The Spokesman-Review from Spokane, Washington • 72

i Page F8 Sunday, April 6, 2003 The Spokesman-Review Class: Students learn how to give up the fear of failure Continued from FI Marks is accustomed to working with people whove been told they shouldnt sing. She meets the ones whose high school choir teachers told them to just mouth the words, the ones whose kids whine in protest when they sing in the car. Marks remembers one 70-something woman who took her class. She tearfully told me, I would like to be able to sing Happy Birthday to my grandkids without feeling humiliated, Marks says. Even Marks, a classically trained singer, recalls her musician mom lifting a critical eyebrow at her young daughters singing.

At some point or another, theres that message, Marks says. Theres a cause for concern about expressing yourself. A lot of people have picked up something about that. Its just kind of put a damper on their whole expression of music coming from themselves. Marks has degrees in music performance and musicology.

She sang jazz tunes in clubs in Montreal and Los Angeles before relocating to Spokane in 1989. But shes also a yoga teacher, a counselor and a body-mind therapist. She knows the importance of formal musical training. But she also knows that once people move beyond old insecurities, intuition can take over. The body knows what to do, she says.

I just think everyone has something to express. When its expressed, it has the capacity to move people to tears. class. I never hit a note like that in my life. I dont know if I can go to bed when I get home.

Ill just be up higher than a kite. The final class. Eight weeks together. Eight weeks of getting more comfortable singing. But Lyle Anderson still isnt Entirely comforted.

Anderson, a retired teacher, is 6-foot-6. He doesnt look like a guy who spooks easily. He has a rich, beautiful voice, but the terror of performing has largely kept him off the stage. Anderson sings in a quartet with his church. Thats frightening, he says, but theres some safety in that group.

Going it solo is another ballgame. During the last class, though, he sails through his performance of a gospel ballad. If he is afraid, which he later admits he was, he doesnt show it. Are you taking requests? Skimming asks after the applause dies down. Marks badgers Anderson about when he will perform solo, in front of an audience.

Its just the terror beforehand, he says from behind a microphone extended to its full height. Im still a little shaken. Fear its OK for that to be there, Marks tells him. Class members take Andersons phone number to pass along to their church music directors. Call if you need support, Skimming tells him.

Well be in the front row. Davey turns 50 next month. Its a time for reflection, a time to take stock of things. The singing class helped her learn something about herself: Her voice had been there all along. Nobody really had to teach me anything, Davey said the week after class ended.

I was able to discover this with her coaching. There are so many things in life that are that way. Daveys not embarrassed of her voice or singing anymore, she says. When the class first started, Davey would practice her songs in the car. But she wouldnt sing at stoplights.

What would people think? Now, she sings all the way to work. Terry Hackler watches himself sing In a mirror as Robin Marks (out of focus In foreground) tries to get more volume out of his singing. Hackler and other Sing from the Heart" students were singing to each other to raise their comfort level in performing In front of others. I Its just the singer, behind the microphone, naked and exposed. For most of us, singing is something we do undercover.

We sing alone, in the car, with the windows rolled up. We sing alone, in the shower, with the water flowing. If an audience is necessary, let it be a baby drifting oft to sleep. Z. The thought of singing really singing in front of an audience evokes the same level of fear in most of us as the thought of delivering a valedictory speech in the nude.

ZZ The six people in Robin Marks Z. Sing from the Heart class dont feel any different than the rest of us. But they each had their own reasons for paying $215 to learn how to tame that fear. In the process, they learned more than how to breathe with their diaphragms and how to stay on pitch. They learned theres a certain freedom in giving up the fear of failing.

Davey, though, didnt feel very free during that first class. Mostly, the pixie-ish woman who loves to try new things felt terrified. She didnt know everyone would sing solo that first night. It was only the first night, after all. She hadnt learned howto sing yet.

1 So, when called on, she chose to perform Over in Killarney, an Irish lullaby she had sung to her kids. It didnt go well. Halfway through the song, the reality of the situation caught up with her. Oh, my god. All these people are staring at me, she remembers thinking.

It was a combination of embarrassment and fear that comes over you in a wave. She started getting weepy. Her voice trembled. But she made it through the song. The experience nagged at her the rest of the week.

She knew shed have to face the class again. So, she picked a snappy version of Fly Me to the Moon to perform and practiced it over and over. I wanted to make sure I could do it, she says. All those little insecurities came back. Maybe, she hoped, with some coaching from instructor Robin Marks, the second class wouldnt be as traumatic as the first.

Sometimes, as if forced by magnets, her hands clasp together again. Marks wordlessly urges her to keep them moving. With freedom to let go, Skimmings voice grows clearer, stronger. At the songs end, the class erupts in cheers. Sheri Shields could be a belter, a real Ethel Merman-type.

But she seems afraid of testing her full strength, Marks concludes during the fifth session. Youve got just oodles of untapped power in your upper register, Marks tells her after one performance. Your throat is shutting you down. As a child, Shields would steal away to her bedroom to sing through every song in her music books. She got in the habit of singing quietly, of not using her full power.

So, Marks asks the 33-year-old office assistant to pretend that one of her kids is in sudden danger. Danielle! Shields screams. Its that kind of power that should be present in your singing, Marks tells her. But power brings fear. That washes over me, Shields tells the class.

I have lots of internal conversation. She gives Sarah McLachlans heartbreaker Angel another try. She lets go. She uses her power. I like that one, she says at the end.

That felt really nice. There was less time of me being concerned. With Marks coaching and her classmates support, Davey, the speech pathologist, gets over that traumatic first singing class. She gains confidence each week, and even with Marks urging ventures into the audience of classmates, microphone in hand, working the crowd like a seasoned lounge singer. By the sixth week, its time for an epiphany.

She chose to perform a jazzy rendition of Til There Was You. Davey didnt like it at first; it seemed too slow to her. But Marks shows her how to play with the phrases, how to hold back or surge forward ahead of the beat to keep it interesting. She performs it again. She nails it.

Davey throws her arms into the air like a gymnast scoring a perfect 10. I felt really relaxed, she tells the Celebrities: Hollywoods grasp of issues not based on intellect Where to cal! For more information on Robin Marks' Sing from the Heart" classes, call her at (509) 455-5931. Sound of Music. The tension of keeping her arms from flying away and her torso from trembling weakens her voice and makes it quiver. It seems, to those watching, that theres little hope for Skimming as a singer.

During the fourth class, as she again watches Skimming teeter through My Favorite Things, Marks has an idea. She asks Skimming to do something she rarely does in public: Let go. Just be with the movements of the body, Marks coaches. Celebrate whatever shows up. Skimming starts the song again, this time with arms out.

Her arms float up from her waving like an orchestra conductor. movies starring actors who dont support the war in Iraq, that was a McCarthyite blacklist. That petition (at www.ipetitions.com) is not the only bit of evidence Im not alone in wishing Hollywood would just shut up. The Oscars got the lowest TV ratings in 30 years, undoubtedly because the audience anticipated a lot of know-nothing ranting about the war in Iraq and decided to avoid it. To the increasing public impatience with their inane political opinions, Hollywood celebrities invariably retort that they have the constitutional right to speak their minds (insert punch line of your choice here).

Thats certainly true. But Camryn Manheim has the right to wear a thong on South Beach, and yet she wisely refrains from exercising it. Here are a few reasons why Hollywood should follow her example and JUST SHUT UP: The pot calling the kettle stupid: In Hollywood, no attack on President Bushs policies is complete without an insulting reference to his intellect. Cher on Bush: Hes stupid. Martin Sheen on Bush: A moron, if youll pardon the expression.

Bush has degrees from Harvard and Yale; Cher, on the other hand, made it all the way through the eighth grade, and Sheen flunked an entrance exam at the august University of Dayton. Then theres Barbra Streisand, who in an unsolicited memo to Richard Gephardt (then Democratic leader in Congress) spelled his name Gebhardt, then issued a press release saying Saddam Hussein was the leader of Iran. Comcast channel shuffle The addition of KQUP to the Comcast upgraded lineup means that several other channels must make a switch. So, when KQUP debuts on channel 24, these other switches will take place: C-SPAN will move from channel 24 to channel 27. TVW (a Washington state government channel) will move from channel 27 to channel 25.

C-SPAN2 will move from channel 25 to channel 28. The Hallmark Channel will move from channel 28 to channel 77. Jim Kershner can be reached at (509) 459-5493 or by e-mailat jimkspokesman.com. Stay away from the hard math: Gere says the war in Iraq proves the failure of American democracy: Why is it when we have 10 million people who say no, we still have a president who says yes? In a democracy somethings wrong here. Actually, Richard, the population of the United States is 290 million, so your side is a little bit behind.

You were there HOW long? Sean Penn, in the most infamous overseas trip since a smiling Jane Fonda posed on a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun, went to Iraq for three whole days in December and at the end of his trip confirmed that Iraq is completely clear of weapons of mass destruction, according to the Iraqi News Service. Cracked the New York Post: After Shanghai Surprise, Penn certainly knows what a bomb looks like. Its called perspective; see If your agent can get you one: David Clennon, who ironically enough plays a noble CIA officer in TVs The Agency, recently declared that the moral climate within the ruling class in this country is not that different from the moral climate within the ruling class of Hitlers Germany. But no, he didnt explain where the concentration camps were or identify the 6 million dead. And Alec Baldwin said that Bushs election has done as much damage to our country as any terrorist attack.

Perhaps he could sit down and explain that to some of the families who had loved ones in the World Trade Center. Heather Lalley can be reached at (509) 459-5089 or by e-mail at heatherlspokesman.com. KZZU93 Also known as The Zoo. Contemporary hits. The Breakfast Boys (Dave and Ken), Steve Hawk, Casey Christopher and Jeff Connell.

KDRK 93.7 Country. Also known as The Cat 6-10 a.m., Jay and Kevin; 10a p.m.JonyTrovato, 2-6 Jim Diamond, 6-1 lp.m., Kyle McCoy. KHTQ94.5 Active rock with GA, Krazy Aunt Karla, Ken Richards, Geoff Scott and The New Guy. KPND95.3 Adult album alternative out of Sandpoint. KIXZ96.1 Hot country.

KEZE96.9 '80s music, known as Star 96 9. More music mornings with Molly, Spencer at night. KKRS97.3 Christian. KISC98.1 Light rock favorites. 6-10 a.m., the Wise Guys, Rob Harder and Mark Holman; 10 a.m.-3 Dawn Marcel, 3-7 p.m., J.J.

Hemingway, 7 p.m.-8 70s at 7. 8 p.m.-midmght, Love Notes with Rick Bradford. KKZX98.9 Classic rock. Mornings with the Radio Men. KXLY99.9 Continuous soft rock.

Rick and Teresa Lukens in the mornings, Scott Valentine, Beau Tyler and Delilah At Night. KEYF 101.1 Oldies. The Dean and Rusty Show, 5-10a m.jTammyJo, 10a Steve Easley 3-7 Bryan Scott; 7-11 p.m. KTSL 101.9 Known as Spirit 101.9. Contemporary Christian music 24 hours a day.

Masters-m-the-Morning, 5-10 a m. KICR 102.3 Real Country. KCDA103.1 The Mix, Todays Music Alternative, alternative rock. Shut Up and Rock Mornings with Kimi. KYWL 103.9 Wild 103 9, hip-hop dance music and rhythmic contemporary hits.

KEEH 104.9 Positive Life Radio, inspirational and contemporary Christian music. Morning drive, Don Godman; Prayer and Praise, Greg Allen, Evening drive, Kevin Krueger, Nights, Chris Gilbreth. Noon, Request Hour, Top 6 at 6, Focus on the Family and Insightfor Living, evenings. KAEP 105.7 The Buzzard, classic rock. KSPO 106.5 Christian.

KAZZ 107.1 Nostalgia. KMBI 107.9 Christian music and programs 24 hours. things to do. By the night of the second class, though, its clear that Cindy Skimmings body doesnt know what to do. Skimming, 46, has nerve damage that causes her to shake uncontrollably.

At times, her hands flutter like butterflies drifting in opposite flight paths. Her body tenses as she tries to rein them in, clasping them together in front of her. But Skimming wants to sing Christmas carols at homeless shelters with her co-workers from a Spokane greenhouse. And she wants to do it with confidence. So, she is here, shaking behind the microphone, trying to make her hands cooperate, all the while belting out My Favorite Things from The Hollywoods grasp of issues is centered not in its intellect but in its fashion sense.

Like a Wonder Bra, they enhance the image and disguise the fact that theres really nothing upstairs. Garafolo let the cat out of the Gucci bag recently on Fox News when she was asked why the same celebrities who denounce George Bush for invading Iraq didnt say a word when Bill Clinton bombed Baghdad in 1998. It wasnt very hip, she replied. Thats why Hollywood is so monolithically left-wing: because its the fashion. (Its not often you find a celebrity right-winger in Hollywood, but when you do, their rhetoric can be equally befuddling.

Just go see John Waynes manic The Green Berets if you dont believe me.) Occasionally a politically minded actor can talk thoughtfully about the issues; liberal Richard Dreyfuss is one example, and conservative James Woods is another. But most showbiz people have little or no understanding of the concepts they routinely invoke for instance, freedom of speech. When Hollywood calls on people not to buy products advertised on MSNBCs right-wing talk show Savage Nation, thats a consumer boycott. But when a petition appeared on the Internet a few weeks ago urging moviegoers not to go to by what Equitys Doug Krlle called the worst possible sequence of events. Equipment shipments from overseas were delayed time and time again, and those delays continue.

A low-power signal is being broadcast out of Post Falls on channel 47, but its range is severely limited. So, if youre not in the Comcast upgrade, youre still out of luck. Fortunately, KSKN will continue to carry the three mast popular UPN programs Buffy, Enterprise and WVE Smackdown! on a delayed basis every Saturday night. RADIO AM stations KQNT590 News talk with Morning News Express with Dean and Angela, Rush Limbaugh, Dr Laura Schlessmger, Glenn Beck, Coast-to-Coast AM. KXLI630 Also known as The Score Allsports, ESPN Radio.

KJR8 790 Also known as K-FAN. Sports and talk, Don and Mike; Jim Rome, Papa Joe, Sporting News Radio, FOX sports, Somes, NFL Sunday and Monday Night Football, Spokane Chiefs hockey, Spokane Shadow soccer, GSL football and basketball. KXLY920 News, talk and sports. Talk with Clark Howard, Sean Hanmty, Mark Fuhrman and Grant Marks Mornings with Bud Nameck, Rebecca Mack and Mike Fitzsimmons Sports with Mariners, Seahawks, Somes, Cougars. KTRW970 Christian.

KDRK 1050 Classic country. KVNI 1080 Oldies, news in the mornings with Dick Haugen. Sports with the Mariners. KSBN1230 International, national and local business news. KAQQ1280 Original hits of the '40s, '50s and '60s, CNN news, local agricultural news KMBI 1330 Christian music and programs 6 a m.

to sunset. KGA 1510 News-talk, 5 a local news, traffic and weather, business, sports; Charles Osgood, CBS affiliate. Talk shows; Bill O'Reilly, Rick Miller, Rusty Humphries, Mike Savage. FM stations KHQ87.7 Simulcast of audio signal from KHQ-TV Channel 6. KAGU88.7 Classical music from Gonzaga University.

KEWU89.5 Jazz and specialty shows 6 a.m to 1 a m. Monday-Friday, 9 a.m -1 a weekends. KWRS90.3 New music format from Whitworth College, specialty shows nightly. KPBX91.1 Spokane Public Radio, NPR, BBC and local news, classical, jazz and folk music, drama and story readings; arts information. KSFC91.9 Spokane Public Radio, news and public affairs, NPR, PRI, BBC and local news.

Places to go, Continued from FI So is Martin Sheen, a brilliant actor who cannot distinguish between playing a president on TV 1 and actually being one. He should shut up, too. The various Dixie Chicks and the entire Baldwin family each and every one of them -should shut up. Janeane Garafolo, Ben Affleck, Madonna, Cher, Robert Altman, Richard Gere, Michael Moore I beseech you, one and all, JUST SHUT UP. You make good movies and records.

But you make lamebrained political spokesmen. Hush. Now. The series of brainless rants at the Oscars was the climax of months of escalating public idiocy by people who confuse celebrity with wisdom, who mistake box-office dollars and Nielson points for votes. Theres a fathomless vanity in Hollywood, observes Kenneth Lloyd Billingsley, a former Screenwriter and author of I lollywood Party: How Communism Seduced The American Film Industry In The 1930s and 1940s.

Its not enough to have a lot of money and be famous. You have to be on the evening news talking about Iraq, too. My problem with Hollywoods political blather is not that I disagree with most of it (though I do). Its that Spotlight: Addition of KQUP will slightly alter Comcast lineup Continued from F3 nonupgraded areas. The History Channel (channel 37) is also included in the upgrade areas.

Also, this deal applies only to Comcast. No other cable carriers in the surrounding cities and towns have made a deal with KQUP, although that might happen soon. Finally, KQUP is still not available over the air for most people. Equity Broadcasting, which owns the station, said that its high-powered main transmitter near Pullman is still not up and running. It has been plagued DISCOVER, EXPLORE THE INLAND NORTHWEST Your guide for shopping, dining, gaming, arts, activities and local sights.

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