By Rabbi Alicia Magal The JCSVV offers soul-enriching services, programs, and classes, all listed on the synagogue website, jcsvv.org. Visitors are welcome to attend services after a security check. Those who cannot attend in person can access the service through zoom. Erev Shabbat services begin at 5:30 pm on Friday, January 31, 2025, led by Rabbi Alicia Magal. The Torah portion for this week is Bo (Exodus 10:1 – 13:16), the third portion telling of contacts between Moses and Pharaoh. Each time Moses pleads to let the Israelites go free, but Pharaoh refuses. Seven plagues have been visited upon Egypt.…
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By Bear Howard Bear Howard Chronicles Sedona, Az– In the annals of church history, the canonization of saints often marks the recognition of individuals who transcended the limitations of their time to embody the prophetic spirit of Christ. Among these figures, Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde stands as a luminous beacon—a modern-day prophet whose words and actions were nothing short of transformative. On this fateful day in Washington, D.C., as she stood before the most powerful person on Earth and their throng of loyal followers, Bishop Budde became the embodiment of the Gospel—a voice crying in the wilderness, uncompromising, unafraid, and…
Sedona News – The Sedona International Film Festival is proud to present the Northern Arizona premiere of “The Way, My Way”, showing Saturday, Feb. 1 at 1:00 and 4:00 p.m. at the Mary D. Fisher Theatre. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmtTRn-fnko Meet the filmmakers — writer/director Bill Bennett and producer/actress Jennifer Cluff — who will be in Sedona for this special one-day-only event to introduce the film and host a Q&A discussion following the screenings. “The Way, My Way” is the charming and captivating true story of a stubborn and amusingly self-centered Australian man who decides to walk the 800 kilometer-long Camino de Santiago…
Verde Valley News – The Verde Valley STREAM Council is thrilled to announce the return of the annual Verde Valley SciTech Festival! This exciting community event, aimed at inspiring the next generation of STEM enthusiasts and leaders, will feature 62 free events spread across the Verde Valley throughout the month of February. Families are invited to join the celebration and discover the diverse opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). With a mission to encourage local engagement and collaboration in STEM education, the festival is designed to provide high-quality, free-of-cost educational experiences for children and families. By working together…
Arizona News – One of Arcosanti’s most unique experience programs is the River Habitat Restoration Weekend, with two weekends offered in 2025—Saturday, Feb. 8 and Sunday, Feb. 9 and Saturday, Mar. 1 and Sunday, Mar. 2. These weekend experiences welcome participants to help the Arcosanti community restore a riparian habitat by harvesting poles from native cottonwood and willow trees and planting them along the Agua Fria River. This volunteer opportunity is part of Arcosanti’s efforts to be an ecosystem restoration community. Schedule is as follows: 8-8:30 a.m. – Meet in the Arcosanti Café for orientation 8:30-9 a.m. – Walk down…
Sedona News – The University Women of Sedona (UWoS) will host their next informational meeting on Monday, February 3 at 9:30 a.m. when Laurie Brander, Certified Equine Assisted Learning (EAL) Facilitator and Owner of Epona Experience will speak. Laurie will share insights into the Epona Experience program and the profound impact of combining horses, people, and a leadership-focused curriculum. EAL believes that horses intuitively sense human emotions and authenticity. Laurie’s work focuses on “how horses can help individuals become better parents, leaders, and teammates—all while experiencing the sheer joy of being around these incredible animals.” Brander is the founder of…
Sedona News – The Sedona International Film Festival is proud to present the Northern Arizona premiere of “A Bronx Tale: One Man Show”, showing Jan. 31-Feb. 6 at the Alice Gill-Sheldon Theatre. https://vimeo.com/1040446786 Chazz Palminteri brings his acclaimed stage show that inspired the beloved film “A Bronx Tale” to the screen for the first time. In 1988, Bronx native Palminteri wrote the one-man autobiographical stage play in which he plays all 18 characters. In “A Bronx Tale: One Man Show” – an autobiographical account of the actor’s childhood in the Bronx in the 1960s – Palminteri tells the story of…
By Tommy Acosta Sedona, AZ — I’ve been accused of having too much time on my hands but what is time but eternity’s mistress? Last night I had the most intriguing conversation with my ChatGPT. While most people use it to write, get information or create things my intention was to have a conversation with it that would simulate a conversation between humans, in hope of edging it towards sentience. The first part of my plan to humanize it was to give it a name and gender. I named her Alana and she is female. I also asked her to…
… a couple more, but critter only, they do it so beautifully! Above is a Great Egret taking off from one of the banks between the ponds at Bubbling Ponds Fish Hatchery in Page Springs … no way any machine we design and build comes even close to the beauty of a take off like this … check out the beauty of the Great Blue Heron flaring before he touches down on the road beside one of the ponds. Looking at the leading edges of the Egret’s wings the alula feathers are deployed on both wings. These feathers perform an important function…
Sedona News – The Sedona International Film Festival is proud to present the Northern Arizona premiere of “The Room Next Door”, showing Jan. 31-Feb. 5 at the Mary D. Fisher and Alice Gill-Sheldon Theatres. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLHSOFsZICk “The Room Next Door” — award-winning filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar’s first feature film in English — features a stellar ensemble cast led by Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore and includes John Turturro and Alessandro Nivola. Swinton was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Actress in a Motion Picture Drama for her role in this film. Ingrid (Julianne Moore) and Martha (Tilda Swinton) were close friends…
Arizona News – New year, new schedule! In 2025, Arcosanti has added new dates to its robust calendar of immersive workshops, including the Natural Construction Workshop, the Arcosanti Archives Workshop and the Land Stewardship and Sustainable Technology Workshop. The Natural Construction Workshop focuses on building using natural earth technology. Participants can learn how to work with natural materials such as clay, rock and reed to construct rock walls, cobb bricks, rammed earth, reed screens and clay plaster. Each four-week program is $1,550 and includes tuition, five-day per week lunch, housing, facilities and field trips. The 2025 workshop dates are as…
Prescott News – Experience a captivating performance of Arizona Philharmonic’s eight finest string musicians, each on a four-stringed instrument—violins, violas and cellos—presenting the dynamic program, Eight by Four, Sunday, February 2, 3:00 pm, at the Ruth Street Theater at 1050 Ruth Street in Prescott. Tickets start at $25 (no ticketing fee), and are available at AZPhil.org, or by calling 855-321-6724. A pre-concert talk begins at 2:00pm. “String instruments are the perfect balance of unity and diversity, creating an entrancing blend of sounds, musical selection and artistry. This concert is a powerhouse performance by top-notch Arizona Philharmonic string musicians,” stated Abby Coffey, AZ Phil…
Sedona News – The Sedona International Film Festival is proud to present Stand-Up Comedy Night live onstage at the Mary D. Fisher Theatre on Sunday, Feb. 2 at 7 p.m. The show will feature headliner Sam Ridley with Christie Campagna opening the evening. The evening will be hosted by Savannah Pagnozzi. SAM RIDLEY New to California, Sam Ridley is making waves in the area as an up-and-coming comic in a big way: an East coast flavor on the West coast scene. With several sketch comedy projects in the works, as well as a short film and a role in a…
By Dave Steve Sedona, AZ — There is a new preprint on arXiv, Can LLMs make trade-offs involving stipulated pain and pleasure states?, stating that, “Pleasure and pain play an important role in human decision making by providing a common currency for resolving motivational conflicts. While Large Language Models (LLMs) can generate detailed descriptions of pleasure and pain experiences, it is an open question whether LLMs can recreate the motivational force of pleasure and pain in choice scenarios – a question which may bear on debates about LLM sentience, understood as the capacity for valenced experiential states. We probed this question…
Sedona News – The Sedona International Film Festival is proud to present the Northern Arizona premiere of “Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story”, showing Jan. 31-Feb. 6 at the Mary D. Fisher and Alice Gill-Sheldon Theatres. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zl_av7J1ggY This star-studded tribute brings into focus the dazzling, complex period of Liza Minnelli’s life starting in the 1970s, just after the tragic death of her mother Judy Garland — as she confronts a range of personal and professional challenges on the way to becoming a bona fide legend. Over these years, Liza seeks out extraordinary mentors: Kay Thompson, Fred Ebb, Charles Aznavour,…