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http://herzy69.blogspot.com/2010/06/letter-to-advocate-sunday-may-30-2010.html

Jeff Herz - My View of the World: Letter to the Advocate - Sunday May 30, 2010

I support Dr. Starr and do believe that beginning a discussion around a contract extension is a prudent and advisable course of action at this time. I believe that if you look at his overall accomplishments over the past 5 years, we are in a better position than where we were prior to his arrival. The best thing we can do for our children is to establish consistency in the schools and that starts at the top with the superintendent.

On the flip side, by simply opening this discussion and starting to negotiate does not mean that an extension should be a foregone conclusion. There are many points which will need to be negotiated to determine if an extension is fiscally responsible or in the best interest of Stamford children and the school district. We won't know until everyone is at the table and ready to talk.

If the BoE chooses not to open negotiations at this time there is no reason to discuss a new search now or in the near future as there have been no egregious issues which should lead us to move in another direction. The search process would be an ill-advised use of tax payer money now, when we have a person who is interested in staying and is following the initiatives and direction set forth by the Board of Education.

Jeff Herz
http://herzy69.blogspot.com

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http://herzy69.blogspot.com/2010/06/letter-to-board-of-education-dr-starrs.html

Jeff Herz - My View of the World: Letter to the Board of Education - Dr. Starr's Contract

Dear Board of Education Members,

I would like to let you know that I support Dr. Starr and do believe that beginning a discussion around a contract extension is a prudent and advisable course of action at this time. I believe that if you look at his overall accomplishments over the past 5 years, we are in a better position than where we were prior to his arrival. The best thing we can do for our children is to establish consistency in the schools and that starts at the top with the superintendent. Even if you choose not to renegotiate the contract now, there have been, in my opinion, no egregious issues that would cause us to begin a new search now or in the near future. This entire process would be an ill-advised use of tax payer money, when we have a person who is interested in staying and is seemingly following the initiatives set forth by yourselves on the Board of Education.

On the flip side, by simply opening this discussion and starting to negotiate does not mean that an extension should be a foregone conclusion. Any discussions of an extension must include a performance based compensation that is tied directly to improvements in the districts performance across the board and metrics put in place by the Board of Education. Although we have made great strides over the past few years in consolidated curriculum's, improving teaching standards there is still much work which needs to be done before we have reached our potential and Dr. Starr needs to be at the front of these initiatives.

If one of the negotiating points involves Dr. Starr moving to Stamford and enrolling his children in our schools then all the better, since that sends a message to the community about the superintendent's commitment to the schools. If he feels strongly enough to move his family here, then that shows he is committed to Stamford and to its school. I would also ask in the negotiations, if that is the path you choose to pursue, that there are some form of penalties or remunerations if he is to apply to another school district during the term of the revised contract. This needs to be a two way street, and we cannot have him leaving mid-way through his contract.

Finally, this is not and should not be a political issue. This is about our children and what is right for them. This is about our city and what is right for our future. The superintendent works for you, the members of the Board of Education. If you set the goals and agenda then measure his accomplishments and performance against the goals then it is clear if Dr. Starr is doing what is necessary to prepare our children, my children for the 21st century or not.

Thank you for your time,

Jeff Herz
http://herzy69.blogspot.com

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http://herzy69.blogspot.com/2010/04/seeking-answers-on-boe-cuts.html

Jeff Herz - My View of the World: Seeking Answers on the BoE cuts

To the editor: Thano Chaltas - Stamford

The mayor, through his CFO Fred Flynn and Board of Finance leadership, have targeted cuts of $5.6 million vs. the Board of Education budget request of $223 million by setting a specific desired budget level of $217.7 million.

Neither the BOF nor Mr. Flynn/Mayor Pavia has stated why they think Stamford schools are overfunded and where the so-called waste and potential cuts reside.

Through three sets of hearings lasting nine hours, the BOF and Mr. Flynn have uncovered no significant potential cuts. (Superintendent of Schools Joshua) Starr and the Board of Education have done their homework on this budget and are running a tight ship. The district received outstanding results in fiscal management from the Cambridge Report/Audit. Moreover, the BOE's recent negotiations with the teacher's union resulted in the only wage freeze for a city union and health care costs below other city workers.

The Board of Finance and Mr. Flynn/Mayor Pavia appear to be blindly following the misguided direction of a 1 percent tax increase without regard for the impact on our city. This budget direction will result in a $5.6 million cut to the current BOE request for a paltry 1.81 percent budget increase. The BOF may argue that by City Charter they simply set the budget and the BOE must come up with specific programs to cut. But that response is a copout. If they make the overall budget cut, they must take responsibility for the implications.

Where are these cuts going to come from? The $5.6 million Draconian cut could result in the following actions: closing one school (Turn of River, Davenport, and Toquam have all been mentioned) which would increase the size of all our schools; elimination of up to 90 teachers which would increase class size; losing elementary school instrumental music, losing extracurricular activities, reducing AP classes/high school electives, or moving to half-day kindergarten. Each of these alternatives is wrong for the education of our children and wrong for Stamford.

Over the last five years, SPS has made significant gains in academic achievement while increasing efficiencies and improving operations, despite the elimination of over 70 teaching position due to budget constraints. Let's not move backward and give up those gains.

This voter is more than willing to pay 50 cents a day in tax increase to keep the BOE budget as submitted. I urge the BOF to vote for the BOE budget as submitted. If the BOF votes to go along with Mr. Flynn/Mayor Pavia, together they all need to own the consequences.

Thano Chaltas - Stamford
http://herzy69.blogspot.com

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http://herzy69.blogspot.com/2010/04/letter-to-editor-stamford-advocate.html

Jeff Herz - My View of the World: Letter to Editor: Stamford Advocate

Dear Advocate Editor,

I am not sure the mayor is hearing what hundreds of parents are trying to say, and today's story "Pavia wants retraction" further reinforces this concern. The issue which the PT council is appropriately telling the parents of Stamford is that our children s education, our programs, our schools, our administrators and our teachers are all at significant risk if the current proposed board of education budget is further reduced by the board of finance (or by the board of representatives.). In order to help mitigate this risk the pt council delivered talking points through their membership asking parents to mobilize and reach out to talk to the board of finance members and to speak to the mayor, asking him to support the budget(s) he has proposed.

For the mayor to demand a retraction regarding his role in the process demonstrates that he is missing the forest amongst the trees. The bigger issue is we, the parents of Stamford are asking the mayor to be a leader and participate in the process, not stand behind rhetoric and the city charter, giving an appearance of weakness and ineffective leadership by deferring to the other elected boards and not trying to steer the conversation himself. Right now this appears to be petty nit picking and politics as usual by the mayor about his role. By focusing on this one issue on role clarification is distracting and diverting our attention away from the bigger issue of what actions the city elected officials need to take now to deal with hard times and how those decisions will impact the long term health and viability of Stamford.

Not every parent who received this message from the pt council may or should understand the mayors role as provided by the city charter, as I am sure most parents have not read the charter, myself included. So on one level it is fine that the mayor clarify his role and educate us on the intricacies of the city charter.

So for that I say Thank you MR. Mayor for the civics lesson but Quite frankly, this is not what we are looking for when asking for your assistance and guidance in trying to convince the board of finance to pass the budgets, with no additional cuts as they have been proposed by the mayor himself.

What I do question is the judgment of the mayor and his staff to take time and effort to send canned response to multiple parents as a response to their emails stating that we have been provided with misinformation and then clarifying the mayors role in the process as per the charter. There was not a mention regarding his position on this issue, not a reference to the fact he has heard us and is going to help us (or not), just a dryly crafted, politically and factually correct response which provides no comfort to concerned parents or information which will help them understand if the mayor supports there position or not. This is not the response that your residents, the parents, the tax payers, the voters who elected you are expecting to hear from their leader.

If the mayor was unhappy with the Board of Education (BoE) budget, as a non voting member of that board, he could come to the meetings and express his opinion on the subject directly to the board and participate in the budgeting process. Instead he has allegedly violated the charter by attempting to send a delegate to represent him after missing all meetings since he took office, during one of the most contentious budget seasons in years. He has sent his CFO, Fred Flynn, to discuss his budget expectations and priorities instead of participating in the process directly. Basically the mayor has skirted dealing directly with the BoE and has not participated at all in the process. this fact is perhaps the most disappointing to most parents that I have spoken with in the community.

Candidate Pavia ran on an education platform and promised to make the city boards more collaborative. Right now we seem more divided than before and are at seriously at risk of jeopardizing our education system here in Stamford.

I would like to see and hear what the mayor has to say about this budget. He was not at the joint BoF/BoR budget public hearing on march 22 at TOR. Mr. Tarzia explained as per the charter he had no responsibility to attend and hear what the public had to say. By not being there, he did not see 600 people in the auditorium in support of his proposed budgets, he did not hear 75 people speak in favor of the current proposed budget and not hear one sole dissenting voice demanding deeper cuts.

I want a mayor who is willing to stand up and say he supports what he has proposed or that he is not in support of the BoE budget and is an agreement with Mr. Tarzia and Mr Kohlenberg, believing that there is significant waste in the school budgets. I want to see a mayor who shows he cares through action and not empty words. I want to see our mayor lead our city through these hard times, so we can be prepared when the tides turn and we come out with a strong plan to replace what we had to take away. I don't want to see a canned response hiding behind misinformation and clarifications about the charter.

Sincerely,

Jeff Herz
Stamford resident, parent, tax payer and voter
http://herzy69.blogspot.com

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http://herzy69.blogspot.com/2010/03/httpblog.html

Jeff Herz - My View of the World: Response to Post in Stamford Advocate Blog

http://blog.stamfordadvocate.com/stamford411/2010/03/30/parents-emails-to-pavia-receive-form-response/#comment-11392

I may not be an expert in Stamford government, I do understand the mayors role as provided by the city charter and I never doubted the validity of the mayors message or his role in the process. What I questioned is the judgment to send a canned response to multiple emails asking for his assistance and guidance in convincing the board of finance to pass the budgets, with no additional cuts as they have been proposed by the mayor.

If the mayor was unhappy with the boe budget, as a non voting member of that board, he could come to the meetings and express his opinion on the subject directly to the board and participate in the budgeting process. Instead he has violated the charter (though I am no expert) by attempting to send a delegate and has sent fred flynn to discuss the budget expectations again instead of participating in the process directly.

Candidate Pavia ran on an education platform and promised to make the city boards more collaborative. Right now we seem more divided than before. I would like to see (he was not at the public hearing on march 22, though by charter (again not being the expert) he did not need to be there to hear 75 people speak in favor of the current proposed budget and not hear one sole dissenting opinion) and hear what the mayor has to say about this budget. I don't want to see a canned response hiding behind misinformation and clarifications about the charter, which you correctly point out that I am no expert.

Sincerely,

Jeff Herz
Stamford resident, parent, tax payer and voter
http://herzy69.blogspot.com

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http://herzy69.blogspot.com/2010/03/2nd-letter-to-stamford-18th-district.html

Jeff Herz - My View of the World: 2nd Letter to Stamford 18th District Representatives

Mike/Jim,

Thank you very much for the fast and prompt response. Your thoughtful and collaborative response is greatly appreciated. It makes me feel very comfortable knowing that you are both, not only checking your email on a weekend, but also working together to actively and jointly address the concerns of your constituents. After having observing the Board of Education process for the past few years, I want to make sure I thank you for dedicating yourselves to representing us in the Board of Representatives. I know that you are both volunteers who are spending a great deal of time and are obviously equally invested in our community. I also understand that you must receive a fair number of letters, emails and calls from people like me all across the district wishing to share their concerns and wanting you to represent their individual needs in our city government.

I could not agree more with you, that these are tough times. I spent a great deal of last summer being unemployed, so I understand first hand what it is like trying to make ends meet on a fixed, limited or non-existent income. It is completely understandable that with limited budget options, that some organization or services have to feel the axe, and that not every single resident is going to approve of the difficult if not impossible task at hand. As an aside you mention the fact that seniors who have lived here for their entire lives have contacted both of you regarding their tax rates, and others have contacted you about saving our libraries. At the Public Hearing on Monday March 22, every single senior resident that came to the podium to speak, actually spoke in favor of the current budgets as they are currently proposed in order to keep the libraries open. Not one person, young, old or middle aged came up and spoke out that the budgets should be further reduced in order to save the city more money. After all isn't the point of the Public hearing to allow our elected officials an opportunity to listen to the people speak about the issue at hand. I know in the past that the seniors have flooded to these hearings and overwhelmed the parents, but that was not the case this year.

With all that you have said in mind, let me ask you a few questions that I think are very relevant to the discussion. What happens if the Board of Finance makes further cuts to the Board of Education budget and the Mayors city proposed budget? Lets assume it gets down to their stated goal of 0-1% total tax increase. Then it is the responsibility of the superintendent and the Board of Education to make further cuts to already overburdened school system It is the mayors responsibility along with the Board of Representatives to make further cuts to the services the city currently provides to their citizens. What happens next year, when the same Board of Finance members are still in the same position of being able to hold the entire city hostage to their misguided mandate? We now have 2 consecutive years of reduced services across the board. We now have at least 1, maybe 2 or 3 schools closed, shuttered unused and still costing the city money to maintain, we have lost between 100-200 teachers, not older more expensive teachers, but the younger more energetic less expensive teachers who should be the live blood of the schools for the next generation, we have further reduced administrators in the central office, whose goals it is to drive new standards, and improve district-wide performance, leaving no one there except to maintain compliance with state and federal mandates. We have scaled back or closed Weed and Bennett Libraries, and reduced hours at the other branches, making access to books, the internet, and shelter such as last weeks black out inaccessible to everyone, especially those not as fortunate as you and I. Police and fire services would also be cut to the bone, meaning an increase in crime, and a significantly increased chance of a major fire or other incident that could jeopardize multiple lives of any of our fellow citizens. Please tell me which part of this scenario is not realistic? Tell me what part of this scenario is not worth fighting for the current level of budgets with no further cuts? How is this going to impact the Stamford housing market and increase the tax base, bringing new residents to town? How are we going to compete for our fair share of ECS dollars and other state funds available from Hartford?

Gentleman, I don't want you to think of me as a naysayer, I am very enthusiastic and proud to have set down roots here. I am always blown away by the amount of my friends that grew up here and have chosen to live here and raise their families here. It is a true attribute of Stamford that its children return in force and help keep the culture alive. But I am worried that my children, and your children will not make the same choices. This is indeed a very bleak picture that has been painted and if it comes to fruition it will take us not years, but decades to recover. Is this is the city we want to live in? To raise our children in? To attract new residents and new families? Tell me how I can help prevent these scenarios from becoming reality.

Sincerely,

Jeff Herz
http://herzy69.blogspot.com

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http://herzy69.blogspot.com/2010/03/attention-all-stamford-ct-parents.html

Jeff Herz - My View of the World: ATTENTION ALL STAMFORD CT PARENTS:

ATTENTION ALL STAMFORD(CT) PARENTS:

WE NEED YOU TO CALL THE BOARD OF FINANCE AND THE MAYOR THIS WEEK.

Because they are not willing to raise taxes 2.65%, our schools stand to lose over 5 million dollars

This will mean:

Closing Turn of River Middle School, Davenport or Toquam

PLUS:

Moving to half day kindergarten and/or;
Losing more than 40 teachers and/or;
Losing all extracurricular activities and /or;
Losing elementary school music and /or
Reducing AP classes.

Closing one school will mean all other schools will get larger. EVERYONE will be affected.

Closing one school will not even save enough money to get us halfway to $5 million.
WE NEED YOU TO TELL THE BOF AND THE MAYOR THAT YOU ARE WILLING TO PAY 2.65% MORE IN TAXES

The Mayor has been absent during this entire struggle. He refuses to come to BOE meetings, did not come to the public hearing and has not explained his reasons for cutting the boe budget.

We need you to tell them that you will hold each of them responsible for lasting damage to our school system and city if they cut the board of education budget.

Here are the numbers to call (at the very least please email):

Mayor Pavia: 203-977-4150; mpavia@ci.stamford.ct.us
Gerald Bosak: 203 223-2567; gbosak@aol.com
Kathleen Murphy: 203-324-1423, kathleen.murphy@greenwichct.org
Joseph Tarzia: 203-325-8081; jtarzia@optonline.net
Robert Kolenberg: 203-329-2962; bkolenberg@optonline.net
Tim Abbazia: 203-323-9764; tabbazia@optonline.net
Mary Lou Rinaldi 203-322-9655;

PLEASE MAKE THESE CALLS ASAP- THE BOF WILL VOTE APRIL 6

Tell your friends and family as well; this is not simply a school issue, this will ultimately affect all of Stamford residents.

Thank you,
http://herzy69.blogspot.com

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http://herzy69.blogspot.com/2010/03/my-speech-at-joint-bofbor-budget-public.html

Jeff Herz - My View of the World: My Speech at the Joint BoF/BoR Budget Public Hearing - March 22, 2010

My name is Jeff Herz, I am a Stamford resident, a tax payer and a voter. I moved to Stamford in 1996. I am the proud parent of three children ages 8, 5 and 2. My wife Nancy, represents the 3rd generation of her family in Stamford, which makes my children 4th generation Stamford.

I moved here from Binghamton NY, where I was born and raised. It was a great community; a place where you can leave your doors unlocked, where kids can play outside with no worries even after dark, a place I would return to if it existed anywhere besides in my memory. In the 1980’s many of the larger companies left my town taking all the skilled jobs with them. There was no reason to stay in a place where there are no jobs, no chance of a future equal to my parents, and no reason for a young person to remain in the community where 50-70% of my high school graduating class had already decided moved away within 5 years.

Now let’s contrast that with Stamford, my hometown now. One of the things that has impressed me about Stamford, is the number of friends I have met, like my wife, who were raised here and have chosen to return to Stamford. This is a fact that continues to blow me away, because of where I came from. There is something positive about the culture, about the shared history that has brought so many of my wife’s peers back to the community. When we were looking to buy a house, we never considered any other town except Stamford. There is something here that has brought back an entire generation of people who have chosen to make this town their home and have chosen to raise their families here. And that fact continually amazes me since the idea of returning home is as completely foreign to me as I can imagine.

Now, let’s take a moment to consider the long term effect of any additional budget cuts beyond what has already been proposed. If additional cuts are made, teachers will lose their jobs, not expensive older teachers, but younger more energetic teachers. Schools could close, my school, your school, who knows which school the roulette wheel will ultimately stop on but someone’s schools will close. Class sizes will grow, making the chances of a student being pushed beyond their potential diminish exponentially. And this is not just about the schools, do we want to be known as the community that does not care about education, does not care about children, does not care about our cities future residents? How are we going to attract new residents, new tax payers, if we can’t support our schools, can’t keep libraries open, can’t protect our citizens? It just begs the question, if this trend of cutting core services continues, will my children want to move back to Stamford in 20 years, or will Stamford come to resemble Binghamton where the overwhelming majority of their youth have moved away? Will your children want to move back here? Would you want them to?

I am here to support the Mayor’s budget as it has been proposed to the Board of Finance and to the Board of Representatives, please vote to support the budget with no additional cuts.
http://herzy69.blogspot.com

1269789600|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SmlProBlog/~3/2keRffFyelM/pref-magazine-publishes-kiss-series.html

See-ming Lee: PREF Magazine publishes Kiss series from SML Photography / SML Thank You

PREF Magazine, a french, bimonthly gay oriented magazine publishes photos from the Kiss series in their March/April 2010 issue (No. 37).

Cover

PREF Magazine No 37: March/April 2010 Issue: Cover / 20100328.7D.05289 / SML (by See-ming Lee 李思明 SML)

Contributors: pp 6-7

Goodies. Now I have a bio in French!

PREF Magazine No 37: March/April 2010 Issue: pp.6-7 / 20100328.7D.05293 / SML (by See-ming Lee 李思明 SML)

Spread: pp 92-93

PREF Magazine No. 37: March/April 2010 Issue: pp 92-93 / 20100328.7D.05293 / SML (by See-ming Lee 李思明 SML)

Kiss: Ryan Gilbert + Michael Correntte / 20100117.7D.02106.P1.L1.SQ.BW / SML

Kiss: Ryan Gilbert + Michael Correntte / 20100117.7D.02106.P1.L1.SQ.BW / SML (by See-ming Lee 李思明 SML)

Spread: pp 94-95

PREF Magazine No. 37: March/April 2010 Issue: pp 94-95 / 20100328.7D.05301 / SML (by See-ming Lee 李思明 SML)

Kiss: Matthew Ossenfort + Jeffrey Denke / 20100117.7D.02081.P1.L1.SQ.BW / SML

Kiss: Matthew Ossenfort + Jeffrey Denke / 20100117.7D.02081.P1.L1.SQ.BW / SML (by See-ming Lee 李思明 SML)

Special thanks to Ryan Gilbert + Michael Correntte + Matthew Ossenfort + Jeffrey Denke who were so kind to kiss in front of my camera! Also much thanks to the editor in chief at PREF for this wonderful opportunity.

Go Creative Commons! SML Thank You! ^_<

See-ming Lee 李思明 SML / SML Pro Blog / SML Universe

1269714960|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover
http://herzy69.blogspot.com/2010/03/letter-to-stamford-18th-district.html

Jeff Herz - My View of the World: Letter to Stamford 18th District Representatives

Dear Representative Raduazzo and Representative Caterbone

I am writing to you today to express my deep concern about the current state of Stamford commitments to our children, their education and the future of our city. My wife's family has lived in Stamford for 3 generations. We are the proud parents of three children ages 8, 5 and 2, with the older two attending Toquam Magnet Elementary School. We stood together with my fellow Toquam parents 2 years ago to defend our school during the redistricting process and became very ingrained in the business of the board of education, which has provided me with a great perspective of the real challenges that this community faces. In that same process, I met multiple other parents from across the city, who are all interested in achieving exactly the same thing, sending their kids to the best schools system possible We are also members of various other community organizations and our kids participate in Stamford Youth sports. If you add this up, we are very invested in the city what is happening in the city now and how the decisions that are made today are going to impact us immediately and how they may effect our children in the coming years.

As one of the 600 people who attended the joint Board of Finance / Board of Representatives Finance Committee this past Monday at Turn of River Middle School, and one of the 75 people who spoke in favor of the current budgets as presented, I believe the community spoke loud and clear that we are all willing to accept a tax increase in order to preserve the current level of services that we as a community have come to expect from our schools, libraries, fire and police. In spite of the fact that current levels are barely sufficient to achieve or maintain any standard of excellent.

What is increasingly concerning is the apparent recklessness which certain members of the Board of Finance are approaching this budgeting process. There seems to be no reality check amongst the Board of Finance members who have set an agenda without a real understanding of what the impact of their proposals will really wreck upon our fine community.

I would like to request that as our elected representatives, that you stand up and fight for what is best for our district and our city. Providing the necessary funding for our schools is an absolute necessity, and any further budget cuts would be absolutely devastating to our school district and to our city. It is not like any cuts that are made this budget season are just going to miraculously return in full force next year. The impact of further cuts could be a reduction in teachers, meaning larger class sizes and less individual attention for every student. Today's Advocate talked about the possibility of closing a school, but even this draconian measure unfortunately would not fill the entire budget cuts that the Board of Finance is requesting. Closing a school or letting teachers go will also not help the value of our homes, nor will it help attract new families (and new taxpayers) to move to Stamford, since we will be known as the town that does not care about education or children.

Finally, I would like to ask you where the mayor has been during this whole process? Mayor Pavia ran on a platform of supporting education, however, he has yet to attend a Board of Education meeting, and was noticeably absent from the public hearing on Monday. Although the city charter does not require the mayor to attend these public hearing, as it is the budget he presented, he should take responsibility and accountability to the people and be willing to listen to a packed auditorium of voters speaking about his proposed budget.

I would welcome the opportunity to speak with you in more detail about this issue as I firmly believe that the decisions being forced upon the community by a very minority members of the Board of Finance will have a long term and lasting negative impact that will take years or decades for us to fully recover. As someone pointed out Monday night at the public hearing that the current economic downturn is temporary and already beginning to show signs of turning around, let us not overreact to a temporary situation.

Thank you for your time

Jeff Herz
47 Cascade Court
Stamford, CT 06903
http://herzy69.blogspot.com

1267281180|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SmlProBlog/~3/e9TRiHgyKgI/diana-engs-fairytale-fashion-collection.html

See-ming Lee: Diana Eng's Fairytale Fashion Collection Debut at Eyebeam NYC

The Fairytale Fashion Collection uses technology to create magical clothing in real life. Electronics, mechanical engineering, and mathematics are used to create clothing with blooming flowers, changing colors and transforming shapes.

Diana Eng, Fairytale Fashion / Eyebeam Open Studios: Fall 2009 / 20091023.10D.55465.P1.L1.SQ.BW / SML (by See-ming Lee 李思明 SML)

I first learned about this project by Diana Eng (Twitter / Wikipedia) at Eyebeam's Open Studios last year. As a designer + technologist, I actively seek out people working on things that infuses art + science. And so when Diana told me that her collection's debut at the Eyebeam Art and Technology Center in New York, I was more than delighted to check her out.

The Collection

Research and development for the Fairytale Fashion collection are shared online at FairytaleFashion.org as an educational tool that teaches about science, math, and technology through fashion. Fairytale Fashion was created with the support of Eyebeam Art and Technology Center, the leading not-for-profit art and technology center in the United States.

A total of nine looks were showcased on the runway on February 24th, 2010, and some of them will be available for purchase on March 1st at DianaEng.com.

1. EL Wire Dress. Aqua silk chiffon organically draped dress edge with electroluminescent wire controlled by an accelerometer. Circuit boards are housed in 3-D printed neck piece.

EL Wire Dress, Diana Eng's Fairytale Fashion Show at Eyebeam NYC / 20100224.7D.03492.P1.L1.C23 / SML (by See-ming Lee 李思明 SML)

EL Wire Dress, Diana Eng's Fairytale Fashion Show at Eyebeam NYC / 20100224.7D.03549.P1.L1 / SML (by See-ming Lee 李思明 SML)

EL Wire Dress, Diana Eng's Fairytale Fashion Show at Eyebeam NYC / 20100224.7D.03571 / SML (by See-ming Lee 李思明 SML)

2. Deployable Hoodie. Red wood silk hoodie with Miura Ori structure pleat pattern to help the hood collapse small and open big.

Deployable Hoodie, Diana Eng's Fairytale Fashion Show at Eyebeam NYC / 20100224.7D.03496.P1.L1.C23 / SML (by See-ming Lee 李思明 SML)

Deployable Hoodie, Diana Eng's Fairytale Fashion Show at Eyebeam NYC / 20100224.7D.03498.P1.L1.SQ / SML (by See-ming Lee 李思明 SML)

Deployable Hoodie, Diana Eng's Fairytale Fashion Show at Eyebeam NYC / 20100224.7D.03499.P1.L1.C23.BW / SML (by See-ming Lee 李思明 SML)

3. Twinkle Dress and Twinkle Cardigan. LED circuits are hand embroidered with silverized thread and a custom sewable circuit board Twinkle Pad, developed specially for the Fairytale Fashion Collection. Twinkle Dress's removable grey silk chiffon twinkle pad circuit overlays washable black cotton American Apparel dreww. Twinkle Cardigan's removable black wool melton shoulder patches overlay a cotton sweater.

Twinkle Dress and Twinkle Cardigan + EL Wire Dress, Diana Eng's Fairytale Fashion Show at Eyebeam NYC / 20100224.7D.03565.P1.L1.SQ / SML (by See-ming Lee 李思明 SML)

Twinkle Dress and Twinkle Cardigan, Diana Eng's Fairytale Fashion Show at Eyebeam NYC / 20100224.7D.03505.P1.L1.C23 / SML (by See-ming Lee 李思明 SML)

Twinkle Dress and Twinkle Cardigan, Diana Eng's Fairytale Fashion Show at Eyebeam NYC / 20100224.7D.03500.P1.L1.C23 / SML (by See-ming Lee 李思明 SML)

4. Cameo. Peach silk organza edged with electroluminescent wire. Circuit boards are housed in 3-D printed Cameo.

Cameo, Diana Eng's Fairytale Fashion Show at Eyebeam NYC / 20100224.7D.03513.P1.L1.C23 / SML (by See-ming Lee 李思明 SML)

Diana Eng's Fairytale Fashion Show at Eyebeam NYC / 20100224.7D.03591.P1.C45 / SML (by See-ming Lee 李思明 SML)

Twinkle Skirt + Cameo, Diana Eng's Fairytale Fashion Show at Eyebeam NYC / 20100224.7D.03551.P1.L1 / SML (by See-ming Lee 李思明 SML)

5. Twinkle Skirt. LED circuits are hand embroidered with silverized thread and a custom sewable circuit board Twinkle Pad, developed specially for the Fairytale Fashion Collection.

Twinkle Skirt, Diana Eng's Fairytale Fashion Show at Eyebeam NYC / 20100224.7D.03521.P1.L1.C23 / SML (by See-ming Lee 李思明 SML)

Twinkle Skirt, Diana Eng's Fairytale Fashion Show at Eyebeam NYC / 220100224.7D.03554.P1.L1.C23 / SML (by See-ming Lee 李思明 SML)

Twinkle Skirt, Diana Eng's Fairytale Fashion Show at Eyebeam NYC / 20100224.7D.03518.P1.L1.C23 / SML (by See-ming Lee 李思明 SML)

6. Puff Sleeve Jacket. Lavender cotton canvas jacket with deployable structure pleated sleeves.

Puff Sleeve Jacket, Diana Eng's Fairytale Fashion Show at Eyebeam NYC / 20100224.7D.03557.P1.L1 / SML (by See-ming Lee 李思明 SML)

7. Inflatable Dress. Cream silk chiffon, draped over plastic inflatables and white silk flowers.

Inflatable Dress, Diana Eng's Fairytale Fashion Show at Eyebeam NYC / 20100224.7D.03580.P1.L1.BW / SML (by See-ming Lee 李思明 SML)

Inflatable Dress, Diana Eng's Fairytale Fashion Show at Eyebeam NYC / 20100224.7D.03528.P1.L1.C23 / SML (by See-ming Lee 李思明 SML)

Inflatable Dress, Diana Eng's Fairytale Fashion Show at Eyebeam NYC / 20100224.7D.03530.P1.L1.C23 / SML (by See-ming Lee 李思明 SML)

Inflatable Dress, Diana Eng's Fairytale Fashion Show at Eyebeam NYC / 20100224.7D.03582.P1.L1 / SML (by See-ming Lee 李思明 SML)

8. EL Wire Coat. White silk organza illuminated by EL wire patterns beneath which are controlled by an accelerometer.

Floating Dreams Dress + EL Wire Coat, Diana Eng's Fairytale Fashion Show at Eyebeam NYC / 20100224.7D.03559.P1.L1.C23 / SML (by See-ming Lee 李思明 SML)

9. Floating Dreams Dress.

Floating Dreams Dress, Diana Eng's Fairytale Fashion Show at Eyebeam NYC / 20100224.7D.03534.P1.L1.C23 / SML (by See-ming Lee 李思明 SML)

Floating Dreams Dress, Diana Eng's Fairytale Fashion Show at Eyebeam NYC / 20100224.7D.03539.P1.L1.C23.BW / SML (by See-ming Lee 李思明 SML)

Circuit Bending Orchestra

In typical geek fashion, the music accompanying the show was no other than a circuit-bending orchestra made up of team members: Lara Grant, Sarah Grant, Peter Kirn and Matt Ganucheau.

Circuit Bending Orchestra: Lara Grant at Diana Eng's Fairytale Fashion Show, Eyebeam NYC / 20100224.7D.03621.P1.L1.SQ.BW / SML (by See-ming Lee 李思明 SML)

Circuit Bending Orchestra: Peter Kirn + Matt Ganucheau + Lara Grant, Diana Eng's Fairytale Fashion Show at Eyebeam NYC / 20100224.7D.03474.P1.L1.C45.BW / SML (by See-ming Lee 李思明 SML)

Circuit Bending Max/MSP, Diana Eng's Fairytale Fashion Show at Eyebeam NYC / 20100224.7D.03474.P1.L1.C45.BW / SML (by See-ming Lee 李思明 SML)

In fact here's a video of Lara Grant explaining to me how this all works:

SML 720p HD Simulcast: Flickr / Vimeo / YouTube

About Diana Eng

Diana Eng is a fashion designer who specializes in technology, math, and science. Her designs range from inflatable clothing to fashions inspired by mechanical engineering. She is a designer from Bravo’s Emmy nominated TV show, Project Runway season 2 and author of Fashion Geek: Clothes, Accessories, Tech. Diana is cofounder of NYC Resistor hacker group. Diana is currently a resident artist at Eyebeam.

Diana Eng, Diana Eng's Fairytale Fashion Show at Eyebeam NYC / 20100224.7D.03545.P1.L1.C23 / SML (by See-ming Lee 李思明 SML)

Extra, Extra!

Hilary Mason (Facebook / Twitter), a computer science professor with a background in machine learning, data mining, and web applications, tends the lighting control. She is currently on sabbatical to explore real-world implementations of these technologies.

Hilary Mason (Lighting), Diana Eng's Fairytale Fashion Show at Eyebeam NYC / 20100224.7D.03491.P1.L1.C23 / SML (by See-ming Lee 李思明 SML)

Gadget Galore at the press section:

Press Section Gadget Galore, Diana Eng's Fairytale Fashion Show at Eyebeam NYC / 20100224.7D.03482.P1.L1.SQ / SML (by See-ming Lee 李思明 SML)

Twinkling Backstage. The backstage literally lights up because of all the electroluminescent wires and Twinkle Pads.

Twinkling Backstage, Diana Eng's Fairytale Fashion Show at Eyebeam NYC / 20100224.7D.03564.P1.L1 / SML (by See-ming Lee 李思明 SML)

Last but not least, SML Me with Diana!

Diana Eng + SML, Diana Eng's Fairytale Fashion Show at Eyebeam NYC / 20100224.7D.03600.P1.L1.SQ / SML (by See-ming Lee 李思明 SML)

See-ming Lee 李思明 SML / SML Pro Blog / SML Universe

1266142740|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover
http://photoblog.seeminglee.com/2010/02/happy-valentines-day.html

See-ming Lee: Happy Valentines Day!

Most of you know by now that I have been working on a Kiss project (More on SML Flickr) for a while now. For this valentine's day, I thought that I would post some recent photos of the project here. These are new so they're mostly shot with my new Canon 7D! :)

Kiss: Ryan Gilbert + Michael Correntte / 20100117.7D.02106.P1.L1.SQ.BW / SML (by See-ming Lee 李思明 SML)

Kiss: Ryan Gilbert + Michael Correntte / 20100117.7D.02110.P1.L1.C23.BW / SML (by See-ming Lee 李思明 SML)

Kiss: Matthew Ossenfort + Jeffrey Denke / 20100117.7D.02079.P1.L1.C23.BW / SML (by See-ming Lee 李思明 SML)

Kiss: Sean Chappin + Juan Valdez / 20100117.7D.02121.P1.L1.BW / SML (by See-ming Lee 李思明 SML)

Kiss: Alessandro Rumie + Marveloos / 20100117.7D.02028.P1.L1.SQ.BW / SML (by See-ming Lee 李思明 SML)

Kiss: In the Heat of Passion / 20091220.7D.01633.P1.L1.SQ.BW / SML (by See-ming Lee 李思明 SML)

The perfect kiss is in the shape of a heart / 20091129.SD860IS.03558.P1.L1.C45.BW / SML (by See-ming Lee 李思明 SML)

Kiss / 20091129.SD850IS.03533.P1.L1.SQ.BW / SML (by See-ming Lee 李思明 SML)

1264934340|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover
http://herzy69.blogspot.com/2010/01/owen-is-wearing-underpants-this-morning.html

Jeff Herz - My View of the World:

Owen is wearing underpants this morning, which makes me happy knowing that the days of diapers will soon come to an end
http://herzy69.blogspot.com

1264351980|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover
http://herzy69.blogspot.com/2010/01/hope-2-missed-fg-dont-come-back-to.html

Jeff Herz - My View of the World:

Hope 2 missed FG don't come back to haunt the #jets, #NFL, #AFC
http://herzy69.blogspot.com

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Change Log

  • 2008-01-15T18:50:00
    • Apparnelty indenting in Wikidot loses YouTube video embeds. Removing indents as a result.
  • 2007-10-27T23:22:00
    • I figured out what's happening with the date on Yahoo Pipes now. It has to do with different feeds using different date formats. We're back online with latest post as a result :)

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