March brings awareness for Women’s History, Music Education, Brain Injury, Reading and a host of other wonderful causes. Here are a few we highlight this month.

Writing Women Back into History

*]Women’s History Month 2017[/b] celebrates women and their accomplishments. Their tagline is “writing women back into history” This year’s theme: “Honoring Trailblazing Women in Labor and Business.” While the concept began in the 1970s, it wasn’t until 1980 when President Jimmy Carter declared a proclamation. By 1987, the advocacy efforts came to fruition when Congress declared March as National Women’s History Month in perpetuity. A special Presidential Proclamation is issued every year which honors the extraordinary achievements of American women. Mark your calendars for March 8th which is the annual International Day of the Woman.


Music In Our Schools Month (MIOSM®) is the National Association for Music Education’s (NAfME) annual celebration during March. MIOSM engages music educators, students and communities from around the country in promoting the benefits of high quality music education programs in schools. At a time when funding for the arts and school funding for arts programs looms large, advocacy initiatives like MIOSM could not be more important than now.

The month-long observance began in New York in 1973 as a single statewide Advocacy Day and celebration, which grew over the decades to become a month-long salute of school music in 1985. Music teachers celebrate MIOSM in many ways by offering special performances, lessons, sing-alongs and activities to bring their music programs to the attention of administrators, parents, colleagues, and communities to display the positive benefits that school music brings to students of all ages.

Ways to get involved: change your profile picture during the month of March. Share photos of how ‘Music Inspires’ you and if you’re a teacher, share how music inspires your students on Instagram using ‪#‎MIOSM and #MusicInspires and tag @NAfME.

Brain Injury Awareness Month – The Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA) leads the nation in observing the month by conducting an awareness campaign in March each year. The theme for the 2015 to 2017 campaign is: Not Alone.

The Not Alone Campaign provides a platform for educating the general public about the incidence of brain injury and the needs of people with brain injuries and their families. The campaign also acts as an outreach platform within the brain injury community to de-stigmatize the injury, empower those who have survived, and promote the many types of support that are available.

Founded in 1980, the Brain Injury Association of America is the oldest, largest and only nationwide brain injury advocacy organization in the U.S. As the voice of brain injury, BIAA provides help, hope and healing for the millions of Americans who sustain this life-altering, sometimes devastating, injury.

In honor of Brain Injury and The Not Alone theme, I leave you with an inspiring song written by singer/songwriter David George entitled “Shine” off his album Radiant Man. The song just happens to match this year’s theme “Not Alone.”


[Submitted by Abbe Sparks]

A Conversation with TVTibi's Andrew Goldman TVtibi http://tvtibi.com Internet Television’s next wave. Is the next wave of choice in internet television with TVTibi? The playing field in the internet TV space continues to grow at lightning speed. While the front-runners in the OTT space have a huge lead (Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime), there is a continual queu of platforms and streaming services entering the lineup almost daily — hoping to catch them or catch the next wave in the space. One of the new kids on the block with high expectations is TVTibi, owned by San Antonio-based Ready, Set, Sync, Inc. As an emerging global over-the-top (OTT) service, the start-up already offers direct to consumers a variety of channels, shows, episodes, films, and other programming, both live and on-demand. We caught up with TVTibi Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officier (CSO) Andrew Goldman to get the 411 on the fledgling start-up’s quest to join the fray as a leading contender. (C) TVTibi TVTibi Co-Founder & CSO, Andrew Goldman Goldman oversees and acquires all content acquisition and sets long-term program strategy for TVTibi. A veteran in the television programming world, Goldman comes from a lengthy stint at HBO/Cinemax, where he most recently was Vice President of Program Strategy and Planning. He was responsible for the linear and digital strategic planning of all programming for the cable networks’ 15 multiplex channels and platforms such as HBO Now (OTT), HBO Go, MAX Go, and Video On Demand. Ready, Set, Sync and TVTibi are banking on Goldman’s expertise and experience to set them apart from the pack of newbies. Here’s what he has to say. Socially Sparked News: What is TVTibi? Goldman: We are a global platform offering individually purchased channels, series, episodes and movies, Live Channels and On-Demand. Think of us as The a-la-carte network. Our tag line is Global Content for a Global Audience. Socially Sparked News: How long have you been up and running? Goldman: We launched in 2015 with a soft launch. Things are moving steadily along. In the last six months alone, we’ve nearly tripled our subscriber base. Socially Sparked News: Tells us how subscribers or those wishing to watch your programming can gain access to the platform? Goldman: They can download TVtibi from the app store. We are now available as an app on iOS; Windows 10 and Windows 8.1 TVTibi’s first exclusive boxing event is Feb. 18 Socially Sparked News: Tell us about TVtibi’s entree into live boxing and what kind of impact you anticipate for reaching the boxing fan or fair-weather fan. Goldman: Expanding into live PPV sports is a significant move for us . We are able to exhibit our extensive capabilities to deliver on a global scale and set ourselves apart as a provider of premium live content. Socially Sparked News: Are there plans to pursue this type of live action programming in the future or is this a one-off? You seem to have a lot of sports content offerings. With the addition of the upcoming live boxing event, can we assume that sports content is a niche direction TVTibi may continue to pursue to separate themselves from the pack? Goldman: You can count on seeing more live-action on-demand events from us in the very near future. As we speak, we’re working on partnering with other platforms and providers to ensure the widest reach possible for these events. (c) Socially Sparked News, LLC Sample of TVTibi Program Offerings Socially Sparked News: What sorts of programming do you currently offer besides sports? Goldman: Current channels include Newsy, MyJam TV, Britrox TV, The Children’s Reading Channel, duckTV and more.

Socially Sparked News: There has been a lot of discussion amongst the experts that the next stage of OTT is in individual channel creation by the subscriber. We are already seeing binge viewing. What are your thoughts on this? Goldman: Content is a buffet, and brand loyalty of internet TV providers only extends to the shows themselves right now. The brand of the show is more important than the provider that houses that show. Inventory is key. So, in answer to your question — yes, individual channel creation is the next wave. And, TVTibi is primed to be that a-la-carte service of choice. Socially Sparked News: – Lastly, tell us about your subscription packages.

: TVtibi offers free and individually purchased channels, series, episodes and movies through both live and on-demand content via a free downloadable app. The platform is accessible on televisions, computers, phones, and tablets globally. We offer both, a free-content, ad-supported plan and a subscription, video-on-demand version with either a pay as you go option for .99 or an opt-in plan (without commercials) for $2.99. It remains to be seen how the next wave of OTT will shape up, but it will be fascinating to watch. — Abbe is Socially Sparked! @sosparkednews TAGSOTTINTERNET TVTELEVISIONTVTIBIANDREW GOLDMANNETFLIXHULU PLUSAMAZON PRIME THE AUTHOR Abbe Sparks Abbe Sparks is the Founder of Socially Sparked News http://sociallysparkednews.com. Abbe is a social media and content influencer covering the entertainment, digital, tech and advocacy sectors, which she has been writing about for over 20 years. Socially Sparked News is her labor of love. 

Submitted by Abbe Sparks 

Notre Dame's Cal Petersen got his 8th Career shutout Saturday afternoon and season high 34 saves as Notre Dame beat Alaska 5-0 at Compton family Ice Arena in a new year's Eve hockey game.

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The most anticipated day of the year is celebrated at Times Square along the streets of New York City. Millions of revelers anticipate the crystal-covered ball to drop and countdown to a new year. A place not only natives of NYC celebrate their new year but millions travel from around the world to see. 

Holiday time is baking time. All the cookie exchanges, pot lucks, family parties, Santa Claus or treats for neighbors. Cookies bring a lot of great memories and warmth during the winter. There is nothing quiet like a nice scoop or ice cream or glass of milk with a warm cookie.

The holidays bring out the old recipes and many varieties. Baking cookies is an art from conception to decorations. The basics to cookie baking will make your cookies the talk of any holiday party. Butter handling and use is the key to a successful cookie. Most recipes call for softened butter. This is best achieved by setting on the counter for about 60 min before starting. You will know it is the right temperature when it leaves a slight indentation when touched lightly, but maintain it's shape. Microwaving will rush the process, but not achieve the proper results.

The butter must be handled with care. When purchasing butter for baking it is best to purchase unsalted butter. This allows for you to control the amount of salt in your recipe. Softened butter should be softer, but still cool. It is best to avoid using margarine when baking. This has a high content of water and more chemicals than food basis.

When using white and brown sugar you want to make sure that they are recently purchased. Measuring brown sugar must be placed in a measuring while pressing it into the measuring cup. When this is placed in the mixing bowl should hold its shape. White sugar should be spooned into the measuring cup for accuracy.

Whipping the sugar(s) and butter is key to your cookie success. It is best to use a beater for this process. It should take about 3-5 minutes of beating to achieve the proper mixing. If the butter is to soft or to hard it will not mix well in the batter.

Eggs in your cookie batter emulsifies the fat in the butter. Make sure your eggs are fresh. You can check your eggs for freshness by placing cold water in bowl and an egg. If the egg sinks to the bottom and lays flat on the sides the eggs are fresh. If they are a few weeks old (still good)they will stand on one end at the bottom of the bowl. If they float to the surface they are no longer eatable. This is a good test if you get eggs from a farm. The 3 digit number on the side of egg packages represents the day in year in numbers. 001 means eggs are packaged on January 1 of the year.

Mixing eggs into the butter and sugar mixture requires adding them one at a time. This allows for the emulsification to be completed. The egg brings the structure, richness, tenderness, and flavor to your cookie. You can substitute eggs with 1/4 cup of applesauce per egg if necessary in your cookie batter.

Flour, raising agent, spices, and salt should be mixed in a separate bowl. Measuring the flour is extremely important. Measuring the floor by spooning into the measuring cup until it is over the top. Use a straight edged utensil to level the flour across the top of the cup. Flour can be sifted to add air if you do not have a sifter toss lightly with a fork will work. All purpose flour is the best type of flour for your cookies. Whole wheat flour will absorb more liquids and most recipes are calling for all purpose.

Raising agents for cookies is baking powder or soda. Making sure that your agents are still fresh can be tested. Use 2 tablespoons of white vinegar and 1 teaspoon of raising agent. The agent is fresh if it bubbles when added to the vinegar.

Toss the dry ingredients until well mixed. If you use salted butter you may want to reduce the salt in the recipe. Slowing mix the dry to the wet ingredients by adding slowly. Mixing all the dry at the same time will create more gluten and a denser cookie.

When making cookies with additions like walnuts, chocolate chips, and fruits make sure to fold them. This will prevent over mixing of the cookie dough.

The best key to your oven is to ensure that it is up to temperature is turned on before starting the mixing process. Line your cookie sheet with parchment paper or silicon cookie sheet lingers. Measure with a small ice cream scoop and leave plenty of room on the tray for the cookies to bake without touching. Remember some cookies will spread out on the sheet as they bake.

The cookies may be complete once cooled, but other may need a glaze, icing, painting, or decorating. There are many ways to complete the cookies. A favorite at our home is sprinkles. There are so many varieties that you can use to make it a fun unique cookie.

Bake the cookies according to the instructions provided. Rotate the cookie sheet during baking to ensure proper baking. When you take them out of the over they need to cool on a cooling rack. We recommend Variations Bakery, in Phoenix Arizona, for your cookie needs if time does not permit. Enjoy one with your favorite glass of milk or ice cream before getting them together for your holiday event.