Louis St. Louis, the Detroit musical entrepreneur and Broadway innovator, is breaking all the rules and opening up artistic possibilities for others as he works on two World Premiere musicals for China’s cultural answer to both Broadway and the West End – Bai Lao Hui.
Louis first will serve as the Musical Supervisor, Arranger and Musical Director for the World Premiere of the multi-million dollar extravaganza “The Joker’s Game,” which opens in Dongwuoan in early September of this year. Asked to contribute six new songs to the score, his first one ‘Magic,’ is already garnering notice in China. Directing is the internationally renowned Tony Stimac. “The Joker’s Game” is being presented by the Oriental Songlei Musical Company and produced by Li Dun.
Weaving around a modern day Chinese magician and his spellbinding ways, he passionately paints the soul of a dedicated Chinese performer. We follow the romantic journey of the two star-crossed lovers, as sparks ignite and we witness pyrotechnics of the heart. First written in English, “The Joker’s Game” was adapted into Chinese. What makes this a first, is the director and his teams are American, working with a Chinese team in their own native language.
In December Louis will collaborate with lyricist James Racheff to write the first American-Style score (Rhythm & Blues, Hip Hop, New Jack Swing and Dance) for China’s first musical theatre presentation of the ancient Chinese Legend, “The Monkey King.” Produced at the Water Cube Building that was designed and built for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, The director is none other than Broadway baby Gabriel Barre. Louis will team again with Mr. Stimac and co writer for, “The Joker’s Game” Kemin Zhang in this endeavor. Inspired by the famous mythological legend “Journey to the West” written in the sixteenth century, this "Monkey King" depicts the Taoist themes of Yin and Yang and the five elements of nature allow this historic Chinese tale to be appreciated by international audiences. This story is complicated but basically, the "Monkey King “is prideful, irritates heaven and saves the day with a Buddhist monk and his friends. This is a tale of the clash between good and evil and finding a "universal hero," while discovering one’s self inside the eternal power of nature.
Louis, was recently honored with a host of awards for his transforming Gospel version of Sir Andrew Lloyd Weber’s “Jesus Christ Superstar” at Atlanta’s historic Alliance Theatre. The cast featured 60 of the entertainment industry’s finest singers. Louis is the recipient of a Grammy, for “Smokey Joe’s Café.” He produced the Movie Soundtrack for Grease, wrote ‘Sandy’ for John Travolta - garnering him his first Grammy nomination as Producer of the Year. He wrote Hand-Jive for the Broadway production. He also produced the Soundtrack for Grease 2, for which he wrote five original songs. As Music Director/ Arranger, he lent his musical talents to the Emmy winning TV Specials, Lily Sold Out, and Lily For President. Just before he became a sought after Conductor/Music Director/ Arranger on Broadway he was an original vocal soloist in the Premiere Production of Leonard Bernstein’s ‘Mass’ at Kennedy Center and can be heard accompanying himself on the Original Cast Album in the Blues Suite. Chita Rivera, Ann-Margret, Debbie Allen, Lily Tomlin, Gladys Knight, Betty Buckley and others have been conducted by Louis and he can be seen accompanying Meryl Streep in the Movie, Ironweed. If this wasn’t enough,in the works is a new Musical “Apaixonado” a musical set in Rio De Janeiro. Seduction, deception and the sensuous sounds of Brazil will soon be making its way to a stage.
2011年6月29日星期三
Does it Work Wednesday: Baby Bullet
Makers of the popular Magic Bullet now have a system you can use to make your own baby food. It's supposed to be cost-effective and a healthier way to feed your child because you know the ingredients going into their first foods, but Does it Work?
"It says it's better than any food processor. When I run out of food, I can just make it here rather than run to the store," said Jerri Carr, a mother from Jackson.
Jerri is one of several dozen parents asking me to try the Baby Bullet before they buy it. After all, it's $80. Her little four-month-old Bryson just started eating solids. Jerri's ready to try her own hand at making those meals herself and for cheaper costs than the jars she normally buys in the store.
First, we slice up a banana, add the recommended water and get right to pureeing.
"Looks pretty good!"
The Baby Bullet system comes with six storage cups. We pour the banana puree in, then set the dial to today's date, so Jerri knows when to feed it by. Most fresh food lasts about three days. That's where the batch tray comes in. You can make a whole month's worth of food, if you wanted to, and then freeze it in cups or ice cube trays like the ones provided in the system.
We feed Bryson the banana puree, and he really likes it! Jerri likes the freshness. We can see a big difference in color between the puree we made and the store-bought bananas.
Now onto something chunkier and harder to puree like sweet potatoes.
We steam and peel the potato, then quarter it for easier blending. Makers of the Baby Bullet recommend we try the "pulsing" technique.
In a matter of seconds, we have pureed sweet potatoes...make that a lot of sweet potatoes.
In fact, I paid $1 for one sweet potato and made a dozen servings. Jerri paid $1 for just two meals of the store-brand. Baby Bullet hits the bulls-eye for value, that's for sure.
"Tripled it almost."
Meantime, Bryson tastes sweet potatoes for the very first time, just for us.
"He acts like he likes them. I think so."
Still, Jerri admits it's hard to cough up the initial $80 for the Baby Bullet system.
"The price is still high."
If you have your own food processor and ice cube trays, you can easily do this at home, too. Still, the recipe book and guide do the thinking for you....it's all easy to follow.
The Baby Bullet hits the mark, leaving us smiling, too, with a B+ on this Does it Work test.
Shop around for this product online, as you can find it for many different prices. Also, it comes with a blade you can use to mill your own grain cereal. It's also recommended to NOT let the motor run for more than a minute. Also, you want to use small pieces for easier pureeing.
"It says it's better than any food processor. When I run out of food, I can just make it here rather than run to the store," said Jerri Carr, a mother from Jackson.
Jerri is one of several dozen parents asking me to try the Baby Bullet before they buy it. After all, it's $80. Her little four-month-old Bryson just started eating solids. Jerri's ready to try her own hand at making those meals herself and for cheaper costs than the jars she normally buys in the store.
First, we slice up a banana, add the recommended water and get right to pureeing.
"Looks pretty good!"
The Baby Bullet system comes with six storage cups. We pour the banana puree in, then set the dial to today's date, so Jerri knows when to feed it by. Most fresh food lasts about three days. That's where the batch tray comes in. You can make a whole month's worth of food, if you wanted to, and then freeze it in cups or ice cube trays like the ones provided in the system.
We feed Bryson the banana puree, and he really likes it! Jerri likes the freshness. We can see a big difference in color between the puree we made and the store-bought bananas.
Now onto something chunkier and harder to puree like sweet potatoes.
We steam and peel the potato, then quarter it for easier blending. Makers of the Baby Bullet recommend we try the "pulsing" technique.
In a matter of seconds, we have pureed sweet potatoes...make that a lot of sweet potatoes.
In fact, I paid $1 for one sweet potato and made a dozen servings. Jerri paid $1 for just two meals of the store-brand. Baby Bullet hits the bulls-eye for value, that's for sure.
"Tripled it almost."
Meantime, Bryson tastes sweet potatoes for the very first time, just for us.
"He acts like he likes them. I think so."
Still, Jerri admits it's hard to cough up the initial $80 for the Baby Bullet system.
"The price is still high."
If you have your own food processor and ice cube trays, you can easily do this at home, too. Still, the recipe book and guide do the thinking for you....it's all easy to follow.
The Baby Bullet hits the mark, leaving us smiling, too, with a B+ on this Does it Work test.
Shop around for this product online, as you can find it for many different prices. Also, it comes with a blade you can use to mill your own grain cereal. It's also recommended to NOT let the motor run for more than a minute. Also, you want to use small pieces for easier pureeing.
2011年6月26日星期日
Kim Kardashian’s ice cube diet
Kim Kardashian's resorted to a bizarre ice cube diet to ensure she'll look like a million dollars at her wedding.
The 8st 10lb TV star, 30, who was snapped hitting the gym last week, is determined to drop to 8st or less before tying the knot with basketball player Kris Humphries, 26.
‘Kim swears by ice cubes with hoodia plant extracts, which curb your appetite,' a source tells Now.
‘And it's working - she's lost 3lb.'
The ice cube supplements boost energy - and, thanks to the active ingredient P57, also help signal to your brain when you're full so that you won't overeat.
‘Kim heard about the ice cubes from a friend,' says our source.
‘She's eating them before meals and nibbling on them instead of calorific snacks.'
While hoodia ice cubes are currently only available in the US, you can get the same results using Perfect Hoodia capsules (£16.95 for a month's supply, hoodia-shop.co.uk).
Dissolve the powder from the capsules in water and freeze to make your own cubes or swallow the capsules whole to avoid the hoodia's bitter taste.
Read the full story about Kim Kardashian's diet in Now magazine dated 27 June 2011 - out now!
The 8st 10lb TV star, 30, who was snapped hitting the gym last week, is determined to drop to 8st or less before tying the knot with basketball player Kris Humphries, 26.
‘Kim swears by ice cubes with hoodia plant extracts, which curb your appetite,' a source tells Now.
‘And it's working - she's lost 3lb.'
The ice cube supplements boost energy - and, thanks to the active ingredient P57, also help signal to your brain when you're full so that you won't overeat.
‘Kim heard about the ice cubes from a friend,' says our source.
‘She's eating them before meals and nibbling on them instead of calorific snacks.'
While hoodia ice cubes are currently only available in the US, you can get the same results using Perfect Hoodia capsules (£16.95 for a month's supply, hoodia-shop.co.uk).
Dissolve the powder from the capsules in water and freeze to make your own cubes or swallow the capsules whole to avoid the hoodia's bitter taste.
Read the full story about Kim Kardashian's diet in Now magazine dated 27 June 2011 - out now!
Wiz Khalifa, Ice Cube, Lupe Fiasco Mix It Up At L.A.'s Powerhouse
LOS ANGELES — Radio station Power 106 held their annual sold-out Powerhouse concert at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, on Saturday night, bringing together multiple generations of hip-hop stars, from West Coast OG Ice Cube to L.A.'s latest dance-craze instigators the Rej3ctz to a chart-topping visitor from out east, Wiz Khalifa.
The Rej3ctz opened the show with a high-energy performance and later danced onstage with the very colorful LMFAO as they performed "Shots." Sporting a white T-shirt and bright yellow cargo shorts, T-Pain took it up a couple notches with a string of his hits and left fans fully charged with DJ Khaled's "All I Do Is Win."
The evening had a couple of surprises on deck: 50 Cent joined Jeremih on their collabo "Down on Me," which Jeremih said was the first time they've ever performed the song together in concert. Compton's own DJ Quik gave loyal fans what they came for, and when Lupe Fiasco pulled young crooner Trey Songz onstage during his set, screaming concertgoers raised the decibels to new heights.
The Don Mega himself, Ice Cube, brought out his old N.W.A bandmate MC Ren on the song "Hello."
"It makes you feel good, being in the game as long as I have," Ice Cube told MTV News before the show. "I done went from new school to old school and still here. You can't do nothing but be humbled by the fact that so many rappers is gone. ... I'm still here after all this time."
Cube was also the most-anticipated act of the evening by fellow performers including the headliner, Wiz Khalifa.
"This is my first time performing at Powerhouse, my first time performing at an event this big, so I feel elated," Wiz told MTV News before his set. "I'm really excited about seeing Cube."
But Khalifa had another trick up his sleeve when it came to honoring L.A.'s hip-hop roots: He brought out his "High School" co-star Snoop Dogg for one last Powerhouse surprise, no doubt leaving 18,000 fans feeling like they got their money's worth.
The Rej3ctz opened the show with a high-energy performance and later danced onstage with the very colorful LMFAO as they performed "Shots." Sporting a white T-shirt and bright yellow cargo shorts, T-Pain took it up a couple notches with a string of his hits and left fans fully charged with DJ Khaled's "All I Do Is Win."
The evening had a couple of surprises on deck: 50 Cent joined Jeremih on their collabo "Down on Me," which Jeremih said was the first time they've ever performed the song together in concert. Compton's own DJ Quik gave loyal fans what they came for, and when Lupe Fiasco pulled young crooner Trey Songz onstage during his set, screaming concertgoers raised the decibels to new heights.
The Don Mega himself, Ice Cube, brought out his old N.W.A bandmate MC Ren on the song "Hello."
"It makes you feel good, being in the game as long as I have," Ice Cube told MTV News before the show. "I done went from new school to old school and still here. You can't do nothing but be humbled by the fact that so many rappers is gone. ... I'm still here after all this time."
Cube was also the most-anticipated act of the evening by fellow performers including the headliner, Wiz Khalifa.
"This is my first time performing at Powerhouse, my first time performing at an event this big, so I feel elated," Wiz told MTV News before his set. "I'm really excited about seeing Cube."
But Khalifa had another trick up his sleeve when it came to honoring L.A.'s hip-hop roots: He brought out his "High School" co-star Snoop Dogg for one last Powerhouse surprise, no doubt leaving 18,000 fans feeling like they got their money's worth.
2011年6月22日星期三
“The End of the Line” by Robert Silverberg
Stiamot is eager to learn more of the shapechangers and has sought out a local guide, a Dr Mundiveen. But Mundiveen turns out to have a past association with the Coronal – not a happy one.
These events are presented as long-past history, and there is a strong sense of inevitability about them – a tragic sense. We see no real agency on the part of the characters; it is not that they wouldn’t act, but that events overwhelm them. What we see is their reaction, and how they are affected. The reasons and motives driving events are concealed from them, as well, and thus to the readers. Just as matters reach a climax, the action fades into the ink of historical archive.
“Corn Teeth” by Melanie Tem
Sonya is an abandoned child in the process of being adopted by resident aliens on Earth. She is rather unclear about what this entails, but she wants it desperately, to belong and be loved. But her misunderstanding has consequences.
“We’re gonna go talk to a judge and Yoolie and Ib and Zama are gonna say they want us forever and the judge is gonna say we’re their kids forever and there’s this big hammer and the judge’ll pound on the table with the hammer and then we’ll turn into Alayayxans.”
One of those stories in which the first-person narrator talks in a childish voice in run-on sentences, supposedly to engage reader sympathy, but I only find it irritating. The xenophobia is not original; the bureaucracy of social service agencies rings true.
“Paradise as a Walled Garden” by Lisa Goldstein
Alternate history: an Elizabethan age of steam. Tip works in a manufactory staffed largely by robots [here called homunculi] made in Al-Andulus, which tries to keep secret the advanced technology it sells to backwards Christian nations like England. One day the homunculi malfunction [rebel] and try to wreck their workplace. The foreman, along with Tip, is sent by Queen Elizabeth to Al-Andulus to make an official inquiry, Tip being a clever girl working as a boy who knows how to read the Arabic numerals on the steam dials – a perfect cover for an industrial spy.
So no one in England knew how the homunculi worked, Tip thought. She had always wondered about that. And she saw immediately what Elizabeth was doing, that she was blackmailing the Arabs, making them share their precious knowledge to keep news of the homunculi’s rebellion from spreading to other countries. Many people had called Elizabeth a clever queen in Tip’s hearing, or a cunning one if they disliked women, but Tip had never understood why before.
I liked this alternate history scenario, the power games, espionage and sabotage among the various kingdoms and states of the age. I would have liked the story much better if it hadn’t emptied the box labeled STEAMPUNK of all its brass gears, steam cars, airships and automatons. Spunky girl disguised as a boy? Disaffected labor replaced by mechanicals? None of this is new. And at some point, the Caliph’s court seems to have gotten its hand on one of the Star Trek universal translators. That would be new.
“Watch Bees” by Philip Brewer
Post apocalypse. Farms are growing self-sufficiency and protecting themselves from bandits and raiders with GM watch bees, programmed to recognize strangers. David has come to the Ware farm in Illinois to steal some of the bees to protect his family’s orchard, because in Michigan, profit-seeking corporations have engineered bees that can’t reproduce a new queen. But the genetic engineering has made this more complicated than he’d supposed, and besides, he’s falling for the Ware’s daughter Naomi.
The nature of the apocalypse that has so altered life is not specified, but I would guess it had something to do with oil. This and many of the other issues that make up this interesting scenario are quite timely: agribusiness has increasingly replaced crops with patented varieties that don’t produce fertile seed, and colony collapse disorder has made us realize how very much we depend on bees [although I understand that native orchard mason bees are in fact more efficient as pollinators for tree fruit than honeybees]. But where I don’t follow the author is in his claim that the GM watch bees would be so expensive that fruit growers in Michigan couldn’t afford them, would instead take such extreme measures as we see in David’s case. Simply put – you don’t make a profit by pricing yourself out of the market, and Sayes Law, that demand creates its own supply, would seem to be contradict the premise in this case.
These events are presented as long-past history, and there is a strong sense of inevitability about them – a tragic sense. We see no real agency on the part of the characters; it is not that they wouldn’t act, but that events overwhelm them. What we see is their reaction, and how they are affected. The reasons and motives driving events are concealed from them, as well, and thus to the readers. Just as matters reach a climax, the action fades into the ink of historical archive.
“Corn Teeth” by Melanie Tem
Sonya is an abandoned child in the process of being adopted by resident aliens on Earth. She is rather unclear about what this entails, but she wants it desperately, to belong and be loved. But her misunderstanding has consequences.
“We’re gonna go talk to a judge and Yoolie and Ib and Zama are gonna say they want us forever and the judge is gonna say we’re their kids forever and there’s this big hammer and the judge’ll pound on the table with the hammer and then we’ll turn into Alayayxans.”
One of those stories in which the first-person narrator talks in a childish voice in run-on sentences, supposedly to engage reader sympathy, but I only find it irritating. The xenophobia is not original; the bureaucracy of social service agencies rings true.
“Paradise as a Walled Garden” by Lisa Goldstein
Alternate history: an Elizabethan age of steam. Tip works in a manufactory staffed largely by robots [here called homunculi] made in Al-Andulus, which tries to keep secret the advanced technology it sells to backwards Christian nations like England. One day the homunculi malfunction [rebel] and try to wreck their workplace. The foreman, along with Tip, is sent by Queen Elizabeth to Al-Andulus to make an official inquiry, Tip being a clever girl working as a boy who knows how to read the Arabic numerals on the steam dials – a perfect cover for an industrial spy.
So no one in England knew how the homunculi worked, Tip thought. She had always wondered about that. And she saw immediately what Elizabeth was doing, that she was blackmailing the Arabs, making them share their precious knowledge to keep news of the homunculi’s rebellion from spreading to other countries. Many people had called Elizabeth a clever queen in Tip’s hearing, or a cunning one if they disliked women, but Tip had never understood why before.
I liked this alternate history scenario, the power games, espionage and sabotage among the various kingdoms and states of the age. I would have liked the story much better if it hadn’t emptied the box labeled STEAMPUNK of all its brass gears, steam cars, airships and automatons. Spunky girl disguised as a boy? Disaffected labor replaced by mechanicals? None of this is new. And at some point, the Caliph’s court seems to have gotten its hand on one of the Star Trek universal translators. That would be new.
“Watch Bees” by Philip Brewer
Post apocalypse. Farms are growing self-sufficiency and protecting themselves from bandits and raiders with GM watch bees, programmed to recognize strangers. David has come to the Ware farm in Illinois to steal some of the bees to protect his family’s orchard, because in Michigan, profit-seeking corporations have engineered bees that can’t reproduce a new queen. But the genetic engineering has made this more complicated than he’d supposed, and besides, he’s falling for the Ware’s daughter Naomi.
The nature of the apocalypse that has so altered life is not specified, but I would guess it had something to do with oil. This and many of the other issues that make up this interesting scenario are quite timely: agribusiness has increasingly replaced crops with patented varieties that don’t produce fertile seed, and colony collapse disorder has made us realize how very much we depend on bees [although I understand that native orchard mason bees are in fact more efficient as pollinators for tree fruit than honeybees]. But where I don’t follow the author is in his claim that the GM watch bees would be so expensive that fruit growers in Michigan couldn’t afford them, would instead take such extreme measures as we see in David’s case. Simply put – you don’t make a profit by pricing yourself out of the market, and Sayes Law, that demand creates its own supply, would seem to be contradict the premise in this case.
From YouTube to White Cube, Ryan Trecartin Logs on at MOCA
Ryan Trecartin has been called the first YouTube art star. Rather than simply go online to see his hallucinatory flicks, it's a lot more fun to view the movies spooled together at the Museum of Contemporary Art , where videos, sets, and props for Trecartin's opus will be on display for "Any Ever." His four-hour-long, seven-movie epic video he produced in the Big Mango between 2009 and 2010 along with collaborator Lizzie Fitch opens at MOCA tomorrow.
Trecartin, who was in Miami for a Moore Space artist's residency program while helming his hallucinatory movies, was also assisted by scores of others including friends and artists with a handful of professional child actors tossed into his celluloid salad as well.
In fact, Trecartin's comet has flamed so bright recently, that after opening the same version of his upcoming Miami show last week at the Big Apple's P.S.1., The New Yorker's critic Peter Schjeldhal wrote the artist was being "hailed as the magus of the Internet century."
"Ryan's work is energetic and innovative. Working primarily with video, he creates humorous and intense narratives that push boundaries in regards to representation; people, places, and products blur and subjective voices are mixed with that of advertising and pop culture," explains Ruba Katrib, MOCA's associate curator who helped organize the Magic City exhibit.
A digital age progeny, Trecartin is known for strip-mining our media-saturated, over-merchandized culture to create garish imagery that not only assaults the peepers, but also distills the virtual cacophony of the Internet, reality TV and Twitter feeds with a schizzy, cheese ball squalor at times insalubrious and mesmerizing to behold.
He blurs and redefines signifiers of race, gender and sexuality, and the very notion of fixed identity, twisting language and images of consumer and popular culture to their breaking points.
But trust us it's a lot more fun to see the movies spooled together at MOCA where the sets and props for Trecartin's opus will also be on display rather than at home on your laptop.
"The entire exhibition space at MOCA has transformed into a quasi domestic and outdoor environment that are reminiscent of suburban lifestyles," Katrib says. "The key is that people can spend time watching the videos in the immersive environments created for the works. I think this is a great show for summer, beat the heat and really get to know Ryan's work," she adds.
This marks the first time "Any After" has been exhibited in its entirety in the Magic City which plays a big role in Trecartin's sensational, can't miss multi-narrative stories.
Trecartin, who was in Miami for a Moore Space artist's residency program while helming his hallucinatory movies, was also assisted by scores of others including friends and artists with a handful of professional child actors tossed into his celluloid salad as well.
In fact, Trecartin's comet has flamed so bright recently, that after opening the same version of his upcoming Miami show last week at the Big Apple's P.S.1., The New Yorker's critic Peter Schjeldhal wrote the artist was being "hailed as the magus of the Internet century."
"Ryan's work is energetic and innovative. Working primarily with video, he creates humorous and intense narratives that push boundaries in regards to representation; people, places, and products blur and subjective voices are mixed with that of advertising and pop culture," explains Ruba Katrib, MOCA's associate curator who helped organize the Magic City exhibit.
A digital age progeny, Trecartin is known for strip-mining our media-saturated, over-merchandized culture to create garish imagery that not only assaults the peepers, but also distills the virtual cacophony of the Internet, reality TV and Twitter feeds with a schizzy, cheese ball squalor at times insalubrious and mesmerizing to behold.
He blurs and redefines signifiers of race, gender and sexuality, and the very notion of fixed identity, twisting language and images of consumer and popular culture to their breaking points.
But trust us it's a lot more fun to see the movies spooled together at MOCA where the sets and props for Trecartin's opus will also be on display rather than at home on your laptop.
"The entire exhibition space at MOCA has transformed into a quasi domestic and outdoor environment that are reminiscent of suburban lifestyles," Katrib says. "The key is that people can spend time watching the videos in the immersive environments created for the works. I think this is a great show for summer, beat the heat and really get to know Ryan's work," she adds.
This marks the first time "Any After" has been exhibited in its entirety in the Magic City which plays a big role in Trecartin's sensational, can't miss multi-narrative stories.
2011年6月20日星期一
Around Allen, June 16-21
The Allen Public Library will screen "The Pursuit of Happyness," starring Will Smith, from 2 to 4 p.m. on Thursday, June 16, in the library auditorium.
In this inspirational true story, Chris Gardner follows his dream to make a better life for himself and his 5-year-old. This film is free for teens ages 13-18 and is rated PG-13.
The Allen Public Library is at 300 N. Allen Drive.
beTween at the Allen Public Library
The Allen Public Library will host beTween, a program for tweens ages 8-11, from 3 to 4 p.m. on Thursday, June 16, in the children's program room. Attendees will learn new skills and hang out with other tweens at this weekly program. Crafts, trivia and robotics will be among the featured activities.
The Read to Rover program will return to the Allen Public Library from 10:30 to 11:45 a.m. on Saturday, June 18, in the children's program room. Readers in kindergarten through sixth grade are encouraged to grab their favorite book and buddy up with a Heart of Texas therapy dog to share a story.
Sign-up starts at 10:15 a.m. There will be no pre-registration for this event. The Allen Public Library is at 300 N. Allen Drive.
The Allen Public Library invites teens ages 12-18 to watch "Despicable Me," rated PG, and enjoy an afternoon of crafts from 2 to 4 p.m. on Saturday, June 18. This week's craft will be the Rubik's Cube.
This program is free. The Allen Public Library is at 300 N. Allen Drive.
Lucky Duck Kids Club June event announced
The Lucky Duck Kids Club, a free family-friendly activity series at Watters Creek, returns from 4 to 6 p.m. on Saturday, June 18. Enjoy hands-on activities specially designed for children ages 3 to 12 years old.
In celebration of Father's Day, little ones will color a baseball cap and give Dad a personalized gift he's sure to remember. The fun continues with face painting, hayrides, a visit from Boocoos the Clown, a balloon artist and free Paciugo gelato. Activities take place in the breezeway across from The Green from 4 to 6 p.m., with hayrides continuing until 7 p.m.
In this inspirational true story, Chris Gardner follows his dream to make a better life for himself and his 5-year-old. This film is free for teens ages 13-18 and is rated PG-13.
The Allen Public Library is at 300 N. Allen Drive.
beTween at the Allen Public Library
The Allen Public Library will host beTween, a program for tweens ages 8-11, from 3 to 4 p.m. on Thursday, June 16, in the children's program room. Attendees will learn new skills and hang out with other tweens at this weekly program. Crafts, trivia and robotics will be among the featured activities.
The Read to Rover program will return to the Allen Public Library from 10:30 to 11:45 a.m. on Saturday, June 18, in the children's program room. Readers in kindergarten through sixth grade are encouraged to grab their favorite book and buddy up with a Heart of Texas therapy dog to share a story.
Sign-up starts at 10:15 a.m. There will be no pre-registration for this event. The Allen Public Library is at 300 N. Allen Drive.
The Allen Public Library invites teens ages 12-18 to watch "Despicable Me," rated PG, and enjoy an afternoon of crafts from 2 to 4 p.m. on Saturday, June 18. This week's craft will be the Rubik's Cube.
This program is free. The Allen Public Library is at 300 N. Allen Drive.
Lucky Duck Kids Club June event announced
The Lucky Duck Kids Club, a free family-friendly activity series at Watters Creek, returns from 4 to 6 p.m. on Saturday, June 18. Enjoy hands-on activities specially designed for children ages 3 to 12 years old.
In celebration of Father's Day, little ones will color a baseball cap and give Dad a personalized gift he's sure to remember. The fun continues with face painting, hayrides, a visit from Boocoos the Clown, a balloon artist and free Paciugo gelato. Activities take place in the breezeway across from The Green from 4 to 6 p.m., with hayrides continuing until 7 p.m.
David Fobes at the Athenaeum
In a previous article, I made reference to comments made by Alain Badiou, a French philosopher, and Sebastian Smee, art critic for the Boston Globe. Badiou insisted that “art must be revoluftion” and Smee argued for an artist’s “sustained engagement” during the art-making process. Smee believed too much of what was being produced today were half-hearted attempts or gestures posturing as real ideas. I agreed with both men and wondered “Where’s the beef?” in art today.
An artist’s sustained engagement can be as much a credit to independence and tenaciousness as it is to his or her desire to maintain an artwork’s intended meaning and integrity while it is on exhibit. And to some extent, this might result in captivating and exploiting a viewer’s five senses – sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. Art is not always what it appears to be. This phenomenon has never been as omnipresent in contemporary art today as it has in the past as artists strive to provide a full surround sound experience. The point is that an artist can go beyond the simple gesture of mark-making by delving into the core essence of what they are fabricating by bringing their ideas to life. Technological advances in both art and science have only enhanced the possibilities. Almost anything goes.
It appears then that artistic process and creativity (or innovation) are derived from the investigation of seeing what will happen if artists do this with that and with whom. They are alchemists to a certain extent, knowing how and when to effect change internationally or even locally. The manner in which they do so politically, visually, or in a community can determine the relevancy and importance of their work and how it might eventually affect us.
Take the artist Anish Kapoor, for example. He could have joined the growing ranks of museums and petition signers lobbying for the release of detained Chinese artist Ai Weiwei. Instead he chose not to participate in an exhibition he was asked to be part of in China, which is literally a radical use of “cause and effect” (detention => no exhibit) and a sustained engagement if not a belief system. Artists now have the freedom and the luxury to operate across a broader spectrum of personal, political, and artistic beliefs and parlay them into concrete actions, and in the best case scenario, into works of art.
Longtime San Diego artist David Fobes knows something about this; his unwavering dedication to his craft is hardly disputable but not always easy to maintain. Nonetheless, Fobes has successfully managed to cut a mean swath of color with new works on display at the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library in La Jolla. I’ve followed Fobes’ artistic career closely over the years and have visited his home and studio on several occasions. I was first introduced to his artwork by Doug Simay, formerly of Simayspace Gallery downtown, and through various exhibits of which one in particular, the Cannon Biennale, caught my attention.
An artist’s sustained engagement can be as much a credit to independence and tenaciousness as it is to his or her desire to maintain an artwork’s intended meaning and integrity while it is on exhibit. And to some extent, this might result in captivating and exploiting a viewer’s five senses – sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. Art is not always what it appears to be. This phenomenon has never been as omnipresent in contemporary art today as it has in the past as artists strive to provide a full surround sound experience. The point is that an artist can go beyond the simple gesture of mark-making by delving into the core essence of what they are fabricating by bringing their ideas to life. Technological advances in both art and science have only enhanced the possibilities. Almost anything goes.
It appears then that artistic process and creativity (or innovation) are derived from the investigation of seeing what will happen if artists do this with that and with whom. They are alchemists to a certain extent, knowing how and when to effect change internationally or even locally. The manner in which they do so politically, visually, or in a community can determine the relevancy and importance of their work and how it might eventually affect us.
Take the artist Anish Kapoor, for example. He could have joined the growing ranks of museums and petition signers lobbying for the release of detained Chinese artist Ai Weiwei. Instead he chose not to participate in an exhibition he was asked to be part of in China, which is literally a radical use of “cause and effect” (detention => no exhibit) and a sustained engagement if not a belief system. Artists now have the freedom and the luxury to operate across a broader spectrum of personal, political, and artistic beliefs and parlay them into concrete actions, and in the best case scenario, into works of art.
Longtime San Diego artist David Fobes knows something about this; his unwavering dedication to his craft is hardly disputable but not always easy to maintain. Nonetheless, Fobes has successfully managed to cut a mean swath of color with new works on display at the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library in La Jolla. I’ve followed Fobes’ artistic career closely over the years and have visited his home and studio on several occasions. I was first introduced to his artwork by Doug Simay, formerly of Simayspace Gallery downtown, and through various exhibits of which one in particular, the Cannon Biennale, caught my attention.
2011年6月15日星期三
Bootsy Collins, funk's star attraction
There's an expectation or hope that comes along with talking to a character on the order of funk legend Bootsy Collins.
You hope that the man who between his time backing up both James Brown and George Clinton did as much as anybody to make the bass guitar a spotlight-level instrument will uncork a bit of verbal magic without delving into self-parody. That he'll drop a bon mot that suggests just how deeply the funk is ingrained in him as not just a form of artistic expression but also as a beacon for life and how to live it.
So William Earl "Bootsy" Collins comes on the phone, and good naturedly talks about the creative inspiration for his new album, "Tha Funk Capital of the World" and the accompanying tour that brings him to ACL Live on Sunday.
It's all pleasant, appropriately revealing and businesslike. Turns out the album featuring enough high-profile guest stars to fill out the roll call of next year's Source Awards (Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg, Samuel L. Jackson and Bobby Womack are a few of the names) was made with the intention of bringing classic funk music to younger ears who are mostly used to overprocessed AutoTune-heavy production.
It's a record that's organic and alive at all points, where Collins' old cohorts like Catfish Collins and Womack make room for the more contemporary voices, and where a lightning-rod intellectual like Cornel West gets four minutes of musical backing to riff on the long-term cost of poorly made short-term decisions by today's youth and leaders.
Less focus on dollar bills, more on heart and soul, Collins explains, and it's hard to argue with that. While not exactly the Lord's work, taking as much T-Pain as possible off the culture's musical balance sheet has to be worth something in the grand scheme of things. And if Sly Stone is still mired in some sort of psychotic hell and Prince is OK with putting out middling albums for the rest of his days, then Collins is right there in the lineage of funk and R&B heroes who can take up that charge and have a puncher's chance of getting it done. Still, something's missing. It's obvious the funk still lives in him, that it drives him and he wants to share it with the world. But it's all sounding kind of serious and heavy, and 10 minutes into a 15-minute interview there hasn't been that moment that gets to how intensely joyous and effusive this music and the man making it can be.
Then talk turns to the tour, which at the time of the interview Collins and his band members were still rehearsing for. Collins gets to explaining that it's a feel-it-as-it-comes process, and the record's deep bench of guests — many of whom can drop in only for a show or two at a time, if at all — will make the tour a bit of a patchwork that will require them to improvise from night to night.
That's when it happens, when it becomes obvious why he rarely disappoints.
"The funk is not pre-planned, so we're gonna see what the funk happens."
Does anything more need to be said? Probably not, but here's the rest anyway.
"We'll get whoever we can and shake it up from gig to gig," Collins said. "We're just going to give the people great music. Things might change a little bit once you get out there and you feel what people are into... what they need more of or less of so you always have to change it up.
"We haven't toured like this since 1998 so it's like it's a whole new experience. Once you get over the hump it's just showtime and you just grind it out until everyone falls into a groove. But the people ... they will help us back into it."
You hope that the man who between his time backing up both James Brown and George Clinton did as much as anybody to make the bass guitar a spotlight-level instrument will uncork a bit of verbal magic without delving into self-parody. That he'll drop a bon mot that suggests just how deeply the funk is ingrained in him as not just a form of artistic expression but also as a beacon for life and how to live it.
So William Earl "Bootsy" Collins comes on the phone, and good naturedly talks about the creative inspiration for his new album, "Tha Funk Capital of the World" and the accompanying tour that brings him to ACL Live on Sunday.
It's all pleasant, appropriately revealing and businesslike. Turns out the album featuring enough high-profile guest stars to fill out the roll call of next year's Source Awards (Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg, Samuel L. Jackson and Bobby Womack are a few of the names) was made with the intention of bringing classic funk music to younger ears who are mostly used to overprocessed AutoTune-heavy production.
It's a record that's organic and alive at all points, where Collins' old cohorts like Catfish Collins and Womack make room for the more contemporary voices, and where a lightning-rod intellectual like Cornel West gets four minutes of musical backing to riff on the long-term cost of poorly made short-term decisions by today's youth and leaders.
Less focus on dollar bills, more on heart and soul, Collins explains, and it's hard to argue with that. While not exactly the Lord's work, taking as much T-Pain as possible off the culture's musical balance sheet has to be worth something in the grand scheme of things. And if Sly Stone is still mired in some sort of psychotic hell and Prince is OK with putting out middling albums for the rest of his days, then Collins is right there in the lineage of funk and R&B heroes who can take up that charge and have a puncher's chance of getting it done. Still, something's missing. It's obvious the funk still lives in him, that it drives him and he wants to share it with the world. But it's all sounding kind of serious and heavy, and 10 minutes into a 15-minute interview there hasn't been that moment that gets to how intensely joyous and effusive this music and the man making it can be.
Then talk turns to the tour, which at the time of the interview Collins and his band members were still rehearsing for. Collins gets to explaining that it's a feel-it-as-it-comes process, and the record's deep bench of guests — many of whom can drop in only for a show or two at a time, if at all — will make the tour a bit of a patchwork that will require them to improvise from night to night.
That's when it happens, when it becomes obvious why he rarely disappoints.
"The funk is not pre-planned, so we're gonna see what the funk happens."
Does anything more need to be said? Probably not, but here's the rest anyway.
"We'll get whoever we can and shake it up from gig to gig," Collins said. "We're just going to give the people great music. Things might change a little bit once you get out there and you feel what people are into... what they need more of or less of so you always have to change it up.
"We haven't toured like this since 1998 so it's like it's a whole new experience. Once you get over the hump it's just showtime and you just grind it out until everyone falls into a groove. But the people ... they will help us back into it."
The Decision: Answered?
After watching the LeBron James press conference after the loss to the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals, it finally hit me. Being a hoops fan, I’ve heard the LeBron comparisons for years. Scottie Pippen didn’t help matters when he anointed LeBron better than Michael Jordan after a few terrific games in this year’s Playoffs.
It was clear after this series that LeBron James isn’t the next Michael Jordan and he’s not the next Magic Johnson. As I watch LeBron stoically stare into the crowd of cameras and tape recorders stumbling over his words, it finally came to me who LeBron resembles more as a player. LeBron James is becoming the next Allen Iverson. Look at the recent events. The mocking of Dirk Nowitzki the “regular people comment” and his overall demeanor on the court and with the media. When trying to figure out what player LeBron will more likely mimic, let’s look toward “The Answer.”
When AI entered the League, like LeBron, he was a young hotshot with a raw athletic ability rivaled by no one prior. No other point guard at the time could match Iverson in speed with and without the ball, or could play at the high level that he brought every night. While his talent was off the charts, his attitude was way below the line of acceptable and it showed throughout his career.
As much as you remember the ankle breaking crossovers and other highlight reel plays, you remember the off the court drama. The arrests, his clashes with coaches and his love/hate relationship with the media. Who can ever really forget his epic “Practice, what is practice” rant? AI will always be regarded as a great player by his fans and true supporters, but Iverson missed the target when it came to becoming the superstar that we figured he would be.
Like AI, the bar was set high for him before he even entered the League. His star was already placed in the sky, his name already etched in the history books. His path was already set by anyone who watched the game of basketball. Like Allen Iverson, after a few seasons filled with great individual statistics and achievements he was far from being the game-changing superstar we assumed he would be.
LeBron has a couple of MVP awards and a couple of 60-win seasons with the Cavs that he can brag about, but those positives can’t seem to hide the fact that his leadership ability and composure are up for question. While he’s not the mess that Iverson could be when it came to the media, he’s pretty close. His actions and comments during the Finals show that he doesn’t understand the impact his words and actions have.
Unlike AI, LeBron James has more time to work out his issues with teammates, fans and the media. He’s not the anti-hero that Iverson was. LeBron seems like he genuinely wants to be respected on and off the court. He seems to want his legacy to be more about what he did on the court than what was done off the court.
Time will be the only way to gauge LeBron James. He shouldn’t have to fill the shoes of any player other than his own. After eight seasons in the League, he’s still trying to find his way. By the end of his career, I bet LeBron not only finds the answer to his current woes, but his play on the court will force opponents to have a have to deal with a lot of questions.
It was clear after this series that LeBron James isn’t the next Michael Jordan and he’s not the next Magic Johnson. As I watch LeBron stoically stare into the crowd of cameras and tape recorders stumbling over his words, it finally came to me who LeBron resembles more as a player. LeBron James is becoming the next Allen Iverson. Look at the recent events. The mocking of Dirk Nowitzki the “regular people comment” and his overall demeanor on the court and with the media. When trying to figure out what player LeBron will more likely mimic, let’s look toward “The Answer.”
When AI entered the League, like LeBron, he was a young hotshot with a raw athletic ability rivaled by no one prior. No other point guard at the time could match Iverson in speed with and without the ball, or could play at the high level that he brought every night. While his talent was off the charts, his attitude was way below the line of acceptable and it showed throughout his career.
As much as you remember the ankle breaking crossovers and other highlight reel plays, you remember the off the court drama. The arrests, his clashes with coaches and his love/hate relationship with the media. Who can ever really forget his epic “Practice, what is practice” rant? AI will always be regarded as a great player by his fans and true supporters, but Iverson missed the target when it came to becoming the superstar that we figured he would be.
Like AI, the bar was set high for him before he even entered the League. His star was already placed in the sky, his name already etched in the history books. His path was already set by anyone who watched the game of basketball. Like Allen Iverson, after a few seasons filled with great individual statistics and achievements he was far from being the game-changing superstar we assumed he would be.
LeBron has a couple of MVP awards and a couple of 60-win seasons with the Cavs that he can brag about, but those positives can’t seem to hide the fact that his leadership ability and composure are up for question. While he’s not the mess that Iverson could be when it came to the media, he’s pretty close. His actions and comments during the Finals show that he doesn’t understand the impact his words and actions have.
Unlike AI, LeBron James has more time to work out his issues with teammates, fans and the media. He’s not the anti-hero that Iverson was. LeBron seems like he genuinely wants to be respected on and off the court. He seems to want his legacy to be more about what he did on the court than what was done off the court.
Time will be the only way to gauge LeBron James. He shouldn’t have to fill the shoes of any player other than his own. After eight seasons in the League, he’s still trying to find his way. By the end of his career, I bet LeBron not only finds the answer to his current woes, but his play on the court will force opponents to have a have to deal with a lot of questions.
2011年6月12日星期日
Mario Block Storage Cubes Hold More Than Gold Coins and 1-up Mushrooms
The Super Mario Bros. games have inspired a wide variety of fun decor over the years, and here’s a new batch of cool Mario items you can put in your office or home.
Each of these hollowed-out bricks and question mark blocks is designed for storing a pair of Wii-motes, but really can be used for just about anything like pens, tools, plants or anything else that’ll fit in a 4″ cube. I suppose you could use them to store your gold coin collection or canned mushrooms too. I’d steer clear of fresh ‘shrooms though, as they might end up leaving a mess.
Here’s another fun idea – paint your wall sky blue to look like a level from Super Mario Bros., then place a bunch of these cubes on shelves at various heights along the wall (or screw them directly into the drywall) so they look like they’re floating.
Both the red bricks and question mark blocks are available over at Strapya World for ¥1,500 (~$18 USD) each.
Each of these hollowed-out bricks and question mark blocks is designed for storing a pair of Wii-motes, but really can be used for just about anything like pens, tools, plants or anything else that’ll fit in a 4″ cube. I suppose you could use them to store your gold coin collection or canned mushrooms too. I’d steer clear of fresh ‘shrooms though, as they might end up leaving a mess.
Here’s another fun idea – paint your wall sky blue to look like a level from Super Mario Bros., then place a bunch of these cubes on shelves at various heights along the wall (or screw them directly into the drywall) so they look like they’re floating.
Both the red bricks and question mark blocks are available over at Strapya World for ¥1,500 (~$18 USD) each.
WTC daredevil Philippe Petit’s one-man show is all talk — and no walk
In August 1974, Philippe Petit committed what some call “the artistic crime of the 20th century.”
The lithe, ginger-haired Frenchman and a ragtag gang of accomplices snuck into the then-new World Trade Center and, under cover of night, set up a steel cable between the top floors of the towers. At dawn, Petit walked over the void, with nothing to catch him if he slipped.
Petit’s exploit was illegal, but instead of going to jail he was adopted by New Yorkers as a cultural icon. In the early ’80s, he became artist in residence at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. In 2008, the WTC feat was immortalized in James Marsh’s Oscar-winning documentary “Man on Wire” and the following year it became the linchpin of Colum McCann’s hit novel “Let the Great World Spin,” which won the National Book Award.
In “Wireless!,” Petit says “primitive magic” drew him to master acrobatics and clowning.
Tamara Beckwith
In “Wireless!,” Petit says “primitive magic” drew him to master acrobatics and clowning.
Now Petit, 61, is about to step down to earth — a k a the Lower East Side’s Abrons Arts Center — where he’s performing the one-man show “Wireless!” from Thursday through Saturday.
“It’s autobiographical in the sense that I’m sharing who I am and what I do with the audience,” Petit says, before warning that there won’t be any actual wire-walking. “I wouldn’t want to have a little demonstration of the high wire in a show like this, which is the kind of thing that people love here: ‘Can you show me? Can you teach me?’ Well, do you have two years? In five minutes, you want me to hold your hand so you can make a fool of yourself and of my art? Also, putting a wire in a theater is a total nightmare. You need tons of equipment, you have to drill holes, weld things.”
Rest assured that Petit won’t skip out on his claim to fame, though: “I’m constantly on a metaphorical wire,” Petit says, “miming what happens on the actual one.”
Besides, he has enough tricks up his sleeve to fill 90 minutes, as was obvious to those who saw him make a coin appear and disappear during his Oscar acceptance speech.
“I learned magic around 6 years old, which led to juggling when I was a young teenager,” he recalls. “Magic requires a certain amount of dexterity and involves the art of misdirection, and all that I see on the wire. There is a certain amount of primitive magic in the presentation of someone walking on a wire.”
Jay Wegman, the director of Abrons, compares Petit to a Rubik’s Cube: “He has all these sides to him, and it’ll be interesting to see how he twists and turns them around. He’s a clown and acrobat and magician, and that French accent of his helps a lot — it just adds to the sense of playfulness.”
Indeed, the ebullient, mischievous Petit seems to be a bottomless font of enthusiasm.
“He’s the most extraordinary storyteller you’ll ever meet,” says J. Ralph, the musician who wrote the theme for “Man on Wire” and is contributing an original score and sound design for the new show. “He’ll make any jaded person feel excited.”
After all this time, Petit knows people still expect to hear about his trademark coup, even if for him it’s just one of many.
“I keep a box of index cards, and for each walk I write down the length, the height, how much I was paid, the music I used, the costume I wore,” Petit says. “I’m now at 80 walks in 45 years.”
What was No. 1 like?
“It was a Bastille Day lake-
crossing in France. Nobody noticed because there was a fishing contest going on underneath the wire.” He laughs. “It was a fiasco.”
The lithe, ginger-haired Frenchman and a ragtag gang of accomplices snuck into the then-new World Trade Center and, under cover of night, set up a steel cable between the top floors of the towers. At dawn, Petit walked over the void, with nothing to catch him if he slipped.
Petit’s exploit was illegal, but instead of going to jail he was adopted by New Yorkers as a cultural icon. In the early ’80s, he became artist in residence at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. In 2008, the WTC feat was immortalized in James Marsh’s Oscar-winning documentary “Man on Wire” and the following year it became the linchpin of Colum McCann’s hit novel “Let the Great World Spin,” which won the National Book Award.
In “Wireless!,” Petit says “primitive magic” drew him to master acrobatics and clowning.
Tamara Beckwith
In “Wireless!,” Petit says “primitive magic” drew him to master acrobatics and clowning.
Now Petit, 61, is about to step down to earth — a k a the Lower East Side’s Abrons Arts Center — where he’s performing the one-man show “Wireless!” from Thursday through Saturday.
“It’s autobiographical in the sense that I’m sharing who I am and what I do with the audience,” Petit says, before warning that there won’t be any actual wire-walking. “I wouldn’t want to have a little demonstration of the high wire in a show like this, which is the kind of thing that people love here: ‘Can you show me? Can you teach me?’ Well, do you have two years? In five minutes, you want me to hold your hand so you can make a fool of yourself and of my art? Also, putting a wire in a theater is a total nightmare. You need tons of equipment, you have to drill holes, weld things.”
Rest assured that Petit won’t skip out on his claim to fame, though: “I’m constantly on a metaphorical wire,” Petit says, “miming what happens on the actual one.”
Besides, he has enough tricks up his sleeve to fill 90 minutes, as was obvious to those who saw him make a coin appear and disappear during his Oscar acceptance speech.
“I learned magic around 6 years old, which led to juggling when I was a young teenager,” he recalls. “Magic requires a certain amount of dexterity and involves the art of misdirection, and all that I see on the wire. There is a certain amount of primitive magic in the presentation of someone walking on a wire.”
Jay Wegman, the director of Abrons, compares Petit to a Rubik’s Cube: “He has all these sides to him, and it’ll be interesting to see how he twists and turns them around. He’s a clown and acrobat and magician, and that French accent of his helps a lot — it just adds to the sense of playfulness.”
Indeed, the ebullient, mischievous Petit seems to be a bottomless font of enthusiasm.
“He’s the most extraordinary storyteller you’ll ever meet,” says J. Ralph, the musician who wrote the theme for “Man on Wire” and is contributing an original score and sound design for the new show. “He’ll make any jaded person feel excited.”
After all this time, Petit knows people still expect to hear about his trademark coup, even if for him it’s just one of many.
“I keep a box of index cards, and for each walk I write down the length, the height, how much I was paid, the music I used, the costume I wore,” Petit says. “I’m now at 80 walks in 45 years.”
What was No. 1 like?
“It was a Bastille Day lake-
crossing in France. Nobody noticed because there was a fishing contest going on underneath the wire.” He laughs. “It was a fiasco.”
2011年6月8日星期三
The Find: Coffee Tomo
The tagline for Coffee Tomo, a cafe that opened a few weeks ago off the main drag of Sawtelle Boulevard's mini Japan Town, might be: coffee specialists and slightly manic pretzel innovators. Think fresh-baked, intricately structured pretzels stuffed with red beans and cheese.
The walls of the brand new, immaculate shop are clean white and dark brown wood — "the color of coffee," explains owner Kibum Sung. Sung is a former landscape architect who designed every element of the shop. "I wanted to make it warm, wanted people to walk in and smell the coffee and feel comfortable."
Sung is Korean-born and Japan-educated. Everything here bears Sung's very conscious design aesthetic, from the spare, careful arrangements of coffee paraphernalia on dark wooden shelves to the painstakingly ordered row of jars, showing coffee beans at each stage of roast. The kendo swords high on the shelves are Sung's too; he's a second-dan black belt. But then there's his food: his version of pretzels stuffed with the post-Western Asian-pop madness.
The best thing here might be the pretzel stuffed with sweet potato and cheese: crispy on the outside, utterly soft on the inside, strands of stretchy mozzarella folded around sweet, molten sweet potato puree. It's a deliriously joyous creation.
Sung hand-makes every pretzel to order, rolling it into a baroque arrangement of whorls and folds and curlicues, and bringing it to your table straight from the oven. Where else can you get a pretzel made with this level of devotion?
More adventurous palates should try Sung's favorite: a pretzel stuffed with red bean and cheese, the most lunatic of the stuffed pretzel fillings. The flavors barely cohere, but they make a weird sort of uneven magic, chunky bits of slightly sweetened Asian red bean clinging to strands of mozzarella. The experience is balanced right on the slightly bewildering, charming knife's edge between a sweet and a savory snack — an Asian dessert that wandered into a calzone.
Sung made up these combinations himself, based loosely on stuffed pretzels he'd seen in South Korea. "I have confidence in my pretzels," Sung says.
But for the coffee arts, he turns to Tommy Kim, head barista and master of the roast. Kim roasts all their beans in the large red Diedrich roaster right in front. Kim is also cheerful and completely coffee-obsessed, and he runs at high speed around the shop, chatting with customers about the details of their drink and his former life as an opera singer.
Kim makes the dripped coffee with light-roasted beans, for maximum varietal detail. But for the espresso, he uses his own peculiar mix: one bean varietal, at three stages of roast. "The light roast gives it the sour, the medium gives it the full body and the sweet, and the dark roasting gives it that dark chocolate flavor. I wanted all the flavors, so I mix," Kim says. It's nontraditional, but it makes for a beautiful pull: a high-toned, piercing, slightly schizophrenic but very happy shot of espresso.
Kim makes excellent Italian-style drinks, but he can be talked into making a cappuccino in a style he learned in Japan: espresso with a little foam, a little raw sugar and a cinnamon stick. "It gives it the aroma of cinnamon but not the flavor," Kim says. This is very important to him. He hands you your cappuccino and demands that you stir it up vigorously with the cinnamon stick. "Faster! Faster!" Kim says. "Change the color! More brown! More!"
But for the most ludicrously fun experience of all, order a honey butter bread. This is a very large hunk of white bread, sliced into nine perfect cubes, every face toasted to a crusty golden brown, then re-assembled into a square and topped with a huge pile of fresh whipped cream. It's like some sort of Modern art, negative-space version of a Belgian waffle — obviously the work of a landscape architect set loose in the kitchen.
The result is somehow utterly refined and gleeful at once. It's like the most delicate cinnamon toast imaginable, eggy and spongy and crisp. You spear each cube with your fork, carefully roll it in whipped cream and, slowly, cube by perfect cube, demolish the whole thing. It will delight your inner child and your inner geometer at the same time.
The walls of the brand new, immaculate shop are clean white and dark brown wood — "the color of coffee," explains owner Kibum Sung. Sung is a former landscape architect who designed every element of the shop. "I wanted to make it warm, wanted people to walk in and smell the coffee and feel comfortable."
Sung is Korean-born and Japan-educated. Everything here bears Sung's very conscious design aesthetic, from the spare, careful arrangements of coffee paraphernalia on dark wooden shelves to the painstakingly ordered row of jars, showing coffee beans at each stage of roast. The kendo swords high on the shelves are Sung's too; he's a second-dan black belt. But then there's his food: his version of pretzels stuffed with the post-Western Asian-pop madness.
The best thing here might be the pretzel stuffed with sweet potato and cheese: crispy on the outside, utterly soft on the inside, strands of stretchy mozzarella folded around sweet, molten sweet potato puree. It's a deliriously joyous creation.
Sung hand-makes every pretzel to order, rolling it into a baroque arrangement of whorls and folds and curlicues, and bringing it to your table straight from the oven. Where else can you get a pretzel made with this level of devotion?
More adventurous palates should try Sung's favorite: a pretzel stuffed with red bean and cheese, the most lunatic of the stuffed pretzel fillings. The flavors barely cohere, but they make a weird sort of uneven magic, chunky bits of slightly sweetened Asian red bean clinging to strands of mozzarella. The experience is balanced right on the slightly bewildering, charming knife's edge between a sweet and a savory snack — an Asian dessert that wandered into a calzone.
Sung made up these combinations himself, based loosely on stuffed pretzels he'd seen in South Korea. "I have confidence in my pretzels," Sung says.
But for the coffee arts, he turns to Tommy Kim, head barista and master of the roast. Kim roasts all their beans in the large red Diedrich roaster right in front. Kim is also cheerful and completely coffee-obsessed, and he runs at high speed around the shop, chatting with customers about the details of their drink and his former life as an opera singer.
Kim makes the dripped coffee with light-roasted beans, for maximum varietal detail. But for the espresso, he uses his own peculiar mix: one bean varietal, at three stages of roast. "The light roast gives it the sour, the medium gives it the full body and the sweet, and the dark roasting gives it that dark chocolate flavor. I wanted all the flavors, so I mix," Kim says. It's nontraditional, but it makes for a beautiful pull: a high-toned, piercing, slightly schizophrenic but very happy shot of espresso.
Kim makes excellent Italian-style drinks, but he can be talked into making a cappuccino in a style he learned in Japan: espresso with a little foam, a little raw sugar and a cinnamon stick. "It gives it the aroma of cinnamon but not the flavor," Kim says. This is very important to him. He hands you your cappuccino and demands that you stir it up vigorously with the cinnamon stick. "Faster! Faster!" Kim says. "Change the color! More brown! More!"
But for the most ludicrously fun experience of all, order a honey butter bread. This is a very large hunk of white bread, sliced into nine perfect cubes, every face toasted to a crusty golden brown, then re-assembled into a square and topped with a huge pile of fresh whipped cream. It's like some sort of Modern art, negative-space version of a Belgian waffle — obviously the work of a landscape architect set loose in the kitchen.
The result is somehow utterly refined and gleeful at once. It's like the most delicate cinnamon toast imaginable, eggy and spongy and crisp. You spear each cube with your fork, carefully roll it in whipped cream and, slowly, cube by perfect cube, demolish the whole thing. It will delight your inner child and your inner geometer at the same time.
Whiz Kid: Caleb Summerhays
“I started doing magic when I was only 3 or 4,” said Danbury High School junior, Caleb Summerhays. “When I was around 7 years old, we went to New York City and my parents got me a magic kit from Toys R Us, and then we went to the Star Dust Diner. I remember figuring out how to open the box and there was nothing in it, then I did it again, and the object reappeared. I went from table to table showing people this trick.”
“He did a magic trick for the waitress, and before we knew it, she had him doing the trick in front of everyone,” said Holly Summerhays, Caleb's mother. “He has never been afraid to be on stage. He likes to play the piano, and he loves to entertain people, and make them happy.”
Caleb Summerhays has many talents. He is good at math, earns good grades and is in the National Honor Society. He also loves golf, which is something he and his father enjoy together. His father also has a soft spot for magic and according to Mrs. Summerhays, performing is a Summerhays specialty, and runs in the family.
Caleb appeared in the recent production of Urinetown and was also involved in a mock trial at Danbury High School. He is almost an Eagle Scout and can solve a Rubik's Cube in under a minute. Lest he have any spare time, Caleb can often be seen working in the school office, which he enjoys.
“I am also studying Chinese,” he said, “ and I love it. Speaking is easier than reading, because there are just so many characters.”
Caleb Summerhays has a lot going for himself, however, he confesses that magic is his passion, and he knows people who have put themselves through college with it. He has done some New Years Eve parties and kids birthday parties, and is always looking for more opportunities to perform his talent.
His expertise is close up, sleight of hand, but he also does stage magic for kids. Caleb Summerhays attended Pannen's Magic Camp, where many famous magicians, including David Copperfield, learned their craft. Caleb Summerhays is a member of the American Society of Young Magicians.
“His dad has a lot of family in the performing arts, so it's in his blood,” said Holly Summerhays. “We support him in his passion. He goes to the classes and conventions, and it is something he and his dad do together.”
Lauren Miller, Danbury High School's main office secretary said, “Caleb has everything he needs to be a successful magician. He can turn anything into magic, and has the charm to go along with it.”
If you want to judge for yourself just how convincing a magician he is, check out our video, which leaves his subject literally scratching her head in wonder.
“He did a magic trick for the waitress, and before we knew it, she had him doing the trick in front of everyone,” said Holly Summerhays, Caleb's mother. “He has never been afraid to be on stage. He likes to play the piano, and he loves to entertain people, and make them happy.”
Caleb Summerhays has many talents. He is good at math, earns good grades and is in the National Honor Society. He also loves golf, which is something he and his father enjoy together. His father also has a soft spot for magic and according to Mrs. Summerhays, performing is a Summerhays specialty, and runs in the family.
Caleb appeared in the recent production of Urinetown and was also involved in a mock trial at Danbury High School. He is almost an Eagle Scout and can solve a Rubik's Cube in under a minute. Lest he have any spare time, Caleb can often be seen working in the school office, which he enjoys.
“I am also studying Chinese,” he said, “ and I love it. Speaking is easier than reading, because there are just so many characters.”
Caleb Summerhays has a lot going for himself, however, he confesses that magic is his passion, and he knows people who have put themselves through college with it. He has done some New Years Eve parties and kids birthday parties, and is always looking for more opportunities to perform his talent.
His expertise is close up, sleight of hand, but he also does stage magic for kids. Caleb Summerhays attended Pannen's Magic Camp, where many famous magicians, including David Copperfield, learned their craft. Caleb Summerhays is a member of the American Society of Young Magicians.
“His dad has a lot of family in the performing arts, so it's in his blood,” said Holly Summerhays. “We support him in his passion. He goes to the classes and conventions, and it is something he and his dad do together.”
Lauren Miller, Danbury High School's main office secretary said, “Caleb has everything he needs to be a successful magician. He can turn anything into magic, and has the charm to go along with it.”
If you want to judge for yourself just how convincing a magician he is, check out our video, which leaves his subject literally scratching her head in wonder.
2011年6月6日星期一
Juvenile, Mystikal to perform at Gathering of the Juggalos
In what may be Psychopathic Records' biggest budget infomercial yet, here's the latest 30-minute video for the annual Gathering of the Juggalos — a weekend-long music festival in August helmed by earnest magic fans and self-described "most hated band in the world," the Insane Clown Posse, in nowhere Illinois.
Joining the dozens of acts performing — from Juggalo favorites Psychopathic Rydas and Blaze Ya Dead Homie, as well as Vanilla Ice and M.C. Hammer — are New Orleans rappers Juvenile ("Don't miss his monstrous debut," says Vanilla Ice in the video, as his sci-fi alter-ego Vanilla Zerg — and I must warn I am absolutely not making any of this up) and Mystikal, a "real-ass Juggalo homie."
Nathan Rabin at the Onion's AV Club suffered through last year's Gathering, when reality TV's anthropomorphic lipgloss Tila Tequila endured bottles of urine and feces thrown at her. The essence of the Juggalo:
I had come to think, incorrectly as it turns out, of the Juggalos as an essentially harmless tribe, a group of misunderstood, heavily tattooed young people from what my girlfriend calls under-resourced neighborhoods who get together every year to smoke weed, drink cheap beer and cocktails of Faygo and grain alcohol, and live for four days and nights in an upside-down universe where Insane Clown Posse is the most popular band in the world.
So, sleeveless T- and gold chain-wearing sweaty white dudes and their "ninjas," camping out and experiencing "family luv" over a long weekend. (If you've seen the Saturday Night Live parodies, you get the idea.)
There's also actual music listened to by real human beings, like George Clinton, Tech N9ne, E40, Busta Rhymes, Ice Cube and Xzibit. And for some reason, "Juggalo favorite" Jimmie "J.J." Walker will be there.
Other highlights: "wrestler night", forgotten The Box regulars like Dope, Kottonmouth Kings and Saliva, karaoke parties, "endless flava" and a "candle-lit seminar" on ghost hunting, as well as "games run by real low-life carni scrubs who just want your cash" and "dangerous and terrifying helicopter rides with a presumably drunk pilot."
So, if that sounds like fun, head over here. Tickets are $175 — parking starts at $100, so.
Joining the dozens of acts performing — from Juggalo favorites Psychopathic Rydas and Blaze Ya Dead Homie, as well as Vanilla Ice and M.C. Hammer — are New Orleans rappers Juvenile ("Don't miss his monstrous debut," says Vanilla Ice in the video, as his sci-fi alter-ego Vanilla Zerg — and I must warn I am absolutely not making any of this up) and Mystikal, a "real-ass Juggalo homie."
Nathan Rabin at the Onion's AV Club suffered through last year's Gathering, when reality TV's anthropomorphic lipgloss Tila Tequila endured bottles of urine and feces thrown at her. The essence of the Juggalo:
I had come to think, incorrectly as it turns out, of the Juggalos as an essentially harmless tribe, a group of misunderstood, heavily tattooed young people from what my girlfriend calls under-resourced neighborhoods who get together every year to smoke weed, drink cheap beer and cocktails of Faygo and grain alcohol, and live for four days and nights in an upside-down universe where Insane Clown Posse is the most popular band in the world.
So, sleeveless T- and gold chain-wearing sweaty white dudes and their "ninjas," camping out and experiencing "family luv" over a long weekend. (If you've seen the Saturday Night Live parodies, you get the idea.)
There's also actual music listened to by real human beings, like George Clinton, Tech N9ne, E40, Busta Rhymes, Ice Cube and Xzibit. And for some reason, "Juggalo favorite" Jimmie "J.J." Walker will be there.
Other highlights: "wrestler night", forgotten The Box regulars like Dope, Kottonmouth Kings and Saliva, karaoke parties, "endless flava" and a "candle-lit seminar" on ghost hunting, as well as "games run by real low-life carni scrubs who just want your cash" and "dangerous and terrifying helicopter rides with a presumably drunk pilot."
So, if that sounds like fun, head over here. Tickets are $175 — parking starts at $100, so.
42 million displaced by natural disasters in 2010
About 42 million people were forced to flee their homes because of natural disasters around the world in 2010, more than double the number during the previous year, experts said Monday.
One reason for the increase in the figure could be climate change, and the international community should be doing more to contain it, the experts said.
The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre said the increase from 17 million displaced people in 2009 was mainly due to the impact of "mega-disasters" such as the massive floods in China and Pakistan and the earthquakes in Chile and Haiti.
It said more than 90 percent of the disaster displacements were caused by weather-related hazards such as floods and storms that were probably impacted by global warming, but it couldn't say to what extent.
"The intensity and frequency of extreme weather events is increasing, and this trend is only set to continue. With all probability, the number of those affected and displaced will rise as human-induced climate change comes into full force," said Elisabeth Rasmusson, the secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council.
The monitoring center and refugee council presented the report at an international conference about climate change and displacement in Oslo.
The number of people displaced last year -- about 42 million -- is roughly the size of Argentina's entire population, and the onslaught of natural disasters so far this year also has been grim.
The March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan left more than 10,000 people dead, some 17,500 missing and about a half-million homeless.
In the United States, tornadoes have wreaked havoc from Alabama to Massachusetts, while floods have inundated states from Montana to Louisiana. In the southwest Missouri city of Joplin, the U.S.'s deadliest tornado in six decades killed at least 141 people and destroyed more than 8,000 homes in a city of about 50,000 people.
Speaking at the Oslo conference, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres called the issue of climate-related displacement "the defining challenge of our times" and criticized the international community for lacking the political will to reduce to pace of climate change.
"There is increasing evidence to suggest that natural disasters are growing in frequency and intensity and that this is linked to the longer-term process of climate change," Guterres said.
Asia was the hardest hit region last year, with the largest number of displaced people seen in countries such as India, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Indonesia, China and Pakistan.
In China alone, more than 15 million people were forced to leave their homes following floods, while 11 million people were displaced in Pakistan, the report said. The large floods in India in 2009 also continued to force people to leave their homes in 2010.
"This report provides us with evidence of the extent and urgency of the problem that we cannot ignore. We must increase collaborative efforts to prevent displacement by natural disasters, and do a better job of protecting those displaced," Rasmusson said.
One reason for the increase in the figure could be climate change, and the international community should be doing more to contain it, the experts said.
The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre said the increase from 17 million displaced people in 2009 was mainly due to the impact of "mega-disasters" such as the massive floods in China and Pakistan and the earthquakes in Chile and Haiti.
It said more than 90 percent of the disaster displacements were caused by weather-related hazards such as floods and storms that were probably impacted by global warming, but it couldn't say to what extent.
"The intensity and frequency of extreme weather events is increasing, and this trend is only set to continue. With all probability, the number of those affected and displaced will rise as human-induced climate change comes into full force," said Elisabeth Rasmusson, the secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council.
The monitoring center and refugee council presented the report at an international conference about climate change and displacement in Oslo.
The number of people displaced last year -- about 42 million -- is roughly the size of Argentina's entire population, and the onslaught of natural disasters so far this year also has been grim.
The March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan left more than 10,000 people dead, some 17,500 missing and about a half-million homeless.
In the United States, tornadoes have wreaked havoc from Alabama to Massachusetts, while floods have inundated states from Montana to Louisiana. In the southwest Missouri city of Joplin, the U.S.'s deadliest tornado in six decades killed at least 141 people and destroyed more than 8,000 homes in a city of about 50,000 people.
Speaking at the Oslo conference, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres called the issue of climate-related displacement "the defining challenge of our times" and criticized the international community for lacking the political will to reduce to pace of climate change.
"There is increasing evidence to suggest that natural disasters are growing in frequency and intensity and that this is linked to the longer-term process of climate change," Guterres said.
Asia was the hardest hit region last year, with the largest number of displaced people seen in countries such as India, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Indonesia, China and Pakistan.
In China alone, more than 15 million people were forced to leave their homes following floods, while 11 million people were displaced in Pakistan, the report said. The large floods in India in 2009 also continued to force people to leave their homes in 2010.
"This report provides us with evidence of the extent and urgency of the problem that we cannot ignore. We must increase collaborative efforts to prevent displacement by natural disasters, and do a better job of protecting those displaced," Rasmusson said.
2011年6月1日星期三
Urban Magic Cube house in central Paris by Paul Katz Architecture
Small corner lots in a highly populated neighbourhood can be transformed into extraordinary residences. Just take a look at this next centrally situated Paris house: it rises in the middle of District 20 as proof of smart urban dwelling. The sustainable building rests on a recycled stone base. The glass and wood used in creating a contemporary facade for the Magic Cube offer a modern approach to architecture for small lots and it also beautifies the neighbourhood. Reflecting the surrounding nature, the wooden panels used for the facade soften the cold feeling given by the extensive use of glass. A glass lining between the base and the body of the structure creates the impression of a floating building. Low energy costs, solar panels, under-floor heating, sewage treatment and recyclable materials used in constructing the house expose the sustainable measures taken for this residence.
High-tech features ensure a modern lifestyle: remote controlled central heating, fingerprint key reader at the entrance, motion sensor controlled lighting and automatic awnings that close to offer the perfect amount of light complete this residence’s contemporary features. Designed by Paul Katz Architecture, the Magic Cube house expresses the idea of luxurious urban living in a personalized house in the heart of Paris.
High-tech features ensure a modern lifestyle: remote controlled central heating, fingerprint key reader at the entrance, motion sensor controlled lighting and automatic awnings that close to offer the perfect amount of light complete this residence’s contemporary features. Designed by Paul Katz Architecture, the Magic Cube house expresses the idea of luxurious urban living in a personalized house in the heart of Paris.
Brian Butler’s Magick Act
For the Los Angeles artist Brian Butler, magic (or “magick,” as the case may be) is as modern as technology. Certain teachings may be ancient, he notes, but that doesn’t make them any less relevant. “In the modern world of computers, the same energies are still operating,” he says.
Butler was premiering his film, “The Dove and the Serpent,” at the LAXART Annex in Hollywood, and a gritty, glamorous crowd had gathered to watch a live musical performance featuring the legendary underground filmmaker Kenneth Anger. Initially drawn together by a shared interest in Aleister Crowley and the occult, Butler and Anger have worked together for more than a decade, Butler producing Anger’s last few films and acting as creative director of the trippy short he made for Missoni’s fall 2010 campaign. Anger appears with Vincent Gallo in Butler’s film “Night of Pan,” (trailer) and the two also formed the band Technicolor Skull. On Wednesday night the spry 84-year-old Anger accompanied his guitar-playing protégé, teasing ferocious sounds from his theremin as Butler’s film screened behind them. (And no, the man in the black hooded robe wasn’t Anger; the auteur was wearing a purple T-shirt emblazoned with a prismatic skull, orange pants and a matching baseball cap.)
A still from Butler’s new film, “The Dove and the Serpent.”
Part of “Images and Oracles,” Butler’s first solo exhibition, “The Dove and the Serpent” is a meditation on alchemy; the title references the Hermetic principle “as above, so below.” Filmed at a castle in Normandy, France, with some friends he rounded up during Paris fashion week last fall, including Dash Snow’s sister Caroline and the cinematographer Edouard Plongeon, whose family provided the locale, the two-and-a-half minute piece is beautiful, hypnotic and vaguely sinister. Shadowy figures shape-shift and meld with the elements, occult symbols flash and fade, and there is some covetable fashion on display, including a Masonic robe and an ivory silk gown by the London designer Qasimi.
The film screens on a loop in the gallery, projected between four cubes covered in alchemical symbols and standing on pillars. “People often think of a goat’s head or these pagan ideas, but these are cubes,” Butler says. “I felt like it was an interesting way to blend these arcane teachings with a modernist setting.” He compares the forms, two black and two white, to “machines or maps of the astral world,” adding that they can “get rather complex, like a Rubik’s Cube. Once you turn it, it can be difficult to get back to where you were.”
Butler was premiering his film, “The Dove and the Serpent,” at the LAXART Annex in Hollywood, and a gritty, glamorous crowd had gathered to watch a live musical performance featuring the legendary underground filmmaker Kenneth Anger. Initially drawn together by a shared interest in Aleister Crowley and the occult, Butler and Anger have worked together for more than a decade, Butler producing Anger’s last few films and acting as creative director of the trippy short he made for Missoni’s fall 2010 campaign. Anger appears with Vincent Gallo in Butler’s film “Night of Pan,” (trailer) and the two also formed the band Technicolor Skull. On Wednesday night the spry 84-year-old Anger accompanied his guitar-playing protégé, teasing ferocious sounds from his theremin as Butler’s film screened behind them. (And no, the man in the black hooded robe wasn’t Anger; the auteur was wearing a purple T-shirt emblazoned with a prismatic skull, orange pants and a matching baseball cap.)
A still from Butler’s new film, “The Dove and the Serpent.”
Part of “Images and Oracles,” Butler’s first solo exhibition, “The Dove and the Serpent” is a meditation on alchemy; the title references the Hermetic principle “as above, so below.” Filmed at a castle in Normandy, France, with some friends he rounded up during Paris fashion week last fall, including Dash Snow’s sister Caroline and the cinematographer Edouard Plongeon, whose family provided the locale, the two-and-a-half minute piece is beautiful, hypnotic and vaguely sinister. Shadowy figures shape-shift and meld with the elements, occult symbols flash and fade, and there is some covetable fashion on display, including a Masonic robe and an ivory silk gown by the London designer Qasimi.
The film screens on a loop in the gallery, projected between four cubes covered in alchemical symbols and standing on pillars. “People often think of a goat’s head or these pagan ideas, but these are cubes,” Butler says. “I felt like it was an interesting way to blend these arcane teachings with a modernist setting.” He compares the forms, two black and two white, to “machines or maps of the astral world,” adding that they can “get rather complex, like a Rubik’s Cube. Once you turn it, it can be difficult to get back to where you were.”
订阅：
博文 (Atom)