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I am a great fan of Ben Stiller! I can’t miss any Stiller movie! Walter Mitty (Ben Stiller) often lives in a day-dream which makes him escape from his real life into a world of fantasies filled with heroism, romance, and action. We all do, right?? Stiller is an amazing artist creating a fantasy world with his […]

First of all, this book is the size of an encyclopedia, and I won’t be able to finish reading it for a long time. I have been reading since Christmas, but I still on page. 173… But it is entertaining. Rubinstein was another piano giant from the 20th century, and often compared with Horowitz. They […]

This book has been in my list to read for several years and finally I had a chance to read during this past Christmas break. He is HOROWITZ! Of course, all of us grew up listening Horowitz, and have explored his special sound. I was curious to know how the first class pianists think about Horowitz, and […]

Over the Christmas break, I read several interesting books on piano giants. This is one of them. Of course Claudio Arrau was one of the legendary pianists from the 20th century, and left so many great recordings. I personally like his Beethoven recordings. He was rather a private person. His father passed away when he was […]

It is a beautiful movie… For me as a Japanese, this movie depicts a typical image of Italian life. A journalist, Jep Gambardella (Toni Servillo) has charmed and seduced his way through the lavish nightlife of Rome for decades. A night after night, he parties. He goes to bed after sunrise. Since the legendary success of […]

Like “The Armstrong Lie”, it has been for a while since I saw this movie. I went to see this movie at AFI Fest in Los Angeles. It is a beautiful family story. Ryota Nonomiya (Masaharu Fukuyama) is a successful businessman driven by money and fame.  He is a hard working (typical) Japanese man. He seems […]

It has been for a while since I saw this movie. I have been extremely busy, and I neglected to up-date my web page… Lance Armstrong was my hero when he was winning Tour de France. During Tour de France, the first thing I did every morning was to open the Sport Page of LA […]

ここ数日の大相撲、皆さんも熱い声援お送っていらっしゃることと思います。稀勢の里の余りのすごさに、私は連日感動しています。特に、昨日の白鵬戦、あの堂々とした勝ちっぷり。今思い返しても、心湧き上がる思いでいっぱいです。白鵬相手にあういう勝ち方が出来るのは、稀勢の里しか現在はいませんね。北の湖理事長もおっしゃているように、今日勝てば、来場所への綱取りは、まず間違いなし。今度こそ、ドドーンと、突き進んで頂きたいです。今日の千秋楽、今から待ちきれずにいます。 この秋は、演奏のお話を沢山頂き、大学でも生徒が有難いことにどんどん増え、毎日忙しくしています。人間というのは、どちらにも結構順応性があり、忙しければ忙しいなりに、対応出来るようになるのでは。自ずと頭の回転が速くなり、物事の決断が早くなるし、発想も多様化。ピアノの練習も限られた時間で、それなりに効率良く出来るし、家事もささっとする（しかない）。人との関係もネガテイブに考えている暇がなく、明るくいられるような気がします。逆に何もないと、まあ当たり前だけど、だら・・っとする訳ですね。私は、本来貧乏性で、長い時間だら・・っと出来ないのです。だから、ビーチで１週間優雅に過ごす休暇より、やっぱり何か活動的にしているほうが好き。日本の高度成長期に育ち、「明日は今日より良くなるぞ！」という気分が未だに抜けず、何かに向かって進んでいる感じが、好きです。それでも、もちろん家族や友人達と過ごす時間もとても大事。アメリカは本格的な、ホリデイ・シーズン。感謝祭のお休みが来週で、その後クリスマス、新年、と来年の１月１日まで、続きます。家族や友人たちと過ごす、楽しい時間が増えます。皆様も、安全で心豊かな年末、年始を、お過ごし下さいね。 稀勢の里がんばれ！！！

Please Join Me! “Antonin Dvorak (1841 – 1904): Lyricism and Nationalism” Junko Ueno Garrett and LA Phil Friends Monday, November 11, 2013 at 12:45pm Bird Studio, Occidental College Program Waldesruhe (Silent Woods): Adagio David Garrett, cello Junko Ueno Garrett, piano Piano Quintet No. 2 in A major, Op. 81 Allegro, ma non tanto Dumka: Andante […]

K2 is an extension of the northwestern Himalayan Mountain range and is located between Pakistan and China. It is known to be the second most murderous mountain in the world, the fatality rate is one in four climbers. There are only about 300 climbers who have reached the summit, and have seen the view from […]