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You are here: Home / Archives for Default

MindSpa: Managing Anxiety in the Time of Coronavirus 

September 7, 2020 by thegarrick

California Men’s Gatherings MindSpa Series Presents:

Managing Anxiety in the Time of Coronavirus 

   

Date: Tuesday, September 8th, 2020

Time: 6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Location: Zoom/Online

RSVP: Please RSVP/Register in advance with Jamie Simmons

Cost: Requested donation of $5 to help cover CMG’s ongoing online operations.
Donate HERE! No man will be turned away for lack of funds. 

Managing Anxiety in the Time of Coronavirus 

Join Facilitator Jamie Simmons, LMFT, and other CMG men for an experiential MindSpa dedicated to taming anxiety. Our world has been turned upside down with the arrival of Coronavirus in ways we couldn’t imagine a year ago. We’ve lost work, income, social connections, and mobility in exchange for a host of new and threatening “what-if” thought-scenarios regarding health, safety and well-being. Add in a tempestuous political season and a simmering climate crisis (just to name a couple of things from the menu) and it’s no wonder anxiety has become a constant companion for many of us.

Anxiety warns us of potential danger. It’s like an alarm clock ringing, warning us to wake up, pay attention, assess the threat, and take action if needed. We ignore the appearance of anxiety at our peril. But once the alarm clock goes off, it doesn’t make sense to leave it on, ringing non-stop, held close to our ear as we walk through our lives day after day. Chronic anxiety is corrosive to body, mind, and soul. In this workshop, we’ll learn how to mute, or at least turn down the volume of the alarm clock of anxiety when it rings beyond what is helpful. We’ll discuss what anxiety is, how we are programmed to be overly anxious, and we’ll explore ways to reduce symptoms of anxiety and increase peace of mind. You’ll have an opportunity to test-drive some of these anxiety-reducing tools in the workshop. We’ll also draw on the wisdom of the group in order to share and receive your tips for dealing with anxiety. 

  
About the Facilitator
Jamie Simmons is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (California License Number 110655). He holds an M.A. in Counseling Psychology from the University of Santa Monica. Jamie is based in Palm Springs and works online with individuals and couples throughout California. For more information about his therapy practice, check out his Psychology Today profile.

The CMG MindSpa Series is committed to providing a forum for experiential workshops exploring the connections between Mind, Body, and Spirit. It is usually held on the second Tuesday of each month from 6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. If you have an idea for a MindSpa workshop or would like to lead one yourself, please do not hesitate to contact CMG MindSpa Curator, Jamie Simmons, at jamie8431@aol.com.

We’d love to see you there! 

All CMG events are drug-free. This event is also alcohol-free if you so desire in your home. Sponsored by the CMG Desert Cities Local Events Committee. All persons identifying as male 18 and older, local or visiting, are welcome. If you would like to propose a local event, please fill out the form found at the Contact Local Events Page.


California Men’s Gatherings and its members stand together with our Black brothers in solidarity: Black Lives Matter. We are with you in this time of pain. We renew our call for racial justice and economic equality. We are committed to listening, learning, understanding, and connecting at the heart in order to bring about the needed changes within our own organization and in society at large.

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Desert Cities Virtual Speed Friending

September 7, 2020 by thegarrick

California Men’s Gatherings – Desert Cities Presents:

Virtual Speed Friending (California edition)

Date: Sunday, September 13, 2020

Time: 5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

RSVP: Register at cmgpssocial@gmail.com.  In the subject line, write “Speed Friending.”  In the body of the message, please include your 1) name, 2) city, 3) phone number and 4) email address.  You will receive a confirmation and Zoom site link a couple of days before the event.

Cost: Please make a love donation of any amount if you can.
Donate HERE! No man will be turned away for lack of funds.

Virtual Speed Friending (California Edition)

Making new friends can be challenging in the best of times. When you can’t get out of the house, it’s SO much harder. If social isolation is getting you down or you just want to meet some new people, join us for virtual “speed friending” to meet dozens of new guys in the comfort of your own home. Gay, bisexual, and gay-friendly singles and couples are welcome to participate.  This is not a clothing-optional event and we ask that all participants be appropriately attired.

HOW IT WORKS:
After some introductory comments and guidelines, we will take all of the participants and break them up virtually into smaller groups of 3-4 guys. The hosts will provide an ice breaker question.  You will be in a private online breakout room for five minutes or so with just your small group.  The groups will then be mixed up again and you will continue to meet more people over six rounds.  You will have a chance to talk, listen, and connect on a variety of different topics.  At the end of the session, you will have an opportunity to share contact information privately with those with whom you felt a connection.   Where it goes from there is up to you.   A little like speed dating, but less awkward.

We’d love to see you there! 

All CMG events are drug-free. Sponsored by the CMG Desert Cities Local Events Committee (LEC).
ALL persons identifying as male 18 and older, local or visiting, are welcome. If you would like to propose
an online local event, please fill out the form found at the Contact Local Events Page.


California Men’s Gatherings and its members stand together with our Black brothers in solidarity: Black Lives Matter.  We are with you in this time of pain. We renew our call for racial justice and economic equality. We are committed to listening, learning, understanding, and connecting at the heart in order to bring about the needed changes within our own organization and in society at large.

Filed Under: Default

Cabaret

June 30, 2020 by thegarrick

Words on Film Group — July 8, 2020

Cabaret is a 1972 American musical-drama film directed by Bob Fosse, and starring Liza Minnelli, Michael York, and Joel Grey. Set in Berlin during the Weimar Republic in 1931, under the presence of the growing Nazi Party, the film is loosely based on the 1966 Broadway musical Cabaret by Kander and Ebb, which was adapted from Christopher Isherwood’s semi-autobiographical novel The Berlin Stories (1945) and the 1951 play I Am a Camera adapted from “Goodbye to Berlin” in the same work by John van Druten.

Bob Fosse’s Cabaret (1972)
1. For those of you reading Christopher Isherwood’s novella “Goodbye to Berlin,” you will get one of the best first-person literary accounts of pre-Nazi Berlin from a foreign eye-witness ever written.

If you are not reading the novella, do watch I Am A Camera, a British film version of the novella with Julie Harris and Laurence Harvey, based on John van Druten’s play which ran for 214 performances on Broadway in 1951. Yes, Brian in Cabaret is Christoper in this film. Whereas this film emphasizes the historical setting of the original novella, the film Cabaret is much more a story about Sally and Brian’s relationship with history as a backdrop.

I Am A Camera is FREE on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87WPy8zRXCs&t=909s

2. YouTube has many video interviews with Christopher Isherwood available.
Do you see “Brian” as Isherwood speaks? How so?

3. Berlin propaganda, 1930-1939 (gorgeous black & white photography!)
Berlin – German Documentary On Life In Berlin – Reel Two (1930-1939)

4. Cabaret review — Steve Hayes “Tired Old Queen At The Movies”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hrj-bNiTbU

 


Two MUST-SEE Documentaries about “Making Cabaret” and Bob Fosse obits

“Fosse! Fosse!  Fosse!  Fosse! Fosse!  Fosse!”

— Robin Williams, “The Birdcage”

Every musical queen on the planet knows the work of Bob Fosse. One of the greatest choreographers ever. he was born to direct “Cabaret” but always thought he had failed, that he could have worked harder… and to exhaustion. Forever cursed with alcohol and drug addiction, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, sexual addiction (heterosexual only), smoking four packs of cigarettes per day, heart angina and chronic insomnia, Fosse’s self-destructive craving for work, work and more work was his only peaceful outlet. But the man-made dance theater a new art form and revived the American musical on stage and film internationally. “Cabaret” was the peak of his all too short career. He died at age 60.

TV Obituaries regarding Bob Fosse (1987) — 10m.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9efRwVJldE0&t=450s

Best Documentary on “Making The Real Cabaret” EVER!! (pirated DVD Bonus, poor sound)

Absolutely DO watch this before our film group discussion on July 8!

One hour well worth your time!

The Real Cabaret Documentary HD

 


Added July 03, 2020: Click HERE for a 32-page PDF analysis of the Broadway and film musical versions of Cabaret written by professor, composer, and theater historian Scott Miller from his book Deconstructing Harold Hill. Literary, theatrically researched, and historical, this scholarly essay will be the basis of my questions for our July 8 meeting.
 
Special thanks to group member Bill Ketchum for the PDF tip.
BONUS:  And for Bob Fosse fanatics, the retrospective Broadway musical Fosse is available FREE on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSKPYVPCrKI&t=3s

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Spring Gathering Post

May 23, 2020 by thegarrick

If you have a link to this page, sorry, there is nothing to see!

What there is to see is HERE.

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Words on Film Discussion Group

May 20, 2020 by thegarrick

September 16: Hector Babenco’s Kiss of the Spider Woman, based on the novel by Manuel Puig. Your Facilitator for this evening will be Brian Shields.
NOTE: This is NOT the musical starring Chita Rivera! 

September 30: Victim directed by Basil Dearden (1961), FREE on YouTube. Your Facilitator for this evening will be Mark Fulwiler.
October 14: Moonlight directed by Barry Jenkins (2016-17) FREE at Kanopy.com with a library card, also various streaming sites). Your Facilitator for this evening will be Jason Stuart.

Upcoming on November 11: William Wyler’s Funny Girl in honor of our Gay Diva winner 2020, Ms. Barbra Streisand. Your Facilitator for the evening will be Joseph Hayden.

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