Travel Writing from the Margins

Sometimes it’s sad to have a class end. I’ve been enjoying Joshua Schriftman’s, Travel Writing from the Margins so much; it’s easily been my most exciting class this term. With readings from James Baldwin to Andrew Lam, Joshua introduced us to another kind of travel writing. Most interesting has been our “text” book, Meeting Faith, by Faith Adiele, a memoir by this exciting woman who teaches at Pitt, about her experiences in Thailand, being ordained as a Buddhist nun and finding herself. Professor Faith came to our third class, answered our questions and let us understand how and why she wrote the book. Fascinating!

Last week, for our fourth session, we discussed readings by Salman Rushdie, Edward Said and Andrew Lam, each one about returning, or not being able to return home. Rushdie and Lam found both bad and good, sadness and pleasure. Edward Said found only bitterness.

Today, for our last session, we each gave a presentation about an unusual travel writer or travel writing topic. John Sayre told us about a non-fiction piece, The Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the true story of a sailor who was rescued after ten days on a raft without food or water. John, who is fluent in Spanish, recommended we read it in the original Spanish; he did not wholly approve of the translation. Sorry I can’t do that, but you certainly piqued my interest, John.

Eileen Hastings briefly spoke about Blue Highways: A Journey into America, by William Least Heat Moon, a native American, then told us at length about The Unheard: A Memoir of Deafness and Africa by Josh Swiller, who wrote about his experiences in the Peace Corps in Zambia. I look forward to reading that book since I’m interested in both the Peace Corps and problems of deafness.

Betty Havryluk wrote a charming piece about American fascination with houses, especially houses in other countries. Briefly mentioning the well-known foreign house fixer-upper writers Peter Mayle and Frances Mayes, she went on to tell us about several others who haven’t made the big time best seller lists but have written some interesting books: Phil Doran, Ann Barry, Daphne Phelps, and several others. Thanks, Betty.

Mary Alice Drusbasky told us about traveling in Mongolia with Julia Roberts, and Diana, whose last name I don’t know, told us about travel writing by and for gay travelers. She recommended Gay Travels in the Muslim World by Michael Luong, another book I’d like to read.

Catfish and Mandala: A Two-Wheeled Voyage Through the Landscape and Memory of Vietnam by Andrew X. Pham was Marilyn Asimow’s book choice, similar to Andrew Lam, but definitely another view of life after escaping from Viet Nam. I gave a presentation about Emily Carr. You can find out more about her at my blog, here.

Ruthe Karlin

More 101 Homework: Installing a Plug-In

Friday, February 22. This time our dear leader has tasked us to install a plug-in on the blog, so here’s a video of Pittsburgh’s own jazz trumpet sensation, Sean Jones, jamming with the Gerald Wilson Band at the Detroit Jazz Festival labor day weekend last September.

credit: http://www.youtube.com/jamesonfearless

Actually, there’s a chance to see Sean in action tonight at the Kelly-Strayhorn Theatre tonight at 8pm. I’m going!

Blogging 101

That’s John Carman, the instructor of my Osher class, Blogging 101. I first met him at an event called Bootcamp Pgh* back in April of last year, downtown at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. John happened to be teaching a class there on–you guessed it–blogging fundamentals, for newbies like me.

Bottom line–sometime afterward, he agreed to teach the blogging course. Anyway, our homework assignment for Wednesday’s class is to post an entry to an instructional blog he created, aptly titled Blogging 101.

Here’s what I wrote:

I like to think there’s a certain synergy in writing the same thing in two different blogs. Others might disagree strongly, citing self aggrandizement or the doubly boring nature of the topic. Whatever.

len z

* Bootcamp Pgh Article

Deep Inside Pittsburgh Jazz

Harrison Hip Boppin’ at the Crawford Grill

Early on in his “Pittsburgh’s Jazz Legacy” class, instructor Dr. Nelson Harrison floated this question: “How many of you discovered jazz later in your life?” A few hands went up. Some wag called out, “Define ‘later’,” to general laughter. Harrison said, “I mean, not as a child.” Someone else said, “Ohhh.” All the hands went up. More laughter. Harrison said, “Alright, I’m going to ask you this question–how did you discover it?” One person said, “On the radio”. Another said, “At a bar.” More laughter. A third said, “I had some fraternity brothers who turned me on to it.”

Harrison paused a beat. He said, “I was born into jazz…that must’ve been how I discovered it. In Homewood, where I grew up, it was everywhere…it was ubiquitous. The music poured out of the doorways of homes; it seemed that every home had a piano. I’ve been playing professional music since I was thirteen years old, and I never went to music school. I went to the legendary Westinghouse High School, which has produced jazz greats like Errol Garner, Ahmad Jamal. They were my predecessors. Seeing that kind of excellence, that’s all I wanted to do. I couldn’t imagine being that good, but if I could only capture a bit of that excellence, it would be worth a whole lifetime of trying.” Point made.

Harrison has been a player in the Pittsburgh jazz scene since the late 50’s, when he began doing gigs at the renowned jazz club, Crawford Grill no.2 in the Hill District. Since then, this multi-tasking composer, arranger and soloist has played with Kenny Clarke, Billy Eckstine and Earl “Fatha” Hines, Jay McShann, Slide Hampton, and with the Count Basie Orchestra (1978-81). He has recorded with Walt Harper, Nathan Davis and Count Basie, and was co-leader of jazz groups featuring singer Andy Bey and drummer Joe Harris.

Harrison’s topics ranged far and wide in this, his first class–some jazz musical theory; the almost unbridgeable difference between classically trained and jazz musicians; the striking similarity between learning to play jazz and learning a martial art; the role of ethnicity and culture in jazz; the troubling story of conflict between the Pittsburgh white and black musicians unions–and lots more.

There is eloquent imagery in his description of what it means to play jazz: “In jazz, you risk your life on every note you play. You play the wrong note, you got to fix it. You got to fix it forward–you can’t fix it backwards. And you have to communicate. You have to make that note say everything that you want it to say. You have to know what everybody else in the band knows, and what they’re supposed to be doing, too, and that’s not what they were supposed to be doing yesterday. It’s what they’re supposed to be doing in the moment. That’s a heck of a challenge. It has a direct effect on the audience, and on the players.” Make no mistake: Harrison is an articulate communicator on the jazz life that is at the very core of his being.

In upcoming classes we’ll be listening to and discussing jazz created by the Pittsburgh masters, and, we hope, hearing more of Dr. Harrison’s riveting anecdotes about his experiences as witness to some of the seminal events in the city’s jazz history.

Len Z

Spring is coming!

Fall sessions are finished, November has only one day remaining and new catalogs for Spring 2008 are available and should be in your mailbox momentarily. There are lots of great classes beginning February 4, and a January mini-session, in case, like me, you can’t wait. Celebrating the 250th anniversary of Pittsburgh, there will be lots of offerings about the city. Note that we are being offered a blogging course, Blogging 101. Since I already have 2 active blogs I won’t be taking the class, but I hope it will be filled with people who want to start their own. I’m starting a movement to have older people take over the blogosphere. It’s a great way to communicate with friends and relatives, and to make new friends all over the world. That’s me, in Japan at the Izumo Shrine last month.

Ruthe K.

Prayer

Two questions haunt us, daunting and profound:
From whence we came, and whither we are bound;
Too long a course on unfamiliar ground
For us to neatly wrap our thoughts around.

Yet there is One Whose lofty vision scans
A greater distance than collective man’s;
Both (space and time’s) infinities He spans
For both perform according to His plans.

Oh Lord, You see us as we struggle still
To find the righteous path upon the hill;
We pray You will our daily needs fulfill
And grant us the wisdom, strength and the will

To purge ourselves of our iniquities
So we are able to traverse with ease
This narrow isthmus ‘twixt two boundless seas:
The past, the future, two eternities.

The Silence Within, National Library of Poetry, Owings Mills, Md. 2001
Sounds of Poetry 2001, NLP, Owings Mills, Md. 2001

(c) Leo Toribio

Deep Resentment

Rocco hefted the bag of cement and poured its contents into the mixture of sand and water in the trough. As he stirred the slurry, he groused at silent figure on the bench. “This is why I brought you down here, to see how I’m forced to work for a living. All my dreams of going to college–maybe becoming a writer or somethin’–are dead. And all because a certain wise-ass teacher said, ‘Your writing must be more concrete; if you can’t be more concrete, I’m going to flunk you.”

When the mixture offered sufficient resistance to his trowel, he moved toward the bench. Rocco said, “Well, I flunked, dammit. Mama, she never stopped cryin’ cause her only son never made it to college.” He picked up a bundle almost as big as he was. “I think it killed her. What’s more, this work is killin’ me!” he went on. He carried his load over to a deep hole near the trough and dropped it in. “See how hard I work?” he grumbled. Then he dumped a wheelbarrow full of crushed rock into the hole, and finally, as he upended the trough, dumping its contents into the same hole, he screamed into it, “Okay, Mr. Smart-ass teacher. Izzat concrete enough for ya?”

Leo Toribio

Crime Course Ends with a Bark, Not a Whimper

Officer Pagane and Angel
The talents of the Baldwin Borough Police Department’s K-9 team, Officer Bob Pagane and Angel, were on display at the final “Close Look at Crime” class, co-taught by ex-Police Officers Dave Shifren and Ron Freeman.
Shifren and Freeman
Pagane, a friend of Shifren’s, described and demonstrated for the class the well-honed skills of his K-9 police dog, Angel*. Angel is a Belgian Malinois (Mal-in-wha), bred in Holland specifically for police work. The Mal is basically a smaller version of the German Shepherd, though with advantages over the breed which has been synonymous with the term, “police dog.” Because of its compact size, the Mal performs better in tight spaces, such as automobile trunks (where they may sniff for hidden drugs); its reduced size translates into longer service life because it is less prone to Hip Displasia, a disease common in larger dogs. And, importantly, a Mal’s “through the roof” energy level makes it virtually tireless. “I often work a twelve hour shift,” Officer Pagane says. “Angel will sit in the squad car, continuously scanning the scene outside the car windows–no lying down, no distractions–during the entire shift. She’s on duty until I tell her otherwise.”

“There are several reasons why I chose this dog,” Pagane states. “First and foremost are her social skills. Anybody can pet this dog. She’s not going to bite you…unless I tell her to.” Angel proved her handler’s claim by sitting patiently as students rubbed her head. “Another reason is, her tremendous drive–her desire to fetch her toy, a tennis ball. We call it ‘ball drive’. She will track human scent for 60 yards–or a mile and a half–hoping that, at the end, as a reward, she’ll get to chase her tennis ball (thrown by her handler). Third is a personal reason. She gets along fine with my other dog, a male Shepherd, and with my two cats.”

The questions came fast and furious, from the thoughtful to the playful. Question: “How can I get my dog to stop barking at the mailman?” Answer: “When dogs bark they are in effect saying, ‘Stay away–this is my master’s house.’ So when the dog barks at the mailman and the mailman leaves, the dog thinks, ‘Wow, this works.’ But if you get him to stop barking at the mailman, he won’t bark at the burglar.”

When Pagane mentioned that he has to take Angel with him when he goes on vacation, my wife offered to board her at our house. Great idea, I thought. Angel probably needs a change of pace, too. Our three pound dog, Cookie, could put her wise on how to have fun, relax, and let the humans know who the leader of the pack really is, without having to chase after a silly tennis ball.

Cookie

Len Z

See Officer Pagane and Angel article in Tribune-Review: http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/southwest/s_514526.html

Getting “High” on Wine

Mike Gonze

Do you enjoy a glass of wine with dinner? But what makes that glass of wine “good”? In a nutshell, it’s just what tastes “good” to you. That’s the mantra of our instructor, wine expert and purveyor Mike Gonze.

I was one of about 20 Osher members who attended Mike’s recently completed three week course — Wine Appreciation: Focus on Cabernet and Chardonnay. The classes were held in the Cathedral of Learning’s lofty Babcock Room, a large conference room 40 stories up, with a stunning 360° panoramic view of the city. We had to take a special (and truly claustrophobic) elevator to the top. During one class we were even joined by a peregrine falcon as it chirped along the edge of the building.

This class began with an introduction to the various aspects of wine such as color, aroma, acid, tannin, body, and finish. Mike defined each of those ideas and then followed that with a tasting of five very distinctive wines. We were urged to use our five senses to experience each one. The wines represented flavors from grapes grown in Germany, New Zealand, France, and California. We then discussed what we liked or didn’t like about each of the wines. There were nearly as many explanations as students. Ciabatta bread and several delicious cheeses accompanied each tasting. By the end of the first session, I came away with a much more informed palate.

Week two featured white wines. Again, we used our senses to realize the differences even within the same grape variety. Mike explained that 60 % of the taste of wine comes from the soil in which the grape is grown. The climate and rootstock are also factors. We tasted two California Chardonnay and two French Chablis wines.

The final week red wine was the topic. An Australian Merlot, a French Bordeaux, and Cabernets from Spain and California were poured. To start class, Mike answered a few of our questions. One that interested me was about the controversy of screw cap vs. cork. Mike said he is still undecided on that one. He pointed out though, that increasingly vintners are switching to the screw cap. Why? Because buyers seem to appreciate not having to struggle to open the bottle, and because the screw cap has no adverse effect on the wine, whereas improperly cured cork stoppers can adulterate the wine. After a brief talk on wine magazines and internet offerings, we got into the wines. Mike discussed the features of each one as well as the food that would be well paired with it. The final thought of the class came back to the first – wine derives its value not from where it is grown, nor even from its cost, but from what tastes “good” to you.

You don’t have to wait until this class is offered again. Mike and his colleague, Tribune Review wine columnist Dave DeSimone, conduct tastings and classes at Mike’s wine shop in the Strip District. The website is palatepartners.com. Click on “tastings”.
The French have a saying — wine is food and it is on the tongue that it speaks. I expect to have long discussion with a bottle of Chardonnay this evening.

Sara Kobak

Academy Award Movie Night

 

 

 

RODEF SHALOM SISTERHOOD MOVIE NIGHT SERIES OPENS WITH AN ACADEMY AWARD WINNING FILM
“West Bank Story “ the 2006 Academy Award winner for best short live action film will be shown Sunday, October 21^st at 7:30 pm.

“Anti Semites-They’re Everywhere! “ is the theme of this year’s Rodef Shalom Sisterhood Movie Night series. The committee selected several interesting and heartwarming films for the series that portray antipathy for the Jews from the usual suspects . They will be shown on three Sunday nights: October 21^st, January 13, 2008, and April 13, 2008.
The first Movie Night on Sunday October 21st at 7:30 pm in Levy Hall, a large comfortable theater space ideal for showing films, will feature two films. The first movie,

“West Bank Story”,

 

is a 22-minute film that won an academy award in 2006 for the best short live action film. It also won 25 other prestigious awards and played in film festivals around the US, Israel and Europe. Made by American filmmaker Ari Sandel for a film seminar at the University of Southern California, it is a musical comedy that uses the West Side Story theme and music to spoof the rivalry between Arab and Israeli falafel stands on Israel’s West Bank. Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan praised the film and wrote that “West Bank Story …( was) expertly made and impressive down to the finger snapping of the rival gangs.”

The second film is a full length (106 minutes) film festival favorite,

” Monsieur Batignole”.

 

Filmed in France in 2002 with very high quality English subtitles, it is a true story of a Jewish child who becomes separated from his parents during a Nazi round up of French Jews. He returns to his apartment to find it occupied by the downstairs gentile neighbors. The story is a tension-filled drama told with charm and humor as Monsieur Batignole, a French butcher who has very little love for his Jewish neighbors, becomes heroic as he hides the Jewish child and then helps him to escape from France. Monsieur Batignole was the very popular festival opener at last spring’s Pittsburgh Jewish-Israeli Film Festival. Movie Night at Rodef Shalom is open to the community and there is no charge. Light refreshments will follow after both films have been shown. For more information contact Rodef Shalom Congregation at 412-621-6566.

Marla Perlman