English Blog

Sunday Afternoon with Charles Ives 8/23/11 August 23, 2011

I was enjoying slow and relaxing Sunday afternoon doing my favorite puzzles on paper. It was a perfect So-Cal weather. And I suddenly noticed I was in the world of Charles Ives. So many birds were singing their songs and possible gossiping in my backyard. New neighbor was playing Armenian Rap Music. It was already […]

An Article on Vladimir Horowitz in Grove Dictionary (1980) 8/22/11 August 22, 2011

I was reading the book “the Danger of Music and Other Anti-Utopian Essays” by Richard Taruskin, and found a very interesting essay about Horowitz and Tchaikovsky. In this essay, he quotes an article on Horowitz in Grove Dictionary from 1980. I am lucky to still own this old version of Grove Dictionary (Paper Copy!!). 20 […]

A Movie – Rise of the Planet of the Apes 8/20/11 August 22, 2011

I was actually surprised that the story of this movie is from the movie I just saw a few weeks ago. “Project Nim” was a documentary film, and it is no doubt that “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” is based on Nim’s story. Please see my review on this movie in the past […]

LA Phil: Beethoven Night at Hollywood Bowl 8/19/11 August 22, 2011

This was another beautiful evening at Hollywood Bowl with friends. The program was Choral Fantasy and 9th Symphony conducted by Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos. I believe Choral Fantasy was Beethoven’s study to prepare for 9th symphony so it was a nice programing to hear them back to back. I had a very nice experience besides music and picnic. There was a Hispanic […]

A Movie – The Whistleblower 8/11/11 August 12, 2011

It is a real serious movie. Inspired by true events, Kathryn Bolkovac (Rachel Weisz) is an American police officer, divorced with a daughter, who takes a job working as a peacekeeper in post-war Bosnia. Her sincere expectations of helping to rebuild a devastated country are dashed when she reveals dangerous reality of corruption, cover-up and intrigue amid […]

A Positive and Encouraging Quote by Gregor Piatigorsky from “Hitler’s Emigres and Exiles in Southern California: A Windfall of Musicians” by Dorothy Lamb Crawford 8/9/11 August 9, 2011

I have been reading a book ” “Hitler’s Emigres and Exiles in Southern California: A Windfall of Musicians” by Dorothy Lamb Crawford, and found a wonderful quote from a great cellist, Piatigorsky. This is from P. 64 to P. 65 in this book. -You don’t have to be a genius to know your shortcomings, because […]

“Art in the Street” at the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA 8/1/11 August 1, 2011

I have been meaning to visit this exhibition for a while, and finally I found the time to go! And I must admit I was very lucky. Mondays are free admission so there was a line to enter the museum. The group of visitors approached me and offered the special VIP admission. So I saved […]

A Movie “Point Blank” 8/1/11 August 1, 2011

If you want to have breathless 90 minutes, you should watch this movie. It is non stop action and thriller movie with great casts. Since it is a French movie, I could not recognize any actor and actress, but everyone did an excellent job. I would say casting is actually too good (?).  Bad guys look […]

4 months after Tsunami Disaster in Japan 7/26/11 July 26, 2011

It has been more than 4 months since the devastating earthquake happened in Japan. It has been a very slow recovery and it will take for many many more years. 4 pianos have been donated to one of the school districts in Iwate prefecture. One of the small cities in Iwate is Ohtsuchi-machi, and I will […]

A Movie – Project Nim 7/25/11 July 25, 2011

I did not know about this project at all. Nim is giving us many important questions in human’s life. Nim was a chimpanzee who was separated from his mom when he was 2 weeks old for human’s egoistic experiment. He made human friends in his way to grow as a part of human’s life, he lived […]