I saw the show tonight and it made me think of Eric Falt who worked at UNEP then became #2 at UN DPI in New York where he replaced an Egyptian and is taking over the #2 job at UNESCO.

Why that? It is because DRIVING THE SAUDIS was conceived in cooperation with The International Theatre Institute of Paris that is connected to UNESCO. This means that there is still some honesty left at UNESCO – something impossible to find at the  Department of Information and Communication of the UN in New York. Under Egyptian Ahmad Fawzi the Department was all about safeguarding the interests of the oil kings. Under French Eric Falt there was no change – only a make believe of bringing in the UN Correspondents Association in decision making and the results are even worse then the starting line. What will he do when he gets to Paris? Will activities like showing DRIVING THE SAUDIS in conjunction with ITI be considered not Halal anymore?

My first posting about this one woman show was based on their publicity and I thought that the waste of oil money by the oil kings is the main issue. Having seen it now my feeling is that it is much more about the place of a woman in the Saudi Royal family.

Actually – there is no Saudi State only a privately owned huge piece of real estate that belonged to King Ibn Saud and was passed on to his descendants that multiply like rabbits – with 30 wives if not one hundred. We understood that there are only 4 at one time and they are released simply by saying three times, in the presence of a witness,  that the owner sends them off. The whole thing turned my stomach and what is the UN for? What is a the new “UN Women” creation for? What did UNIFEM do all these years? Who at the UN has said anything about this sort of slavery at the age that overpopulation does us all in. A woman must produce sons in order to have a chance to survive some longer before being replace by a younger one.

I clearly will not do justice in this second posting to the content of this reality play – and reality it is in every minute of it – in the real sense of the word. I will write more about it and hope it will get to the public’s attention and people will not shy away anymore from what it presents. The UN Headquarters are not worth the money the world spends on it if no effort is made to follow up on 21st century slavery – even if the women involved think that they benefit from the lavish life-style as long as it lasts.

————–

The New York Fringe Festival is the largest multi-arts festival in North America, with more than 200 companies from all over the world performing for 16 days in more than 20 venues.

DRIVING THE SAUDIS, with and by Jayne Amelia Larson, was [performed at the historic SoHo Playhouse and was about 2/3 full. Those that came early – about 50 people – looked to me as Middle Easterners. Those that arrived closer to the start were younger and looked like theater students.

The SoHo Playhouse was home to playwrights like Edward Albee, Terrance McNally, A.R. Gurney … Previously it was under the Village South & Spectrum Theatre name, and even housed at the start of the last century the Tammany Hall (New York City Democrats Hall) “Huron Club.”

I met the producer of the play – Patrick Terry – who hails from the NYU Tisch School of the Arts (Drama and Production) and is connected to Peter Goldfarb, Vice President of UN’s International Theatre Institute. From Terry I learned that the content of the play will be gathered also in a book form.

Again, getting back to the history of the play, both, Larson and Terry said that it is all true. Larson who is a theater person, director, actress, in her own right, for money reasons took on this job of being part of a group of 15 drivers that were serving a family of 7 Saudi Royals and their entourage of 50 that includes cooks, nannies, security, secretaries …, that came to Los Angeles for aesthetic surgery and shopping that lasted 50 days. They were spread out in 4 hotels. When she got the job to be chauffeuring the princess and her daughter, it turned out that she had to chauffeur also the hairdresser to Las Vegas. The family came with $20 million and that money was spent. The help had to leave their passports with the hired ex-American military and one of the help, from Sudan, at the airport, when she got the passport in her hands, simply ran away and refused to board the private 747 for the return trip to Saudi Arabia.

Larson digs into the social implications of what she saw and learned. She has sympathy for the three women she talks about – the princess, her daughter that would have loved to go to UCLA but was already promised in marriage, and a Lebanese nanny that with her earnings put through college her siblings back in Lebanon. She speaks of the men as always in need to have someone to insult bellow them in the pecking order. The men never looked into he eyes and this seemingly in an attempt to show respect. And yes – when she applied for the job, she was interviewed and there was no question about her driving only if she was not Jewish. (“You are not Jewish? Not Jewish!”)

Oh yes, I will have more on this in further postings.

DRIVING THE SAUDIS Writer: Jayne Amelia Larson Director: Charlie Stratton Where does your GAS money really go? Larson’s grueling adventures as a chauffeur for Saudi Royals on a mega shopping/plastic surgery vacation in Beverly Hills explores cultural divides and common hypocrisies plus everything you wanted to know about ass implants. 1h 30m   National   Los Angeles, CA Solo Show   Multi-Media Staycation: Through Heaven & Hell In Someone Else’s Shoes www.drivingthesaudis.info VENUE #16: The SoHo Playhouse Sun 15 @ 9:30 Thu 19 @ 3 Sat 21 @ NOON Sun 22 @ 9:15 Fri 27 @ 3:45 VENUE #16: The SoHo Playhouse 15 Vandam Street (6th Avenue & Varick / 7th Avenue) SUBWAY: 1 to Houston Street A, C, E to Spring Street

written and performed by Jayne Amelia Larson
directed by Charlie Stratton

DRIVING THE SAUDIS asks where our gas money really goes — and provides some answers by following the grueling adventures of a chauffeur who whisks Saudi Royals through a Beverly Hills shopping/plastic surgery vacation. Visit www.drivingthesaudis.info.

DRIVING THE SAUDIS is a one-woman show based on Larson’s real life experience as a chauffeur for a family of Saudi Royals visiting Beverly Hills—for 7 weeks of shopping and plastic surgery. As the only woman in a detail of almost 50 drivers assigned to the family and its extensive entourage, Ms. Larson details her invitation inside one of the most closely guarded private monarchies in the world. DRIVING THE SAUDIS explores and challenges American perceptions of beauty, culture, religion, and the subjugation of women, through the curious eyes of the actress-turned-chauffeur.

This multi-media piece includes original film footage and found stills which illuminate the story and content.

JAYNE AMELIA LARSON
Miss Larson received an undergraduate degree from the College of Arts and Sciences at Cornell University, and a graduate degree from Harvard University’s Institute of Advanced Theater Training under the tutelage of Robert Brustein. She has also studied with Patsy Rodenburg from the RSC, Larry Moss, Rod Menzies, The Groundlings, and Boris Imas of the Moscow Art Theater. As a working actress, she has performed extensively in regional and New York theaters, and has made numerous television and film appearances including a series regular on Judging Amy, The Gilmore Girls, The Huntress, Club 7, and The Illusion, in which she plays opposite Kirk Douglas, released this past year. Her solo show, More Than Naked, premiered in Los Angeles as part of the acclaimed 2006 Edge Of The World Theatre Festival. She is now developing a new solo show, Driving The Saudis, and recently workshopped it at the Off Broadway Theater in Boston, at Hollins University, at the Naked Angels In Progress Series, and at Cornell University.

She has served as literary manager and part of the acting company of the award-winning theater group, The Wilton Project. Upon request, she has coached privately in Los Angeles for several years and has also taught workshops at Cornell University, University of Redlands, and the University of California State Northridge.

In addition, Ms. Larson was the VP of Development at entitled entertainment, an independent film company producing many award winning films including Thirteen Conversations About One Thing with Matthew McConnaughy, Amy Irving, and Alan Arkin; LA Riot Spectacular with Charles Dutton and Snoop Dogg; Levity with Billy Bob Thornton and Kirsten Dunst; The Illusion with Kirk Douglas and Michael Goorjian; and Aurora Borealis starring Donald Sutherland, Josh Jackson, and Juliette Lewis.

CHARLIE STRATTON (director)
Mr. Stratton has directed theater in the U.S., Europe and Asia. He was the Co-Artistic Director of the Los Angeles based Wilton Project, an award-winning theatre company which focused exclusively on the development and production of new material. He has worked extensively with the New York based theater companies Naked Angels and New York Stage and Film where he recently directed a production of FINKS by Joe Gilford starring Josh Radnor and Jennifer Westfeldt. Additionally, he frequently directs, produces and writes for television and feature films. He is a graduate of The Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at Harvard University.

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This is a re-posting as I saw the play today and found that there is much more to it then I wrote above. As such I will have several postings on Driving the Saudis – starting with a second posting today. (The editor – Pincas Jawetz)

We originally posted this on August 24, 2010.

This has become now a tradition – a tour of Jazz places/restaurants of Harlem during one of the evenings/nights of the yearly Harlem Week.
Obviously, this is a promotional thing – but if you want to find out what is going on – this is a tremendous one-time occasion.

We went by big Greyhound bus and several Greyhound employees went along. The “safari” was organized by Marko Nobles of Harlem Week Inc. and promoted through Rubenstein Adssociates Inc. Robin Verges. www.HarlemDiscover.com

We made 9 stops. I will not go over the tour chronologically, as it was very varied, but will touch upon the highlights.

Obviously – the outstanding place is the old-timers’ LENOX LOUNGE  at 288 Lenox Ave. that was renamed Malcolm X Bulevard – between 124 and 125th streets. They had Danny Coakley & Friends playing in the fabulous Zebra Room where every Jazz Great has performed.   The September program is great and for the September 15th they have booked comedian Paul Mooney.

The place was full – this was our third stop and we arrived about 6:45 pm. The food looked very good – classic American South and the drinks were named after star  musicians.  www.LenoxLounge.com

From there we drove short distance to SHOWMAN’S at 375 West 125th Street Between St. Nicholas Avenue & Morningside Avenue. This is another place with great history but it is smaller and did not hold up as well. They had Jery Weldon but the program said Henry Warner and The New Perspective. Only a few people sat at the long bar.   www.myspace.com

Next let me note the DWYER CULTURAL CENTER where lots of activities go on that galvanize the Harlem communities – that includes backing up all forms of art including the theater. www.dwyercc.org

Going to the new developments in Harlem, let us start with the newest that was actually the starting point of the tour and is heavily backed by the Harlem Chamber of Commerce. This location has actually two separate French West African (Senegalese) enterprises of the same owners: Our point of attention THE SHRINE BAR RESTAURANT and its neighbor THE YATENGA FRENCH BISTRO & BAR. As we got there at 5:30 pm both places were nearly empty and the music at The Shrine started only 5:45 in our honor. I saw the featured singer, Lady Cantrese, but never heard her. At The Shrine the food is mainly toasts and among the drinks they call Shalom an intriguing mixture of scotch and amaretto. The Bistro has quite an interesting menu. W assume the ida might be to go to the bistro for the food and then to the nicely African decor of the Shrine to listen to the music. The place has potential.

The location is 2269-2271 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd or what is actually 7th Avenue, between 133-134 Streets.
 www.yatengabistro.com

For food lower it seems that The Debrouillard Restaurant Group has planted several sites in Harlem. I understood that two Latin American brothers are behind these enterprises located in Spanish Harlem – none of them is called Ricardo – but the RICARDO’S STEAK HOUSE is an outstanding steak house we visited, and it does not shy away from empanadas either. Further, they honored us with a very good cognac called Conjure. The featured performer was Janice Robinson and, backed up by a L:atin two-men band was very good. The location is 2145 Second Avenue between 110-111 Streets. www.RicardoSteakHouse.com

As said, they own also CEVICHE BAR & TAPAS at 2312 Second Avenue, and astonishingly, POETS DEN GALLERY & THEATER also nearby at 309 East 108 Street. They seemingly have planted here strongly a Latin American (Colombian) corner.

Not to be left behind, the Italians have also come back to Harlem, albeit not to the extreme East side but on Fifth Avenue.
That was actually the last stop at GRAN PIATTO also noted as CUCINA CON AMORE at 1429 Fifth Avenue.
 wwwthelauraman.com and the menu has something for everyone from the health conscious to the American Southern. www.Londell Restaurant.com 2620 Frederick Douglas Blvd. that is 7th Avenue.

The biggest place, and to me a disappointment, was UPTOWN GRAND at 2110 A.C. Powell Jr. Blvd. (btwn.125 & 126 Str. that did not offer anything as was advertised. Instead of a restaurant we saw a big hall with young people milling around with a rather good Latin band being totally neglected. We did not see the featured Performer Pucho, but when we came in we saw leaving Lady Cantrese whom we saw at the beginning of the evening but did not get to listen to here there either. I assume there was some misconnect regarding this place. Wednesdays must be their night for the young folks.www.UptownGrandHarlem.com

That leaves us with another place to which I cannot do justice. That is TERRACE IN THE SKY in the backyard of Columbia University on the roof of Butler Hall, at 400 West 119 Street – between Morningside Drive & Amsterdam Avenue. This is an elegant glass enclosed and roof outdoor as well, French-Mediterranean restaurant with breathtaking views, in all directions, of the Manhattan skylines. www.terraceinthesky.com That was our fourth stop – right after Showman’s, so we got there before 8 pm, but there were no guests left and the musicians was packing their instruments. In short – nothing except we got good Hennessy cognac which I insisted to drink straight. On the other hand, having arrived when darkness was starting to set in – just the right time to see the beauty of the place. This is a weekend dating place for Columbia University and I wonder what is the true reason for not

The Environment at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and THE BIG BAMBU on the roof.

THE BIG BAMBU opened on April 27, 2010 and the second stage (Stage ii) on Friday August 13th -  There will be yet a third stage!

This is a growing Environmental Sculpture if you wish, or a Roof Garden Installation if you prefer, or Elevated Pathways if you are functional.

You can climb it under the supervision of a guide – mine was Naomi Takafuchi who took me to up to 40 feet above the roof-top (which is 110 feet above Central Park ground) and made it possible for us to see the wide horizons of the New York Central Park, and the closing in by tall buildings.

The Monumental Sculpture was conceived and executed by the identical twin brothers – Doug and Mike Starn – born 1961.

They called the work BIG BAMBU: You Can’t, You Don’t, and You Won’t Stop. We found that the explanation is in the numbers – 100 feet long, by 50 feet wide, by 50 feet high and filling as much space of the Iris and Gerald Cantor Roof Garden, as available. Visitors can view the construction in progress that will go on through fall 2010. What then? Who cares? It might take off and travel somewhere else. The real joy is in building it – and for us – to walk through it. Up and down and then, vegetation on the roof has joined in by creeping along. It starts reminding me of the canopy walks of the Amazon I reached years ago via Iquitos, Peru. Only the monkeys outside, looking at us, are missing. However – clearly fun. A major financial contributor to this structure was Mayor Bloomberg, other contributors were from the Polsky  and Caroll family funds.

Oh well, there will be 5,000 interlocking 30 and 40 foot long bamboo poles held together by ropes provided by the Mammut Sports Group, Inc. Yes, there will be 50 miles of nylon ropes in use.  Don’t smoke there, but I got no clear answer if a beer cooler would be OK? I saw one ideal location up there, a bench and some bamboo ends that looked like being there exactly for the use as beer-can holders.

The installation is featured on www.metmuseum.org

For those not in the know – The Museum is at 1,000 Fifth Avenue, and you go in through the 81st Street entrance.

————-

Further, so we do not talk only art – I used the occasion to ask the museum’s information folks – what about Green activities at the Metropolitan? They rolled out before me the existance of a Museum’s Green committee chaired by Whitney Donhauser of the Museum President’s Office. They meet every three months to view how departments use energy, become more efficient energy users in order to turn the buildings “green.” One of the outcomes was the replacement of over 70,000 square feet of flat roofs across the museum, almost two acres, with reflective insulative material. My question, why not some photovoltaics got no answer.

Weather Beacon: Erik Guzman

Weather Beacon is an oracle for the digital age. Merging Wi-Fi technology and industrial engineering, this kinetic sculpture receives data from the Internet and emits a code of flashing lights, forecasting the weather and inviting the public to connect to their physical and invisible surroundings.

Presented by Arts World Financial Center. Sculpture operates 24 hours a day, though December 31, 2010

Weather Beacon has been made possible, in part, by a grant from the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council with the generous support of The September 11th Fund.

location:   World Financial Center Plaza   map

price:	Free
website:	www.artsworldfinancialcenter.com
phone:	212-945-0505 —————————————————————————————————————————————– Also: July 12 – September 3, 2010 Monday – Friday, 12 – 4pm WFC Courtyard Gallery View Map The Drifting Encyclopedia is an assemblage of American oddities, scientific and historical ephemera, questionable accounts and implausible representations thereof. Part Victorian cabinet of curiosities, part roadside attraction, this immersive art installation houses exhibits that echo the themes of unlikely connections and contemplates the actual, illusory and anomalous nature of love. The Drifting Encyclopedia is created in correspondence to Undercurrents & Exchange, a series of performances in the WFC Winter Garden.

From: Anne Smiler

From an honorary New Yorker
Subject: FOR NEW YORKERS

This is a great tribute to all of us with New York in our
blood….Enjoy!!!!

I am a New Yorker

I do not live in the five boroughs or on the Island or Upstate
I may live hundreds or thousands of miles away
Or I may live just over the GW Bridge
But I am a New Yorker

I am a New Yorker
Whatever took me out of New York:
Business, family or hating the cold
did not take New York out of me.
My accent may have faded and my pace may have slowed
But I am a New Yorker

I am a New Yorker
I was raised on Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and Rockefeller Plaza,
The Yankees or the Mets (Giants or Dodgers)
Jones Beach, Rye Beach, Orchard Beach or one of the beaches on the sound
I know that ‘THE END’ means Montauk.
Because I am a New Yorker

I am a New Yorker
When I go on vacation, I never look up
Skyscrapers are something I take for granted
The Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty are part of me
Taxis and noise and subways and ‘get outa heah’ don’t rattle me
Because I am a New Yorker

I am a New Yorker
I was raised on cultural diversity before it was politically correct
I eat Greek food and Italian food,
Jewish and Middle Eastern food and Chinese food
Because they are all American food to me.
I don’t get mad when people speak other languages in my presence
Because my relatives got to this country via Ellis Island and chose to
stay.
They were New Yorkers
People who have never been to New York have misunderstood me.
My friends and family work in the industries, professions and businesses
that benefit all Americans.
My firefighters died trying to save New Yorkers and non-New Yorkers.
They died trying to save Americans and non-Americans,.
Because they were New Yorkers.
Only those that grew up or lived in NYC can understand the meaning of
this:

THERE IS NO NORTH AND SOUTH. IT’S ‘UPTOWN’ OR ‘DOWNTOWN.’ IF YOU’RE
REALLY FROM NEW YORK , YOU HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO CONCEPT OF WHERE NORTH AND
SOUTH ARE…AND EAST OR WEST IS ‘CROSS-TOWN.’

YOU KNOW HOW TO MAKE AN EGG CREAM.

YOU RIDE IN A SUBWAY CAR WITH NO AIR CONDITIONING JUST BECAUSE THERE ARE
SEATS AVAILABLE.

YOU KNOW WHAT A ‘REGULAR’ COFFEE IS.

YOU MOVE 3,000 MILES AWAY, SPEND 10 YEARS LEARNING THE LOCAL LANGUAGE
AND PEOPLE STILL KNOW YOU’RE FROM BROOKLYN, LONG ISLAND, Staten Island
(the other “Island)” OR “THE BRONX”, THE MINUTE YOU OPEN YOUR MOUTH.

YOU RETURN AFTER 10 YEARS AND THE FIRST FOODS YOU WANT ARE A ‘REAL’
PIZZA AND A ‘REAL’ BAGEL.

A 500 SQUARE FOOT APARTMENT IS LARGE.

YOU WOULDN’T BOTHER ORDERING PIZZA IN ANY OTHER CITY.

YOU’RE NOT THE LEAST BIT INTERESTED IN GOING TO TIMES SQUARE ON NEW
YEAR’S EVE.

YOUR INTERNAL CLOCK IS PERMANENTLY SET TO KNOW WHEN ALTERNATE SIDE OF
THE STREET PARKING REGULATIONS IS IN EFFECT.

YOU KNOW WHAT A BODEGA IS.
SOMEONE BUMPS INTO YOU AND YOU CHECK FOR YOUR WALLET.

YOU DON’T EVEN NOTICE THE LADY WALKING DOWN THE ROAD HAVING A PERFECTLY
NORMAL CONVERSATION WITH HERSELF.

YOU PAY ‘ONLY’ $230 A MONTH TO PARK YOUR CAR.

YOU CRINGE AT HEARING PEOPLE PRONOUNCE HOUSTON ST. LIKE THE CITY IN
TEXAS .

THE PRESIDENTIAL VISIT IS A MAJOR TRAFFIC JAM, NOT AN HONOR.
THAT’S NEW YORK ,

BABY! YA GOTTA LOVE IT.

THE FILM ‘LEBANON’: INSIDE AN ISRAELI TANK AND THE REALITY OF WAR.

21 August 2010

By J. Hoberman
SFWeekly.com

Lebanon, written and directed by Samuel Maoz, is not just the year’s most impressive first feature but also the strongest new movie of any kind I’ve seen in 2010. Actually, Lebanon — which won the Golden Lion at Venice, after being rejected by Berlin and Cannes — hardly seems like a debut, perhaps because it’s based on a scenario Maoz had been replaying in his head for nearly 30 years.

http://www.culturalsurvival.org/

—-

United States: Urge President Obama to Sign the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

President Obama needs to hear from  you–today. He needs to know that all Americans believe that the day has come for…

Learn More and Take Action

—-

Papua New Guinea: Protect Marine Life and Defend Indigenous Rights

The government of Papua New Guinea doesn’t want to hear from us. It has authorized a Chinese mining company to dump toxic…

Learn More and Take Action

From Cultural Survival, our executive director Ellen Lutz stepped down at the beginning of August because of a very serious health issues. An article in the upcoming Cultural Survival Quarterly magazine looks back at the extraordinary contributions Ellen made to the organization, but I wanted to take this opportunity to let you know about her stepping down and give you a sense of where the organization is going, building on the foundation she laid.

A search firm is reviewing candidates for a new director, and I am happy to report that we have received more than 140 strong applications from every corner of the globe. Even more encouraging, those applicants include a large proportion of highly qualified Indigenous individuals — a reflection of the growth in the Indigenous movement, and in some regards a testament to the work of Cultural Survival, which has supported that movement for almost 40 years. With such a strong pool of candidates, we are feeling very confident about the future.

The new director will step into an organization that is growing at a time when many others are experiencing a drop in their operations. Over the past year, Cultural Survival has taken on the most ambitious roster of activities in its history: We conducted an on-the-ground human rights investigation in Kenya; coordinated congressional hearings on Indigenous issues in the United States; hosted the Native American language summit at the National Museum of the American Indian and successfully lobbied the Congress to quadruple the budget for endangered Native language programs; introduced a bill to the Guatemalan Congress for a change in its laws that would recognize Indigenous community radio stations; took the government of Panama to the Inter-American Court on Human Rights over a dam that is destroying the homeland of Ngöbe people; submitted reports on Indigenous rights to the United Nations Human Rights Council; merged with the environmental/Indigenous advocacy organization Global Response; sponsored events at the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues; hosted a summit on media coverage of Indigenous issues at the Soros Foundation in New York; launched successful advocacy campaigns for Indigenous communities in the Philippines and Indonesia, and another campaign to get the United States to endorse the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples; pressed the Obama administration to issue an executive order supporting Native language programs; and met with Avatar director James Cameron to discuss the real-life issues faced by Indigenous Peoples on earth-all while growing our own programs, increasing our membership, tripling our magazine’s circulation, and finishing the year on a strong financial footing during a severe recession.

The new director will of course bring his or her own skills, interests, and perspectives to Cultural Survival, and there’s no way of knowing at this writing what those attributes will be, but they will be added to our existing programs, and the result can only mean even greater prospects for the future. In terms of those existing programs, there is already growth on the horizon.

Our Endangered Native American Languages Program will be launching its website, languagegathering.org, in the next couple of months, which will provide an invaluable platform for tribal programs to share information, techniques, and expertise.

We have already established relations with more than 300 tribal programs across the country, and all of them are submitting material for the site. We hope that the bill we introduced to the Guatemalan Congress recognizing community radio will be voted on shortly after this issue of the Cultural Survival Quarterly goes into the mail, and we believe our extensive lobbying efforts have convinced enough legislators to vote for it to ensure its passage.

The Global Response program, too, is growing, with plans for more on-the-ground investigations and even larger campaigns to stop environmental destruction on Indigenous lands. It goes without saying that Ellen Lutz is personally and professionally missed in the office, but because of her efforts we face the future confidently and optimistically. And with the support of people like you, we will be able to do even more to protect Indigenous environments, languages, and cultures.

Thank you,

Mark Camp,

Director of Operations and Acting Executive Director.

A UNITED NATIONS MEDIA ADVISORY:

The International Day of the World’s Indigenous People will be observed at United Nations Headquarters and around the world on Monday, 9 August 2010. This year’s observance will highlight indigenous filmmaking, celebrating the contributions of indigenous filmmakers to promoting greater understanding of their communities, cultures and history and the challenges they face today.

The work of indigenous filmmakers “connects us to belief systems and philosophies; it captures both the daily life and the spirit of indigenous communities,” states Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in his message for the Day.

At the UN Headquarters event in New York, remarks by the Secretary-General and other UN and indigenous representatives will precede the screening of four short movies by indigenous filmmakers. After the film screenings, a discussion with three indigenous filmmakers will be moderated by Reaghan Tarbell, from the National Museum of the American Indian (see full programme below).

In his message to mark the Day, the Secretary-General emphasized the major contribution of indigenous peoples to global cultural diversity.

“The world’s indigenous peoples have preserved a vast amount of humanity’s cultural history. Indigenous peoples speak a majority of the world’s languages, and have inherited and passed on a wealth of knowledge, artistic forms and religious and cultural traditions,” he stated.

The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2007, underscores indigenous peoples’ right to maintain, protect and develop the past, present and future manifestations of their culture in various forms including the technological, visual and performing arts.

MEDIA ARRANGEMENTS: Journalists without UN accreditation who wish to attend the event should follow the instructions for obtaining accreditation at www.un.org/media/accreditation For media enquiries or interviews, please contact: Renata Sivacolundhu, Department of Public Information, tel: 212-963-2932, e-mail: sivacolundhu@un.org.  For Secretariat of the Permanent Forum, please contact: Broddi Sigurdarson, tel: 917 367 2106, e-mail: IndigenousPermanentForum@un.org .

2:00 – 2:45 p.m. Welcome Ceremony

Welcome by Master of Ceremonies Roberto Múcaro Borrero (Taíno, Puerto Rico), Chairperson, NGO Committee on the International Decade of the World’s Indigenous Peoples

Traditional welcome by Mr. Kevin Tarrent (Ho Chunk)

Remarks by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

Message by Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Sha Zukang

Message from the Chairperson of the United Nations Permanent Forum on         Indigenous Issues, Mr. Carlos Mamani (by representative of DESA)

2:45 – 3:45 p.m. Screening of four short movies by indigenous filmmakers

Moderator: Ms. Reaghan Tarbell, from the National Museum of the American Indian

Brazil: Marangmotxingo Mïrang/From the Ikpeng Children to the World Directed by Kumaré Txicão (Ikpeng), Karané Txicão (Ikpeng) and Natuyu Yuwipo Txicão (Ikpeng)

Sweden: Curte-Nillas:(short) movie) Directed  by Mr. Per-Josef Idivuoma (Sámi)

Puerto Rico: Taino Indians counted out of existence Directed by Mr. Alex Zacarias (Taíno)

Alaska:  Sukumi – On the ice Directed by Mr. Andrew Okpeaha MacLean (Inupiaq)

3:45 – 5:00 p.m. Question and answer session with indigenous filmmakers

Moderator: Ms. Reaghan Tarbell, from the National Museum of the American Indian

Film Directors: Mr. Per-Josef Idivuoma, Mr. Alex Zacarias and Mr. Andrew Okpeaha Maclean

This event is organized by the Secretariat of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues DSPD/DESA, and the NGO Committee on the International Decade of the World’s Indigenous Peoples.

The International Day of the World’s Indigenous People is officially commemorated annually on 9 August in recognition of the first meeting of the United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Populations in Geneva in 1982.

General public wishing to attend the observance should register by Thursday 6 August, by sending an email with full name at: indigenous_un@un.org.

Please note that those who have not registered will not get a day pass, and will thus not be able to attend. Holders of valid UN grounds passes do not need to register.

The event will begin at 2 pm. Participants must enter the UN grounds through the Visitor’s Entrance on 1st. Avenue facing 45th Street. After going through the entrance, participants should go directly to the table where SPFII staff will hand out day passes to those who have registered. Day passes will be available at the table from 1 pm until 2:15 pm. It is essential that participants bring photo ID when picking up their day passes.

As we are in the habit of reading everything that was put in print or posted on the web, we are hit from time to time also with delicious stories of real lives – not just your pedestrian oil blowouts.

This Saturday I saw first the story of the Chinese woman that became Jewish to find out that whatever she does – she will always be Chinese – viewed as such and honestly proud of it just as well.

Then, fell in my hands the July 22-29, 2010, City Week of OUR TOWN of Manhattan that included a note about a Saturday afternoon “Identity Crisis” at The Midtown International Theatre Festival that seemed to me to be in the same genre of a real life story that involves Asians living in the United States and ending up, in spite of their efforts to fit in, being recognized rather for what they really are and getting to the heights of their achievements only after having made peace with themselves. www.mdtownfestival.org

Dear reader, I hope you will not be surprised to find out that the propulsion that sent me off that afternoon to the Strelsin Theater was a thought to see if I can throw some light on the best potential for achieving an energy & climate bill for President Obama – if he were only to stand up and represent his real inner self. Will he decide to do this after November 2010, when it will become clear that there is no way for a future that mimics the present of the majority that surrounds him?

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Asian Belle

This show is part of the Midtown International Theatre Festival. Here’s the official blurb: The daughter of a Vietnamese war bride spends her youth aspiring to be a Southern Belle….a funny, touching and true solo show.

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Before the show started I happened to chat with another delightful lady, Annie Guetti – a mother to a daughter about 10 years old. Annie has a  show in the Short Subjects Series of this festival – this one about motherhood – “ONCE UPON A MAMA” – at the nearby Jewel Box Theater – that same evening at 8:30 pm – and was carrying with her a suitcase – I guess with the wardrobe.  About her – www.facebook.com/pages/MAMA-Productions/160612856005

From Annie Guetti I learned that she and Michelle Glick participated in the same class that Matt Hoverman is giving for Playwriting and acting – he is a prominent coach for New York City Theatre in that he develops solo programs that encourage actor/playwrights in bringing out what is best in themselves and eventually birthing good theater.

Annie thought very highly of Michelle and said while Michelle came to the class thinking about writing on all sort of issues, it was this wonderful coach that led her in bringing out what is really part of herself – because that is her truth. Now, if dear reader, you are still with me – right there I got convinced that Matt Hoverman should get an invitation – in public or in secret – to the White House private quarters!

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Michelle Glick is  a Vietnam war product – American serviceman and Vietnamese mother. She grew up in Tuscaloosa, Alabama and was friendly there with the local belles and black guys – she thought of herself as part of the environment until she was offered in a school play the role of an Oriental Chauffeur. But she did not want to wear yellow clothes she wanted the white clothes like the other girls. She was lucky to have a feisty mother who trooped to school to tell that much to the astonished teacher – she also wanted to make it clear that her younger son’s name was Kal – a honored name for five generations in her family, and not Carl as the school was calling him. Michelle got the role of a maid.

The mother was fully adjusted to America – eventually, years later she became independent after her children grew up and she moved to California.

Michelle Glick is a terrific actress capable to switch around three or four accents. She is tall gaunt like a model and from her Vietnamese genes she got terific Cheek bones – moving around her long hands, standing on her long legs, she at times invoked the impression of a praying mantid completely adjusted to get what she wants – even when the issue is just to get her belongings monogramed – because this is the way Southern Bells have to have it. At this stage she was the perfect Asian Belle in her own image.

When she eventually moves to New York at 25, and got her first roommate right there at the baggage claim at Greyhounds, she liked to hang around Chinatown – because there she saw people with black hair like hers. There one Chinese old store owner told her that instead of copying Chinese she should go and visit Vietnam and get in contact with her own roots.

Michelle convinced her Vietnamese uncle Harry, who after release from Communist jail came to live with them in Alabama, to go back and show her around.  She saw how people can be happy with simple things in life – like holding a cup of tea with both their hands and smile to her – even there was no good verbal communication.

She sat orientally with both her legs crossed on top of the chair and said she felt her Asian background and pronounced Aloha – Hawaii – here I come. She seemed to get her way in any environment she chose to do so!

To Backstage.com, Michelle Glick said that she wants an international career spending part of the year in Asia, working “I am thinking about paving the way doing that.” In the meantime she intends to explore producing and writing.
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Now, did I make myself clear about Obama?

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NO LONGER INTERMARRIED BUT STILL CHINESE.

February 22, 2010
 http://www.interfaithfamily.com/news_and…

Because it is clear from my appearance that I am ethnically Chinese, total strangers will tell me all about their various Asian acquaintances. I think these people are trying to prove that they do not harbor racial prejudices. Frankly, I consider these experiences to be mildly annoying. But I can’t change my face, so I’ve accepted that this kind of experience is just something I will always have to deal with.

Debbie Burton is wearing her late maternal grandmother’s Chinese jacket on a visit to her cousins for Chinese New Year, January 2009. She is looking at a book of photos of the school in rural China her family established in her grandmother’s memory. She sent the photo with the note: “I feel that my Chinese family’s values of social justice and education mean that those same Jewish values particularly resonate for me.”

I also stand out in a synagogue because I do not “look Jewish”. My husband however is half Ashkenazi and thus does look more typically Jewish. So people have often taken one look at the two of us and assumed that we were intermarried. For the first 22 years of our marriage, they were right. But since I finally converted to Judaism, it is no longer the case, and I even have a real Jewish ketubah to prove that we now have a legitimate “Jewish marriage.”

But I’m still Chinese, so I still don’t look Jewish even though I am now. And people still sometimes react strangely because of my appearance, although I should point out that the strange or rude reactions are not typical, just memorable. In fact, if many Jews think it is surprising to see someone Chinese at synagogue, they are too polite to mention it. A few people have even assumed that I am a Jew by birth.

A student at a university Hillel Kabbalat Shabbat service told me very earnestly that he had read about and was excited to meet a Kaifeng Jew–meaning me. (A small Jewish community has existed in Kaifeng, China for hundreds of years.) I was sorry to disappoint him and explained that most Chinese Jews that he would meet in this country would be converts. These days I would add that they might also be adoptees, such as the two Chinese girls from the Orthodox congregation that meets in the same building as my congregation.

Before I converted, when people treated me differently because I was Chinese, I didn’t like it, but felt like maybe I “deserved” it because by marrying me my husband had violated the strong Jewish prohibition on intermarriage. I felt guilty that for some people, meeting me would only reinforce the idea that an Asian person in a synagogue was likely to be a non-Jewish spouse. I felt that it would make it that much harder for Jews who were Asian, but were born or raised their whole lives as Jews, like the adopted girls mentioned above, the three Korean adoptees in my congregation, or even my own children who were converted when they were young and are half-Chinese.

But just as my formal conversion signified my own acceptance of who I am religiously and spiritually, I’m coming to see that maybe it is not such a bad thing that my Chinese appearance means that I can’t so easily leave behind the fact that I was previously intermarried. A recent interaction that stemmed from my being Chinese even ended up being a positive experience.

My minyan meets in a Reform synagogue that is the simultaneous home for congregations from each of the three major movements (which are unaffiliated with each other, unlike minyanim at a university Hillel). I am a member of the lay-led egalitarian Conservative congregation that meets there, but one Shabbat a man from the Orthodox minyan started to talk to me as we left the building at the same time. He asked me about my ethnic background. When I replied “Chinese,” he went on to ask “And you’re Jewish?” Although I told him no, which was the technically correct answer, I added, “But I’ve been going to shul for 24 years.” I didn’t tell him that I was also studying with a rabbi for the purpose of conversion.

Some weeks later, this same man accosted me in the coat room after services and asked me why I had not converted if I had been attending synagogue for so long. I was embarrassed to be asked such a personal question with other people from both congregations around. I told him simply that the main reason was that I was afraid that my parents would take my conversion as a rejection of them. I assumed his questions stemmed from mere curiosity.

Then many months later, I saw him again and told him that I had formally converted to Judaism since we had last spoken. He seemed genuinely delighted by my news, but showed real sensitivity in telling me carefully that he was happy for me because it was something that I had clearly chosen for myself and that I was happy about it. Then he mentioned that his wife is Japanese. I thought to myself that of course she probably converted before they got married. But I had scarcely formulated the above thought when he totally surprised me by adding that his wife is not Jewish.

This news gave me a very different perspective on his questions. It sounded like his own wife was not interested in Judaism, at least for herself, and I think he wanted to understand what it was that caused me, another Asian non-Jew, to feel so drawn to Judaism. We didn’t talk for very long, but I think that he felt better to learn about another intermarriage in which the Jewish spouse was active in and committed to Judaism. And I was glad to learn about someone who self-identifies as Orthodox who is intermarried. I know from my own experience that intermarriage does not have to reflect a failure in a person’s Jewish identity, but it is such a prevalent assumption and it causes many Jews to automatically react negatively to intermarried couples.

So my looking Chinese had enabled that connection to be made because that man would never have approached me if I looked European. The experience also reminded me I don’t have to be ashamed of having been intermarried. Being Chinese makes my ethnicity more visible while obscuring my religious identity, which oddly enough pushes me to accept myself for both who I am now and who I was.

BARGEMUSIC REVISITED.

We posted the following two weeks ago, and said at the time that we will return to the Barge that is moored at Fulton Ferry Landing under the Brooklyn Bridge in Brooklyn, NY.

Our target was going to be “The HERE AND NOW Series in Celebration of Terry Riley’s 75th Birthday.

See also www.bargemusic.org

Our previous posting was:

UPDATED – With Climate Change and a local government that does not care, a decreasing quality of public transportation, scorched at 103 F (39.4 C), New York City has nevertheless BARGEMUSIC. The Innovative spirit of its people does not give up. Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on July 13th, 2010
by Pincas Jawetz ( PJ at SustainabiliTank.com)
Posted in Art Performance reviews, Eco Friendly Tourism, Future Events, New York, Reporting From the UN Headquarters in New York ?
 Meher Baba.

The performers where THE VOXARE QUARTET that included: Emily Ondracek-Peterson and Galina Zhdanova – violins,
Erik Peterson – viola, and Adrian Daurov – cello. The spirited young performers seemed to enjoy thoroughly the event and took turns in explaining the music’s background – something that in itself enhanced the audience’s understanding and enjoyment.

Legendary American composer, Terry Riley – DigiDan, 18 Mar 2010

Terrence Mitchell Riley, born June 24, 1935, in California, is an American composer associated with the minimalist school of Western classical music. He is usually mentioned together with Steve Reich and Philip Glass. However – His most influential teacher, however, was Pandit Pran Nath (1918–1996), a master of Indian classical voice, who also taught La Monte Young and Marian Zazeela. Riley made numerous trips to India over the course of their association to study and to accompany him on tabla, tambura, and voice. Throughout the 1960s he traveled frequently around Europe as well, taking in musical influences and supporting himself by playing in piano bars, until he joined the Mills College faculty in 1971 to teach Indian classical music.
Riley was awarded an Honorary Doctorate Degree in Music at Chapman University in 2007.

The Voxare presenters took the stand that it is incorrect to call Terry Riley a minimalist and at times it seemed indeed that he simply expanded classic music by introducing new elements and being ready to experiments that when picked up later by other composers led to the revolutionary 1960s in American music.

The first piece on Friday -  “Sunrise of the Planetary Dream Collector,” was composed in 1980 for the Kronos Quartet, a result of a longtime collaboration of Mr. Riley’s and included improvisations based on North Indian raga instead of formal composition, but then we were told that at Kronos’s insistence he notated the score for “Sunrise.” Still, as Ms. Ondracek explained gaily, he wrote sections of the score on different sheets of paper so the performers could decide the order of performance. The Voxare Quartet offered a high-energy performance, vividly conveying the work’s beautiful angles. It started with something that sounded like American folklore fiddles and felt like a wakening up. The two Russian-background violinist ladies really tore into the music with gusto, followed by the cello and then the viola. I got the impression that the music was debating with itself and had a lot of internal life. Eventually we had a return to the opening notes. Was this the improvisation of Voxare?

The second piece on Friday was the 1960 String Quartet. That was pure minimalism – or I do not understand the term. It was about the San Francisco Harbor foghorns. The sound came mainly from the cello, and the whole piece, considering the Barge-location was the most appropriate thing you could imagine The barge was swaying as there was a bit of rain outside – and it was a foghorn – pure and simple.

The third piece on Friday was “The Wheel / Mythic Birds Waltz.” This piece is post-Indian period of Mr. Riley and it was a result of improvisation on a piano with Indian and Jazz references and I felt that at times moved over to sound like bells and a Bela Bartok  gypsy ending.

After Intermission, on Friday, the fourth piece was G-song that  in effect was the result of a commission he got for music for a French movie. It had sort of a melancholic feeling to it and I wonder what was that movie about.

The fifth Terry Riley piece we heard on Sunday – it was “Cortejo Funebre en el Monte Diablo” from his 1998 “Requiem for Adam” the son of David Harrington of the Kronos Quartet. Young Adam died of a heart ailment.

The music starts with bell sounds and a tape of trumpets moves in. It turns out that what we hear are electronically generated sounds – this is music of a different kind. The violins move in – then the quartet stops and the funeral proceeds. It was an all around fascinating piece.

David Harrington formed Kronos after hearing George Crumb’s Black Angels, a powerful piece about the Vietnam war; ever since he has sought to give voice to twentieth century composers all over the world. At this moment there are hundreds of pieces being commissioned by them.

The Kronos have performed pieces by Thelonious Monk, John Zorn, Philip Glass, Charles Ives, Dmitri Yanovsky, Scott Johnson, Terry Riley, and a slew of European and African composers. With a balance of fervid dedication, spirituality, and a liberal sense of humor, the Kronos Quartet have taken on the awesome responsibility of saving an entire musical universe.

They have released Howl U.S.A, a grim portrait of the dark side of America, in which the The Kronos passionately accompany the voices of J. Edgar Hoover, Harry Partch, I.F. Stone, and Allen Ginsberg.

For the past twenty years the Kronos Quartet have performed music that expresses the anxiety, tension, ferocious energy and mystic yearnings in the twentieth century.

Single-handed they have saved a genre (the string quartet) that was well on its path to extinction.

With a cover Jimi Hendrix’s Purple Haze, spiffy outfits, and hip hairdos they have widened the audience of quartet music from those who were well schooled in public classrooms about classical music, to those who barely get the Bugs Bunny “Kill the Wabbit” reference to Wagner. Baby boomers and hip college students flock to the Kronos, craving music that is truly contemporary — a bracing change from dinosaur genres like classic rock. Terry Riley loved what they were doing.

The sixth Riley piece, or the second on Sunday, was “Cadenza on a Night Plain.” This is a masterpiece of early 1994 with Upper Mid-West and Native America influences. Each section is different – a different Cadenza. Mr. Peterson, the viola player, likened his section as “March of the Old-Timers.” He said that the directions say “Stoned Enthusiasm” then “Marching to more serious matters” – “which might mean smoking reef.”

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The add-ons were:

The Lou Harrison’s – 1917-2003 – striking “String Quartet Set” (1979), “Variations on Walter von der Vogelweide” revealed, we were told, Mr. Harrison’s joint interest with Terry Riley in nature and old music. The score had  five-movement piece ranges from the melancholy “Plaint” to the exuberant “Estampie,” which uses the cello as a percussive instrument. The performance was excellent, with distinctive contributions from each player. It ended with Usul – or a Turkish coda.

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Steve Reich, the opening piece on Sunday, “Different Trains” of 1988 – for String Quartet and Tape – the Tape at times being just talk and at other times further sound.

Steve Reich, born in 1936, was recently called  “our greatest living composer” (The New York Times), “America’s greatest living composer.” (The Village VOICE), “…the most original musical thinker of our time” (The New
Yorker) and “…among the great composers of the century” (The New York Times)…  http://www.stevereich.com/

The particular piece we hear on Sunday has to do with his upbringing that involved commuting by train between New York and Los Angeles as his divorced parents, both of them, shared in custody over him – so – he was having this privilege of traveling often – coast to coast by train. That was until 1942 – eventually he learned about refugees from Europe arriving to New York and going also by train to the West Coast or wherever.

The piece has three parts – America before the war – Europe during the war – America after the war.

This is not just about a Jewish boy shuttling between his two parents – but about Holocaust and its effects – the fortunate ones traveling on the same train with him – here in the US.

It is a clearly difficult concept but he came up with some appropriate music. At times it sounded to me like Robert Wilson’s shows – whoever the composer – perhaps Philip Glass? There is a repetitiveness in the background that does not allow us to forget!

The second part – in what I heard – ended in Smoke. The instrumentation called for violins being stroked by the bows backwards – the resultant sounds quite unusual.

The third part – after the war – had happier sounds.

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THE WHO -

The piece is based  on Graceland and Pete Townshend with a concept of a commune Rock farm in Ireland had it at 90 minutes length but Maher Baba reworked it and we had delightful 7 minutes. It was a real winner.

It started with Mr. and Mrs. Peterson fiddling with gusto the viola and violin and no joke – it seemed that as they went on with more force, the barge reacted and started to sway stronger – then a huge barge showed up and we realized that this was not from heaven. The piece was a clear winner and the applause laud.
 http://www.google.com/search?client=gmai…

“Baba O’Riley” is a song by the English rock band The Who, written by Pete Townshend. – Roger Daltrey sings most of the song, with Pete Townshend singing the middle eight: “Don’t cry/don’t raise your eye/it’s only teenage wasteland”. The title of the song is derived from this combination of the song’s philosophical and musical influences: Meher Baba and Terry Riley. –

Townshend originally wrote “Baba O’Riley” for his Lifehouse project, a rock opera that was to be the follow-up to The Who’s 1969 opera, Tommy. The song was derived from a nine minute demo, which the band reconstructed. “Baba O’Riley” was going to be used in the Lifehouse project as a song sung by Ray, the Scottish farmer at the beginning of the album as he gathers his wife Sally and his two children to begin their exodus to London. When Lifehouse was scrapped, many of the songs were released on The Who’s 1971 album Who’s Next. “Baba O’Riley” became the first track on Who’s Next. The song was released as a single in several European countries, but in the United States and the United Kingdom was only released as part of the album.

Baba O’Riley Lyrics
Artist(Band):The Who

Out here in the fields
I fight for my meals
I get my back into my living.

I don’t need to fight
To prove I’m right
I don’t need to be forgiven.
yeah,yeah,yeah,yeah,yeah

Don’t cry
Don’t raise your eye
It’s only teenage wasteland

Sally, take my hand
We’ll travel south cross land
Put out the fire
And don’t look past my shoulder.

The exodus is here
The happy ones are near
Let’s get together
Before we get much older.

Teenage wasteland
It’s only teenage wasteland.
Teenage wasteland
Oh, yeah
Its only teenage wasteland
They’re all wasted!

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A trip to the lower levels of Brooklyn Heights is always a joy not to be missed. Slowly, the area is being reclaimed from the old port slips. Next to the barge there is the Ice Cream Factory, and on the other side the Bridge Cafe. You can get a bite and sip wine in the open – be it 98 degrees Fahrenheit. Further there is the Bridge Restaurant.

If you love Pizza – the best this side of the ocean is to be had at GRIMALDI’S – old country – real Coal-Brick Oven Pizzeria “Under the Brooklyn Bridge.” But know ye all – the lines to this pizzeria are a block long and you can rent a chair for two dollars if you prefer to sit rather then stand in line. But, trust me – it is worth the effort – once in your life-time. For me it was a Pizza pie with extra cheese and fresh garlic cloves and a Peroni beer for a total of $28.

If you really do not want to undergo the above – let me suggest the Tutt Cafe – as in King Tutt - www.tuttcafe.com, at 47 Hicks St. where I got an excellent Merguez Pitza (that must be the old Egyptian spelling of the pie, and the Merguez is Moroccan lamb sausage), and my wife got a spicy Falafel Wrap (not a pocket) – all of it for $16 total.

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Richard Termine for The New York Times

Voxare Quartet: From left, Emily Ondracek, Galina Zhdanova, Adrian Daurov and Erik Peterson playing a Bargemusic concert in Brooklyn. The East River in the background. The picture was taken at the Friday night concert. During the Saturday afternoon concert – there was some rain and the visual effect grey.

EXHIBITION: LARRY RIVERS: POP ICONS.

Dates: Saturday July 31 – August 24, 2010

VERED ART DEALERS AND ADVISORS – EAST HAMPTON NY

* * * * * * *

BENEFITS:

Saturday July 31  Artists4Israel

Opening: Reception Saturday July 31. 2010, 9-11 pm -

Interactive-multi-media installation Sderot Bomb Shelter 2010”

A FIVE Year Anniversary of the DISENGAGEMENT from GAZA-installations to enable Vered Gallery East Hampton NY visitors to experience a present day rocket attack in a bomb shelter like those in Sderot on the border of Gaza.

Contact:  JanetLehr at VeredArt.com<... style=”font-size: x-small;”>

631 324-3303- 10-Noon

Place: Vered Gallery East Hampton Starbucks Passage.

Vered’s opening Saturday July 31^st from 9-11pm is accompanied by ‘fireworks’ Larry would have loved, supplied by Artists4Israel.

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Sunday August 1, 2010 Museum of Jewish Heritage:

Living Memorial to the Holocaust

Brunch

A Contact:  VeredArt.com – 631 324-3303

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Sunday, August 15, 2010

Israeli Aid Around The World-IDF aid in Earthquake Stricken Haiti.

Brunch, 10 – noon

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“One of the best artists in the history of American art”- Barbara Rose, Art Historian

Larry Rivers: POP Icons, spans the breadth of one of America’s most fertile artistic careers. Post Abstract Expressionism, Larry Rivers lead a new generation to whom figurative art was in a sense, more revolutionary than abstraction.

Noted art historian Barbara Rose, wrote that Rivers was; “Heralded as the progenitor of Pop art, which he certainly was, in my view he was also the last great history painter.”  Rose continued, “The only subject Larry could not bring himself to satirize was the Holocaust, which inspired some of his most moving later works.”  Larry Rivers: POP Icons, is as offbeat and funky as Rivers himself.  “For Larry the tension was between the highbrow, European, literary, and Marxist past of Eastern European Jewish intellectuals and American popular culture, which focused on fame, fashion, entertainment, and money, all of which became major themes of his energetic art.”

Larry would have embraced the three benefits which accompany the exhibition.  Each celebrates Israel during the month of August when Israel commemorates the fifth anniversary of the Disengagement, a period when Israel uprooted 8500 of its citizens in a fruitless attempt to advance the cause of peace with its neighbors.

For information and reproductions please contact janetlehr@veredart.com, 631 324 3303
or view the entire exhibition at www.veredart.com

JANET LEHR                janetlehr@veredart.com

Vered Fine Art www.veredart.com
68 Park Place 631 324 3303 / c.516 353 6450 / 212 288 6234
East Hampton NY 11937

NY Office:891 Park Avenue
New York NY 10075

For one thing, see there is a good South African Restaurant in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, and we go there for inspiration and nourishment from time to time. www.madibarestaurant.com/  – info@madibarestaurant.com.
 http://politic365.com/2010/07/19/happy-b…

Based on the above – we write: Two freedom fighters I most admire, writes Noel Anderson, Professor at Brooklyn College, in the struggle for South African democracy are Oliver Tambo and Nelson Mandela. Law partners and comrades, both men helped to shape the direction of the country, with Mandela leading the struggle from within, while Tambo raised international consciousness and money while exiled abroad. Tambo is no longer with us, but Mandela keeps the best of that struggle alive, becoming the first truly democratically elected President of South Africa after decades of imprisonment, and continuing to serve as a moral symbol for African and world affairs.

Born 92 years ago on July 18th, 1918, into a royal family in the Transkei, Mandela has been at the center of not just South African but global freedom struggles. He was the head of the ANC youth league and became a founding member of Umkhonto we Sizwe (“Spear of the Nation”) the armed wing of the ANC, before being imprisoned for 27 years.

President Obama, in tribute to Mandela’s work, has called on all to engage in community service. (In effect this past weekend everyone of us was called to put aside 82 minutes of his time and dedicate those 82 minutes to the community.  The United Nations has also recognized his birthday as Nelson Mandela International Day by calling on November 10, 2009 to make the !8th of July The International Mandela Day – and this year – the July 18th 2010, was supposed to be The First International Mandela Day. But it fell on a Sunday and that is a no-no for the UN Free Birds that must keep the weekend in New York for free enjoyment – really – what other reason for spending the time in this hot city? So, the UN moved to celebrate the day, this year, on  Thursday night and Friday Morning – 15th and 16th of 2010.

Strange as it sounds, its important to recognize that “Madiba” (his term of endearment), the 92 year old grandfather, still has a revolutionary spirit and still… very much alive. The press tends to talk about him the past tense, as if he is long gone and only his legacy survives. Yes, health concerns has led him to retreat from a once rigorous travel schedule, and his chronological age puts him in the twilight of his life. But Mandela is  mentally very lucid, weighs in on global politics and still advises in the affairs of his philanthropic foundation. Further, despite the controversial painting of Mandela, depicting him as dead and being used for an autopsy by political leaders, he still speaks with leaders on pressing concerns, and remains loyal to those countries that supported the freedom struggle.  Happy Birthday, Madiba!

{Dr. Noel S. Anderson is Associate Professor of Political Science and Education at the City University of New York – Brooklyn College. His work focuses on urban politics, human development and education and comparative issues in public policy – U.S. and South Africa}.

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The celebration started on Thursday night 6:30 pm with a series of three talks and the screening of the documentary “MANDELA: Son of Africa, Father of a Nation, in the new ECOSOC Chamber in the UN temporary North Lawn building.

No one from the high flyers of the UN was there – their place taken by fill-ins, but luckily Jonathan Demme the director, and Peter Saraf, the co-producer of the film were there – so the aesthetics of their production could be brought up.

For the UN spoke Margaret Novicki and Nicholas Haysom.

Margaret Novicki was appointed by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan  as the Director of the United Nations Information Centre in Pretoria, South Africa.  Ms. Novicki, a national of the United States, brings to this post extensive experience in communications, media relations and journalism, much of it acquired in Africa. Prior to Pretoria she worked for the UN in Accra. She chaired the evening. She spoke on behalf  of the UN USG for UNDPI – Mr. Kiyotaka Akasaka.
Why DPI? Why not the Secretary General himself?

Nicholas Haysom, as an attorney of the South African High Court, he litigated in high-profile human rights cases between 1981 and 1993.  He acted as a professional mediator in labour and community conflicts in South Africa between 1985 and 1993, and has advised on civil conflicts in Africa and Asia since 1998. Founding partner and senior lawyer at the human rights law firm of Cheadle Thompson and Haysom Attorneys, and an Associate Professor of Law and Deputy Director at the Centre for Applied Legal Studies at Wits University in South Africa until May 1994, when he was appointed Legal Adviser to President Mandela.

Mr. Haysom was closely involved in the constitutional negotiations leading up to the interim and final Constitutions in South Africa.  He served as Chief Legal Adviser throughout Mr. Mandela’s presidency, and continued to work with Mr. Mandela on his private peace initiatives up to 2002.

Since leaving the office of the President upon Nelson Mandela’s retirement in 1999, Mr. Haysom has been involved in the Burundi Peace Talks as the Chairman of the committee negotiating constitutional issues (1999–2002). He continued to serve on the implementation committee of the Burundi Peace Accord after 2002.

Incoming UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed Professor Nicholas Haysom of South Africa as Director for Political Affairs in his Executive Office, May 16, 2007. Our friend Matthew Russell Lee complained that he is never seen at the UN – but in a careful reading of the article we find there the concept of preventive diplomacy – we wish had more credence at the UN.  “He said there is a resistance to preventive diplomacy among member states, leading to the blocking of reform and regional offices of the Department of Political Affairs — he ascribed the most strenuous opposition to Latin America — and to resistance to the Responsibility to Protect doctrine and Ed Luck’s appointment as special advisor on the topic.” In short – he actually seems to be well ahead of the UN but not really of the UN – where he finds it difficult to execute policy that is factually set by only the Permant Five of the Veto Power.

What we said above was that both speakers for the UN are somehow South Africa based and not UN based.

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (Xhosa pronunciation: [xo?li?a?a man?de?la]; born in a Xhosa home in Qunu, Transkei,where his father, the Town Counselor, had 4 wives and the boys lived in a separate home from the parents. Chief Jogintamba saw his potential and sent him to the Clakebury Boarding School. In 1933, at 15, he got involved in the Walter Sisulu led ANC and when he reached 30 years, that is when coincidentally Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd’s contribution to Afrikanerdom was to dress up apartheid and make it appear respectable to his followers, and the Mandela & Tambo law-firm took on the anti-apartheid legal defense.

In 1956 Mandela prepared the Freedom Charter and the people declared – “We Stand by Our Leader.” Then in 1960 happened the Sharpeville masacre and the call changed to: “Freedom in Our Time” and Wolfie Kadesh, a white man, was an activist. In 1962 Mandela went underground and George Bizios, also a white man, was his lawyer. Eventually, Mandela was apprehended and was in jail 1961 – 1988. Gowan Mbeki was imprisoned for 25 years. In August 1989 Botha resigns and De Klerk takes over and leeds the negotiations with Mandela. November 1993 both of them get the Nobel Prize. Friday, 10 Dec 1993 was Mandela’s speech in Oslo. http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen…

Fully representative Democratic elections took place on 27 April 1994, and Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999.

Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist. We saw how he got there from his village roots and we learned about the 27 years he spent as a FREE MAN behind bars – freer in his spirit then his captors that knew that they were the captives in the hands of the true Free World. Yes – those years – post World War II – when the UN was young and small – the World had hope for a future that will be very different from the way history evolved prior to those days. Today we can say that the hope tuned out to be pre-mature and Nelson Mandela who moved with his times forged an image for the World well ahead of his time. But no despair, his personal example moved at Least South Africa to ending its internal conflict even though many other conflicts in the World continue to rage on.

Mandela, son of Africa and Father of the New South Africa, depicted in advertisement as a barefoot young boy in what looks like a general’s coat, armed with a stick, said that his watchwords were TRUTH & FREEDOM.

———————-

From the screening event at the UN I hurried down to the Manhattan Village – to TEATROIATI at 64 East 4th Street (between Bowery and 2nd Av,) where Sabrina Lastman of Uruguay was having a showing of her CANDOMBE JAZZ PROJECT – mixture oral tradition AFRO-URUGUAYAN MUSIC with elements of Jazz. I bring this in here because in many ways it was befitting the Mandela event.

In the Mandela documentary we saw much of the peoples culture of the Indigenous Africans of the original South Africa, and somehow it must have been quite similar to what Africans, probably from the Congo region, brought with them to what are now Uruguay and Argentina. The fact that this music has survived, and in effect has now a revival, are signs of its resilience, but also of the influence Mandela’s achievements had world-wide.

The Candombe Jazz Project is a New York City-based ensemble playing Candombe, the Afro Uruguayan music tradition. CJP presents an exciting concert of original compositions by Sabrina Lastman & Beledo, arrangement of oral tradition songs, & songs by renown Uruguayan songwriters.

Candombe Jazz Project includes:
Sabrina Lastman – voice / compositions
Beledo – guitar / keyboard / compositions
Arturo Prendez – candombe drum / percussions
Special guests: Agrupación Lubola Macú

——————–

“PEACE IS NOT THE ABSENCE OF CONFLICT – IT IS THE CREATION OF AN ENVIRONMENT WHERE ALL CAN FLOURISH,” Mandela said. He also wanted to see the emancipation of women – not just the races. These are things the UN must write on its flag – does it?

——————

On Friday was the Official Commemorative Ceremony, in the big General Assembly Hall, that started with the usual UN delay at 10:20 am., with many Missions to the UN having one warm body sitting in their row – only South Africa, headed by a Minister, having all six seats, and some more, occupied. This was a Special Plenary, ahead of the regular daily Plenary.

The UN had the event open to outsiders, and that was nice. The problem that there were not many insiders present.

The President of the General Assembly, the former Libyan Foreign Minister Mr. Ali Abdussalam Treki, who is under a Schengen Travel Ban,  was not there, and that was good. Instead was one of his seconds, but the Press kit just goes ahead selling him to the innocents. We do not even know the name of the nice lady that chaired the meeting she defined as an “INFORMAL Meeting” of the GA.

“IT IS IN OUR HANDS TO CREATE A BETTER WORLD” said Mandela – God bless him and save the GA.

That was followed by a video message from the UN Secretary General Mr Ban Ki-moon, who said that Mandela’s greatness came from: “HE FOUGHT HIS OPRESSORS FOR YEARS AND THEN FORGAVE THEM. – HE CONSTANTLY REMINDS US HE IS AN ORDINARY MAN, BUT HE ACHIEVED UNORDINARY THINGS.”

—————–

This was followed by The Minister of International Relations and Commonwealth Relations of South Africa, Ms. Maite Nkoana-Mashbane, who said that in October 1994 he helped Free South Africa.

She continued saying that in the next two days – to July 18th, people of the globe will get together to hear the words that inspired us in South Africa. She thanks in the name of President Jacob Zuma for adopting in November 2009 this resolution to have the International Mandela Day started this year. South Africa and the World are fortunate to have had a man as Nelson Mandela. She added that the UN was all the way on “Our” side in our fight against Apartheid. We owe our freedom to the role of this august house. By celebrating Mandela Day we celebrate the best for what the UN was created. UBUNTU – we believ in ourselves for what we are.

Her words were followed by a video, and we saw February 19, 1994 people of all South Africa standing peacefully in line and giving their vote.

The Minister’s presentation was clearly the highlight of the informal ceremonial, that was then followed  {informally?} by one representative from each one of UN’s major group.

—————-

This was a sad succession of obligatory diplomatic bows with some sparks of freshness.

Egypt spoke on behalf of the Non-aligned Movement – the enigma of the UN,

The Republic of Congo on behalf of the African States, spoke of the recent World Cup,

Darussalam on behalf of the Asian States, this is the Brunei Darussalam State, that clearly needs still its own liberation,

Belarus on behalf of the East European States, spoke interestingly of a long walk to Freedom,

Saint Lucia on behalf of the Group of Latin & Caribbean States, who in our opinion was the best speech  we called the Mission and asked for the speech. We attach the full speech to the end of our posting. The Afro-Caribbean Ambassador, surely descendant of slaves, H.E. Donatus Keith St Aimee, in obvious heart felt fashion said that “Few persons whose name resonate with approval on all continents – All our efforts at the UN came to essence in his life.”

Belgium on behalf of the Western European and Other States, but was mis-introduced by the Chair as speaking for the EU as temporary President of the EU. The main point was that “Let us remind ourselves that our work is far from complete – our work is for freedom or all.”

The last speaker was for the host country – the USA. who said that Apartheid was twisted and grotesque in its effort to justify oppression. Mandela overthrew apartheid by force of example.

———————————-
STATEMENT BY H. E. DONATUS ST AIMEE.

PERMANENT REPRESENTAIVE OF SAINT LUCIA TO THE UNITED NATIONS
ON BEHALF OF THE GROUP OF LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN STATES (GRULAC).

ON THE OCCASION OF THE OBSERVANCE OF NELSON MANDELA INTERNATIONAL DAY.

FRIDAY JULY 16TH, 2010

Mr. Chairman, I am honored to speak on behalf of Member states comprising the Group of Latin America and the Caribbean (GRULAC), as we show our respect and admiration for an icon of the ages.

In the annals of recorded history there are few individuals whose names resonate with esteem and are uttered with deference on all continents and in all societies.  There are few lives that are unequivocally admired or unreservedly revered by all races and ethnicities; and there are few persons who in a more emotional sense, are cherished and held dear by such a large segment of humanity. Like all celebrated and remarkable men or women, this person whom we come to honor today is identified internationally with one single name befitting his role in our global society and that name is – MANDELA.

We are here today to honor Nelson Mandela pursuant to the adoption of Resolution A/64/L.13. We are here today to commemorate a man who in a lifetime of dignity has come to represent the very ideal for which we struggle daily in the United Nations. All our words, all our actions, all our individual and collective efforts aim in their sum total to equal what is represented by the life of Nelson Mandela.

Nelson Mandela became an international symbol because of his struggle against oppression generally and apartheid in South Africa in particular. We know his history:

· From the early nineteen forties he was a leader of one of the most significant non-violent movements in history.
· For 27 years he was imprisoned under brutal conditions even as he heard of the death beyond his prison walls, of his brothers and sisters in the struggle against apartheid. How many times he must have wondered when his time would be coming to also face death at the hands of his captors.
· Finally he was released on 11th February, 1990.
· To understand the magnitude of his suffering and indignity of his incarceration, we must comprehend that he entered prison at the age of 45 and left at age 72.

These facts as we know them only scratch the surface of the beauty that is the life of Nelson Mandela. What was it that resulted in Nelson Mandela receiving more than 250 awards over four decades including the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize? It was not his physical incarceration that captured the imagination of people, it was not the brutality of apartheid nor the interest of so many supporters the world over to stop this aberration.

What captured our imagination was that Nelson Mandela’s indomitable spirit, his humanity, his humility and his vast love of his people could not be imprisoned in any way by iron, concrete or barbed wire. He went into prison in 1963 as an unbowed, proud, determined South African fighter and came out in 1990 as an unbowed, proud, determined 20th Century leader and icon.

As Mandela himself put in words:

“I cherish my own freedom dearly, but I care even more for your freedom… I cannot sell my birthright, nor am I am prepared to sell the birthright of the people to be free…”

Mandela turned down freedom at an earlier date because he insisted that it had to be unconditional and as President from 1994 to 1999, he frequently gave priority to reconciliation in order to harness all the resources of South Africa to lift the economic conditions of his people. His spirit of forgiveness, his turning of the other cheek has ensured that South Africa joined as an equal partner in the nations of this world, so that within the past month we have all had the great joy of watching South Africa host the World Cup in splendid and successful fashion.

How important it is that the Member States of the United Nations saw it fitting to adopt a Resolution to commemorate Nelson Mandela International Day, an annual event which the world would observe, now for the first time on the occasion of his 92nd Birthday, and for years to come.

We the Member States of GRULAC, have experienced in similar forms many of the travails experienced by South Africa and personified in the life of Nelson Mandela. Our region has had its own icons, and we remember their considerable contributions to the development of our nations when we pause here to honor the life of Mandela.  For this reason his life, his response to adversity, his humanity, resonates not just in our minds for the success of his mission but in our hearts for the beacon he has become for all peoples suffering repression.

What this man said was merely a punctuation for what he did, and what he did is being recognized today in this august forum so that present and future generations need not wonder as to the path to success in nation building, but merely need to follow the footsteps of this great man.

He truly is an ordinary man who has behaved in an extraordinary way!

July 14, 2010

CANDOMBE JAZZ PROJECT – Afro Uruguayan Music
Teatro IATI | Performing Arts Marathon – Thursday, July 15, 8 PM

Teatro IATI presents a very unique concert with the very best of South American music, the CANDOMBE JAZZ PROJECT (Afro Uruguayan Music)
The CANDOMBE JAZZ PROJECT (CJP) is a New York City-based ensemble playing Candombe, the Afro Uruguayan music tradition. CJP presents an exciting concert of original compositions by Sabrina Lastman, arrangement of oral tradition songs & music by renown Uruguayan songwriters. The CJP is comprised of Sabrina Lastman (voice/songs), Beledo (guitar/keyboard/electric bass), master of candombe Arturo Prendez (candombe drum/percussions), and special guest: Agrupación Lubola Macú.

Candombe is a drum-based musical style of Uruguay that developed in the Rio de la Plata area – Buenos Aires & particularly in Montevideo – among the black slaves brought by the Spanish colony in the 18th Century. It is based on Bantu African drumming & other influences the African community received from the new environment they lived in. In Uruguayan culture this drum-based musical style is highly significant & extremely popular, going strong on the streets, halls & carnivals all over the country. Candombe is a three-part-drums-ensemble formed by the tambores called: chico, repique & piano. The music composed on the basis of this rhythm encompasses a range of styles like funk, jazz, rock & tango, among others.

Musicians:
Sabrina Lastman (voice/songs)
Beledo (guitar/keyboard/electric bass)
Arturo Prendez (candombe drum/percussions)
Special Guest: Agrupación Lubola Macú (tambores)

Sabrina Lastman is a New York based vocalist, performer, composer and educator born in Montevideo, Uruguay. Drawing from jazz, Latin American music, and contemporary music, often integrating extended vocal techniques, Sabrina concentrates her work on jazz projects -Sabrina Lastman Quartet,  Candombe Jazz Project, Tango Jazz Duo- and the creation of interdisciplinary new music performances relating voice/sound/movement/visuals -Dialogues of Silence, On Becoming-. Sabrina has performed at Carnegie Hall, Classical Guitar Association of New York, Blues Alley Jazz, Blue Note, Museo del Barrio, Juilliard, New York University, CUNY and Queens Theatre, among others. She has played with Fernando Otero, Bakithi Kumalo, Tali Roth, Pablo Aslan, Emilio Solla, Gustavo Casenave, Pedro Giraudo, David Silliman, The M6, and Leonardo Suarez-Paz, among others. Her album The Folds of the Soul was nominated by the Graffiti Prize 2008 as one of the best jazz albums of the year.  Sabrina has toured in Israel, Uruguay, Argentina, and the United States playing in many musical and interdisciplinary projects from Tango to New Music. She graduated from The Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance in Israel.
http://www.sabrina-lastman.com

Beledo
“Beledo is considered a real myth among Uruguayan music connoisseurs,” according to EL PAIS – Uruguay.  Piano was Beledo’s first instrument, however, he became a guitar hero  in his late teenage years captivating audiences in Uruguay and Argentina..  Later on,  his fusion effort of the early eighties in South America was noticed in the U.S. in articles for the upcoming talents  in GUITAR PLAYER magazine and JAZZIZ magazine.
“Beledo is the epitome of excellent musical individuality and a profound  example of the universality of jazz’s presence and influence in  every corner of our planet”. – Stix Hooper
http://www.beledo.com

Arturo Prendez is a percussionist born in Montevideo, Uruguay into a family with deep musical roots. His inspirations came from his father, a well known drummer and percussionist in Uruguay, developing his love for the unique African rooted drumming style of Candombe at a very young age. He has performed and recorded with numerous international artists such as, Hugo Fattoruso, Oscar Feldman, Hiram Bullock, Yabor, Chico Nobarro, Ruben Blades, Ruben Rada, Tahna Running, Bakithi Kumalo, Guadalupe Reventos, Afro-dysia and Beledo, among others. Arturo is a Master Candombe drummer, and he is the Artistic Director of “Agrupación Lubola Macu”, a tambores ensemble playing Candombe.

CANDOMBE JAZZ PROJECT – Afro Uruguayan Music
Thursday, July 15 | 8 PM
Teatro IATI | 64 East 4th Street, bet. Bowery & 2nd Ave.
Subways: F to 2nd Ave, 6 to Astor Pl, R & W to 8th St. Bus: M15 to 2nd Ave. and 4th St
General Admission: $20 / Seniors & Students: $18
Buy Tickets in advanced: http://www.teatroiati.org / ALL MAJOR CREDIT CARDS ACCEPTED
For Info: (212) 505 – 6757

IIED is proud to make available an international edition of the documentary The Climate Game and the World’s Poor, which shows what happened when 193 governments tried – and failed – to agree a global deal to tackle climate change.

The film follows delegates from some of the countries that are most vulnerable to climate change during last year’s COP15 negotiations in Copenhagen.

Featuring interviews with senior negotiators and other climate-change experts, the documentary tells the story of what happened when the critical talks began to unravel.

The documentary was directed and filmed by Jesper Heldgaard and Bo Illum Jorgensen, and produced and edited by Anders Dencker Christensen.

You can watch it online here.

http://www.iied.org/climate-change/media/climate-game-and-worlds-poor-documentary-film-inside-cop15-climate-change-summi

or here – http://tinyurl.com/35brvye

Mike Shanahan
Press officer

International Institute for Environment and Development
London WC1H 0DD
Tel: 44 (0) 207 388 2117
Email: mike.shanahan@iied.org

www.iied.org

Imagine a truly unique New York City location with charm, history and spectacular water views: a location that will delight even the most sophisticated socialite or businessperson.  And envision this against the magnificent backdrop of the New York City skyline.

The place is on the Brooklyn side under the Brooklyn Bridge – an area full of good restaurants, The Old Ice Cream Factory, but the Grimaldi’s old Pizzeria commends lines that extend a bloc long – never seen this except at lines for airport clearance.

The venue is Bargemusic, a floating concert hall that The New York Times calls “inviting… ideally intimate… with grand views.”  The 102-foot long covered barge, which was once used to transport coffee, is beloved by discriminating concertgoers around the world and is now one of New York City’s most unusual and enchanting event venues.

Anchored at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge, Bargemusic began first Thursday night JAZZ Series in June 2007.

The address: Fulton Ferry Landing, Brooklyn, NY 11201

At a time Mayor Bloomberg, who when he got into office thought that recycling has to turn a profit, now in his third term, is decreasing public transportation service which is a boon for the taxi industry – just one more group that is important at election time political money gathering.

Oh well, but Bargemusic can still be reached by public transportation even though bus service is obviously non-existant.

Bargemusic, as said, is located at Fulton Ferry Landing near the Brooklyn Bridge.

Directions: Take the A train to High Street station (Use the Fulton Street Exit. Walk downhill on Cadman Plaza West to the East River, 3 blocks); F train to York Street (go right on Jay to Front Street. On Front Street turn left, and turn right on Old Fulton Street; walk downhill to the river); or 2 or 3 train to Clark Street station (walk west on Clark Street to Columbia Heights; turn right; walk downhill to the end of the street).

Then you see:

We received the announcement about the July – August Monday Jazz Series and got intrigued by the July 5 and July 12 concerts which we will write about here. But when we saw the Summer 2010 program we picked up this last Monday, we also saw great Friday, Saturday and Sunday concerts with a mainly classic repertoir, but quite a sprinkling of new music – like the Friday July 23 concert with Riley, Lou Harrison, and Hamza El Din music and titles like: Water Wheel, Mystic Birds Waltz, and Sunrise of the Planetary Dream. That weekend, also the Saturday night and Sunday 3pm concerts are of new music.We intend to go back for some of these concerts.

We recommend you look up www.bargemusic.org for full program.

BARGE MUSIC

The Jazz and More Monday Series:

July 5 • Monday, 8 pm
$20 ($10 students)
Jazz and More
Steven Beck, Piano
with
The Batteries Duo
Josh Frank and Gareth Flowers, Trumpets and Electronics

This is the one concert we already attended and as said, we will attend also the next concert for balance.

This first concert was all in a new adventurous genre performed by well established musicians who experimented with the unknown. Next concert will be eclectic but of the known kind – Brahms, Faure, Piazolla, Jobim, and someone all new to me – Yoed Nir – all this in a jazz format?

From the July 5th concert, Steven Beck, a star graduate pianist of Julliard with already an impressive list of appearances contributed here with two good trumpet players who alternated on the trumpet while using a computer directed electro-acoustic system that seemingly allowed them to improvise at will, and surprise Steven Beck who was doing his thing on the piano. In the end the younger folks in the audience produced strong applause, while the older folks – said Oh Well – they are really nice kids, but what did they say? Really – this is only in New York, and we are very glad it happens here. It can help you forget the real villains of the city – and these are not the musicians.

We will go back on this coming Monday, and update our readers – I hope to see you there also.

THE UPDATE IS BECAUSE WE DID GO BACK LAST NIGHT AND WANT TO REPORT ON A TERRIFIC EVENING.

July 12 • Monday, 8 pm
$20 ($10 student)
Jazz and More
Brahms Sonata for Cello and Piano in e minor, Op. 38
Yoed Nir World of Cello, improvisation for Electric Cello solo, loop station and guitar effects
Faure Après Un Reve - this was replaced by a Rachmaninoff piece.
Piazolla Libertango
Jobim How Insensitive
Yoed Nir, Cello
Ilya Kazantsev, Piano

The two main musicians, Jerusalem-Israeli Yoed Nir and Moscow-Russian Ilya Kazantsev, proved themselves in the Brahms and the Rachmaninoff pieces as extremely talented young musicians of high international promise. We look forward to watch their carers unfold as such.

Nevertheless, there is more to it, and this is why the concert was part of the new series of “Jazz and More,” rather then billed as a concert of pure classic music.  Yoed Nir also likes to use his August Diehl (Hamburg 1902) cello he got on loan from The America-Israel Cultural Foundation that was created by Vera and Isaac Stern, also as an accustic cello connected to an electronic system he operates with the sharp points of his modern shoes (by the way – I finally realized that there can be a good use for these terribly shaped shoeware).

We heard first his solo creation – “World of Cello” that was “an improvisation for Electric Cello solo, loop station and guitar effects,” and later, when he brought on also Ziv Shalev. an Israeli guitarist living in Queens, New York, a terrific rendition of Jobim’s “How Insensitive” that got long applause from the bargefull of very a mixed audience. Now, with this they can tour Brazil and be greeted as great Jobim innovators – quite a mouthful indeed.

Not to be left behind, Ilya Kazantsev cooperated with Yoed Nir on Piazzoll’s Libertango, and this piece could be taken also to Buenos Aires and create a stir there too.

In short – it was a great evening in BARGEMUSIC topped only by the great weather of last night. The temperature posted on one of the buildings near the old Fulton Ferry Landing in Brooklyn, was 77-78 F and there was a breeze and perfect visibility of Manhattan’s East Side shore that we did not experience for years. The Empire State Building tower was red-gold-red in the honor of the Spanish win at the World Cup, a long line of people was snaking along the block waiting for Grimaldi Pizza, and another line pf people was snaking out the door of the Ice Cream factory that stands on the slip next to where the barge is anchored.

See you on Friday, July 23rd 8 pm on the Barge for the Celebration of Terry Riley’s 75th Birthday.

The program will include: Riley’s String Quartet (1960) and Mystic Birds Waltz – Sunrise of the Planetary Dream Collector;  Lou Harison’s String Quartet; and Hamza El Din – Escalay (Water Wheel). The playing quartet is voxare made up of Emily Ondracek, Galina Zhdanova, and Erik Peterson on violin and Adrian Daurov on Cello.

—————————-

The continuation of the Monday Series:

July 19 • Monday, 8 pm
Tickets $20 ($10 Student)
Jazz and More
Deanna Kirk Trio

July 26 • Monday, 8 pm
$20 ($10 student)
Jazz and More
Jeff Newell’s New – Trad Octet

August 9 • Monday, 8 pm
$20 ($10 student)
Jazz and More
Jesse Elder, Piano/Composition
Logan Richardson, Alto Saxophone
Konichi Ebina, Dance/Choreography
Petr Salidar, Photography

August 16 • Monday, 8 pm
$20 ($10 student)
Jazz and More
Foldersnacks
Jesse Elder, Composition/lyrics/voice/keyboard/piano
Zack Foley, Lead Vocals
Terrence McManus, Guitar
Aidan Carroll, Electric Bass
Devin Gray, Drums

August 23 • Monday, 8 pm
$20 ($10 student)
Jazz and More
ZigZag Quartet

August 30 • Monday, 8 pm
$20 ($10 student)
Jazz and More
Rob Schwimmer’s Wild World of Piano and Theremin

———————————————————————
For reservations and further information
phone: (718) 624-2083
fax: (718) 624-1155
email: info@bargemusic.org
web: http://www.bargemusic.org/
address: Fulton Ferry Landing, Brooklyn, NY 11201

from: Citizens For Affordable Energy

The following quite amazed us and we had to do a little research:

With the help of Google we found: “THE CHARLATAN MAGAZINE IS THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE COMPLEMENT OF THE CHARLATAN, CARLETON UNIVERSITY’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER.”

Joseph-Beth Booksellers is an independent bookseller with stores in five major US cities: Lexington, Kentucky; Cincinnati, Ohio; Cleveland, Ohio; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Charlotte, North Carolina and as well The Village At Spotsylvania Towne Centre, Spotsylvania, Virginia. Then looking up the area phone code 704 – this points at Charlotte, North Carolina. Ain’t this amazing? Why then Carleton University – or are there more then one Carleton University that compete for the charlatan?

======================

Citizens for Affordable Energy

919 Milam, Suite 2070
Houston, TX
77002
US

Back from the dead, an ancient guide to the afterlife

Egyptian scrolls hidden in the British Museum’s vaults for two centuries are finally seeing the light of day.

By Arifa Akbar

Trustees of the British Museum

The Egyptian Book of the Dead will be one of 192 items on show at the British Museum’s Journey Through the Afterlife exhibition from 4 November, 2010.  For any ancient Egyptian of wealthy standing, the “Book of the Dead” was an invaluable roll of papyrus which kept within it all the secrets of the afterlife: spells, illustrations and incantations revealing the path from death to mummification and, finally, the liberation of the soul. Many of these “books” were acquired by the British Museum in the late-19th century, but have lain in vaults, too fragile to unfurl and never before seen by the public. Now, after an extensive period of conservation, they are to be displayed alongside a dazzling array of mummies, coffins, jewellery and statues in a major exhibition entitled Journey Through the Afterlife: Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead, which opens on 4 November.

The U.S. and England have kicked off in the pivotal World Cup match-up that has been analyzed and picked apart since the groups were announced months ago. We will do our share with a very unorthodox analysis.

It happened at Rustenburg, South Africa at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium on what was there Saturday night, June 12, 2010.

Flag of the Royal Bafokeng, a Setswana speaking Nation and monarchy on 540 square miles not far from Johannesburg. King Moketle bought up farmland in the 19th century to keep it away from the incoming whites.

First some statistics – the coach of the English Capella gets now $9 million his yearly pay. The coach of the US, Bradley, only 1/18 of this.

The Globalezza aspect: When the two anthems – the US and the British – were played before the game a revealing scene got our attention. (I used the Globalezza term I picked up at the Rio Carnival – that naked beautiful woman the symbol of the Rio carnival on Brazilian TV.)

The US team held their right hand on the heart – swearing allegiance to the US – but only a minority of the players knew to sing the anthem.

The English team did not hold their hand on their heart as there was no allegiance to be displayed. England is not an Independent State and it was not the UK team that was playing – but only a minority of the team knew to sing the anthem.

With that, I pulled out my first Yuengling Original Black & Tan Porter Beer and prepared to watch the game.

=========

Probe at UN climate talks after Saudi sign smashed

Saturday, 12 June 2010 10:06
author:Reuters
POLITICS & ECONOMICS / NEWS
by Reuters, Saturday, 12 June 2010

SAUDI STANCE: Saudi angered many by blocking study of global warming. (Getty Images)

UN climate negotiators agreed to an investigation on Friday after protesters smashed a sign emblazoned “Saudi Arabia” and dropped it in toilet after Riyadh blocked a study of deeper cuts in greenhouse gases.

Many countries condemned the protest, after Saudi Arabia blocked a request by small island states at the May 31-June 11 talks for a study of tougher cuts in greenhouse gases to help slow a rise in world sea levels.

Mexico’s delegate Luis Alfonso de Alba, whose country will host the main climate talks in late 2010, said he was initiating an investigation by the U.N. Climate Change Secretariat.