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Apple Mortgage Cake (The Angela Logan Story)

5/12/2015

"Apple Mortgage Cake" is an original movie that premiered on the cable Channel UP in April of 2014. This film is
based on a true story, it stars Kimberly Elise ("Hit the Floor," "Diary of a Mad Black Woman") as Angela Logan, a single working mother of three teen boys (A.J. Saudin, Stephan James, Lamar Johnson) facing eviction in 2009 from her already deteriorating New Jersey family home unless she can come up with $4,000 in ten days.

She concocts a plan to bake 100 of her signature apple cakes and sell them for $40 in order to raise the money, and word of her efforts soon spreads locally, nationally and internationally.

Despite being fiercely independent, Angela has to learned to accept the kindness and help of others. In real life, Angela is Angela Logan, now the owner of Mortgage Apple Cakes, LLC, based in Teaneck, N.J. Asked about the movie airing on Easter Sunday, Elise says, "The movie deserves it. It's such a great story. I thought it was such a beautiful and inspiring story and so relevant to a lot of people's situations in our country right now, financially. It offers a rare ray of hope in what is a very dark time for a lot of people."

Logan is also an actress and has a cameo in the film, so Elise got to meet her counterpart. "Angela is a really amazing woman, [a] beautiful spirit," Elise tells Zap2it, "She's resilient and resourceful, obviously. She's very giving, very joyous, very appreciative. I just really respect and admire her so much."

Unfortunately, Angela Logan's household was one of too many with no father in the home.
"That's a reality for a lot of people," says Elise. "But you can't feel sad about it, you have to take care of it, take care of your kids and your family, and that's what she did." "The lesson that she teaches is that we all have something inside of us, a gift, that if we choose to tap into it, it can help us in ways we never imagined."

Logan also did something special for Elise. "I'm a vegan," Elise says, "so I wasn't able to taste the cake. So she surprised me and created a vegan cake for me. It was amazing, absolutely delicious. She made me a cupcake. In fact, it was so good, that it's now on her menu, and she sells it from her bakery, and it's doing really well. She told me she's working on a gluten-free one as well. She's a master; she's going to get it right."

Source of article: Zap2it

Links to More Articles about Angela Logan, "Apple Mortgage Cake" & Video Interviews:

-She baked her way out of foreclosure

-Teaneck woman who baked 'Mortgage Apple Cakes' to save house now subject of movie

-TV movie tells story of Teaneck woman who saved house by baking

-How Baking Cakes Saved This Boomer From Foreclosure---And Spawned A Side-Business

-Apple cakes save home from foreclosure

-The Mortgage Apple Cake by Angela Logan - SOLD OUT

-Apple Mortgage Cake | YouTube

-Angela Logan | Apple Mortgage Cake

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Gimme Shelter - Death of Meredith Hunter (Lot 63, Grave C)

5/8/2015

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Meredith Curly Hunter, Jr. (October 24, 1951 – December 6, 1969) was an 18-year-old African-American man who was killed at the 1969 Altamont Free Concert. During the performance by The Rolling Stones, Hunter approached the stage, and was violently driven off by members of the Hells Angels motorcycle club who had been contracted to serve as ushers and security guards. He subsequently returned to the stage area, drew a revolver, and was stabbed to death by Hells Angel Alan Passaro.

The incident was caught on camera and became a central scene in the documentary Gimme Shelter. Passaro was charged with murder. After an eight-man, four-woman jury deliberated for 12 and a half hours, following 17 days of testimony, Passaro was acquitted on grounds of self defense.

Hunter, an 18-year-old arts student from Berkeley, California, was nicknamed "Murdock" and described by friends to be a flashy dresser with a big Afro. Hunter, his girlfriend Patty Bredahoft, and another couple traveled from Berkeley to attend the Altamont Free Concert.>>read more

Video Description: This musical documentary concerns the Rolling Stones and their tragic free concert at Altamont Speedway near San Francisco in early December 1969. The event was all but destroyed by violence that marked the end of the peace and love euphoria of the 1960s. The night began smoothly, with the supercharged Flying Burrito Brothers opening up for the Rolling Stones and performing the truck-driving classic "Six Days on the Road" and Tina Turner giving a sensually charged performance. But on this particular evening, the Stones made the fateful (and disastrous) decision to hire the Oakland chapter of the Hell's Angels motorcycle gang as bodyguards and bouncers. It was a foolhardy, careless choice that turned the night into an unmitigated disaster; halfway through the Stones' act, the Angels killed one black spectator, and injured several others who were present (including Jefferson Airplane's lead singer Marty Balin). In the film, we watch Mick Jagger -- ere an ebullient, charismatic performer of bisexual charm -- reduced to standing on stage like a frightened child with his finger in his mouth in wake of the violence. Unsurprisingly, the Grateful Dead refused to perform after the violence erupted; the picture ends on a despairing note, with the Stones repeatedly watching a film of the murder. Celebrated documentarians Albert and David Maysles directed and Haskell Wexler shot the film, with heightened instinct and control; as a result, this film is considered one of the greatest rock documentaries ever made. Stones songs performed include "Brown Sugar," "Under My Thumb," and "Sympathy for the Devil."

Video Description: A short documentary about Meredith Hunter, the young man who was killed in front of the stage by the Hell's Angels at the infamous 1969 Rolling Stones concert at Altamont. Despite being immortalized as a symbol of the end of an era of idealism, Hunter lies in an unmarked grave, lost to history. 'Lot 63 grave c' was screened at the 2006 Sundance and Rotterdam Film Festivals. Sam Green lives in San Francisco where he teaches at the University of San Francisco and the San Francisco Art Institute.

After the film (Lot 63, Grave C) screened widely at film festivals, several people sent donations to the cemetery to buy Meredith Hunter a headstone. The headstone was installed in 2008. (Wikipedia)

In the Aftermath of Altamont

Altamont Free Concert - Death of Meredith Hunter

On This Day

Her Brother Was Killed at an Iconic Stones Concert

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IRIS

5/8/2015

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IRIS | Film Synopsis (Posted from film's website)

The latest film from legendary documentarian Albert Maysles (GREY GARDENS, GIMME SHELTER), IRIS pairs the late 88-year-old filmmaker (who passed away on March 5) with Iris Apfel, the quick-witted, flamboyantly dressed 93-year-old style maven who has had an outsized presence on the New York fashion scene for decades. More than a fashion film, the documentary is a story about creativity and how a soaring free spirit continues to inspire. IRIS portrays a singular woman whose enthusiasm for fashion, art and people are life's sustenance and reminds us that dressing, and indeed life, is nothing but an experiment. Despite the abundance of glamour in her current life, she continues to embrace the values and work ethic established during a middle-class Queens upbringing during the Great Depression. "I feel lucky to be working. If you're lucky enough to do something you love, everything else follows."

The Maysles Documentary Center, a not for profit organization, is dedicated to the exhibition and production of documentary films that inspire dialogue and action.

http://www.magpictures.com/iris

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The Prep School Negro

5/7/2015

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The Journey
André Robert Lee and his sister grew up in the ghettos of Philadelphia. Their mother struggled to support them by putting strings in the waistbands of track pants and swimsuits in a local factory. When André was 14 years old, he received what his family believed to be a golden ticket — a full scholarship to attend one of the most prestigious prep schools in the country. Elite education was André’s way up and out, but at what price? Yes, the exorbitant tuition was covered, but this new world cost him and his family much more than anyone could have anticipated.

In The Prep School Negro, André takes a journey back in time to revisit the events of his adolescence while also spending time with present-day prep school students of color and their classmates to see how much has really changed inside the ivory tower. What he discovers along the way is the poignant and unapologetic truth about who really pays the consequences for yesterday’s accelerated desegregation and today’s racial naiveté.

Showing the Struggle Between Poverty And Plenty

Andre Robert Lee tells Renee Montagne his documentary chronicles the challenges he faced as a poor kid thrust into privilege.
Transcript: www.npr.org...

Website: www.theprepschoolnegro.org

Watch: The Prep School Negro AMERICA REFRAMED

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The Arts Defined

5/4/2015

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Common Core Embraces Broad Definition of the Arts

The Common Core, also known as the "State Standards Initiative," is one of the more intriguing methods to spark new ways of teaching. It is now being adopted across the country, with a little pushback from just a few states leery of anything "national," and offers unique opportunities to pursue new methods of using the arts as the vehicle for transforming the curriculum.

The Common Core "toolkit," for example, "proposes that educators engage students in inquiry and exploration of real world problems and interdisciplinary performance tasks," and opens the door to integrating all the disciplines, merging art and science, and fashioning an interdisciplinary curriculum that enhances the thinking skills young people most need.

This is one of the most promising developments in education in decades. The recognition that the arts, now broadly defined, are seen as vital to providing the new thinking skills is in itself innovative. For many years the visual and performing arts included dance, music, theater, and the visual arts such as painting, design, sculpturing, and the like. But the world has changed with technology and in the process so has the definition of the arts.

Now, according to the National Coalition for Core Arts Standards (NACCS), "cinema, animation, sound imaging design, virtual design, interactive design, as well as multimedia and intermedia" are included in the definition.

So-called media arts, visual and performing art are all part of the Common Core. Dain Olsen, Media Arts Chair, is optimistic in part because of the widespread acceptance of the media arts and the recognition that the term visual arts include the use of all media.

The president of the National Arts Education Association (NAEA), Dennis Inhulsen, put it this way in a message to its members:

"Visual Arts, as defined by the National Art Education Association, include the traditional fine arts such as drawing, painting, printmaking, photography, and sculpture; media arts including film, graphic communications, animation, and emerging technologies; architectural, environmental, and industrial arts such as urban, interior, product, and landscape design; folk arts; and works of art such as ceramics, fibers, jewelry, works in wood, paper, and other materials." (Emphasis added)

For those who practice the media arts and embrace the discipline as a stand alone art form, the "NCCAS leadership has determined that for the next generation arts standards project media arts will be represented as both a stand-alone discipline defined by learning standards and an integrated tool that works within (and enhances) the other art forms."

That means we are likely to see more "arts integration," more disciplines taught through the arts enhancing learning and retention. As NCCAS has said, "The promise of media arts education is that its adaptive and integrative aspects can be utilized towards both the acquisition of content knowledge and enhanced creativity for students."

It is too early to predict how schools and teacher will use the arts to teach the arts broadly defined or use the arts to integrate all the various disciplines but the NAEA, the NCAAS, and state organizations like CREATE CA, the state of California's goal of publishing a Blueprint for Creative Schools and the California Alliance for Art Education (CAAE) have embraced the broader definition. In fact, as Joe Landon, Executive Director of CAAE put it, "The new media arts standards create a clear pathway for students interested in pursuing career options in industries at the heart of California's economy, including film, animation, and video games. The standards embrace the aesthetics of the arts."

It is critical that we look at "how students learn." As Howard Gardner has written some people are more verbal-linguistic, some more spatial, some more logical and the list continues. And now, after 30 or so years is widely accepted. Yet it has not yet been applied in the schools. There is simply no longer any reason to deny Gardiner's assertion that we all have "multiple intelligences," and for our students, begin to craft learning methods that recognize the different learning styles and the need for more tailored individual learning methods.

As an IBM executive with responsibilities for education once said, mouth to ear instruction only allows you to hold an audience for about 10 minutes. Showing pictures gives you another 10. But get the kids to ask questions and "learning efficiency goes off the charts."

The issue about what young people learn is also critical. The debate for example between STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) or STEAM which add the "A," while intense, only marks the beginning of what needs to happen in education. Harvey White, founder and former President of Qualcomm, says both the STEM and STEAM concepts are really "placeholders" for something else that needs to be done in K-12 education and the universities: elimination of the silos and a renewed focus on interdisciplinary learning.

The existing silos or disciplines, for example, are really irrelevant to finding a job. Math and science and art and music become important to the extent that they are folded into a larger context, and used to solve real world problems. Only then can the student understand how and why such disciplines are relevant and necessary. Education should not only make young people world-wise and hopefully, ignite a love of learning; it must give our students the skills they need to live a meaningful, productive life, i.e., for most this means a job and a living wage.

There is no doubt that education is changing and changing fast. As the Economist magazine reported recently, "A revolution has begun thanks to three forces: rising costs, changing demand and disruptive technology." They were talking about the threat MOCCS -- massively open online courses -- posed to universities. But the threat of online course offerings extends to K-12 too. Technology that lets young people sign on to a tutorial when they want, from where they want, is too attractive to the students and to the bottom line.

Creative Industries, as theGlobal Center for Cultural Entrepreneurship understands, is extremely broad and requires an apperception of media arts, performing arts and visual arts. As we increasingly move toward an economy in which creativity and innovation are the hallmarks of the most successful enterprises, our students need the arts as a vehicle to acquire the new learning skills demanded by the rapidly emerging creative economy.

Most importantly, these skills which will certainly help us in the new creative sector, are equally vital to success in all our endeavors.

Mae Jemison is an astronaut, a doctor, an art collector, a dancer ... Telling stories from her own education and from her time in space, she calls on educators to teach both the arts and sciences, both intuition and logic, as one — to create bold thinkers.

Mae Jemison Astronaut In 1992, Mae Jemison was the first African-American woman to go into space. She's become a crusader for science education — and for a new vision of learning that combines arts and sciences, intuition and logic. Full bio

* Americans for the Arts is the nation's leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts in America.

* The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent federal agency that funds, promotes, and strengthens the creative capacity of our communities by providing all Americans with diverse opportunities for arts participation.

* Artists by Nationality: African-American Artists

* Art Dictionary for artists, collectors, students and educators in art production, criticism, history, aesthetics, and education

* The Roster: Black theaters in America

* Sources: The Arts, Wikipedia
                   Mae C. Jemison Biography
                   Common Core Embraces Broad Definition of the Arts (John M. Eger), huffingtonpost.com/education
                   Follow John M. Eger on Twitter: www.twitter.com/jeger62
                   More: Distilled Perspective Art Innovation Education Reform Music Media Arts

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Apple Mortgage Cake (The Angela Logan Story)

Gimme Shelter - Death of Meredith Hunter (Lot 63, Grave C)

IRIS

The Prep School Negro

The Arts Defined

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