-
The Escapist (MIchael Chabon's "The Escapist" as metaphor)
Jewish history has tradition of escaping and escapism It’s Sunday and I’m rushing over to my local comic book store, Hi De Ho, in Santa Monica to buy issue No. 1 of “The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist.†If the name is familiar, it’s not because you used to collect “The Escapist†in your youth, as many people have told Mike Hennessy, the owner of Hi De Ho. Rather “The Escapist†is a fictional invention — I know that seems… -
Second Government (Bernard-Henri Levy)
I’ve been thinking a lot recently about French philosopher, journalist and filmmaker Bernard-Henri Levy (only in France can philosopher hyphenate with filmmaker). We had lunch about six months ago. At the time, Levy’s English-language edition of "Who Killed Daniel Pearl?"(Melville House), had just been published. The book had received a mixed response for its controversial thesis that Daniel Pearl was murdered because he was on the trail of a larger story, of connections between Pakistani security forces, Pakistan’s nuclear establishment… -
Sleep, Interrupted
I remember, as a child, trying in vain to stay up to see the ball fall on New Year’s Eve. In later years, high school brought concerts that went past midnight and college introduced all-nighters of the studying and partying kind. In the midnight hour came inspiration and revelation and dreams of new worlds to conquer. Back then, sleep was not an issue. Then sometime in my 20s, I suffered a bout of insomnia. For several weeks, I could not,… -
A Sunny Hungarian Rhapsody
As winter chill gives way to spring sun, it’s not too early to start planning a summer trip to Budapest. Budapest, Hungary’s capital, straddles the Danube, with historic old Buda on the hill, and Pest with its atmospheric 19th century and Art Nouveau architecture. In recent years, many of the Budapest’s historic sites have been restored, such as the Parliament building and St. Stephen’s Church, and their interiors are breathtaking. Part of Budapest’s appeal is that it is very much… -
Schindler's Impact (The 10th Anniversary of "Schindler's List")
In May 1995, I found myself in Lviv, Ukraine. My father died two years before, and I was there on a roots trip. I wanted to see the city where he grew up and perhaps unearth some of the information that he could never bring himself to share, such as the names and birthdates of his brothers and sisters, all murdered. I discovered his own real birthday to be a completely different day, month and year than we had always… -
Conal's the Poster Boy for 'Art Attack' (Guerrilla Poster Artist Robbie Conal)
You’ve seen them around town: a poster of a grinning, gnarly Arnold Schwarzenegger with red eyes and the words, "Achtung, Baby," scrawled in German Gothic type across his forehead. It may have made you smile; you may have felt it was in bad taste. Perhaps a bit of both. In any event, you probably thought: There goes the poster guy again. By now, even if you can’t name the artist, Robbie Conal, the style has become familiar: a black-and-white head-and-shoulders… -
Newman Cares (Randy Newman)
Are we the luckiest people in the world to live in Los Angeles, leading the lives others only dream about? Or is this the most unfair city in the nation, where the few are insulated from the harsh realities of the many? And what, you may wonder, does any of this have to do with Randy Newman? Those are among the many questions that came to mind while attending "Shock and Awe: The Songs of Randy Newman," a recent UCLA… -
The Living Desert (Palm Springs, The Desert and Deanne Stillman's "29 Palms")
As I write this, it’s 64 degrees in Santa Monica and Sub-Zero is just a brand of refrigerator I covet. On the East Coast, there is a record cold spell and everyone is paying rapt attention to the wind-chill factor. The climatic difference can best be explained not merely by boasting or gloating — but by the fact that Los Angeles is a desert. For most Angelenos, heading out to the desert means driving on Interstate 10 for about two… -
When Television Challenged America (Rod Serling)
Around this time of year, I’m often prone to recall Rod Serling, who was born on Christmas Day. I’m helped along by the fact that PBS ran their "American Masters" portrait of Serling over the New Year’s weekend even as the Sci Fi Channel ran a "Twilight Zone" marathon. It makes me wonder: Where is Serling — or today’s Serling — when you really need him? My interest in Serling is professional as well as personal: For the last several… -
Dreaming of a Blue and White Christmas (Christmas Movies from Michael Curtiz to Jon Favreau)
Christmas came early this year — Nov. 7, when New Line Cinema released “Elf,†the family-friendly comedy that, as of this writing, has earned more than $156 million (see story, p. 19). Another surprise is the success of the far-more-cynical adult offering “Bad Santa,†which had a production cost of $18 million and, since its Nov. 26 release, has earned more than $43 million. These are Christmas films that, you could say, are good for the Jews. Both are written… -
'Fabulous Invalid' (Ruth Seymour's Chanukah Program on KCRW)
I used to have this Thanksgiving Day ritual in New York: no matter what I was doing, or where I was going, I would find a way to be near a radio around 11:30 a.m., to tune in to WNEW-FM 102.7’s broadcast of Arlo Guthrie’s “Alice’s Restaurant,†in its entirety, in all its musical and comedic glory. Over the last few years in Los Angeles, I’ve acquired a similar accidentally/on purpose habit: every year around this time, I manage to… -
A Search for Intellectual L.A. (Paul Holdengraber and LACMA)
It’s a Friday night and an overflow crowd is jammed into the penthouse of the former May Co. store on Wilshire Boulevard — now Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) West — to hear a conversation between French journalist and philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy and The New Yorker’s Adam Gopnik. Presiding over this abundance of intelligence is Paul Holdengräber, the founder and director of LACMA’s Institute for Art and Cultures (IAC). Holdengräber is erudite, worldly, self-deprecating and all the more…