people and principles (Film: Nothing But the Truth – Rod Lurie, 2008)

What happens when an undercover CIA agent and the investigative journalist who is exposing her to the broad public are both dedicated mothers of kids who learn together in the same well established American urban milieu? What happens when everybody does the right thing and yet the personal lives of the people involved are destroyed or worse? What is the price that is worth paying for following one’s principles – family, freedom, life? These are some of the questions that are being asked in Nothing But the Truth, the 2008 film directed by .

 

source http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1073241/

source http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1073241/

 

Despite the disclaimer that starts the film the story is obviously inspired by a true case and the lead character by a true person – Judith Miller, a New York Times reporter who served 85 days in prison for refusing to name her source in a case where the name of a government agent was made public. It can also be seen as a strong feminist story, as all the key involved persons (the journalist, her redactor-in-chief boss, and the CIA agent) are all women, while the system of justice persons (the prosecutor, the lawyer, the judge) are all men. The story tells about political reporter Rachel Armstrong () getting under pressure to disclose the source of the information she published about the real identity of a CIA agent, actually a whistle-blower whose revelations are covered up. The clash is between the journalism ethics and the government secrecy, as what is perceived by the journalist as protection of her sources is from the legal point of view a possible crime of disclosing the identity of the agents. The price is however to be paid by both women in their personal life, although the film mostly focuses on the fate of the reporter. How far will she go to respect her principles?

 

(video source MovieTrailersOn)

 

The specialty of director  seems to be in political films, but here he succeeds to create not only an interesting intrigue and ask the tough questions, but also to build a credible character drama that exceeds the strict borders of the story. Lurie also wrote the script and the story flows well and is helped by an efficient team of actors.  Best are in the lead role and as the prosecutor. The resulting film is both entertaining and raises interesting issues, it’s a politically-motivated film that avoids being dry and rhetorical by focusing on the human dimensions of the story.

 

 

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sorry, not a masterpiece (Film: La La Land – Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, 2016)

The buzz is high, the prizes started to accumulate. They tell however more about the status of the industry and the longing of the public for escapist entertainment combined with a high dose of nostalgia for the musical successes that were running high 60 or 70 years ago. La La Land directed by combines a well known formula, makes reverences to the golden period of the musical films in Hollywood (some scenes were filmed in the studio were Fred Astaire once was filmed) but also to some more modern film makers and their ideas (like ), and enjoys the participation of shining stars like and . It may be sufficient for collecting statuettes. It is not enough to make it a real good film. I know I am in a minority expressing this opinion now. I believe that it will be a growing minority soon.

 

source http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3783958/

source http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3783958/

 

What we get with La La Land a collection of a few wonderful moments connected by an awfully schematic story. Boy meets girl, of course. Boy is an aspiring jazz musician in a time when real jazz seems to be in a descending slope of interest, Girl is an aspiring actress, waiting in a Starbucks (or like) coffee shop and auditioning in a serial and desperate manner. They both have visions and passion. They both aspire to careers, but life is tough and art and success seldom meet for one person and almost never with personal happiness. Or true love. From here on the story accumulates many of the possible stereotypes and too little artistic truth. Great scenes are not missing – actually this film has a number of memorable quotes, the problem is the rosy sweet materials on between. There is also one great idea that I liked – who does it belong to? script writers or director – the non-reality scenes are drawn in music and dance. The ones from the films in the 40s and 50s.

 

(video source Lionsgate Movies)

 

When jazz is played however, it’s different. Jazz music is also about being true, great jazzmen do not lie when they play music. Sebastian () explaining to Mia () what jazz is about is one of the best scenes I have ever seen about jazz. The problem is that this is not a jazz movie. As much as I love and appreciate their chemistry on screen is not enough to sustain the film, and it actually makes their breaking (and the break away scene) even less credible.

Just to be clear – La La Land is not a bad movie.   is at his third film, the two other were also one way or the other related to music. Whiplash was welcome with ravishing critics and a very high IMDB rating.  La La Land however belongs to a very different category. In the thin air of the ideas and good cinema of the last years it will get a lot of prizes in the next couple of months. Many of them are not deserved. I write this by respect for what the film is (and is not) and for what the Academy, BAFTA, or Golden Globe awards should be. I am expecting more and better films about music from . Maybe a great jazz movie.

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CHANGE.WORLD – 2017, anul care va fi

Tare dificilă a devenit meseria de oraclu. Anul 2016 a fost unul dintre cei mai imprevizibili ani pe care mi-i amintesc, poate cel mai plin de surprize de un secol încoace. Alegeri şi referendumuri s-au încheiat cu rezultate de multe ori foarte diferite sau de-a dreptul opuse planurilor celor care le intiasera, estimărilor analiştilor şi sondajelor de opinie publică. Accidente mai mult sau mai puţin misterioase au încetinit ritmul şi au pus sub semnul întrebării programele ştiinţifice cele mai bine planificate. Un cântăreţ de folk a câştigat premiul Nobel pentru literatură şi o echipa semi-anonimă cel mai prestigios campionat naţional de fotbal din lume – cel din Anglia. Fenomenele meteorologice extreme au devenit aproape un fapt comun şi noi recorduri au fost depăşite în ceea ce priveşte temperatura planetei. Dacă extrapolările au vreo valoare una dintre concluziile preliminare despre anul 2017 este că va fi şi el un an plin de surprize. Îmi voi face totuşi datoria şi voi respecta tradiţia de a propune cititorilor rubricii CHANGE.WORLD o prognoză a principalelor tendinţe din domeniul ştiinţei şi tehnologiei. De această dată însă semnele de întrebare şi opţiunile deschise sunt mai numeroase decât în alţi ani.

 

sursa imaginii http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/11/15/how-the-2016-presidential-election-could-affect-yo.aspx

sursa imaginii http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/11/15/how-the-2016-presidential-election-could-affect-yo.aspx

 

Să începem cu legătura dintre tehnologie şi politică. O nouă administraţie americană va fi inaugurată la 20 ianuarie, şi semnele de întrebare în legătură cu politicile viitoarei guvernări a lui Donald Trump sunt multiple. Opiniile exprimate de-a lungul anilor şi mai ales în timpul campaniei electorale îl arată pe Trump ca fiind situat pe poziţii diferite în multe domenii de cele ale precedesorului său imediat Obama, dar chiar şi de cele ale ultimului preşedinte republican dinaintea sa, George W. Bush, şi ale multor politicieni de marcă din propriul său partid. Trump pare a fi un sceptic declarat în ceea ce priveşte fenomenele ecologice şi climatice cum ar fi încălzirea globală, şi este adeptul unei politici energetice care liberalizează extracţia de combustibili şi extinde folosirea acestora. Aceste politici sunt contrare legislaţiei şi regulaţiilor pro-environment adoptate în timpul administraţiei Obama sub îndrumarea agenţiei Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) dar şi a unor acte legislative americane mai vechi cum este Clean Air Act din anii ’90, şi a obligaţiilor asumate internaţional de Statele Unite. Vor fi aceste politici reversate sau încetinite? Un alt mare semn de întrebare este legat de poziţia lui Trump în ceea ce priveşte ciber-securitatea. Ultimele zile ale lui 2016 au fost marcate de sacţiuni destul de drastice împotriva Rusiei acuzată de serviciile americane ca fiind sursă atacurilor cibernetice care au inclus încercarea de a influenţa rezultatele alegerilor americane. Sigur este că în domeniul comunicaţiilor pe Internet securitatea şi confidenţialitatea vor juca un rol esenţial şi pe plan tehnic şi în discuţiile politice care vor aborda relaţia între guverne, companii private şi utilizatorii Internetului. Alte semne de întrebare sunt legate de politica viitoarei administraţii faţă de marile corporaţii americane şi de tendinţa lor de a exporta locurile de muncă şi în special cele legate de producţie. Companii globale americane cum sunt Apple sau Cisco se bazează în mare parte pe costurile mai reduse ale producţiei în ţări cum este China, şi multe dintre companiile americane producătoare de software au centre de dezvoltare în ţări că India. Schimbările în legislaţie şi modul de impozitare care au ca scop readucerea locurilor de muncă în Statele Unite propuse de Donald Trump vor influenţa planurile acestor companii, şi în final preţurile la consumator ale produselor lor.

 

  ParisPollution

 

Perioada sărbătorilor şi primele zile ale anului 2017 au demonstrat cât de reale sunt problemele legate de schimbările de climă, de calitatea aerului pe care îl respiră locuitorii anumitor zone ale lumii, în special cei din zonele urbane ale ţărilor industrializate puternic, şi legătura dintre acestea. Partea de nord a Chinei a înregistrat un nivel de poluare neatins până acum ceea ce a determinat anularea unor zboruri aeriene, închiderea de autostrăzi şi o mobilizare publică neobişnuită în presă şi mijloacele de comunicare strict controlate ale Republicii Populare Chineze. Fenomene similare au fost înregistrate în Europa la Madrid şi la Paris, unde au fost abordate măsuri fără precedent în vestul Europei cum sunt interdicţia alternativă a circulaţiei automobilelor cu numere de înregistrare pare şi impare, dar care sunt bine întipărite încă în memoria românilor care au trăit ‘Epoca de Aur’ în care România comunistă îşi plătea datoriile externe cu preţul privaţiunilor şi suferinţelor populaţiei. Vom vedea mai multe dintre acestea în anul 2017? Foarte posibil, în condiţiile în care sunt necesare măsuri drastice cu efect imediat pentru a salvgarda sănătatea populaţiei în condiţiile schimbărilor climatice combinate cu un grad încă mult peste limitele rezonabile de emisii poluante ale industriilor energetice şi de transporturi.

 

sursa imaginii http://www.genome-engineering.org/crispr/

sursa imaginii http://www.genome-engineering.org/crispr/

 

Care vor fi tehnologiile ‘fierbinţi’ ale anului 2017? Domeniul ingineriei genetice oferă o parte dintre răspunsuri, şi în principal analiza şi prelucrarea secvenţelor numite Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) care promite accesul la sursele şi posibilele remedii ale multor boli cu origini genetice, ca şi întărirea mecanismelor de apărare ale corpului omenesc împotriva altora. Ştirile sfârşitului de an sunt extrem de încurajatoare în acest domeniu – conform uneia dintre ele metodele ingineriei genetice au permis vindecarea unor cazuri specifice unei boli considerate până recent incurabile. Mai multe amănunte încă nu cred că are rost să împărtăşesc, deoarece nici ştirile nu sunt confirmate din surse multiple, nici rezultatele nu au se pare o baza statistică suficientă pentru a fi considerate concludente. Este însă cert un domeniu important şi promiţător, care merită urmărit şi în care tehnologii din domenii dintre cele mai diferite de la cercetare biologică, trecând prin metodele de vizualizare a celulelor microscopice până la prelucrarea digitală a unor cantităţi uriaşe de informaţii sunt combinate în soluţionarea unora dintre problemele fundamentale ale evoluţiei umane şi vindecării bolilor celor mai complicate.

 

sursa imaginii http://www.vox.com/2015/9/4/9261613/boeing-starliner-nasa-space-station

sursa imaginii http://www.vox.com/2015/9/4/9261613/boeing-starliner-nasa-space-station

 

Explorarea spaţială a revenit pe primul plan al interesului opiniei publice dar şi al organizaţiilor guvernamentale, şi în primul rând a agenţiei americane NASA. Creşterea din nou după decenii de minimalizare şi stagnare a bugetelor investite în cercetarea spaţiului cosmic este legată în primul rând de reactualizarea competiţiei între puterile lumii şi apariţia pe lângă a tradiţionalilor competitori majori – Statele Unite şi Rusia urmaşă a Uniunii Sovietice – a unor noi participanţi în această cursă care are nu numai o miză ştiinţifică ci şi una militară, comercială, legată de controlul comunicaţiilor globale, şi în fine dar nu în cele din urmă de prestigiu, de imagine publică la scară naţională şi internaţională. Interesant de urmărit investiţiile în acest domeniu ale Chinei, dar şi ale rivalei sale asiatice India. În Statele Unite ceea ce este evident este schimbarea modelului economic care mută ponderea investiţiilor în cursa pentru cunoaşterea Universului de la bugetul de stat spre investiţiile particulare. Exemplul cel mai vizibil este cel al contribuţiei unor companii particulare cum sunt Boeing (programul Starliner) şi SpaceX (programul Dragon) în transportarea astronauţilor spre noua generaţie a staţiilor spaţiale. Companiile particulare nu au ca beneficiar exclusiv guvernul şi programele sale, ci vor oferi o gamă de servicii în spaţiu, de la comunicaţii la turism, ceea va face activitatea lor rentabilă din punct de vedere economic. Din punct de vedere tehnologic creşte nu numai capacitatea acestor transportoare (de la trei persoane la şapte) ci şi felul în care sunt acestea concepute, noile modele permiţând reutilizarea unei părţi din modulele componente ceea ce scade considerabil preţul total al transportului unei persoane în spaţiu. Deceniul sau deceniile care vor urma vor fi, se pare, pasionante şi în acest domeniu.

 

IMG_6278

 

Ultimul domeniu asupra căruia doresc să atrag atenţia este cel al Inteligenţei Artificiale (AI). Roboţii antropoizi nu vor deveni o realitate în 2017 decât pe ecranele mai mici şi mai mari unde sunt proiectate filmele şi serialele de science-fiction, dar roboţii ‘asistenţi’ care extind capacitatea de execuţie în diferite domenii de la comerţ, transporturi, asistenţă medicală şi până la treburile casnice în gospodărie devin din ce în ce mai inteligenţi, cu din ce în ce mai multe trăsături care emulează capacităţile umane şi le permit să ‘vadă’, ‘să audă’, ‘să vorbească’, ‘să se mişte’ şi în special ‘să înveţe’. Transporturile automatizate de la automobilele fără şofer şi până la drone încep să devină o realitate. Fotografia ultimă îmi aparţine şi îl prezintă pe prietenul şi colocatarul nostru Roomba din seria IRobot, capabil să înveţe topografia apartamentului şi să efectueze cu o eficienţă sporită la fiecare pornire sarcina laborioasă (pentru mine) a curăţeniei parchetului din casă.

Ceea ce am prezentat în acest articol este un eşantion din ceea ce ne aşteaptă în anul 2017. Aşa cum scriam la început, sigur este doar că vor fi surprize. Despre evenimentele mai aşteptate sau mai puţin aşteptate din domeniul tehnologiilor avansate veţi putea citi urmărind rubrica CHANGE.WORLD şi în acest nou an 2017. Schimbările ca şi surprizele sunt inevitabile. Să încercăm să le cunoaştem pentru a le folosi spre binele nostru individual sau colectiv.

 

(articolul a aparut in revista culturala Literatura de Azi – http://www.literaturadeazi.ro/ )

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Carte: Dan Alexe – In punctul lui rebbe G.

2016 a fost anul Dada, si cred ca aparitia la 100 de ani de la inceputurile miscarii care a pus sub semnul intrebarii toate conventiile artistice ale poeziei, artelor plastice si evenimentelor artistice a unei carti ca ‘In punctul lui rebbe G.’ (aparuta in coletia ‘EGO proza’ a Editurii Polirom) este foarte in ton cu celebrarile. O carte care refuza categorisirile, o carte rebela prin atitudine si limbaj, o carte care nu este scrisa nici pentru pudici si nici pentru cei cu stomacurile sensibile. O carte in care stilul este la fel de important ca si povestile, si daca zicerea ‘stilul este omul’ are vreun dram de adevar in el, atunci nu ne miram caci autorul ei, Dan Alexe, este cunoscut celor care ii urmaresc activitatea cinematografica, publicistica si in special cea internetica pe Facebook ca un personaj care refuza canoanele si isi exprima opiniile cu franchete si fara menajamente de continut sau limbaj.

De unde vine Dan Alexe? O parte din raspunsul la aceasta intrebare il gasim in scurta evocare a bunicii sale Mama Raia:

‘Inainte ca ea sa moara, am indraznit, om ajuns la jumatatea vietii, s-o intreb primu raz pe Mama Raia despre neamul nostru, despre parintii ei ingropati la Orhei. Dupa ce a scos o lunga tirada de cum se pierde samanta romaneasca si cum politicienii ajunsi la putere in Bucuresti sunt toti comunisti, Mama Raia mi-a spus ca tatal ei era un grec din Cernauti, iar mama ei – poloneza. Se mai incruntau acolo, cu demnitate granulata alb-negru, scursi din partea unei stramoase din Odessa, si ceva evrei hasizi care vorbeau tatareste intre ei, injurau creativ si practicau magii cu carti de joc.’ (pag. 36)

Evreii hasizi care practicau magii cu carti de joc par a se afla la originea ideii cartii lui Dan Alexe, si a structurii sale. Cele 22 de capitole ale cartii sunt numerotate dupa literele alfabetului ebraic care in ebraica veche erau echivalate si cu numerele. Mistica (dupa unii) sau stiinta (dupa altii) a Cabalei au creat o intreaga teorie numerologica, dupa care orice nume sau obiect are o valoare numerica cu semnificatii profunde in destinul si ordinea lucrurilor. Legatura cu jocul de carti de Tarot este explicata in povestirea care da numele cartii:

‘Fiecare lama de Tarot, fiecare arcana majora corespunde asadar unei litere ebraice si ne spune o poveste, o istorie fixata definitiv, iar simbolica lor se modifica in functie de amestecul infinit al lamelor. Schimband ordinea cartilor de joc si ordinea literelor, se modifica si naratiunea ansamblului. Daca noi am fi acum personaje de poveste, destinul nostru ar fi fluid, in functie de entitatea superioara care trage si intinde cartile jocului. Orice fraza formulata in ebraica va reprezenta asadar o succesiune de litere, deci o succesiune de carti de Tarot …  si viceversa.’ (pag. 49)

Combinatii infinite si aleatorii de litere si numere. Nu asa se jucau dadaistii? Si nu asa isi imagina Borges a sa biblioteca infinita? Noua este asocierea cu jocul de carti care implica notiunea de sansa, dar si cea de destin, caci inteleptii mistici ca si vrajitoarele stiau sa citeasca destinul in succesiunea cartilor de Tarot. Ordinea povestirilor din cartea lui Dan Alexe pare a fi aleatorie, ele pot fi citite in orice ordine la fel cum scoatem pe rand cartile de joc dintr-un pachet bine amestecat, poate cu singura exceptie a povestirii finale, care are totusi un aer de epilog.

 

sursa http://www.kmkz.ro/opinii/editorial/noul-volum-de-povestiri-al-lui-dan-alexe-in-punctul-lui-rebbe-g-tocmai-ce-loveste-acum-librariile/

sursa http://www.kmkz.ro/opinii/editorial/noul-volum-de-povestiri-al-lui-dan-alexe-in-punctul-lui-rebbe-g-tocmai-ce-loveste-acum-librariile/

 

Cititorul se intalneste in cartea lui Alexe cu o colectie de povestiri (majoritatea) scurte care multe socheaza prin combinatia de absurd, violenta, erotism si limbajul fara perdea luat direct din zgomotul strazilor si vorbirea contemporanilor nostri de ‘dulce’ limba romaneasca. Povestirea la persoana intai si faptul ca eroul povestirilor este chiar un erou pe nume Dan Alexe si sinceritatea mascul(in)a necenzurata a tonului si a stilului, fac ca relatia dintre autor si cititor sa fie un amestec de familiaritate si jena, cam ca atunci cand cel mai bun prieten are un acces profund de sinceritate, eventual incurajat sau amplificat de o doza consistenta de alcool. Iata un exemplu (si nu dintre cele mai ‘colorate’) al prozei cu tenta erotica:

‘Incepuse sa ma plictiseasca, e drept, cum astepta ea, previzibil, de fiecare data s-o pocnesc si s-o trag de par si s-o sugrum pana cand devenea stacojie, dar avea un fel de-a strange muschii vintrei, ca si cum o mana ferma te prindea acolo, incat uneori ma intrebam daca ea nu e de fapt un automat, un cyborg cu un omulet pitit inauntru care controleaza mecanismul ansamblului. Precum femeia robot din acel tulburator roman, Viitoarea Eva, a lui Villiers de l’Isle-Adam, o femeie mecanica atat de abil finisata, incat pacaleste pe toata lumea. Te astepti ca inauntru sa fie tupilat un pitic care te strange cand te infigi acolo.’  (pag. 88)

Este personajul Dan Alexe un misogin? Un ‘macho’? As fi foarte interesat de opinia unei autoare de recenzii (bloggerista de preferinta) in aceasta privinta. Ceea ce pot sa observ este ca 1. ca oricarui barbat (sau aproape ca oricarui barbat) ii place sa-si povesteasca aventurile erotico-sentimentale 2. ca aceste aventuri se sfarsesc la Dan Alexe mai intotdeauna nu prea bine pentru el.

 

sursa http://www.x-tremeradio.ro/dan-alexepe-mine-ma-intereseaza-mai-mult-limba-nu-cantitatea-de-erotism/8779

sursa http://www.x-tremeradio.ro/dan-alexepe-mine-ma-intereseaza-mai-mult-limba-nu-cantitatea-de-erotism/8779

 

Femeile din povestirile lui Dan Alexe sunt de altfel departe de a fi obiecte sau victime in relatii. Eroina din “Magdalena, de ce minti” schiteaza in cateva pagini drama femeii in anumite sectoare ale lumii tiganilor. Cea din “In fata la Vadana” capata in retrospectiva dimensiuni aproape mitice si cert initiatice pentru copilul din satul de Baragan din care pleaca autorul. Eroina fara nume din “Dupa-amiaza unui faun” il manipuleaza pe povestitor in imaginatie si dupa terminarea legaturii si despartire. Fiecare dintre aceste povestiri schiteaza cu minim de mijloace un personaj feminin si destinul sau.

Diferita in subiect si in stil (inserand dialoguri teatrale si versificatii folclorice) este “Majadahonda” in care persoana intai este abandonata pentru un plojon istoric in Spania razboiului civil cu episodul ultimelor ore ale vietii ‘eroilor-martiri’ legionari Mota si Marin. Povestirea este un exercitiu de exorcizare a logosului mistic legionar si a apologetilor sai ca poetul Radu Gyr.

‘In punctul lui rebbe G.’ este o lectura neconventionala, care odata inceputa te absoarbe in lumea ei in care sunt amestecate magia si erotismul, mistica si violenta, umorul si dramele mai mici si mai mari, miasmele si parfumurile. Personajul si scriitorul Dan Alexe socheaza, intriga, si ne invita sa il urmarim si in viitor.

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Hot Jazz with Antonio Hart, Wayne Tucker and Hila Kulik

We enjoyed last night one of the best concerts in the last few years in the ‘Hot Jazz’ series at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. The band was composed of fine American and Israeli musicians who got together for a very satisfying performance. Antonio Hart – the band leader tonight – is an accomplished saxophonist and a recognized jazz teacher, he demonstrated personality and musical skills that cover many jazz genres fusioned in a free envelope. Wayne Tucker is one of the finest trumpet musicians I have ever listened to, his sound succeeds to be both crisp and silky. Hila Kulik grew up during her New York years from being a great talent to the status of a fine musician, and was tonight completely at peer with her American partners. Tamir Shmerling was a revelation at bass, I am looking forward to hear great music from him in the coming years. Shay Zelman drummed as he always does.

 

IMG_6289

A sample of Antonio Hart’s music – ‘Stars Fell on Alabama’ recorded at the 2010 Taichung Jazz Festival.

 

‘Stars Fell on Alabama’ is a jazz standard composed by Frank Perkins with lyrics by Mitchell Parish. Singers like Ella Fitzgerald with Louis Armstrong, Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday, Anita O’Day, and Dean Martin interpreted it, with musicians such as John Coltrane, Stan Getz and Ben Webster providing their own versions of the musical score.

The Taichung jazz festival is held yearly in Taiwan since 2003.

More about Antonio Hart:

‘Antonio Hart has been long recognized as one of the most talented instrumentalist of his generation. In recent years he has been recognized as an important jazz educator. In his 20 years as a professional musician he has performed and recorded with many jazz greats from Dizzy Gillespie, Roy Hargrove, Nancy Wilson, Nat Adderley, and McCoy Tyner to Dave Holland. Hart’s study of Jazz began at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. There, he studied with Bill Pierce, Andy McGhee and Joe Viola. The three teachers gave him the foundation he needed to develop into a professional musician. Because of the lessons learned at the Baltimore School for the Arts, Hart really thought it was important to have a balance between music and academia, so in his sophomore year he became a Music Education Major. He made many friends at Berklee, but the most important was Roy Hargrove. They spent three years touring the world and recording Hargrove’s first three records. Hart considers Hargrove to be his brother in life and music. He even used Hargrove on his first recording “For the First Time”. After graduating from Berklee College of Music, Hart also worked on a Master’s Degree at Queens College. There he had the opportunity to learn from the great Jimmy Heath and Donald Byrd. Hart felt blessed and honored when Mr. Heath produced his second recording “Don’t You Know I Care.” His 1997 release, ‘Here I Stand’ Impulse records, earned Hart a 1997 Grammy nomination for “Best Jazz Instrumental Solo’ He has also been in much demand as a guest on over 100 recordings, and seven CDs as a leader. The latest, ‘All we Need’ Chiaroscuro Records. After 12 years at Queens College Hart was promoted to Full Professor. Hart also maintains an extensive performance schedule and continues to conduct workshops and clinics throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. He feels very blessed to have the balance of teaching, as well as, traveling around the world. In his off time, he practices martial arts, and listens to other styles of music for inspiration. Hart is constantly trying to honor his many teachers by continuing to study music and teach to the best of his ability.’

(source http://antoniohart.com/about-us/)

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBSTUvLg6Y8
(video source tyraelcgm)

 

When I first heard Wayne Tucker I immediately fell in love with the sound of his trumpet, his perfect mastering of the instrument, the sensibility and power of his interpretations.

Here he is playing solo a British popular song written in 1939 with lyrics by Eric Maschwitz and music by Manning Sherwin named “A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square”. Written shortly before the outbreak of WWII the song became soon very popular in Great Britain being first performed in the London revue New Faces by Judy Campbell (the mother of Jane Birkin). In the US Glenn Miller and His Orchestra recorded the song with a Ray Eberle vocal in New York City on Oct. 11, 1940. Fritz Lang used the music in a 1941 film. Later it became one of the most popular songs associated with WWII on both sides of the Atlantic, with singers like Rod Stewart, Perry Como, or Petula Clark offering their versions and bands like Glen Miller’s, Brian Setzer’s and Sonny Rollins’ offering their instrumental versions.

(source https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Nightingale_Sang_in_Berkeley_Square)

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjFjfADjuXM

 

 

Hila Kulik and Wayne Tucker playing music together.

The song belongs to the Israeli popular music composer Sasha Argov (1914 – 1995).

The youTube recording is dated November 2015.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBVo2IZr7qY
(video source Hila Kulik)
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slow building crime drama (Film: The Girl on the Train – Emily Blunt, 2016)

There are a few missed opportunities in The Girl on the Train directed by bringing to screen ‘s successful novel. The story starts like a voyeuristic drama involving three women (two of them resembling each other), two houses (resembling each other as well in a suburban area), two men, and one train which is the moving observation point from which flashes of the reality are perceived. Details are not clear from the beginning, the story builds up and so does our understanding of the characters and the drama that is taking place, which soon turns into a disappearance case. All this gradual assimilation of the events by the viewer is not a bad thing, it’s not an easy viewing, but it’s challenging intellectually and the later developments and its solution are eventually rewarding. There is however something ‘heavy’ in the director’s style that adds extra and unnecessary obstacles between the heroes and the viewers.

 

source http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3631112/

source http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3631112/

 

I did not read (yet) the book that inspired the film, but my understanding is that much if its interest derives from the fact that the story is told alternatively by the three women, each with her subjective point of view, each holding piece of the reality the way she sees it (or deforms it). The film tries to start this way using off-voice screen (which seldom works for me) but soon moves the weight center of the story to Rachel’s character played by . We gradually come to know her as a broken person, victim of a disastrous marriage, alcoholic, voyeuristic, unable to forget and continuing to be obsessed by the life and the husband she lost. As the story develops she becomes involved as a witness, as a detective, as a prime suspect in the disappearance turning into a murder case. The cinematographic version of The Girl on the Train is very much a story about Rachel, about her obsessions and her fight to recover her own self.

 

(video source Movieclips Trailers)

 

The story offers the opportunity for three major and consistent feminine roles, an opportunity which only uses well. This is not necessarily because or are bad actors. but because the way they are directed is much more conventional and lacks complexity. The other surprise in acting is , who acts the other prime suspect, and the man who eventually will disperse the part of the fog on what really happened and who really Rachel is. The rest is left by the script (maybe also by the book) to fate.

Director does not lack some good directing ides. See for example the alternate usage of fixed or hand-held camera, sometimes in the the same scene or filming the two actors of a dialog, He fails in constructing a better paced story telling. Some of this may be intentional in order to leave to viewers gradually discovering what the story is about. They did not lose me, but they risk losing many other viewers in search of an entertaining thriller. Trading pace and action for psychology is a risky proposal nowadays. I do not believe that the director won the bet.

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psychedelic objects in space – Katharina Grosse

Meet the German painter Katharina Grosse and her colorful paintings in space.

(Have you ever painted T-shirts in psychedelic colors? I did at my teen years.)

source http://www.art21.org/artists/katharina-grosse

source http://www.art21.org/artists/katharina-grosse

 

 

source http://bombmagazine.org/article/4910/katharina-grosse

source http://bombmagazine.org/article/4910/katharina-grosse

 

source http://punkwasp.com/katharina-grosse/

source http://punkwasp.com/katharina-grosse/

 

source http://www.contemporaryartdaily.com/2009/04/katharina-grosse-at-temporare-kunsthalle-berlin/

source http://www.contemporaryartdaily.com/2009/04/katharina-grosse-at-temporare-kunsthalle-berlin/

 

 

source http://www.designboom.com/art/katharina-grosse-sculpts-immersive-colorful-terrain-in-brooklyn-11-16-2013/

source http://www.designboom.com/art/katharina-grosse-sculpts-immersive-colorful-terrain-in-brooklyn-11-16-2013/

 

 

 

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Happy New Year 2017!

I wish A Happy New Year to all my friends – a 2017 with peace, good health, beautiful moments together with all your dear ones.
La Multi Ani!
Une Bonne Nouvelle Annee!
Shana Tova!
My musical present to start 2017 is Glenn Gould’s interpretation of the Brandenburg Concerto No 5 in D major, BWV 1050 by Bach.
Johann Sebastian Bach most likely completed his Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D major, BWV 1050, in 1721. This work is the fifth of six concertos the composer dedicated to Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg. The offering was likely a sort of application for employment; Bach got no response, but these pieces have become some of his best-known material. Every one of the concertos is distinct, as are the composer’s sets of suites and partitas. Hearing the fifth concerto in the context of the rest of the set makes it clear that, apart from Bach‘s inimitable strength as a contrapuntist, the key to his ability to make music that is both sublime and entertaining lies in the fact that in his hands, everything is elastic. No other composer of the Baroque era could write through the constraints of form as if it was not there at all. Bach saw more options than anyone else, in form and in influence. The way he blended the Italian sound into his own in these concertos ennobled both Italian and German music. The scope of his vision and his relentless invention, making everything he wrote new, frustrates any attempt at comparison.’
source http://www.allmusic.com/composition/brandenburg-concerto-no-5-in-d-major-bwv-1050-mc0002388723

 

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music for the end of the year

Beautiful music for the last day of 2016.

‘The Piano Trio in B-flat major, Op. 97, by Ludwig van Beethoven is a piano trio for piano, violin, and cello, finished in 1811. It is commonly referred to as the Archduke Trio, because it was dedicated to Archduke Rudolph of Austria, the youngest of twelve children of Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor. Rudolf was an amateur pianist and a patron, friend, and composition student of Beethoven. Beethoven dedicated a total of fourteen compositions to the Archduke, who dedicated one of his own to Beethoven in return.’

(source https://en.wikipedia.or/wiki/Piano_Trio,_Op._97_(Beethoven))

The recording features Wilhelm Kempff on piano, Yehudi Menuhin on violin, and Mstislav Rostropovich on cello. It dates from 1974, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of UNESCO International Music Council.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCeBwO1XMOw

(video source kinor65)

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underrated, almost a masterpiece (film: Clouds of Sils Maria – Juliette Binoche, 2014)

There are so many reasons to like this film. First, the cast includes two of the lead actresses of two different generations – the priceless and prize covered and one of the top performers of the younger generation , who after having started and made herself a name in blockbusters took a turn into her career to more profound and fulfilling roles. Then, it’s a story with multiple threads and subtext, but centered around the show (more specifically theater) business where the two actresses live and breathe. Last but not least, it’s a movie that while well told as a story leaves enough room for mystery and imagination. I am just surprised by the relative low impact the film had in festivals and even with the public – and I suspect that some distribution problems were involved.

 

source http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2452254/

source http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2452254/

 

The story written and brought to screen by is said to have been tailored and designed for , and these fine actress really deserves it and makes the best of it. It’s a story about a theater actress who debuted two decades before the action takes place as the younger pole of a feminine couple in a play that is about power fight between ages and a love story built out of that confrontation. She’s now the age of the older woman in the couple and is asked to play the other other on stage, just after the playwright and mentor has passed away. She accepts half-heartily and starts repeating the role in the cottage located in the Swiss mountains that belonged to the author, together with her young assistant (). Is the relation in life a replica of the one in the play? The borders between the two are blurred away more and more as the story advances … and I will tell no more in order to avoid spoiling any ounce of the pleasure of watching one of the most intelligent and sensitive dialogues and intriguing story line I have seen recently on screens.  I will just say that both actresses are magnificent and that the film tells a lot about relations, friendship, art, the borders between art and life, show business cruel rules and the role that ‘smart’ communications play in our lives.

 

(video source IFC Films)

 

And then we have Switzerland, and its landscapes which play such an important role in the aesthetics and in the drama, maybe exactly because of their beauty and apparent tranquility. I loved the threatening metaphor of the snake that gives the name of the play-in-the-film and shows up only once at a key moment. Or maybe it does not, because there is much that is not told in this movie which is exactly the reason some may not like it, and some other will love it and will continue to be haunted by it after the screening ends. I belong to the later category.

 

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