Some Recommendations from YOU

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I've received a number of interesting recommendations from present and past students, so I thought I'd incorporate all of them into one post.  If you contact me with a recommendation, please let me know whether I should use your name or allow you to remain anonymous.

Leslie Garcia

"Suggestion: For thosewho enjoy a night of live jazz and good ambiance ... Blue Whale in Little Tokyois a great night out! Check it out ...http://bluewhalemusic.com/ ... I've been to many of the shows, and it's mind blowing how great these youngmusicians play! (It may be 21 and over -- you may want to check ... they have abar.) It's a well kept secret, but I am willing to share in the name ofsolidarity inspired by your blog."

[And I would add that there's lots of good food in Little Tokyo.  My favorite is Daikokuya for cheap and porky ramen.  Check out their YELP reviews.]

Manny Diaz

Manny sent me a link to his favorite poem: "From an Atlas of the Difficult World" by Adrienne Rich.  What Manny didn't know was that Adrienne Rich had passed away two days earlier and that, as I read her obituary, I knew I wanted to post one of her poems but didn't know which to choose.  Manny's suggestion arrived a couple hours later.

A number of sites have been forced to remove the poem for copyright reasons, so I will provide a link that has the poem, at least for now: http://www.best-poems.net/adrienne_rich/from_an_atlas_of_the_difficult_world.html

Alfredo Del Castillo

Alfredo sent a link to a series of "Light Drawings" done by Pablo Picasso in 1949.  They reminded me of the fascinating 1956 documentary The Mystery of Picasso, made by Henri-Georges Clouzot, director of the classic thrillers Diabolique (1955) and The Wages of Fear (1953).  Here's the trailer:

In the film, Picasso creates a series of drawings and paintings, revealing a process in which nothing is sacred.  He's never afraid to completely obliterate the earlier versions of his work as he revises. 

Cheryl Arellano

"I do have a suggestion that I think will begreat for students to attend, if they can afford it and they'd get to meet alot of amazing people in the business and the films showcased are old classicHollywood films ... the event is the Turner Classic Movies Film Festival,it's held between April 12th - April 15th. To reiterate, it's pretty pricey, afestival pass for all 4 days ranges for $300 to $500 dollars but I would go forthe individual ticket, which although considered standby, I've always been ableto get into a screening. And although, it doesn't guarantee that you get toattend the reception after the screening or the panel before the film, you canstill manage to meet in the screenings pretty influential and distinguishedpeople. I've gone before and with an individual pass have been able to view thescreenings of many films and meet and discuss with people like: Carl Reiner,Mel Brooks, Thelma Schoonmaker, and Jon Voight; I don't mean to name drop, Ipromise. The individual tickets run from about $20 to $30 and the filmmakers,writers, producers, etc. usually attend the screenings which is great.The screenings are held in numerous theaters such as Egyptian Theatre, GraumanChinese Theatre, Aero Theatre,etc. "  Their website: http://www.tcm.com/festival/

Cecilia Lemus

Cecilia reminds us that there is "a cheap theater in Long Beach" that does "more than just Shakespeare": The Long Beach Shakespeare Company 

And finally, Jonas Peji,

who recommends that I use Tumblr instead of blogspot, which is "so 2011."