Karl Ufert's Blog

Happy Year of the Dragon 2012

2012-01-22T09:06:00.000-08:00

I want to wish everyone a beautiful Year of the Dragon 龍, the sign under which I was blessed to be born. 恭喜發財, 恭喜发财 and Chúc Mừng Năm Mới! :-)

Luise Rainer - Happy Advance 102nd Birthday

2012-01-11T05:35:00.000-08:00

Luise Rainer, the German-born, Hollywood legend who was the first to win two Academy Awards(r) for Best Actress, and to win them consecutively (1936 and 1937), will turn 102 tomorrow--she was born in Dusseldorf, Germany on January 12, 1910.

Happy Birthday, great lady!

Happy 2012!

2011-12-30T20:30:00.000-08:00

I want to wish everyone a very Happy, Healthy 2012, filled with LOVE, SUCCESS, CREATIVITY and GIVING.

Dear Anthony Amato 1920 - 2011 Rest in Peace

2011-12-13T08:37:00.000-08:00

On a very busy work day, I have to pause for one moment to acknowledge personally devastating news. I just learned of the passing of the one-and-only, Anthony "Tony" Amato, of his now legendary New York opera company, AMATO OPERA. Founded in New York by Tony, and his late, beyond-beloved wife, Sally, Amato in 1948, the "small, but oh, so grand" company -- which was first housed in the basement theater of Our Lady of Pompeii Church on Bleecker Street, followed by other locations, then a long-term home at 159 Bleecker Street, then its longer, final home at 319 Bowery -- gave thousands of performances over nearly 60 years, and an equal amount of aspiring singers (some who ended up at the MET and other great companies) the opportunity to learn operatic roles, stage craft, and the magic that was Tony and Sally.

For me, Tony's passing means much more than what he represents to opera lovers in New York and around the globe. He was a friend. My mother, another Italian-American, born and raised in Greenwich Village, who was baptized, married, and baptized me at Our Lady of Pompeii Church, first saw/heard live opera in the church's theater by way of Tony and Sally's company. My mom aspired to be a pop star and had the talent to do it. She heard/saw the Amato performances of Bizet's Carmen and the "twin bill" of Cavalleria Rusticana and I Pagliacci, and she was permanently mesmerized by a musical and performance medium that, at the time, was, in her mind, formerly "square." She was so hooked that she audaciously auditioned for Tony -- with a lot of informal stage and singing experience, but, at the time, no operatic training -- for the Bleecker Street theater, he accepted her, and she sang in his chorus and danced with the company. It changed my mother's life, and she dedicated nights, weekends, any time she could while she also worked, took voice lessons (classical/opera), and dreamed of becoming an operatic star.

Much ensued in my mother's life over the years that curtailed her aspirations to an operatic career, but, for many years, she stayed with the Amato company, only stopping in the later 1950s when circumstances did not allow her to continue. She remained close with Tony and Sally for years afterward, but then met my father, started a very different life, gave up her singing (she did so a few years before becoming engaged to my dad), and did not, for many complex reasons, attend performances.

In 1979, my mom and I went to hear/see a production of Tosca at Tony and Sally's Bowery theater. Though my mom continued to share holiday greetings throughout the years with Tony, Sally, Sally's late sister, Ann (Frydel--married to former, fellow Amato singer, and, later, MET chorus member, John Frydel), and their family, she had not heard/saw a live performance of an opera for decades. It was when I found a love of opera -- independently of my mom -- in my early teens that I began to reengage my mother in her passion for music. She saw Tony and Sally, and others, at the "new" theater, and it was like all of them were never separated. My mother did not pursue re-joining the Amato chorus; instead, she became a loyal attendee at performances from 1979 through the last season of the company, was part of the Sally Amato Opera Circle, and, in many ways, re-joined the family.

I first heard Jon Fredric West, the great, internationally-renowned tenor, and my, and my mom's, now three-decade friend, at Amato's -- "Down at Amato's" was the colloquial way of addressing the company (because it was "downtown") -- and many heard MET legend, Mignon Dunn, world opera star, Neil Shicoff, and countless other important operatic figures with the company.

I have so much more to say, but, in the interest of time, most importantly, rest-in-peace to Tony, a one-of-a-kind, tireless, passionate, genius, dynamo, and a beautiful human being. He will be missed more than I can express in mere words.

Frank Ufert World Trade Center Survivor

2011-09-10T12:09:00.000-07:00

The photo above is the hard hat given to my late father, Frank Ufert, by his final employer, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), of the U.S. Department of Labor, following the 9-11 Tragedy, All of us in the United States, and throughout the globe, have personal recollections of that world-changing day. Only a few of us, however -- and by "few," I mean tens of thousands out of billions of humans who live on Earth -- lost someone, or were, or knew, a survivor, to whom we we were related or knew first-hand. My dad was one of those survivors.

On September 11, 2001, my father had worked for OSHA for nearly 10 years; this after a two-plus-decade career as a professional photographer, and then, after closing his business, returning to his earlier trade as a journeyman carpenter and construction contractor. He was a compliance officer for most of his time at OSHA -- winning awards for his service (my dad is pictured in the center of the photo above) -- and a union shop steward, and was later promoted to a safety educator.

As an OSHA compliance officer, my dad -- who worked in 6 World Trade Center, the small building adjacent to (and immediately underneath) the North Tower -- was a first-responder to the February 1993 World Trade Center bombing--wherein, lest we forget, a truck bomb was detonated in the garage below the North Tower. Many who focus on the awful events of 9/11/2001 forget that there was another attempt to destroy the WTC almost ten years prior.

On 9-11, I remember walking to my place of work -- which was only four blocks north of my home in the Chelsea section of Manhattan -- early that morning with the skies bright, blue and beautiful and the air warm but crisp. The perfect day. As I walked north, I saw and heard countless fire engines, ambulances, and other emergency vehicles racing south on 7th Avenue. Being a leather-skinned New Yorker, I didn't even consider looking at where they were going. I ran into a colleague, we headed into the office sunny and happy, and learned only moments later of the events that were unfolding.

As soon as I initially heard was occurring, I immediately called my mom, and, without even thinking about the fact that phone lines could be jammed --she and my father also lived in Chelsea, probably on the same telecommunications trunking line as my office -- and reached her with no trouble. She was home after having taken my dad to work. In 1999, my father suffered a diabetes-related heart attack and had triple-bypass surgery. The following year, he suffered a paralyzing stroke; this, just months after recovering from his heart surgery -- which left him feeling healthier than he had in decades -- and receiving his promotion from OSHA. He was bound to a wheelchair for the rest of his life--he passed away in July 2009. For a variety of reasons, he returned to work again, even after suffering his stroke--he was given special dispensation to be able to continue to work as the only part-time employee of the NE Region for his division of the USDL. He would go to work very early in the morning so he could leave earlier in the day. My dad was 67 on 9/11/2001; my mother, 6 years older than him, would heroically wheel him to his office every day he reported for work. As always, on that morning my mom took him to 6 World Trade Center at around 5:30 or 6am. She was considering staying in the WTC area to wait for the Borders Bookstore to open so she could sit down, relax, and have a cup of tea. Why not? It was a beautiful day. However, something compelled her to head back to their apartment instead. And she did, hours before the unthinkable happened.

When I called my mom at home, she hadn't even turned the television on. I said "turn it on now." She sat, stunned -- like all of us -- at what she was seeing. I said to her on the phone, again not thinking about the implications of phone lines being inaccessible, "Let me call dad and see if he's still in his office." I hung up, called my dad, and, again miraculously, reached his office. The phone rang and rang and then I got his voicemail. I ran out of my office and downstairs with some of my colleagues to 6th Avenue (called the "Avenue of the Americas"), where, on 27th Street and 6th, because of the angle of the city, we could see those giant Twin Towers as though they were directly in the middle of the street, even though they were approximately two miles away. It was then that we saw the actual devastation. It was surreal; like we were watching a movie, but real at the same time. When I was on the street, only the North Tower had been hit--remember that Tower One was burning for almost 20 minutes before the second plane hit the South Tower. We stood, stared, gasped, turned behind us to see the largest building in the vicinity, the iconic Empire State Building, which was less than 10 blocks away (less than 1/2 mile) from us, and were nearly paralyzed with fear as to what may have happened if "this was more than just an accident"... we knew it was not an accident.

I ran back to the office and told my bosses that I had to leave to be with my mother because my dad was at the Trade Center and we didn't know where he was. I called my mom, astonishingly reached her again, and told her I was running over to her apartment. It was then that she told me a second plane hit. Just before this, I was trying, in the heat of the moment, to put a plan together with one of my bosses to contact two of our company's employees (systems engineers) who were heading to the Trade Center for a technology training. Fortunately, as I was racing out to see my mom, we heard that both engineers were fine--one couldn't get downtown because of the trains; the other -- a moment of levity here -- didn't make it on time because he was chronically late for just about, um, everything, and was expectedly late to the training session (thank G-d!).

When I arrived at my mother and father's apartment, I found my mom dazed, but not in a panic. Why? While I was en route, my mom just received a phone call from the wife of one of my father's colleagues telling her that he was out of the building -- the photo above shows the destruction on 9-11 to the office building where my dad worked, 6 World Trade Center -- and safe. Wait... a PHONE CALL? Yes. Remarkably, my mom heard from the wife of this colleague via a cell phone call -- almost all mobile phone lines were completely jammed -- from New Jersey after she (my dad's colleague's wife) heard from her husband via another cell phone from the city. It turned out that they were pushing my father's wheelchair up West Street out of the dust, smoke, rubble, and sheer devastation.

The story of my dad's rescue is an astonishing one, chronicled in several articles. See:

All we knew was that, several hours later -- after they stopped to eat something! -- my mom and I heard the door unlock, and there before us were my dad and his colleagues, them pushing him healthily in the door in his wheelchair, and we were eternally grateful. The resolve and bravery of my father's colleagues on that day can never be repaid.

My father worked for the Federal Government in his late life, but never lost his zeal for his left-wing politics. On 9/11/2011, ten years after the tragedy, I know that my dad would honor the memory of those who were lost and their families, of the heroism of his own colleagues in the Feds, of the police and firefighters that responded and continued to respond, and/or were also lost then (or later) as a result, to the union members who were affected, and all of humanity who suffered and continue to suffer. But he, a survivor, who saw people above him jumping from the top floors of the building when they knew that their only choice was to do so or burn to death, which gave him memories from first-hand, right-there experience that haunted him and gave him nightmares for the rest of his life, would also not condone the "jingoism" that has served as "patriotism" when reflecting. In my survivor father's honor -- who was also a U.S. Army veteran (Korean War) -- and his memory since his fortunately not directly 9-11-related, but still untimely passing, I want us to reflect on loss, overall, to everyone involved, directly or indirectly. Reflect on injustice, but not the "obvious" injustice. Loss occurred in more ways than can be calculated.

Happy 50th Birthday President Barack Obama

2011-08-04T09:17:00.000-07:00

I want to wish a very Happy 50th Birthday to our great President, Barack Obama.

I continue to deeply admire this strong leader, who methodically, quietly, and brilliantly, handles each of the challenging situations that he faces as an American President. Additionally, he continues to be forced to contend with the most conspicuous greed ever in history from the party/"parties" of his opposition -- and even blatant bigotry from those who would typically support him politically -- and does this with the greatest of dignity.

We are also fellow August Leos--both born in the 1960s. Rrroarrrrrr, President Obama!

Please celebrate with our President by continuing to support him and his work with citizen pressure to the U.S. Congress to be more responsible, and less avaricious, than they've been in recent months/weeks, with your votes, and with your donations to President Obama's 2012 Presidential Campaign.

Bernard Herrmann Postscript

2011-06-28T20:20:00.000-07:00

I just learned that the great composer, Bernard Herrmann, was born 100 years ago in Lying-In Hospital in Gramercy Park, Manhattan. Lo and behold, 53 years later, I was born in the SAME HOSPITAL (then called Manhattan General Hospital).

My connections to this towering figure are many. Fascinating...

Bernard Herrmann Centennial

2011-06-28T18:38:00.000-07:00

On June 29, we celebrate the Centennial of the birth of the late Bernard Herrmann, (arguably) my all-time favorite cinematic composer. Herrmann was the composer of reference of my entire youth, and the reason that I fell in love with classical music, opera and learned to have equal passion for, and better understand, the work of other cinematic music composers. While other great film composers are Herrmann's equals in my mind, by an inch I most personally relate to my love for Herrmann's scores.

I won't go through a laundry list here of Herrmann's life history and works, or even my intense passion for them. See the Official Website (published by his estate), the Wikipedia entry, and the Bernard Herrmann Society site for this information. All I'll say is that if you have never heard his music, your soul owes itself to hear some of the all-time greatest scores to some of the greatest films ever made.

Instead, I'll tell a personal story about Herrmann (yes, even though he passed away too soon -- 12 years after I was born -- I have one to tell): Bernard Herrmann was not only a native New Yorker, but, like me, a native Manhattan-ite from East 18th Street. I am particularly proud of this because, like this cinematic legend, "little old me" also hails from Manhattan--born a few blocks away from where he grew up, and lived (from day two of my life) one neighborhood away in Chelsea.

Many years after having fallen in love with Herrmann's music, I read his bio and learned that his father was an Optomitrist. My late father began to have issues with his vision in the mid-1980s and went to an Optomitrist in Chelsea to get a prescription for glasses. At one moment -- before there were cell phones -- my dad asked the Optomitrist's office staff if he could use the telephone. He called me at home and enthusiastically said, "Get down here to my Optomitrist's office." I didn't know why -- I was about 20 at the time and still in my undergraduate college years -- but ran downstairs to meet my dad on 8th Avenue from the apartment in Chelsea that I grew up in. I saw the sign on the door for the doctor's name. My dad introduced me to the doctor and I looked up on the walls of his office and saw one thing prominently displayed: a record album. The album? An opera recording for an opera called, "Wuthering Heights." The composer? Bernard Herrmann. I didn't make a connection other than to ask the doctor: "Are you a Bernard Herrmann fan? I've loved his music since I was a kid." My father laughed. The doctor had a very proud look on his face. The doctor's name? Louis Herrmann. Dr. Herrmann followed in his father's footsteps--becoming an Optomitrist. This, right in my own neighborhood, without my having known it for years, was the then-already-late Bernard Herrmann's brother! I was in shock. Dr. Herrmann said that he'd love to meet again and talk with me about his brother. He was going on vacation -- he used to take leave for an extended period in, I believe, summer -- but that we could get together after he got back. Unfortunately, my dad tried to make another appointment with Dr. Herrmann, but the doctor was ill and someone else was filling in for him. Not long afterward, he passed away, also far too young. Still, I was so happy to have made even a brief, once-removed connection to, perhaps, the composer that, in retrospect, most impacted my life. (I don't think I've ever privately or publicly mentioned this before.)

Happy 100th, dear "Bennie" Herrmann.

The Death of Osama Bin-Laden: Reflections from a Great Writer and from Me

2011-05-02T10:46:00.000-07:00

A brilliantly-written article by Chris Hedges, who was, "nearly two decades a foreign correspondent for 'The New York Times'," on CommonDreams.org (Hedges, "made these remarks about Osama bin Laden’s death at a Truthdig fundraising event in Los Angeles on Sunday evening"):

On Osama Bin Laden’s Death | Common Dreams

My own (Karl Ufert's) thoughts about the announcement of the death of Osama Bin-Laden--I posted an abridged version of the following to Facebook last night, after the President spoke:

"My late father, Frank Ufert, survived 9-11--worked for OSHA in 6 World Trade Center, returned to his job after his heart surgery and paralyzing stroke, and was in his office (in his wheelchair) on that fateful day. Thousands were lost, but my dad was saved from being murdered. (Therefore, I have more personal reasons than some to connect to the 9-11 tragedy--though I don't even begin to believe I have emotional equity with the families, other loved ones, friends, colleagues, etc. of those who were killed or are still living with direct, devastating health effects from, the disaster.) Still, Bin Laden's death, and this issue overall, is very complex and requires our careful reflection. Let's not turn "patriotism" into "jingoism."

Connect For Real

2010-12-31T16:27:00.000-08:00

“When we get too caught up in the busyness of the world, we lose connection with one another - and ourselves." ~ Jack Kornfield, Ph.D. (Theravada Buddhist scholar and teacher)

I own a small business focused on digital communications. I love this space. I love its nearly miraculous ability to connect and reconnect. The great minds of W3C bring the promise of a future (and even current) amalgamation of digital content shared over the Internet to solve problems--with "1s" and "0s" as part of the make up of some of the problems and their solutions. This, the extensibility of the "channel" that is now called "social media," and much more, has connected us in ways previously unimaginable. This is remarkable... and beautiful.

Yet, from a personal perspective, I feel in some ways, while more connected in "volume" by digital communications, social media, and the like, less truly connected. This is not news to most. Formal and everyday sociological discourse abounds with many a dissertation, personal tale, media exposition, etc., demonizing (or fearing?) interactive communication for its detachment.

While numerous forms of digital talk can be a powerful "fastner" and "social lubricant," it is still not, and never will be, a substitute for actually speaking to a person or seeing them face-to-face. Many will postulate, "How can I give face time to everyone I know on a social media platform?" I am not even close to all-knowing on this subject (or any other for that matter), but I will boldly, while equally humbly, state that, from my own experience... you can't. Still, if you were to take just an hour out of the seven hours a month, on average, that most Internet-connected people spend on Facebook (from statistics of a year ago--I'm sure this has increased since) and used it to connect with some of the people you care about through a phone call -- digital communication, yes, but at least voice-to-voice -- or seeing them in person, I'm confident that your TRUE connection to human beings would increase. I find that most Facebook time -- or Twitter, etc., time -- is spent "spewing," not sharing. Imagine, out of the blue, actually calling one of those connections and laughing with them, or sharing a story voice to voice instead of through safe, opaque boundaries... what a revelation that could be. You may even get to know that you want to know that person, or those people, better, or even not at all (sometimes disconnecting is equally valuable to connecting).

My personal relationship goal for 2011 -- among several goals for the new year -- is to concentrate on the quality of connection. I will, in no way, abandon my "spew" -- aren't I doing it right now with this blog post? -- or the emissions of others as, in part, I enjoy it. However, I hope to give more time to having experiences instead of just writing about them, and sharing them real-time with real people through real warm human contact.

I wish everyone the blessings of love, friendship and the best possible health in 2011.

In Memorium: Bruce Lee the Greatest on the 70th Anniversary of His Birth

2010-11-24T14:43:00.000-08:00

There were and are great martial artists. There were and are great action stars of world cinema. Then, there was the one and only, Bruce Lee (李小龍). Unmatched.

He was born in San Francisco, California, 70 years ago (on November 27, 1940) as Lee Jun-fan/Li Zhen-fan (李振藩), to parents of Chinese and Chinese/German heritage. I won't provide a bio or filmography in this post--there are more than enough out there written by experts and commentators with far more experience and insight than me. The temporal world lost him on July 20, 1973, when I was soon to turn 9 years old. Too soon. (A gross understatement.) Despite his only 32 years in this life, we lost him after his nearly life-long career on screen--though he only made seven major films, he was in countless films in cameo parts since he was a child, and appeared in numerous television programs.

Bruce Lee was "The S@#^" when I was a kid. The baddest-a$$ed character on screen, and the one almost all macho American boys looked up to. It happened very quickly. I remember vividly, even at that young age, that he became super-famous so fast, and then, like lightening, he was gone. Hollywood -- and, unbeknownst at the time to "provincial" American kids (even in a city like New York where I was born, raised, and where I still live), also the Hong Kong flim industry -- were scrambling to find a replacement for the "image" that was Bruce Lee. "Bruce Le," "Bruce Li," the variations on the name went on incessantly throughout the '70s. Martial arts films were shown in New York in a variety of venues, but as a child, I remember them being shown in the rundown cinemas on 42nd Street in Times Square--Kung fu/Karate, Blacksploitation films, and porn. My father would take me to the theaters to see a double feature of a martial arts film. I was 10, 12, etc., but I always knew the difference between the "real deal" -- a.k.a. Bruce Lee -- and the imitators, but I didn't really understand why. Later, in my late teens and 20s, when my parents and I used to go downtown from our New York Chelsea neighborhood home to Chinatown to see martial arts films in their original "Chinese" (still provincial, we had no idea whether it was Mandarin or Cantonese) with usually hilariously-translated subtitles at the old Shaw Brothers cinema, The Music Palace Theater, and at the Pagoda Theater at the foot East Broadway. (Neither still exist.) I was transported by the martial arts films that I saw, whether serious or silly, but marvelous as they were to me, still not Bruce Lee films.

No one ever moved like Bruce Lee--he created original styles of movement in his martial arts learning and teaching, and for cinema. He was ferocious--it reminds me of Herbert von Karajan's conducting: there was just no one else, in either of their fields, with that kind of implacable, deeply focused, masculine energy. It was just natural to both of them--they tore into what they did with no fear. Both, for those reasons, became heroes of mine. Other martial artists in film never had Bruce Lee's complete lack of fear.

Bruce Lee was a beacon for all who came after him, and he is profoundly missed on this, in three days, the anniversary of his birth.

Watch Bruce Lee fight the (then... and ONLY then) great Chuck Norris in this clip of their climactic fight from "The Way of the Dragon" (猛龍過江; U.S. name: "Return of the Dragon"). MAGNIFICENT!:

Sir Run Run Shaw Happy 103rd Birthday

2010-11-22T15:17:00.000-08:00

A very happy birthday to living legend, Sir Run Run Shaw (邵逸夫), co-founder (with his brothers) of the Shaw Brothers Studios, and of TVB. The official date of his birthday, November 23 (the auspicious date of the 14th day of the 10th month of the Chinese calendar in 2007) may or may not be exact, but this remarkable man's birth year is confirmed by all sources as having taken place in 1907--he is 103 years old (104 according to Chinese tradition), still the primary shareholder in TVB entertainment, and still a vital, very active part of the life of Hong Kong, Singapore, China, and other Chinese-speaking countries and communities, with one of the greatest of all entertainment legacies to his name, The Shaw Prize, one of his many philanthropic endeavors, called the "Nobel of Asia," is the most important and prestigious of all science and medicine awards on the Asian continent.

May you have a great day, Sir Run Run--Shengri kuai le 生日快樂!

Dame Gwyneth Jones Happy 74th Birthday

2010-11-07T13:42:00.000-08:00

A very Happy Birthday to Dame Gwyneth Jones (born November 7, 1936), one of the greatest ladies of opera and one of my all-time favorite singers. This beautiful, elegant Welsh soprano had, in the heyday of her career, one of the largest hochdramatisch voices in memory. Out of this slim and lovely woman came sounds so huge that she could capsize the world's largest aircraft carrier! Yet, in roles like the Marschallin in Richard Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier, she could be tender and gentle.

There are many "clear" video samples of Dame Gwyneth in "action," singing her great Wagnerian heroic repertoire, Italian (including her heroic Princess Turandot) and French roles, etc. However, the greatest role I ever heard her sing was the most powerful of all hochdramatisch parts, the title role in Strauss's Elektra. Someone captured the video clips below from a seat in the Metropolitan Opera house during her performances in Elektra in 1994, which were among the two runs of that opera at the MET that were the most remarkable I saw and heard (the others were Birgit Nilsson's legendary 1980 performances, both hers and Dame Gwyneth's co-starring Leonie Rysanek, but in different roles). I never heard singing like this before. Dame Gwyneth was completely rock solid--there had always been discussions about her intonation and what was called a "wobble" in her voice, but here, even if one could quibble with any of her singing over the years, none of those negative qualities were in evidence. She was in her strongest voice ever, and at almost 60 years old!!! She hurled laser-beam high note after high note into the theater and pinned us to our seats. The performances were moving, touching, but mostly overwhelming. I was shaking afterward from the sheer impact. Brava Dame Gwyneth!

The "Allein! Weh, ganz allein." Monologue

The overpowering confrontation scene with Klytemnestra (Leonie Rysanek)

The final scene (with Deborah Voigt--Voigt's large voice sounded TINY next to that of the gargantuan-voiced Dame Gwyneth!!!)

The final minutes of the opera and the screaming ovation for Dame Gwyneth!!!

Don't Forget to Vote November 2

2010-11-01T11:12:00.000-07:00

I want to remind everyone to get out and vote tomorrow, Tuesday, November 4. I often express that, imho, votes don't count; that we are not really part of the political process because everything is theater. However, I will always qualify that by saying that there are some candidates for office who are not just bad for the country, but horrible for specific personal liberties. One of the many of them is running for Governor of New York (my lifelong home state). That person's name will not be used here.

I'm voting tomorrow for Andrew Cuomo for New York Governor because I believe in the candidate -- despite the little that elections, politics, and our government really do for individuals -- and because I MUST vote against the alternative candidate. Again, it is all theater, but certain things that are important to me, even if second-hand, will be completely dismantled, and our state denigrated, if the other candidate gets into office. Cuomo's opponent is reprehensible. I'll be voting for others in the election -- for Senator (both Kirsten Gillibrand and the venerable Chuck Schumer), etc. -- but this Governor's race is most crucial. I've also seen Cuomo in direct action, including around an issue and individuals who, first-hand, once affected my own life (not just second-hand through policy). I admire him.

See you at the polls! (We will be voting in NYC using the new system. I'm excited!)

Cesare Siepi 1923 to 2010 - The KING Is Gone

2010-07-06T20:32:00.000-07:00

I just learned about the passing yesterday, in Atlanta, of the opera singer who many called the greatest of them all in the post-WWII era, Grande Italian Basso Cantante, Cesare Siepi.

I never had the privilege of hearing this legend live. On recordings, I have heard his approximate equal of eras past (and just a small handful of singers of later days), but never anyone to surpass him. The range, the smoothness, the elegance, the gorgeous color, the power, and the idiomatic style of the voice in Verdi, Mozart, Puccini, French Grand Opera and more, was absolute perfection.

My mother studied to be a coloratura soprano. She never "made it" because "life intervened," but one of her aspirations was to sing Zerlina to Siepi's one-and-only Don Giovanni--a role in which he truly was unsurpassed in his era and most others. My grandfather's wife, Lena (originally from Austria, who I call "Grandma Lee"), had memories of Siepi regular playing cards in smoke-filled social clubs in New York, and being a true "Grand Seigneur."

I thought the great Kurt Moll, probably the most perfect opera singer I ever heard live, was, after Gottlob Frick and Ludwig Weber, the DEFINITIVE Gurnemanz in Wagner's Parsifal. Out of the kindness of his heart, a fellow member of the OPERA-L list sent me a copy of an historic 1970 MET Radio Broadcast of Parsifal with Siepi as Gurnemanz--a departure for Siepi. My breath was taken away. Someone not only to equal the refulgent voice of Moll, but almost barely to best him. I had always heard that Siepi brought tears to the eyes of attendees of/listeners to these performances, but with his more commonly "lighter" (a.k.a. higher-ranged, but still enormous and powerful) bass sound, I never expected Siepi to match the darkness and richness of the "blacker" bass voice of Moll or his other famous predecessors. What a shock when I heard that smooth, beautiful Siepi sound wrapped around that luxurious Wagnerian score, and with the added quality of deep darkness--something only someone with his vocal technique could "create" for such a demanding role. I was floored, absolutely floored.

We will miss the King of them all. Rest-in-peace Cesare.

From YouTube--GET READY to be BLOWN AWAY if you've never heard this man before!

With Mirella Freni (in honor of my mom)--note that this is late-career Siepi:

Grande Maestro Muti Begins With the CSO

2010-07-01T17:55:00.000-07:00

The one-and-only grande Maestro Riccardo Muti begins in the 2010-2011 season as Music Director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. I wish this titanic, highly-progressive musical talent the very greatest of years with this magnificent orchestra. Bravo Maestro!

See the awesome commercial for Maestro Muti's first season with the CSO! (from YouTube):

Giulietta Simionato the Greatest 1910 - 2010 Rest-In-Peace

2010-05-05T15:22:00.000-07:00

In March, with the 100th birthday of the great Italian soprano, Magda Olivero, knowing that the birthday of another of the greatest of all operatic voices, Giulietta Simionato, the majestic Italian mezzo-soprano, was alive, also born in 1910, with her centennial in May, I had so hoped this year for a celebratory "duet." Not a literal duet between these true operatic LEGENDS -- that term is used for many, but these two women are/were textbook definitions of musical legnds -- but a near-concurrent fete of their long lives.

Alas, the great Simionato, one of only a handful of not my favorite singers, but my operatic idols, did not see her big day (May 12). She left our world today instead. It seems almost impossible--one thought that Simionato was invincible. Go back a little over a decade to when, at age 88, this greatest and most versatile of Italian vocal artists made an appearance in the eccentric documentary, "Opera Fanatic: Stefan and the Divas." The documentary centered around the unique person of Stefan Zucker -- someone hard to pigeonhole into a single category -- and his personal quest to interview the great singers of the past generations of the Italian style. Some of these divas seemed spry, others frail, but none as regal, powerful and youthful for her respective age -- ranging from their late 60s to nearly 100 (i.e. Gina Cigna and Iris Adami Corradetti) at the time that Zucker spoke with them for the documentary -- as La Simionato. When she also illustrated a musical point with her own grand mezzo soprano voice -- which had notes as low and dark as a contralto as well as a ringing, soprano-timbred High-C! -- the freshness and power of the sound, especially for a woman her age, gave viewers a true and unexpected thrill.

I won't get biographical. There is much to be read about this unique artist in print and on the web. (Do take time to do so.) Suffice to say that I first heard her as Azucena on the 1956 Decca recording of Verdi's "Il Trovatore," with co-stars, Renata Tebaldi and Mario del Monaco (conducted by Alberto Erede), and I listened to the entire recording over and over again mouth agape. I was hooked on the first listening and followed this with her Amneris, her Rosina in "Il barbiere di siviglia," her Cenerentola, her Giovanna Seymour, her Carmen, and her unsurpassed Valentine in Meyerbeer's "Les Huguenots" and Princess Eboli in Verdi's "Don Carlo," and her PEERLESS Santuzza, among many others. (How's THAT for range?!?!)

I had seen Simionato in interviews into her late nineties. She looked fit as a fiddle and was still conducting master classes and judging vocal competitions until just a year or so ago. As I said, I thought she would defy the odds and live to be a supercentenarian. It was not to be but we were truly blessed with her 99 years.

Rest-In-Peace truly grand DIVA. I loved and still love you.

Giulietta Simionato sings "O Don Fatale" from Verdi's Don Carlo--from YouTube:

Happy Advance 100th Magda Olivero March 25

2010-03-24T08:09:00.000-07:00

This has been a big week for centennial celebrations of the birth of not just great, but the finest of world artists. Another of the creative personalities who has been among the most influential to me in my appreciation of art is the one-and-only, Magda Olivero. Remarkably, this great Italian soprano -- who defied classification as a lyric, spinto, etc. -- is not being honored in memory, she is still with us at age 100! (Her birthday will take place tomorrow, March 25.)

Her career famously lasted from 1932 until the early 1980s (!). Also famously, she retired in 1941 when she married, but was coaxed out of retirement a decade later by Francesco Cilea to perform the title role in his great opera Adriana Lecouvreur--performances which, if memory serves me, he did not live to see (Cilea died in 1950). Her career on the great Italian and other stages flourished afterward, concluding, at age 71 with performances of Francis Poulenc's bravura one-woman showcase, La voix humaine.

She had an unconventional voice, but it was among the greatest examples of expressive Italian singing, and she was magical in the great Italian verismo roles of Puccini, Mascagni, Giordano, Cilea and Zandonai. Her Minnie in Puccini's La Fanciulla del West and her Tosca were among the greatest I ever heard on recordings. She performed the latter role in her Metropolitan Opera debut at the age of 65 (in 1975) to sold out houses--the late MET General Manager, Schuyler Chapin, was completely awed by her.

What is most remarkable about the woman is her continued vitality. She is ageless, having performed and recorded music in a limited manner in the years subsequent to her retirement, including a recording of full scenes from Adriana in the 1990s. But it did not stop there! She has been heard and seen actively participating in the music world, with lectures, television appearances, and even occasional moments of singing into her late 90s.

Cent'anni Magda. You are the TRUE definition of a "diva" in the very best sense.

Listen to Magda Olivero in a brilliant excerpt from Tosca--the final scene of Act II. (From YouTube):

And some remarkable appearances--Magda at age 99 (!) discussing -- and SINGING MUSIC FROM!!! -- Zandonai's Francesca da Rimini (From YouTube):

Centennial Tribute to My Favorite Director Kurosawa Akira

2010-03-23T14:02:00.000-07:00

I am swamped with work and cannot write a fitting tribute to the master of world cinema, Kurosawa Akira (黒澤明, or 黒沢明), in my opinion the greatest film director of all time, who would have turned 100 today (23 March).

I almost can't describe in words the impact that all of the films in his canon that I've seen have made on me. I'll elaborate further when I have a moment to write again. In the meantime, 生日おめでとうございます Otanjobi omedeto gozaimasu, maestro. I hope you are still making great films in Heaven.

Alessandra Marc Returns to New York - 2/6 Carnegie Hall Weill Recital Hall

2010-01-30T08:28:00.000-08:00

Alessandra Marc, one of the greatest singers of this generation -- and my favorite soprano -- is returning to the New York stage next week--to Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall on Saturday, February 6, 2010, at 8:30pm. If you know about and love this long-underappreciated, grand artist, please don't miss this concert event!

Alessandra Marc in the great aria "Tu che le vanita" from Verdi's DON CARLO. Stunning!

More Great Music from Iwashiro Taro

2010-01-24T20:32:00.000-08:00

Another wonderful example of the music of the great Japanese cinema and classical composer Iwashiro Taro (岩代太郎), who scored John Woo (吳宇森, Wu Yu-Sen)'s epic, RED CLIFF. This, from Japanese TV's Aoi Tokugawa Sandai (葵　徳川三代)--as I understand it, conducted by the one-and-only Charles Dutoit!!!:

My father Frank Ufert - Born December 9 1933

2009-12-09T03:36:00.000-08:00

My dad, Frank Ufert, who passed away this summer, would have been 76 years old today. He was truly loved, is terribly missed and his memory will never be forgotten.

The most precise description of who my father was can be found in the Merriam-Webster dictionary. Each of us are individuals; Frank Ufert was all of the extraordinary AND uncommon parts of Merriam-Webster's definition of the word "unique"--everyone who knew him will understand EXACTLY what I mean by quoting the entire definition and that I cite and attribute it to him with the deepest of love and respect

"Main Entry: unique
Pronunciation: \yu̇-ˈnēk\
Function: adjective
Etymology: French, from Latin unicus, from unus one — more at one
Date: 1602

1 : being the only one : sole
2 a : being without a like or equal : unequaled b : distinctively characteristic : peculiar 1
3 : unusual
synonyms see strange

— unique·ly adverb

— unique·ness noun
usage Many commentators have objected to the comparison or modification (as by somewhat or very) of unique, often asserting that a thing is either unique or it is not. Objections are based chiefly on the assumption that unique has but a single absolute sense, an assumption contradicted by information readily available in a dictionary. Unique dates back to the 17th century but was little used until the end of the 18th when, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, it was reacquired from French. H. J. Todd entered it as a foreign word in his edition (1818) of Johnson's Dictionary, characterizing it as “affected and useless.” Around the middle of the 19th century it ceased to be considered foreign and came into considerable popular use. With popular use came a broadening of application beyond the original two meanings (here numbered 1 and 2a). In modern use both comparison and modification are widespread and standard but are confined to the extended senses 2b and 3. When sense 1 or sense 2a is intended, unique is used without qualifying modifiers."

Giving Thanks

2009-11-26T08:35:00.000-08:00

(2007. L-R: My late father, Frank Ufert; a rabbit; my mom, Josephine Ufert)

I'm so grateful to have been given a chance to be a part of the organic collective that is every one of you--in this time, affecting the emotion, intellect, politic, economic that touches all of us and will impact the future. I'm thankful for having beautiful friends and for their lives and their families' lives. I'm thankful for having my own good health. I'm thankful that, despite many challenges, I am able to continue to pursue at least one/some of my dreams. In the year that I lost my father, Frank Ufert, I am thankful for my complex but deeply loving memories of him. Most of all, I am thankful that my mother, Josephine Rosemary Cordisco Ufert, still walks the earth--bless that magnificent human being who I love with all my heart. No matter where on the globe that you live, or which holidays you celebrate, MAY EVERYONE HAVE A WONDERFUL THANKSGIVING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :-)

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-24T16:07:00.000-08:00

I want to wish a very Happy Thanksgiving 2009 to all!

President Barack Obama Nobel Laureate

2009-10-10T20:09:00.000-07:00

CONGRATULATIONS!

Irving Penn 1917-2009

2009-10-07T17:53:00.000-07:00

I just read that we lost Irving Penn, at age 92. Penn was, in my humble opinion, the greatest of all American fashion photographers and one of the top two American photo portraitists (with the late Richard Avedon). My opinion of Penn's genius is shared by hundreds of thousands of others, and it is an informed opinion--I grew up with a fabulously talented photographer father who loved and taught me the value of Penn's work. (Ironically, we also lost my father, Frank Ufert, this year, as Irving Penn once saw my father's work and admired it... quite a compliment!)

I am devastated. He lived a long and incredibly productive life, but he will be so, so missed. NO ONE ELSE, again in my opinion, had a more masterful eye than Irving Penn.

See the announcement from the Associated Press.

Gojira on Blu-ray: a disappointment

2009-10-06T20:25:00.000-07:00

Ok, I was warned...

Imagine my delight several months ago when I learned that the legendary 1954 Toho Kabushiki-kaisha (東宝株式会社, a.k.a. Toho Studios) film, GOJIRA (ゴジラ, a.k.a. "Godzilla"), the seminal film of my life, would be released in the U.S. in a high-definition transfer on Blu-ray disc on the Classic Media label. I have already seen a number of HD transfers of black and white films and many have been spectacular, including Sir Carol Reed's The Third Man (1949), Robert Wise's The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), Martin Scorsese's Raging Bull (1980) and others. With the prior deluxe two-disc DVD release by Classic Media of the subtitled 1954 Japanese original -- the first time it appeared on a commercial U.S. DVD -- along side of the famed 1956 U.S. version (not only dubbed into English but re-cut and featuring new scenes with the late Raymond Burr), one would have assumed that this Blu-ray issue would be quite fine. (This, even considering the fact that they were not using -- according to several reports -- one of the near-mint condition/digitally cleaned and restored, Toho master prints.)

Among others, such notables as August Ragone, an important scholar of Japanese sci-fi cinema and author of the wonderful new book, "Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters" -- which is full of great information and beautiful (many rare) photos -- and the engaging (and quite informative) Blog, "The Good, the Bad, and Godzilla" (続・夕陽の呉爾羅), personally cautioned me about the release. But how bad could it be, I thought to myself? On the launch date, big box retailers discounted the Blu-ray disc at such low prices -- e.g. Best Buy's $12.99 -- so I was compelled to give it a shot.

Dumb me. First of all, the Blu-ray release is not parallel to the deluxe two-DVD set as, and I read this prior to purchasing the disc, the 1956 U.S. version is not included. Second of all, I had read that this release is in 1080i video mode, not in the now-standard 1080p. Third, of course, the prior information--that it has been mastered from a less-than-high-quality film print. The result? All you get with the Blu-ray disc over the DVD is that the image is a bit "fuller"; a.k.a. physically larger in volume. However, this makes the viewer feel that the image has been "stretched" to accommodate the screen resolution--it is not widescreen but it fills more "square space." The worst part is that the additional resolution actually makes the image look worse: grainier, with saturation in all the wrong places so that the original dark film print looks even darker. You can barely see Gojira/ゴジラ/Godzilla in the night scenes! (Nearly all of Gojira's/ゴジラ's/Godzilla's scenes in the film occur at night.) Even the sound -- which is actually improved on the Blu-ray disc -- is a hindrance because you hear more crackle.

For die-hard Gojira/ゴジラ/Godzilla fanatics like me who can withstand their Japanese versions without subtitles, the currently-being-released (albeit expensive) Blu-ray discs from THE SOURCE, a.k.a. Toho, are, from all accounts, gorgeous--crisp, clean, near-perfect issues. Because the region coding for Blu-ray is different than DVD and puts the U.S. and Japan (as well as Hong Kong and Taiwan! :-) ) in the same region, the Toho discs will play on U.S. Blu-ray machines.

See CD Japan for listings of the Toho discs. I'll definitely purchase a few of them! :-)

Best Recent Opera Singer Finds

2009-10-02T10:48:00.000-07:00

Evelyn Herlitzius as Brünnhilde (w/Christian Franz) in Wagner's Siegfried.

Some of my favorite recent opera singer "finds." Many are not "new" singers, but all are singing very actively today, I've only found them recently, I really respect their work and love each of their voices.

YouTube clips let you hear a bit of/see what they can do.

Evelyn Herlitzius (soprano) (w/Gunnel Bohman)

Amarilli Nizza (soprano)

Kwangchul Youn (bass)

Inga Balabanova (soprano)

Clifton Forbis (tenor) & Eva Maria Westbroek (soprano)

Friends Amarilli Nizza and Frank Porretta in Puccini's IL TABARRO

2009-09-11T13:33:00.000-07:00

An exemplary scene (below) from Giacomo Puccini's Il Tabarro from the Teatro Massimo, Palermo (May 2008). I am honored that it features two of my friends, the marvelous Italian soprano, Amarilli Nizza, a true spinto of the rarest tradition in today's musical landscape, and the equally wonderful Italian-American tenor, Frank Porretta. You don't often get to hear singing of this quality in the current era... wow!!!

9-11 Remembered In Tribute to My Late Father

2009-09-11T07:58:00.000-07:00

(My late father, Frank Ufert, in Korea, circa 1953, in his United States Armed Forces/Military Police uniform)

We didn't lose my father, Frank Ufert, on 9-11; he passed away approximately one month ago (July 24, 2009). He was, however, directly affected by the tragedy.

My dad was a diabetic, and had a resultant heart attack and then a debilitating stroke in 1999 and 2000, respectively--followed by many other illnesses. After suffering his stroke in 2000, he returned to work for OSHA (in a wheelchair; the only part-time employee in the entire OSHA Region). The New York OSHA office was in 6 World Trade Center, the small building adjacent to, and directly under, the Twin Towers.

(6 World Trade Center on September 11, 2009)

The story of how my father escaped the devastation is a compelling and well-documented one. You can still read the stories online. (Another from OSHA here.)

In remembrance of the passing of my father this year following his decade-long period of devastating illness, and in remembrance of the almost indescribable tragedy that he experienced first-hand and remarkably SURVIVED, I pray for the souls of everyone affected by the events of September 11, 2001.

(The World Trade Center/Twin Towers. May we remember always.)

Diva Hildegard Behrens Rest in Peace

2009-08-18T20:10:00.001-07:00

I am deeply saddened to have just learned that the great German soprano, Hildegard Behrens, passed away unexpectedly today in Japan at the far-too-young age of 72. Mme. Behrens was, according to the AP report this evening, traveling to Tokyo to prepare for two recital programs, when she "felt unwell" and "died of an apparent aneurysm."

This is especially tragic for me, and others like me, who experienced Behrens for many of the important years of her career at New York's Metropolitan Opera in the 1980s and 90s. During this period, she sang everything from Mozart to Puccini -- her full MET debut (after an appearance in a fundraising gala) was in the unlikely role of Giorgetta in Puccini's Il Tabarro -- to Mascagni and more, but most importantly, the major heroic roles of Wagner and Richard Strauss. I was never a fan of her too-light-for-much-of-her-repertoire vocal instrument, but I was a passionate admirer of her spectacular musical-theatrical artistry. This was a rare instance of an operatic singer who I loved hearing in roles far above her "fach," and watching, so as to witness her sheer 100% commitment in everything she performed. I heard and saw, live in the house, all of her MET roles after the early 1980s until the late 90s when she informally, and unannounced, made her last MET appearance.

My father, Frank Ufert, passed away last month at the similarly premature age of 75 (albeit following a decade-long battle with poor health--a much longer period of illness than Mme. Behrens seemingly experienced). May this great woman -- who I met many times -- enjoy leading the chorus of angels, and my deepest condolences to her family and loved ones.

See Hildegard Behrens in the title role in Richard Strauss' Elektra (from YouTube):

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus Trailer- Heath's Last Film (VIDEO)

2009-08-11T12:01:00.001-07:00

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus Trailer- Heath's Last Film (VIDEO)

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Congratulations Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor

2009-08-06T12:34:00.000-07:00

What a wonderful post-birthday present to President Barack Obama, pre-birthday present for me, and a truly special gift to the United States. All the luck in the world to you, Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

Read the news story (from MSNBC).

The Computer Monster IBM 1967 CLASSIC

2009-07-14T16:22:00.000-07:00

One of the funniest videos ever (especially for those of us in the IT space)! :-) Thank you, Jim Henson for your brilliance!

SEE THE VIDEO HERE (at Flixxy.com)

Judge Sonia Sotomayor on Roe v. Wade

2009-07-14T13:10:00.000-07:00

Brilliant handling.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Remembering Shih Kien 1913-2009

2009-06-09T18:02:00.000-07:00

(Photo credit: Copyright by Warner Bros Inc © 1973. All Rights Reserved. Consent is hereby given to newspapers and magazines to reproduce country of origin U.S.A.)

On June 3, 2009, the world learned the news that one of the greatest of all Chinese-language cinema actors had passed away--the 96 year-old Shih Kien (石堅; Cantonese: Shek Kin), star of countless films, television shows and a renowned martial artist.

Americans -- and many across the globe -- will best remember Shih Kien as the legendary film villain, Mr. Han, in the Bruce Lee (李振藩, 李小龍) Hollywood-produced masterpiece, "Enter the Dragon." As long as I live, I believe I will always remember my first impressions of the grand Mr. Han on screen, and the battle between this older Kung-fu master, with his deadly artifical claw hand, and the one-and-only Bruce Lee (Lee's untimely and shocking death came only 6 days before the release of the film); particularly the groundbreaking "hall of mirrors" scene.

(Photo credit: Copyright by Warner Bros Inc © 1973. All Rights Reserved. Consent is hereby given to newspapers and magazines to reproduce country of origin U.S.A.)

Known by many in the industry, particularly in Hong Kong (he was born in Guangdong), as "Uncle Kien," he was particularly beloved as a screen villain. Though he worked in Hong Kong film for several years prior -- first, as a makeup artist! -- he became a superstar playing several bad guys in the long-running black and white series of films of the 1940s-60s (Shih Kien's appearances starting in the 1950s) based on the Huang Fei-hong (黃飛鴻; Cantonese: Wong Fei Hung) character, co-starring the towering screen figures, Guan Dexing (關德興; Cantonese: Kwan Tak Hing), and Walter Cho Tat-wah (曹达华; Mandarin: Cao Dahua). (Note: Ironically, all three of these screen superstars passed away at age 90+.)

It touched me deeply when this man passed away last week. I saw him in many films over the years and admired him so much. He was the quintessential villain--as the cliche goes, you loved to hate him. But he was a universally loved man. He also, truly, was a Kung fu sifu; a dedicated student of the Chin Woo Athletic Association (精武體育會), and had contact with students and fans throughout his entire life until his passing.

The best way to celebrate his life is to watch this inimitable star in his films. See IMDb for his legacy:

The film community across the globe, the worldwide audience of his cinematic opus, and his martial arts disciples will miss him. Rest in Peace (愿灵安眠) "Uncle Kien."

Several clips (from YouTube) appear below:

The great Hall of Mirrors battle from "Enter the Dragon."

Another clip featuring the great man as a villain--in a Hong Kong comedy (his last film, "The Hong Kong Adams Family").

Twenty Years Since Tiananmen

2009-06-03T19:34:00.000-07:00

The now-legendary image above, taken by Associated Press photographer, Jeff Widener, captures the heroic struggle and the tragedy that ended on June 4, 1989, when tanks cleared Beijing Tian'anmen Square (天安門廣場) after two months of protests by students against the government of the People's Republic of China. The collective response by the PRC, and the arrests, torture and murder of these students and other protesters was known as the Tian'anmen Square Massacre. Other protests occurred all across the country, and many other atrocities, even if not as media-spectacular, occurred as well during the period, but it was these incidents in Beijing that made the world notice the treatment of the Chinese people by their government.

It has been 20 years since the "June 4th Incident," sparked, in part, by the death of the pioneering Chinese reformer, Hu Yaobang (胡耀邦), leading to a march on Tian'anmen by more than 100,000 students and other activists, resulting in a senseless, violent crackdown by the Chinese government. I have that event vividly in my memory. Though I was thousands of miles away, though I am not Chinese, Chinese-American, or even Asian-American, though I had not yet traveled to China -- nor did I ever believe that I'd have the resources to do so (I finally visited Mainland China almost a decade-and-a-half later) -- though Deng Xiaoping (鄧小平) was, to me, just the name of a foreign leader, though I didn't know at the time who, what, etc. caused the incident to occur, though I had no perceptible personal connection to the tragedy, I cried when I first saw Widener's iconic photo. At age 24, I my gaze was fixed every time I saw our U.S. television coverage of the incident which still made the whole thing seem so far away. Surreal as the experience was -- similar to my first reaction to the 9/11 Incident (which I watched in-person) -- something reached into my heart and made me sad, terrified, and strangely, at least in my own mind, empathetic. Could I have really had "empathy?" Not a chance--I had nothing in my limited life experience, not then or now, to compare. Still, something "connected" me to the images that I saw: of young people being strong, confused, angry, fearful, fearless, self-contained, unbridled, shouting, screaming, dying. Widener's image most personified -- and congealed -- what I felt. I always saw China and Chinese culture as something of a higher consciousness, with a higher purpose, yet I was born, raised, and heard nothing else from the U.S. media while growing up about China than about the atrocities and outrageousness of Mao Zedong (毛澤東) and his rule, the "remarkable" nature of the visit by President Nixon and Dr. Kissinger to China, and about Mao's later, hard-line Party followers. So why did I feel so connected to Chinese culture, to the heroism that I saw in martial arts films, yet also, specifically, to the thousands of young people who were protesting the government and dying, tortured, jailed, etc. to make their cause known?

My late, Great Aunt, a world traveler, visited China in 1977, a year after the doors to tourism opened. My father wanted her to take me with her. I would have been only either 12 or 13 that year. She didn't take me on her trip. She died only months after she returned from China. I felt later that I was meant to go on that trip but was, for some reason, stopped from going. Not because my Great Aunt didn't want to take me, but something else was halting me from taking that journey at that time. I didn't even think about "why isn't my Aunt taking me" -- though, I learned later, that my father did -- I just said to myself, at the time at, mind you, only age 13-ish, "I'm supposed to go to China why aren't I going?" This, from someone (me) who never even conceived that I would have enough money to do something as astonishing as making a journey of that magnitude.

One of my dear college friends visited Beijing the year before the protests. Both of us came from relatively humble, working-class family backgrounds. My friend is Chinese-American and his father had been pretty entrenched in Chinese-American social, cultural, political and religious (Catholic) issues in the New York Chinatown community. This created an opportunity for my friend to visit China in 1988 with other students/recent college graduates and room at Beijing University. When the protests happened the year afterward, I thought of my friend--how, if it were only a year later, he would have been in the middle of the situation, and could have been hurt or died, and how, very likely, young Beijing college students that he met, and shared discourse on things intellectual, cultural, social, or even with whom he just had silly fun, may also have been maimed, jailed, deposed, or died for what they believed. I felt this in ways I can't describe in words... so deeply in my consciousness. Perhaps this was my one, true personal bond to the tragedy, and this, along with my lifelong affinity for the culture, made it "gel."

As I wrote above, later, I did visit China, now a proponent of a weird hybrid Capitalism mixed with the ongoing ruling principles of two, three, even five decades before. It is odd for me--I grew up with a Socialist father, and have always embraced, and championed, many of the principles of Socialism. However, I do not believe a true Socialist society has ever existed. I believe GOVERNMENTS have always created the voice and have utilized elements of Socialism to benefit overt, or veiled, power-brokers. Communism, in turn, was and is a disaster. Communism in China turned into a sort of aggressive "hyper-Capitalism" with confusion of labor, with the depleting of natural resources and energy, with seemingly no recourse, and has been a weird and catastrophically oppressive model. But Chinese people are finding more of a voice--in China and around the world. And it shows. I am constantly reminded by a now dear friend and colleague of mine, who, ironically, is one of the most famous leaders of the 1989 protests, that things in China, and for the Chinese people on the Mainland, are moving, slowly but surely, in the right direction. I want to believe what he says. I want to believe too that the United States is beginning to learn from the mistakes of the greed of the recent, disastrous political and economic generation. I want to believe that things like the June 4th Incident will not go in vain. I don't believe it, but I will try. I do, at least, see some, even if minimal, evidence of this. I will, at least in part, trust my far wiser friends, far more studied scholars, far more insightful reporters, that humanity is chipping away at the insanity of exploitation, greed, and the political silencing of voices.

BUT WE CAN NEVER FORGET TIAN'ANMEN 1989. Please take one moment on this day to say a prayer, send light to the souls of, even, if you do not believe in any sort of spirituality, a moment of silent reverence, for the lives that were sacrificed in those two months at the end of the 1980s to raise their voices.

Oshima Nagisa Masterpiece In The Realm of the Senses on Blu-ray

2009-05-02T17:08:00.000-07:00

The always remarkable Criterion Collection just released beautifully remastered DVD and Blu-ray disc versions of Oshima Nagisa's (大島渚 ) controversial masterwork, "In the Realm of the Senses" (愛のコリーダ; Ai no Korida; L'Empire des sens). This brilliant 1976 film, which some consider the highest of artistic expression and others call "pornography, is still banned from being shown uncensored in Japan. In fact, as "In the Realm of the Senses" was being filmed, it took a French financing company, and the shipping of cans of undeveloped celluloid to France for processing, to complete the production.

The story is one of 20th Century Japanese legend. It concerns Abe Sada (阿部定), of a middle-class Japanese family, who became a geisha and prostitute, took a lover named Ishida Kichizo (石田吉蔵), and was convicted of second-degree murder and mutilation of a corpse after strangling Ishida to death in the height of auto-eroticism. Instead of being reviled after the murder, Abe became a cult figure in Japan, gaining the adulation of many for her reasons for committing the act. It was something beyond obsession; many called it, albeit gruesome, the ultimate consummation of love.

For Oshima, the story was more a political statement than a biopic, demonstrating a profound power play--between men and women in 1930s Japan where traditional roles were tested, but, moreso, between the lovers themselves as individuals. Abe's sense of self, through a hyper-reality embedded in her passion for Ishida, brings out layers of conflict that women, and especially Japanese women, found in expressing their personal power. In Oshima's film, Abe found great expression and voice through complete immersion in an intertwined sexuality with another. "In the Realm of the Senses" was also Oshima's test for the limits of Japanese perception--with the most explicit sexual scenes as a device to strip away imposed norms and moral restrictions.

The Blu-ray disc contains a period interview with Oshima and his bold stars, as well as current interviews with the production team and with Matsuda Eiko who played the tragic Ishida. It is also accompanied by a beautifully printed booklet containing an important essay on the film by the great Donald Richie.

The print is glorious. The soft grain of Criterion's beautiful transfer from 35mm film to HD video gives "In the Realm of the Senses" even greater beauty and, in some ways, takes the "edge" off of this provocative story. Disturbing? At times. But genius. Do not miss this landmark of cinematic expression.

(See the Trailer below from YouTube)

Congratulations Best Supporting Actor Heath Ledger

2009-02-22T19:13:00.000-08:00

Thank you Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and the community of voters, for recognizing the late, great Heath Ledger and his extraordinary portrayal of the Joker in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight. with the 2009 Oscar® for Best Supporting Actor.

This was one of the finest performances I've ever seen on film.

Donnie Yen is the great Ip Man

2009-02-16T11:54:00.000-08:00

I have been a passionate follower of Chinese-language martial arts cinema for most of my life. Though I have learned the chronology of martial arts cinema and have seen many films in the genre from the 1930s to the present, in terms of my own chronology, I fell in love with this type of film as a New York kid in the 1970s. This was, of course, the start of the golden era of martial arts motion picture production, with films from the Shaw Brothers (邵氏片場) and Cathay (國泰) dominant and prolific, the emergence of new production powerhouses such as Golden Harvest (嘉禾娛樂有限公司), and with stars like the one-and-only Bruce Lee (李振藩; Li Zhenfan). My dad took me to see poorly-subtitled versions of these films in crusty old 42nd Street movie theaters -- dodging hookers, drug dealers and other such characters en route -- where they would play as double-features with a bad, American exploitation flick. I can't even remember the exploitation movies; all I wanted to see were the Hong Kong action pictures. Later, my dad, mom and I would go to the Music Palace theater in New York's Chinatown to watch martial arts cinema with subtitles in "Chinese"--typical of New Yorkers of my generation and many before that, I was not cognizant at the time that there was a difference between the Mandarin and Cantonese languages, or that hundreds of other Chinese languages/dialects existed. Our movie houses of choice -- all of them are now closed -- were the old Shaw Brothers-owned, Music Palace on the Bowery, which was one of the oldest of the Chinatown theaters but was one of the last to be torn down, and the Pagoda Theater. I just couldn't get enough of the lore, the values and the fast-paced action of these films.

For the past 30+ years, I've followed the career and work of hundreds of martial arts actors, directors, choreographers, and more. Today, the greatest martial arts actor is, in my opinion, Donnie Yen (甄子丹; Zhen Zidan)--one of the best I've seen of any generation. A choreographer and director in his own right, Donnie Yen's most spectacular work is in front of the camera when he brings all of his powers as a martial artist to the screen. He is a fine actor aside from his martial arts work. He is also a strong presence in films where his martial arts are either not employed or where the films themselves are more stylized and his combat work is not as direct -- e.g. as Sky, Jet Li's (李連杰; Li Lianjie) first opponent in Zhang Yimou's (張藝謀) Hero (英雄; Yingxiong), as the heroic Chu Zhaonan in Tsui Hark's (徐克; Xu Ke) Seven Swords (七劍), etc. However, it is when he demonstrates his true martial arts prowess on screen, without body doubles, without the need -- though they are sometimes present -- for wires, simply showing his skill or his study.

Donnie Yen is almost one year older than me to-the-day--he was born in late July 1963; I was born in mid-August 1964 (both Leos). He was born in Guangdong and was raised in the Boston, MA area, the son of martial arts master (his mother), Bow Sim Mark (麥寶嬋; Mai Bao Chan). One can see that, with martial arts in his blood, he has true dedication to that discipline. While he got his first big film break as the Manchu general in 1992's Tsui Hark-directed, Wong Fei-Hung (黃飛鴻; Huang Feihong) story, Once Upon a Time in China II (黃飛鴻之二男兒當自強), it was, for me the 1993 film, Iron Monkey (少年黃飛鴻之鐵馬騮) -- surrounding Wong Fei Hung's father, Huang Qi-Ying (黃麒英), that shows him off to his greatest advantage. Iron Monkey was directed and action-choreographed by the legendary Yuen Woo-Ping (袁和平; Yuan Heping), and shows Donnie Yen in spectacular fight scenes. Most impressive is his incredible attention to detail in capturing the Hung Ga 洪家 fighting style of Huang Qi-Ying and Wang Fei-Hung, but blending it with brilliant, updated, foot fighting while keeping it fully blended to classical technique. There are many other fine films in Yen's cinematic canon -- produced by Hong Kong, China and U.S. filmmakers -- but another extraordinary standout is 2005's SPL: Sha Po Lang (殺破狼; Kill Zone in English). This film, co-starring and co-choreographed by the great Sammo Hung (洪金寶; Hong Jinbao), takes painstaking steps to show Donnie Yen in full combat, in extended fight scenes that, I believe, should go down for the ages. His extended baton/knife contest with another strong film martial artist, Wu Jing (吳京), is a martial arts lesson; one of the most exciting fight scenes I've ever watched.

Donnie Yen's latest film is a biopic on Bruce Lee's martial arts teacher, Ip Man (葉問; Yip Man). Ip Man was, reportedly, the first to "openly teach" the long-secret Wing Chun (詠春; Yong Chun) martial arts style which, previously, was passed down through generations through oral tradition and no documentation, and became one of the principal parts of Bruce Lee's fighting technique--though Lee, later, incorporated different elements to create his own style. Ip Man brings back SPL's team of Donnie Yen, choreographer Sammo Hung, and director Wilson Yip (葉偉信; Yip Wai-Shun). The film chronicles Master Ip's life from his earlier, prosperous adulthood -- he was educated and well-to-do in then-prosperous Guangdong -- through the 1930s and the Japanese Occupation. (There is discussion about a sequel, going from the war era to Ip Man's late life when he taught Bruce Lee--he died in 1972.) The film does not take events of Ip Man's life with complete historical accuracy, but it captures the essence of his philosophy, his skill, his family and the struggles of the war years. Knowing human being behind the legend was not hard for the filmmakers--Ip Man's eldest son, Ip Chun (葉準) was a consultant on the film (and is featured in interviews on the Blu-ray disc that was just released). This is one of the best martial arts films I've ever seen. It is well acted--the always-wonderful Simon Yam (任達華; Yam Tat-Wah, or Ren Dahua) has a small but crucial part, and the rest of the cast is very strong, It is also beautifully shot, and the direction, writing and the music -- by Kawai Kenji (川井憲次), the Japanese composer of scores for such important films as Ghost in the Shell (攻殻機動隊; Gosuto In Za Sheru) and Avalon (アヴァロン; Avaron), and the original Japanese Ring (リング; Ringu) horror films -- are superb. But martial arts are at the core of the plot rather than being ancillary elements, and the fight scenes are breathtaking. Donnie Yen has long been an admirer of Bruce Lee, and trained for months in the Wing Chun style to ensure authenticity in demonstrating the technique.

Ip Man is a no-miss for lovers of martial arts action cinema, and fine Chinese-language cinema in general. It is nominated for 12 awards (!) in the 28th Annual Hong Kong Film Awards, including: Best Film, Best Actor, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (the terrific Lam Ka-Tung: 林家棟; Lin Jiadong), another for Best Supporting Actor (the powerful Fan Siu-Wong: 樊少皇), Best Cinematography, Best Original Film Score, Best Film Editing, Best Art Direction, Best Action Choreography, Best Sound Design, Best Visual Effects.

VISIT THE OFFICIAL IP MAN WEBSITE TO SEE THE TRAILER AND GET MORE INFORMATION

President Barack Hussein Obama II - Living History

2009-01-20T03:29:00.000-08:00

As challenges abound, we are faced with one of the handful of truly extraordinary events of our era. Today is the day of the inauguration of BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA II as the 44th President of the United States. Though I've been cynical of the worldwide political spectrum throughout my life, and have no false patriotism (nor false optimism), the election of this man to the Presidency makes me proud to be an American.

Though I will likely never achieve even one iota of Obama's greatness, or even his successes, I will, on this historic day, indulge myself in boasting a few parallels between him and me. We were both born in the first half of the 1960s (I am three years younger than him, and born in the same year as the soon-to-be First Lady, Michelle Obama), this makes our President-elect and me (and Mrs. Obama) members of the last breath of the Baby Boomer generation (officially ending in Mrs. Obama's birth year and mine, 1964). We are both Leos--President-elect Obama was born on August 4; I was born on August 10. We are both left-handed. We both have an affiliation with Columbia University--Mr. Obama is a graduate of Columbia College (class of 1983), and I was the Associate Director of the Columbia College (and undergraduate Engineering school, a.k.a. SEAS: later, Fu SEAS) Financial Aid office and worked for the university for almost seven years. We both attended undergraduate school in Harlem--Mr. Obama, again, at Columbia (which is in Morningside Heights which is still, technically, part of Harlem); and me at the City College of the City University of New York (a public college in a public university which boasts, I believe, 10 Nobel Laureates as graduates -- the most Nobel Laureate graduates of any American public institution -- and former, history-making Secretary of State, Colin Powell, KCB, among other notables). Mr. Obama and I (and, again, Mrs. Obama) came from families that experienced severe financial struggles and we were profoundly challenged to realize our educations and life goals. This, however, is where our similarities end, where I could never compare to our new President, and where I can't help but be overwhelmed by his achievements.

I speak (and write) all of my praise of the man who will be President in just a few short hours with a caveat. The world stage is peopled by players but the "play" is "sponsored" by forces that supercede politics and political figures. We are all puppets in that play. On one level, Mr. Obama is no different--he will be only what "true power" will allow. He is also a person who has done a lot -- I'm sure some of it good, some of it not so good -- to get to his position of presumed, and partially very true, power. Therefore, my eyes always remain open... and I know that Big Business, Big Energy, Big Pharma, Big Corn Production (there is corn in just about everything that Americans, at least, eat, wear, etc.), etc., etc., are even more influential than an individual of great power. Mr. Obama also faces an economy in absolute turmoil--moreover, unfortunately, to find a way to bring confidence to the American public while, because he must (and probably believes in doing so), continuing some of the American "myths."

But Mr. Obama's presence on the world stage, his intelligence and his early-demonstrated skills for listening, reasoning and articulating, his face on that stage, make for the first TRUE change in American politics... EVER. Just seeing African-Americans, all People of Color, all people of ethnically diverse backgrounds, now believing that the United States is beginning, just beginning, to include them, their rich history and culture, their overwhelming achievements, their lives, their presence, their scholarship, their economic presence (and their part in the American and world economic system) and so, so much more, in the country's face, presence and status. This alone, and the fact that all of it seems to come in the body of an ordinary-extraordinary man, makes it all the more important. It is certainly special to me.

Composer Iwashiro Taro - Red Cliff, Blood & Bones

2009-01-03T19:19:00.000-08:00

I just watched part one (2008) of the great Hong Kong and Hollywood filmmaker John Woo's (吳宇森; Wú Yǔsēn) two-part epic, Red Cliff (赤壁; Chìbì), on a HDTV on Blu-ray DVD. The two parts -- part two to be released this month (January 2009) -- are, reportedly, collectively, the most expensive-ever Asian-financed motion pictures. The story encompasses the epic "Battle of Red Cliff and events during the end of the Han Dynasty and immediately prior to the period of the Three Kingdoms in ancient China". Red Cliff is well acted by such Asian cinema luminaries as Tony Leung Chiu-Wai (梁朝偉; Liáng Cháowěi), Kaneshiro Takeshi (金城武; Jīnchéng Wǔ), Zhang Fengyi (张丰毅; of Farewell My Concubine [霸王別姬; Bàwáng Bié Jī] and The Emperor and the Assassin [荊柯刺秦王; Jīng Kē cì Qín Wáng] fame), Chang Chen (張震; Zhāng Zhèn of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon [臥虎藏龍; Wòhǔ Cánglóng]), the, IMHO, always wonderful -- and kind of "MIA" for a while -- Zhao Wei (趙薇; Vicky Zhao Wei) and other important stars. The film is gorgeous to look at, with battle scenes handled in the brilliant John Woo manner--slow motion, choreographed action and painstaking attention to other detail. With gorgeous cinematography and art direction, it looks spectacular in HD. One caution: As a motion picture experience, Red Cliff is, in my mind, a just tad lugubrious. You have to know your Chinese history pretty well to follow it without re-reviewing a couple of chapters. When I restarted the film in a few places, I found that I did enjoy it more, but this added review made the overall experience of watching Red Cliff longer than its already 140 minute duration.

What I especially enjoyed was Red Cliff's music. The composer is Iwashiro Tarô (岩代太郎). When I heard the intro music that plays as the Blu-ray disc menu starts -- before I knew who the composer was -- I immediately found it evocative of the music of one of my favorite film composers, Joe Hisaishi (久石譲; Hisaishi Jō), or even of Anime-specialist Hattori Takayuki's (服部隆之) score for the 1994 Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (ゴジラVSスペースゴジラ; Gojira tai SupēsuGojira). I then learned that Red Cliff's soundtrack was composed by Iwashiro. I very much enjoy the inclusion of a "fantasy" quality in this epic score, unmistakably written by a Japanese composer.

My first exposure to Iwashiro was his score to the great Japanese film (based on an important Japanese-Korean true-life, biographical novel), Blood and Bones (血と骨; Chi to Hone), starring one of my true cinema heroes, Kitano Takeshi (北野武). The soundtrack to Blood and Bones -- the story of a Korean immigrant to Japan who became, during the WWII period, one of the most influential members of the Korean community in Osaka (the leader of a fishing village), but who was a loathsome, violent human being that abused and alienated his family -- is one of the finest I've heard in modern motion pictures. I don't state this lightly--Iwashiro's plaintive, even haunting, music for that film could, as I see it, easily be performed on stages throughout the globe as a major classical concert work. If you have a chance to purchase the soundtrack CD (I got my hands on it immediately after seeing the film), don't miss it! Also be sure to hear other Iwashiro scores--to fine and very popular Japanese films such as Azumi (あずみ), the live-action version of Shinobi (忍), and others.

All in all, my HD experience with Red Cliff was a good one. I recommend part one of this epic for those with the fortitude to ferret through the historical references (or with extensive knowledge of them) and I am eager to see part two.

Hope for the New Year

2008-12-31T04:01:00.000-08:00

We in the United States have, as of this writing, a full day before the coming of the New Year.

2008 was a year of catharsis. Much involved unrest but also change. From chaos, however, often comes the greatest creativity. The Random House dictionary first calls creativity "the state or quality of being creative" but then:

"the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations, etc.; originality, progressiveness, or imagination: the need for creativity in modern industry; creativity in the performing arts."

No truer or more poignant statement can be made about the year to which we will, today, say goodbye. Stasis must and will be challenged.

As I have often done to my close friends, I more broadly call to attention in the New Year the tragedy of Healthcare and the plight of the elderly in America. My stomach turned in complete revulsion as I watched conservative politicians in the United States during Election 2008 continue to boast of the value of, and encourage the continuation of, "free market" economy in relation to health and prescription coverage. Unfathomably absurd statements about "freedom of choice", "tax credits", etc., flowed freely from the mouths of these disgusting liars who hide behind so-called faith as their social platform, while gleefully continuing to promote making the wealthy richer and taking away from the disadvantaged. While the greed of the most affluent people in what we were told was for many generations and led to believe will be again, presumably (artificially), the world's most prosperous country -- only, of course, for the chosen -- is being "discussed" but still not dissected or, Heaven forbid, curtailed, essentials for the least fortunate, most needy of our population are bantered about without a care. It is easy for politicians -- all of them wealthy (even the least well-off lawmakers, giving them the most unnecessary benefit of the doubt of their overall assets and the wealth required just to run for office in this country, earn salaries that are significantly higher than the average American) -- to make decisions, no matter how much they shed crocodile tears while doing so, to diminish services for senior citizens and other needy populations. Even if people find ridiculous justifications for the turning around of lives for the disadvantaged but still so-called "able bodied" in the U.S. (the bleeping "American Dream"), GET IT THROUGH YOUR HEADS FOLKS... NO MATTER HOW MANY ABUSERS OF OUR SYSTEM EXIST, NEEDY ELDERLY PEOPLE DO NOT HAVE OPTIONS TO "BETTER THEIR LIVES". PERIOD. So we watch the rich give nothing -- even when they are "generous", they only give to advantage themselves (tax write-offs, publicity, their own personal agendas, etc.) -- there is no true remorse to taking away from the genuinely needy.

The truth is, we are living in a specious concept of politics and economics with a series of fundamental untruths at the center. With the reactions to the current world and U.S.-specific economic crisis and the "change" brought about by the last election -- which will, at best, only spark dialogue among those who may, at the ground level, have very limited, but at least some, tangible effect -- all of it is in the name of "getting back to where we were before". We cannot. Where we were before advantaged some but never those who were really in need, or even those who have produced and not respected for it.

In 2009, as we hope for a better, albeit still artificial, economy, and betterment in this regard for ourselves personally, I pray that my words at least inspire one, two, 20, however many individuals as I can to at least THINK ABOUT Healthcare in America, and the plight of the defenseless elderly, and do something about it... whatever she, he, they can.

On a very personal note, I pray for love to prevail in 2009. This is not a "fortune cookie" quote; I write this with great seriousness. Love for an-other, others, opens our hearts and lets us look more sincerely at their personal and/or collective needs. Love is our heartbeat; it makes us recognize our own, and our sisters' and brothers', vulnerability and truth.

The Holy Night Trinity

2008-12-23T19:30:00.000-08:00

For me, one Christmas song stands high above the rest. It is the carol, written by Adolphe Adam in 1847 (with the words from a poem by Adam's contemporary, Placide Cappeau), known in French as "Cantique de Noël", and by English speakers as "O Holy Night". It is this song that touches me the most at the holidays. Not only the extraordinary music, but the force of the original lines of the poem. I love so many aspects of popular music, but, in my opinion, no pop singer -- in pure pop, gospel, jazz, R&B, etc. -- can truly do justice to "O Holy Night". It is most effective in a person posessing a sweeping operatic instrument, capable of centering a listener's attention to the song with the sound of a great voice.

Three singers have most deeply affected me with their gift to mankind of performing this song; two on records, one live in performance. I adore other interpretations, including those of the incomparable Enrico Caruso, Luciano Pavarotti, Leontyne Price, Renata Tebaldi and many, many more fine artists, but there are three standouts in my memory that surpass even them.

One is the "Cantique de Noël", in the original French, sung by the great French dramatic tenor, Georges Thill (1897 - 1984). Thill had a combination of power and latin masculinity in his voice, as well as his beautiful singing of the French text, which gave the song infinitely more impact than virtually all others. Listen to how he delivers the words:

"L'amour unit ceux qu'enchaînait le fer.

Qui Lui dira notre reconnaissance,

C'est pour nous tous qu'Il naît, qu'Il souffre et meurt."

If you were not a convert to this version before, I believe this phrase alone could turn one permanently to Thill's side.

In my heart, Thill's true rival in this carol is the one-and-only Jussi Bjorling, the magnificent, all-too short-lived Swedish tenor (1911 - 1960). While Thill made many recordings, Bjorling lived into the maturity of electrical and long-playing discs. For anyone who has not yet experienced this voice, a hearing of his warm, sunny voice, with his almost superhuman top notes (although, in life, Bjorling was famously insecure), in virtually any of the operatic or classical song repertoire that he recorded, I would say is a must. His "O Holy Night", sung in Swedish (as "O Helga Natt"), is a model both of pathos and vocal control. The high C that caps the song, taken with complete fearlesness, is a unique thing indeed.

The finest performance of "O Holy Night" that I've ever witnessed "live" was on television. It was in the St. Patrick's Cathedral (Archdiocese of New York) televised Midnight Mass of December 1984. This performance was conducted by the late John Grady, leading the St. Patrick's Cathedral choir and orchestra (John, who I knew for a few years, was also affiliated with the Metropolitan Opera), and witnessed by the, then new, Archbishop of New York, John O'Connor (who, in the next year, became Cardinal). December 1984 occurred one season after the Metropolitan Opera's Centennial Season celebrations, and it is an artist on the MET roster that annually performs the "O Holy Night" at the Midnight Mass at St. Patrick's. Such luminaries as Pavarotti, Renata Scotto, Marilyn Horne, Renee Fleming and numerous others have given their services to the Mass in this song. In December 1984, it was a then new MET artist -- who made her debut on opening night of the 1983-1984 Centennial Season -- my beloved Jessye Norman. I was already a passionate devotee of the voice and art of Jessye Norman, and her arrival at the MET on the Centennial opening night in Hector Berlioz's epic opera, LES TROYENS, was one of the great moments of my life. I was 20 years old then, we didn't have the Internet and no matter how much information I could find about Jessye Norman before I had the blessing of getting to know her for many years, I didn't know she would sing at the Mass. We waited each year to see who would be "on" (since they've televised the event), and when Jessye started to sing, my jaw dropped. It never lifted. My mouth was open in awe of the sheer grandness of Jessye Norman's sumptuous, cavernous voice pouring out into the huge Cathedral, at one point even drowning out the entire chorus, orchestra and full pipe organ. That alone would be awe-inspiring -- I'll never, as long as I live, forget her final, massive high note on the final word of "glory" (in English) -- but it was the sublety of the singing and the interpretation, the piano and pianissimo notes, the sheer artistry, even in such a venue, that was truly something that I would never hear again by anyone else. I wish this performance could be released on a collection of music from the Midnight Masses so that it will never be forgotten. I certainly will never forget it. I've heard Jessye sing "O Holy Night" in subsequent years, and it has always been an event, but never the same as in that Mass. (A similar thing happened to me in the "Urlicht" from Mahler's Symphony No. 2, "Resurrection", wherein Jessye sang the contralto part in this work, I believe in 1984 as well, possibly '85, under the baton of Leonard Bernstein, with the New York Philharmonic. I've heard her sing the "Urlicht" many times hence but she never seemed to feel it as deeply, even when equalling the reading technically or giving a fine performance from other perspectives.)

Though I don't have a copy available of the Norman reading -- I do still have it, however, on a very fragile VHS tape, recorded fuzzily (without a satellite dish or cable television) -- below are the unforgettable Thill and Bjorling readings (from YouTube).

*** HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO YOU AND ALL OF YOURS! ***

(Photo of Jessye Norman by Carol Friedman.)

Georges Thill:

Jussi Bjorling:

Deborah Polaski IS Elektra!

2008-12-10T21:32:00.000-08:00

On December 9, I experienced one of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra's concert performances of my all-time favorite opera, Richard Strauss's 1909 dramatic masterpiece, ELEKTRA. It was one of four outings of the work in the 2008/2009 valedictory season of the legendary American maestro, Lorin Maazel, as the NYPO's Music Director.

This concert performance was a true event. The expanded Straussian forces of the NYPO under Maazel sounded gorgeous--expansive, open, everything in tune, with exceptional attention to musical details. Where the orchestra could explode with bombast, it never did--climaxes were remarkably loud but the overall performance was captivatingly restrained and internalized. It let the drama of the work come out from within.

One must say, however, that despite Maazel's extraordinary interpretation of the score -- a more inspired performance from the maestro than most in recent history -- and the sheer beauty of the orchestra, this ELEKTRA belonged to the performer of the title role, the great American dramatic soprano, Deborah Polaski. In what turned out to be her astonishing 175th career performance of ELEKTRA, Polaski belied her veteran status with singing that was fresher and more focused than in several seasons past. She has always been a distinguished artist -- a Bayreuth veteran with a repertoire centered in the most vocally punishing roles of the operatic repertoire -- but she absolutely shone on Tuesday. Like Maazel, Polaski took an introspective approach. She towered where necessary, both in voice and presence, but it was never in an effort to overemphasize Elektra's hatred, fear or eventual madness. This was not a growling, vengeful fiend but a Mycenaean Princess driven to hate. Polaski's voice had the marvelously familiar "rolling thunder" in the middle and upper-middle ranges that I have loved since my first hearing of her almost 15 years ago -- in another astonishing Elektra in-concert with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Daniel Barenboim, co-starring my beloved Alessandra Marc as Elektra's sister, Chrysothemis -- and her top notes were better placed than they have been in quite a while. All in all, as the person who accompanied me to the performance said about Polaski, "wow, she's really something... she really IS Elektra!"

Hear the one-and-only Deborah Polaski in Elektra's great opening monologue, "Allein, Weh ganz allein" (clip from YouTube):

All three Uferts voted!

2008-11-05T14:14:00.001-08:00

I voted yesterday. My mother voted yesterday. My father, a lifelong political activist for the Left, voted yesterday for the first time in more than two decades. What? Political activist = has not voted in more than two decades? Doesn't add up. The reason my dad has not voted in countless previous elections has largely, until the past couple of years, had nothing to do with his decade-long struggle with ill health. So how does activism and a lack of participation in the political process connect?

My father believes that voting under the confines of the political landscape in the U.S. does not represent choice. In a way, by not exercising the right that so many, and he personally, fought for over the years -- my dad fought in Korea -- he has been fighting even further against the system.

This is why I was honored by the fact that my parents and I pulled the levers in this election. I am probably 90% aligned with my father in his beliefs about the political situation in this country, but the remaining 10% compelled me -- ever since I first became aware of him even earlier than the 2004 Democratic Convention -- to voice my support of and vote for Barack Obama for President of the United States. My father's vote in the current election is, therefore, for me, a mild ray of hope.

I always do vote. My vote on November 4, 2008 was, however, cast in honor of two people... my parents. See the note that I wrote to my family and dear friends one day before the election in tribute to them and to Barack Obama:

"Attached to this email is a photograph (*To this email to my family and friends, I attached a photo of my dad) of my father, Frank Ufert, currently age 74, United States Army veteran of the Korean War, former photographer, journeyman cabinetmaker/construction supervisor, who was in his own, unfortunately failed business for nearly 20 years, then became an OSHA construction safety officer -- who, incidentally, survived 9-11, having escaped his office in New York's World Trade Center plaza while having to return to work in a wheelchair after suffering a stroke several years prior because he could not afford to retire (he was the only OSHA Northeast Region employee to work on a part-time basis because of his unique medical and financial condition) -- now, officially, retired.

Many of you know that my father is a diabetic who, at age 65 in 1999, had triple-bypass surgery and then, as I mentioned above, a stroke in 2000 which left him permanently paralyzed on the left side of his body. In his ongoing struggle with his diabetes, he now has a defibrillator, has experienced debilitating glycemic seizures throughout the ensuing decade and is currently battling a very serious bout of dangerously reduced red blood cell production.

Many of you also know that my mother, Josephine Ufert, daughter of Italian immigrant parents, is currently 80 years old, worked with my dad in his business and then for the McGraw-Hill Companies in an administrative position before retiring during a corporate staff reduction. When my father fell ill, my mom -- not by choice but by love and, moreover, because of my parents' financial situation -- became his sole caregiver. While my dad's illness nearly killed him two decades before it should have -- and continues to do so a decade before normal life expectancy -- my mother's burden of care for my father is, equally, taking the life out of a woman formerly far-younger-than-her-years.

For many reasons, but mostly for my parents, I will vote tomorrow for Barack Obama for President of the United States. Trickle-down economy does not work. It is a miserable failure. The rich are greedy and will always be. Even for those in the U.S. who are medically insured like my parents -- so many are, tragically, not -- the opportunities to receive appropriate care in direct proportion to their ability to pay for insurance (at the low end of the cost spectrum) and to their years of labor in the workforce are abysmal. The fact that continued discussions from the right exist about further privatization and deregulation of healthcare are reason alone to vote for anyone, good or bad, who even wants to attempt to address this situation differently.

My vote for Barack Obama -- yes, he is another meglomaniacal, self-serving politician but the most progressive, intelligent, socially responsible and, seemingly, at least somewhat sincere of the kind -- is to get dialogue started and to quell, in part, the unchallenged voice and power of the radical political right in the United States. Issues of the economy and the needs of working-class people, of a woman's right to choose, of tax policy, of the costs of education, of other critical civil rights will, at least, be DISCUSSED again in an open forum. The fact that in a country with a nearly 250-year formal identity, with the same number of years of diversity in its population, with a presidency that in 2009 will be 220 years old, we can, for the first time, have a President that represents so many facets of the identity of the nation, would also nearly be compelling enough for me to vote for him.

But my vote for Barack Obama is in honor of my parents and all those who have been fighting against disgusting greed in terms of healthcare in the U.S.

GET OUT AND VOTE IF YOU ARE ELIGIBLE. DRAG ANYONE ELIGIBLE TO VOTE WHO MAY NOT WANT TO BE PART OF THE PROCESS. AND I IMPLORE YOU -- AND/OR THOSE YOU KNOW -- TO CAST YOUR VOTE FOR BARACK OBAMA FOR THE NEXT PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

Hugs, Karl"

I Exercised My Right to VOBAMA!

2008-11-04T13:39:00.001-08:00

See latest stories on Yahoo! News

I just participated in the most important political process of my lifetime. My 80 year-old mother and 74 year-old, disabled, severely health-compromised father, also just made it to the polls. If you are an eligible voter and have not yet voted, please, please get out and exercise your right... This time, it is a must.

I'm praying for a victory for Barack Obama and Joe Biden!

Scariest Thing I Can Imagine on Halloween

2008-10-31T08:46:00.001-07:00

There is no more chilling image than the thought of this man as President of the United States.

Happy All Hallows' Even and remember to get out and vote for Barack Obama on or before November 4th, or you'll see this horrifying "mask" in every diplomatic negotiation, every national policy debate, on all television stations and in every newspaper and magazine for, potentially, at least 4 years!!!

Barack on The Daily Show - Didn't Get the Memo on the Bradley Effect

2008-10-30T11:21:00.000-07:00

Barack Obama said last night on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" that:

"I don't think white voters have gotten this memo about the 'Bradley Effect."

Let's PRAY that, at least for some, this really is true.

DON'T FORGET TO VOTE BEFORE OR ON NOVEMBER 4th!!!

The Final Stretch... ELECT THIS MAN!

2008-10-28T17:45:00.000-07:00

Prayers for Jennifer Hudson

2008-10-26T14:52:00.001-07:00

Like so many others, my most heartfelt condolences go out to Jennifer Hudson on her tragic loss this weekend of her mother and brother. Moreover, I'm sending prayers to her and her family to find her missing nephew alive and well.

Welcome MET PLAYER!

2008-10-22T19:10:00.001-07:00

For those who, like me, love opera, another stunning, inspired move from Peter Gelb's brilliant, multimedia-driven team at the Metropolitan Opera.

Starting today, the company is offering MET PLAYER, a catalog of -- as of now -- 13 on-demand HD performance videos, 37 historic video performances and 120 Met radio broadcasts (audio), all available for web streaming, with many more to come. It is a subscription service and clearly worth every penny.

What I would have given for such broadaccess to the MET's archives as a young listener! It took years to finally break open and make available the vaults of the MET's historic radio and other media archives. Now, with technology, we not only have Gelb's great effort in negotiations with unions, etc. to enable us to behold this priceless legacy, but the chance to hear and see it at our fingertips.

I'm almost literally overwhelmed. GO GELB!!!

From the Daily Show with Jon Stewart: "Understanding Real America in Wasilla"

2008-10-21T16:15:00.000-07:00

Hilarious account of the "REAL AMERICA" (blech!) that is Wasilla, AK.

Thank you, Jon Stewart! :-)

The U.S.'s Oldest Overseas Voter

2008-10-16T14:10:00.000-07:00

I'm thrilled to know that this woman, Mother Cecelia Gaudet, age 106, a Catholic Nun, as deeply religious as one can be, feels that Barack Obama is the right person to be the next President of the United States. She has lived through EIGHTEEN Presidents.

She says in the interview that the next President "should be like a father and love his people and do the best of course."

God Bless her.

I'm Just Speechless!

2008-10-16T11:26:00.000-07:00

Read the summary here.

Someone on "That One"

2008-10-08T17:47:00.000-07:00

In last night's unexceptional so-called Presidential "debate", I heard a candidate for an extraordinary position -- a position once reserved for exceptional individuals -- use a term to describe his opponent which brought new meaning to pejorative. If I were to choose one part of the dictionary definition of the word "pejorative" to best describe the context and application of the term used last night by that candidate, it would be "belittling" but with a meaning far uglier than even pejorative can portray.

For me, the term used was among many things an abhorrent personification of the inherent RACISM of the campaign. Not the expected direct racism of certain voters, or the the "silent racism" of others who may even be genuinely supportive of the positions or overall personage of the Democratic candidate but because of things they would never say to anyone else will pull the lever differently on Election Day. Instead, it blatantly exposed the racism of the Republican Presidential candidate. THE TERM WOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN USED BY THIS WHITE CANDIDATE TO ANOTHER WHITE CANDIDATE OF ANY AGE OR PERCEIVED LEVEL OF POLITICAL EXPERIENCE. It showed that the Republican Presidential candidate lives within the framework of belief in WAR AGAINST AN ENEMY. All of those "enemies" in the Republican candidate's personal experiential framework have been PEOPLE OF COLOR. Last night, without a shadow of a doubt, he was AT WAR WITH AN ENEMY... an OTHER.

The Republican candidate's running mate, either when she is on or .0002 seconds off script, is spewing or goading from the crowd a hurl of fear-mongering, bigoted epithets waylayed at the Democratic candidate. The comments being made at the Republican rallies are frighteningly reminiscent of the pre-Civil War or pre-Civil Rights South.

The Democratic Candidate for President of the United States in the 2008 Election is NOT "THAT ONE"... he is BARACK OBAMA, THE ONLY ONE WHO DESERVES MY VOTE. The person who used that awful, derogatory term to describe a candidate for the United States Presidency is not just wrong, he and his running mate are DANGEROUS.

READ ABOUT THE ATTACKS (New York Times Editorial)

VISIT THE NEW "THAT ONE 08" WEBSITE

WATCH AND LISTEN -- OVER AND OVER AGAIN SO IT REALLY SINKS IN -- TO THE TERM BEING USED IN THE ACTUAL DEBATE (below, from YouTube):

Inge Borkh - Grand Dramatic Soprano

2008-09-28T15:42:00.000-07:00

Life's arc, even with exceptions, is of course consistent. With the very best of longevity and health, we human beings get approximately 70-90 years to walk the earth in one lifetime. This may be glaringly obvious but when parallel lives are juxtaposed, it can be quite sobering.

To those of us who lived a significant part of our lives in the middle to latter part of the 20th Century who were/are passionate about the operas of Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss, there have been only a small handful of soprano names that were literally synonymous with the great heroic leading ladies in these works. The names are Birgit Nilsson, Astrid Varnay, Martha Moedl and the only one still with us today, Inge Borkh. There were others, including one more who reigned supreme with these four ladies, Leonie Rysanek, but it is chronology about which I am making note--Rysanek, a beloved artist of mine, was born in 1926. Birgit Nilsson was born in 1917 or 1918 (depending on the source), Astrid Varnay in 1918, Martha Moedl in 1912 and Inge Borkh in 1917. Again, all but Borkh are gone, while the magnificent vocal legacies of each woman remains.

These voices are the ones of a TRUE "golden age", wherein those who prepared them in the roles of Bruennhilde, Elektra, Isolde, the Dyer's Wife, Senta and Salome actually knew and worked with Richard Strauss and studied directly under the "disciples" of Richard Wagner. From the perspective of vocal power and glamor, and from the first-hand experience they had with their assumption of these parts, they will never be equalled.

While I revel in the voices of the others, my very first hearing of Richard Strauss's opera, Elektra -- my favorite of all operas -- was not, as some think, in the performances of the very first opera I attended at the Metropolitan Opera House (an Elektra for the ages with Birgit Nilsson and Leonie Rysanek in the 1979-1980 season), but Dr. Karl Boehm's magnificent Deutsche Grammophon recording of the work with the Staatskapelle Dresden. On that recording, the Elektra was Inge Borkh. To this day, the power, openness, freshness and beauty of Borkh's voice remain the same experience. Every recording I've heard (both studio recorded and "live") of this incredible artist -- from the earlier parts of her career in the 1950s to the latter parts in the 1970s -- remained consistent... a rarity. In addition to the Strauss and Wagner parts, her undertaking of the title role of Turandot in Puccini's opera, on a Decca recording with Mario del Monaco and Renata Tebaldi, is similarly breathtaking.

Although I am only in my early-mid-40s, I heard Nilsson live and Varnay live at the very end of their careers, and Moedl sang in Vienna into the 1990s. This where the chronology is directly affecting... All were alive in my lifetime, all sang in my lifetime, all, once again, but one are no longer on this planet.

I SALUTE, with the deepest of respect, Mme. Borkh, the last, still vital being in a unique line--one equal to the others in every way.

Inge Borkh in Richard Strauss's Die Frau Ohne Schatten (from YouTube):

Inge Borkh in a 1990s interview -- how beautiful she still was at almost 80! -- and a scene from Bloch's Macbeth (also from YouTube):

Happy Moon Festival :-)

2008-09-12T10:46:00.001-07:00

I want to wish everyone a very happy Moon Festival. Be sure to eat lots of yummy mooncakes. I tend to like the ones with the egg yokes inside... as I understand it, that type of mooncake is sort of difficult to get in the States.

9-11 - Never Forget

2008-09-10T20:16:00.000-07:00

I'm no reactionary, "nationalistic" zealot. I do, however, honor the memory of 9-11. My father is a survivor of the event: he was at work that day, in his office in 6 World Trade Center. He returned to work (for OSHA) after suffering a debilitating stroke the year prior which left him paralyzed on one side. Though he went back to work in a wheelchair and would not have been able to escape his office on that day without help, his colleagues wheeled him out of the office in time to be safe.

I honor the memory of tragically lost lives and of the true heroism of REAL PEOPLE (not opportunistic politicians) who aided the sick, wounded, etc. oft to their own detriment. That horrible event -- which, being a lifelong Manhattanite, I witnessed first-hand -- will forever haunt me and my fellow New Yorkers in a way those who did not live here when it happened can never understand.

Rodan and War of the Gargantuas - Toho Classics on DVD

2008-09-05T14:15:00.000-07:00

The great blog, SciFi Japan, announced that on September 9, Classic Media will release on DVD a double-bill of the landmark Toho Studios Kaiju Eiga (怪獣映画), 1956's RODAN (ラドン Radon), and 1966's WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS (フランケンシュタインの怪獣サンダ対ガイラ Furankenshutain no Kaijū: Sanda taiGaira, lit. "Frankenstein's Monsters: Sanda Versus Gaira"). War of the Gargantuas will appear for the first time ever in the U.S. on DVD!

I grew up knowing every line of dialogue from the English-dubbed versions of these films. According to SciFi Japan, the new release will include the original Japanese and the U.S. versions of the film, and will also have as a supplement, an important new documentary called "Bringing Godzilla Down to Size". The documentary is a chronicle of Japanese special effects, focused on the work of special effects pioneer, Tsuburaya Eiji (円谷英二), and will contain interviews with many of the directors and actors who participated in Kaiju Eiga throughout the 1950s, 60s and 70s.

I CAN'T WAIT!!! :-)

Photo provided to SciFi Japan as a courtesy from Classic Media. © 2008 Classic Media, Inc./© 1956, 1966 Toho Co., Ltd.

Don LaFontaine - The Voice of Movies

2008-09-02T17:57:00.001-07:00

"In a world..." that would not have been the same without him, such came the voice of Don LaFontaine. Less than a week after his 68th birthday, LaFontaine, the authoritative, dramatic voice of hundreds of movie trailers, passed away today from "complications from pneumothorax" (or a collapsed lung).

His sound will be missed.

After years of being known for his voice alone, an appearance in a GEICO spot made his face as famous as his voice. See it here (from YouTube):

The Next President and Vice President

2008-08-28T18:14:00.001-07:00

Barack Obama and Joe Biden... THEY MUST BE THE NEXT PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES!!!

(Photo: Brian Kersey/UPI/NEWSCOM/FILE. www.csmonitor.com Copyright © 2008 The Christian Science Monitor. All rights reserved.)

Beijing Olympics Comes to an End

2008-08-24T18:57:00.001-07:00

What a spectacular end to the Beijing Summer Olympics. The great Zhang Yimou outdid himself in the Opening and Closing Ceremonies.

Congratulations to all of the athletes worldwide who brought moments of peace through the games and their extraordinary achievements!

Oh, and the Closing Ceremonies actually included performances by Major Chinese-language Pop Stars--the ones who were sorely missing from the magnificent Opening Ceremonies!!!

Michael Phelps RULES!!!

2008-08-11T19:22:00.000-07:00

The astonishing Michael Phelps just won another Gold and achieved another World Record at the Beijing Olympics. Way to go, man!

Beijing Olympics - Happy 888!

2008-08-08T11:41:00.000-07:00

Today marks the start of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing China. I wish all the athletes, worldwide, the very best.

These 5 adorable characters represent the Fuwa who, according to the official Beijing Olympics website, "serve as the Official Mascots of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, carrying a message of friendship and peace -- and good wishes from China -- to children all over the world."

Images from the Opening Ceremonies (from YouTube):

Marie Dressler - Superstar

2008-08-05T15:37:00.000-07:00

Today, with our Angelina and Lindsay and J-Lo and Paris and Beyoncé, hot female stars fill the media sky. In the 1930s it was no different: with Jean Harlow, Carole Lombard, Myrna Loy, Loretta Young and more.

However, in the 1930s one unlikely superstar phenomenon moved ahead of the pack. This phenomenon was the great Canadian-American screen and stage actress, Marie Dressler. No different than the 21st Century, popularity in that period in entertainment history was largely determined by youth and looks. However, after an undistinguished earlier stint in film and an important stage career, Marie Dressler, never a beauty (her autobiography was entitled "The Life Story of an Ugly Duckling.") and, in the end of the 1920s into the early 1930s, already in her 60s, appeared in the Greta Garbo classic, "Anna Christie", and became an overnight sensation. By the mid-30s, this incredible woman who could be equally powerful and effective in the most serious of dramatic roles or in the frothiest comedies, was among the highest-paid Hollywood stars and had top billing over stars like Jean Harlow in George Cukor's cinematic masterpiece, "Dinner at Eight". Unfortunately, Dressler's star would not -- at least in this incarnation -- burn long. She died of cancer in 1934 at only age 65.

It was a treat to see Robert Osborne's tribute this week to Marie Dressler, whom I've long admired as an actress and personality, on Turner Classic Movies. Among the Dressler films shown on TCM was "Min and Bill" for which she won the Best Actress Oscar® in 1931. This, along with her more well-known films to later audiences such as "Anna Christie" and "Dinner at Eight", as well as her hilarious comedies with her longtime co-star, Polly Moran, demonstrated her legendary versatility and complete command of the screen.

Will there still be an audience for great classics starring people like Marie Dressler in the future? There are still people who lived in the 1920s and 30s, albeit fewer each day, who actually remember that era and the dawn of cinema, the dawn of talkies, etc. When we detach from that, will our new generations which are obsessed with easy-to-digest celebrity, even care about the origins of motion pictures? I wonder...

Let Marie Dressler charm you in this wonderful clip from the "Hollywood Revue of 1929" (from YouTube). She IS the Queen!

In HK With the Cast of "Batman: The Dark Knight"

2008-07-24T11:37:00.000-07:00

I don't want to give away too much, but suffice to say that there are some really hot action scenes from "Batman: The Dark Knight" which take place in Hong Kong. See the photo for a little preview...

I was just sent a referral to a video on YouTube which showed the November 2007 HK press conference for the film with director Christopher Nolan and some of the cast. For those who can understand Cantonese, it appears below. For those who can't (like me!), the comments from Nolan, and stars Christian Bale, Morgan Freeman and others are in English.

An interesting tidbit: A young HK star named Edison Chen (陳冠希) makes a VERY BRIEF appearance in The Dark Knight. I assume -- and this is only speculation on my part -- that, with Chen's star having been on the rise, he was slated for a larger part. However, in the midst of the filming and then post-production/promotion, he was part of a now rather well-known photo scandal. I wonder if -- and, again, I am only guessing here -- his role was going to be more important in the film had the scandal not broken. Food for thought...

"Batman: The Dark Knight" - DO NOT MISS IT!

2008-07-23T16:21:00.000-07:00

I rarely see movies in the theater of late. There are many reasons for this, but most of them involve what I will call, without elaborating "ROI". Basically, the movies themselves are not worth the $12 USD ticket price and the relative inconvenience over other alternatives.

I am a die-hard cinema fanatic and, in some ways, miss the theater--a focused experience with no home distractions, the power and quality of 35 and 70mm projection, broadly-ambient 6-track surround sound, and now digital projection of stunning clarity. There is still nothing like watching a great movie on a big screen. However, there are few films that, to me, warrant the outing.

A brilliant exception... The Christopher Nolan blockbuster "Batman: The Dark Knight", (now in theaters and with the biggest opening weekend ticket-purchase-wise in the history of film)... and seeing it in the IMAX experience. With all of my love of "highbrow" art films, international cinema, etc., I confess that this big-budget epic would, ordinarily, not be as much my proverbial cup of tea as one might think. There is, though, my passion for Sci Fi, and for great Action epics -- some of which rival(ed) (or even emulate(d)) the works of Ford, Kurosawa, et. al. -- and I get tremendous pleasure when one is truly wonderful. The Dark Knight? TRULY WONDERFUL!

What makes this film not just an extraordinary thrill to behold in an enormous IMAX (and, I'm sure, in a HD Digital-projected) environment, and a hold-your-breath special effects action adventure with a terrific series of locations (New York/Chicago-hybrid Gotham City, Hong Kong, etc.), which is a well-directed thriller and is generally well-acted by the always fine Christian Bale, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, the great Sir Michael Caine (less utilized in this chapter of the Batman series, so Freeman, one of my long-time favorites since the children's TV series, "The Electric Company", many centuries ago when I was a kid, surpasses him), the surprising Aaron Eckart (in that order) and a decent, though un-special, Maggie Gyllenhaal (a curious bit of casting to replace the awful Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes... we miss you, Katie--who can we laugh at in this film)? Two words (and not just from the "hype")... HEATH LEDGER. The late actor's Joker is IMHO, as someone also put it, the "finest screen villain since Hannibal Lecter." No exaggeration.

I won't give away too much, but Ledger's performance is, again IMHO, incomparable. His treatment of all of the "bravura" parts is, as many expected with all the buildup, technically brilliant. However, it is the subtlety of his performance -- just the constant licking of the lips alone, used not only as an effect but going even a layer below to the physiological (he is compensating for his deformity) -- and the fact that he then acts a character as a layer above everything, makes it beyond compare. This, for example, is what was missing for me in Jamie Foxx's hardworking portrayal of Ray Charles in "Ray". I felt that one marvelled at Foxx's technical performance but there was no "additional acting" which made you realize that a characterization was in play. The last performance of that type that I saw on film was Martin Landau's Oscar®-winning portrayal of Bela Lugosi in the so-so, tongue-in-cheek Tim Burton biopic, "Ed Wood". Landau elevated an otherwise enjoyable but ordinary film to a great one through the strength of his, and his alone, once-in-a-lifetime essay of Lugosi--a human being, as well as an icon, in a struggle with depression and drug addiction. Ledger gives this level of performance in "The Dark Knight"; a far better film overall than "Ed Wood" (ironically, Burton directed the first films in the late '8os/'90s Batman series), but brought to true classic status through Ledger's work.

It is painful to know that Ledger -- who captivated me as an acting presence since his performance as Billy Bob Thornton's son, Sonny, in the excellent "Monster's Ball" -- no longer walks the Earth. I hope, wherever his spirit is, he is smiling from ear-to-ear at his achievement as the Joker. Hahahahahahahahaha!!!

Here is the trailer, from YouTube:

Pierre Boulez at 80 - Mahler Symphony No. 2 "Resurrection"

2008-07-18T12:42:00.000-07:00

In 2005, the grand French composer/conductor (once Music Director of the New York Philharmonic), Pierre Boulez, turned 80. The Staatskapelle Berlin, one of the world's oldest orchestral ensembles, honored the maestro's birthday by presenting him conducting the orchestra in a Mahler series.

On DVD from EuroArts/Arte is a video of a spectacular performance from the Boulez/Staatskapelle Berlin celebration series of Mahler's Symphony No. 2, the "Resurrection". It is one of the most touching essays of this work I've ever experienced. The maestro, completely focused and almost stone-cold on the podium -- in Richard Strauss, Fritz Reiner fashion -- unleashes waves of gorgeous sound from the orchestra and chorus. Everything is delivered with musical nuance but also with a complete, unbridled passion which belies Boulez's conducting stance. It means that he drilled a lifetime of experience with Mahler's music, and his power and exhuberance, into the players and singers before the performance, and then let them "do the work" in the hall.

If you get your hands on the DVD, you'll experience a real treat.

Photo Credit: Copyright © 2005 Clive Barda (for Deutsche Grammophon).

An excerpt from the great final movement can be heard and seen here (on YouTube):

From Reuters: "Lost footage of "Metropolis" surfaces in Argentina"

2008-07-03T07:56:00.001-07:00

According to a Reuters article published today, missing scenes from Fritz Lang's "Metropolis" were discovered in a museum in Argentina.

In a quote in the article from "Helmut Possmann, head of the foundation which owns the rights to the film, the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung", he said that the foundation was "overjoyed" by the find as the lost footage was considered to be gone forever:

"We no longer believed we'd see this. Time and again we had had calls about supposed footage but were disappointed."

Fans like myself of this true masterpiece of World Cinema, we are now salivating over the prospect of seeing it anew.

Read the full Reuters article here.

If you've never granted yourself the thrill of seeing "Metropolis", check out a brief clip (from YouTube):

Ippudo New York - Yumm!

2008-06-30T18:11:00.001-07:00

Japanese restaurant food made by, um, Japanese is getting rarer and rarer to find in New York. As I was growing up and Japanese investors and corporations were purchasing a significant amount of New York's real estate and important businesses, authentic Japanese restaurants were a plenty, even in lower-priced (the stuff I could afford!) categories. I miss this--it seems that most lower or mid-priced Manhattan Japanese restaurants are now Chinese-owned and have lost their genuineness.

An exception is the new, New York branch of the previously Japan-only chain, Ippudo (一風堂). In Manhattan's East Village which still boasts a considerable number of Japanese/Japanese-American-owned, Japanese/Japanese-American-staffed Japanese eateries, Ippudo is a breath of fresh air. It is fun, simultaneously bright and dim, and full of energy. The focus: ramen noodles. Chewy, perfectly al dente ramen are served with a variety of broths. I've not myself yet opted for Ippudo's traditional soupy kinds of Ramen presentations because I don't eat pork and the broth is pork-based. I may make one of my rare exceptions to my non-religious, non-dietary-restriction rule to try the standard Shiomaru, Akamaru, etc. (I sometimes eat tiny bits of pork in, say, Chinese turnip cakes during dim sum, but I never consciously order it or eat large quantities of it... beef, lamb and other red meat, on the other hand, is not just out for me but verboten.) So far, I've had a wonderful summery ramen salad with a refreshing grapefruit dressing -- surprisingly good -- and many of the very (very!) tasty, beautifully-presented, yet not "stuffy" appetizers.

Most special are two aspects of the restaurant and the food. First, that you are literally in the kitchen when in the dining room. Large, transparent glass (or plexiglass?) panels show the kitchen in an almost 360-degree view inside the restaurant. Cooking and dining are seamlessly joined. Second, the freshness of the noodles; they make them on premises and they are just perfect. Ippudo is no more special to me than my beloved New York staple, Sapporo (札幌市), especially the smaller Sapporo location on 49th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues, where I've been a regular and devoted customer since I was a child. However, it is great fun, great food and a little more upscale in it's simplicity and straightforwardness (does that make sense?).

See the New York Times review (published, April 30, 2008) and do experience it. Delicious!

Nogami Teruyo and Nakadai Tatsuya at the Japan Society - One of the Greatest Moments of My Life!

2008-06-25T20:08:00.000-07:00

Tonight, at New York's 100 year-old Japan Society, I had an incomparable experience. This month and next, the Japan Society is featuring two major film events: one entitled "Japan Cuts"; and a retrospective of the work of Nakadai Tatsuya (仲代達矢), arguably Japan's greatest living actor. The latter is the Nakadai Retrospective--a co-production with Film Forum (where the films are being screened).

In honor of Nakadai-san's work with legendary director, Kurosawa Akira (黒澤明), Japan Society hosted an appearance, on June 25, by Kurosawa's 50+ -year "right hand", his "script girl" -- and, later, Assistant Producer -- Nogami Teruyo. Nogami was interviewed by Michael Jeck before a sold out audience and signed copies of her book, "Waiting on the Weather". The book is a recollection of Nogami's work with Kurosawa.

During the interview with the magical 81 year-old lady, with her shock of white hair, vibrant personality and lightning fast responses (through a translator) to Jeck's questions, clips of Kurosawa's films were played. At one point, Moderator Jeck said that he would show a specific clip and, afterward, that he and Nogami-san would be joined by a "special guest". The clip was from Kurosawa's late-career masterpiece Ran (乱)--a scene featuring Nakadai Tatsuya in a moment of Lord Hidetora's Lear-like madness. The lights came up and Jeck motioned to the front row of the audience where he called up, to our shock and surprise, none other than NAKADAI HIMSELF! Not only were we in the presence of the greatness of Nogami-san, we now had the legendary Nakadai, in New York City, right there on stage with her. I literally gasped as the 75 year-old Nakadai, still the handsome movie star -- appearing some 15-20 years younger than his age -- nearly lept to the stage. He joined Nogami in answering questions, but I nearly didn't hear the answers... I was completely star-struck!

Nakadai Tatsuya and Nogami Teruyo at the Japan Society 6/25/2008

This, however, was not the only extraordinary moment for me in this already unbelievable evening. I literally dragged myself to the event--I have been suffering for the past several months with an illness that seemed to have healed but relapsed a few days before. I had been in the hospital (on antibiotics both in hospital and at home) and I am now, unfortunately, back on antibiotics. This makes me very tired. Still, I would have regretted so much missing the opportunity to see and hear this special interview with Nogami-san, so I forced myself to the Japan Society tonight.

I attended the event alone. By "alone", I mean that no one else I know personally attended the talk with me. A tall woman of a bright and friendly countenance, and a definite "presence", sat next to me in the auditorium. We began to talk and she asked about my interest in the event and in Japanese Cinema. I explained as much as I could muster in my semi-delirious state (from the tiredness that comes with taking antibiotics). She was very charming. She followed by explaining her introduction to Japan many years ago--as a teacher, on a Fullbright grant after she graduated from college (Wesleyan). She also described her long journey of interest in Japan, Japanese culture and Japanese cinema and that she had even been an essayist on Japanese film. She then mentioned that, at one time, she would write film-related essays in the sometimes absence of the person who became her husband. She then revealed that her husband, as she pointed to my copy of Nogami-san's "Waiting on the Weather", was "him". It was no less than the person who wrote the foreward to Nogami's book, the great American scholar (and popularizer) of Japanese film, Donald Richie, one of my heroes! The woman was MARY RICHIE, Donald Richie's former spouse, about whom I had read extensively, especially in Richie's highly expressive, revealing book, "The Japan Journals: 1947-2004". I couldn't believe it. Mrs. Richie and I spent much of the evening talking. What a profound pleasure to meet her!

Mary Richie and me, Japan Society 6/25/2008

I think it was destiny that brought me to tonight's event. It was certainly a night I will never forget.

Asian-American International Film Festival (New York) - July 10 - 19, 2008

2008-06-25T12:23:00.000-07:00

June and July are chock-full of ground-breaking Asian and Asian-American cultural and other related events.

Yet another important cinema series, the now 30+ year-old Asian-American International Film Festival (a co-production of Asian Cinevision and the Asia Society) is being held in New York from July 10-19. This festival has brought to the American fore the likes of master filmmakers, Mira Nair, Ang Lee (李安 Lǐ Ān), Wayne Wang (王穎 Wáng Yǐng), Park Chan-wook (박찬욱) and Justin Lin (林詣彬 Lín Yìbīn) with the U.S. and New York premieres of some of their seminal cinematic works.

Be sure to check it out!

The intro. video from the 2007 festival appears below (from YouTube).

George Carlin (1937 - 2008) - The Passing of One of My Heroes

2008-06-24T16:42:00.001-07:00

The truth was told by George Carlin. I can't tell you how much I will miss his powerful voice and his honesty. I will miss the view that he had of politics which so few else would articulate.

I'm overcome by his passing.

Though I am taking the coming election very seriously, in many ways to hell with it. Here is the unadulterated truth about politics in the U.S. and around the world from George Carlin (from YouTube):

Japan Cuts - Concurrent Film Festival - July 2-13

2008-06-20T06:25:00.000-07:00

Simultaneously with the NYAFF 2008, the Japan Society is hosting its own important film program, Japan Cuts. Some films overlap with NYAFF, but there are other gems in this festival that should not be missed.

Among the programs within the Japan Cuts fest is another simultaneous fest, a tribute to Nakadai Tatsuya (仲代達矢), who is still living and actively continuing, at age 75, his more than 50-year career. Nakadai has long-been, and continues to be acknowledged by the world cinema community one of Japan's greatest-ever actors and he is one of my personal favorites.

Check out the trailer for Japan Cuts on YouTube:

New York Asian Film Festival - June 20 - July 6

2008-06-20T06:10:00.000-07:00

Subway Cinema is presenting its annual film event, the 2008 New York Asian Film Festival, June 20-July 6. This year's festival is a co-production between Subway Cinema and the Japan Society.

Films in the series have grown this year to 43, along with 2 short film programs. Be sure to check it out!

Ninja Warrior - G4 Network

2008-06-15T16:14:00.000-07:00

I've just seen a "reality show" on the G4 cable network entitled Ninja Warrior. It is an edited version of a Japanese program, Sasuke (サスケ The Great Ninja Warrior).

I put "reality show" in quotes because Ninja Warrior -- though there are the obligatory appearances by (Japanese) celebrities and the "misfits" that one finds in the audition/tryout parts of any U.S. or other reality program -- is an extraordinary athletic endurance test rather than a 21st Century bastardization of a '50s talent show. I'm astonished by the physical prowess of the contenders.

I also didn't know that Sasuke has been on television in Japan since 1997. I'm definitely hooked!

Check out a clip below.

Then and Now - Losing 150 pounds

2008-06-10T08:06:00.000-07:00

Among my most important life achievements was losing 150lbs. (68kg.) in the 1980s. In my 20s, I weighed 300lbs. (136kg.). People who see photos of me from the time -- such as the one above -- will oft refer to my laughter and seeming happiness. It was actually miserable. No matter what successes, failures and everything in-between that I may have had since, nothing will compare to this triumph over my body--one that probably, in the long run, saved my life.

Weight loss is "no picnic", so to speak! It is not an instant solution for happiness. It does not automatically give you the rewards that you expect. HOWEVER, there is no substitute for the improved mental and physical health that comes with changing your body in a positive way.

Most people ask the inevitable question: "How did you do it?" I did it in the '80s, prior to gastric bypass surgery and all of the other procedures that exist today. It was simply a life change. By "simply", I do not mean to diminish the all-encompassing process that comes with making the decisions and lifestyle modifications which must be made when attempting such a dramatic transformation. I use the word "simply" to indicate that it was, with dogged determination, changing eating and exercise habits. This, of course, is not an option for all. When I answer that inevitable question, I say, "it was a process." The usual reply is "what do you mean?" I always counter-respond with "you have to be ready, emotionally, for the process... it starts with your head and heart." In my observations -- both of my own situation and that of others -- is that excessive weight is most often a symptom of another, very different issue, usually emotional, even physiological... and by physiological I mean that it is more often a "manifestation". I do not mean that I am ignoring those with issues of metabolism and other serious medical conditions who gain or continue to carry weight. I also do not mean to say that everyone is meant to be thin. However, excessive weight is a problem, one that is not just physical, and must be dealt with in one way or another to improve health.

I'm happy I was given the gift of the discernment, more than 20 years ago, to make this change. I continue to fight with the issue. My metabolism, because I was a largely inactive child, is slower than some, and I realize that I must treat my food addiction similarly to those who suffer addictions to drugs, alcohol, etc.--I'm fortunate that I do not have, and have never had, addictions to any other substances. I am now, because of career responsibilities, a recent bout of illness, and other lifestyle issues, battling with gain and loss of approximately 20 pounds. I am now determined, with some exceptions -- you can't maintain weight in the long run by completely avoiding the foods that you like or avoiding social situations wherein you eat food that you probably shouldn't -- to take off about 10 pounds. Back to dogged determination... THANK GOD it never ends!

Ma Ying-Jeou - Taiwan's New President

2008-06-09T20:27:00.000-07:00

On May 20, 2008, the debonair, National Taiwan University/NYU/Harvard-educated (!), former KMT Chairman and former Taipei Mayor, Dr. Ma Ying-Jeou (馬英九) was sworn in as, essentially, the sixth President of the Republic of China (Taiwan). I say "essentially" because this list includes the first in the "modern" line, "Generalissimo" Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), who is hard to categorize simply as a "President".

It is an extraordinary phenomenon that only two generations ago, Taiwan was led by a just-post-Qing Dynasty warlord. Equally fascinating is the fact that President Ma, even in largely ultramodern Taiwan, faces many issues that continue to carry forth from the warring period following the "Great Qing" and the struggles with the immediately-succeeding Chinese governments (Mao Zedong 毛澤東/毛泽东, etc.).

Taiwan was once a financial superpower. While it still in many respects dominates economically in its development of technologies, Taiwan's fiscal well-being has suffered greatly in recent years because of the ongoing tensions with the Chinese Mainland. President Ma will have to face these issues with fresh diplomacy and economic deftness.

I don't have a specific position on which of many complex "perspectives" is/are the "right" one(s) for today's Taiwan; other than to deeply respect the nationalism which has grown in most of the Taiwanese people that I've met. Their national identity comes from many years -- far older than modern Taiwan (which started with the post-WWII Chiang government) -- of unique, evolved culture and understandably related pride. I hope that President Ma will find the right balance between this critically important aspect of Taiwan's people and the actions that will, hopefully, contribute to reviving its economy--a.k.a. ties to the Chinese Mainland, as well as other world nations.

My very best wishes go to the new President and to Taiwan.

Portishead - Third

2008-06-08T12:45:00.001-07:00

With my love of opera and classical music, friends find it fascinating that I am also passionate and knowledgeable about certain popular music. I remember having a conversation with a friend -- a very important opera singer who sings leading roles on the world's great stages but who, in private life, primarily follows popular music -- about the band, Van Halen. My friend was speaking to another friend in a social environment about loving different Van Halen songs and I asked "which did you prefer, David Lee Roth Van Halen or Sammy Hagar Van Halen?" My friend, with whom I can have several hours of discussion at a time about nuances of Richard Strauss or Verdi or works of the Second Viennese School, was stunned that I not only knew Van Halen's music, but that I would make the David Lee Roth/Sammy Hagar distinction. Unfortunately, I confessed that, though "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love", "Jump", "Hot for Teacher", et. al., which were part of the David Lee Roth period/origins of the band, are, essentially, the classics and the preference of my friend and her friends, I prefer the power of Sammy Hagar's voice. BUT I DIGRESS...

This weekend, I was in the Union Square Virgin Records -- a last holdout of a large, well-stocked music store where so many are fading because of the online purchasing and/or downloading phenomenon (WHERE WILL I GO WHEN THERE ARE NO MORE MUSIC/VIDEO STORES... :-( ) -- and heard a new album on the loudspeakers. When I inquired about the song that was playing -- a richly powerful piece of electronica with passion but the almost semetrical coldness which is often characteristic of that musical genre -- I learned that it was a single off of the new album from the pioneering British electronic band, Portishead. It turned out to be their new album entitled "Third", their first in a decade. It was the track, "We Carry On", which was being played. An awesome, in the dictionary definition of that word, piece of music. The rest of the album is filled with musical diversity. I've not bought a pop CD in a long time but I couldn't wait to get this one into my hot-little-hands, so I made an impulse purchase.

Here, from YouTube, is the video of this extraordinary musical work.

The Jews of New York - Touching Tribute

2008-06-05T19:24:00.001-07:00

This week, PBS Television re-ran an extraordinary documentary narrated by Tovah Feldshuh, called The Jews of New York. According to the film's website: "THE JEWS OF NEW YORK profiles Jewish individuals and institutions that changed the face of New York, woven together with expert commentary, to present a broad spectrum of the ways in which the Jewish community has impacted secular New York life from the earliest immigrants through today."

Profiles in the documentary include incisive histories of New York's groundbreaking Mount Sinai Hospital, the making of the legendary Broadway show (and film), "Fiddler on the Roof" (explaining its New York origins), the Schiff Family (including the remarkable philanthropy of Jacob Schiff), and an interview with ubiquitous former New York Mayor, Ed Koch. Most touching for me, however, are portraits of the Hasidic Rabbi, Haskel Besser -- which really must be seen/heard to be appreciated -- and of the Russ Family of the Lower East Side's more than 100 year-old "Russ & Daughters Appetizers" (an unparalleled Jewish food shop). As for the latter, I find the most tear-inducing, special part to be that the most recent generation of Russ's is now, with aplomb, keeping the tradition.

I don't identify a lot with the Jewish portion of my heritage. I am more parts Italian-American Catholic (my mom's side) and German/Hungarian-American Agnostic Socialist (my dad's side) than Jewish. However, my great-grandmother -- my father's father's mother, whom I knew as a child and who lived 99 years -- was a Jewish immigrant from Germany to the U.S. This, of course, made my grandfather (my father's father) Jewish. However, there, for my lineage, it stopped--my grandmother, my father's mother, was not Jewish and the bloodline ended with my grandfather. Perhaps it is that fact -- something "in my blood" -- which drew me so much to the beauty and sentimentality (the most positive meaning of that word) of this documentary? Perhaps it is just being a New Yorker? New Yorkers of any ethnic background, of my generation and many, many New York generations before mine, felt the rich culture of Jews as an integral part of the fabric of the city. The food, the influences on the healthcare, financial, education, legal systems and so much more, the language (I grew up using Yiddish words without even knowing they were Yiddish!), the music, the art, the film, the Orchard Street of old... so, so much. It is certainly that, plus having a Jewish great-grandmother and grandfather (and when he remarried after divorcing my grandmother many years before I was born, he married a Jewish woman--an Austrian immigrant who spoke fluent Yiddish), which called my attention to many of the nuances of this terrific cinematic work.

It is also the craft with which the Jews of New York was made which captured my attention. It is a very simple film, but while it is sentimental in the right ways, it never oversentimentalizes (if that is a word!) even when being nostalgic. It lets the interviewees tell their stories in a very straightforward and contemporary way. Another not-to-be-missed work!

Clips (on the film's website, with more available):

Three Generations of the Russ Family: http://www.jewsofnewyork.org/stories/three-generations-of-the-russ-family
Hasidic Rabbi Haskel Besser: http://www.jewsofnewyork.org/stories/hasidic-rabbi-haskel-besser

Asian Images in Film - Turner Classic Movies

2008-06-04T11:47:00.000-07:00

Throughout June 2008, Turner Classic Movies is broadcasting a series entitled "Race & Hollywood: Asian Images in Film". The special website dedicated to this very important film festival says that it "explores the variety of Asian characters depicted in American films, ranging from negative stereotypes and caucasian actors made up to look asian to the emergence of martial arts films that created their own Asian superstars, and the more sensitive and sophisticated vehicles of such dedicated actors as Sessue Hayakawa (*早川雪洲, Hayakawa Sesshū), Miyoshi Umeki (*梅木美代志, Umeki Miyoshi) and Pat Morita." Curated by University of Delaware professor, Peter X. Feng, in collaboration with TCM's great host, Robert Osborne, the festival -- with films ranging from the silent era through the start of the 21st Century -- is not only expository but, in the purest sense, provocative.

Asian Images in Film kicked off last night (June 3) with a one-hour documentary entitled "The Slanted Screen". It concentrates specifically on the "portrayals of Asian men in American media, chronicling the experiences of actors who have had to struggle against ethnic stereotyping and limited roles." The Slanted Screen features 15 interviews -- from Oscar-nominated actors James Shigeta and Mako (マコ岩松, Iwamatsu Makoto), to TV pioneers Dustin Nguyen and Bobby Lee, to director Justin Lin and more -- which, in a way, summarize the entire TCM series to come. That summary is their important perspective on the overwhelmingly maddening, virtual shutting out of Asian and Asian-American performers, and particularly Asian/Asian-American men in U.S. cinema. For all of the distinguished Asian and Asian-American artists who have directed, produced, written, photographed, and graced the screen in U.S. films, there are still today, in 2008 (!), virtually no major Asian or Asian-American actors on the U.S. cinema scene who command the same salaries as Caucasian actors. The rare exceptions are those who, even in very high quality films, still, in blatent or subtle ways, perpetuate Asian stereotypes.

TCM's series has purposely opened this and many other complex "doors" to the issues of Asian images on screen--with films to admire and admonish, respect and decry, sometimes simultaneously. Ongoing commentary by Professor Feng and Robert Osborn will bring out topics of discussion which will, no doubt, demystify, puzzle, inspire, enrage, empower and educate.

Race & Hollywood: Asian Images in Film can be seen on TCM on Thursday nights throughout June (check local listings).

From YouTube: The Trailer from Sidney Franklin's (and the uncredited Victor Fleming) "The Good Earth" (1937):

Barack Obama - The Projected Democratic Presidential Nominee

2008-06-03T19:56:00.000-07:00

Tonight, Barack Obama made history. I'm ecstatic.

I wish him the very best on his road to an historic victory in November.

Bo Diddley - R.I.P.

2008-06-03T03:34:00.000-07:00

The great Bo Diddley passed away yesterday (June 2). May this legendary singer, songwriter and incomparable guitarist, known to many as the true founder of Rock 'n Roll, rest in peace.

Let this be the week

2008-06-02T13:07:00.000-07:00

I really hope this thing will finally be sewn up after tomorrow. It is time.

Philippine Independence Day Parade NYC 2008

2008-06-01T15:05:00.001-07:00

I've had a lifelong fascination with, and have learned a great deal about, Asian and Asian-American culture. I just attended the 2008 Philippine Independence Day Parade and Celebration in NYC. Ironically, with no Filipino heritage whatsoever in my background, I was a member of, and later an officer (!) in the Philippine-American Organization of the City College of New York, C.U.N.Y. when I was an undergraduate student.

The latter fact is very interesting. I had occasion to see a dear friend at today's parade -- who is visiting NYC with his wife and three children -- with whom I attended college, who was the reason I joined the C.C.N.Y. Filipino/a Club. I had not seen my friend Romy in nearly 15 years when his daughter, Chelsea, was first born. Chelsea, now at 15, is a beautiful young woman but was an infant when I last saw her. It is such a fascinating emotional "journey" when one sees friends again after such a long time. I feel very special to know that my friend is alive, well, thriving and has such a lovely family.

(Romy and me, NYC June 2008)

One of the most important aspects of the event for me was the political activism. I'm glad to see people not just being part of corporations (and advertising them), or politicians with their "canned" appearances, but real cultural organizations with voices. Moreover, there were protests for immigrant rights and for rice production/import-export which were profound statements in an otherwise politically-quiet event.

The colors, as usual, were beautiful this year. What I missed, however, was music. There was very little music at today's parade. This was something conspicuously not Filipino for a a Filipino/a event, for there is always music and dancing in any Filipino celebration. Following the parade, however, was a festival which would certainly find many musical performances from local and even international talent. I wished I had been up to attending the festival as well--I'm still recovering from a recent medical incident which tires me more than usual.

Another fact is that, when I was in college and a member of the C.C.N.Y. "P.A.O.", I weighed approximately 300 pounds. I since lost over 150 pounds--okay, okay, give or take 20 depending on my life state at any given moment! Still, I am a dramatically different person physically than I was during my college years. This is an eye-opening revelation for some friends whom I have not seen since my PAO involvement. Others from those now long-ago days who have seen me in years since are somewhat amazed that I've kept my weight off. In my mind, I had no choice--I'm sure it has kept me alive.

With such wonderful yet complex memories of my college years and a beautiful parade on a gorgeous New York afternoon, what a nice way to spend a day! :-)

From YouTube

Deborah Voigt as Isolde - Gotta give her credit

2008-05-29T20:42:00.000-07:00

I have always had interesting feelings about the talent of Deborah Voigt. However, I've really got to hand it to her for her Isolde in this season's TRISTAN UND ISOLDE from the MET.

I won't go into great detail here with my long-held opinions, based on years and years of careful listening, about Voigt's voice. Suffice to say that I admire her art immensely, and I very much respect but don't love her voice. She also -- thank God for her, overall health-wise -- recently lost a significant amount of weight, quickly, through surgical procedures, and it has definitely altered her vocal instrument.

However, I listened to the MET radio broadcast of the TRISTAN when it aired in early Spring, and just watched/listened to the PBS (NYC WNET) telecast of the opera, and I have to give Voigt a lot of respect for her work. Again, despite certain things that I probably would not have liked very much before her recent physical changes, despite the effect of those changes, and despite the fact that she basically does not have a voice large enough to sing Isolde in the "traditional" way (I won't elaborate--I'll save that topic for another post), she sang with her version of power and with pathos and drama. She was tireless in the role--unflinching even at the most overwhelming of James Levine's Wagnerian orchestral tidal waves; singing with "her voice" and still getting over the orchestra rather handily. I even found myself caught up in the drama and not thinking about the voice on numerous occasions throughout her extended scene in Act I and the Act II Love Duet. Voigt's "Liebestod" at the conclusion of the opera was also immensely heartfelt. I must also say that she looked beautiful.

I actually ran into Voigt at a restaurant near Lincoln Center after the radio broadcast--that evening, I was meeting another great soprano (a dear personal friend) in the same restaurant where Voigt had her post-performance dinner. Another mention of how she looks: she not only lost such a dramatic amount of weight that she is now very slim, but she even looks somewhat small. I always saw her in the past as someone of a certain height but the weight loss made her, at least on the occasion of that evening in the restaurant, seem to be a more of a "compact" person.

When, as I awaited my other diva friend, I saw Voigt giddily leaving the restaurant -- as well she should! -- with a group of her friends, I did something that I would not ordinarily do. I grabbed her by the shoulder and just said "awesome today". She very sincerely -- I mean genuinely so -- said "thank you so much".

One minor note on the telecast: I noticed that they must have cut in a different take of the "Liebestod" for the telecast--the radio broadcast performance was the one transmitted live in HD to movie theaters around the country/world. I remember that Voigt flubbed the final climactic note of the "Liebestod" (on the words "in des Weltatems") on the radio broadcast, which, frankly, didn't matter because her overall performance of the aria. On the telecast, the flub on the grand note on "Welt" was not there. Ah, digital technology! :-)

Here is her "Liebestod" (audio only) from YouTube:

The Reichsorchester: The Berlin Philharmonic

2008-05-27T19:02:00.001-07:00

One of the topics I find most fascinating is the role of art during the Nazi era. In this light, I've very much wanted to see the new documentary entitled "The Reichsorchester: The Berlin Philharmonic" by Enrique Sanchez Lansch (Arthaus Musik DVD). I decided today to treat myself to the DVD.

Lansch's documentary, from a book by author Misha Aster called "The Reich's Orchestra", chronicles the Berlin Philharmonic during WWII. In addition to remarkable historical footage of great conductors leading the BPO during the period (e.g. Wilhelm Furtwängler, Erich Kleiber, Hans Knappertsbusch and others), there are compelling interviews with living members of the orchestra who played throughout the war and the children of other members. The interviewees, with a complex perspective, "true" or not, describe their connection to the time as artists, musicians, citizens, observers... The view of these players and their descendents of the Nazis and their willingness (or requirement for survival) to perform in an orchestra that celebrated both great art but also the "mission" of the Nazis during this atrocious period in history should be seen, IMHO, by all. Every viewer of Lansch's documentary will come away with different conclusions, but you will have heard first-hand accounts of the period and experience something never really seen, collectively, before.

The 2007 documentary was released on the occasion of the 125th anniversary of the founding of the Berlin Philharmonic (1882). This is a bold and interesting statement--to point-blank face the issue of the Nazi period as a representation of the anniversary of the orchestra's origination.

An excerpt of the documentary can be found here:

Sunshine in NYC!

2008-05-26T07:26:00.000-07:00

It is FINALLY sunny and warm in NYC! It has been chilly and gloomy throughout May.

I've said it every year for the past several years... we don't get the extended, brutal, subzero (Fahrenheit) January and February weather of the past -- most likely a result of global warming -- but the cool, yucky weather lasts a lot longer. I've said to friends who also live in NYC (I'm a life-long Manhattanite and have seen many, many New York winters and springs), "we don't have the terrible winters anymore but the cold lasts until May or even June". Everyone to whom I say this, every year over the past decade, has dismissed it, even though they live through and complain about the "new" weather each year.

With escalating real estate, fuel and other prices affecting everything in New York -- quality of life, service, dining out, attitudes (a lot of discussion about this topic but I will leave it for another post/several posts in future), etc. -- and the cold, dark spring weather (something I've hated since I lost almost 150 pounds more than two decades ago) make it harder and harder to justify living in what, arguably, is still, despite its many long-time and newer flaws, one of the greatest cities in the world.

For today, however, even though I've been recuperating from an illness throughout May -- I had an unexpected stay in hospital (for the first time in my life) a couple of weeks ago to battle an infection -- I will definitely take a walk and enjoy the beauty that is Manhattan in the sun. :-)

SciFi Japan - Great Information

2008-05-25T18:36:00.000-07:00

For anyone interested in "Kaiju Eiga" cinema, don't miss the great blog/information resource called SciFi Japan. It covers far more than just Godzilla and his cohorts and has excellent photos and links to other Sci-Fi resources.

Shimura Takashi - The Great Man of Japanese Cinema

2008-05-25T17:20:00.000-07:00

There have been many remarkable actors in the history of Japanese film. None, however, surpassed the late, magnificent Shimura Takashi (志村喬) for introspection and dignity. Where Mifune Toshiro (三船敏郎) was the power of the genius, Kurosawa Akira's (黒澤明) finest work, Shimura was its heart and conscience.

Shimura was the leader of the Seven Samurai (七人の侍), considered one of the greatest-ever Japanese cinema masterpieces, the eyes of the wood-cutter in the other great Kurosawa work, Rashomon (羅生門), appeared in numerous other Kurosawa landmarks, as well as those for other cinematic masters such as the pioneering Mizoguchi Kenji (溝口健二), for Inagaki Hiroshi (稲垣浩), Okamoto Kihachi (岡本喜八) and many more. Of course, I will always most fondly remember his work in "Kaiju Eiga", particularly his most well-known role to Western audiences, that of Dr. Yamane in the original Godzilla.

IMHO, his best work ever was in Kurosawa's Ikiru (生きる). In it, he plays Mr. Watanabe, an ageing, droning government functionary who learns that he has stomach cancer and only months to live. When he receives his diagnosis, he goes off on a journey of self-exploration that brings him not to some radically different place as would be the cliché, but to a return to bureaucracy and a triumph over it--securing a place for a simple children's park. The most special moments of the film come when he begins a fascination for a former government subordinate, a young woman who leaves her post to work in a toy production company. Watanabe falls in love; not with the girl, but with her lust for life. The pathos of Shimura-san's performance in his final scenes with the young woman, again IMHO (though the opinion is shared by many in the film community, have never been surpassed. Just look into those deep, emotional eyes and they tell stories that a thousand actors and actresses cannot tell with countless words.

Shimura Takashi's career spanned 45 years. There are so many films in different genre's to choose from. If you've never seen a Shimura film, you've missed a wonderful experience. Here's a chance to "catch up":

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0793766/

Joy Behar - The Most Honest Woman on (American) Television

2008-05-23T09:54:00.000-07:00

I LOVE Joy Behar. There is no one else on (U.S.) television, with 95% of it being completely calculated and scripted, who puts forth her/his thoughts and ideas in such an uncensored manner. She is very progressive and sees right through the B.S. of everyone with whom she banters, interviews, etc. on the daily morning show, "The View". When she can't be 100% honest, she just doesn't say anything. I'm almost surprised that a woman of such candidness is still on a major television program.

Joy reminds me very much of my mom. They look similar -- Joy and my mom are New York born-and-bred Italian-Americans (Behar is a name from Joy's previous marriage) who say things like "pasta fazoole" (in the Neopolitan dialect) instead of the proper, Roman "pasta e fagioli" -- both have that straightforward, no nonsense delivery and both can really be hilarious.

May Joy remain on TV as a standard-bearer for years and years to come!

So You Think You Can Dance - Its Back!

2008-05-22T17:53:00.000-07:00

IMHO, the BEST REALITY SHOW on T.V., is back for another season... So You Think You Can Dance. It is, again IMHO, the only reality show on television that really requires talent to move into the finalist rounds and win. It is also the only reality show that actually educates--I personally have learned so much about dance by watching it. Except, of course, in the obligatory "auditions" episodes, there is none of the senseless banter of the other shows. The comments are always intelligent from people in the business who are not only financially successful but who also genuinely know what they are talking about.

I especially love the very thoughtful, emotional, clearly brilliant and completely REAL judge, Mia Michaels.

WELCOME BACK. Yay!

Visit the show's official website for more information: http://www.fox.com/DANCE/

Jennifer Hudson - Star

2008-05-22T03:39:00.001-07:00

When I wrote my congratulations to David Cook for winning this season's "American Idol", I omitted one important name of the few winners and runners-up who went on to true success after the show. Arguably, the most accomplished of all... Oscar® and Grammy®-winning Jennifer Hudson. I didn't mean to forget her; I guess my short-term recall doesn't let me remember Jennifer Hudson as an Idol contestant.

To me, in terms of true artistic quality, the only other successful Idol on par with the wonderful Ms. Hudson is Chris Daughtry. Even the fine-voiced singer, Clay Aiken, ended up deteriorating... going the same route as many trained voices (some like Aiken, David Archuleta, etc. on Idol are trained; others are obviously not) wherein commercial success demands that they strain and stretch their instruments out of shape.

I'm eager to hear Jennifer Hudson's new album and to see how her in-person appearances hold up. She has not made a lot of widely-televised live singing appearances since Idol or her Academy Award®-winning turn in the film version of Dreamgirls. I assume this is wise. Time will tell. But Hudson's is undoubtedly a superior voice.

Again, my apologies, Ms. Hudson, for the egregious omission.

Congratulations David Cook

2008-05-21T19:21:00.000-07:00

Though I confess that I was rooting for "the other David", I am almost equally happy that David Cook just won "American Idol". Where his fellow top-finalist, David Archuleta, has the superior vocal instrument from a pure vocal perspective, Cook is already experienced, well packaged and makes everything he sings contemporary... and HIS OWN.

I feel that David Cook will actually be one of the rare (!) Idols that continues to be successful after the show--like Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood, and runners-up, Clay Aiken and Chris Daughtry.

I'm thrilled for him.