Om Madi Madme Hum - Ravenswood ArtWalk 2009

Grandmaster Hsu's new Grandson!

WLS-Ch. 7 anchor Judy Hsu gives birth on the Ike

WLS-Ch. 7 morning news anchor Judy Hsu gave birth this morning to a baby boy as she and her husband rushed to the hospital on the inbound Eisenhower Expressway, the station reported.

"We were heading down the Eisenhower," Hsu said during the station's 11 a.m. news broadcast. "At a pretty fast speed."

"I said, 'Do you need to pull over?' Judy said, 'I don't know!' " Tracy, her husband, said.

"I didn't know. I think I was in denial the whole time. I did not want to pull over on the side of the expressway. But the time came, and I knew the baby couldn't wait. I said, 'OK, I think we better pull over and call 911,' " Hsu said.

The couple's baby came into the world at about 3 a.m. near the Cicero Avenue exit. They named him Alexander James but -- fittingly -- his nickname will be "Ike."

As of this afternoon mother and baby were doing fine, according to the station.

Tracy helped his wife give birth in the front seat of the car. He said he remembered a news story about a woman who gave birth on the side of the road and her husband used his shoelaces to tie off the umbilical cord. Tracy tried that too and it worked.

Paramedics soon arrived and took them to the hospital.

"Can you believe it?" Hsu told the station. "It's so wild. It's stuff we read about in the news, and I never, ever thought would happen to me. It just went so fast. It was pretty incredible."

-- Staff report

Taichi performance breaks Guinness World Record CCTV-International

Taichi performance breaks Guinness World Record CCTV-International

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The Ancient Daoist Guqin

Stephen C. Walker will perform Saturday 12:30-1:00pm on October 3rd., 2009 at the Tai Chi Center of Chicago as part of the Ravenswood ArtWalk. Don't miss your chance to see this ancient Guqin instrument played by an exceptionally gifted musician.

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Ravenswood ArtWalk @ Tai Chi Center of Chicago

2009 Special Events - 8th Annual Ravenswood ArtWalk
October 3rd & 4th

Demonstrating Master Instructors of the Tai Chi Center of Chicago:
Elizabeth Wenscott - Tai Chi Sword, Tai Chi Knife
Chris Zalek - Tong Bei Chuan, Xing Yi, San Shou.
Sas Stark - Tong Bei Chuan, Xing Yi, San Shou
Don Tomei & Sharon Fierro - Qigong
Tracy Von Kaenel - Yoga

Exhibiting artist:
Artist in Residence, Christine Wallers - Projected Video Stills and Installations
Steven Leavitt - Painting
Kipling Swehla - Photography
Stephen C. Walker - Guqin ( ancient stringed Chinese instrument !!! )
Sangeet Gupta - Ceramics


This years schedule of events.
Saturday
11:00am - 12:00pm - Tai Chi Introductory - (Participation Welcome)
12:30pm - 1:00pm - Stephen C. Walker - Guqin Musical Performance
1:15pm - 2:00pm - Qigong - Instructor Don Tomei - (Participation Welcome)
2:00pm - 3:00pm - Demonstrations lead by master instructors, along with members of the TC3
3:00pm - 6:00pm - Art Opening

Sunday
11:00am - 12:00pm - School Open House - Art Viewing
12:00 - 1:00 - Yoga with Tracy Von Kaenel (details forthcoming)
3:00pm - 6:00pm - School Open House - Art Viewing

Visit for more information and to SHARE event details with family and friends.

Neigong Longevity Exercises

Over the years I have received the same "Wow this is weird," or "Geeze I never knew I held so much tension there!" from practicing the Red Dragon Waves (Tongue) the Water exercise that we do after meditation. This exercise is extremely beneficial to ones health as the tongue is connected to the heart meridian according to Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Here is a list of some of the noted benefits:
reduces sleep apnea
cervical spondylosis
reduces risk of heart disease

Our own Dr. Rossi says, "Many people develop swallowing difficulties as they age, which does cause a myriad of problems that can eventually lead to death or severely impaired quality of life. I suspect that being able to consciously control and strengthen the tongue and some of the action of swallowing probably reduces or compensates for some of the degradation of the swallowing mechanism that some older people develop."

Next up, the importance of saliva!

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Attract bees to keep garden healthy

Attract bees to keep garden healthy
(http://searchchicago.suntimes.com/homes/news/1716703,bees_and_gardens-arbor16.article)
August 16, 2009

BY DORIS TAYLOR - Special to the Sun-Times
Even when the stock market is in the doldrums, there's a whole world of buying, selling and trading going on as close as your own yard. Here, flowering plants and pollinators trade pollen and nectar for reproduction services.

Many homeowners call the Plant Clinic at the Morton Arboretum with questions about removing pests -- like Japanese beetles or ground-nesting bees -- from their yards, but not many call asking how to attract beneficial pollinators to their yards. But we should all be thinking about that. Pollinating insects and other critters are essential to home gardeners, particularly for growing fruits and vegetables.

"If you want the best production from your plants, you need honey bees or other pollinators to visit your garden," says Charles Lorence, beekeeper at the Arboretum, who raises more than one million honey bees to make the Arboretum's honey.

A variety of insects and animals pollinate plants, including butterflies, wasps, hummingbirds and bats. But the most important pollinators are the bees, especially honey bees.

To attract honey bees, Lorence suggests including plants they love, such as purple coneflower, blazing star, milkweed and raspberry, as well as herbs such as mint, lavender, borage and comfrey. Shrubs include privet, sumac, barberry, honeysuckle and burning bush. Bees like trees, too, especially linden, crabapple, tuliptree, redbud and orchard fruit trees, such as apple, pear and cherry.

For free information about growing requirements, visit "Plant Advice" at www.mortonarb.org. You'll also want to provide a water source. "It can be a bird bath, a dripping faucet, or a pan full of fresh water," says Lorence.

The process works like this: Flowering plants, including many trees and shrubs, attract pollinators in any way they can, including pollen, nectar, oils, resins, and fragrances. In return, pollinators move pollen from flower to flower, so those plants can produce nuts, seeds, fruits or vegetables to ensure their reproduction.

Avoid using chemicals in your yard, including insecticides and lawn herbicides, advises Lorence. If you must use them, avoid spraying during the day when bees are foraging.

You might take it a step further and actually raise honey bees. Chicago resident Lisa Hish decided to try beekeeping this summer out of her interest in the environment. "I am a well-researched, but novice beekeeper," she says. "I have a traditional frame hive that is filled with gentle Italian honey bees. I haven't been stung yet."

Hish, director of the health program at the Tai Chi Center of Chicago, is using that hive and another "top bar" hive that doesn't produce honey to teach her students about bees' role in our environment. Hish says seven of her neighbors recently expressed interest in keeping a hive on their property that she would maintain as part of what she calls a "bee trail."

"In our neighborhood, there are lots of families with young kids who are concerned about the environment and the future we are handing down to them," says Hish.

Doris Taylor manages the Plant Clinic at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle.