quotation: A fool cannot be an actor, though an actor may act a fool’s part.

A fool cannot be an actor, though an actor may act a fool’s part.

Sophocles (496 BC-406 BC) Discuss

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today’s Birthday: Maureen O’Sullivan (1911)

Maureen O’Sullivan (1911)

Maureen O’Sullivan’s acting career began when she met motion picture director Frank Borzage, who suggested that she take a screen test and then cast her in the film Song o’ My Heart. She went on to appear in a number of movies for several studios before being chosen to play Tarzan’s love interest, Jane Parker, in Tarzan the Ape Man and five other Tarzan features. In what other film did she play a character named Jane? More… Discuss

*Breathing Techniques* (Yoga, Meditation, Relaxation, Stress, Cancer, Blood Pressure) Kapalbhati

Acharya Shree Yogeesh

 

Uploaded on Jun 25, 2010/221,088 views

Breathing Technique that is easy, powerful and brings immediate results. Popular pranayama breathing technique and exercise.

Free Teachings: http://acharyashreeyogeesh.com
Facebook: http://fb.com/acharyashreeyogeesh
Spiritual Retreats & Classes: http://siddhayatan.org

Acharya Shree Yogeesh conducts his first online video tutorial which covers a breathing technique called kapalbhati. He describes kapalbhati’s history, purpose, and benefits of this ancient yogic breathing technique, and teaches you how to do it.

Kapalbhati Pranayama Breathing Technique prevents cancer, reduces stress and anxiety, calms down the mind, and brings relaxation. Perfect for anyone.

Best breathing videos

= About Acharya Shree Yogeesh =
Acharya Shree Yogeesh is a living enlightened master of this era and founder of the Siddhayatan Tirth and Spiritual Retreat, a unique 200+ acre spiritual pilgrimage site and meditation park in North America providing the perfect atmosphere for spiritual learning, community, and soul awakening to help truth seekers advance spiritually. Acharya Shree Yogeesh is also the founder of the Yogeesh Ashram near Los Angeles, California, Yogeesh Ashram International in New Delhi, India, and the Acharya Yogeesh Primary & Higher Secondary School in Haryana, India.

As an inspiring revolutionary spiritual leader and in-demand speaker worldwide, for over forty years Acharya Shree Yogeesh has dedicated his life to helping guide hundreds of thousands of people on their spiritual journey of self-improvement and self-realization.

It is Acharya Shree Yogeesh’s mission to spread the message of nonviolence, vegetarianism, oneness, and total transformation.

= Connect with Acharya Shree Yogeesh =
Teachings: http://acharyashreeyogeesh.com
Facebook: http://facebook.com/acharyashreeyogeesh
Spiritual Retreats: http://siddhayatan.org

= Connect with Sadhvi Siddhali Shree =
Free Book: http://siddhalishree.com
Facebook: http://facebook.com/siddhalishree

Other resources:
http://awakenchakras.com (Awaken Chakras, Activate Kundalini)
http://siddhalishree.com (Sadhvi Siddhali Shree, Spiritual Blog)
http://siddhayatan.org (Siddhayatan Spiritual Retreat and Ashram)
http://spiritualchildrenscamp.com (Spiritual Children’s Camp)

Leonard Cohen ~ Dance Me To The End Of Love – Tango Scene Al Pacino and Gabrielle Anwar – Scent of a Woman (1992), great songs/interpretations

Leonard Cohen ~ Dance Me To The End Of Love

Gloria Franchi

 

Published on Dec 31, 2013/3,840,477 views

Tango Scene ~ Al Pacino and Gabrielle Anwar ~ Scent of a Woman ~ Movie CLIP (1992)
Leonard Cohen ~ Dance Me To The End Of Love

Lyrics:

Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin
Dance me through the panic ’til I’m gathered safely in
Lift me like an olive branch and be my homeward dove
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love

Oh let me see your beauty when the witnesses are gone
Let me feel you moving like they do in Babylon
Show me slowly what I only know the limits of
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the wedding now, dance me on and on
Dance me very tenderly and dance me very long
We’re both of us beneath our love, we’re both of us above
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love

Dance me to the children who are asking to be born
Dance me through the curtains that our kisses have outworn
Raise a tent of shelter now, though every thread is torn
Dance me to the end of love

Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin
Dance me through the panic till I’m gathered safely in
Touch me with your naked hand or touch me with your glove
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love

►Check out my Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/TheGloriafra
ڪےღڰۣ✿ Gloria

Scent of a Woman
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Martin Brest
Produced by	Martin Brest
Screenplay by	Bo Goldman
Based on	Il buio e il miele  by Giovanni Arpino
Starring	Al Pacino Chris O’Donnell
Music by	Thomas Newman
Cinematography	Donald E. Thorin
Edited by	William Steinkamp Michael Tronick Harvey Rosenstock
Production company	City Light Films
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release dates	December 23, 1992
Running time	156 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$31 million[1]
Box office	$134,095,253

magical realism: LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE, BY (AFTER) Mexican novelist Laura Esquivel

Like Water For Chocolate

clfsdrama

Published on Mar 5, 2012/84,343 viws

This adaptation of the novel by Laura Esquivel was sanctioned by the writer herself; she was going to come over for the premiere in Edinburgh 2003 but then had to back out due to work commitments. Starring Kate Ward, who went on to train at ‘The Central School of Speech and Drama’ this show was our first ‘Sold Out Show’ at the Edinburgh Fringe; in fact we arrived to find out that every single seat had been sold. Happy days!

also read HERE

Like Water for Chocolate

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

For the film based on the novel, see Like Water for Chocolate (film). For the album by Common, see Like Water for Chocolate (album).

Like Water for Chocolate

U.S book cover
Author	Laura Esquivel
Country	Mexico
Language	Spanish
Genre	Romance, Magical realism
Publisher	Doubleday, 1992 (Mexico) Perfection Learning, 1995 (U.S)
Pages	256 (Spanish)
ISBN	Spanish: 978-0385721233 English: 978-0780739079

Like Water for Chocolate (Spanish: Como agua para chocolate) is a popular novel published in 1989 by first-time Mexican novelist Laura Esquivel.^[1]

The novel follows the story of a young girl named Tita who longs her entire life to marry her lover, Pedro, but can never have him because of her mother’s upholding of the family tradition of the youngest daughter not marrying but taking care of her mother until the day she dies. Tita is only able to express herself when she cooks.

Esquivel employs magical realism to combine the supernatural with the ordinary.^[2]

Plot

The book is divided into 12 sections named after the months of the year, starting with January. Each section begins with a Mexican recipe. The chapters outline the preparation of the dish and ties it to an event in the protagonist’s life.^[3]

Tita de la Garza, the novel’s main protagonist, is 15 at the start of the story. She lives with her mother Mama Elena, and her older sisters Gertrudis and Rosaura, on a ranch near the Mexico – US border.

Pedro is a neighbor and another main protagonist with whom Tita falls in love at first sight. He asks Mama Elena for Tita’s hand in marriage, but Mama Elena forbids it, citing the De la Garza family tradition that the youngest daughter (in this case Tita) must remain unmarried and take care of her mother until her mother’s death. She suggests that Pedro marries Tita’s sister, Rosaura, instead of Tita. In order to stay close to Tita, Pedro decides to follow Mama Elena’s advice.

Tita has a love of the kitchen and a deep connection with food, a skill enhanced by the fact that Nacha, the family cook, was her primary caretaker as Tita grew up. Her love for cooking also comes from the fact that she was born in the kitchen.

Pedro and Rosaura have a son, Roberto. Rosaura is unable to nurse Roberto, so Tita brings Roberto to her breast to stop the baby from crying. Tita begins to produce breast milk and is able to nurse the baby. This draws her and Pedro closer than ever. They begin meeting secretly, snatching their few times together by sneaking around the ranch and behind the backs of Mama Elena and Rosaura.

Tita’s strong emotions become infused into her cooking, and she unintentionally begins to affect the people around her through the food she prepares. After one particularly rich meal of quail in rose petal sauce flavored with Tita’s erotic thoughts of Pedro, Gertrudis becomes inflamed with lust and leaves the ranch in order to make ravenous love with a revolutionary soldier on the back of a horse, later ending up in a brothel and subsequently disowned by her mother.

Rosaura and Pedro are forced to leave for San Antonio, Texas, at the urging of Mama Elena, who suspects a relationship between Tita and Pedro. Rosaura loses her son Roberto and later becomes infertile from complications during the birth of her daughter Esperanza.

Upon learning the news of her nephew’s death, whom she cared for herself, Tita blames her mother. Mama Elena responds by smacking Tita across the face with a wooden spoon. Tita, destroyed by the death of her beloved nephew and unwilling to cope with her mother’s controlling ways, secludes herself in the dovecote until the sympathetic Dr. John Brown soothes and comforts her. Mama Elena states there is no place for “lunatics” like Tita on the farm, and wants her to be institutionalized. However, the doctor decides to take care of Tita at his home instead. Tita develops a close relationship with Dr. Brown, even planning to marry him at one point, but her underlying feelings for Pedro do not waver.

While John is away, Tita loses her virginity to Pedro. A month later, Tita is worried she may be pregnant with Pedro’s child. Her mother’s ghost taunts her, telling her that she and her child are cursed. Gertrudis visits the ranch for a special holiday and makes Pedro overhear about Tita’s pregnancy, causing Tita and Pedro to argue about running away together. This causes Pedro to get drunk and sing below Tita’s window while she is arguing with Mama Elena’s ghost. Just as she confirms she isn’t pregnant and frees herself of her mother’s grasp once and for all, Mama Elena’s ghost gets revenge on Tita by setting Pedro on fire, leaving him bedridden for a while and behaving like “a child throwing a tantrum”.^[4] Meanwhile, Tita is preparing for John’s return, and is hesitant to tell him that she cannot marry him because she is no longer a virgin. Rosaura comes to the kitchen while Tita is cooking and argues with her over Tita’s involvement with Rosaura’s daughter Esperenza’s life and the tradition of the youngest daughter remaining at home to care for the mother until she dies, a tradition which Tita despises. She vows not to let it ruin her niece’s life as it did hers. John and his deaf great-aunt come over and Tita tells him that she cannot marry him. John seems to accept it, “reaching for Tita’s hand…with a smile on his face”.^[5]

Many years later, Tita is preparing for Esperanza’s and John’s son Alex’s wedding to one another, now that Rosaura has died from digestive problems. During the wedding, Pedro proposes to Tita saying that he does not want to “die without making [Tita] [his] wife”.^[6] Tita accepts and Pedro dies having sex with her in the kitchen storage room right after the wedding. Tita is overcome with sorrow and cold, and begins to eat matches.^[7] The candles are sparked by the heat of his memory, creating a spectacular fire that engulfs them both, eventually consuming the entire ranch.

The narrator of the story is the daughter of Esperanza, nicknamed “Tita”, after her great-aunt. She describes how after the fire, the only thing that survived under the smoldering rubble of the ranch was Tita’s cookbook, which contained all the recipes described in the preceding chapters.

Characters

• Josefita (Tita) de la Garza – main character; a talented cook and Pedro’s lover
• Pedro Muzquiz – Tita’s lover, marries Rosaura to be closer to Tita.
• Elena de la Garza (Mama Elena) – Tita’s mother who Tita thinks is cruel and controlling.
• Gertrudis De La Garza – Tita’s older sister, Mama Elena’s illegitimate daughter. She runs away with Juan.
• Rosaura De La Garza – Tita’s oldest sister who marries Pedro; had a son(Roberto)who died. She later had a daughter (Esperenza)
• Dr. John Brown – the family doctor who falls in love with Tita and has a son from a previous marriage.
• Nacha – the family cook. She was like a mother to Tita.
• Chencha – ranch maid for Mama Elena and her family; Married to Jesus
• Roberto Muzquiz – son of Pedro and Rosaura. He dies young.
• Esperanza Muzquiz – daughter of Pedro and Rosaura, she marries Alex Brown. She is also the mother of the narrator.
• Alex Brown – son of John Brown, marries Esperanza.
• Nicolas – the manager of the ranch.
• Juan Alejandrez – the captain in the military who took Gertrudis and eventually marries her.
• Jesus Martinez – Chencha’s first love and husband.

Self growth

At the beginning of the novel, Tita was a generally submissive young lady. As the novel progresses, Tita learns to disobey the injustice of her mother, and gradually becomes more and more adept at expressing her inner fire through various means. At first, cooking was her only outlet, but through self-discovery she learned to verbalize and actualize her feelings, and stand up to her despotic mother.

Cruelty and violence

Mama Elena often resorts to cruelty and violence as she forces Tita to obey her. Many of the responsibilities she imposes on Tita, especially those relating to Pedro and Rosaura’s wedding, are blatant acts of cruelty, given Tita’s pain over losing Pedro. Mama Elena meets Tita’s slightest protest with angry tirades and beatings. If she even suspects that Tita has not fulfilled her duties, as when she thought that Tita intentionally ruined the wedding cake, she beats her. When Tita dares to stand up to her mother and to blame her for Roberto’s death, Mama Elena smacks her across the face with a wooden spoon and breaks her nose. This everyday cruelty does not seem so unusual, however, in a land where a widow must protect herself and her family from bandits and revolutionaries. However, many readers feel that her setting Pedro on fire and almost killing him is much more severe than her previous actions.

Tradition

The romantic love that is so exalted throughout the novel is forbidden by Tita’s mother in order to blindly enforce the tradition that the youngest daughter be her mother’s chaste guardian. However, the traditional etiquette enforced by Mama Elena is defied progressively throughout the novel. This parallels the setting of the Mexican Revolution growing in intensity. The novel further parallels the Mexican Revolution because during the Mexican Revolution the power of the country was in the hands of a select few and the people had no power to express their opinions. Likewise, in Like Water for Chocolate, Mama Elena represents the select few who had the power in their hands, while Tita represents the people because she had no power to express her opinions but had to obey her mother’s rules.

Food

Food is also one of the major themes in the story which is seen throughout the story. It is used very creatively to represent the characters feelings and situations.

Ethnography and folklore: VIKI STEFANOVICI – TARA FAGARASULUI (Old Romanian Countries)

VIKI STEFANOVICI-TARA FAGARASULUI

ArhussMedia

just a thought:  “Visit tara fagarasului at facebook, from here you can discover a PLace and a people that protected the Romanian borders and stood for their ancient traditions and belief, from food, to carols to dances, and vestments, and to the beautiful Fagaras Mountians that trully reign the people and emulated their souls, their mind, and their might!”

-©George-B

 

this day in the yesteryear: Michael Jackson’s Thriller Hits Shelves (1982)

Michael Jackson’s Thriller Hits Shelves (1982)

Michael Jackson’s second solo album, Thriller, propelled him to superstardom. Along with its title track, Thriller boasted such hits as “Beat It,” “Billie Jean,” “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’,” and “Human Nature.” Several of these songs were accompanied by music videos—then a new medium—and showcased Jackson’s iconic dance moves. The album sold more than 40 million copies and won a record-breaking eight Grammy Awards. What other titles were considered for the song “Thriller”? More… Discuss

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this pressed: Video: Inside The Abandoned Minnelli Mansion Of Beverly Hills: LAist|K-Mozart 1260 AM

The glory days are over for this former celebrity home (Screenshot via YouTube)

A video provides a tour through the abandoned Minnelli mansion in Beverly Hills, once occupied by Liza Minnelli‘s father, Vincent Minnelli.

The 5,800-square-foot house sits on Crescent Drive in Beverly Hills. It was built in 1925 and redesigned by John Elgin Woolf, a well-known Hollywood architect, Curbed LA reports. As the story goes, director Vincent Minnelli moved into the home after his divorce from Judy Garland, who he met directing 1944’s Meet Me In St. Louis. Minnelli and Garland didn’t have a particularly long marriage: they married in 1945 and divorced only six years later in 1951. Their only child, Liza, was born in 1946.

Minnelli died in July of 1986 when he was 83 after struggling with emphysema and pneumonia.

via Video: Inside The Abandoned Minnelli Mansion Of Beverly Hills: LAist.

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Goyescas: 3. Fandango By Candle Light: make music part of your life series

Goyescas: 3. Fandango By Candle Light

     Enrique Granados – Topic

Goyescas: 3. Fandango By Candle Light
Enrique Granados
℗ 2007 James Stewart Music
Released on: 2007-09-04
Composer: Enrique Granados
Auto-generated by YouTube.
******************************************
from Wikipedia:

Goyescas

This article is about the piano suite. For the 1916 opera, see Goyescas (opera). For the film, see Goyescas (film).

Goyescas, Op. 11, subtitled Los majos enamorados (The Gallants in Love), is a piano suite written in 1911 by Spanish composer Enrique Granados. This piano suite is usually considered Granados’s crowning creation and was inspired by the paintings of Francisco Goya, although the piano pieces have not been authoritatively associated with any particular paintings. The suite forms part of the standard Romantic piano repertoire.

Writing of the Goyescas

The Suite

• Los requiebros (The Compliments)
• Coloquio en la reja (Conversation at the Window)
• El fandango de candil (Fandango by Candlelight)
• Quejas, o La Maja y el ruiseñor (Complaint, or the Girl and the Nightingale)
• El Amor y la muerte (Balada) (Ballad of Love and Death)
• Epilogo: Serenata del espectro (Epilogue: Serenade to a Spectre)
• El pelele: Escena Goyesca (The Puppet: Goya Scene)

today’s birthday: Judy Garland (1922)

Judy Garland (1922)

Born Frances Gumm, Garland was an American film actress considered by many to be one of the greatest singing stars of Hollywood‘s golden age of musical film. She began her career singing in her parents’ theater at an early age and later toured in vaudeville. In 1939, she played Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, and went on to star in numerous other movies and musicals. Her untimely death and personal tragedies have come to represent the pitfalls of stardom. Who is her famous daughter? More… Discuss

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TODAY’S BIRTHDAY: Cher (1946) *****SONNY & CHER “I GOT YOU BABE” ORIGINAL RECORDING(1965) *****

Cher (1946)

In a career spanning almost 50 years, Cherilyn Sarkisian, better known as Cher, has established herself as an enduring pop culture icon and one of the most popular female artists in music history. Cher first rose to prominence in the 1960s as one half of the pop duo Sonny and Cher. In 1965, their first hit, “I Got You Babe,” topped US and UK charts. Cher went on to become an accomplished solo artist as well as a TV and film actress. What was the biggest-selling single of her career? More… Discuss

[youtube.com/watch?v=6Kh6lLHlXYI]

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THIS DAY IN THE YESTERYEAR: ACTRESS GRACE KELLY MARRIES RAINIER III OF MONACO (1956)

Actress Grace Kelly Marries Rainier III of Monaco (1956)

Kelly was an Oscar-winning American actress who appeared in many films, including Dial M for Murder andRear Window. In 1956, she married Prince Rainier III of Monaco and became Her Serene Highness Princess Grace, an event that marked her retirement from acting. The couple had three children, one of whom, Albert II, is Monaco’s reigning Sovereign Prince. Kelly died in a car accident in 1982. Why did Frank Sinatra reportedly choose to skip his former costar’s wedding? More… Discuss

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Philip Seymour Hoffman Dead Overdose Apparent Cause

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Today’s Birthday: Mickey Rooney (1920)

Mickey Rooney (1920)

Rooney is an American actor who began his career when he was just 17 months old, as part of his family’s vaudeville act, and made his film debut at 6. He went on to star in 50 RKO short comedies, and his diminutive size allowed him to play boys until he was nearly 30. From 1937, he played the cocky, energetic Andy Hardy in a series of popular films, often teamed with Judy Garland. In 1983, he received an honorary Academy Award for lifetime achievement. What now-famous TV role did he turn down? More… Discuss