” All difficult things have their origin in that which is easy, and great things in that which is small”

Lao Tzu

My first trip to China was 29 years ago.

I remember Chinese people only using dark blue and green military uniforms. There were almost no cars and most would move around with black bicycles making a hell of a noise with their bells, that made our nights impossible to sleep.

I also remember at them staring at me with absolutely no manners which I found terribly uncomfortable and somehow scary. Later our guide explained that they had never seen blue eyes and fair hair before coming across with me, that they were as surprised as me guarantying that it was a completely innocent look.

When having a Chinese breakfast in old Peking (now Beijing) I asked the  hotel housekeeper why I would only find military propaganda on TV , no love stories, soap operas , and reinforced  the concept asking a second question ” Where do you keep your libido, your desires  after all?”  The answer had been very clear: Pointing a finger in her forehead, the young woman replied in a dry authoritarian tone “  We keep it  here, side by side with the revolution!”

I was very young at that time, and watching early morning Tai – Chi Chuan practices everywhere we went, left me a strange sense of these people lack of individuality, manners, and powerless cultural imprisonment. Never in the whole world I would even imagine what could have been instead a message of automated spirituality.

As I grew older, on my way back, life knocked at my door with different challenges, harsh adjustments and a bowl plenty of dissatisfaction.

The dreams I though were easy to reach needed more work, the people that I thought would be easy to live with turned to be sometimes unmerciful opponents, the surrounding cultures I assimilated  during the years were far from familiar with the one I grew up with.

For several years, trying to understand the laws of life, and of my own , I cultivated my home garden like Voltaire,  on a hilltop of the hectic city where I lived,  as a sort of temporary retirement every afternoon up to sunset.

Tai-Chi Chuan became my  ultimate raison-d’etre ;  I  slowly started  to get more acquainted about the Inner and subtle movement of mother Yin in conjunction to Yang ;  Suddenly it was all strangely fitting into place, awareness of the present moment made true physical sense to me.

While witnessing birds sang among trees, and  fresh hilltop breeze caressed my face, I found myself   ” Waving Hands Like Clouds ” ,  “Tossing , Shaking and Parting the Horse’s Mane” , ” Spreading Wings like the White Crane” ” Piking the Needle for the Bottom Of The Sea ” ” Flashing  the Arms like a Fan“  ” Stepping Back and Repulsing Monkey” “Hitting the Opponent with Two Fists”,  reconnecting at last with my apparently lost Oneness and  inner Emptiness. The city heavy traffic from  far,  was surprisingly no longer,  a threat to me.

Several years have passed since that fresh glimpse of  ‘ Temporary Eternal enlightenment” .

In Manhattan this weekend I decide after a wonderful Tunisian Couscous at Cafe Gitane, to go to the movies to watch the Karate Kid remake. Grabbing headlines, the film has been a huge hit since its release last week.

Bullies have their eyes and fists on 12-year-old Dre (Jaden Smith) after he and his mom (Taraji P. Henson) move from Detroit to Beijing. Luckily Dre’s maintenance man (Jackie Chan, who shouldn’t be fighting kids) is also a kung fu master willing to teach Dre discipline and the art of defending himself.

The Karate Kid” maintains the original’s sense of loneliness in a new place and the mental and physical oppression of bullying . Of course, isn’t out to acknowledge—and reinforces Asian stereotypes when Dre says, “It’s China, mom; everybody knows kung fu.”

The movie takes place in China. Some beautiful scenes are shot in normally inaccessible locations as the Great Wall and the Forbidden City but the ones in the stunning mountains landscape of the old Province of Henan, located in the eastern central part of the country caught my breath.

The moment you arrive in a monasteries peak where” real Kun Fu“  was thought by  Mr. Han (Jackie Chan) ’s father,  you  come to learn about the secret of victory over the world , now physically at your feet.

The form of meditation is called “Chan” or “Zen“.

Meditation also allows one to focus his inner energy into his actions. The Japanese call this Chi, and many Westerners have heard of it. The Chinese, however, call it Kiai. Kiai allows a Kung Fu student to do things their physical body alone cannot do.

Developing control over your Kiai is a matter of intense mental strength and conditioning. While some people may scoff at the idea of Kiai, and it is true that it might be more of a mind over matter application than an actual force, but Chinese Kung Fu masters has demonstrated their control over their Kiai by doing physical feats that would otherwise be impossible.

Shaolin monks would prepare their minds to withstand the most terrible conditions so that when faces with those conditions in the real world, they would be prepared instead of shocked. Knowing that you have the mental toughness and readiness instills a confidence that allows you to go into any situation ready to act without hesitating. Self doubt is the number one way to be defeated before the enemy has even thrown a punch.

Shaolin Kung fu is not just about defending yourself against an attacker or inflicting bodily harm. Shaolin martial arts also stress discipline, respect for yourself and others, patience, and being humble even in victory. The mental training of Shaolin martial arts helps prepare the student for any events that may come.

Being physically prepared for an alteration is good, but if you are not mentally prepared you will not be focused enough to use the tools that your body has. This is why Shaolin meditation is such an important part of the Shaolin martial arts training. Meditation may not be literally practicing your physical tools, but it allows your mind to make better use of those tools.

Keeping cool in a self defense situation is one of the best ways to ensure you will survive. Tough mental preparedness allows the body to be pushed beyond its physical limits.

Out bodies can only do so much, but our minds allow for much greater feats. I am sure you have heard of “mind over matter” and the truth is that it works. When the Shaolin added mental training to their physical training the result was that their martial arts system obviously surpassed all others in application and practical results.

Kung fu Shaolin monks practiced Chinese martial arts not just for self defense , but as a way of life intended to benefit them on a physical, mental and spiritual level. In times of hardship, such as the financial crisis that we are facing now, this knowledge helps us cope with our modern fast paced lives that lead to stress and anxiety.

The legend of the Shaolin temple and its Shaolin martial monks was first born around the year 540 AD, when the Indian monk Bodhidarma traveled to China to see the emperor. Bodhidarma introduced to the Shaolin monks eighteen movements derived from traditional Indian Yoga.

This was designed to increase their physical and mental strength as well as the flow of Chi energy. It was these eighteen movements that would become kung fu (KF) as we know it today, after being perfected and expanded for nearly 1,500 years.When Bodhidarma introduced Kun Fu to the Shaolin monks, it was to build their mental and physical strength to prevent them from falling asleep during meditation.

When we look at the story of Shaolin, we see the benefits that Kun Fu was originally intended to give us.

KF has been constantly perfected and built upon over the centuries, creating the vast array of styles and variations that we know today. One of the most popular styles today is called Hung Kuen, which is a style based upon the original Southern style of Shaolin Kung fu.

Although KF has changed over time and often become more focused on the ‘martial’ side of things, the core messages and philosophy remain the same as what Bodhidarma taught the Shaolin monks nearly 1,500 years ago.

Kung fu incorporates not only Buddhist philosophy, but also the philosophy of Taoism (pronounced ‘Daoism’). The teachings of the founder of Taoism, Lao Tzu and his manuscript the ‘Tao Te Ching’ have been incorporated into the teachings of KF, teaching us how to live in harmony with nature and within ourselves.

Over the centuries, Shaolin monks incorporated many different animal styles into their KF, On his journey from India to China, the Bodhidharma developed a fighting system based on his observations of the way animals fought in the wild. Arriving at the Shaolin Temple, he put the monks to work learning his fighting system. The animal styles became so numerous that the virtues of all animal styles had to be summed up, hence the five animals of Kung fu. These are:

The tiger , representing power and ferocity Shaolin tiger style kung fu is direct, powerful and decisive. Since tigers have no predators, tiger kung fu is all offense. The crane , representing speed and fluidity, relies on elegance, patience and evasion. Crane kung fu allows an opponent to use their energy to defeat themselves. The snake , representing speed and accuracy, strikes are lightning quick, like a snake biting an enemy. The leopard , teaching us to use our heads and to think in our fighting , and the dragon relies on internal strength and power. It utilizes soft, circular motions that coalesce into sudden destructive power, representing the mastery of all styles, thus making them one.

Through mastering the different animal styles one can achieve a balance in our training. A balance between power and speed, between soft and hard, between ferocity and calmness. This balance is carried forth into our daily lives, helping us to create a perfect harmony between ourselves and others in our lives.

Kung fu training is designed to not only help the individual with his self defense, but to build our fitness, focus, discipline and confidence.

Through KF training, eight wisdoms of KF are thought : respect, loyalty, tolerance, perseverance, patience, dignity, humility and honor.

These wisdoms  are of help not only for the training, but also to be successful in everything that we do In our  fast paced lives  that often  cause us  stress and anxiety – goes without saying in times of hardship such as the financial crisis that we are facing now.

I look nostalgic at old photos taken almost 30 years ago in particular one of myself  in a light green scarf and a red sweater visiting a communist China before the Coca Cola regime.  Such a long ago….

I stare inquisitively at those pictures depicting children with colorful coats wandering what else I could learn from their country, such a giant player with a voluntarily an erased past…The answer to my question comes almost instantaneously as my eyes in disbelief are reading an article from last week  Telegraph  that says- quote: ”

” The temple in central Henan province, famous as the birthplace of kung fu, has established an eBay-style store selling Shaolin branded merchandise on China’s TaoBao auction site.
The site is operated by Shaolin Zhiye, the temple’s commercial arm, which is behind an array of ventures exploiting the Shaolin legend, including film productions, touring martial arts shows and even a reality-TV program.

The site does not offer the secrets of immortality but for 10,000 yuan (1,450 dollars), fans can buy a three-volume set of kung-fu and medical secrets. More modest offerings include a wristband and environmentally-friendly chopsticks.
Despite their name, critics say, the temple’s current occupants are not genuine Shaolin monks because the spiritual side of their art has been replaced by crass commercialism.

The venture into the world of e-commerce is the latest involving Shi Yongxin, the abbot of the monastery who has developed a reputation for clever financial dealings.

He has been criticized for accepting a brand new luxury car for his services to the local tourist industry but supporters say he has done much to popularize the town, which has more than 80 martial arts clubs and schools with around 50,000 students.”

Amused I finally reflect on my past fears, the ones that unconsciously haunt my sleep and the Shaolin monks unusual fresh marketing activities…

Mr. Han (Jackie Chan) , the karate Kid’s master would respond about the ghosts in my mind:  ” Face them, fight them, friend them!” . And, no doubts my dear friends…. this is real Kun fu!

Joelle’s Tips:

Sources: The Daily Telegraph /  E-how / Golden Lion Academy of Kun fu / Shaolin Gun Fu Institute / China Travel /

The Movie: The Karate Kid

The Academies in China: Travel  Study Kun fu at the The Shaolin Temple /  Study Tai Chi Chuan Taijiquan (tai chi or taiqi) or Shaolin Gongfu at Buddhist Temple

The Academy in India :  Study Yoga in the Hymalaya

My thanks for the contribution of All Right Reserved  copyrighted pictures courtesy of: Rick Archer ( landscape) ,  2010 Sony Pictures Digital Inc. (Karate Kid ) ,  About.com Can Chu Getty Images , Wikipedia Coomon rights ( Pagoda) /Larique ( Chaolin Kun Fu)    Sanmenxia & Luoyang, (Burn Incense) ,

” I sent my soul through the invisible, some letter of that afterlife to spell;
and by and by my soul returned to me, and answered, “I myself am Heav’n and Hell””

Omar Khayyam

I was born in Milan, I have a Brazilian nationality, a Spanish  passport, and I live part time in new York when seasons  bloom.

My father is from Lebanon his parents from Siria, my mother is from Lebanon as well and her father and mother are respectively from Turkey and Spain.

I have decided to take a break and spend sometime at my parent’s home in Brussels located in the charming neighborhood of Ixelles. Their house is a landmark duplex with South West bright sun exposure in a  light greyardoise facade built in the 70s with interesting Art Deco style balconies .

On the entrance hall, beautiful white Thassos marble from Greece, framed by a border designed in neoclassic black onix unmistakably capture one’s attention. The brightness of the white marble is enhanced  by a aligned procession of  small  halogen lamps strategically placed in different parts of the roof. I take my shoes off, with my camera I amuse myself to observe the different details around this hall.

A Persian carpet probably dating from the beginning of the century with a central motif representing a small house, maybe a synagogue, maybe a mosque near a tree that looks clearly like a Pinus Haleppensis typical of that region, lies in the center of this piece.

At my right a lacquered chest from Japan where on top my parents keep a  collection of equally Japanese smaller boxes also in lacquer, and a pair of original  containers giving the impression of being wood vases or lacquered baskets whose presence is  fundamental in  an Ikebana composition.

The sculpture at the end of the hall is placed on a pedestal in from of an Italian contemporary canvas by Toti Shaloya my mother says is Roman, and dates of the 2 century after Christ,she precises  looking straight in my eyes that if it dated 2centuries before Christ the sculpture would be Greek.

Without my shoes, I walk to the bibliotheque ( library) the most popular room of the whole duplex and this is because it’s the place where all the family spends most of the time.

It’s cozy, warm and has a  very equipped collections of art,  non-history  fiction books and last 40 years of hard cover and paperback  best sellers all in French.

The tones of the room are warm  Mediterranean oranges as to give a harsh contrast to the portfolio of greys typical of the Belgian capital weather. The two armchairs facing the window are upholstered in red satin and colorful trimmings and a very thin wool with Persian and Indian paisley motifs coming from the celebre Milanese house Etro in the neighborhood of Brera where I was born.

The carpet on the floor I brought very proudly a few years ago in a small suitcase from Istambul it’s a Bessarabian. While  looking down and noticing pleased that my crimson cashmere slippers fit perfectly with the surrounding atmosphere of colors and textures , I decide to take a look at the local newspaper ” Le Soir”.

An ivory inlay mirror on the illuminated shelf, probably brought from my same trip in Istambul, still emanating the aroma of fresh sandalwood after so many years, is distracting me from reading the paper. My portrait is reflected through the glass and I can’t help asking myself the same question…

Where exactly am I coming from? Without reasoning too much I go back to my reading and realize that one of the most acclaimed movies of the moment just came out. It’s called “ Le Concert“.

“Considered the greatest conductor of the 80’s, during Brejnev’s rule, Andrei Filipov was shamefully cast aside for supporting Jewish musicians, defying orders from the Soviet regime. 30 years later, Filipov still works at Moscow’s largest theater, the Bolchoi, but as a cleaner, and is profoundly affected by the degradation of the orchestra’s performing level…..”

I lift my eyes and my gaze stops over the Italian painter, Michele Cashella canvas on the opposite wall of the library, dated from the 1960.It depicts a Californian seaside landscape in early springtime where most of the area is covered by a large tree explosion of yellow Mimosa.

Next to this image in my mind, my eyes travel back to the shelf where a picture of my daughter and I lay behind a bouquet of dried Lavander interlaced beautifully with a  light orange cotton ribbon made from the region of Provence in South of France.

Back to the newspaper I read more about the film  ” One night, after an umpteenth rebuttal from the administrator from whom he was requesting his old position back, Filipov discovers a fax sent by the famous Parisian Chatelet Theater’s manager, inviting the Bolchoi to play in Paris two weeks later.

The old conductor has a ludicrous idea: with his wife’s help, he hopes to bring his old musician friends together to travel to Paris and pose as the prestigious orchestra.

Four years after his heart-wrenching «Live and Become», Jewish-Romanian-born French director Radu Mihaileanu further develops a theme which seems dear to him – positive imposture – and

weaves an dashing drama, between tears and laughter, confronting the contradictions of modern Russia to the discreet Western world of classical music.”

I decide the movie is just what I need at the moment. I cross quickly the bright yellow walled salon. An Austrian symbolist painting portrays a lady with a a gold necklace and dark and mysterious expression  almost as she’s coming from another world. It’s a ” gaze ” from another hidden dimension, one we are constantly looking to discover or to penetrate…

The movie, by Romanian director Mihaileanu (Train de Vie, Live and Become) has a knack for telling warm human stories about the dispossessed of all kinds including identity.

The beautiful Melanie Laurent,  (fresh from her breakout role in Inglourious Bastards) as young French violinist Anne-Marie Jacquet, confides to Andrey Filipov (Guscov) at a candlelight dinner before the concert in Paris, that when she plays her violin , she is constantly seeking for the ” gaze “of her parents,  presumably killed on an airplane crush in the European Alps .

Andrei will conduct Tchaikovsky himself – and he insists on having  Anne-Marie Jacquet as his soloist. We see from the start that there is a ghost from the past linking Andrei, Anne-Marie and her over-protective agent, Guylene (Miou Miou) – but it takes almost two hours to finally unravel it.

the first third of the film, mostly set in Moscow, zips along entertainingly, with the rounding-up-of-the-musicians sequence providing some nice moments and some lively ” gypsi-ness.”

The word ‘Gypsy’ derives from ‘Egyptian, the same as the Spanish Gitano or the French Gitan. It emerged in Europe, in the 15th century, after their migration into the land of the Romani people (or Roma) in that continent.

They received this name from the local people either because they spread in Europe from an area named Little Egypt, in the Southern Balkans or because they fit the European image of dark-skinned Egyptians skilled in witchcraft. When they first arrived at numerous places in Europe they claimed to be from Egypt, and required to travel for seven years as penance for apostacy.

Around the ninety-minute mark, though, Andrei finally lifts the baton and the concert begins. From here on in The Concert is pure weepie pleasure – and a brilliant, old-fashioned lesson in how a piece of music can be used cinematically to carry and mold an audience’s emotions.

And through the power of the universal sound of music tuned coincidentally or not into a Tchaikovsky composition, the fate of Anne Marie’s past is at last instinctively unraveled.

And looking around while she’s playing in front of a crowed room,  at the intense expression of these peculiar and un-traditional musicians who have brilliantly aligned as per enchantment in a complete harmony to her solo violin representing one of the world’s most legendary orchestras,  she finally realizes in a climax of her true origins, briefly reflected in the momentum like a glimpse of light standing out from a dense darkness coming from afar.

Back home before just before dinner time , I stroll once more around my parent’s rooms…  A large book on  the Persian poet Omar Kahayyam is quite inviting,  and at this moment like Anne Marie Jaquet, I still seek for inspiration…

Very carefully not to damage the beautiful ceramic Art Deco vase, I lift the heavy book and lay it on top of an old Sirian mother-of- pearl inlay commode where a picture of my maternal grand-mother Sara from Izmir portrays her holding proudly a baby , me, in her arms  few weeks after I was born.

And like the sound of a cello from this afternoon ,  still vivid in my mind,  I read from the poet a quote that accidentally falls under my eyes .

My gaze then travels to the  bright light of the Shabbat candles , like a violin , a piano or a tambourine, they evoke the original melody from a distant land… the journey is the one through  the hidden DNA of my own soul.

Shabbat Shalom

Joelle’s Tips:

The Film: Le Concert by  Radu Mihaileanu – Watch the trailer

Photos courtesy: Guy Ferrandis © 2009 – Les Productions du Trésor

January 1, 2010 : comment

“ Bonne anne a tous . Je voudrais commenecer cette annee en dediant ma premiere pensee a ma fille, Joelle que j’ai la chance d’avoir parmis nous en ce debut d’anee. Pourquoi  Elle ecrit de si beaux articles en sublimant personnages, lieux de beaute et de reves , qui mieux que sa maman pour s’ ocuper d elle. Qui de vous n’as pas reve en voyant les images somptueses, en lisant ses textes amusants et inhabituels. Qui de nous n’est pas sorti de son quotidien en voyageant a Venise, Prague, Capri et Naples? Sa reussite est du a son grand coeur. Elle donne a tout le monde avec generosite , spontaneite, et beacaup d’amour. Puisse-t -elle continuer dans la vie comme dans ce quel fait avec bonheur et serenite. Amen. ”

Jaqueline Maslaton

Because of my gypsy nature I have always been fascinated by the desert. Believe it or not, I meet in Beer Sheva , the artist and filmmaker Joseph Dadoune who over several cups of warm mint tea presented to me in a beautiful velvet book a stunning project taking place in the Ofaquim desert .

The unique project involves the local community in Ofaquim and will include works of mediums-cinema, photography and video-and will evolve over the course of five years. Hearing about my world wanderings, passions and beliefs he finally says with a large smile ” Joelle, you must work by my side in this project! ”

I take a few seconds to catch my breath….. “  I am honored Joseph ” – I reply- ” Actually, it would be great if we started now if that is ok with you of course ; I happen to carry my Belkin voice recorder in my backpack.”

Joseph smiles satisfied and agrees to reveal in person more information about his dream project . The first part will consist of a feature film produced in Ofaquim with the participation of local adolescents . It will be part of wide-ranging initiative carefully planned over the past several years. This same initiative will involve the foundation of a local studio, which will serve as the center for his artistic and cinematic activities.

Ofaquim, the town in which Dadoune grew up, constitutes a central axis in his cinematic works, ‘Universes’, ‘Chanti’ and ‘Sion’, were featured in the solo exhibition the Petach Tikva Museum of Art.

‘Sion‘  starring Ronit Elkabetz, was filmed in Ofaquim, Teqoa,  Jerusalem and the Louvre Museum in Paris.  The costumes were created by Christian Lacroix. What an eccletic mix I am thinking while I listen to him talking over his tea.  The film was created in collaboaration with the Louvre Museum, at the Palais of Tokio in Paris ,at the Kunst Palast in Dusseldoff, at the Light & Sie Gallery in Dallas, Texas.

Joseph Dadoune’s films he explains, are a continuous odyssey between various mental and geographic realms in Israel and Europe, between the landscape of his childhood in Ofaquim and the different Mediterranean landscapes, between Southern views from the Negev Desert and realms of sanctity and mysticism, and between East and West. The first of two films is centered upon a group of adolescents boys involved in building a giant missile in an abandoned Ofaquim factory.

The missile which will take shape in front of the viewer’s eyes, will later be carried by the boys throughout the fields surrounding the town, against the background of nearby landscapes and sites where the negative energy and radiation is at it’s highest ; The Negev Desert, the Ze’elim military base, the Duda’im garage disposal site, Sderot and Gaza. In the course of the this Sisyphean journey that appears to have no purpose and no end, the boys engage in a complex and charged relationship with one another.

The presence of one of them an individualist visionary concerned with esoteric subjects, produces conflict-ridden situations and dilemmas that lead to an examination of individual values in the context of collective values.  At the same time the boys attempt to come to terms with the questions of human existence, resulting in an intense and violent argument between those who define themselves as believers and those who define themselves as atheists.

The boys-an allegory for everyman-represent various aspects of human life: a child soul, a worker who carries a missile as a symbol of life’s difficulties and an act of despair , person fleeing a concrete threat         (terror, Kassam rockets, Iran) or abstract evil , and modern man-who is motivated by a destructive urge that leads him to create a weapon of mass destruction. Dadoune raises questions concerning the future of humanity in a nuclear age and produces a social statement about the working class in the contemporary world. This state in emblematized by the residents of unemployment-stricken, peripheral Ofaquim,who bear the burden of defending the country’s center in a threatened area.

The film will examine key issues and ideas related to human existence and human consciousness: faith, fear, atheism, power and democracy as well as universal values such as liberty,choice, honor and allegiance, The film makes use of biblical materials ( the Book of Numbers, whose Hebrew name literally means ” In the desert”) autobiographical elements, and concepts related to contemporary Israeli culture and reality.

The social context has been the center of Joseph Dadoune’s work. The virginal desert sands, the open expanse, the Bedouin tents, the poverty and the acrid odor of the garbage being burnt at the Duda’im disposal site are all embedded in his world of images, and serve as recurrent motifs of his work.

His deep commitment to the city and to its residents engenders discussions and raises awareness shaping the desire to create a true dialogue between the local community and the Israeli cultural field to participate through lectures, forums, contemporary art mediums and concerts,  in a process of artistic creation and to contribute to shaping society.

The project will raise public and International awareness ( and this is why I am here ) to the concerns of contributing to the recognition of the importance of the cultural landscape of the South and of related social and environmental issues as well as making local idenity and culture present within the Israeli cultural sphere.

Joseph chose a factory that has been abandoned for over 30 years as one of the sites featured in the film also offering a form of hope: The factory will serve as a platform for the youth community of the periphery and center of Ofaquim to express themselves with a ” voice’.

This will be attained through artistic and cultural creations such as art, cinema open studio for the community cultural events, acting and interaction with professional actors, literary evenings, poetry readings, performances by Internationally  acknowledged artists, art collectors, curators, museum directors ,filmakers, scholars and journalists, Yoga and Dance therapy Workshops sponsored by well known Israeli teachers who are specialized in adolescents, Judaism classes centered on the Book of numbers.These  visits will  undoubtedly contribute to promote the city, it’s landscape and residents engaging the participants into ” positive energies ” .

The innauguaration of the project will be accompaigned by a new Hebrew and English website that will update curators, filmakers, scholars and other cultural figures and institutions in Israel and abroad about the develpoment of the project. The production of the two films, video works and esperimantal satellite photography will be screened in a large scale exhibition in Israel and at International museums, as well as at film festivals, art forums and biennals worldwide .

This will provide to all participants as well as  a great sense of shared pride,  a national and International exposure and the commercial distribution of the films allowing exposure to a greater public. The project ” In the Desert ” will make an important contribution to revealing the complex and multifaceted character of Israeli society, as well as to bringing the periphery to the center and involving it in the process of cultural production pointing the city’s young residents towards a new path, filled with hope for a better future.

Joseph pauses….my tape recorder too. Nearby a small baby goat makes a timid noise in the valley illuminated by a strong sunset, I assume she got scared with so much talking.  Joseph picks her up and lifts her gently to her shoulders with a smile, then looks at me and says” Ok Joelle, I count on you to get the  start-up information going, but when is it that you are you coming back?”

Joelle’s Tips:

The Artist: Yosef Joseph Dadoune , born in 1957 in Nice, France, and immigrated in Israel in 1980 with his mother. The two settled in Ofaquim where he grew up and studied at a local Yeshiva. Photographer,video artist and director.

The Project: In the Desert Project /  P.O.B Ofaquim 80300, Israel, 292 ( o) 545 221949 / infos@inthedesert.org

Photo credits: Joseph Dadoune

The other Movies: Sion

The Partners : The Ministry of Israeli Foreign Affairs / Rabinowitz foundation Cinema Project Tel Aviv / Le Louvre Museum / Center Photographique, l’Ile de France

“Our revenge… is to live.”

Tuvie Bielski

Lately I have been very angry with what I see, read and hear around me.  Moreover, my teacher today at the Tuesday Zohar class told a crowd of 200 people, “This world we live in, is the worst of all worlds; we cannot trust our leaders, our friends, our financial institutions.”

Just before class, one of my counselors asked to see me for a chat.  “Joelle, what is your personal dream?” he asked.  “I am practically there ,” I replied.  He looked, with the deepest depth his blue eyes can muster, straight into mine and pronounced the following statement: “You think you are getting there, but in reality your dream hasn’t come true yet.  You must still work very hard for it.”

I gasped.  Speechless at such a comment but with a large smile on my face, I finally felt relieved.  In a few seconds the ’spiritual master’ in front of me would give me the secret and the tools I’ve always fought so hard for and deserve.  I would finally fulfill this dream of mine and get it over with.

Obviously sorry for interrupting the enlightened expression on my face, he added: “Come and see me in two weeks.  If I can, I will help you figure it out.  As I am very busy at the moment with another project, I may ask one of my colleagues to help you sort it out.”

What I understood at the end of our brief encounter is that once guided by the more available master, the answers would finally be given to me by the universe itself, leading me to recognize my correct path for eternity – and possibly to immortality.  With a sense of frustration, I left the Kabbalah center towards my supposed immortality, feeling much farther from my dream than when I had stepped through that door earlier.

Recognizing one’s path is not necessarily an easy task to do.  An example can be seen in one of the most expressive movies I have ever seen in my life.  It’s called Defiance and it’s directed by Edward Zwick portraying the movie’s principal hero, in my humble opinion, the sexiest man alive – actor Daniel Craig.

Based on an extraordinary true story, Defiance is an epic tale of family, honor, vengeance and salvation in World War II. The year is 1941 and the Jews of Eastern Europe are being massacred by the thousands. Managing to escape certain death, three brothers take refuge in the dense surrounding woods they have known since childhood.

There they begin their desperate battle against the Nazis.  Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber and Jamie Bell star as brothers who turn a primitive struggle to survive into something far more consequential-a way to avenge the deaths of their loved ones by saving thousands of others.

At first it is all they can do to stay alive.  But gradually, as whispers of their daring spreads, they begin to attract others-men and women, young and old-willing to risk everything for the sake of even a moment’s freedom.  Tuvia (Craig) is a reluctant leader and his decisions are challenged by his brother, Zus (Schreiber) who worries that Tuvia’s idealistic plans will doom them all.

Asael (Bell) is the youngest – caught between his brothers’ fierce rivalry.  As a brutal winter descends, they work to create a community, and to keep faith alive when all humanity appeared to be lost.

The Bielski brothers started one of the most noted Jewish partisan groups.  They were famous because, unlike other partisan groups who were focused on mainly fighting the Germans, the Bielskis first and foremost wanted to save Jewish lives.  To do so they had to fight battles on a daily basis.

Tuvia, among the greatest heroes of World War II, a man who led the most stunning Jewish rescue and resistance operation of his time said, “I would rather save one old Jewish woman than kill 10 Nazi soldiers.”

If you look in the dictionary, the definition of the word resistance is “The act of resisting; opposition, passive or active.  The quality of not yielding to force or external pressure; that power of a body which acts in opposition to the impulse or pressure of another, or which prevents the effect of another power; as, the resistance of the air to a body passing through it; the resistance of a target to projectiles.”

Jewish resistance took many forms during World War II.  One of the least known Jewish groups, but with some of the greatest impact, was the partisans.  20,000 to 30,000 escaped from the ghettos and camps all over Europe to form organized, armed resistance groups.

They blew up thousands of German trains and convoys, and saved thousands of lives.  Other forms of resistance included spiritual (studying Jewish Texts, praying, keeping Jewish holidays and traditions), artistic, intellectual (creating underground newspapers), and economic (labor stoppage).

The forest was not only a battleground, but it was a land of survival and a place the partisans called home for two years.  They built very strong and long-lasting relationships.

There were relationships between men and women, and people even found their true loves in the forest.  Several scenes caught me with tears in my eyes, when there were opportunities for occasional celebrations in the community created in the woods.

There was not too much time for the partisans to enjoy each other, as the enemy could attack at any point.  They had to constantly to change the location of their base camp, as they were afraid if they did not do so the Germans would find them easily with their numerous aerial surveys.

Defiance is known as the act of defying, putting in opposition, or provoking to combat; a challenge; a provocation; a summons to combat.  A casting aside; a renunciation; a rejection.  A state of opposition; willingness to fight; disposition to resist; contempt of opposition.

I called Adrian Gray, a stone balancing master and photographer as well, in London and requested an interview.  One of his sculptures features a large stone balancing atop another.  When I asked him the reason he had titled this work “Defiance” he answered:

“With sea water from the previous wave still running down the stones, I was amazed that this very delicate balance defied nature to the end and resolutely held on until the final wave of the set, shown powering towards it, finally brought it down.

For what seems such a simple picture there is so much in it – the various deep colors, the rock-steadfastness of the stones against the movement of the water and the lonely defiance against the inevitable.  It breaks your heart.”

The meaning of balance is to equal in number, weight, force, or proportion; to counterpoise, counterbalance, counteract, or neutralize.  To compare in relative force, importance, value, to estimate.  To settle and adjust, as an account; to make two accounts equal by paying the difference between them.  Equipoise is reached for a certain period of time.

Equipoise is universally understood as equality of weight or force; hence, equilibrium: a state in which the two ends or sides of a thing are balanced, and hence equal; a state of being equally balanced; said of moral, political, or social interests or forces.

And it’s because of the laws of equipoise, balance of the Jewish partisans and the Bielski brothers’ efforts that over 10,000 people are alive today.  1,200 individuals were saved and were thus able to have numerous children and grandchildren accomplishing survival in one of history’s severest points.  Jewish partisans were able to fight back against the Germans and their oppressors and this gave tremendous amount of pride to Jews as well.

Some like Bishop Richard Williamson dare to deny the holocaust with statements such as this, made last week: “I believe that the historical evidence … is hugely against 6 million Jews having been deliberately gassed in gas chambers as a deliberate policy of Adolf Hitler.”

Vocal denunciations of Israel by Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez encouraged last Friday’s armed group attack vandalizing Caracas’ oldest synagogue, shattering religious objects and spray-painting walls.

As long as Hamas leader Khaled Meshal continues to deny and fails to acknowledge the right of Israel to exist as a state, just watch, Jewish defiance will take place.

By the way, I must call my counselor at the center, and simply thank him for giving me the opportunity to need his guidance no longer.

He was actually right.  I hadn’t quite reached my dream yet, and that is because I have defied my opponent’s gravitational energy only in order to survive.

I realize now the lesson I have learned: My path from now on is to defy that opponent for good so that I can, as I have for centuries, surrender peacefully into the sacred immortality of my own existence.

Amen

Joelle’s Picks:

The movie: Defiance

The Stone balancer and Photographer : Adrian Gray

The Us Memorial:  Holocaust Museum

Jerusalem : Yad Vashem

International Day of Commemoration to honor the victims of the Holocaust. January 29 2009

Photo Credits all Copyrights reserved: Adrian Gray/Reuters Images/Paramount Vantage/Karen Ballard

“All we really need to survive is one person who truly loves us.”

Penelope- Lost

A few months ago my nephew recommended I watch a show on TV called Lost.  I have never really been a TV person, especially series  They make me feel like I am a hostage to a weekly date, like I will have to give up and miss  for another seven long days  My personality constantly leads me to the illusion that I am in full control of my time and my life.

Last month, while casually changing the channels with my remote control, I noticed the face of a short Middle-Eastern man on the screen, quite attractive I must say, with brown, very expressive eyes and a dark beard.  He was on his knees, even more attractive, at a Mosque in Iraq reciting the famous words from the Qur’an , “Allahuh Akbar”

Another young man sees him from afar and a whole suspense is created when the two finally meet, apparently after a long time, and one tells the other his newly wedded wife has been killed in an attack. After a few minutes of watching, my glass of hot tea was still in my hands without even having had the first sip taken, so much was my attention drawn by the scene.  I read the header at the bottom: “Lost – Season 1″.  What?  Is this the one my nephew suggested? Why didn’t he tell me it was about international affairs?

I decided to watch the whole episode, and after that I immediately called my nephew.  As I recall, he told me he had watched an entire season in one 24 hour period.That’s what I needed…the whole series all at one time.  My time.

My nephew agreed to negotiate the extremely valuable information in exchange of a few traded I-Tunes files against the link of a website called Hulu Videos. I made time my commodity and blessed my sister for the gift of such a useful nephew.

Here I am for a whole month – every single evening before going to bed, no matter the time or schedule – connected to my Hulu, negotiating only with myself a minimum of one to three episodes at a time. In this way my total bliss of 305 episodes, divided into four seasons, will be able to last for a calculated while.  The decision to change that will be mine alone.

This American series follows the lives of plane crash survivors on a mysterious tropical island, after a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney, Australia and Los Angeles, United States falls from the sky somewhere in the South Pacific.  Each episode typically features a primary storyline on the island as well as a secondary storyline from another point in a character’s life.

Created by Damon Lindelof, J. J. Abrams and Jeffrey Lieber, it is filmed primarily on location in Oahu, Hawaii. The pilot episode was first broadcast on September 22, 2004.  Produced by ABC Studios, Bad Robot Productions and Grass Skirt Productions, it airs on the ABC Network in the United States.

Lost is basically about fate, faith and free choice, the possibility of hope, human redemption and the influence of time over one’s destiny.  These almost irresistibly handsome characters most of the time shoot in (primo piano), each and every one having complicated issues from the past to deal with.These issues, fortunately or not – it’s up to us to decide – interfere with their daily struggle to survive on the island, but only to a certain extent.

This extent is up to the characters when it comes to making choices as totally new individuals, interacting with other survivors, all connected to a close degree of separation, in emerging new situations.Choosing to act or not, based on who they are or were, will make an important difference in their lives because in that forced new scenario, nobody will be in a position to prove any of their past realities..  On the island, exploring the present and its condition of uncertainty is all that counts.

Suppose you are given the same traumatic experience without having made that your choice; How would you react?  How many times have you been thrown into situations by the forces of the universe where at first, being unfamiliar, you felt completely abandoned and deserted?  Then, as time goes by, you realize you don’t really mind them at all. In fact, you might even realize that – miraculously – you can’t imagine living without them.

Until for some reason you choose, consciously or unconsciously, to lose them again.Which point of reference will you adopt?The old one, or the new? The x-factor leads us to think about our dependence in relation to the values and attachment we give to time.

On the island, what really matters is how you behave in your surroundings at the present moment.The island gives you a chance, as if you were trapped in a bubble of time in a limited space surrounded by nature  Having no connection with the outside world other than your past memories and losses, you are given the opportunity to be constantly challenged in order to come out from within your self-built protective emotional comfort zone.

It involves issues of manifestation of true identity versus learned behavioral patterns that, in most of the present situations, don’t make as much of a difference as they did in the past.With that I mean that what you have learned from your past experiences will not necessarily be validated at the present moment. The “Monster” each and every one of the characters carries within is – on the island – a common denominator to all, personified by a noisy, lethal black smoke.

Critically acclaimed and a popular success, Lost garnered an average of 16 million viewers per episode on ABC during its first year. It has won numerous industry awards including the Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series in 2005, Best American Import at the British Academy Television Awards in 2005, the Golden Globe for Best Drama in 2006 and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Ensemble in a Drama Series.

Dealing with my daily life for more than a month, and looking forward to my evening Lost ‘dates’, I would sometimes stop and reflect on the possibility of resetting my life every 108 minutes to the starting point where I left it, like at the hatch of the Dharma Initiative station. During and after episodes, or in between Bad Robot commercials, I would find myself writing in a notebook my observations regarding the whispers, symbols of the characters leading consciousness, the Dharma Initiative experiments based on the human condition attempting to make the world a better place, and the concept of traveling through time.

My life became a theater of such analogies and a movie of my own relationships, the main aspect being the character’s personalities.Among them, Jack: the perfect example character, the doctor, the leader against his will, the one who believes in what he sees and not beyond, the man every mother wishes for her daughter to marry, the one who keeps you safe. Jack will not only take care of you but, like Moses in the Bible, he’ll lead your way out of the slavery of the not-so-deserted island.

But sometimes in life, you are not necessarily drawn to what is safe for you.  You need adventure, freedom, vibe, risk. You are born to be wild, to be a rebel, to contest what others call law, to make your own judgment and not necessarily follow every order.

You need to explore, to search, to defy destiny.  You need to experience your own truth.  Lost will provide you with the perfect characters: Sawyer and Kate.

The great thing about the series is that in my case, I would end up going to the fridge for a light chocolate pudding wearing loose pajamas, to release the stress between this personal conflicting duality that struck me throughout my life.

Would I choose to live out on the dangerous windy shore, and be the exposed target of unknown forces like the “Others” with Sawyer, reading books, sleeping half awake with a greater chance to be found by another boat and get back to my old life, which did not necessarily mean anything to me…

…or stay with Jack in a safer place near the sheltered caves, where there is plenty of water and shade, in the protected forest, with a new code of socially proactive responsibilities, but less certain of being discovered and rescued?

And like the dude Hurley Heyes, with a little self doubt, I am enjoying my chocolate pudding…. It’s 10 o’clock in New York City. I have just received an email from a friend in Washington about the general theory of time travel.

While reading it I realize, like a wise mystical warrior such as John Lock. that my time is now.  And like my sexy and funny heroes Charley Pace and Desmond Hume would…

… I decide to pick my choice in due time.

This post is dedicated to Dr. Patrick Bar Avi

Joelle’s Picks:

The TV Series: Lost - In May 2007, it was announced that Lost would continue for its fourth, fifth, and sixth seasons, concluding with the 117th produced episode in May 2010. These three final seasons were planned to consist of 16 episodes each, running weekly in the spring uninterrupted by repeats.The fifth season premiered on Wednesday, January 23.

Photography Credits: Courtesy ABC Network Studios all rights reserved

Some concepts about Time Travel:

1. There may be many different time-lines in the future
2. The relevant time-line we live in is affected by our actions.
3. When you go back in time, you look the same as you do in the present, you do not age until you catch up with your current age
4. You can never time travel into the future as events haven’ t  happened yet.

There are 2 theories about time traveling:

• You can change the time-line by changing relevant things

• There nothing that you can do to change major events

The time on the island is in a stand-still because it is being reset every 108 minutes, like sending someone back in time 2 hours, and as soon as the 2 hours pass you send him back again (closed loop).

My favorite theory: Lost: Theory on Time Travel:

The Facebook Group of fans: Lost Time Loop Theory club of fans

The Book: Time Travel Wife

“Love is of no value without power and position” . Five hundred years later, it’s good to know that being a royal mistress is no longer the road to the throne. Sixtheenth century passion never goes out of style
Scarlett Johansson battle for the love of King Henry VIII, played by Eric Bana, in The Other Boleyn Girl, in theaters nationwide Feb. 29. The actresses play sisters Anne Boleyn and Mary Boleyn in Philippa Gregory’s adaptation of this historical and scandalous sibling rivalry. The movie is full of style and vibrantly sexy. See the reviews: This historic bodice-ripper combines palace intrigue with royal romance as it races through a lot of world-shattering history . It is a rule of historical fiction that a bodice shown being laced up in the first act will be ripped by the third, and so it is in The Other Boleyn Girl, a glum but galloping epic that turns the 16th-century court of England .

The bodices in question belong to the Boleyn sisters, Anne (Natalie Portman), the older, prettier one, and Mary (Scarlett Johansson), the younger, plainer one, a role that calls on a fair bit of acting by Johansson.

They are the daughters of an ambitious family: their father (Mark Rylance) and especially their uncle, the Duke of Norfolk (David Morrissey) have noted that King Henry VIII is unhappy with his wife, Catherine of Aragon, a situation they regard as a good opportunity to throw one of the girls his way. As the Duke puts it, “An opportunity has arisen.”

Nothing boosts a family fortune like having the king sleep with one of its daughters, a development that revolts the girls’ long-suffering mother (Kristin Scott Thomas).

Thus is launched a tale of palace intrigue, protofeminist frustration, sexual dalliance and not a few ripped bodices. Part of this is due to the fact that the king, once portrayed as an overweight man with gout throwing gnawed beef bones over his shoulder, is played here by Eric Bana (Hulk, Munich), a jug-eared stud who can be tender or rough depending on his mood.

This Henry wants only three things: sex with the next young thing who comes along, a male heir, and sex with the next young thing after that.

The Boleyns try to lure him with Anne, but he is attracted to Mary, despite the fact that she is already married. No matter: her husband sees her position as royal mistress as an excellent career opportunity, and soon she is installed in the palace, making life difficult for Catherine (Ana Torrent), whose main faults are that she keeps having miscarriages and female children. She also has a hypnotically unsightly mole on her lip, an impossible handicap in an age when Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson are on the loose.

The Other Boleyn Girl becomes sort of soft-core history for a while, filled with gauzy love scenes and the ethereal, pillowy beauty of Johansson, heroine of this section.

The actress previously played the simple, serving girl who inspired Vermeer, and in a sense, this movie is The Girl with a Pearl Earring Goes Tudor.

However, there’s still Anne to deal with, and after some sexual indiscretion, she is banished (“You’ll be sent to France and stay there until you’ve learned your lesson,” says Norfolk rather unthreateningly). She returns determined to land Henry and — dressed in bright green to offset the red motif of the English court — becomes the next royal favourite.

Anne is also more conniving than her sister. “Love is of no value without power and position,” she says, and for those who remember that being a wife of Henry VIII didn’t come with an old age pension, the stage is set for tragedy.

The movie, based on the bestselling novel by Philippa Gregory, has been adapted by Peter Morgan (The Queen) with an economy that shoots the plot forward at breathtaking speed, considering.

Justin Chadwick, an English television director making his feature film debut, makes the story seem closed-in, as if it was a TV movie, but that is in part due to the incestuous intrigues of the court.

However, the movie benefits from several good performances: Portman and Johansson, while unlikely sisters, are both strong and Torrent has a fine scene as the betrayed Catherine. Unfortunately, Bana is both bland and unregal and Scott Thomas — developing a bit of the hatchet face of Edna Mae Oliver — has not much to do as the Boleyn mother except stand in the shadows, glaring at the way women are treated.

Five hundred years later, it’s good to know that being a royal mistress is no longer the road to the throne.

Via: CanWest News Service 2008

Joelle’s Tips

The movie: The Other Boylen Girl

Related Story: March Edition of W magazine, Sister Act

Whant to know more?

The life of Hery the VIII ” : ” The Private Life of Henry VIII” (1933): Charles Laughton won the best actor Academy Award for his somewhat over-the-top portrayal of an expansive, pouty and emotional Henry in this big-budget British film directed by Alexander Korda. Merle Oberon’s Anne Boleyn receives less time on screen than some of Henry’s other wives — the film begins with her execution — particularly Anne of Cleves.

“A Man for All Seasons” (1966): Although she’s on screen for only a few seconds and has no dialogue, Vanessa Redgrave is so gorgeous, so stunningly vivacious as Anne, that we see why Henry VIII (Robert Shaw) was so taken by her.

As director Fred Zinnemann said: “For Anne we needed an actress who, in 45 seconds, could convince the audience that she was capable of changing the course of an empire.” Redgrave gives one of the great cameo performances in movie history in this multiple Oscar winner about Henry’s nemesis, Sir Thomas More (Paul Scofield). Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, $14.94.

“Anne of the Thousand Days” (1969): This big, lavish production received 10 Oscar nominations — including ones for best picture and for stars Genevieve Bujold as Anne and Richard Burton as Henry VIII — but won only for its costume design.

Director Charles Jarrott’s film is quite accurate in its period detail, yet way off the mark in depicting the relationship between Anne and King Henry. Historian Fraser (in an essay in the book “Past Imperfect: History According to the Movies“) describes the movie’s plot as “a totally unhistorical love affair between Henry and Anne in which somehow ‘The Taming of the Shrew’ meets ‘Gone with the Wind.’ ”

Still, it’s the only major film among the Henry VIII movies to focus largely on Anne. Some have noted that Bujold bore a striking resemblance to some famous portraits of Anne, and that Bujold’s French-accented English was historically accurate, as Anne was educated in France. Universal Studios Home Entertainment, $19.98 packaged with “Mary, Queen of Scots.”

“The Other Boleyn Girl” (2003): This BBC version of Gregory’s novel — to be released on DVD on Tuesday — stars Natascha McElhone as Mary Boleyn, Jodhi May as Anne and Jared Harris as Henry VIII. Director Philippa Lowthorpe had her cast improvise much of the dialogue. BBC Video, $19.98.

“Henry VIII” (2003): A Granada TV-PBS “Masterpiece Theatre” production, this stars Ray Winstone as Henry VIII and Helena Bonham Carter as Anne Boleyn. Bonham Carter garnered excellent reviews as Anne (better than Winstone received for his Cockney-accented king), and her character comes across very favorably — scheming to be sure, but also intelligent, warm and exceedingly noble at her execution. HBO Video, $29.98.

“The Tudors: The Complete First Season” (2007): Relative newcomer Natalie Dormer stars as Anne Boleyn in this Showtime TV series, with Jonathan Rhys Meyers playing Henry VIII. Dormer gives a strong performance, emphasizing Anne’s conniving and independent spirit, but this is Rhys Meyers’ show.

Season 2 will begin March 30 with Henry’s marriage to Anne. Paramount Home Entertainment, $42.99.
Source: Bruce Dancis . mcclathchy newspapers’ March 1, 2008

“There is so much to do. You can wander off in space or in time, set out for Tierra del Fuego or for King Midas’s court.

”Jean-Dominique Bauby . The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.

After Prague I came back to my new routine in Naples. Everyday, early in the morning I would drink a large glass of a delicious freshly squeezed orange juice, sometimes with tiny clementines picked from the neighbor trees in the hills of the very old residential quarter of Posillipo. The Italian blend of warm strong coffee aroma would wake me up just on time to see at distance from my bed, the orange winter sun rise on the Vesuvius in the large bay of Naples.

Long morning walks to Marechiaro lungomare and back home early for lunch, where the green vegetable of the day would be picked in a small truck owned by a man called Salvatore right behind the old Palazzo where I stayed. His son Enzo a few yards away would have the tomatoes and herbs. Basil is only found in the Summer therefore something else is offered instead depending on the day. Seasons still exists in this corner of the world and globalisation is thought as something bello ( nice) but probably for someone else.

On my way to New York, with a connection to Paris, a friend from Brazil calls me on my cell…” You are kidding? You are in Paris and are not going to see Dr Sebagh?” A little ashamed not to know exactly who is doctor Sebagh I answer with a question ” Should I?”- ” Are you nuts? , He’s the world anti-aging Jewish Guru, I will call myself to set you an appointment right now, you’ll thank me !”

Here I am on a rainy day in Paris entering this very old 1900 iron elevator leading me to the second floor entrance where a very tall and skinny blond woman, dressed in a sport outfit and golden sneakers (certainly a model) speaks Russian on the phone, while leaving the exclusive door office open for me with a quick smile .Her skin is gorgeous white and perfect. A pretty and very long haired assistant dressed in trendy 1960 vintage-look jeans with a warm welcoming smile not exactly directed to me because she is busy telling a client about her interesting weekend, shows me the way to a nice room.

Nobody asks me to fill any paper, or any question at all. I am late but she obviously does not seem to mind at all.The very French and elegant living room is filled with brown old leather Chesterfields couches covered with fake furs, the walls in a Louis XV style Boiserie, Elle and Paris Match magazines on a modern glass table feature the last events of French president Sarkozy recent love entanglement with young supermodel and singer Carla Bruni.

Two French wrinkl-less ladies on their 40s impeccably dressed in Hermes Amazon-es, as they had left their horses at the door with the Doctor’s assistant, talk quietly without any sign of hurry, a young American couple ,also wrinkl-less, writes in great sign of concentration serious stuff certainly overseas on their small Blakberries.

Many hours have passed but Dr Sebagh charming and experienced Savoir-Faire, in his questions, and techniques of applying Botox and Restylane on my skin without making me feel any pain or doubt, overwhelm-es me. He then goes to the Internet and explains that I can buy his product line in New York right in front of my house, and can come to see him in a year if I wish to.

Younger in looks I arrive on a very cold January week-end in New York City. The light is dull. I am in a car among taxi cabs, I feel strange, I decide to isolate myself for a while until I figure out the jet lag, the fade light, the temperature and the difference in my Bio-rhythm altogether.

I realize I am a result of my own global freedom and still feel unhappily trapped by it . What do I need more? The traits in my face look more relaxed than ever, my skin feels as the skin of a baby, but an empty space locked within my self still reacts against an external and momentarily unrecognized environment that I sometimes I even call home. I am probably still a powerless human. I decide to go to the movies by myself for a small change, and watch the new Julian Schnabel” Diving bell and the Butterfly” playing on a Third avenue cinema near my house.

Jean-Dominique Bauby was the victim of a stroke that left his mind and one eye functioning . He gradually ‘’surfaced” into a new existence as a victim of ”locked-in syndrome“, mentally alert but deprived of movement and speech. This was enough to enable him to dictate ” The Diving Suit and the Butterfly” to Claude Mendibil before dying of heart failure. He achieved it by moving his left eyelid in response to an alphabet rearranged according to the letters frequency of use.

The The diving bell of Bauby’s title is his corporeal trap, the butterfly his imagination; the author cultivates strong feelings, especially anger, to keep his spirit from atrophying along with his limbs. On my way out I buy his book from Berck-sur-Mer. While reading it at candlelight I realize it is best experienced by remaining mindful of having the luck to be reading it between the many blinks of one’s eyes.

Reading Bauby’s words during this uncomfortable landing in the city made me understand astonished and finally humbled, that the refusal of one spirit to accept death as an end is what’s necessary . It’s the conviction of a transformation process into a new beginning, a rebirth, aiming at life more than ever in the fullness of its present moment and in the part of the self that resides in the creative mind.

I also realized that I have the potential of being anywhere I want to be, without really having to move from where I am at the present moment as long as I ma present. Most important of all, is the forgotten appreciation of what I always find waiting for me, untouched, every time I come back.

I always come back to the wisdom of Kabbalah dealing with the inevitability of one’s immortal experience and the all night connection to the harvest and eternal life through the Jewish holiday of Shavuot.

My feelings of confinement is gone.. My hands are quicky typing on my Mac many stories about my last trips in Prague, In Naples, In Rio. Many people would like to share the experiences. Here I am.

Ah… By the way, I heard Barney’s is having a promotion on that Sebagh’s “For your eyes only ” cream on Monday. I will check it out,it’s right off the corner from home!

This post is dedicated to my good friend Ana Abdul from Brazil whose professional and personal dedication to style, a youth and excellence is time-less and unique. May this post be for her an ode to life!

Joelle’s Picks:

The ‘ Guru ‘ Doctor :Dr SebaghHead Office : Cosmetic Doctor At Work Ltd25 Wimpole StreetLondonW1G 8GL

Tel : +44 (0)20 7637 054 / Fax :+44 (0)20 7637 5110

Paris Office:64, rue de Longchamps 75116 Paris / Tel 01 47 04 65 75 / Fax 01 45 53 45 18

The Skin Products:

” First Experience Kit 6 Trial Sizes by Dr. Sebagh” A good and economic suggestion to try all the line at once as a starter. Absolutely amazing and revolutionary having enzymes and pure vitamin C instant powder over your skin, It’s like having a fresh squeezed organic orange juice through your cells Try it. You’ll love it. I have included a link where you can buy it on line below .Please give me your feed-backs.

Botox in Usa: www. mybotoxsecret.com / dr Hedaya
Ocean County Office – One Route 70 Lakewood, NJ. 08701
Ph: 732-901-6111 Fx: 732-905-0611

The Movie: Diving bell and the Butterfly

“How long would you wait for love? …51 years, 9 months, and 4 days.”

This is the question I read in the New York Times promotional tagline of the movie adaptation of Nobel-Prize winning writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez romantic epic ” El Amor en los Tiempo del Cholera ” . Intrigued I remembered of when I was 15 and decided that Marquez novel would be the best and most cherished book in my life. After 22 years of its publication I did not want by all means wait one more minute, I rushed with a friend to the New York Avant- Premiere on Third Avenue.

The plot, is merely the skeleton of Marquez book. In 19th-century Colombia, a telegraph clerk named Florentino (Jarvier Bardem) falls for a young beauty named Fermina (Italian actress Giovanna Mezzogiorno). Despite their mutual pledges of undying love, they are separated, first by her father (a very over-the-top John Leguizamo), then by her sudden fickleness, and finally, by her marriage to an important doctor, Urbino (Benjamin Bratt).

Throughout 53 long years, Florentino waits for her to come back to him. He has many other lovers during that time — more than 600 in fact, including one his despairing mother (the great Brazilian Actress Fernanda Montenegro) actually tosses into his bedroom — but they barely move him, registering mostly as specimens of Fermina’s sex.

The photography is amazing, sepia tones and the warm intensity of colors represent the external melange of the old exquisite and sensual Caribbean city of Cartagena under the sun , waves of Cholera, and heavy rain , and the inner expression of South American living life, love, sex and death to their extreme, the difficulty of human race to reach happiness for the sake to find after many years that death has a limitation that life doesn’t have.

Bills of ladings are written by in rhymes because love is needed in its purest form, telegrams, long passionate letters and furtive glances are exchanged during long intervals of time and in casual events during five decades between the loved and beloved.

Persistence in having decided living one’s entire life dictated by the non – conditionality of a promise in space and time is based on the simplicity of the feeling of love in its most absolute form, moreover for someone you have only seen once , and the voluntary numbness acquired passively due to family and social pressure in agreeing in wanting to believe in Custom-made- love. These are the themes of British director Mike Newell (Harry Potter, Four Weddings and a Funeral).

Colombian singer superstar Shakira poignant voice is mystically pure when she sings “Pienso en Ti” a slow version of Shakira’s hit from the 1996 album “Pies Descalzos.”while we embrace views of the wilderness of Colombian coastal region of the Cienaga del Magdalena, in which Garcia Marquez’s sets many of his literary works like if we were silently flying on delta plane . Pienso en Ti and two other soulful songs “Hay Amores ” and ” Despedida” are the result in a mostly instrumental soundtrack by Brazilian composer Antonio Pinto, who also did the music for “City of God” (2003) and “Central Station” (1998).

On my way out of the movie sipping warm Colombian Cofee with a friend from South America , we discussed that when you lived life with the inevitable privilege of having experienced true love and having being loved , the choices of paths taken towards reaching destiny , during five decades in a 19 -century Colombia at the time of Cholera, or nowadays at times of Aids and Global Warming, can still demonstrate undying loyalty by sleeping with as many people you possibly can, but in the heart never give consent.

This creates a strange quandary of what love really means to us today . On the one hand, you’ve loved the same person your whole life, but on the other, your actions barely speak to this fact.

After a lot of silent thinking we both agreed with the following safe conclusion : Along with our fifteen years of age memories, coffee is still good, but drinking bottled water will certainly keep troubles away.

Joelle’s Picks:

The Soundrack: available on I-Tunes

The movie: Love in the time of Cholera

The book: Love in the Time of Cholera (Penguin Great Books of the 20th Century) (Paperback)
by Gabriel Garcia Marquez available at Amazon

The videos: Interviews of Gabriel Garcia Marquez : (how is your Spanish?)

“Is that my belt?”
“Can I borrow it?”
“No, not right now I was looking for it… ask first, next time!”

Francis Whitman (Owen Wilson) reclaims his property from his younger brother, Peter (Adrien Brody) in front a quiet Jack (Jason Schwartzmanin), in the middle of a gorup of devotional souls in prayer at a Jodhpur shrine. The three slightly deranged siblings, have traveled together from their homes in America to India. The trip began in Jodhpur and ended in Udaipur . They haven’t seen each other for over a year since the death of their father in a car accident. As they travel through India, they carry their dead father’s luggage (a set of Louis Vuitton luggage Marc Jacobs designed especially for the movie).

The luggage is printed with a jungle pattern created by 38-year old movie director Wes Anderson’s brother, Eric, and is being auctioned off at the Louis Vuitton store on East 57th Street in New York, through September 27. Proceeds will go to UNICEF and the Rawal Mallinathji Foundation — a medical treatment charity in India.

Now, they are all aboard a transport train called the Darjeeling Limited. The oldest brother, Francis, says, “We’re here to find ourselves and bond with each other. Can we agree to that?” With the help of his assistant, he has drawn up a list of spiritual places to visit.

The brothers believe that their father, played by Bill Murray (who went remarkably unnoticed in the two weeks of shooting in Jodhpur) has been reincarnated as an albino leopard, and trace their mother to a convent where she teaches poor children. The convent where the “belt” scene takes place, is recreated in Nahar Magra, in a hunting lodge on the property of the former Maharana of Mewar—which after being closed for 40 years was cleaned up in eight days for the crew to use—the convent’s chapel was painstakingly put together in an open courtyard, using Tangail sarees, wooden benches from an antique warehouse in Jodhpur, with parakeets and pigeons brought all the way from the US.

The level of detail is extraordinary, says Aradhana Seth, (see her interview in Joelle’s Picks below) who is working with Mark Friedberg on production design. Anderson wanted to paint the train bogeys (The Darjeeling Limited is the name of the train the boys take to travel through India) in the style of trucks he had seen on Indian highways. Seth auditioned several painters before selecting one-who ended up painting portraits of the stars as well, especially mocked up for the film, a hybrid of the old U.S. 20th Century Limited and the Orient Express with regional patterns and colors, and not remotely like the air-conditioned models of modern India.

The eldest brother, Francis has planned a detailed itinerary that will allow them to see their mother and on the way hit all the key Indian sources of spiritual renewal on brief railway stops aboard the titular train. If it’s Rajasthan, it must be enlightenment. The boys jump off and on quite a bit and run up small hills trying to communicate with ancient spirits. Childhood rivalries and irksome personality ticks immediately surface, although they all agree on the need for cigarettes and the best of India’s over-the-counter medications.

Although Francis tries unsuccessfully to orchestrate a spiritual epiphany at various religious sites, they finally break out of the cocoon of family squabbling when tragedy strikes the three boys while rafting down a river. What happens next draws the Whitman brothers into the arms of a community where they slow down and reach out to others in a spiritual way.

The final leg of their journey turns out to be a reunion with their mother (Anjelica Huston) who has become a Catholic nun in a Himalayan convent. She essentially tells them to quit obsessing about the past. But that means leaving a lot of baggage behind and traveling lighter. This spunky spiritual comedy ends with this metaphor and sends us on our way rejoicing for the Whitman brothers and their yearning for a new life.

The pretensions surrounding this production begin with a 13-minute short film titled “Hotel Chavalier” that was screened ahead of the main feature at the Venice International Film Festival. It will be shown at other festivals and on the Internet, and be included on the eventual DVD , but it will not play in theaters when the picture is released.

Set in a hotel in Paris, the short film shows a brief encounter between the youngest brother, Jack (Schwartzman) and his on-and-off girlfriend (Natalie Portman). It has no significance though except as a platform for the great 1960s anthem “Where Do You Go to My Lovely?” by Peter Sarstedt.

Joelle’s Picks

Sources: Kaveree Bamzai, Light, acamera, India /www.naachgaana.com / Ray Bennett : Bottom Line: A train ride without laughs or charm. //www.hollywoodreporter.com/

The Jewelry Designer: Waris Ahluwalia / House of waris

The Video: Production Day 8: A Walking Tour of the Train:

The music :

The soundrack : The Dargeeling Limited /http://www.amazon.com/Darjeeling-Limited-Satyajit-Ray/dp/B000VAT032/ref=sr_11_1/002-9178676-3108063?ie=UTF8&qid=1192201474&sr=11-1

Where do You go To My Lovely / Peter Starstedt : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqLH2Sjatn0

The Film:

The Darjeeling Limited Directed by Wes Anderson Fox Searchlight 09/07 THE DARJEELING LIMITED
Fox Searchlight
American Empirical Pictures

Director: Wes Anderson
Writers: Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola & Jason Schwartzman
Producers: Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Roman Coppola, Lydia Dean Pilcher
Executive producer: Steven Rales
Director of photography: Robert Yeoman
Production designer: Mark Friedberg
Music: From the films of Satyajit Ray and Merchant Ivory
Costume designer: Milena Canonero
Editor: Andrew Weisblum

Cast:
Francis: Owen Wilson
Peter: Adrien Brody
Jack: Jason Schwartzman
Rita: Amara Karan
Brendan: Wally Wolodarsky
Chief Steward: Waris Ahluwalia
Father: Irrfan Khan
Mechanic: Barbet Schroeder
Alice: Camilla Rutherford
Businessman: Bill Murray
Patricia: Anjelica Huston