Opinion

LA Opera’s version of Gioachino Rossini’s 1817 Cinderella (or, in Italian, La Cenerentola) is by far my favorite production of this season. Indeed, La Cenerentola is one of the most enchanting, charming operas I’ve ever seen mounted at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, full of the joie de vivre of Mozart’s ebullient works, notably The Marriage of Figaro. La Cenerentola is absolutely the perfect choice for the holiday and is ideal for bringing children to share in the enchantment, especially to the matinee performances.

There are17th century written versions of Cinderella and by 1812 the renowned Brothers Grimm wrote their own iteration of the fairy tale. In essence, Rossini and librettist Jacopo Ferretti adapted French author Charles Perrault’s folk tale published in 1697, Cendrillon, which means “The Glass Slipper.” However, La Cenerentola doesn’t have any glassy footwear or pumpkin carriages per se, although Rossini’s opera does follow most of the other conventions of this age-old, beloved children’s fable, which can also be read as a parable of class struggle.

The first time it happened was bad enough.

“It” amounted to this: It was Wednesday afternoon, I had finished my column early and walked out to my car, parked in the alley behind my house. I was on my way to an art show — very excited. I got in the car — hmmm, why is it so cold in here? — began backing out, what’s that? It looked like there was something on my rear window. I got out, walked around back. Oh my God! My rear window has been smashed in! What I saw was a fragment of broken glass dangling in a corner.

Was this a robbery? I had two umbrellas in the back seat; they were still there. Nothing had been taken. Apparently it was plain old idiotic vandalism.

I almost drove down to the art show anyway, but soon enough realized I needed to get this fixed, so I swung back, drove over to my car-repair place. “What year is your car?” I almost couldn’t remember. Oh yeah, 2009, Toyota Corolla. They ordered a rear window, which arrived a day later. And the window was installed. Problem solved, life goes on.

At a recent New York event, the President of the Foreign Press Association Ian Williams declared, before an approving audience, that it is time “to reclaim the narrative on Palestine”.

This phrase - ‘reclaiming the narrative’ - is relatively new to the Palestinian discourse. Years ago, the concept, let alone its implementation, were quite alien: the pro-Israel crowd refused, and still refuses, to acknowledge that Palestinians, their history and political discourse matter; some in the pro-Palestinian movement relegated Palestinian voices as if they were simply incapable of articulating a coherent narrative. 

For many years, I, along with other Palestinian intellectuals, raged against the misrepresentation and marginalization of Palestine and the Palestinians, not only by Israel and its allies in mainstream media, but also against the elitism that existed within the Palestinian movement itself. 

For a brighter Thanksgiving in our troubled times, I share my carefully chosen, over a number of months, roster of diverse age and origins Young Heroes. They give me hope and cheer. I hope they will do that for you and your families too . Enjoy.

Zaila Avant-garde, 14 year old first African American to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee. She also holds three Guinness World Records for basketball dribbling.  Zaila Avant-garde Talks About How She Came To Her Spelling Success : NPR

Tani Adewumi, 10 year old Nigerian immigrant to New York City, youngest in history chess master. Meet America's Newest Chess Master. He's 10 : NPR

Last Thanksgiving I wrotethat the country was more divided than ever and it was probably for the best that families had to remain socially distanced from each other after the 2020 election. Now, here we are –– a mere year later –– and Thanksgiving is once again upon us, which means all of our families’ turkeys are coming home to roost. 2021 has turned out to be just as politically chaotic in Ohio and across our country as its predecessor, so perhaps it’s finally time to serve our families some crow and humble pie this Thanksgiving. When eaten, both of these dishes are defined as making the consumer “admit that they were wrong or accept that they were defeated” –– which means family members across the political spectrum will have a chance to reflect on everything they’ve gotten wrong (or right!) in the past year.

On November 15, 2021, the Russian Ministry of Defense carried out the successful destruction of the discontinued and decommissioned national spacecraft named “Tselina-D”, which was put into orbit back in 1982. The head of the Russian Defense Ministry, Sergei Shoigu, confirmed that the Russian Aerospace Forces had indeed successfully destroyed this satellite with pinpoint accuracy.

The fragments formed after knocking down this spacecraft do not pose any threat to either orbital stations or other satellites, or generally speaking to the space activities of any state. This is well known to all space powers that have fairly effective national technical means of verification and control of outer space, including the USA.

After the destruction of the named satellite, its fragments moved along trajectories outside the orbits of other operating space vehicles, have been under constant observation and monitoring from the Russian side and are included in the main catalogue of the space activities.

On October 21, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz announced the issuance of a military order designating six prominent Palestinian human rights groups as ‘terrorist organizations’. Gantz claimed that they are secretly linked to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a socialist political group that Israel considers, along with most Palestinian political parties, ‘a terrorist organization.’

The Palestinian organizations included in the Israeli order are Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights, Al-Haq, the Bisan Center for Research and Development, Defense for Children Palestine, Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC) and the Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees.

I begin with a partial disclaimer. My knowledge about the failures of Columbus city government comes largely from the middle-to upper-middle-level officials with whom I have the pleasure of speaking with. They strive to make a deeply flawed “system” work as well as it does.  

My efforts since last winter to stimulate more responsive and responsible actions, including enforcement and revision of existing laws, led to my collaboration with City Council legislative aides, the City Attorney and his office, Neighborhoods Engagement, Zoning/Code Enforcement, 311, and the Columbus Police Department (CPD).  

The connections are primarily through personal contacts with individuals and their programs; they are selective and not systematic. The degree of disconnection, however, defies comprehension. City Councilmember and city departments are poorly aligned. Departments are not well connected. Therein lay multiple clues to the problems. 

The AFI Fest returned to Hollywood for live, in-person screenings and events, although there was also a virtual component for watching many of the feature, documentary, short, indie, studio, and foreign productions that Los Angeles’ largest annual film festival presented in 2021. Some of the screenings were accompanied by talent who introduced and/or spoke about their films when they were shown at the TCL Chinese Theatres in Hollywood. Here are reviews of some of the films I saw:

ONE SECOND – Chairman Yimou Returns to the Scene of the “Crime”

The AFI Fest returned to Hollywood for live, in-person screenings and events, although there was also a virtual component for watching many of the feature, documentary, short, indie, studio, and foreign productions that Los Angeles’ largest annual film festival is presenting in 2021. Some of the screenings were accompanied by talent who introduced and/or spoke about their films when they were shown at the TCL Chinese Theatres in Hollywood. Here are reviews of some of the films I saw:

THE REAL CHARLIE CHAPLIN – The Reel and Real Little Tramp

My favorite film at AFI this year was The Real Charlie Chaplin, co-directed by Peter Middleton and James Spinney, who co-wrote the almost 2-hour biopic with Oliver Kindeberg. The highest compliment I can pay this documentary that traces the rise and fall and rise of the eponymous screen comic is that Real is worthy of its subject who, of course, was one of motion pictures’ great pioneers.