WhatNao?

East Bay Movie Night Tribe

righnao — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 09:35:02 GMT

I got a tribe up. http://tribes.tribe.net/eastbaymovienight Sign up and stay informed.

"Don't Follow Leaders, Watch the Parkin' Meters" - Bob Dylan

righnao — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 20:52:42 GMT

So I guess it's sort of late to talk about new year's resolution, but here it is: no traffic or parking ticket for a year. So far so good. It seems whenever I'm doing good financially, The Man seems to know how to get it back from me. Last year, I think in total I paid about $500 worth of tickets. I could have bought an iPod and a pair of nice shoes or suits. I could have made a week trip to NY. Anyway, here's what Bob Dylan had to say in "Subterranean Homesick Blues." I remember my jazz teacher from college saying "You'll never truly understand Bob Dylan because you didn't live that era", but as older and wiser I get and as the world changes ever so quickly, his lyric started to make a lot more sense to me. ...... "Subterranean Homesick Blues" Johnny's in the basement Mixing up the medicine I'm on the pavement Thinking about the government The man in the trench coat Badge out, laid off Says he's got a bad cough Wants to get it paid off Look out kid It's somethin' you did God knows when But you're doin' it again You better duck down the alley way Lookin' for a new friend The man in the coon-skin cap In the big pen Wants eleven dollar bills You only got ten Maggie comes fleet foot Face full of black soot Talkin' that the heat put Plants in the bed but The phone's tapped anyway Maggie says that many say They must bust in early May Orders from the D. A. Look out kid Don't matter what you did Walk on your tip toes Don't try "No Doz" Better stay away from those That carry around a fire hose Keep a clean nose Watch the plain clothes You don't need a weather man To know which way the wind blows Get sick, get well Hang around a ink well Ring bell, hard to tell If anything is goin' to sell Try hard, get barred Get back, write braille Get jailed, jump bail Join the army, if you fail Look out kid You're gonna get hit But users, cheaters Six-time losers Hang around the theaters Girl by the whirlpool Lookin' for a new fool Don't follow leaders Watch the parkin' meters Ah get born, keep warm Short pants, romance, learn to dance Get dressed, get blessed Try to be a success Please her, please him, buy gifts Don't steal, don't lift Twenty years of schoolin' And they put you on the day shift Look out kid They keep it all hid Better jump down a manhole Light yourself a candle Don't wear sandals Try to avoid the scandals Don't wanna be a bum You better chew gum The pump don't work 'Cause the vandals took the handles

Review: SF Opera "Iphigenie en Tauride"

righnao — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 20:55:19 GMT

I just went to SF opera yesterday to see "Iphigenie en Tauride", and I must say never had that much of excitement from a opera. I wasn't expecting that from a piece by Gluck, but I was wrong. The music was beautifully performed by Susan Graham, and the production was pure genius. On the black box stage, all the characters wear black, and water and swords are the only prop. The minimalistic production design really carried out the psychological drama of the characters. Use of chalk on to the wall and floor, and the lighting that creates giant shadows on the back wall is very effectively used to accentuate the drama. Go see this production. It is one of the best you'll see. Nao

The trailer for my film, "The Birth of California Shamisen"

righnao — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 22:12:17 GMT

Finally, I got the trailer for my documentary film, "The Birth of California Shamisen" on my website, www.californiashamisenmovie.com This movie is about an American musician who plays a traditional Japanese instrument called Tsugaru Shamisen, and follows his life while creating new style of shamisen music as well as challenging tradition by being the first American to compete in Japan's National Tsugaru Shamsien Competition. The world premiere of "The Birth of California Shamisen" is April 27th at Santa Cruz Film Festival. Check out www.santacruzfilmfestival.com.

Trend Watch: Movie Posters

righnao — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 23:22:04 GMT

I'm sure many of you have noticed this trend, but there are too many movie posters that look a lot like, or uses the same style. The current trend is the strong back light, mostly gold beam behind the subject only leaving the silhouette of the character. So what is this mean? Is this something I didn't notice but happens every Christmas seasons? Or this could mean that more American audiences are drawn toward the "cowboy riding off to the sunset" type of heros. You know, the mysterious, strong, silent type that makes you want to scream, "come back!" Or this can simply means that the unknown shadowy hero represents something of the future. That is what public desires: a new hero. If I may stretch the argument to social psycho analysis, this trend can be the reflection of current state of American social skepticism against it's own government. The film viewing experience is very much like dreaming. You subject yourself to something you have no control over it. Often times, from movies people derive not only entertainment but self observation and reflection. In the analysis of one's dream, the shadow figures often represents aspects of yourself you reject. These posters attracts many, may be because the public has unconscious desire to confront the society's own demon. Well, OK, that was little too much of a stretch. I'm just simply practicing my imagination here. Some people might say, a trend is a trend. There's no reason in why certain color is "hot" this year, or type of TV show is popular, but I think there's reason for pretty much everything, and this movie poster trend should have some reasons behind it. Please leave a comment if you know what this trend signifies. Oh, by the way, please don't go see Apocalypto, or any Mel Gibson movie. It only supports his extreme idealism, the construction of his own church, purchasing of a tropical island and anti-semitism. Hey, don't say "come on, it's just a movie." That's a bull shit. Did you know Nazi produced a lot of movies. Would you like to spend your money on Nazi movies if you lived back then?

Cost of War: Updated

righnao — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 09:24:57 GMT

In response to the Indian Ocean tsunami of December 2004, I wrote a blog comparing the US government spending on the disaster and the war in Iraq. Today, two years later, nothing seemed have changed in Iraq except the number of deaths. So I have updated the comparison of the US spending on the war and the spending on Katrina and the word's health issues. As many of us continue to shop for the Christmas gifts, lets review and think how the US spend your tax money. But before the updated version, here's the one I wrote few years ago. minimum iraqi civilians death 15,339 http://www.antiwar.com/casualties/ cost of war: over $150,000,000,000 http://www.costofwar.com/ to kill one Iraqi civilian: $9,778,994 Confirmed Tsunami Deaths: 160,374 (Today's number of confirmed deaths is 230,000) Injured 125,000 Missing 164,479 Displaced 1,500,000 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Indian_Ocean_earthquake Aid from the United States Government: $350,000,000 US NGOs & Public raised: $653,000,000 Total aid from US: $1,003,000,000 Total aid around the world: over $7,330,000,000 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanitarian_response_to_the_2004_Indian_Ocean_earthquake to save one survivor of tsunami, US will spend: $668.67 ($233.34 from the government) to save one survivor of tsunami, the world will spend: $4886.67 (some might feel $4,886.67 is quite high for one survivor, but it includes, medical cost, fixing the water system, rebuilding of roads and other ways of transportations, etc.) And here's updates and the numbers on Katrina and other social and health issues. Cost of War minimum iraqui civilians death 50888 (Max 56387) The US government spending on the war $351Billion To kill one Iraqi, the US have spent $6,897,500 per death. Also, costed 2957 American Deaths since war began in 3/19/03 antiwar.com iraqbodycount.org/ nationalpriorities.org Hurricane Katrina FIMA Indeviduals and Household Assistant Program 1,713,963 Registrations $6,270,749,779 $3658 per person/household Deaths 1836, Missing 705 Congress authorized total of $62.3 Billion in aid for victims. (It is unclear how exactly this money was spent, but includes reconstruction of the cities, food, etc.) http://www.fema.gov Social and Health Issues Homelessness US possibly up to 3 million people. 13 million American children live in families with incomes below the federal poverty level. www.nccp.org AIDS/HIV In 2005 alone, AIDS claimed an estimated 2.4–3.3 million lives, of which more than 570,000 were children. 38.6 million people now living with the disease worldwide. Estimated spending for HIV/AIDS prevention, care and support in low- and middle-income countries, public and private sources, 2006 $8.9 billion Estimated dollars needed to address HIV/AIDS prevention, care and support in low and middle-income countries $15 billion in 2006, $22 billion in 2008 http://www.globalhealthreporting.org Malaria It infects between 300 and 500 million people every year and causes between one and three million deaths annually, mostly among young children in Sub-Saharan Africa. Economic adviser Jeffrey Sachs estimates that malaria can be controlled for US$3 billion in aid per year. wikipedia.org With $351 billion dollar the US spent for the war, Katrina victims and family will receive $204,788 Each children who live under poverty will receive $27,000 We can address HIV/AIDS prevention, care and support for the entire world for next 16 to 23 years. We can control Malaria for next 117 years. I understand some people may consider these comparisons to be unreasonable, but I think by doing so, it shows the heinousness of this war. The war in Iraq is not just the political issues that needed to be discussed by the few elected officials. This issue is discussed between you, your friend, classmates, coworker, and your family members. But with all cynicism aside, I wish you and the world for a merry Christmas, and a happy New Year. Dec. 22 2006

East Bay Warehouse Movie Night

righnao — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 01:25:57 GMT

I have been hosting Movie Nights every other week and I want to let people in this Tribe to know about this. I live in a warehouse in Oakland, and luckily we have a large wall where I project movies. Past films include; Shuji Terayama's "Pastoral: To Die in Country", "Emperor Tomato Ketchup", & "Grass Labyrinth" Alejandro Jodorowsky's "El Topo" and "The Holy Mountain" Lotte Reiniger's "The Adventures of Prince Achmed" Ken Russell's "Salome's Last Dance" Guy Maddin's "Cowards Bend The Knee", "Tales from Gimli Hospital" and "Heart of the World" Jan Svankmajer's "Little Otik", "Faust" and "Lunacy" David Cronenberg's "Videodrome" Shinya Tsukamoto's "Tetsuo: The Iron Man" Trey Parker's "Cannibal: The Musical" Vera Chytilová's "Daisies" Ricky Lau's Chinese vampire zombie flick, "Mr. Vampire" Paul Verhoeven's "Starship Troopers" Claude Nuridsany and Marie Pérennou's "Microcosmos" with live improvised music Stephen Sayadian's 80's post apocalypse surreal porn "Café Flesh" Shunya Ito's "Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion" Fellini's "Satyricon" Andrei Tarkovsky's "The Mirror" Henri-Georges Clouzot's "Le Mystere Picasso" with live music by Outhead Philippine's 3 feet James Bond film "For Y'ur Hight Only" Estradasphere's Live DVD "Palace of Mirrors" Outdoor movie night with Michael Jackson's "Moonwalker" Roy Anderson's "Songs From the Second Floor" René Laloux's "Fantastic Planet" Jean-Luc Godard "Weekend" 1978 CBS Holiday Season Special Disaster, "Star Wars Holiday Special" Warner Herzog's "Even Dwarfs Started Small" Richard Elfman's "Forbidden Zone" Sun Ra's "Space is the Place" Frank Zappa's "200 Motels" Cory McAbee's "The American Astronaut" Also we had two short film nights, which featured surreal/avant-gard films by Luis Bunuel, Man Ray, Marcel Duchamp, René Clair, Fernand Léger, Germain Dulac, Maya Deren, David Lynch, Kenneth Anger, Svankmajer, Maddin, Stan Barakage, Norman McLaren, Harry Smith and The Brothers Quay. In few occasions, We viewed silent experimental films with live improvised music. If you are interested in similar movies like these, you are welcome to join us for popcorn and beer. Send me a message for more detail. Nao

"The Birth of Californai Shamisen"

righnao — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 00:57:19 GMT

Finally after two and a half years, my first feature documentary film "The Birth of California Shamisen" is done. Although there are few more audio editing to do, I have been sending the film to the festivals around the US. The website, www.californiashamisenmovie.com is up and running. Here is a synopsis of the film. Near the end of the 19th century, the blind street performer Nitabo created some of the most important music in Japanese history using a traditional three stringed lute called the shamisen. His musical style was known as Tsugaru Shamisen and was passed on through generations along with Nitabo's teaching "play your own style." Over 100 years later, in 2003, the American musician Kevin Masaya Kmetz picked up a Tsugaru Shamisen. Since then, he has devoted his life to the mastering of this instrument and the music of Tsugaru, while at the same time incorporating ancient and modern music from around the world to create a wholly new and innovative sound. This documentary film, The Birth of California Shamisen, follows Kevin's journey to Japan where he studied Tsugaru Shamisen, then back to California where his collaborations with various musicians would eventually lead to the creation of his new musical style: California Shamisen. Kevin's unique approach to music and his wicked sense of humor permeates throughout the film, yet his main focus is clear: return to Japan and win the National Tsugaru Shamisen Competition!

World Cup and Media Politics

righnao — Sat, 24 Jun 2006 21:03:57 GMT

Right now, I'm watching the World Cup, Argentina VS Mexico. I'm watching it on Univision. ABC Network has the broadcasting right, but they are airing it on ESPN. While the world watches and celebrate this wonderful and exciting event, American media decides that they will not air most of the games on the major network channels but on the cable. Some may think it is because of the lack of commercial time. As for the rest of the world, they have adds on the corner of the screen during the game which is quite effective advertisement. Whenever the beer company has a little logo on the corner of the screen, I tend to grab a bottle for myself. Also, they can charge more for the half-time commercial. Some blame on unpopularity of soccer in the US. Which I think is not true. There are many Americans who enjoy watching good game of soccer. Wouldn't all the soccer mom and dad want their kids to see these games? Also, since the networks do not offer the choices, how can anybody say the American people do not like watching soccer. It is true most people would rather watch American football or baseball, but I can bet if there are more soccer games on TV, people will watch it. I think there is a space for one more sports in American media. So the reason for not airing World Cup on ABC must be something else. The score between Argentina VS Mexico is right now 1-1. It is very exciting game. As I root for Mexico, our neighbor and friend from south of the border, I cannot help to wonder about ABC's reasoning to air PGA golf instead. While the Bush administration trying to pass tougher immigration law, American people cheering for Mexico is something they might not feel comfortable. They might thought by not airing the game, it will help to keep anti-immigrant sentiment high. Also, for past two weeks, ABC aired soap opera and stupid morning show "the View". Even when the US was playing the first round, we did not see them on ABC. Perhaps US government cannot tolerate American people to see the third world countries beating US team especially in time of war. Maybe ABC got a note from Mr. President... It is said that the World Cup is most watched event in the world, more than the Olympics. American media did air Olympic games because America dominated in many games and they earned more medals than any other countries in the world. Meanwhile, the US soccer team finished last in their group on first round with no win against Italy, Ghana, and Czech. As a whole world criticize US position on the war, America is ever more isolated from rest of the world. My reasoning may just be a conspiracy, but I think the network (the government) want to keep America isolated from the rest of the world. US do not want their people to feel united with the rest of the world. They do not want you to see middle eastern team and western team playing on the equal ground. They do not want you to see players from both country respecting one another and exchanging the shirts at the end of the game. Isolation is a form of control and it is important for this administration to keep Americans ignorant from what is going on in the world, even if it is just a friendly game of soccer. The game is still tie in 1-1. I do not understand Spanish, but I enjoy watching the game on Univision. The announcer is much more enthusiastic and exciting to listen to than American sports announcers. What good is the soccer game if you don't hear, "Goooooooaaaaaaaaal!!!"

Birth of California Shamisen Update

righnao — Fri, 16 Jun 2006 07:46:31 GMT

So, my documentary film, "Birth of California Shamisen" is slowly but surely getting close to done. I have been self-producing a documentary film about half Japanese American musician, Kevin Kmetz, who is studying a Japanese instrument called Tsugaru Shamisen. The documentary film depicts his inspiring musical activities (rehearsing and performing with several bands: Estradaspher, Fishtank Ensemble, and God of Shamisen) and his attempt to be firs American to compete and win at Japan's National Tsugaru Shamisen Competition. Now, I'm almost done with rough cut. I have to finish writing narration and I have to record it. I'm a bad writer so it's a painfully slow process, but it'll be done. Also, Kevin is working on a theme music for the film. After that, I'm planning on having a private screening to get some feedbacks. Also, I got to get the website going. Hopefully, I will get that up in next few months. So that's where I"m at with the project. Meanwhile, I have to finish up DVD for Fishtank Ensemble.

Youtube

righnao — Fri, 16 Jun 2006 07:31:48 GMT

I got the Youtube account set up. Visit, http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=whatnao

The Devil's Sonata

righnao — Mon, 29 May 2006 08:05:06 GMT

Yesterday, I went to Berkeley Public Library and got a recording of Tartini's violin sonata, "The Devil's Sonata". It's a beautiful piece. I assumed the name came from the use of dissonant harmony which was unusual for Baroque period, extreme difficulty, and unique trills, but apparently, Tartini had a dream about a devil playing a tune. Here's what Tartini wrote in his letter to a friend: "One night I dreamt that I had made a pact with the devil: he was my servant, and anticipated my every wish... I found myself handing him my violin to see if he might manage some pretty tunes; but imagine my astonishment when I heard a sonata so unusual and so beautiful, performed with such mastery and intelligence, on a level I had never before conceived was possible! I was so overcome that I stopped breathing and awoke gasping. Immediately I seized my violin, hoping to recall some shred of what I had just heard - but in vain. The piece I then composed is without doubt my best, and I still call it The Devil's Sonata, but it falls so far short of the one that stunned me that I would have smashed my violin and given up music forever if I could but possess it."