Sitar Fusion

In the car when I heard on NPR that sitar master and composer Ravi Shankar died today, my first thought was of his spirituality.  I had known that he gave up a glittery life to study with a guru who taught him the sitar. And of course there was the George Harrison connection that put him in the limelight.  My husband on the other hand, spoke of Shankar bringing different rhythms and forms of eastern music to the west. Shankar's music reached out to some of the West's finest musicians including Violinist Yehudi Menuhin and composer Philip Glass.     

Now I understand the dichotomy.  His music is a combination of tranquility and sadness. The tranquility comes from the kind you experience when you hear music and the sadness is ... like wanting to reach out for something and not finding it, be it God or for a physical love.

A few years ago, remembering those demanding early years of sitar studies, Ravi Shankar said his guru's most important lesson was this: "He says that we have to earn our livelihood, and for that we have to perform and accept money. But music is not for sale. The music that I have learned and want to give is like worshiping God. It's absolutely like a prayer."

Shankar once said he felt ecstasy when he made music — the world was erased, and he experienced great peace. May he too have the peace that he generously spread throughout the world.

A day without laughter is a day wasted

—Charlie Chaplin


My volunteer work at Vegas PBS http://www.vegaspbs.org has been spent on a regular basis—having fun.  Last night I was actively involved in the seasonal pledge drive for a few hours, while Cirque de Soleil performed. As it turned out every phone call that came in was from listeners who wanted to purchase tickets for the troupe’s upcoming Zarkana show that will be performing at the Aria at City Center next month.  Members of the troupe were behind the volunteers contorting every which way demonstrating their acrobatic experience that blends circus arts with the surreal to create a world where physical mime rubs shoulders with the strange.

At one point, my face was turned and unbeknownst to me one of the artists had his face so close to mine, that when I turned back I let out a scream—startled… in studio and on the air!


The general manager then dubbed me, the Screamer.

In Zarkana, the ringmaster of the extraordinary circus guides the audience in an abandoned theatre populated by a collection of off-the-wall characters and incomparable acrobats. Among other attractions, he introduces the Mutants, four sirens as sinister as they are fabulous. It’s a highly visual show with a twisted musical and acrobatic fantasy universe where, little by little, chaos and craziness give way to a true celebration.   

As for me, I had hoped to gain quite a bit—as a volunteer, with a hope of donating my time and energy to an organization and a cause that I care about. But I’ve encountered a lot of fun with people who care as I do about what we are doing in a spirit of fellowship and excitement.

A Mensch

He was born Joseph Levitch but the world knows him as actor and comedian Jerry Lewis. He was one of my childhood favorites and I laughed hysterically at his mania.  

But the belly laughs didn’t stop then. The Sunday before Thanksgiving, I went to see his televised 87^th birthday tribute that airs in March 2013 on PBS. I should have taken a box of tissues, his comedic intent is pure insanity and I along with the audience was enthralled by his nonsense and idiocy. However don’t be fooled—as a human being he’s as sharp as a needle and his lively mischievous mind never waivers. The man is brilliant and has a flair for improvisation, as well as being multi-faceted, he has achieved international fame. The French love him, so much in fact that they presented him with the Legion of Honor and gave him a medal. I think they appreciate his gift for pantomime. And judging by the large Brazilian contingency in the audience, that flew in to see him live, they too adore him. 

A few old-time celebrities were papering the house.  Two rows behind me were Tim Conway, Edie Gorme and Steve Lawrence who called out, "hey Laaa-dy." Also to my right across the aisle was Cuba Gooding Jr.

That night I found out that Lewis has made Las Vegas his home after marrying a show-girl thirty years ago. And it was in Las Vegas where he hosted the annual Muscular Dystrophy telethon in which he raised nearly 2.5 billion dollars. That’s what I call the world’s greatest fund-raiser and a mensch with a big heart.

Penny wise, Pound foolish

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, I suggested to my family (on me) that we see Leo Tolstoy's tale of love and marriage in imperial Russia in a modern adaptation of Anna Karenina http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPGLRO3fZnQ

What a disappointment it was!  Having not seen any prior screen version and only reading the novel, the film opens with a shaky start as a staged performance and is disjointed.  I questioned who was playing whom and what their purpose was, and when the characters traipse across the stage, I couldn’t wait for the tale of doomed love to begin.

Although the visuals are often magical and overly-indulgent—the film is overtly theatrical and a few scenes are simply ridiculous.

The film like the book isn’t concerned with observing social etiquette—it's about raw, often uncontrollable passions, emotional and sexual betrayal, mixed-up people with mixed-up lives.

Keira Knightley stars as Anna, literature's most tragic adulteress. Jude Law is Anna's cold-hearted husband, Alexey Karenin, a statesman who is principled to the point of callousness.

Anna Karenina was not the book Tolstoy intended to write, but his thoughts turned increasingly to an incident that haunted him: A neighbor's mistress had thrown herself under a train after being jilted by her lover. From this tragic seed grew an epic of sex, duty, marriage, and moral regeneration that many consider the greatest novel ever written.

I expected more from filmmaker Joe Wright who gave audiences Atonement certainly the film that Ian McEwan's novel deserved. I left the theatre feeling jilted myself, for having thrown away good money on a stylized film with little character development.

The Story of My Life

Today I’m a guest blogger on Joe Bunting’s The Write Practice.  For those who have the desire to tell and sell, and contemplating “The Story of My Life,” I’m giving some pointers. It’s a post designed for those who are ready to turn memories into memoir.  Or perhaps you’re not sure where to go from here. You may have written several pages and have a clear idea of what sort of memoir you want to write. But you are asking yourself why anybody should care about reading your story. I can help you take the next step. Join in at http://thewritepractice.com/moments-memoir/ and feel free to comment. Cheers!