Let’s not beat around the bush. INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS is glorious!!!!! The film is so enjoyable, so entertaining, so smartly written, so well crafted, so beautifully lensed and so well acted that I didn’t want it to end. This is without a doubt the best film of Quentin Tarantino’s career and one of the best pictures of 2009, not to mention making it into my Top 50 all time faves. That little golden guy named Oscar will definitely come knocking at this door with nominations aplenty starting with Best Picture and Best Director and, dare I say, at this stage of the game, a sure fire winner with a Best Supporting Actor for Christopher Waltz. Simply superb! Continue reading MOVIE REVIEW: INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS
Star Struck
I bumped into Maria Shriver—literally. I was entering the office of a New York publisher just as she was leaving. I apologized, we wisecracked for about ninety seconds and she was gone. I told quite a few people about it. Then a sobering thought struck me. I’m certain she did not mention our encounter to a single soul. That would be because she is a star and I’m as obscure as a grain of sand.
Ancient Jewish wisdom contrasts a star to a grain of sand or speck of dust. Stars are inexhaustible sources of light and energy; sand and dust only find their significance when they cling to many other tiny particles and become, say, a mighty dam. Continue reading Star Struck
ROAD TO NOWHERE PART III
Just as the Road To Nowhere is a time and place to relax in the present, it is also a time and place to have a blast from the past. The device I used to advance this objective, an ipod, was considerably different than the Eight Track player of my original road trips, ohhh, but the music was the same! “We are stardust and we’ve got to get ourselves, back to the garden…By the time we got to Woodstock we were half a million strong…Can I walk beside you? I have come here to lose the smog…” And I plugged in the ipod filling the cabin of the big, black Suburban with timeless music and memories.
The rock formations in the land somewhere between the states of Nevada, Arizona, and Utah, for those who have not traveled the 15 past Las Vegas, are mind tingling beautiful—cliffs, valleys, streams, escarpments of every kind. And there is no doubt to the thinking man who sets eyes upon this terrain that the Earth itself has a soul. These massive protrusions are not monuments, but a quest by the Earth to reach out and be close to God. The struggle is so similar to our own; the Earth like the body of man anchors the soul so desiring transcendence from the physical realm back to the spiritual reality of all creation. I cry at the sight of these mighty boulders stretched by such an epic struggle…And I feel sorry for myself because of the futility of my own struggle…Surely if the soul of the mighty Earth, which can shift tectonic plates and create mountains can’t…
A stop for lunch in Cedar City, a nice little town with an abundance of Mexican food, a University, and a Wal-Mart—and up the road we continued. From Cedar City to Sandy the topography is that of an enormous, green valley, the surrounding mountains of which, are green as well, seemingly more content with their lot than those encountered earlier—there is a tranquility about them…Even the grazing cattle is happy. Yes, these cows that graze the natural grass are happy not mad.
And the conversation that transpired originating a few miles before St. George and lasting to a click past Beaver went something like this:
“I almost built a factory over there,” Mike nodded the direction of Colorado City. “But when they told me I’d have to meet with the elders I decided not to.” Continue reading ROAD TO NOWHERE PART III
Poets on the Corner of 5th and Main
On Thursday, August 27th, at eight- o’clock, The Third Area presents the last poetry reading of the summer at Pharmaka gallery on the corner of 5th and Main. This is an extraordinary opportunity for readers to get a dose of vital and utterly current poetry read by the top notch poets themselves, in a setting surrounded by the visual arts in one of downtown’s most appealing galleries. For a cherry on top, wine, beer, bottled water and hors d’oeuvres are provided free of charge, (a five dollar donation is suggested). Of course, that should be no surprise. Writers are always talking about the importance of the mantra “know your audience.” The doors open at seven, when mingling and noshing and perusing books and visual art begins. We hope to see many downtownsters there.
There are always four poets featured. They are introduced, often beautifully, by other poets. One fine example of the art of language to be found at these readings at Pharmaka follows below. Tony Barnstorm, whose résumé of literary awards is so extensive that we can’t list it here, read this poem, along with many others, among his amazingly divergent repertoire.
The 167th Psalm of Elvis
This poem comes from Tony Barnstone’s book, The Golem of Los Angeles, published by Red Hen Press
Blessed are the marble breasts of Venus,
those ancient miracles, for they are upright and milk white
and they point above the heads of the crowd in the casino.
Blessed are the crowds that play, and whose reflections
sway in the polish of her eggshell eyes,
for they circle like birds around the games,
and they are beautiful and helpless. Continue reading Poets on the Corner of 5th and Main
ROAD TO NOWHERE PART II
The black Suburban rolled down the highway with the mean rumble of a venerated work vehicle. I raised the cappuccino, which I held in my hand, to my lips and took the first soothing sip. Given the distinctly not stylish clothing being warn by Mike and myself and the rugged “Road Warrior” appearance of our vehicle my choice of a cappuccino, as my early morning sustenance seemed a strange juxtaposition—black coffee would have been the appropriate beverage of such a portrait.
“But this is one of the strange facts about Stan Lerner that even you don’t understand,” I thought to myself. A profoundly civilized man and wild beast doing battle in the same being…I smiled at this thought, not because there was any humor to be found in it, but because it is this type of self-reflection that makes it incumbent on all us to travel the long and winding road of life.
Soon, the sun began its ascent above the horizon—its rays of light pouring over the sea of sand, so many grains—countless as the possibilities before us. The slope of Interstate 10 toward State Line still excites my body and soul, as I’m sure it does most. Funny and comforting to think that as time passes there are still sights that can excite even the most veteran of travelers—albeit now in a comforting way. Comforting, because there is a sense of freedom that comes with being able to move around one’s own country with such a sense of anonymity. And with so many freedoms nearing extinction it’s pleasant to know that there is still one left—I wonder if in the future children will understand what I mean by this. Or will they say, “A long time ago people used to be able to travel from state to state without being scanned.” Continue reading ROAD TO NOWHERE PART II
Goodbye, Wine Lovers
The last days of great wine tasting are this week at Ralphs downtown. Don’t miss it or you’ll never be able to say to your grandchildren that you were there. That you had Mike Berger personally pour your wine; that you met the “whole sick crew” of regulars who later became legendary for their association with the greatest wine tasting series in turn of the century Los Angeles.
The remaining wine tastings promise to be emblematic of the excellence that has left indelible impressions on patrons over the last two years. Tuesday, Friday and Saturday are all we have left; I promise I shall make these dates. Meritage and Mr. Berger’s exceptional cooking is the order of the day on Tuesday. Friday brings a sparkling wine and sushi pairing that defies any sushi bar’s best value. Finally, Saturday will shine a light on Merlot and reprise Mike’s efforts to rectify the slandering of those wines by Miles in the movie Sideways when he said: “No! If anyone orders Merlot, I’m leaving. I am NOT drinking any f*cking Merlot!” Continue reading Goodbye, Wine Lovers
ROAD TO NOWHERE
“If anybody would like to join the first downtownster road to nowhere road trip I’ll be leaving Thursday or Friday,” I said to the meeting of the Marketing Round Table. “I don’t know where we’re going or when we’ll get there, but that’s the idea. And uh you could get on or off the trip at any time or place—providing that there is an airport of course.” NO TAKERS
Friday morning 4:30 a.m. the 1996 black Chevy Suburban docked at the curb of my childhood home in Montebello, CA—Montebello is Italian for beautiful hills. And it is from this very spot, that I have departed for many an adventure. I am fortunate to, over an excessively well-lived lifetime, have developed a number of friends who are willing to embark on such journeys. And I should be careful to mention here that some of these individuals were mere acquaintances or even less familiar at the time of departures, but traveling and adventure make for far greater bonds than the songs of fraternity boys in their beer soaked homes.
This particular morning it was to be my old high school buddy Mike Munoz picking me up. Although he went to West Point and achieved the rank of Colonel I still refer to him as my Mexican—I find this term of endearment more special than he does.
“The 15?” he asked. Continue reading ROAD TO NOWHERE
Grade School Memories ─ Dogbite
For Diane Schneider McArdle
At Colfax Avenue Elementary School in North Hollywood I had Mrs. Grover as my fifth-grade teacher. Mrs. Grover was the most elderly, in appearance, of anyone who taught me before college with her fully grey head of thick hair and her leathery pruned face and old fashioned eyeglasses. She was very alert though. From any vantage point, she could spot the slightest nuance of a ten year-old’s mischief at any desk in her classroom. I was pretty sure I could outrun her, if I could only get to the door first.
One day, the most attractive girl in our class, Diane Schneider, came to school with terrible scabs on her face. The story circulated among the children in the class was: Continue reading Grade School Memories ─ Dogbite
The Flash Fiction of Catherine Coan
“This is really short short fiction”, I remarked to myself as I read the stories below by artist, poet, author and educator, Catherine Coan. I was immediately inspired to compose short introductions à la Rod Serling. “Imagine if you will…”
The first of the three featured stories speaks to the collapse of the real estate market, and the great bargains to be had for buyers with cash in hand. As readers will discover, however, getting that “dream house” may be more complicated than that.
Hummingbird Nest Ranch
Sotheby’s: Was $75,000,000, Just Reduced to $5,995,000. Recession Special!
HUMMINGBIRD NEST RANCH. The finest world-class equestrian estate on approximately 123 acres, built in 2004, just 40 minutes from Beverly Hills! Beautiful Mission Revival-style mansion (approximately 17,000 square feet, designed by Richard Robertson). Approximately four of the 123 acres boast a Native American burial site!
The three-level main house has thick stucco walls, copper gutters, a courtyard succulent garden with an aggressive fifteen-foot carnivorous plant, and a Spanish-style roof.
There are five bedrooms plus attached guest quarters, an office, a cabana, two heated pools, a twelve-person Jacuzzi, and a gazebo. Luxury details include paver tile floors, decorative tile work around the windows, wood-beamed ceilings, and a state-of-the-art French kitchen in red lacquer and stainless!
Surrounding the main house are three guest houses, ten staff houses, and substantial hunter-jumper equestrian facilities including an international grand prix arena (600×300 feet); rubber-and-sand mixed ring (300×250 feet); derby grass field (650×250 feet); large main barn (approximately 20,000 square feet) with 37 stalls (14×14 feet), six grooming stalls, two wash stalls, vet office, and farrier’s workshop and quarters! In one of the stalls lives a man with a human body and horse head (Palomino) named Carl who does not wear clothes and will not leave. But, again, the stainless and red lacquer kitchen. Also, derby grass field! Continue reading The Flash Fiction of Catherine Coan
He Knew Her – Or Did He?
My parents were classical music enthusiasts so I grew up familiar with the works of many of the great composers. Had you asked me, I would have said that I knew Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony, the Pastoral. Then, a few years back, my son-in-law Max directed me to an audio program in which a wonderful music teacher discussed the piece.
This led me to an “Aha!” moment. I certainly recognized the Pastoral and thought I was familiar with it. But after hearing the discussion I realized that I never really did know it until then. Since then, I hear the music with greater appreciation, admiration and humility.
One of the things I love about studying the Bible is that there are continual “Aha!” moments. No matter how many times I study a passage, each reading reveals new and deeper insights. Usually it is the original Hebrew that points me to more profound meaning. Continue reading He Knew Her – Or Did He?