Theatrical reading, personal experience.

   Theatrical reading is fantastic. I discovered its beauty, when I played the role of (Philoctète) in French language, in the play by the same name by "André Gide" and I got a round of applause for this drama-reading. It was quite a self-discovery on my part. The nice thing too, that it came by chance, and through it, I met new good people.
     It was in the library, that I met a lady librarian who encouraged me to attend. I didn't know or read the play before. I went alone, on time, and met new people, that I didn't know them before. After getting acquainted with them, I asked them to give me the main role which is quite hard. The play is composed of five scenes. It is called (Philoctète) by "André Gide". It is based on a legend written originally by "Sophocles". The role consisted of long monologues versus two other characters. Since long time, many years in fact, I didn't read anything in French, loudly and in front of other people, completely alien to me and in addition to that I have to incarnate the character and play with my voice theatrically. The whole thing was new to me. It was quite an adventure. I succeeded to the acclaim of those brand-new friends. The most important is that I discovered a new hidden talent inside me, that waited so long to get out. I pronounced the French words too with finesse and eloquence, which was astounding to me before them. I got hooked on the experience and sure will continue to attend.
   I was delighted with the role playing. In addition, it was a pleasure to get across new Francophone good new friends. I am sure that one or two of them will be long-time friends.

You said, "Fauteuils d'orchestre"?!

   What a nice film! "Fauteuils d'orchestre", the French movie released in the year 2006, is a poem, an ode to life, man and arts. It was totally filmed in the glamorous city, Paris, which was to my mind - with all its ambiance, buildings, streets, river and people - the hidden hero of the film.

It was released in the USA under the title, "Avenue Montaigne".

   This film has won many awards. One 'Raimu' award for the best comedy film in 2006 in its first cycle and the Public award in the Athens film festival in 2007. In addition to many nominations to César award and to Oscar as a representative of France in 2007. The main character of the film, Jessica, was played by the Belgian actress Cécile de France, and for it she won, a gold Swann from the annual Cabourg film festival and a gold Raimu. The director of the film, has made a beautiful lyrical film, although she was originally a screenwriter and this film is only her third one, out of six till now. 

About the film 'Rhino season'

             What a fantastic Iranian film released in 2012 by the escaped or self-exiled Iranian director "Bahman Ghobadi". As usual my friends and I, after watching the film, had contradictory views and we divided in two opposing groups, one with the film 100% (I was in this group) and the other was not in its favor totally. The language of the film was Persian and Turkish, and our viewing copy was subtitled in Arabic. It is a poetic film full of animal symbols, scattered poetry (Rumi), though it is based on a real life story that happened around the time of the Iranian revolution, and after it. The main character of the film is a poet suffered in the prison (actually for no reason but a faked crime of subversive poetry against the state), for 27 years in addition to his wife being imprisoned for some time and raped there. After his release from the prison, he comes out as a totally different person, totally broken, with one aim, only to search for his wife. And the story goes on into complex events. The film is an incriminating declaration against the Iranian Revolutionary regime. 

Thinking about 'narcissism'!

   How many people with narcissism you have known or met in your life, and what are your memories about them? Is it good or bad or something in the middle? Is it a trait or disease? What is the demarcating margin between self-esteem and narcissism? What is the best method to deal with a person, man or woman with narcissism, laugh at him or her, befriend him or her, neglect him or her or attack him or her by mocking? Can narcissism be founded on wealth, health or success, or can it be void without any base? Is it acceptable by celestial religions or others? Is it different from arrogance or pompous behavior? Is the narcissistic person, a sociable one? Can this person be a productive altruistic individual or not? Can he or she, succeed in marriage, teamwork, or collaboration in a collective project?

Delightful Concert!

Last night, with delight, I attended a concert for chamber music, played by the Bibliotheca Alexandrina Chamber Orchestra, in one of the theater halls of the Arts Center annexed to the library. The orchestra, was formed of 17 musicians, 12 of them (violins and violas), 3 cellos, 1 double bass and 1 harpsichord, and they were led by Ahmed El-Saeidy, the renown Egyptian maestro. The program consisted of two parts with an intermission in between, in the first one, there were two Concerto Grosso, one by Händel in G major and the other by Vivaldi in D minor and the second part contained the Serenade for Strings in C major by Tchaikovsky. But, as a last-minute addition to the original program, they played the Chaconne in G minor of Purcell, as a tribute to the late Abdelmenem Kamel. The musicians were of a good caliber indeed, and they played the works with dexterity, finesse and in unison. The concert was attended by a very good number of persons, the majority of them, appeared to be acquainted with classic music in different degrees. As, to the music, the selection was very nice, and I enjoyed it a lot, especially the first part which consisted of three works from the Baroque music era by three great composers, the English Henry Purcell, the German-born British Georg Friedrich Händel and the Italian Antonio Vivaldi. In fact, I hold a high esteem and appraisal to the music of Händel and Vivaldi. I was not well-versed with the music of Purcell, but I discovered that his music was nearly at the same level of greatness as Händel. The musical works of the Baroque era, were always touching to me and at many times provoke inside me a mixed reaction of awe, pleasure, well-being and inner peace. I have been always fascinated and still is, by the accompaniment of the strings and harpsichord for the fantastic sounds that ensue which reverberate inside my mind and soul for a while. The second part of the concert was dedicated to the romantic era of music and the mood of the music was different of course especially that it was of the great Tchaikovsky. I noticed that the harpsichord was omitted and the reason was obvious that it was not used in the eras after the Baroque, despite that it produces very nice special sounds, and it was replaced quasi totally by the piano. But, here, in the Tchaikovsky serenade, as its name implies it was all for strings. I knew this work before, and didn't believe that it will always have the same moving effect, but it did. It was a nice evening spent in the listening to the music of four of the great composers in the history of mankind.

About (life of Pi) movie! - 1

First part of the film review: the story.

 
‘Life of Pi’ is an American adventure film released in 2012 and was directed by the Taiwanese-born American director (Ang Lee). It was a success both on the commercial scale and artistically in the Critics’ circles. It was nominated for eleven of the Academy Awards, which is astounding in itself. Pi, played by (Suraj Sharma), is the protagonist of the Booker prize winning novel written by (Yann Martel) on which the movie was based. The film opens by a scene where the adult Pi relates his life story to a European writer who was traveling in the search for the truth and God and met him accidentally. He was an Indian boy raised in a city in India which was under French rule for a period of time called (Pondicherry), by two loving parents and a supportive brother. Pi, which is short for Piscine, was chosen by our hero while he was a student in school after being pursed by mockery from his colleagues. Pi was a smart boy, and always had questions about life and God, so that he studied and practiced Hinduism, Christianity and Islam at the same time. His parents earned their bread by running a private Zoo which they owned. Due to financial troubles, his father decided to sell the Zoo and immigrate with his family and the animals to Canada. During their trip on a Japanese cargo ship, a tempest caused the capsize of the ship. Pi, managed to survive and unleashed a life boat. His parents, brother, many of the animals and the ship-crew all drowned. While struggling with the waves and the elements, he was left with a Zebra, a monkey, a hyena, and a tiger. The hyena attacked the Zebra first and killed it then the monkey and killed it, while Pi, was on his guard to protect himself, dangling from the boat. Then the tiger, attacked the hyena and ate it. Now, Pi, was facing a furious tiger. Rapidly he used his ruse to construct a raft to stay on it, to keep a distance from the tiger which was on the boat. While on the raft, he snatched some of the food, tools and life-saving instruction booklets from the bottom of the life-boat. Returning to the raft, he started by feeding himself then began reading, what will be the guide that helped him to stay for 227 days stranded alive in the middle of the ocean. After many trials and failures, Pi succeeded in taming the tiger. Pi, realized that that the tiger can help him to stay alive. After they both endured severe hardship, they reach a floating unknown island full of meerkats. Pi and the animal, regained their bodily energy and strength by feeding themselves freely. Due to the unwelcoming environment of the island at night, Pi, decided to leave it. Their boat in the end reached the coast of Mexico, and both were quasi half-dead. The tiger left him to the jungle amid tears of Pi. Pi, was rescued by local people. While at hospital, employees from the Japanese company that owned the cargo ship came to meet him and ask what has gone wrong during the tempest. He faked an imaginary story of sharing the lifeboat with his mother, a sailor, and the cook. The cook killed the sailor then in turn struggles with Pi's mother and stab her to death, so that Pi was forced to revenge and kill the cook. Returning back to the present day where Pi is an adult living happily with his wife and kids, and telling the story to the novelist, Pi alluded that the monkey was Pi's mother, the zebra was the sailor, the hyena was the cook, and, the tiger, was Pi himself. Pi asks the writer which story of the two, he prefers, and the novelist chooses the one with the tiger and the animals because it was more fantastic. (to be cont.)

One small man!

Look at this man! Although you see a person with a small brittle frame, yet you can sense power and energy emanating from him, radiating all around him. Stumbling, many times during his earthly existence, he had always the bless, the ability to overcome obstacles and stones that encountered him. Always, he managed to carry on with his duties and responsibilities, one way or another despite pains and miseries. At times, you may envy him, for his many talents and skills, but another times you may feel sorry for him. Though possessing a controversial personality, he has been coined kind-heart by his entourage. You can help this small man to grow and become more useful and more happy, by providing a good atmosphere full of positivism and benevolence. This small man or woman is present in all of us, in a degree or another. Sure we can help each other to feel better, live better and communicate better.

Caught in the middle!

No, this is not the well known song of the pop band (A1) that appeared in 2002. I am talking about my weird situation, that I am living in from three months. How will be your reaction when you know that I am caring single-handed for two octogenarian sick parents at the same time. It is a mission impossible! But only God knows how I am still managing the problem effectively despite being stuck between a rock and a hard place. To say the truth, somehow I am now accommodated to this rough period of my life, being caught in the middle of unsolvable riddles with no definitive answers is not easy, and even nerve-wrecking.

Times of troubles

To live in a complete continuous monotonous peace of mind is quasi impossible during this earthy living, whether we are very wealthy, very wise or very religious. Troubles arise every now and then and give us beside the stress, anxiety or sadness, a special philosophical taste to life and existence. But when troubles, come together at the same time, especially when they are dispersed in many directions but centered around the same person, then the situation is really mind-bogging, nerve-wrecking and awful. It is even more complicated when you have to deal with a multitude of uninvited problems at the same time, single-handed and with no assistance at all. This is what I am living in now. And to add more to the tragedian circumstances, there is not a single answer to solve any of the problems, and even when I am trying to treat a point, often there is a secondary side-problem that arises. Then either you lose control of your nerves to lose then everything, or you stand up on your own feet to face the reality, with open-mind, calmness, and courage.

To have faith, doesn't mean that we neglect the problems and indulge in amusements and let everything in its ways, like the renown Arabic verse of poetry wrongly advised us. Active involvement in trying to analyze the particular problem and drawing many scenarios of the outcome, do provide relief to our nerves and aid in the real solution. Living the moment and not lamenting or ruminating the problem inside our mind all the time, is helpful. If we can solicit assistance from one or more trusted person, this will be an asset that can support us. We have to convince ourselves, that we are doing our best, and not waiting for a complete ideal solution, but to try is an honor in itself.

As long as we are breathing there will always be a hope, whatever were the piles of obstacles, we can overcome them and in the end can get through those bad rough times of troubles.

Creativity and the psyche

While I was flipping the satellite channels to get rid of a spell of boredom, I stumbled upon a guest who was speaking about the relation between creativity and forms of mental handicapping. His words, style and enthusiasm attracted me to follow the program. He re-iterated a simple idea, which I heard about before, that many of the geniuses who produced many artifacts and masterpieces of music, literature, poetry or plastic arts were in the matter of fact, psychologically unstable and even were considered by some as insane. Some people said once that arts arise from madness! Is this idea always true to take for granted? Is the connection between the creativity and the psychic troubles solid enough and reproducible under laboratory circumstances, to find the true scientific evidence of its existence? Or is the case we are talking about merely coincidental, and variable. I read a lot about the relation between creative people and melancholy or psychic depression. Many artists were afflicted by a degree of neurosis, many times in their life. I think I have to read more about this phenomenon.