By Néstor CASTIGLIONE It could be argued that Beethoven’s art exploded like a dazzling supernova in the musical firmament, his art spreading disparate elements far and wide that eventually would coalesce into various independent and clashing galaxies. The nebula in which the music of Kaikhosru Sorabji (1892 – 1988) inhabits is a solitary and forbidding […]
By Néstor CASTIGLIONE In 1948, English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams was riding high upon the crest of international fame. His “Sixth Symphony” had been premiered by Sir Adrian Boult that April and the work immediately seized the public’s imagination on both sides of the Atlantic, garnering over a hundred performances in the following year – […]
By Charly SHELTON Saturday was St. Patrick’s Day and that meant food, drink and music, all of which were found in abundance at Tam O’Shanter on Los Feliz. As one of LA’s oldest restaurants, the Scottish pub set in an English Tudor-style cottage is steeped in history, and one can feel the age as soon […]
By Néstor CASTIGLIONE Fortune and fame: for many, the two most glittering prizes in human existence. But as most soon learn they are also the most difficult to attain. Even if seizesd in life, they can quickly slip from one’s grasp in death. For every Beethoven or Stravinsky in music, for example, there is a […]
By Charly SHELTON Each year, Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park hosts several events to offer something new to their guests each time they visit. At Christmas, it has a holiday celebration. Over the summer, Ghost Town Alive! brings the Wild West to life. At Halloween, Knott’s Scary Farm is a must for fans of […]
By Néstor CASTIGLIONE The age of automation is upon us – or so an endless array of utopian technological theologians and despairing neo-Luddites would have us believe. They say that the storm is coming and coming at us fast; a deluge of epochal proportions that will sweep away millenia-old concepts of “work” and may possibly […]
By Charly SHELTON Each year, Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park hosts several events to offer something new to their guests each time they visit. At Christmas, it has a holiday celebration. Over the summer, Ghost Town Alive! brings the Wild West to life. At Halloween, Knott’s Scary Farm is a must for fans of […]
By Charly SHELTON “Ego Patricius peccator rusticissimus et minimus omnium fidelum” (“My name is Patrick. I am a sinner, a simple country person, and the least of all believers.”) It is through these words, his own words, that we come to know St. Patrick. This is the opening line of his Confessio, written in the […]
By Charly SHELTON Artist Barbara Carrasco was commissioned to paint a mural to celebrate the bicentennial of Los Angeles in 1981. Her 80-foot-long panoramic mural, entitled “LA History: The Mexican Perspective,” featured the best the city has to offer – the beautiful missions, Angel’s Flight, Hollywood, etc. – as well as the worst moments of […]
By Charly SHELTON The new Animation Studio Store recently opened at Universal Studios Hollywood as a central location to find souvenirs of favorite animated characters from Dreamworks and Illumination Entertainment pictures. Joining the Minions, Po the Panda, Shrek, Toothless, Cat in the Hat, Homer Simpson, Woody Woodpecker, E.T., Spongebob and Scooby Doo comes a new […]