Butch

Butch is a handsome amber-eyed hunk. He is incredibly friendly and affectionate, loves to be petted, and likes to play with interactive toys.

He seems to be tolerant of the other cats at the shelter and could potentially become another cat’s buddy. Butch will benefit from an exercise and food plan prescribed by your vet to help him shed a few pounds.

Butch is neutered, microchipped, tested for heartworm, and vaccinated. He is at the El Dorado County Animal Services shelter in Meyers, along with many other dogs and cats who are waiting for their new homes.

Go online or the Tahoe animal shelter’s Facebook page to see photos and descriptions of all pets at the shelter.

Call 530.573.7925 for directions, hours, and other information on adopting a pet.

For spay-neuter assistance for South Tahoe residents, go online.

— Karen Kuentz

By Deborah Netburn, Los Angeles Times

Want to get creative? Get up and go for a walk.

People generate more creative ideas when they walk than when they sit, according to a study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition.

“Everyone always says going on a walk gives you new ideas, but nobody had ever proved it before,” said Marily Oppezzo, a psychology professor at Santa Clara University and the lead author of the study.

To test for creativity, Oppezzo asked volunteers (mostly college students) to come up with alternative uses for a common item like a tire or a tweezer. Creative suggestions for a button, for example, might include tiny strainer, dollhouse doorknob or the eye for a doll.

In the first experiment, volunteers were given four minutes to complete the creativity test — first while sitting at a desk in a small room, and then while walking on a treadmill. Of the 48 participants in the study, 81 percent improved their creative output when walking.

Read the whole story

By Blair Scott

The two-mile, dirt road leading to the cabin transports me back to my carefree childhood. Every summer, for a long weekend, my family has driven up to Tahoe to relive the sweet, savory memories of past years. Winding through patches of dense pine trees and passing intermittent, bright green meadows, the familiar drive leads us to the cabin we outgrew many years ago, but continue to come back to each summer.

Our two German shepherds, Heidi and Chloe, squeezed into the back of our 1998 Ford Expedition next to a stack of four duffel bags and colorful beach towels, start to whine as we get closer to the cabin. As we pull up to the house, my eyes soak in the warm, brown, gingerbread color of its exterior and the sweetness of the delicately shingled roof. Its petite chimney peaks out the top – void of smoke since it is mid-July – and the graham cracker colored shutters frame the dusty windows on the front of the house.

Blair Scott and her dog Chloe at Fallen Leaf Lake. Photo/Provided

Opening the car doors, the warm summer air floods in, and my nose breathes the fresh, familiar fragrance. Stepping out onto the pine-needle-covered dirt driveway, I open the trunk to release the impatient pups. Finally free, after five long hours of sitting in the car, they leap out of the back, rushing to sniff the familiar bushes, scattered with red berries that line the perimeter of the driveway.

The cabin sits atop wooden stilts, tucked into the dry, fire-hungry, California forest at the bottom of a steep hill. Inside, there is one king bed, a small kitchen with a wood burning stove and a closet-sized bathroom. In the middle of the room, a wooden ladder ascends to the attic, where my brother and I sleep. As a kid, I dreaded sleeping up there; it was filled with spider webs, dead bugs, dusty surfaces and old mattresses. But we had no choice. By the time we were nearing our 20s, we were simply too big for the attic; we had to duck when we walked, so our heads wouldn’t hit the ceiling, and our feet dangled off the end of the mattresses. We had definitely outgrown the cabin, but we ignored the inevitable size problem so that we could spend one final, jobless, commitment-free, summer there as a family.

Taking our bags up with us into the attic, we crack the windows to release the trapped summer air, while trying to dodge the sheets of spider webs. I look out the window, past all of the trees, to see Fallen Leaf Lake for the first time. Peaking through the sea of intoxicatingly green treetops, I am beckoned by the water’s enticing cobalt color.

~~~~~~~~~~~

The sparkling blue light blinds me as I run toward the end of the dock. Leaping off the edge, I feel myself suspended in the air, vulnerable and helpless. Below me, the clear glassy water awaits my splash. Thoughts of my childhood rush through my head, of all 19, consecutive, summers we have come to the lake, of all the memories that have occurred in this exact spot. I prepare for the bone-numbing, heart-stopping chill of the water that I am about to plunge into. I gasp. The sparkling elixir reviving my sunburned body as I enter the lake. Coming up for air as soon as I can, I struggle to catch my breath, looking back up at the dock, where the unofficial lifeguards, my dogs, peer over the edge to make sure I am OK.

The 60-degree water permeates my skin; I can actually feel my legs starting to go numb. The freezing lake is shocking, yet soothing. The first swim is always the best, but the temperature makes it impossible to stay in any longer so I rush toward the ladder to get out. My dogs greet me, wagging their tails in excited relief that I am finally out of the water.

Wrapping myself up in my favorite, faded, blue and green towel, I lie on the warm dock as my body thaws. Heidi and Chloe lie next to me, their eyes watching the bees that hover around us. If a bee flies too close to Heidi, she will swat at it with her paw and try to capture it in her mouth. An hour passes; I hear the distant sounds of motorboats swirling around the lake. Above me, the calm, blue canvas is streaked with delicate wisps of white clouds. There is a certain stillness that exists on the dock, and I cherish the peaceful surroundings.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Beep beep, beep beep, beep beep. I can hear my dad’s alarm going off from the attic. I roll over in bed to look out of the window toward the lake. Glass. No wind. The lake is still. Which means it’s time to go. Every morning, my dad and I wake up hoping to go out in the boat to water ski, but only if the conditions are nearly perfect. This morning they are.

I get up and put on sweat pants and a sweat shirt over my bathing suit. I descend down the ladder, and my dad is waiting, ready to go. Much to their disappointment, the dogs have to stay at the cabin with my mom and brother while they continue sleeping. The dogs will bark and whine the entire time we’re gone. With me leading the way, my dad and I head down the steep hillside to the dock to meet Uncle Tom who brings his boat over from the other end of the lake. He’s waiting for us when we get there; ready to take us out on the lake to claim the untouched water as our own. Leaving our flip-flops on the dock, we climb onto the boat.

The sun peaks over the snow-topped mountains that surround the lake as we zoom to the far end where the water is always the calmest. Leaving a thick white stream of boat wake behind us, the steady rumble of the boat’s engine allows us to enjoy a conversation-less, calm morning boat ride. The cool wind whips through my hair, and my dad firmly holds his San Francisco Giants baseball hat onto his head.

I cherish this moment, knowing it will probably be one of the last morning boat rides we have, and one of the last summers we go up to the lake as a family before my brother and I enter adulthood. We may be growing up, but the memories I have from the lake will stay with me forever.

Novelist and short story writer Pam Houston will give a talk May 8 at 8pm in the Lake Tahoe Community College library.

Houston will read selections from her works, take questions from the audience, and sign copies of her books, which will be available for sale. Houston’s most recent novel, “Contents May Have Shifted”, was published in 2012.

The Lake Tahoe Community College Writers’ Series event is free.

By Melissa Korn, Wall Street Journal

Job fairs can be infuriating — and inefficient.

Candidates wait on line in front of a booth. When they finally get to the front and start asking questions about that dream career in engineering, the recruiter says he’s actually handling marketing jobs for the company and that other guy, also surrounded by a crowd of candidates, is the right person to talk to. Half an hour, down the drain.

For employers, it’s not much better. Recruiters spend hours talking to hopefuls who stand no chance of being hired, while the really stellar candidates who need to be courted get frustrated and walk away.

There’s no easy fix, but there are signs of progress. Nearly 80 companies, including Bank of America Corp. and bio-pharmaceutical company AbbVie Inc., have partnered with Chicago tech firm Recsolu LLC to make the process slightly more palatable.

Using the firm’s Recpass technology, job-fair attendees can submit their information (name, contact info, résumé) once via a mobile app, and then use a QR code, a type of bar code, to reload it for each company whose booth they visit.

Representatives from those companies can immediately screen for work authorization or years of experience, directing those who don’t meet qualifications to one area, where the applicant can learn some basics about the company, and sending top prospects to another group, where they can be courted a little more personally. Some firms even use the quick screens to invite candidates to hospitality suites for additional meetings that same day.

Read the whole story

By Valerie J. Nelson, Los Angeles Times

Far older than most of the regulars at his weekly South Bay swing-dancing class, the World War II veteran invariably shuffles in, sidles up to his instructor and unwittingly gives voice to a scientific truth: “I’m here for my anti-aging therapy and happiness treatment.”

Dancing has long been lauded as a great physical workout, yet research has increasingly shown that social dancing, such as swing, a lively, improvisational style that requires rapid-fire decision-making in concert with a partner, is also beneficial to both mind and spirit.

Doctors have prescribed her dance classes for patients dealing with depression, and many students have recovered from “horrible divorces” while learning the free-spirited Lindy Hop or the jive on her dance floor, says Rusty Frank, who has taught swing dancing since 1988 at her Lindy by the Sea school in El Segundo.

Engineering students at Northwestern University in Illinois are encouraged to swing dance in Whole Body Thinking, a class aimed at helping science majors, who are known for relying on the analytical left side of the brain, to flex their creative right side. At Cal State Long Beach, students who are thinking about dropping out have been advised to take social dance classes before making the decision.

Dancing also strengthens the immune system and increases the ability to deal with stress, says Phil Martin, a dance instructor at Long Beach since 1983, who conducts research on the exercise benefits of dance.

Read the whole story

By Kathryn Reed

Changing the world one bar of soap at a time.

That is the goal of four Chapman University students, including 2013 South Tahoe High School graduate John Cefalu. The four (Max Wysong, Ajay Dhameja and Daniel Cruz) have formed the nonprofit Health 2 Humanity to help orphans in Africa.

They have created their own line of soap. Through trial and error working out of their dorm rooms and a garage they came up with a 5-ounce bar made of natural ingredients. They now have a manufacturer producing the soap.

John Cefalu with children he met in Kenya in 2013. Photos/Provided

To start with, an orphanage in Kenya with more than 300 kids is the beneficiary. Each child is getting a bar of soap every month. Eventually the four friends want to reach as many orphanages as possible.

“We could just give soap and call it a day, but when the bar is gone where are they left?” Cefalu told Lake Tahoe News. “Our thought process is we teach them how to make it themselves. It helps them have economic opportunities.”

For every 250 bars of soap that are sold, Health 2 Humanity is able to sponsor another orphanage. Bars cost $7.99. (They are available at Gaia-Licious in South Lake Tahoe.)

Cefalu came up with the idea last summer when he went on an excursion to Kenya and saw people were living without the basic needs that he took for granted.

“It really changed my life and shaped what I wanted to do in the future,” the business major said.

Health 2 Humanity is partnering with Think Kindness so it can operate as a nonprofit as well as benefit from that group’s experience.

Money raised from soap purchases are divided in half.

“Fifty percent is put into a fund to bring resources and training to a developing country, while at the same time we teach someone how to make soap and also how to run a business,” Cefalu said. “Then, after the person we train makes the soap, a bar is given to each child in the orphanage that is being sponsored. Whatever soap is left over is then sold by the person that we train and hire and 100 percent of the profits from their soap goes back to the sponsored orphanage.”

Soap is available at Gaia-Licious in South Tahoe for $7.99.

The other half goes back into Health 2 Humanity to make more soap, for marketing and other overhead expenses, including what will likely be at least two trips to Africa a year.

Besides the hygiene benefits, the goal is people will be taught how to make the soap and be able to sell it for a profit – thus there is ideally a huge economic benefit to the area by providing jobs. The end goal is each orphanage becomes self-sufficient and the men of Health 2 Humanity move on to the next location that is in need of their help.

—

Notes:

• More info is available at Health 2 Humanity’s website or contact John Cefalu at 530.307.2314 or cefalu@health2humanity.org.

• The group takes donations in addition to selling bars of soap.

Brooke

Brooke is a very sweet dog, just 1-year-old and full of life.

However, she needs a special home. Brooke is deaf, so she needs an understanding, patient, and caring new family to take care of her. She is a nice dog who loves to go for walks and is quite affectionate. She’s about 45 pounds, and likes to climb fences.

Brooke has been at the shelter for over a month, and had been at a shelter in Reno before that. we hope she is able to find her new home at Tahoe soon.

Brooke is spayed, microchipped, tested for heart worm, and vaccinated. She is at the El Dorado County Animal Services shelter in Meyers, along with many other dogs and cats who are waiting for their new homes.

Go online or to the Tahoe animal shelter’s Facebook page to see photos and descriptions of all pets at the shelter.

Call 530.573.7925 for directions, hours, and other information on adopting a pet.

For spay-neuter assistance for South Tahoe residents, go online.

— Karen Kuentz

Bags of food are given to students in need in Lake Tahoe Unified School District. Photo/Provided

By Kathryn Reed

The one-person Page & Sage program has evolved into a service club project.

Paula Peterson started the food giveaway program with a $1,000 grant from American Century Championship, the celeb golf tourney in Stateline. It is now a project of Tahoe Douglas Rotary, to which Peterson belongs.

“I started with backpacks and a book for five kids at South Tahoe Middle School that first year and started to involve my fellow Rotarians,” Peterson told Lake Tahoe News. “We then got another grant last summer, as well as donations from Rotarians and moved to 20 kids this school year. Then, with more donations from the Rotary Club and a private foundation, and food for some through the El Dorado County Food Bank we moved to 20 at STMS, five at STHS and 34 at Tahoe Valley.”

She gave a presentation about the program last week to Lake Tahoe Unified School District’s board of education.

Individual backpacks have single serving food items and a book. The idea is to feed the stomach and the brain.

“The food bag is made up of things that kids can serve themselves should it be necessary. They love the cup of noodles,” Peterson said.

Food is stored at Temple Bat Yam, where the backpacks are put together.

“We are now looking for a committee of interested community members to take Page & Sage to the next level,” Peterson said.

To reach 10 percent of the students in the district who receive a free or reduced lunch 230 backpacks would need to be made each week. It costs about $7 per child, per week for a book and food.

Food and cash donations (checks may be made out to the Tahoe Douglas Rotary Foundation) are accepted by going online or calling 530.307.0909. Tahoe Valley Elementary School is having a food drive the first two weeks of May for the program.

Here is a list of suggested food items:

Single use oatmeal, Pop Tarts, single use cereal, yogurt cereal bars, fruit cereal bars, single fruit cups, kid-friendly canned veggies (as in no beets), canned beans, canned fruit, canned soup, canned meals (raviolis, Spaghettios, chili, stew), canned tuna, canned chicken, single use juices, shelf stable milk, mac and cheese, boxed grains, Cup of Noodles and Top Ramen. Individually wrapped snacks such as fruit snacks, crackers, granola bars, nuts, dried fruits, trail mix and raisins are also welcome. Also needed are new or gently used books for grades K-12.

By Jeremy Miller

“Transcendence” is the first film from cinematographer turned director Wally Pfister, best known for his cinematography on “The Dark Knight” and “Inception”.

It stars Johnny Depp, Rebecca Hall, Morgan Freeman, Paul Bettany and Kate Mara.

Dr. Will Caster (Depp) and his wife/partner Evelyn (Hall) are the topmost pioneers in the quest to develop an artificially intelligent sentient machine that also envelops the basic personality of human beings. Will has been performing experiments trying to develop technology to allow transcendence, or the transfer of a personality into the digital world, as a personality-driven computer. They are highly acclaimed in their field and most certainly have pristine reputations amongst their peers, but what would a story be without some controversy?

An underground extremist group with the motto “unplug” led by Bree (Mara) isn’t too keen on the whole “play god” scenario and assassinates several leading members of the field developing the AI.

In their rampage they attempt an assassination on Caster and fail … or so we think. Caster eventually finds that he has been poisoned by the bullet that hit him and will eventually kick the bucket. Clever little rebels did their homework. His quick-witted and highly loyal partner Max (Bettany) sits down with Evelyn and they decide to attempt transcendence with Caster to keep him “alive”. It’s successful and Caster becomes the first emotionally powered A.I. in history.

Max and Evelyn quickly discover that even the purest mind can be overcome by greed and power. They then realize that some anti-computer hoodlums are the least of their worries.

Bam! There’s the plot.

What did I think? Well, it was all right. The first 30 minutes or so I was really feelin’ it. I am a sci-fi junkie and loved the basic premise. Even in the last act I was well entertained, but I wasn’t too thrilled with how the story actually panned out.

It was nice to see Depp back on the big screen. I feel like he doesn’t do enough these days. I will say that his performance was a bit underplayed, which some would argue isn’t fair because 75 percent of the film he’s a computer, but, hey, Scarlett had me glued the whole time in “Her” and you couldn’t even see her face so it’s no excuse.

I thought Paul Bettany really delivered, as he typically does. His character adds a needed comfort and grounding presence throughout. I was into the evolution of his character. Wally Pfister is one of my favorite cinematographers, as he’s done some of my all-time favorite movies. Visually the film was rather subtle for its genre and kept things within reach of reality. The introduction of the technology of the somewhat futuristic scene was perfect and intriguing. I felt like toward the end, however, it was just a large canvas of copy-paste effects, very uniform and underplayed. The script was decent. I shook my head a few times at the cheese, but hardly enough to call it a problem. Overall, it was a pretty good time.

My only qualms with it really are partially aesthetic and mostly storytelling. The third act could have played out with a little less hesitation, and the effects could have been more elaborate and powerful. Overall, a well-rounded sci-fi flick following the trend of exploring our desire for a more intimate relationship with machines; and why we should just let them keep our news feed updated and provide us with funny YouTube videos.

South Lake Tahoe resident Jeremy Miller has more movie reviews online.