Posts from — December 2008

This collage really represents me. It contains things that symbolizes my ideals and things that I feel are important. Some of the things that I decided to include were family, food and fashion. Although I do not consider my family to be “stereotypical” or “traditional” we do hold traditional values in very high regard. In addition to this we are very tight knit and we would sacrifice anything for family. Next is food. Food is something that links all of us. It is an important part of my family and I feel that the best way to connect to another culture is through their food. Other things that were important for me to include were a representation of travel, my interest in equestrian sports, and New York. Lastly I would like to mention the words that I included on my collage. “Bold” is meant to represent me. I like to think that I make bold decisions and I try to steer away from being a conformist. I like to be bold with my assertions and with my choices. “Empowered” represents many things for me. First, Baruch is empowering me to a better future. Next, it also represents my family’s attitude towards me. They never pressure me to do anything or be anything that I don’t want to be. I know many stereotypes about Asian parents pressuring their children to be doctors and lawyers, but I never received such pressure which I am grateful for. I think that this has empowered me to make my own decisions. Lastly, “Lady” is a word that represents manners and rules that I think all people, not just ladies, should follow. To be courteous to others. To be respectful of other people’s thoughts and opinions. To be humble and to realize that not everyone will think that you are the most amazing person to grace the earth (no matter what your mother tells you). FInally, always be yourself no matter what people think of you; it is impossible to please everyone and some people are just born miserable so don’t take it personal if they don’t like you.

A war veteran smiled about her patriotism while paralyzed from losing her limbs, another war veteran traumatized by the killing of innocence, and another left in agony from losing his older brother during the war. I was among the many who watched the play In Conflict and was deeply touched by the ruthlessness of war. Opened at the Barrow street theatre, In conflict, was a series of interviews of war veterans expressing their views on war and their adjustments after exiting the war. Adapted from the book by Yvonne Latty, In conflict captured its audience with ambivalent feeling of bitterness and appreciation for soldiers whose life were in turmoil after the war. [Read more →]

Struggling to concentrate on the tedious, lengthy aria, I lost my focus. Brightness of the stage diminished; soon I won’t be able to see the stage anymore as I began to close my eyes only to hear the soprano vibrating in my ear. This is not what I expected of Dr. Atomic, which opened at the Metropolitan Opera on Oct. 06, 2008. Directed by Penny Woolcock, Dr. Atomic failed to capture its young audiences as well as the majority of wealthy people who left the opera during the intermission. Even the last fifteen minutes of anticipation ended in a single flash of light that has no resemblance to the devastation of the atomic bomb. [Read more →]

An eccentric yet animated documentary, Waltz with Bashir took the audience into a surreal world of fear, confusion, and internal struggle. Directed by Ari Folman, Waltz with Bashir won six Israeli Academy Awards for its innovative style of reinventing a piece of Israeli history that claimed more than 3,000 defenseless Palestinian refugees. Waltz with Bashir took me off-guard, and soon during the film, I found myself paralyzed with the bizarreness of the massacre and the insanity of war itself.

“It could only be done by animation,” the director answered in a frank manner during the talk. If the film were a live interview of seven men, it wouldn’t have been possible. The animation format integrated the dream sequence of the vicious dogs and the emergence of men from the water with the overall theme of guilt and helplessness for the veterans from the 1982 Lebanon war. Veterans, similar to Ari Folman, found themselves unable to cope with the psychological distress, for they knew nothing about what had happened to them during the war. As memories were told from one to another, one usually found memories evolve overtime. In the end, the memories might not be what had exactly happened but what one wanted the memories to be. [Read more →]

This bronze and gold figure from around 1300 B.C., came from a shipwreck.

New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art is the sole spot for Beyond Babylon exhibition. Some 300 artifacts from royal palaces, temples, tombs, and even shipwrecks were recovered and brought out for us to see. These objects provide insight into the movements of people, artworks and luxury goods across the ancient Near East and Mediterranean during the Middle and Late Bronze Ages (2000-1200 B.C.). At the MET, these adventures begin in Babylon, the melting pot city made powerful by Hammurabi in the second millennium B.C. Because many of these works have either only recently been excavated or have never been shown abroad, “Beyond Babylon” is a remarkable opportunity for the public to experience the rich artistic and cultural traditions of this period. [Read more →]

This exhibition was like walking into a time machine. It was an amazing display of various pieces as varied as any collection could be. The pieces ranged from golden daggers to vessels found from the ancient wreckage of a sunken ship. It is not often that you get to be surrounded by pieces that are from the 18th Century B.C. Each and every piece was so unique and unlike anything that I had ever seen. The pieces came from the ancient Assyrians, Mesopotamians and other cultures that no longer exists, except through their relics. [Read more →]

I never finish reading Reading like a writer, by Francine Prose. Even with all the accolades her books have received throughout her career, I took her novel lightly. It was one of those books that I would keep in my aged shelf under the dust, but I knew it would enhance my writing style and be an inspirational source of writing. But after attending “A Reading and Conversation with Francine Prose”, I found myself absorbed into the content of the book. “I want to be like Francine Prose,” I thought to myself while reading the book on the ride home. The event not only changed my perception of Francine Prose but also my understanding of good writing. [Read more →]

The Urban Bush Women dance at the Brooklyn Academy of Music was a unique and interesting interpretation of a traditional dance performance. The show combined traditional African dance with modern technique and contemporary themes. The themes however, were not portrayed that clearly and while the dance was superb and quite intricate and impressive the story line was not. [Read more →]

I’m always excited for dance performances.  They inspire me, send shivers down my spine and keep me stick straight in anticipation of what comes next.  That is unless they’re bad.  Then I get monumentally disappointed and feel ass though the life was drained out of me during the performance.  I went into the Bush Women performance kind of wary, trying not to get my hopes up too high and because of my fellow students doubt was permeating my usual enthusiasm.  As the performance started I was intrigued but nothing glued my eyes to the stage.  There was a lack of coherence, that new age “dance to the music you feel, not what you hear” style throwing me off. [Read more →]

Samuel Freedman, waking one morning, found himself with a purpose.  He had a book to write, a story to share with the world.  He needed to know who his mother was before he had known her.  Who she was before he was.  He went at this story with vigor, researching where most children don’t think to look for their parent’s pasts and delving into his own history.  [Read more →]