Poughkeepsie Journal from Poughkeepsie, New York • Page 23

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Mtth Pniptny mri CaiwMy immqmoi ContjndAliiaitUliiMMrina Comply Kofflrgo. Mm 2007 Comptny JOHN R. K330N LOCAL EDITOR 8454374836 jmelsonpoughkeepsiejoumal.com Poughkcepsie Journal I poughkeepsiejoumal.comlife yfeite Mich more to film fest than watching films a.m. panel at Utopia Studios (one docu-mentarist remarked, leaning into the passenger side window, These panels on 'JO Sunday morning are knania Editor's note: Amanda Wannan served as assistant to the executive director at the 2009 Woodstock FUm Festival, which ran Oct 1-4 at various locations in Ulster and Dutchess counties. This is a first-person piece about her experience.

I spent 16 hours a day at the Woodstock Film Festival and only saw one film. Td make a good-morning phone call to the director of the festival at 8:30 a.m., meet at 9, and away we'd go to the hub of it all, the Colony Cafe Inside we were greeted by the volunteers, filmmakers, festival-goers and myriad staff who woke up early enough to man registration tables, or make their way to the 10 the cinema parking lot long after the ISminute early arrival time they ask of ticket-buyers. Trolling past those looking hopeful or dismayed in the standby line, I knew we weren't going to take their extra seats anyway. In her film introductions, Meira would thank the festival sponsors (securing them is by far her most difficult task of the yearlong planning process), and then she'd perhaps tell a story of how she felt when first seeing the films. Many times this moment was at the Los Angeles Film Festival, Sundance, or simply watching the DVD screener when the film was first considered.

After the introduction, she'd climb back up the dark aisle, then stop and watch the trailer for the festival, which opened each film. rd grab her hand, though, only to remind her of the next screening we must rush off to. The VIP parking spots were always a welcome sight as the lots were full of filmgoers' cars. Several times I backed my 2004 Ford Taurus into a coned-off spot, only to find a celebrity's boyfriend or someone else backing in a Mercedes SUV right next to me. Meira would hop out, greeting a director or producer, who would discuss the process of filmmaking during a I didn't see many of these talks, unless Meira was hosting them, but it is an amazing experience to have your questions answered right away by a filmmaker.

For me, the real discussions of the festival occurred in transit, and were not usually about film criticism. Would a festival sponsor be happy with their signage? What does it mean if we find a less-than-full audience for an A-list celebrity panelist' What is appropriate to wear to the awards ceremony? My favorite discussion was prompted by a lengthy acceptance speech by independent film producer Ted Hope, this year's Trailblazer Award recipient During his moment at the awards ceremony, Hope asked us to go to theaters again to watch movies, organizing a night out as we did with SEE FILM, 4D uxe our rorm oi Warman churclf). After saying hello to those Fd actually worked next to for several weeks, I would meticulously highlight, circle and underline the film presentations and hosting gigs of my boss, Meira Blaustein, co-founder and executive director of the 10-year-old festival, along with her founding partner, Laurent Rejto. Most of the day, Meira and I would speed up or down Tinker Street Cm Woodstock), pulling into Looking good and feeling better -J ik. lJ v7 MliHik rr: i THE ADVICE GODDESS Mistreated girlfriend needs to shift gears 'lr 3 4 mi Campaign's beauty treatments lift spirits of cancer patients TheAnociitcdPmi NEW YORK Lipstick, moisturizer and a wig cant cure cancer.

But beauty and beauty products can help heal wounded self-esteem, which often takes a big hit as patients undergo cancer treatment Experts say hair loss, skin discoloration and skin dryness can undermine an already physically difficult and emotionally draining process. "Some days I didn't want anyone to see me or even have my husband look at me," said Michele VonGerichten, a breast-cancer survivor. "When you are waiting for your hair to grow, you spend a lot of time looking into the mirror, just waiting for a sign that you're going back to normal" In interviews, survivors and counselors both say the moment a person doesnt recognize herself in the mirror because of physical changes caused by treatment can be one of the lowest points of the process. VonGerichten said the minute she took charge and regained her beauty routine, her spirits improved. VonGerichten is one of 650,000 female cancer patients in this country to participate in the 20-year-old Look Good, Feel Better campaign, sponsored by the Personal Care Products Council Foundation.

Free to any cancer patient the program offers tips from 14,000 makeup and hair professionals from across the country on all things cosmetic: Topics include how to style a wig, tie a head scarf, fake eyebrows and even out discolored skin. The beauty industry has long been aligned with breast-cancer J3 Look Good Feel Better Makeup artist Teresa Lopuchin works with a participant in the Look Good, Feel Better program. functioning person in a family or a community when you're undergoing treatment" Massie said. This program has helped people learn tips to prepare themselves to present to their world in a way that's comfortable to them." Appearance might seem trivial in a life-or-death situation, but there are known links between stress and the immune system, said Katherine Puckett, national director of the mind-body medicine program for the Cancer Treatment Centers of America. "Looking good helps with confidence, which helps with stress, which helps immunity, which helps treatment," she said.

charities, but this isn't about research to find a cure; it's about quality of life, executive director Louanne Roark said. It's also a non-branded program, but industry leaders such as Estee Lauder and Avon eagerly participate and have donated $10 million worth of product over the years. Most women participate through workshops at 2,500 hospitals, cancer centers, American Cancer Society offices or other community facilities per year. There are self-help videos, workbooks and a Web site for those who don't feel comfortable in a group setting or can't get to one of the classes. The goal is we send everyone home having had a wonderful experience and learning the tools and tricks they can replicate on a daily basis," Roark said.

The emphasis is hardly on glamour or vanity, adds Dr. Mary Jane Massie, a psychiatrist at New York's Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and a spokeswoman for the Look Good program. But even the least fussy person craves some normalcy, and grooming helps. Sometimes it's the woman who really had never paid much attention to makeup and hair before who seems to get the most out if it "You might not feel like a full Question My boyfriend and I have a year-old son. His two small boys (from a previous marriage) live with us on weekends.

Awhile back, he cheated and gave me herpes. Had I not been pregnant with our son (unplanned), I would've left him. But, I believe once you're pregnant, it's not about you, so I'm trying to make it work. But I hold grudges and haven't been able to forgive him. Also, his parents, who live next door, hate me, and have never stopped trying to break us up.

They expect him and the two boys at their house for dinner on weekends and many weekdays without me. They show nasty favoritism, spending $300 on a toy for the two boys, but gave my son dollar-store outfits they knew wouldn't fit Because my boyfriend's mother watches the two other boys after school for very little money (and our son at times, too, charging me four times more), moving isn't an option. Answer If you discovered you were living over a radioactive waste dump, and Pol Pot Adolf Hitler and a pedophile were moving in next door, I'm guessing your response wouldn't be, "Gee, pity we can't move." But, just add discount babysitting to the mix, and it's "So, Mr. Hitler, what brings you to the neighborhood?" Beyond the child-care issue, you've got an incurable STD, a seemingly incurable grudge, the Wicked Witch of the 20 Feet To The West, and a plan sitting around feeling sorry for yourself until Junior goes to college. It seems you've heard that good things come to those who wait True, but unless you're making a souffle or catching the bus, better things come to those who do something.

Your herpes may be a few billion research doUars from a cure, but a U-Haul wiU speed you, your kid, and your mommy- and daddy-whipped boyfriend across town to a living situation where you won't spend your afternoons screaming into a paper bag. But first things first Break up with your grudge and get back together with your boyfriend. You say you can't forgive him, but have you actually tried? You've got a kid; you can't just wait for your resentment to ebb away; you need to replace it with positive thoughts. There's increasing evidence of "neuroplasticity" the ability to chemically remodel your brain by repeatedly focusing on changing, then repeating new thinking and behavior. Act loving hug him, kiss him, teU him he's a great dad repeatedly and it's likely youll start to feel loving.

You can then help him work on what he most needs to do admit that there's a right time to cut the umbilical cord, and well, better 46-and-a-half than never. Got a problem? Write Amy Alkon, 171 Pier No. 280, Santa Monica, CA 90405, or e-mail AdviceAmyaol.com. The Advice Goddess appears every Tuesday. l' discoloration.

Dry skin needs gentle moisturizer and gentle lip balm and a very gentle cleanser. That's the step often missed, Lopuchin says. On the Web www.lookgoodfeelbetter.org beautypearlsfor chemogirls.com can mimic lashes. Use a cream eye shadow instead of a powder, because the skin is very sensitive and powder is more likely to flake. The best color for lashes and brows would match or be just slightly darker than your natural hair or wig color.

Patches of dark skin, which range from the size of freckles to much larger, are best camouflaged with a cream concealer slightly lighter than natural skin tone. Lopuchin suggests sticking to peachy shades. The Look Good Web site also recommends color-correcting concealers for more specific issues: a green shade will help with redness, and a yellow can mask blue Quick appearance tips for cancer patients Teresa Lopuchin, a Philadelphia-based makeup artist and volunteer with Look Good since Its launch 20 years ago, offers strategies: Tiny dots of eye shadow along the lash line, preferably applied with a disposable brush or cotton swab, Good Life YOUR POSITIVE ACHIEVEMENTS 1 Cv 'V 'd I Fishkill dancer's crew captures MTV crown We Are Heroes is the first female dance crew champion on MTVs "America'9 Best Dance Crew." The finals were held Sept 27 in Burbank, and local resident Alison lannucci, daughter of Sue and Tony lannucci of Fishkill, is a member of the champion crew. Alison lannucci has been in Los Angeles since 2004. She studied at the Yanarella School of Dance in Beacon until age 18 and continued her studies in Buffalo until she moved to LA The grand prize was $100,000.

Assistant professor's research gets published Philip Johns, Bard College assistant professor of biology, pub lished a research paper recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. "Nonrelatives Inherit Colony Resources in a Primitive Termite" is available online at pnas.org. In the article, Johns and Ken Howard, visiting scientist at Bard, along with three colleagues from the University of Maryland, Nancy Breisch, Anahi Rivera and Barbara Thome, present findings for the dampwood termite, Zootermopsis nevadensis, which shares many attributes with the ancestor to all termites. The research addresses one of the longest standing questions in evolutionary biology, which is why animals cooperate. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America is a multidiscipli-nary scientific serial.

Established in 1914, it publishes research reports, commentaries, reviews, perspectives, colloquium papers and ac- Courtesy photo Dancers In the group We Are Heroes, from left, Riquel Olander, Alison lannucci, Hiroka McRae, Mami Kanemitsu and Nichelle Thrower were named champions on MTV's 'America's Best Dance Crew." tjons of the academy. at Bard College since 2007. Johns received his doctorate from the University of Chicago. He Do you have good news to share? has authored numerous publica- We want to spread the word. E-mail tions and presentations related to items to lifepoughkeepsiejournal evolutionary genetics.

Johns has or call John R. Nelson at 84S been assistant professor of biology 437-4836..