Learn how to make pasta from scratch during a free, live Zoom demonstration from Gene Fioretti’s kitchen Thursday, Feb. 11.
Classes Season Concludes with Diverse Offerings
Pat Ingalls
LifeLong Learning concludes its 2020-21 season of classes this month with the following free Zoom classes, all held during February. All begin at 1 p.m.
* Beginning Photography Plus Camera Basics (Wednesday, Feb. 3) Beginning and intermediate photographers will appreciate this review of basic photographic principles, including how aperture, shutter speed, ISO, and focus choices interrelate. Instructor: PebbleCreek resident and nature photographer Adriana Greisman is president of the PebbleCreek Camera Club. She leads photography workshops and teaches photography in the Phoenix metro area. Greisman has won awards in competitions sponsored by the PebbleCreek Art Club, Phoenix Camera Club, Photographic Society of America, Nature’s Best Photography Windland Smith Rice International Awards, Nature’s Best Photography National Parks Competition, and North American Nature Photography Association Showcase.
* Pasta From Scratch (Thursday, Feb. 11) Learn the secrets to homemade pasta, from the specifics of ingredient selection to a demonstration of the mixing, rolling, cutting, drying, and cooking methods that the instructor has used for more than 30 years. You will receive recipes and equipment lists and have ample time to discuss the many aspects of pasta making. Instructor: PebbleCreek resident Gene Fioretti, a retired cardiologist, has added pasta to his teaching repertoire in the kitchen.
* The Great Migration – 50 Years Later (Thursday, Feb. 18) From about 1917 to 1970, approximately 6 million African Americans, who rejected an exploitative economic system and the social restrictions and oppression of Jim Crow regulations, migrated to cities in the Midwest, Northeast, and West. The migrants sparked social and political change in the cities that received them and provided fuel to the civil rights movement. This presentation will look at the efforts of civil rights activists, in the North and South, who created changes in law and policy that supported expansion of the African American middle class, along with forces that have created concentrated poverty among poor African Americans and lingering racism everywhere. Instructor: PebbleCreek resident Mary Thomas, a retired social worker from Wisconsin, has done extensive research on the migration and its impact, and led a LLL presentation and discussion on this subject last season.
* Homemade Neapolitan Pizza (Thursday, Feb. 25) See how to prepare genuine Neapolitan pizza the traditional Italian way—using a conventional oven to ensure your own pizza success. Watch a live, on-camera demonstration on how to prepare the dough, form the pizzas, and then bake them in a special pizza oven. The final product will be submitted to the on-site cameraman and computer host for their approval. Every participant will receive a copy of the recipe for reference and note-taking as the class progresses. Instructor: PebbleCreek resident Gene Fioretti will turn his talents as a baker and instructor to this specialty pizza.
Visit the LLL website at www.lifelonglearningatpc.org for more details and to register. Class capacity varies, and each class maintains a waitlist. Registration is open for all of these classes. You must have a LLL online account to register. If you do not have one, go to the LLL website and click Sign Up on the right side of any webpage.
Power of Human Voice
Bill Nee
TED’s motto is “Ideas Worth Spreading.” This TED Talk, “How to speak so that people want to listen,” shares tools to make us more powerful speakers, resulting in more conscious listeners.
Have you ever felt like you’re talking, but nobody’s listening? Here to help is Julian Treasure, chair of Sound Agency, a firm that advises worldwide businesses on how to design sound in their physical spaces and communication. In this useful talk, the sound expert demonstrates the how-tos of powerful speaking, from handy vocal exercises to tips on how to speak with empathy.
To view this talk, go to TED.com, click watch in the header, then TED Talks, then in Search talks, input the talk’s title above, scroll a little lower, and click on the talk you selected.
Enjoy this powerful listening experience so that you can become a more dynamic and effective speaker. You might find it a talk that helps the world sound more beautiful.
Programs Continue Despite Pandemic
Paul Polk
As I write this in early January, Arizona has the world’s highest rate of infection for COVID-19. As you read this in February, I hope we will have been able to slow the rate of infection and that some of our residents will have already been vaccinated against the disease.
LifeLong Learning continues now in full swing, offering a variety of free Zoom lectures and classes for our community. Every Monday at 10 a.m. through the end of March, we present a new weekly lecture, offering opportunities to learn about timely topics, such as gene editing, our city of Goodyear’s Civic Square Project, and Arizona’s state parks, among others. Zoom classes include how to make pasta and pizza, as well as an overview of the Great Migration.
Log in to LifeLong Learning’s website at lifelonglearningatpc.org to see the schedules and register for the free programs. While we have been unable to offer our full complement of activities, i.e. no trips planned this season, our volunteers have worked hard to put together a great set of lectures, classes, TED talks, and book discussions for PebbleCreek.
LLL Contact Information
Pat Ingalls
* Website: www.lifelonglearningatpc.org
* Email: [email protected]
* LLL Center hours: Closed until further notice.
Science, History Fill February Lectures
Pat Ingalls
The current month’s free, online lectures are held Mondays at 10 a.m.
* The COVID-19 Vaccine: How It Was Developed So Quickly (Monday, Feb. 1)
Learn how new coronavirus vaccines were developed in such a short time, due to a new technique called mRNA synthesis. When a virus infects a person, the viral particles enter our cells and substitute their DNA for our own. The new vaccines allow a person’s immune system to have a supply of antibody “bullets” available and ready to target and destroy the virus, before it can enter the cell and begin replication.
Speaker: Ted Blank, M.S., is a former biology educator at UC Berkeley. He also has presented to past LLL audiences on astronomy.
* The Gut-Brain Connection (Monday, Feb. 8)
Who knew that a human’s gut and brain communicate all day long? An imbalance in either organ can cause problems, such as brain fog, fatigue, depression, and other serious neurological disorders, including Parkinson’s. All individuals have unique bacterial populations that live in their gut, and research is showing that altering lifestyle and diet can help alleviate many health disorders.
Speaker: Yasaman Tasalloti, a doctor of naturopathic medicine, will include actionable steps you can take to improve your gut health.
* CRISPR – Gene Editing and Ethics (Monday, Feb. 22)
An amazing, 21st-century, gene-altering technology called CRISPR enables scientists to find a specific bit of DNA inside a cell. It allows researchers to alter DNA sequences and modify gene function, cheaper and easier than ever before. Its many potential applications include correcting genetic defects, treating disease and preventing its spread, and improving crops. CRISPR is already widely used for scientific research and to alter the food we eat. The technology has its critics, however, over concern about the environment and safety for human consumption.
Speaker: Jason Scott Robert, Ph.D., an associate professor of life sciences at Arizona State University, will discuss the ethics and possibilities of this new technology.
* The WASP of WWII (Monday, March 1)
During WWII, U.S. leaders trained women to fly military aircraft, so male pilots could be released for combat duty overseas. More than a thousand women served as Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP). They ferried planes long distances from factories to military bases and departure points across the country and tested newly overhauled planes. The WASP was a civilian organization, whose members were federal civil-service employees, who expected to become part of the military.
Speaker: Natalie J. Stewart-Smith will share their stories, including their fight for the right to be called veterans. She is an educator of more than 25 years, a former Army officer, and a historian.
Visit www.lifelonglearningatpc.org for more details and to register. Lecture capacity is capped at 100, and each lecture maintains a waitlist. Registration for each begins 30 days prior to the lecture. You must have a LLL online account to register. If you do not have one, go to the LLL website and click Sign Up on the right side of the webpage.