My Oyster

A 6 Ws Movie Review: MILK

milk, originally uploaded by RikinIllinois.

Who: With Jean and a lot of others - a packed audience - who felt the same as me. There was a collective sigh of emotion at the end of the movie.
What: An important movie for anyone interested in the fight for civil rights in this country. All the more important since the passage of Prop 8 in California last month. A reminder that we have not come nearly far enough since the beginning of the gay rights movement more than 40 years ago.
Where: Landmark E Street Theater. DC.
When: After work on Hump Day. 6:45pm Show.
Why: I have been wanting to see this. I have been agitated by Prop 8 since election night. I think Sean Penn is amazing.
How: With a lot of emotion - a mix of pride and sadness. 

And The Bottom-line:
Go out and see it? ABSOLUTELY. Not just because it is great cinema, but also because it is a lesson in American civics and a warning of where we still are today with gay civil rights.
Wait til it hits Showtime?
Only worth seeing on an airplane?

And this is Judith...

Klimt: Judith, originally uploaded by mullermala.

as captured by Gustav Klimt during his gold phase.

I am in Vienna this week for work. Tonight we had a reception at Belvedere Palace - which is beautiful in its own right - but which is a real treasure with the all the art it houses - including this painting.

After chowing down on some traditional Austrian cuisine, I was able to walk around the galleries and get to know Gustav. I am not all that familiar with Klimt - though you see his art on scarves and coffe cups and lots of things.

I felt very lucky tonight to have this unexpected gallery visit.

Eh, not so much...

Rosie's new LIVE variety show premiered tonight.

I "watched" it with my father. Quotations meaning that it was easy to multitask. I did some online banking, experimented with some new blog designs, and just about anything else I could think of to distract me from the 60 minute train wreck.

I knew things were gonna get bad when in the first 15 minutes of the show Conan O'brien got a pie in the face from Alec Baldwin.  Oy.  Vintage 1955?

Despite the fact that I am not a huge fan, I was actually hoping that Rosie's show would A) Breathe some new life into a very old TV show format; and B) Rehabilitate Rosie from the mean, angry, militant that she seems to have become over the past several years.

It did neither.

Happy Birthday & Kooza...

The Cirque du Soleil show Kooza is now showing under the "grand chapiteau" at National Harbor - just south of Washington.

Jean and I went last night to celebrate my birthday. The show was, as are all Cirque shows, a real joy.  I really liked this one. Kooza tells the story of The Innocent, a melancholy loner in search of his place in the world.

I am always amazed at how Cirque du Soleil is able to successfully mix together so many elements into one show.  There is a physical and athletic element, an artistic element, a dramatic element, a comedic element.  I think there is even usually a strong spiritual element.  And of course, my favorite part is the music.  Live music.

I will never pass up chance to see a Cirque.  Here I am last night...

 

Coldplay on Halloween...

At the Verizon Center in DC.

It was a great show.  Huge crowd.  Very festive.  Very Halloweenish.

 

I have not been to a rock concert for YEARS.  Unless you count Celine Dion, which I don't.  I think my last rock concert was U2 in Cologne, Germany in 1987.  21 years ago.

Jean got us tickets.  It was a lot of fun - and I like this band.  They actually are talented musicians and seemed to be enjoying DC.

And here is a little live snipppet that some of you may recognize...

And another - with some crowd action...

The Pensive Bodhisattva Comes to Brussels...

...All the way from Korea!  Just like me!

I was in Korea at a Buddhist temple a couple weeks ago.  Now I am in Brussels.  The Pensive Bodhisattva was in Korea and now is visiting Brussels. 

The city of Brussels is having a four month celebration of Korean culture.  I checked out one exhibit tonight - The Smile of Buddha - at the Centre for Fine Arts.  The exhibit is showing the finest masterpieces of Buddhist art from the history of Korea - more than 1600 years!!

The Pensive Bodhisattva - in the pic above - is the centerpiece of the exhibit.  It is Korea’s National Treasure No. 83 and is regarded throughout Asia very highly as a work of Buddhist art, because of its simplicity and lack of detail.

Scholars agree that the statue is intended to depict a moment in the life of the Buddha before he attained enlightenment. The story is it that he was watching farmers at work in the fields one day, and as he saw birds swooping down to catch insects which had been disturbed by the plough, he became aware of the sufferings of sentient beings.  With a peaceful smile illuminating its whole expression, the statue conveys the bliss of an egoless mental state.

I was exhausted after work, but am really glad I was able to catch the exhibit.  What a great coincidence.

The Pieta Comes to Life in Brussels...

 

I snuck away between meetings to an art exhibit at the Jubelpark in Brussels today.

Wow. It really took my breath away. I was surprised at how emotional the exhibit is. I found my heart racing a bit.

Back in 1964 the Vatican sent Michelangelo's Pieta over to the US for a visit.  I don't think we will see that again.  Robert Hupka was hired as the photographer to take a picture of the sculpture for the brochure.

Hupka fell in love with the Pieta and ended up taking THOUSANDS of photographs of the Pieta - from every possible angle.

This exhibit is some of those pictures  - displayed artfully in a pitch dark hall with somber choral music in the background.

If you don't know - and I did not - Pieta comes from the latin for "absolute loyalty - a deep love that neither love nor death can destroy". 

Both the Lamentations and the Pieta deal with Christ and his mother.  In Lamentations - she is looking at him suffering on the cross.  In the Pieta - she is looking at him as she holds him again on her knee - more serene.

It is amazing how the faces look different from different angles. Sometimes more pained than others.

When you see the mother and son from all those angles and in photos, you stop seeing it as a sculpture. I found myself thinking they were photos of real people – not of a sculpture.

Amazing. 

Another Reason I Love Living in Washington...

films..., originally uploaded by Quelle night....

The E Street Cinema is showing this movie for a week only. I saw it tonight at a sold out show.

If you are in DC - go see it.

If you are in DC tomorrow - go see it at 4:40 or 7:20 - because the director and producer will both be there to answer questions after the showing.

And that is what I really loved. The diversity of the sold out show tonight was amazing. The interaction of the moviegoers and the moviemakers was a real treat that you can't get just anywhere...

All types of religions and sexualities and nationalities watching the same move but with very different life-stories and perspectives and then sharing them with each other and the very open and giving artists.

I actually blogged about the movie, when it was in production, more than a year ago. For more info go here.

But go to the movie.

I am loving these Beijing Games...

Love Beijing 2008 Poster, originally uploaded by mikeportfolio.

I have always loved the Olympics.

Probably not so much for the sport of it - though I do enjoy the athletics.

Probably not so much for the patriotism either. The USA chant actually grates on my nerves now. I think it is rude and plays into the stereotype that Americans are loud and obnoxious.

I think I have always loved the Olympics for two reasons - the stories and travels.

I can't get enough of the emotional personal stories of triumph. Of suppotive families. Of dedication and redemption. NBC does a great job of finding them and telling them.

And the travels. I think watching the Olympics is almost as good as really traveling around the world. In some ways maybe even better. I have always eaten up the stories about the host country and its people and culture. I have always loved the pictures of people and places in the host country

I still love it all - and Beijing has not disappointed.

The competitions are amazing. I am staying up past midnight every night to watch.

The stories are great - I can't get enough of (kinda) local (DC/Baltimore) boy Michael Phelps.

The travels. Anyone who knows me, knows I love Beijing and am eager to explore much more of China. Theses Olympics have really made me want it more.

A 6 Ws Movie Review: Mamma Mia!

Mamma Mia! Here I go again..., originally uploaded by Rafa from Brazil.

Who: With Jean.
What: A "musical"? And that is using the term very, very loosely. Isn't the ability to sing at even a mediocre level kind of a prerequisite for a musical? Apparently not in this one.
Where: Gallery Place Regal.  DC.
When: 1:30pm Show.
Why: I love Abba. I love Meryl Streep.  Other than that - hard to say.
How: Last row. Center. With Cookie Dough Bits and a Diet Coke.  Unfortunately without ear plugs. 

And The Bottom-line:
Go out and see it?
Wait til it hits Showtime?
Only worth seeing on an airplane? NOT EVEN! Ugh. Oy.