves. Pam gives this particular lost soul a grace, a wholeness and a beauty that comes from her own unique sense of empathy, understanding and love.

It’s a beautiful play. One Pam has been performing now for 20 years and her love for it and her deep connection to this women fills her fully out, breathing such a life into her that we are transfixed. But then Pam is an actress who manages to do that in everything she does.

Mental illness is far more a part of our lives than we choose to acknowledge and we are all just a few breaths away from madness ourselves, if we are honest. ”There but for the grace of god go we” after all. This show is a way to touch crazy for a few minutes and to remind ourselves just how lucky we truly are. Bravo!!

http://talesofmodernmotherhood.com

Do dogs like hugs and getting in their face for kisses?

Pets District

Bethany Wilson

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03/12/2019

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Do dogs like hugs and getting in their face for kisses?

This is something we come across a lot and I hear debated by so many people.

I might watch a video or read an article with another trainer talking about how dogs hate hugs and it doesn’t come naturally to who they are and causes stress. Then many people will be angry at that swearing that their dog loves hugs. So here is the skinny! They are both right.

For me, in my experience, it comes down to trust and easiness of nature. Now, this isn’t the type of trust you might think. I don’t necessarily mean earned trust with structure and guidance like I have talked about numerous times before. I don’t mean trust through feeding and treats. I mean basic general trust for the human race (which often bleeds over into other species as well for the dog) Dogs that genetically have a more trusting disposition of people will not only tolerate hugs from adults and kids but just enjoy the attention and interaction. This does NOT mean they love being hugged specifically. This means they just love the attention in any form it comes in most of the time. My German Shepherd Dakota is a perfect example of this. Not only does she love hugs, but she’ll get in your face as much as possible to sniff and kiss hello and loves it if you get to her face first. She wants just about anyone to do this and even if she does has a reservation about someone (she once barked at a woman with hiking poles) after telling her no, she decided she loved that person as much as anyone and she should introduce herself, ideally by getting a hug!

This is NOT every dog. I’m inclined to say it isn’t MOST dogs, but I am jaded. The vast majority of questions I get from around the world looking for dog advice and the dogs I work with on a daily basis are there for a reason…because they need help! That makes my perspective of how many dogs are trusting enough of the entire human race to love hugs vs those that do not, very biased. However, I have worked with so many rescues and rescue dogs at this point that I can say seeing any dog put in a new situation, in a new environment, even acting friendly, could be the most deceiving when interpreting behavior and dangerous. That is a strong statement, I know, but hang with me for a bit and this piece of information may really help you or someone down the road save you from a bite or save a child’s life.

A situation that I do know is more common then most people think is the same scenario told two different ways.
A husband and wife get a puppy to raise. They love the puppy more then anything and have a wonderful life with the puppy and that puppy turns into an adult dog. The couple gets pregnant and have a baby. The dog is unsure. The couple tries to socialize the baby and dog and get the dog used to the baby. Things are…okay. The baby gets mobile and crawling or walking. Now the baby is getting in the dogs face sometimes and the parents are trying to teach a 1-year-old how to ‘pet’ the dog properly. The dog is feeling so much pressure and one day the baby gets in the dogs face and snap!! Seemingly out of nowhere the dog bites the baby and the family naturally becomes terrified and must get rid of the dog.
A family adopt a really happy and excited dog from a shelter. The dog is so great with the kids and they are all excited to save this dog’s life. The family brings the dog home and they show the dog the new house, the yard, maybe go for a walk and play with some toys. The dog seems happy and excited with all the attention and new stuff to explore. The family sits on the floor and just loves on the dog and gives lots of pets. Then someone gets in the dog’s face or gives the dog a hug and they strike and bite, or worse.

This is such a sad scenario for the people and the dog. Any dog in a new situation, even with a trusted family member or a new dog to a new family may seem happy and excited, but to jump to a level of spacial pressure that suffocates the dog is dangerous, even if the dog seemingly asks for it. Dogs take TIME to settle and build trust if rescued and even dogs you have had from the age of a puppy will act in surprising ways when a new situation or pressure source presents itself.

An example of this is our border collie Dusty. He was happy and eager to get out of his kennel environment at the rescue. He was friendly without a hint of reservation when meeting us. Just a few days of settling in he showed signs of being more reserved like a typical border collie with new people (and this is without us spoiling him, haha) We quickly learned that he liked people just fine when he felt comfortable, but did NOT like people getting in his face and he would do a warning bark out to the side. Having him made me realize how many people will say hi to a dog and then immediately go down to a dogs face, mostly strangers. We started working on that immediately, advocating for him and letting him get more comfortable first. He was doing so well and was really solid with anyone coming inside and even getting comfortable with kids petting him. Then, seemingly out of the blue, someone he knew well and really liked said hello by leaning over him and getting in his face. He did his bark jumping to the side…a warning. We hadn’t heard it in over a year. What could have caused this? We had just moved to a different home and we were having a get-together. The combination of the stressful move and many people coming over (Not to mention my frantic cleaning and cooking! Not exactly being the pillar of leadership in that moment!) It all led to that moment…that set back. What if his instinct wasn’t to give a warning bark. What if it was to use his teeth immediately like with many dogs?

This is a very real problem for many people and my advice is this. Never get in a dogs face or hug a dog that you do not have a regular and daily relationship with. Don’t do it at all if that dog tends to be more reserved naturally or has other behavioral issues you think would never be used towards you, because that is likely, not true. If it is your own dog, know your dog and respect certain aspects to their personality or be actively working on it to change it if that is your goal. More importantly, make sure you demand that other people respect those things about your dog’s personality. Finally, make sure your dog really does enjoy the close interaction with you and if not, you can actually condition them to be more comfortable with it, believe it or not. We worked on that with our dog Dusty and now he really loves it from his family and people he knows well, but he isn’t comfortable with it from people he doesn’t know well, so we make sure not to put too much pressure on him in that regard. Know when you have a dog like our Dakota, who seeks out hugs wherever she goes and has an easy nature about her. That doesn’t mean don’t keep an eye on your dog in situations like that because EVERY dog has their limit, but just see and respect the difference in different dogs temperaments and personalities. After all, dogs are not bred instinctively to be tolerant and great with all scenarios. There are certain breeds that are much better with those situations on average and keep that in mind when choosing your pet.

I hope this sheds some light on the dog hugging debate. Mostly this really boils down to seeing the dog individually and not what you want the dog to be or what the breed usually is. I’ve had multiple Australian and German shepherds and while the similarities in the breed are amazing, they were still incredibly diverse and all with different levels of tolerance and different behaviors with different people and kids. Some were great from the start and others were not. Know you dog, choose wisely and be careful with children…always.

-Bethany Wilson

Captain Marvel; Greta; A Madea Family Funeral – Reviews

Movie Reviews

Mike Peros

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03/11/2019

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Captain Marvel; Greta; A Madea Family Funeral – Reviews

Film Reviews: Captain Marvel; Greta; A Madea Family Funeral

The next stage of Marvel’s takeover of our national multiplexes continues with Captain Marvel (and why not?) the first film in the Marvel Universe that is anchored by a female superhero. In case you haven’t heard, it’s another origin tale, only the origins are as much a surprise to the hero as they are to the public. Once again the tale begins in the galaxy, with the Krees and Skrulls at war with each other. Brie Larson (Room, Kong: Skull Island) is Vers, a Kree warrior under the tutelage of Jude Law’s Yon-Rogg, a Kree military commander and Vers’ mentor. Vers has been having recurring nightmares; after being captured by the Skrulls, some of her suppressed memories are unleashed (involving Annette Bening as a scientist). After an exciting escape from her Skrull captors, Vers finds herself on Earth, circa the mid-1990s. She quickly meets a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, two-eyed Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), and together (with some assistance from Clark Gregg’s Agent Colson) they figure out who the guys are and who the bad guys are in this intergalactic struggle.

As written and directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, Captain Marvel has a fairly good blend of action, characterization, and humor. The 1990s setting provides many opportunities for humor derived from reference points that exist in our fond memories (Blockbuster Video, internet infancy issues, pay phones). Larson is a perfectly competent hero on her journey to self-discovery; the nature of the character doesn’t allow for much meaningful emoting, but she projects determination, compassion and integrity. Jude Law and Ben Mendelsohn (as a leading Skrull) also do more than pick up their checks, providing wit and flair throughout, as does Bening in her various incarnations. I suspect that for many Marvel fans, it might be Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury that holds the most appeal. We know Jackson/Fury as the one-eyed Avengers assembler extraordinaire, but here he is a younger (with sustained digital help), low-level agent who is capable of heroics, wisecracks, and screw-ups in equal measure. And there is also Goose, a perfectly adorable scene-stealer of a cat—and another essential component of the Marvel Universe. In all, Captain Marvel is a perfectly enjoyable way to while away an evening in anticipation of Avengers: Endgame later this spring.

As an antidote to the model of female empowerment on display in Captain Marvel, the new Neil Jordan film Greta provides your classic damsel-in-distress (Chloe Jean Moretz), only her tormentor is Isabelle Huppert’s seemingly reserved Greta. It all begins innocently enough, as Moretz’s naïve New York City waitress finds a handbag on the subway and decides to return it to its owner (as opposed to heeding the “if you see something, say something” edict that New Yorkers know by heart). Greta (Huppert) seems to be a grateful, lonely widow in search of a daughter surrogate; coincidentally Moretz’s Frances is also looking for a mother figure. These two bond, become best buds—until…I won’t spoil too much here (although one of my criticisms is that the film is too quick in its revelations). Needless to say, Greta is not all that she seems, and the cat-and-mouse game that ensues is heaving in Greta’s favor. This is partly because Frances, as written, makes all the wrong moves in dealing with the quietly formidable Greta. And Greta, in Huppert’s masterful playing, is fascinating to watch throughout. Whether she is feigning either hurt or compassion, standing still across a busy street—or doing a little dance as gunfire is headed her way, Huppert’s Greta is a compelling creation. You may not believe a moment of this film, but Greta does have plenty of entertainment value, as well as a satisfying wind-up.

I finally saw one of Tyler Perry’s Madea films, and A Madea Family Funeral promises to be the last one in the successful run of Madea films. It’s technically adequate (Perry seamlessly juggles four roles, and also writes and directs) frequently amusing, and even occasionally poignant. Madea, who seems to be equal parts racy raconteur, provocateur, and self-proclaimed fixer, is visiting some relatives when a proposed anniversary celebration becomes a memorial instead (as the patriarch dies while in the arms of another—decidedly not the wife, and a family friend to boot). There are some hilarious moments involving how the deceased is remembered (as he was last seen), the abuse of dentures, and culminating in a fairly funny sequence depicting one of the longest funerals known to mankind. A Madea family Funeral also provides some interesting observations on family, marriage, commitment, and when to forgive—and not forgive, especially when it comes to the female characters in relation to the actions of their straying men.

Jaimie Steck “Full Moon” Single Release

Music Reviews

Samantha Simmonds-Ronceros

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03/11/2019

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This new track from Jaimie Steck takes me right back to the best of the 90s pop.

The kind of cheeky, sexy, pounding, turn the sound up pop. Bouncing involuntarily in your car seat kind of pop. ”Full Moon” is a retro trip through Britney, Christina and all the gorgeous boys of pop.

Jamie has the perfect pop voice – sweet, harmonious and breathy with some guts when she needs it. She’s a great performer, sassy, gorgeous and with some wicked moves. Check out the video!

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She wrote the track herself and the song is brilliantly catchy, lots of lovely breakdowns, claps, snaps and grungy bass. The music is her voice, the rest is all acoustics and groove, and playing with echos and sequences of her voice…excellent production.

This is unadulterated pop. Unapologetic pop. Pop with a side of pop and I absolutely love it!!!

Artist Links

Producer: Ben Cohen

Eddy Yang “A New City” EP Release

Music Reviews

Samantha Simmonds-Ronceros

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03/11/2019

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An L.A. indie musician, Eddy Yang has the soul of an 80s American rock/punk band.

The music is stripped back, simple, bare even, but the attitude is all there. It’s a blend of the California vibe and the avant garde of New York. It’s a bit Cars and a bit Velvet Underground and a bit Tom Petty.

The guitars jingle, the bass mumbles and the drum machine synths along rather nicely. The songs are about his world, nothing too complicated; girls, love, the city, joy, but it’s good. The more you listen the more it grows on you. His voice is honest, uncontrived, earnest and sweet. He sounds like a really excellent indie band, the best kind, deeply connected to his audience, one of them.

The sound is cinematic, open, poetic, Yang self produces, plays every instrument and the result has this strangely good android vibe, almost like he’s cloned himself, populating his own universe with other versions of Yang. But not in a creepy way.

I love how Yang has this singular energy. He creates his music as if he is alone in the universe, but that’s how the best art begins sometimes. We must be true to our own needs, we must create what we would want to have if people like it, then great. But they can’t be why we do it. Otherwise, it’s not pure, it’s not “us.”

Eddy Yang has made something that sounds like Eddy Yang…and in that way it’s perfect.

Artist Links

Release Notes

Eddy wrote, recorded, mixed, and mastered everything on the EP.

The Actors Workout Studio Presents “Peggy’s Song”

THEATRE REVIEWS

Samantha Simmonds-Ronceros

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03/11/2019

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The Actors Workout Studio Presents “Peggy’s Song,” written by Jim Garrard.

Produced by Lisa Howard Cerone & Conrad Dunn

Directed by Conrad Dunn

EXTENDED through Saturday, March 23rd @ 8pm Sunday, March 24th @ 4pm

The Actors Workout Theatre, 4735 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood, 91602

This is a fascinating story. A widow with much more curiosity than the local police hires a detective to find the identity of the body of a young woman found in the wreckage of her husband’s plane, alongside him.

Were they lovers? Why was he 6,000 miles from where he was meant to be? Was her entire marriage a lie?

A good deal of this play is the wife’s character directly addressing the audience about her predicament. The sadness, the humiliation, moving house to get far away from wagging tongues, coping with not only the death of her husband but the potential reality of his infidelity and with a women who could pass as a girl.

But she gets mad as she tries to get over her loss and get through her pain. Her obsession to discover who the girl was brings her much closer to her dead husband and uncovers a part of his life she could never have imagined.

Her life, her losses, finding herself alone at 50, her guilt at surviving her husband’s death and the recent loss of her young son are all played out in broken, breathless, halting monologues quite brilliantly by the lovely Lisa Howard Cerone. The detective, a slightly bumbling and sweetly aging, scruffy heartthrob, is also beautifully portrayed by the sublime Conrad Dunn -a cross between Harrison Ford and Peter Falk with a dash of Humphrey Bogart.

The two characters spiral around each other in ever decreasing circles in kind of a delightful “will they won’t they” dance. Less “Body Heat” and more “Shirley Valentine,” all set to the beat of this strange, unfolding mystery.

It’s really, really excellent. Funny, alarming, familiar, unsettling, poignant and brilliantly and believably performed.

It’s a one-act and feels like it should be more. But perhaps because it’s so well done we want to see where these two end up, how the mystery is solved and the wife can let go, blameless and wiser…Bravo!!!!

It’s not a long run…so don’t dawdle!!!

*Note – The role of Jack Patterson will be played by Conrad Dunn on 2/17, 2/23, 3/3, 3/9 & 3/10 and by Gregory Niebel on 2/16, 2/24 & 3/2

Starring Lisa Howard Cerone, Conrad Dunn & Greg Niebel

Backstory

North Hollywood News

Lisa Bianconi

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03/10/2019

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Join The Victory Theatre for their bi-monthly spoken word series BACKSTORY, an evening of true stories, poetry, and flights of fancy told live around a theatrical theme.

BACKSTORY is a bi-monthly evening of true stories, fiction and poetry at The Victory Theatre.

Using the title of a classic stage play or movie as inspiration, storytellers and poets write poems and stories to be read aloud. Writers may pen a personal story inspired by the themes of the play. Some have written in the voice of a character from the play and told his or her back story. Some writers have used the words of the title for inspiration. Whatever the writer’s approach, BACKSTORY has consistently been a fascinating and eclectic night of theatre.

This month’s theme: Sorry to Bother You

This month’s poets, storytellers and host:

Erica Blumfield, Lee Boek, Beverly M. Collins, Michael Harris, Patti Henley, Matthew Robinson

Hosted by Adele Slaughter

WHEN:

Sunday, March 24 at 7:30pm

WHERE:

Victory Theatre
3326 W. Victory Blvd.
Burbank 91505

TICKETS:

$10 at the door

INFO:

818-841-5421
https://www.thevictorytheatrecenter.org/tickets-events/backstory

What is Backstory?

I like to say, “Backstory is an evening of true stories, poetry, and flights of fancy told live around a theatrical theme.” Usually there will be 2 poets, 2 storytellers telling true personal stories and 2 doing fiction. The theme is always the title of a classic play or movie. We have done:

It’s a Wonderful Life
The Importance of Being Earnest
Fool for Love
Summer and Smoke
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Moon for the Misbegotten A Winter’s Tale
Braveheart
My Fair Lady
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Fences
Psycho
You Can’t Take it With You
Groundhog Day
Julius Caesar
Moonstruck
Goldfinger
A Delicate Balance
All Quiet on the Western Front

Storytellers and poets riff on the themes of the play, the characters in the play, or even just the words in the title. For Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, one guy told a story of his cat. For Braveheart, one woman told of enduring the loss of a child at birth. Usually one storyteller will tell the backstory of a major or minor character in the play in the voice of that character. For Fences, one writer became Troy down at the neighborhood bar on the morning of his son’s birth, telling his cronies what kind of a father he’s going to be.

How did you come up with the idea to do the Backstory event?

We were sitting around a creative board meeting brainstorming on possible ongoing projects for the Victory. Laurie and I are avid fans of the storytelling events going on all around Los Angeles (and there is a plethora of them) and we thought one more would be a good thing. Adele Slaughter, at the table, said she would like to have poetry be a part of that kind of event, not just because she herself is a poet, but because it would make the night more eclectic than other storytelling events. Tom Ormany, co-artistic director of the Victory, then said, “Why don’t we call it Backstory, and have the themes be theatre titles and have people also do the backstories of characters in those plays?” The rest is history.

Sorry to Bother You via www.nohoartsdistrict.com
**** For information on Los Angeles theatre, tickets to theatre in North Hollywood’s NoHo Arts District, theatre reviews, the NoHo Event Calendar, restaurants, news and local businesses in NoHo, or anything and everything about the NoHo Arts Community, bookmark nohoartsdistrict.com. Follow us on Twitter @OfficialNoHo. On Instagram @NoHoArtsDistrict and Facebook @NoHoArtsDistrict.

Different Types of Pricing Strategies a Business Can Use

Editorials

NoHo - North Hollywood

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03/08/2019

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When you are in business truth is pricing is a major factor.

You might be thinking in terms of what? Well, keeping your business going in general. Good pricing strategies help you determine the profits that you will make. And roughly the percentage of people that can afford your product.

Before we get into the actual pricing strategies we have to note that prices are determined by a couple of things. We are talking about market demand. Meaning retailers or manufacturers look at how many people want that product, the higher the market demand the higher the price and the lower the demand the lower the price.

Location is also a push factor. It depends on where you are selling your product. Are people that reside there or come there, second class citizens or first class. What they can afford also comes into consideration.

Competition in the industry itself is rather vital. Most real money online casinos around the world attract more gamblers with free spins and bonuses. If there are hundreds of you selling the same thing you have to look for a smart way to price your goods. And that is just what we are going to be telling you about, keep on reading.

Premium Pricing

Newbies in the business often use this type of pricing. Whereby the price of a product is set higher than that of their competitors. The reason why that is done is customers need to know that they get quality goods and it is not about the price but value for your money. It has worked for Apple stores so you can also trust the system.

Market Penetration

This is a strategy that is used to lure customers by offering them good services at a lower price. Once this draws people in, now you can price your goods at a slightly higher price. Do you think customers will leave? Well, they won’t and this is why. Consumers are loyal once they get used at buying from one retailer or manufacturer it is hard to walk away. So they will stick by you no matter what, well that’s if you have been offering good services and products. However, in world of online sports betting, people go with the lowest bets with huge rewards. So we wouldn’t say there’s loyalty. The loyalty is put in what punters can benefit.

NoHo News

North Hollywood News

Lisa Bianconi

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03/07/2019

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NoHo News: Theatre Brings Us Joy! Blastoff Comics (for little super heroes). NoHo Time Machine. Live in NoHo.

We look forward to sharing lots of fun and unique news, events, profiles and updates on what’s happening in the NoHo Arts District.

Here’s your NoHo arts community update!

Every Thursday we send out our NoHo e-News. Do you get it? It takes 30 seconds. Make sure you sign up, it’s FREE. Sign up HERE>>

This issue of NoHo e-News is about what’s going on in North Hollywood and a selection of some theatre shows. But we have a ton of them. Did you know that the NoHo Arts District has the highest concentration of theatres outside of New York City? Just check out the NoHo Arts District Theatre Guide>>

Here’s a glimpse at what’s going on in North Hollywood. Click on the image and to see the online version of our NoHo News…ENJOY NOHO!

Follow NoHo News with Bloglovin

**** For information on Los Angeles theatre, tickets to theatre in North Hollywood’s NoHo Arts District, theatre reviews, the NoHo Event Calendar, restaurants, news and local businesses in NoHo, or anything and everything about the NoHo Arts Community, bookmark nohoartsdistrict.com. Follow us on Twitter @OfficialNoHo. On Instagram @NoHoArtsDistrict and Facebook @NoHoArtsDistrict.

The Whitefire Theatre Solofest Presents “Wake Up Little Susy”

THEATRE REVIEWS

Samantha Simmonds-Ronceros

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03/07/2019

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The Whitefire Theatre Solofest Presents “Wake Up Little Susy.” Written and Performed by Susy Porter. Directed and Developed by Jessica Lynn Johnson.

Susy Porter is one of those warm, huggable, bubbly people that you only wish you could have in your inner circle.

Full of positivity, encouragement, sweetness and light. What’s fascinating about her story and this play is how time and time again her belief in those she loved and her spiritual beliefs have been stretched to the limits.

A sexual trauma survivor, she grew up in a Christian household and her faith is center to her life still, but Susy’s journey is very complex. As she tells her story, spread out over the five decades of her life, one thing is clear, she’s far stronger than she looks.

It’s a tricky thing to do, to take terrible events in our lives and to tell them without clinging to the sadness, the harm and the shame connected to them. It’s trickier still to make that easy to watch or even entertaining, but Susy has mastered what few can. She has made her life transcend the damage, the secrets and the heartbreak. She shines a light on the darkest moments in her life and what is reveled is her monumental courage and shining spirit.

As a solo show “Wake Up Little Susy” it is brilliantly written, beautifully performed and Susy Porter is absolutely hilarious, highly emotionally intelligent and deeply inspirational…angelic even. She uses her humor and her heart to guide her story and what a story it is. Oh, and there’s a vagina puppet…adorable!

The Whitefire and Jessica Lynn Johnson are truly outdoing themselves this year. Their support of this and all the Solofest stories is amazing…so many stories to tell, so much healing through the telling. Bravo to all!

David Browning “Now You See Me” EP Release

Music Reviews

Samantha Simmonds-Ronceros

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03/07/2019

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David Browning “Now You See Me” EP Release

David Browning is is a bit of a conundrum…he’s a doctor and a musician, not your usual pairing of careers that’s for sure.

But it seems to work for him and the music is far from clinical. It’s pure pop! Unashamedly and unreservedly…all Sam Smith and Pet Shop Boys, Madonna and Erasure. Lots of claps and stabby synths and gorgeous, spiraling, soaring rhythms and loops of sound.

It’s pop but not at all shallow and plastic and I love his voice, it’s soft and breathy, clear and full of life. The lyrics are clever and sweet, “Just a boy taken over by a terrorist, it was nuclear desire.” Classic and fun…and don’t we all need so much more of that these days?

The production is perfection. Clear and light and gorgeous. I love the vocal right up front, it’s all very Howard Jones. So many 80s references! I just love it! Turn it up and dance!

I think “Stay Over” is my new favorite song!!

Artist Links

Release Info

Artist Name: David Browning

Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada

Release Name: Now You See Me

Release Date: Jan 14, 2019

Label: Independent

Producer: Ian Prince

Musicians

David Browning: Vocals and Keyboards

Ian Prince: Keyboards and programming

A Working Actor in L.A.

Actor & Director in LA

Javier Ronceros

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03/07/2019

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What I know after 30 years as an actor in New York and L.A. is that the only rule that is true in show business is that there are no rules.

The purpose of this blog is to chronicle my continuing adventures as a working – and sometimes not working – actor. In the last 30 years, I have seen a great many changes in the industry and in some ways, hardly any at all. It has been a journey of self discovery as well as a lifetime of meeting and working with amazingly talented and diverse set of colleagues. My wish is that through this blog I may bring some insight into this world of auditions, callbacks, performances and unemployment. When I started my career as an actor, I was given some great advice, “to success comes the hangers-on, to failures, the hangers up.” I’ve been both, but let’s hope I’m still here with more successes than failures for another 30 years.

I love America. Why do I love America? Because ever since I was a young boy, America was the land of movie stars, westerns, musicals, cartoons, Roman Legions, horror movies and historical dramas. Everything I thought I knew about the world and myself came from Hollywood. I was born in Lima, Peru and when I was two years old my father bought a ticket to Chicago, Illinois, USA. Family folklore tells that when my father went to the airport in Lima, he took the first flight out to the states, with no idea where that would take him. It was a 2:30 pm flight to Chicago. My father found a job because of the kindness of another immigrant, a Polish American picture framer who gave him his first job and his first profession. It took my father a year to save up enough money to send for my mother and me.

Both my parents loved movies, it’s probably what drew them here. They passed along their love of them to me. We would all watch movies together sitting on our orange, faded, second-hand couch on a very small black and white television. My mother loved the beauty and glamour of movie stars and my father knew the names of all the actors and directors (my father was a human IMDb). When my mother was in her late teens and early 20s, she was a spokesmodel for Pepsi and Nescafé in Peru. Her dream to be a movie star was not to be, so instead, she decided that it was me who would become a film actor in Hollywood.

It took 26 years for her dream to materialize and for me to finally get my first professional acting job.

Hollywood was always in my life. If I wasn’t in a movie theatre watching double features all weekend long as a kid, I was outdoors with my friends, directing them in films I made up in my head. During my early teens, I lived in an apartment on Gower St, directly across from Paramount Pictures Studios. I had always been told as a kid that I was funny, imaginative, wild, unruly, and a bit crazy, all perfect attributes for a performer and an actor. But I did not start out as an actor, I had a few other careers first. I trained as a musician (bass player) and I played professional tennis. In fact, it was after my short career as a competitive player ended that I took a job as head pro of an indoor tennis club in Connecticut and where I would meet the first director to ever cast me in a film, the late Ron Gordon, Jr.

And so that brings me back full circle, to my adventures in this tough and merciless profession of acting that is always tinged with hope and the pure joy and bliss of reading for a part, booking the part, and arriving on set to do what I do. For me acting is a calling and the greatest joy is to appear on the big screen in some small town where an eager and happy 10-year-old boy, perhaps just a wild and unruly as I was, sits in the dark being transported to a new world.

Over the next few months I will chronicle my experiences and what it what it takes to be an actor in L.A., from auditioning to rehearsals, agents to workshops, headshots and websites and networking, and even creating your own work.

Being an actor is hard work and I hope you will join me as I hit the streets as a thespian in tinsel town…

The Whitefire Theatre Solofest Presents “A Bit Much”

THEATRE REVIEWS

Samantha Simmonds-Ronceros

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03/06/2019

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The Whitefire Theatre Solofest Presents “A Bit Much.” Written and Performed by Stacy Dymalski. Directed and Developed with Jessica Lynn Johnson. Produced by Megan Ford-Miller.

When haven’t any of us at one time or another had the distinct feeling that we were “a bit much?”

Well, I certainly have. Being strong, funny, smart, independent and unafraid, or at least seeming to be, can be a bit intimidating to others sometimes, particularly to the weaker sex…men.

In “A Bit Much,” Stacy Dymalski spins her brilliantly crafted tale of exactly that. Sadly discovering that when she thought she was being successful, witty, capable and…herself, what she was actually being was “too much.”

Stacy chronicles her life from divorce to the present day, with a few unfortunate men-stops along the way, eternally puzzled as to why we have to squeeze ourselves into ever decreasing spaces to ensure that whatever man we might be interested in won’t feel over whelmed, or out done or, perish the thought…out gunned. Stacy is an utterly brilliant performer, an accomplished stand up comic, and the skills she has developed over the years really shine as she lays it all out for us…in dark and comic detail.

We begin with a first date, highlighting the depressing assumptions we all make and then continue on with her experiences and revelations and current expectations, careening quickly down hill from there. All this is done fabulously, hilariously, authentically and thoroughly entertainingly. Oh how fun it is to laugh at someone else’s issues, particularly if we’ve been there ourselves, and we all know we have.

So Stacy uses her wiley humor and these fantastic, wince-worthy situations, beautifully choreographed and gorgeously told, to fully explore the painfully true theory of “a bit muchness.” And she does it so well and hilariously that my sides were actually aching…better than crunches….I can only assume. This is comedy at its absolute best, when it’s real, when it’s a little painful and when it’s very, very clever. I love clever female-oriented comedy.

Stacy has given a TED Talk and was a semi-finalist in the 2012 Toastmasters International Speech Contest. She has written several books and has been writer/director/producer of several films and she is the “Memoire Midwife,” helping people find their own stories and write their own books. She has a powerful gift for communicating.

Solo shows need a purpose. They work best when there is a very particular theme, something relatable, something universal, something about the story that we fundamentally connect to, that we absolutely know to be true. “A Bit Much” is a perfect solo show in that we right away know what it is about. We get it. And the play is the telling of it, it’s the cream on top. Stacy Dymalski is the cream on top actually. She is powerful and bold and the perfect balance of comic and goofy and sublime. When I look at her I see myself in all my fraught and frilly glory…aren’t we all magnificent? Thank you Stacy for reminding me of that. Bravo!!

Voices

North Hollywood News

Lisa Bianconi

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03/05/2019

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Great things can happen when given the space and encouragement to create. The Whitefire Theatre has given artists this platform since 2012 with their annual SOLOFEST – a festival of one-person shows, or solo theatre, that is a celebration of the solo journey.

Whitefire Theatre’s SOLOFEST has grown into the largest solo theatre festival on the West Coast. This year there will be 60 shows in 70 days! The SOLOFEST has launched more than 250 solo shows since its inception!

Returning to SOLOFEST 2019 is Carla Delany’s award-winning show “VOICES” – a comedy about a voice-over actress discovering her own voice! Carla takes us on the road to how the show came to be.

Carla Delaney in

How did you get your start in the entertainment industry?

I got started in show business doing community and regional theater in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where I’m originally from. My love of theater lead me to study musical theater at Point Park University. I earned my Actor’s Equity Card when I was cast in Gerard Alessandrini’s “Forbidden Broadway,” the long-running musical theater parody touted as “The SNL of Broadway.” Every night, the cast would sing and dance on stage as legendary greats like Liza Minnelli, Judy garland, Carol Channing, Barbra Streisand, Kristin Chenoweth, and dozens more!

After the show one night, I was approached by a voice-over actor who essentially told me, “Quit your day job!” I had no idea I could make a living at celebrity voice mimicry, or voice matching, as it’s called in the voice-over world. Chances are, you’ve heard my voice in animation, video games, commercials, and theme parks around the country. Some of my favorite VO jobs have included voicing Carol Brady in an infamous Snickers Super Bowl commercial, voicing Sarah Palin on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, voicing Bart and Lisa Simpson for Family Guy, and voicing Martha Stewart in an outrageous “DIY condom-making sketch” for Conan. Half the adventure is never knowing who I might need to sound like on any given day. In “VOICES” I take the audience into the fun world of voice-over and voice matching, but the show also explores deeper themes.

In 2015, I was diagnosed with a thyroid condition called Hashimoto’s Syndrome. I was surprised to learn how many women in America are affected by thyroid conditions. This led me to become interested in the connection between my mind, body and spirit. Ironically, the thyroid is found in the throat and can directly affect the voice. I couldn’t help wondering if there was a connection to thyroid deficiency and the way woman communicate…or don’t communicate. My play “VOICES” is a playful and comedic look into these questions.

How did you become interested in creating a solo show?

I was first exposed to the power of solo theater through Lily Tomlin’s “The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe”. I remember sitting in the audience of the Broadway revival, being blown away by what I was watching. “It was like Lily was performing magic on stage. She used no costumes, no props, yet she created an extremely vibrant, comedic, and deeply humane Universe right before the audience’s eyes! I was hooked after that.” I was the type of kid who loved any kind of imagination game and for me, solo theater is all about letting your imagination run wild! In my one woman show “VOICES” I play more than 35 different characters, often switching at lightning speed. It really is like performing a magic act, channeling all these different people and places in, essentially, a blackbox theater.

What’s coming up for you?

What’s next for me? Well, I’m currently writing a new solo show that explores the themes of spiritual abundance and how our net worth is directly affected by our self worth….and yes, it’s a comedy, lol. I’m also writing on a scripted podcast about anti-superheroes, and this spring, my voice will be heard in several new feature films!

What is some advice you like to give folks entering the world of entertainment?

Best advice: KEEP GOING!!! No, seriously…keep going! It’s the old adage; if you stay in it long enough, you will eventually get where you want to go. Also, have fun and don’t compare yourself to anyone else, (it takes away from the fun). We are living in a time where we are really only limited by our imagination. So invent! Be creative and do what makes YOU feel inspired. I wrote a solo show. You might film a music video on your iPhone. Connect to your sense of play and you’ll always be on the right path!

ABOUT “VOICES”

“VOICES” is a one-woman comedy about a voice-over actress discovering her own voice!

Carla Delaney can mimic any voice; Betty White, Drew Barrymore, Bart Simpson…to name a few. But using her own voice, now that’s another story!

In this playfully poignant production, Carla meets the surprising voices of her head, her heart, her snotty respiratory system, and over 30 more, making her ask the question “is it noisy in here, or is it just me?”