San Francisco Opera's free Friday night simulcast of Gaetano Donizetti's tragic warhorse "Lucia di Lammermoor" drew about 23,000 people to AT&T Park, according to Opera estimates. It was the second time the company simulcast a production from the the War Memorial Opera House (Camille Saint-Saëns' "Samson and Delilah" was the first, in September).
(San Francisco Chronicle excerpt)
Thurman, 66, the Je Tsong Khapa professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Columbia University, has devoted his life to the study and preservation of Tibet's unique cultural heritage. He is the author of several books on Tibetan Buddhism and the co-founder, along with Gere, of New York's Tibet House. Thurman was chosen as one of Time magazine's 25 most influential Americans in 1997.
The news from Tibet has been pretty grim lately, but you remain optimistic that the situation will improve ... that the Tibetans will one day be able to live there freely and practice their religion. What gives you hope that will happen?
I base my hope — as the Dalai Lama bases his — on what is realistic. And I believe reality dictates that the Tibetans are the ones who can live sustainably in Tibet. They're the ones who can restore and maintain the Tibetan plateau, their ancestral home, as they have for thousands of years. And it has to be healthy in order to be of benefit to its neighboring regions. It's the water tower of Asia — it's where everybody's water comes from, India, China, Southeast Asia. It's also the source of the wind — the jet stream that rises up out of the plateau, affecting the weather all around the planet. So if Tibet is messed up then the world gets messed up. This is why Tibet should matter to everybody.
Why are the Tibetans the only ones who can take care of Tibet?
In part, because it's three miles above sea level. If Chinese people could live up there comfortably, they would have been there 500 years ago in huge numbers. They are not genetically adapted to live at that high altitude without serious health problems.
You argue in your latest book, "Why the Dalai Lama Matters," that the Dalai Lama could be one of China's greatest assets. What is it that he can offer them?
He's a great asset for several reasons. First, he is the key to giving them legitimate sovereignty over Tibet as an autonomous region within China because he would inspire his people to vote that way. Secondly, he can help to restore some sense of contentment and calm within the Chinese populace, especially among those who are poor and have not yet benefitted from China's economic rise. Thirdly, he could become a true ambassador for China in the world, which they are going to need increasingly as they rise to true superpower status.
Herbie put on a stellar show headlining the Playboy Jazz Festival at the Hollywood Bowl. He mixed it up, classic Hancock with new twists, Watermelon Man, then some tunes from his latest record Rivers-(Album of the Year) with a surprise guest appearance from Wayne Shorter. The show ended with HH closing with Rockit- complete with dance troupe.
We caught up with DMC last week in LA; the HipHop legend was in town to host the Rockstar event at the HardRock in Hollywood to benefit musiceducation.com
Take the word butterfly. To use this word it is not necessary to make the voice weigh less than an ounce or equip it with small dusty wings. It is not necessary to invent a sunny day or a field of daffodils. It is not necessary to be in love, or to be in love with butterflies. The word butterfly is not a real butterfly. There is the word and there is the butterfly. If you confuse these two items people have the right to laugh at you. Do not make so much of the word. Are you trying to suggest that you love butterflies more perfectly than anyone else, or understand their nature? The word butterfly is merely data. It is not an opportunity for you to hover, soar, befriend flowers, symbolize beauty or frailty, or in any way impersonate a butterfly. Do not act out words. Never act out words. Never try to leave the floor when you talk about flying. Never close your eyes and jerk your head to one side when you talk about death. Do not fix your burning eyes on me when you speak about love. If you want to impress me when you speak about love put your hand in your pocket or under your dress and play with yourself. If ambition and the hunger for applause have driven you to speak about love you should learn how to do it without disgracing yourself or the material.
What is the expression that the age demands? The age demands no expression whatever. We have seen photographs of bereaved Asian mothers. We are not interested in the agony of your fumbled organs. There is nothing you can show on your face that can match the horror of this time. Do not even try. You will only hold yourself up to the scorn of those who have felt things deeply. We have seen newsreels of humans in the extremities of pain and dislocation. Everyone knows you are eating well and are even being paid to stand up there. You are playing to people who have experienced a catastrophe. This should make you very quiet.
Speak the words, convey the data, step aside. Everyone knows you are in pain. You cannot tell the audience everything you know about love in every line of love you speak. Step aside and they will know what you know because you know it already. You have nothing to teach them. You are not more beautiful than they are. You are not wiser. Do not shout at them. Do not force a dry entry. That is bad sex. If you show the lines of your genitals, then deliver what you promise.
And remember that people do not really want an acrobat in bed. What is our need? To be close to the natural man, to be close to the natural woman. Do not pretend that you are a beloved singer with a vast loyal audience which has followed the ups and downs of your life to this very moment. The bombs, flame-throwers, and all the shit have destroyed more than just the trees and the villages. They have also destroyed the stage. Did you think that your profession would escape the general destruction? There is no more stage. There are no more footlights. You are among the people. Then be modest. Speak the words, convey the data, step aside. Be by yourself. Be in your own room. Do not put yourself on.
This is an interior landscape. It is inside. It is private. Respect the privacy of the material. These pieces were written in silence. The courage of the play is to speak them. The discipline of the play is not to violate them. Let the audience feel your love of privacy even though there is no privacy. Be good whores. The poem is not a slogan. It cannot advertise you. It cannot promote your reputation for sensitivity. You are not a stud. You are not a killer lady. All this junk about the gangsters of love. You are students of discipline. Do not act out the words. The words die when you act them out, they wither, and we are left with nothing but your ambition.
Speak the words with the exact precision with which you would check out a laundry list. Do not become emotional about the lace blouse. Do not get a hard-on when you say panties. Do not get all shivery just because of the towel. The sheets should not provoke a dreamy expression about the eyes. There is no need to weep into the handkerchief. The socks are not there to remind you of strange and distant voyages. It is just your laundry. It is just your clothes. Don't peep through them. Just wear them.
The poem is nothing but information. It is the Constitution of the inner country. If you declaim it and blow it up with noble intentions then you are no better than the politicians whom you despise. You are just someone waving a flag and making the cheapest kind of appeal to a kind of emotional patriotism. Think of the words as science, not art.
They are a report. You are speaking before a meeting of the Explorer's Club of the National Geographic Society. These people know all the risks of mountain climbing. They honour you by taking this for granted. If you rub their faces in it that is an insult to their hospitality. Tell them about the height of the mountain, the equipment you used, be specific about the surfaces and the time it took to scale it. Do not work the audience for gasps and sighs. If you are worthy of gasps and sighs it will not be from your appreciation of the event but from theirs. It will be in the statistics and not the trembling of the voice or the cutting of air with your hands. It will be in the data and the quiet organization of your presence.
Avoid the flourish. Do not be afraid to be weak. Do not be ashamed to be tired. You look good when you're tired. You look like you could go on forever. Now come into my arms. You are the image of my beauty.
SuperNutrition uses niacin because it is the more active form of Vitamin B3. For some people, taking niacin may result in a "niacin skin flush." This niacin flush may result in a warm, tingling, reddening of the skin (not to be confused with a rash). The niacin flush can last from 15 minutes to 1 hour and may be followed by a slight passing chill. Tablets can be taken on an empty stomach; however, if taken with food, the possibility of a niacin flush may be reduced. Taking more than one capsule at a time increases the possibility of a niacin flush.
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