April 22

Our summer lineup is quickly shaping up in the way we like our summers to be...hot! With performers including Ted Nugent, Alice Cooper, Marie Osmond, Jim Breuer, Travis Tritt, Bill Engvall and many more... we have one sizzling summer ahead of us.

The most recent announcement to our lineup however, bears something of an odd title: Denis Leary and Friends present: #Thinning the Herd (Wednesday, July 13). Wait, why is there a '#' sign? Is that a typo?

When it was announced in our office, calls and inquiries were quickly made to verify just what that '#' means and why it's there. Well, this '#' isn't the traditional number sign you may be thinking. It's called a hashtag or should I say, it's also called a hashtag.

What the heck is a hashtag you may be asking yourself, which is what was asked the other day in our office. Plain and simple, a hashtag is a way to tag or mark certain words or phrases for an Internet search. More specifically, Twitter adopted the hashtag as a way to tag topics that are trending. Oh wait, there's two more terms... tag and trending. Maybe it's not as simple and straightforward. Tag is like labeling and/or linking, depending on how it's used. Trending, now an active verb, is the current hot topic and how hot or trendy that topic may be depends on being able to measure it by using the hashtag so it can be searched. Get the picture?

For example, let’s say you have a Twitter account and you want to tweet that you are seeing Denis Leary’s show tonight. Ok, more words to define – Twitter as a noun is a series of short, high-pitched calls or sounds. As a verb, referring to a bird, twitter means to give a call consisting of repeated light tremulous sounds. As it has been redefined today, Twitter is a social networking site that acts as a posting board of messages inputted by users. These messages display like a news feed on Twitter.com for other users to see. The act of inputting such messages is called tweeting.

Before we get too lost and consider the implications of technology redefining the way words are applied in the English language, let's just stick to the explanation of Denis Leary's touring comedy show - #Thinning the Herd. The '#' before the group of words or title “Thinning the Herd” tags those specific words to be grouped and searched as a specific subject. And in the case of Twitter it allows it to trend, still an active verb.

Consider the following statement I may post or tweet on Twitter.com: “I’m going to see Denis Leary’s #ThinningtheHerd tonight at the Mayo Performing Arts Center, can’t wait!” This post accomplishes a couple things. First, it announces to everyone on Twitter that I’m going to see Denis Leary. Second, it allows other people who are seeing Denis Leary's #Thinning the Herd to find out what others are saying about it by searching for "#ThinningtheHerd." The results will only show anyone that's posted the exact phrase "#ThinningtheHerd," which may be thousands of tweets to read. And the more people that enter in the specific phrase #ThinningtheHerd in their tweets, the more it trends or becomes the hot topic. You may also have noticed the single spacing in the example I just gave. That’s a formatting requirement for Twitter. Let’s not get into that subject.

So why exactly did Denis Leary and friends... who are Lenny Clarke, Robert Kelly and Kenny Rogerson by the way, decide to put a hashtag before the title of their show? We're not entirely sure and maybe they will explain it in their show, which you'll have to see to find out. But one thing is for sure, it accomplished in the 'real world' what it was intended to do in the digital world of the Internet. That is, it got us in the office to verbally talk to each other about #Thinning the Herd and to blog about it.

Tickets on sale now.

Violinist Itzhak Perlman on the arts

Violinist Itzhak Perlman discusses why it is important to support venues such as the Mayo Performing Arts Center backstage after his performance on Saturday, April 9, 2011. To learn more about how you can support the Mayo Center, click here.

100 Days to Health Challenge

With so much information out there today, from infomercials to magazines to water cooler talk, nutrition and fitness can be overwhelming. It's easy to get lost in the latest diet fad and exercise craze. And it can be daunting to do it alone.

The good news however is you don't have to do figure it all out and do it alone. Through the Morris County Chamber of Commerce Health & Wellness Committee and KEAS, our staff here at the Mayo Performing Arts Center are rising to the 100 Days to Health Challenge. Other participating companies include Novartis, Investors Savings Bank, Quest Diagnostics, Chilton Hospital, Solix Inc., Delta Dental, and various other companies in Morris County.

What is Keas? The following is an excerpt from the Keas website: Recently named by TIME Magazine as one of the "50 Best Websites for 2010," Keas is an interactive online service that empowers you to take charge of your health. Keas allows you to join teams and earn points for completing small, but important health-related "To-Dos." Keas also gives you personalized information about your health data—including lab results, current conditions, and risks—and tools to help you take action to reach your health goals.

We've divided into 3 separate teams because of the 6 member limitation. The competition is spirited but friendly as each member reminds one another to participate by going online and tracking fitness and nutrition goals. We've also gotten creative with our team names: Mayo on the Side, The Mayo Revolution, and Hold the Mayo.

With all the companies participating we're proud to say we're doing well. There are 355 teams and our teams are definitely ranked in the upper third due to points accumulated. Our very own “Hold the Mayo” team members like to boast that they’re number 12 of 355. We're 3 weeks in so let's see what happens in the upcoming month. Oh and good thing the elevator is out of order today because we have to walk up 3 flights to our administrative office. Wonder if we can get bonus points for that.

Stay tuned.

And don't forget to check out this weekend's lineup. This Thursday starts off with The Dukes of Dixieland, the oldest continuing jazz band straight from New Orleans. They've sold out such venues as The Hollywood Bowl, the Kennedy Center and the Smithsonian, to name but a few.

On Friday, Roseanne Cash is here, Saturday violinist Itzhak Perlman makes his Morristown debut and closing out the weekend children can enjoy Winnie the Pooh for a delightful, eye-opening adventure based on A.A. Milne's books. Check out www.mayoarts.org for tickets and times.