Sunday, February 27, 2005
TKO
Congratulations Clint, Hilary and Morgan! Glad to be in your corner.
Saturday, February 26, 2005
Modestly Speaking
Last night at the Modest Mouse show at the Congress Theatre, the following items floated on as Isaac Brock played with his band in the pre-requisite baseball undershirt:
- Members of the audience, as hoisted by upraised palms;
- Multi-coloured balloons;
- Wafts of pot;
- Clouds of cigarette smoke;
- Beer run requests.
So this is popular independent rock, a musical outfit that believes it can play with just a lead guitar, bass and drums. One immensely huge hit, a couple of better-sounding tunes you recognize off of the few times you'd let the album play through, three musicians from Issaquah, Washington, whose idea of a rock show is going through the set list and listening to themselves play.
For the first time in many years, I left just before the first encore. If I had a mop top 'do, I would've stayed as part of the landscape. I did, however, enjoy watching 10-year-olds perched on their parents' shoulders -- whether or not I was impressed by the show, I think the experience of hovering above the concert watching a band that made it the right way (that is, they didn't sign with Jive Records) may possibly be one of the highlights you'd remember from your childhood. Sure beats the Mickey Mouse Club.
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
The Defeat of Refugio Limon, or Refugio Limon Blew It
Jitty, one of my favourite writers, sent me a blurb from an article she wrote a couple of years ago, but is still moving today. It's about a boy named Refugio Limon and how his beloved $300 Yamaha clarinet was stolen from him. For two months, he went to music class without a clarinet, but he finally got new one after applying for a grant. Jitty lamented that the most exciting quote she could get from Refugio on his reaction to the theft was a bland "Nothing. I just sat there." I said that I thought it was actually a fantastic quote, it really brought out how defeated Refugio must have felt about the situation, how hapless it all was. I said that I thought the title of the article should've been "The Defeat of Refugio Limon," or "Refugio Limon Blew It."
When Refugio's madre found out that the Orange County Register was going to write a story about him with a picture, she slicked down his hair and dressed him in a clean white shirt. Jitty took the picture and she had this to say about it:
Jitty: check out the mexican wedding photo at the back
Jitty: my photo has good framing, good lighting, and good mise-en-scene
Here is the picture for you to see. http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/desireekoh13/detail?.dir=9dc9&.dnm=dd79.jpg&.src=ph
And following, is the full text of the article. Viva Refugio Limon!
Fund Keeps Kids' Songs Playing
Orange County Register -- November 6, 2003
By Jit Fong Chin
Refugio Limon put his clarinet near his door one morning last year, but forgot to bring it to school.
When the 12-year-old returned, he found that his beloved $300 Yamaha clarinet had been stolen. For two months, Limon attended band class at Yorba Middle School without an instrument. No playing. No other instruments to borrow. Not much learning.
"Nothing. I just sat there,'' said Limon, the youngest of five children. His father works in construction and his mother is a baby sitter.
His teacher noticed and recommended him to apply to the Dana Sharp Memorial Music Fund. Limon started this September renting a black-and-silver clarinet for $25 a year. And now, the sounds of him practicing songs like John Edmonson's "Silvergate Overture'' fill his modest family home on Locust Avenue again.
For 28 years, the Dana Sharp Memorial Music Fund has provided musical instruments to more than 3,000 underprivileged students in the Orange, Tustin and Santa Ana unified school districts. Students recommended by their teachers pay $25 to rent an instrument for a year. By comparison, store rentals cost $25 to $35 a month.
On Friday, the Dana Sharp Memorial Music Fund received a $7,000 award, its largest ever, as part of the 46th annual Disneyland Resort Community Service Awards. The music fund was born to honor Dana Sharp, a 14-year-old at Santiago Middle School student who was killed in a horse riding accident in 1976.
"Dana was a dwarf. She was first in her class, first violinist, first in her Scout troop. She was an overachiever, and just this wonderful child,'' said her mother Bonnie Sharp.
Many people looked to Dana for inspiration, her mother said. When she died, her former teacher from Panorama Elementary brought a cello that had been in a family and gave it to the Sharps as a gift. Bonnie Sharp had two sons who also played instruments. She began asking local school districts about the need to provide affordable musical instruments. With the help of fellow members of the American Association of University Women in Orange, the music fund was born.
Today, the music fund administered by AAUW has collected 312 instruments, including violins, cellos, clarinets, trumpets, trombones and alto saxophones, mainly through donations. Jim Winn of Winn's Music Store and Studio helps to maintain and repair the instruments at a very low cost. The $7,000 Disneyland award could buy another 30 to 40 instruments.
The music fund is a "great tribute'' to Dana Sharp's life, her mother said.
"I see the difference it makes to children's lives. I can see what it does to them -- the discipline, the love of arts. It makes me feel very humble to know that we are affecting kids' lives.''
When Refugio's madre found out that the Orange County Register was going to write a story about him with a picture, she slicked down his hair and dressed him in a clean white shirt. Jitty took the picture and she had this to say about it:
Jitty: check out the mexican wedding photo at the back
Jitty: my photo has good framing, good lighting, and good mise-en-scene
Here is the picture for you to see. http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/desireekoh13/detail?.dir=9dc9&.dnm=dd79.jpg&.src=ph
And following, is the full text of the article. Viva Refugio Limon!
Fund Keeps Kids' Songs Playing
Orange County Register -- November 6, 2003
By Jit Fong Chin
Refugio Limon put his clarinet near his door one morning last year, but forgot to bring it to school.
When the 12-year-old returned, he found that his beloved $300 Yamaha clarinet had been stolen. For two months, Limon attended band class at Yorba Middle School without an instrument. No playing. No other instruments to borrow. Not much learning.
"Nothing. I just sat there,'' said Limon, the youngest of five children. His father works in construction and his mother is a baby sitter.
His teacher noticed and recommended him to apply to the Dana Sharp Memorial Music Fund. Limon started this September renting a black-and-silver clarinet for $25 a year. And now, the sounds of him practicing songs like John Edmonson's "Silvergate Overture'' fill his modest family home on Locust Avenue again.
For 28 years, the Dana Sharp Memorial Music Fund has provided musical instruments to more than 3,000 underprivileged students in the Orange, Tustin and Santa Ana unified school districts. Students recommended by their teachers pay $25 to rent an instrument for a year. By comparison, store rentals cost $25 to $35 a month.
On Friday, the Dana Sharp Memorial Music Fund received a $7,000 award, its largest ever, as part of the 46th annual Disneyland Resort Community Service Awards. The music fund was born to honor Dana Sharp, a 14-year-old at Santiago Middle School student who was killed in a horse riding accident in 1976.
"Dana was a dwarf. She was first in her class, first violinist, first in her Scout troop. She was an overachiever, and just this wonderful child,'' said her mother Bonnie Sharp.
Many people looked to Dana for inspiration, her mother said. When she died, her former teacher from Panorama Elementary brought a cello that had been in a family and gave it to the Sharps as a gift. Bonnie Sharp had two sons who also played instruments. She began asking local school districts about the need to provide affordable musical instruments. With the help of fellow members of the American Association of University Women in Orange, the music fund was born.
Today, the music fund administered by AAUW has collected 312 instruments, including violins, cellos, clarinets, trumpets, trombones and alto saxophones, mainly through donations. Jim Winn of Winn's Music Store and Studio helps to maintain and repair the instruments at a very low cost. The $7,000 Disneyland award could buy another 30 to 40 instruments.
The music fund is a "great tribute'' to Dana Sharp's life, her mother said.
"I see the difference it makes to children's lives. I can see what it does to them -- the discipline, the love of arts. It makes me feel very humble to know that we are affecting kids' lives.''
Sunday, February 20, 2005
Life
This year's Best Picture Oscar nominees are all about broken pieces of life. Put them together -- the fallen boxers in "Million Dollar Baby," the traumatized Howard Hughes in "The Aviator," the disillusioned J.M. Barrie in "Finding Neverland," the sin-succumbing Ray Charles in "Ray" and the disenchanted bachelors in "Sideways" -- and you get the whole picture of what movies are supposed to be, a portrait of humanity as we know it. Maybe not all of it personally in this lifetime, but the chance to get close to emotions we may never know in worlds we may never step in to... this is what has become of the Lumiere brothers' invention, and they should be proud.
There is a certain order in the way I have listed the nominees above -- apologies to Alexander Payne, because his film is the only one I have not seen, because I can't bring myself to. The "About Schmidt" experience was too painful, and I'm afraid to take a chance on Payne (Advil or no Advil) again, even though I love "Election." The travesty in this equation is that "Ray" does not belong in this winner's circle -- Ray Charles should make way for "Hotel Rwanda." Talk about movies that heave a reaction out of the audience -- it's been six hours since I walked out of the theatre and my heart is still palpitating with fear for the refugees Paul Rusesabagina sheltered in the Hotel des Milles Collines he managed. There are no directorial tricks in this movie, just a story of courage and loyalty told compassionately (yes, just like "Baby"). Like "Ray," it's real life, but unlike "Ray," it's not textbook. "Ray" follows the rules too closely and there's just no imagination in re-telling its story, which is a cookie cutter biography of a rags and riches rise to fame dripping with over-the-top drama. With "Rwanda," you feel the fear and desperation of the hostages. You feel like you're there, and nothing is more gut wrenching than Paul and an employee driving through the morning mist fetching supplies over a particularly bumpy stretch of road. When they stop the van to see if there's a better way to navigate, they realize it's not potholes they're driving over -- it's the corpses of murdered Hutus. Sure beats mistresses and self-inflicted heroin addiciton.
This year's Oscar race is an exciting one, because there is no "Lord of the Rings" and no over-the-top, unnecessary sure-wins like "Titanic." Almost everyone is very deserving this year and everything is fair game. I'm still mulling over my choices for the ballots and can't wait for next Sunday.
There is a certain order in the way I have listed the nominees above -- apologies to Alexander Payne, because his film is the only one I have not seen, because I can't bring myself to. The "About Schmidt" experience was too painful, and I'm afraid to take a chance on Payne (Advil or no Advil) again, even though I love "Election." The travesty in this equation is that "Ray" does not belong in this winner's circle -- Ray Charles should make way for "Hotel Rwanda." Talk about movies that heave a reaction out of the audience -- it's been six hours since I walked out of the theatre and my heart is still palpitating with fear for the refugees Paul Rusesabagina sheltered in the Hotel des Milles Collines he managed. There are no directorial tricks in this movie, just a story of courage and loyalty told compassionately (yes, just like "Baby"). Like "Ray," it's real life, but unlike "Ray," it's not textbook. "Ray" follows the rules too closely and there's just no imagination in re-telling its story, which is a cookie cutter biography of a rags and riches rise to fame dripping with over-the-top drama. With "Rwanda," you feel the fear and desperation of the hostages. You feel like you're there, and nothing is more gut wrenching than Paul and an employee driving through the morning mist fetching supplies over a particularly bumpy stretch of road. When they stop the van to see if there's a better way to navigate, they realize it's not potholes they're driving over -- it's the corpses of murdered Hutus. Sure beats mistresses and self-inflicted heroin addiciton.
This year's Oscar race is an exciting one, because there is no "Lord of the Rings" and no over-the-top, unnecessary sure-wins like "Titanic." Almost everyone is very deserving this year and everything is fair game. I'm still mulling over my choices for the ballots and can't wait for next Sunday.
