The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, seeking volunteers for 17 committees that help organize the annual event, is hosting a committee showcase Saturday at NRG Park to recruit potential attendees from across the region.

The free showcase is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday in the 300-series rooms on the second floor of the NRG Center, with free parking available in the orange lot of NRG Park. Aspiring volunteers must be at least 21 years old and registered as rodeo members, which costs $50. Presence at the showcase does not guarantee a role on a committee, according to a Friday press release from the rodeo.

The annual Houston Rodeo, which returns Feb. 28 to March 19 at NRG Park, began in 1932 and now uses more than 35,000 volunteers from a total of 100 committees. Volunteers have contributed more than 2.1 million hours to the rodeo and its outreach programs over the years, according to reports on rodeohouston.com.

“Rodeo volunteers know that dedication to this organization goes beyond a time commitment – it’s a way of life,” the rodeo states on its website’s volunteer page.

A rodeo spokesperson said time commitments vary by committee, with some completing their work before the rodeo and others requiring volunteers to work 2-3 shifts during the event.

Saturday’s event will provide information on the 17 committees that have openings. Here is an overview of these committees and some of the functions they perform:

Agricultural education: Develops programs and offers educational demonstrations throughout the year, teaching agriculture education and awareness in Houston area schools and other educational locations.

Communications and special services: Helps raise awareness of the rodeo by judging contest winners and photographing calf race participants, as well as conducting on-site surveys of audience demographics and performer preferences.

Coral Club: Operates all Corral Club facilities, including enforcing the rodeo’s responsible alcohol stewardship program, as well as hosting other rodeo functions. Committee members are involved in auctions and receptions, event support, ticket sales and the Chute Club.

Itinerary and assistance: Responsible for caring for lost children, operating the lost and found room and distributing rodeo day sheets and visitor’s guides, as well as providing information and directions to attendees and exhibitors.

Facility Services: Supervises cleaning staff and contractors to maintain rodeo grounds including carnival, horse show and cattle show.

Guardians: Ensures proper entry of rodeo visitors, as well as verification of access through entrance gates and hospitality functions.

Houston Go Texan Metro: Includes representatives from Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Liberty, Montgomery and Waller counties to raise awareness of the event through Go Texan functions and help raise funds for rodeo scholarships. The subcommittees organize cookouts, dances, golf tournaments, and style shows, among other events.

Intermediate ticket: Serves guests halfway through the carnival, selling carnival tickets as well as staff counters and self-service kiosks.

Rabbit: Organizes and directs the rabbit show, sets up show facilities, obtains trophy donors, assists the show judge, and receives and cooperates participating rabbits.

Recycling: Manages the rodeo’s recycling program, which recycles thousands of pounds of aluminum, cardboard and plastic.

Rodeo Express: Assists in the flow of bus and light rail traffic at NRG Park as well as off-site parking lots, by monitoring and directing bus traffic and guiding passengers.

Rodeo Merchandise: Promotes the event by selling and distributing branded merchandise, staffing merchandise booths as well as contributing product ideas, identifying sales locations, and working with other committees to meet to the needs of branded items.

Rodeo operations: Works with NRG Park construction and field services to assist with installation, operation and dismantling.

School Art Sales: Leads the auction as well as the pre-sale of winning student artwork, the planning and organization of buyer’s and pre-auction parties, and the distribution of winning prints to pre-sale buyers.

Speakers: Hosts the annual Rookie Boot Camp for new volunteers, while fostering interest in rodeo by providing conference services to local schools, service clubs and business groups to share information on agriculture, l education, entertainment and Western heritage.

Transportation: Manages the transportation needs of customers within the NRG park grounds, using trolleys, trams and automobiles. Duties include day and night shifts.

Wine garden: Greets guests and manages the operation of the Wine Garden throughout the rodeo.

For more information, including applying to become a volunteer, visit rodeohouston.com.

Yes, we’ve all heard of a certain Harry Potter the star’s new project coming in fall 2022, in which he’ll play the titular musician in the biopic Bizarre: the story of Al Yankovic. The anticipation for the film prompted enthusiastic audiences to revisit the profile of the immensely talented musician and industry satirist.

Weird Al was born on October 23, 1959 in California. After earning his high school diploma and bachelor’s degree from Lynwood High School and California Polytechnic State University respectively, he gained fame and many accolades in his field of parody music and comedy songs. Over the years, his parodies of popular songs have earned him five Grammys and sixteen nominations.

Like any quintessential satirical entertainer, Yankovic maintains an appearance that inspires humor while fairly accurately reflecting his established persona. However, it is neither her look nor her works that have managed to capture your attention for the moment, but the question of her size. Let’s dive into the subject and fix the problem.

How tall is Weird Al?

According Celebrity Heights, Weird Al is about 6 feet tall and many commentators have expressed their opinion about it. One said: “I met Weird Al in person years ago…He was much bigger than I imagined.” There were, of course, replies to the comment, including “Solid 6′ tall. Well-built guy.

However, it was not the question that sparked the gossip, but the stark differences between Yankovic and Daniel Radcliffe. As it’s already been known and reiterated, Radcliffe will be playing Weird Al in his upcoming biopic, and one of the smaller factors that stands in the way (at least, according to gossip, commentary, and countless discussions) is Radcliffe’s height.

The British actor is 5’6, half a foot shorter than Yankovic, which some say likely negates the essence of the renowned entertainer. Well, that’s also common knowledge, and the Swiss army man star is surely used to comments about her size, since the Harry Potter The franchise has gained widespread worldwide success, thus making him a household name. He was constantly trolled and compared to his bigger co-stars, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint. But with Weirdwe’re talking about a supposedly small person playing an extremely tall character.

The highly noticeable discrepancy has gained conversational status since the trailer’s release, and as expected, not many people were happy with the casting choice. One of the users said, “Why is Daniel Radcliffe playing Weird Al? They are seven inches tall and look nothing alike. Screw Hollywood to constantly retrain A-list actors in an effort to sell more tickets. Take a chance and cast a new face. So lazy ******. The disagreements as well as their criticisms made their way to Twitter.

I can’t help but think of Daniel Radcliffe’s hilarious casting as Weird Al. Not only does he look nothing like him, but he’s half his size. just amazing

— tape (@tape2x) February 22, 2022

The ridiculousness of the casting choice incorporated a complete lack of resemblance that wasn’t just limited to height.

The only thing I have a problem with Daniel playing Weird Al is the height but I’m sure they can film it well

— jac (@JackieWarner13) January 19, 2022

The absurdity of the same has also been pointed out.

I really like Daniel Radcliffe. But he’s 5’5″ and Weird Al is 6′

I feel like it’s important? This kind of size disparity is also what (for me) keeps Gillian Anderson (5’3″) in the role of Eleanor Roosevelt (5’11”) https://t.co/szYn1TavlQ

— Nina Metz (@Nina_Metz) May 3, 2022

While some made meaningful analogies about poor casting choices.

It’s very weird that people cling to Daniel Radcliffe’s height while playing Weird Al, as if Weird Al’s defining characteristic is “oh yeah, that big man”.

— Kerristmas (@Kerry_McGuire) January 20, 2022

However, not everyone agreed with the constant comparisons. For many fans – whether of Weird Al, Daniel Radcliffe or both – it’s not the size of the artists that matters, but the breadth of their art.

Rixy, who is 27, is a voice for women’s power. The black and brown characters painted by the Latinx artist are archetypes concocted from his own experience and that of his friends. They are like goddesses, full of their power, both creative and destructive.

“Hypnotized by the Charmer” depicts a woman coiled up almost like a snake, her eyes fierce and her fingernails sticking out.

“There’s something about this definition of how you look as a woman that makes you a target,” Rixy said. She recalled a man who had approached her earlier this year.

“He approaches me while I’m eating,” she said. “He’s like, ‘smile,’ and touch my face.

“I ate for maybe two more seconds,” she continued. “I lost my appetite, I left some money, and I just got out, I just cried in the car. And I was pissed off, but I didn’t act on the anger.

What if she had? “Hypnotized by the Charmer” expresses this ferocity.

Rixy’s career is booming. She is one of Now + There’s public art agencies Accelerator Artistsa group chosen each year to create public art in Boston, and work on a mural, “Pa*Lante(or “forward”) which will debut this summer at Roxbury. She was asked by the city of Boston to paint a mural in Allston in honor of Rita Hester, a trans woman whose murder in 1998 sparked Transgender Day of Remembrance. The timing of this mural is still ongoing.

She moves between the street and the gallery, creating figures for murals and paintings like those in this exhibition on damaged cardboard, adorned with hair extensions, elastic cords and chains. Rixy calls them studio assemblies.

“She works with very unconventional materials. In some cases canvas, but canvas that has been torn or burned. In other cases, just pure cardboard, which has that kind of material memory going for it,” said gallery director Helen Popinchalk. “It’s not just a piece of cardboard that comes out of the recycling bin. This is the back of a TV that her friend gave her to be part of this painting.

Community is a big part of Rixy’s artistic practice; she is currently an artist-in-residence working with teenagers at High Thought, a nonprofit social justice organization in Lawrence. Durability is also central.

“I was a broke brunette girl growing up. Canvases are expensive and I don’t like canvases,” Rixy said. “I feel trapped.”

With pieces of cardboard, she adapts the frame to the subject, and not the other way around.

“I can put them on the floor and rearrange them,” she said. “I need the frame to complete it.”

Born in Roxbury, the only child of a single mother from Honduras, Rixy grew up on the move and spent several years in Las Vegas. She maintains a deep bond with her extended family. The women in her family, she says, have always broken with societal expectations.

She cites her mother as a prime example.

“My mother is a single mother. That’s the first step, right? Because often our cultures are like that, you have to stay with your husband. It doesn’t matter how crazy marriage is. And you sit quietly and just do what he says.

The characters she paints all inhabit the same universe, called Cúcala. (The name, she said, arose from colloquial Spanish that her mother used for “vagina” when she was little.) It might sound familiar as the title of a song by Cuban-American singer Cecilia Cruz. , in which it meant, as Rixy put it, “Eureka!” Pay attention!”

“It’s this inclusive world where they can be traumatized and powerful and vulnerable,” she said. “Cúcala is like the temple in which they live.”

Or not. The three lavender-haired women on a motorcycle in “Now What Kind of Knucklehead Told Y’all To Go This Way?” are looking for Cúcala, Rixy said. “They’re not there yet.”

Some characters know each other, some don’t. Some are parents. And there’s a villain, Machismento, who represents toxic masculinity. The artist has not painted it yet, and maybe not.

“It might not exist figuratively,” she said, adding that it might be more “like toxic exhaust, like fumes, or the way it infects their food or infects their minds. Like a silent plague.

For ‘Pa*Lante’, her Now + There mural, she plans to paint the world as well as the characters, and hold roundtables with other female artists. Her intention, she says, is to create a Cúcala in the community.

“We can build the real tribe,” she said.

ENTER THE CÚCALA: Paintings and Multimedia Assemblages by Rixy

At the Trustman Art Gallery, Simmons University, 300 The Fenway, through May 13. 617-521-2268, trustman.simmons.edu/exhibits/2022/enter-the-cucala/

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Cate McQuaid can be contacted at catemcquaid@gmail.com. Follow her on Twitter @cmcq.

San Diego-based CP Group helped outfit a new materials recovery facility (MRF) commissioned by the Des Moines, Iowa-based Metro Waste Authority (MWA).

The California-based equipment and technology provider says MWA was challenged by an uncertain future after the People’s Republic of China adopted its National Sword Policy prohibiting the import of certain scrap materials. The agency chose to develop a new MRF “to provide a sustainable solution” for the Des Moines metro area in response to the challenge.

MWA, which was established in 1969, provides solid waste and recycling services to more than 30 communities and two counties in the Des Moines area comprising nearly 100,000 households. Its staff began discussions with its board about a new agency-owned recycling facility in 2018 as the disruptive aspects of National Sword became clear.

“Metro Waste Authority has a long history of solving industry problems with innovative solutions, and when it became difficult for our third-party processor to recycle materials, our Curb It! recycling program in place, we dug deeper to create business partnerships and find a way to keep these materials out of the landfill,” says Michael McCoy, Executive Director of MWA. “We knew that if we were going to provide a sustainable future for recycling in the subway, it would require a change in course for the processing and sale of materials.”

After a feasibility study supported a new, technologically updated facility for the region, the MWA Board decided to move forward with the construction of an agency-owned and operated MRF .

To create a successful program, MWA strived to emphasize cutting-edge technology, strong partnerships, and exceptional education when developing the new facility.

The agency was looking for a partner to design, manufacture and install processing equipment in the new plant. After soliciting solution proposals from sorting system technology companies, MWA’s Board of Directors selected CP Group. “CP Group understood our vision for an improved sorting system that would capture more material, reduce contamination and provide safe and pleasant working conditions for staff,” says McCoy.

CP Group has developed a system designed to improve the purity of recovered products, require low maintenance and protect workers.

At the front of the system, a primary auger screen and an OCC auger screen work together after the infeed conveyor to break down material before it is handled by hand sorters, “eliminating pre-sorting and creating a more safe,” says CP Group.

The primary auger screen creates a sub-6 inch fraction that sends overs to the patented OCC auger screen and unders to the CP glass breaker (which removes glass and fines) and then to the CPScreen which has new anti-packaging discs for separating two-dimensional from three-dimensional material. MWA is the first in the world to integrate the OCC Auger Screen into a single-stream sorting application, according to CP Group.

The patented OCC auger screen features cantilevered steel augers that generate high agitation to create an OCC-rich stream while breaking up smaller materials. “This machine won’t wrap or jam and requires very little maintenance,” says CP Group.

The eight-inch cutter sends pennies, instead of going in place of a traditional paper screen, to a Fibermax optical sorter made by subsidiary CP MSS. The MSS Fibermax sorts the contaminants while the surplus is sent to the OCC’s quality control area, where large rigid materials, metals and residues are extracted.

In addition, there is a CP LightsOut air drum separator for cleaning glass and two MSS Plasticmax units for sorting containers.

CP’s new auger silos are also being installed in Des Moines, designed to maximize silo storage volumes. The augers act as a material metering system that eliminates half bales and quarter bales by dumping the correct amount of material to be baled.

“This state-of-the-art equipment package from CP Group reduces contamination early in the sorting process, allowing us to produce the best return for material sales and supporting the strong partnerships we have cultivated with brokers and end-market users,” says McCoy.

In addition to establishing a state-of-the-art recycling operation, the new recycling facility also builds on MWA’s commitment to education by including a dedicated learning space. The space features a permanent exhibit that includes educational kiosks, interactive infographics, and a handy sorting station for visitors of all ages to learn about acceptable recyclables and the recycling process. The center also features an observation deck above the sorting floor, a mural designed by a local artist, and a multipurpose space for community discussions, presentations, and other meetings.

“The facility is the result of collaboration and a shared philosophy by the cities and the county, and it will improve recycling and benefit communities across the state for years to come,” McCoy said. “Just like when our agency was created to create a regional approach with one landfill, we are excited to have that same opportunity with recycling.”

MWA officially began operations at the MRF in late 2021. The new 101,100 square foot single-stream facility processes materials at 25 tons per hour and has room to expand as the region’s needs grow. Improved recycling processing material are evolving.

“Metro Waste Authority has an MRF we can be proud of, and we are pleased to be their partner in bringing the latest innovations in recycling technology to the region,” said Terry Schneider, President and CEO of CP Group. “This facility will serve the greater Des Moines metro area with sustainable solutions for many years to come.”

CP group specializes in MRF design, manufacturing, installation and service. Its portfolio of businesses includes CP Manufacturing, Krause Manufacturing, MSS Inc. and Advanced MRF and its services include recycling system design, manufacturing, retrofits, audits, service and consulting. The group, founded in 1977, provides what it calls turnkey solutions for mixed waste, residential, commercial and industrial recycling, construction and demolition, paper, plastic and e-waste.

Delmar Donley, Jr. 1942 – 2022

Sherman, IL—Delmar Donley, Jr., 79, of Sherman, IL, died Friday, April 15, 2022 at St. John’s Hospital.

He was born on October 18, 1942 in Sherman, to Delmar Sr. and Harriet Powell Donley. Delmar graduated from Williamsville High School and followed his father into the trucking business, owning Donley Trucking in Williamsville with his son, Todd. He also owned Info Corner Materials in Springfield. Recycling concrete has made Delmar happy. His work was laborious but a real passion, until the day of his death. Delmar’s work ethic was second to none.

Delmar enjoyed late model racing with his son, Todd. They have been there every February for the past 45 years and have always looked forward to Eldora and Knoxville with Chico. Shannon Babb was his favorite pilot. Delmar also enjoyed boating and watching football games in Williamsville. He had a great appreciation for nature. Delmar enjoyed watching deer, turkeys and wild birds on his childhood property on which he still lived.

He met Judy Hawks in 1983. They spent nearly 40 years, traveling extensively and dining out. Delmar was always ready to go to an art fair or a Broadway show. Sundays for the past few years have included long car drives with their dear friends, the Furmans. Delmar’s generous nature was second to none, as he cared deeply for his family, friends and employees.

Delmar was predeceased by his parents; brother, Leroy Donley; sisters, Eunice Louise Burris and Janet Darling; and his nephew, Doug Watson.

He is survived by his son, Todd (Michelle) Donley; grandchildren, Megan (Jason) Golden and Veronica (Joey) Bigley; great-grandchildren, Bailey Golden and Lola Bigley; siblings, Linda (Mickey) Moorman, Juanita Donley and Bill (Karolyn) Donley; Todd’s mother, Judy Donley Henderson; partner, Judy Hawks; Judy’s children, Jodi (Dave) Daykin and Daniel Hawks, III; Grandchildren of Judy, Alec, Daniel, Quinn and Grant Daykin; and several nieces and nephews.

At Delmar’s request, there will be no services.

Memorial contributions may be sent to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Pl., Memphis, TN, 38105.

Cremation was provided by the Lincoln Land Cremation Society.

Please visit www.lincolnlandcs.com to offer your condolences.

April 19, 2022&ball; Physics 15, 56

A musical composition based on traditional Filipino poetry communicates the impact of climate change on coastal communities.

D. Gupa/ONC

This article is part of a series of articles on environmental topics that Physics publishes to celebrate Earth Day (April 22). See also: Research News: Breaking Barriers to Polymer Recycling.

Growing up in a poor community in Manila, the capital of the Philippines, Dennis Gupa was all too familiar with the increasingly destructive effect of typhoons. At the time, he was unaware that climate change could exacerbate typhoons and other extreme weather events. But when one of the most powerful tropical cyclones on record hit his home country while studying acting abroad, Gupa was forced to reckon with the science behind these destructive events. Today, he forges a dialogue on climate change through applied theatre, a medium that combines various performative elements to bring about social change. His latest work fuses traditional Filipino poetry with choral composition.

Gupa had long been drawn to the idea of ​​using theater as a tool for teaching science in poor urban communities. One of her first projects at the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) was a collaboration with a nutritionist that resulted in a theatrical production on traditional food. “I thought of his lab as a stage!” It was the start of my mission to bring science and theater together,” Gupa explains.

In 2013, Gupa moved to Canada to pursue graduate studies at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. In November of that year, Typhoon Haiyan devastated the Philippines. “It was an existential crisis for me,” Gupa says. “What am I doing to study art in Canada when there is so much suffering in the Philippines? He then began to integrate the study of disasters, climate change and indigenous ecological knowledge into his theater projects.

In 2021, Gupa became the Artist-in-Residence of Ocean Networks Canada (ONC), a University of Victoria initiative that collects oceanographic data from Canadian Pacific, Arctic and Atlantic waters. “We are in the midst of an existential crisis for ocean health,” says ONC chief scientist Kim Juniper. “Science alone is not going to solve this problem. We need broader societal engagement. The residency program provides a four-month stipend for artists to create works representing ONC research. Gupa has become the The program’s second resident.”Gupa brought his long-term view of the impact of climate change on people who depend on the ocean,” Juniper said.

During his residency, Gupa produced a series of musical compositions based on the Filipino poetic form tanaga. These four-line poems follow a strict syllabic structure and are centered on an ecological theme. They express love and commitment, but still use metaphors for water and trees to create what Gupa describes as an abbreviated “love letter.” With Filipino poet Karla Comanda and a panel of composers, singers and musicians, Gupa has created a musical performance called Gossip with the whales. Based on four tanaga poems, the play guides the audience through the issues that impact the ocean.

D. Gupa/ONC

In one of the tanagas, Comanda’s lyrics capture the impact of sea heat waves on corals. Corals are stressed by heat and acidification, which causes them to separate from their algae and eventually starve to death: “Today I heard the corals crawling // Calling for food // So the sea ​​witches warmed them // With funerary stuffed animals made of sunlight.” The final tanaga is a call to action, evoking images of coastal communities in distress: “Soon we will be walking on water // on bamboo stilts // held together by crocodiles // eating from our mouths. “

Composer Darren Vega set the poems to music and Gupa arranged for soloists Thai Hoa Le, Jeremiah Carag and Jackielyn Sentinerial to perform with the UPLB Choral Ensemble and the Harmonya String Ensemble, both under the direction of by Roijin Suárez. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, each individual vocal and instrumental performance was recorded separately on cell phones, then all recordings were combined into a seamless group performance through post-production. In September and November of last year, ONC and the University of Victoria featured Gupa’s work in a online public lecturebroadcast against the background of underwater images taken during ONC expeditions at sea.

Now an assistant professor at the University of Winnipeg in Canada, where theater students are required to study climate change as part of the liberal arts curriculum, Gupa continues to use theater as a tool to promote climate dialogue and ocean science. Next year, he plans to organize a conference to inspire policy makers, artists and community members to focus on how to rebuild communities devastated by extreme weather events.

ONC director of user engagement Dwight Owens said the artist-in-residence program has led to other artistic and scientific collaborations, including an ocean plastic pollution awareness festival in Mombasa. , in Kenya, and an exhibition in a virtual art gallery coinciding with the November 2021 COP26 summit. Ultimately, the ONC aims to establish more transdisciplinary research with the goal of “engaging people from all disciplines to better communicate the importance and threats to the oceans,” Owens said.

–Rachel Berkowitz

Rachel Berkowitz is the corresponding editor for Physics based in Vancouver, Canada.

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