What I Learned About Patti Smith Today

Patti Smith performed live today in Studio 1A at KUTX where I volunteered signing people in and welcoming them with their enthusiasm and mine!!  She entered the studio with a somber and pensive face.  And I waited outside for 10 minutes in case of latecomers.  And then I entered the sound booth to observe which is the best part of volunteering at KUTX.  Patti Smith has an extraordinary voice and plays a mean guitar.  She smiles a lot when talking to the audience and is very very optimistic about life and people.  When describing an encounter with the new Pope she discusses his spirituality, his goodness and her positive reaction.  She NEVER mentions the church's views on homosexuality or abortion or family planning.  She responds to the goodness in people.  She is a disciplined writer who writes every morning for 2 hours while she drinks coffee in a cafe.  She loves a laugh from her audience.  She wrote a song to Amy Winehouse which stuck me in my gut and she thanked Amy.  She thanked Richie Havens after she sang a song to him.  And she reminded me of everything in the 70's that was in my journey to become this 64 y.o. lady, a bit younger than her 66 years.  Oh yes.  Patti Smith and I are in our 60's and still kickin' and livin' a life.  Wrinkles and all.

'IN THE FAMILY'/Austin Film Society

Last night AFS brought us a remarkable film written and directed by Patrick Wang ( who also plays the main character).  Originally from Texas, now a New Yorker, he writes a film set in Tennessee.  A refreshing film about family (in this case two men and  a 6 y.o. boy), loss, friendship, and the importance of "talking about things."  Joey Williams, the  surviving Dad, is a most unusual and refreshing character.  He meets his challenges naturally by thinking, coming up with alternative solutions and most importantly "listening."  Various women and ultimately a retired aging lawyer help him in his fight to regain custody of his son.  He is given an opportunity to "talk about things" and in a beautiful monologue he is encouraged to tell all of the people at a deposition of this custody case what he is willing to give up to get what he wants. (Not really a custody case because he never adopted Chip). This monologue is just beautiful and it is a pleasure to meet Joey Williams.  At the Q&A Mr. Wang mentioned that this film is very popular with teenage girls.  Of course!  Who wouldn't want to meet a Joey Williams when you're surrounded by teenage boys?  You can still see this film tonight at the Marchesa Hall. 

TELLING:AUSTIN,TX @Mexican American Cultural Center

This performance piece written by Jonathan Wei and produced by the Creative Writing Department at ACC with The Telling Project is well performed, intelligent and emotionally powerful.  Eight Austin military vets and some family members stage the telling of their stories.  I knew one of the actors personally, and knew that when she decided to join the Army in between her Jr. and Sr. year of college in order to handle student debt, she had an incident where she was treated terribly by a  professor.  He closed the door on her when she came to say good-bye dressed in uniform.  I heard about that on NPR when she wrote a poem about the incident.  I always remembered that and wanted to honor her service.  And last night was a perfect opportunity.  All of the performers are articulate, literary and very connected to the impact the military has had on their inner worlds and how they've handled their challenges.  Some of the stories of rape and sexual abuse will enrage you and might make you cry.  I left feeling I was in the presence of survivors who were not afraid to share their struggles.  We have no idea the enormous sacrifice made by people who enlist in the armed forces.  There are 3 more performances May 2-May 4.  Don't miss this.  It will enhance your understanding of what happens to our soldiers.

'MUD'

Jeff Nichols has created a fine film here.  Character driven, beautifully shot and very well acted.  A journey that two young boys on a river take and along the way learn a great deal about themselves and life.  And to think one can watch a film about young people who don't have computer access.  How refreshing. 

Cine Las Americas closes tonight with '7 Cajas'

The last two days I have seen films that are so out of the ordinary and enjoyable.  Yesterday was 'Sosua.'  Liz Swados (the brilliant choreographer/playwright of RUNAWAYS) takes a group of Dominican  and Jewish teens and produces a theatrical piece about  the history of 800 German Jews being saved by the D.R. dictator Trujillo from Hitler's Germany.  The teens live in this culturally divided community in Washington Heights and come together at the YM-YWHA but don't interact much.  Liz helps form these kids into a community and they produce a heartfelt self written musical theater piece about  two cultures meeting, relating, helping and becoming strengthened by their co-existence.
Then 'Colegas' the most unusual film I have ever seen.  Three young adults with  Down Syndrome live in an institution in Brazil and work in the video library.  They steal a car and go off on a journey of a lifetime imitating the movies they have come to love.  They are stick-up guys and a gal; experience being circus performers, marry, have sex, dance, get drunk, and fly.  This is such an unusual and happy film with such comfortable performances by the three main actors.
Tonight I had the good fortune to watch the final film '7 Cajas' with UT RTF soon to graduate Malina Panovich, a filmmaker whose Route 22 was a short in this festival.  We both loved this film made in Paraguay. This is an action thriller that had the audience hooked.  Cinematography, music,and story had the audience applauding for ages at the end.  A 17 y.o. wheelbarrow driver  is asked to deliver 7 boxes to an unknown destination and his desire for a cellphone costing $100 takes him on an adventure that is packed with  humor, close calls, violence, a girl who loves him and life threatening escapades.  A great way to end this wonderful film festival.

Cine Las Americas/Austin's BEST Film Festival

Sorry, but I attend all of the film festivals in Austin and this is by far the best. It's so viewer friendly and the selection of films is so intelligent.  During the day all of the films at the Mexican American Cultural Center are free and MACC provides a parking pass.  Today I saw 'La Montana' an exhilirating documentary about three natives of the Dominican Republic who climb Mt. Everest.  This is  paralleled with 3 young boys (friends and surfers) hiking three miles to the tallest summit in the Dominican Republic inspired by the Mt. Everest climbers.  The Q&A with the filmmaker was informative, intelligent, and so inspiring.  The audience just loved this film.
This evening at the STATE I saw a remarkable documentary about Javier Bardem's personal struggle for the people of West Sahara who have been living in a camp of tents colonized by Morocco for 35 years!  Their struggle for their human rights has been thwarted by the U.N., USA and France until now.  This film has really brought about change for these nomadic people who have lost their homes, their lifestyles, their family members.  The Q&A was once again intelligent and informative.  No doubt in my mind that this festival is the best in town!  The subjects, the presentation, the ease to get into films and the intelligent audiences makes this my favorite film festival in Austin!

Cine Las Americas/Mexican American Cultural Center

The first feature documentary at MACC today combined both film festival and art festival, my two great loves.  'Calle Del Arte' is a documentary about the German based artist Clamencia Labin who returns to her native village Marcaibo, Venezuela annually where she stages a huge international art festival using  people's homes.  This tiny village which was once considered extremely dangerous houses an annual festival visited by 20,000 people.  And the villagers love it.  Even the very fussy lady who doesn't want nails in her walls (she is a hoot).  The artists are German, the villagers are Latino, and everyone benefits!
'Adios Padrecitos' is considered a short, but it's way too long to be considered that.  The subject matter is very engrossing...a group of priests who have helped Ecuadorian indigenous people to stand up to the mighty oil  Texaco company and wage a law suit are invited by the vatican to leave.  They don't listen and one father stages a hunger strike.  The subject matter was terrific, the editing needs much improvement.  All of the films at MACC are free and I was given a parking pass for the next three days!
Went to El Naranjo, had a glass of delicious Spanish wine, played with a huge Great Dane, and made it home to a house without Abe.

Unfathomable Grief X 2

Newtown was my first "Unfathomable Grief" post and now I'm back again.  My family lived through 9/11 in NYC.  Abe was in Harlem, Josh was in The Bronx at Bronx High School of Science, and Liz was in her new H.S. in Brooklyn named for Edward R. Murrow and I was in a hospital in downtown Brooklyn watching planes go into buildings across the harbor.  I am speechless today.  I have spent the day trying to do good deeds for everyone I have contact with.  Finding jobs, supporting projects, being thankful for Austin figures who have made our transition easier.  But today I am happy I am an older person.  Because I cannot bear to hear more of loss of life, limbs, and the possibilities of evil that innocent people can be victim to.  I cannot bear a lifetime of this violence.  I am happy I am 64.

'The Place Beyond the Pines'/Violet Crown

This is surely one of the most painful films I have ever seen.  It's a lengthy and complex  discussion of generations of relationships between fathers and sons.  None of the characters are simplistically developed, they all have elements of good/bad (except for the adolescent son played by Emory Cohen---he's pure "dick.") Derek Cinanfrance has done something unusual, creative and important here.  He's made a film about families, their men, the women who love and leave  them without resorting to the current trendiness of what's marketable. It was compelling to see young people in their real and painful lives in high school having real conversations with each other, their families, without the antics played over and over again in current cinema and television.  In some ways it reminded me of how I felt about 'The Deer Hunter' when I saw it a thousand years ago.  A different screenplay about real lives.  The setting in Schenectady, New York helps with the truthfulness.  For sure the performances are wonderful and I frequently was at the edge of my seat.  See this movie, not to be entertained, but to be drawn into the truthfulness of the human condition.  This film left me sad, thinking, and grateful for the father/son relationship in my own world.

Art City Austin

I cannot say enough good things about the amazing arts and crafts today we encountered at this arts festival.  And of course we love supporting artists and crafts people and talking to them about their visions so we purchased two new pieces for our round walls. Now  if I could only get Verizon to upgrade my phone to take photos we'd have been set and I'd post.  Back to my Canon film camera....Verizon you blew it!

John E. Dee and Chicken Marsala

My favorite KUTX program is Friday night with John E. Dee.  The music is back in the day soul and I know the sounds and I cook and drink wine having myself a hell of a good time.  So when the first born son asks "chicken marsala tonight?"  I am on it.  He's been traveling around the country pitching transportation sharing throughout the midwest and coastlines as well..so meeting his request is a no brainer for this Jewish mother.  So here's the recipe.  It comes from a really old edition of "The Not Quite Vegetarian Cookbook."  It is vintage!
 4 boneless chicken breasts
2 green or red bell peppers sliced
1/2 lb fresh mushrooms (I omit)
3 garlic cloves pressed
1 lemon
1 Tbsp parsley
1/4 tsp basil
1/2 cup tamari
3/4 cup marsala wine
1/2 cup flour
oil
Cut chicken into small pieces. Squeeze lemon over chicken. Shake flour mixture over chicken.  Brown on both sides.  Remove. Add garlic, onion,peppers,mushrooms, parsley and basil.  Saute 5 mins.  Add chicken, tamari, and wine.  Simmer 20 minutes.  I serve with whole wheat pasta except when first born son is here.  He gets white linguine.  Bon appetit!

4 Years in Austin

April 9, 2009 was the first time in my life I didn't sit down at a seder table to celebrate Passover.  Instead, Abe and I  sold our loft early in the day and went to our closing with lawyers, brokers, agents, new buyers.  There were 10 of us in the room.  Afterwards we walked the hood, said goodbye to store owners, neighbors, and then our neighbor drove us to JFK where I used our new lap top for the first time. Abe was silent and looked worried. We arrived in Austin and slept at the Garden Hilton.  The next morning we were picked up by our RE agent and met with a broker in an office and signed off on our new home.  There were 4 of us in the room (already Texas was telling me "I'm From Texas, Screw You.") We couldn't get into our new home because no one left keys for us.  Our RE agent called another agent and he had the garage code to let us in.  Someone finally brought us keys.  It poured the next day after we slept on the floor.  A Time Warner guy came out to set us up with cable and phone lines and told us our new home was going to explode because the gas was connected to the electricity.  After Abe had a semi heart attack we learned he was mistaken.  He has since apologized (I'm certain he's strung out.)  It was a rough beginning.  Abe's adjustment was rocky, rocky, rocky and I was in heaven.  Yep, a Woody Allen script here.  It's my blog so I can say it's been a great ride and I am so happy we're here.  Our lives are filled with a new culture, beautiful art, a garden that brings us enormous gratification, Foundation Communities, UT RTF, Cohen New Works Festival, AFS, AFF, SXSW, Paramount, Stateside, Polvo's, Roaring Fork, The Blanton, The Long Center, The Alamos, Laurel Vouvray's acting classes, tennis for Abe at the South Austin Rec Center, and most important Josh and Liz, our kids.  Home at last...far from home. 

Angelique Kidjo at the 2013 Wobeon Fest

A perfect evening to head down to this world music concert at Mexican American Cultural Center to see Angelique Kidjo, a Brooklyn neighbor and gym mate whom I haven't seen in 4 years.  Angelique as always was filled with energy, great African dance moves and oh that voice.  Everyone in the audience was upright and dancing and she had a crowd of twenty up on the stage dancing with her.  A real group of quintessential diverse Austinites.  I was over the moon thrilled when she pointed to me from the stage with recognition and when I reminded her "Brooklyn was in the house" she asked "why'd you leave me girl?"  This started off the audience calling out where they came from and Angelique responding with native languages and her global wisdom.  Oh what a night!

Ray Wylie Hubbard in Studio 1A/KUTX

When we first moved here from Brooklyn Ray Wylie Hubbard was one of the first sounds I heard on KUT.  He really spoke to me with 'Snake Farm' and 'Whoop and Hollar'.  Then we went to the Armadillo Crafts Fair where I heard him sing 'Mother Blues', introduce his son, a fine guitarist, and I was sold!  This guy is a poet and his words sink straight into the mind and heart of this Park Slope Brooklyn transplant.  So when Kim Cates, KUT Volunteer Coordinator sent out an email yesterday asking for 2 volunteers for the live Studio1A performance of Ray Wylie I was in heaven!  And fearful  for sure that someone else would get this opportunity.  I answered immediately and in 5 minutes I was told that I would be volunteering to sign people in and see the performance myself.
What can I say?  From the moment Ray Wylie entered the reception area he communicated warmth, happiness and when I opened the door for him he returned my  beaming smile with a good ol! smile.  I was speechless  (hard to imagine for those who know me.)  And when Kurt (my co-volunteer and wonderful to work with) and I entered the studio to sit down and listen we were in the midst of an extraordinary performance.  All of the audience was so happy to be there as we checked them in and Jay Trachtenberg asked the best questions and commented beautifully in that soft style of his.  He really knows how to talk to people.  I could go on and on and tell you what he played with his accompanying guitarist, but that's not needed here.  When the performance ended and he graciously took photos and shook hands I waited to let him know how much I admire him and I quoted a line from 'Mother Blues':  "On the days I keep my gratitude higher than my expectations, those are my good days."  Ray Wylie, you have brought me through some challenging moments with that thought, and for that I am eternally grateful.  Thank-you KUTX for this extraordinary opportunity.