A Wild Sheep Chase - a book review

Haruki Murakami is said to be one of the most popular writers of contemporary Japanese fiction, who  capture nostalgia like no other write I know.  Murakami's books are genuine, surrealistic and psychologically challenging. One of his best qualities as a writer is to use obscure references that suggests different meanings for the story. 

A Wild Sheep Chase is a dreamy detective quest for lost sheep, the meaning of which remains unexplained, but is open to interpretation:

“I don’t know, there’s something of Moby Dick about it.”

“Moby Dick?”

“Sure, the thrill of hunting something down.”

“A mammoth, for example?” said my girlfriend.

“Sure, it’s all related,” said the clerk. “Actually, I named this place the Dolphin Hotel because of a scene with dolphins in Moby Dick.”

“Oh-ho,” said I. “But if that’s the case, wouldn’t have been better to name it the Whale Hotel?”

“Whales don’t have quite the image,” he admitted, with some regret.

The chase or the missing white sheep is full of dubious imagery, dreamy sequences and simple truths:

"Speaking frankly and speaking the truth are two different things entirely. Honesty is to truth as prow is to stern. Honesty appears first and truth appears last. The interval between varies in direct proportion to the size of ship. With anything of size, truth takes a long time in coming. Sometimes it only manifests itself posthumously. Therefore, should I impart you with no truth at this juncture, that is through no fault of mine, nor yours... You and I shall move it forward. By discussing matters in all honesty, we shall proceed one step at a time closer to the truth."

In the end, the readers are free to interpret the meaning of this book as they like, but they won't forget the chase.

The Fallen Princesses - should we really be more realistic about fairy tales?

Dina Goldstein is a commercial photographer from Vancouver, BC.

 

Her exhibit Fallen Princesses was inspired by observing three year old girls’ fascination with the Disney fairytales.

 

Goldstein did not read fairy tales when she was a kid.  When she became a mom, she read up on the Brothers Grimm fairytales and realized that most of them did not have a happy end and that Disney changed a lot of the original fairy tales to give them a new meaning.

 

Goldstein wants to teach her children a more sensible approach to life. 

 

However, it seems to me, that her interpretation of reality is a lot scarier than that of the Brothers Grimm: 

 

Snowy

Cindy

Rapunzel

Jasmine

Not so little Red Riding Hood

Belle

I am scared. Though there is a lot of truth to these images, I would prefer for my daughter to grow up without looking at these photos until she is old enough to be a cynic.  Children deserve a fairy tale with a happy ending that encourages them to keep on dreaming large without waiting to be disappointed.  

I want my kid to believe Walt Disney, who said that all "dreams can come true if you have the courage to pursue them." 

Other work by Goldstein can be found at dinagoldstein.com

Sex and the City 2” is a shameless farce of the acclaimed HBO series.

 While "Sex and the City" movie was far from the original series, it had a storyline that made one feel and think and consumes that were dazzling and sumptuous. Sex and the City 2 ruined everything that was good about Sex and the City.

With a non existent plot, shallow dialogue, vulgar costumes and shamelessly profane Samantha (Kim Cattrall), this new film is tragically crass.

Throughout this movie I kept saying “this is awful” and even had to close my eyes a few times not to be abused by the tastelessness of the spectacle.

 The only acceptable scene in the entire film is the opening, in which Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) struts around Manhattan in gold sparkly Louboutins that defy proportions. 

Other than that, the film (if one can even call it such) lacks beauty and refinement.

It is unfortunate that the film’s producers and directors have lost touch with reality and  reduced our beloved NY quartet into neurotic old women.

I am terribly disappointed.

A picture worth 100,000 words

The Russian Cultural Center "Our" Texas presents:

Photo Exhibition “Inner Space of War. Siege of Leningrad” 

When: May 7 – June 25, 2010 

Where: One Allen Center Art Gallery - 500 Dallas Street, Houston, Texas 77002 

This exhibition contains 150 black-and-white photographs made from the original negatives, stored in the archives and museums of the Russian Federation. These photos were taken during the 872 day siege of Leningrad by famous photo journalists and were lent to the exhibition by the Central State Archive of Cinema, Photographic and Phonographic Documents in St. Petersburg.

La Roux - 2010 Houston concert review

On May 30, 2010, alternative crowd gathered at the House of Blues for the performance of British electro-pop duo La Roux.  Preceded by a local DJ, the group did not come on stage until 9:30pm, but once La Roux hit the stage, the crowd went wild.

The set up was simple - singer Elly Jackson,  synth player Ben Langmaid and two keyboard players brought no extra props other than a back drop video showing golder face of Elly, mixed in with a few urban landscape views.

Elly’s performance was light and unpretentious. She hopped around the stage dancing with the microphone in hand, stopping only to deliver high stung vocals. Wearing tight black sequined pants, accompanied by shiny black pointed masculine flats, black top and a white jacket, Elly looked more like Michael Jackson than genderless boy meets girl.

Elly's upbeat attitude, coupled with electro pop sound infected the crowd with joy. Elly did little talking introducing their hit songs and their Rolling Stones’ cover “Under My Thumb.”   Moving from one song to the next with little to no breaks in the middle, the band powered through “Bulletproof” , “Quicksand”, “Cover My Eyes,” “Growing Pains.”  Elly let the crowd sing along to a couple of songs accentuating the difference between normal pitch and her own striking higher-pitched vocals. La Roux closed their set quickly and came back for one encore with “In For the Kill”.

The show was short, but it was perfect for the long weekend. A great and refreshing performance before the Memorial Day.

The White Nights in the northern city

No one knows how to celebrate like the Russians.   Every year, St. Petersburg holds the White Nights Festival, an annual celebration of arts during the season of white nights, comprising of classical ballet, opera, theater and musical  performances by Russian stars and international guests.


The White Nights season begins on May 27, the day on which St. Petersburg celebrates its birthday. 

As St. Petersburg celebrates its 307th anniversary, an elephant balances on a stool in the middle of the Nevsky Prospekt.  

Photo by Alexander Belenky for the St. Petersburg Times

May 27, 1703 is said to be the date on which Peter the Great laid the first foundation stone of the Peter and Paul Fortress, thus founding the new city in honor of St. Peter.  In 1712, St. Petersburg became the capital of the Russian Empire.  In 1918, the capital was reverted back to Moscow a year after the October Revolution.

Photo by Steven Miller








This year, the City Day celebrations lasted for four days, honoring two great citizens of the city: Anatoly Sobchak, first mayor of St. Petersburg, and Ludwig Fadyeyev, theoretical physicist and mathematician working in the Russian Academy of Sciences.

The celebrations were also marked by unveiling of a bust to a prominent polar researcher, Artur Chilingarov, who was awarded the titles of Hero of the Soviet Union and Hero of the Russian Federation for a successful recue expedition in the Antarctic undertaken in 1985 to free the research ship the Mikhail Somov from its ice-bound location and for heroism in extreme conditions during an Arctic expedition on the Academic Fyordorov ship in 2008.  

 Mr. Chilingarov is one of just four Russians to bear the title of national hero twice.  He was also awarded with Orders of Lenin, Order of the Red Banner of Labour, Order of the Badge of Honor, and many medals. He is and the author of more than 50 scientific publications.

According to tradition, the Stars of the White Nights Music Festival opened in the city, with a fireworks display at the Peter and Paul Fortress. 

Four-day festivities included opera and ballet performances, theater and musical marathons, the arts and handicraft fair, ice-cream festival, Parisian stand with actors and prizes, international sailing regatta, water polo tournament, urban orienteering, roller-skate races, international wheelchair basketball tournament, and two open air concert at the Palace Square.

The White Nights festival will continue through July, when it will be closed with the Scarlet Sails celebration, marking the end of schools and colleges for local students

Photo by Alyson Fieldman