Off-Ramp welcomes Lunar New Year in Chinatown ... 3 Places with Linda Vallejo, PST artist ... Spirited Away with My Neighbor Totoro - a Ghibli celebration ... Bradley Whitford on "Art" and that show he did ... have your New Year's resolutions gone out the window?
Welcoming Chinese New Year with 500,000 firecrackers and Miss Chinatown
Even if you're not Asian and never celebrate the Lunar New Year (we entered the Year of the Dragon Monday), how can you refute the holiday's traditions: forgive grudges, pay off debts, clean the house, remember your past, and light firecrackers? Off-Ramp host John Rabe went to LA's Chinatown, heard the noise of half a million firecrackers, and talked Miss Chinatown 2011 Shirley Zhang.
Peter Mac as Judy Garland - a 3 dimensional tribute
UPDATE: Peter Mac is working on a special Mother's Day Judy performance! See his website for info.
Writer Jackie Collins said what Peter Mac does "is not a drag show," that his Judy Garland is "brilliant." Mac, a New York transplant, has been performing tributes to Judy Garland for 11 years and brings all of Judy to the stage, not just her addictions. Mac and musical director Bryan Miller have secured a long-term gig at the French Marketplace in West Hollywood, and Off-Ramp was there opening night.
Shirley Zhang, Miss Chinatown 2011 and KPCC listener
When I introduced myself to Shirley Zhang, Miss Chinatown 2011, about Chinese New Year, the first thing she said was, "I LOVE KPCC!" And then she told me how she spreads the word about our station in her own way ... by telling potential Miss Chinatown's that they should listen, because it's the best way to win the Q&A segment of the contest.
Miyazaki and more: American Cinematheque's 14-film Studio Ghibli retrospective
Have you ever been in an elevator with a giant, sweaty, daikon? Or ridden on a cat bus? Those are just two of the unforgettable images from Studio Ghibli, which you could call the Japanese Disney ... although some would say Disney is the American Ghibli.
The American Cinematheque is screening 14 films from Ghibli, which was founded in 1985 by Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, and has produced "Spirited Away," "Howl's Moving Castle" and "My Neighbor Totoro," to name its most famous movies.
But this retrospective at the Egyptian and Aero Theatres also includes movies you probably haven't seen.
"Castle in the Sky" (1986) is about two kids who search for an mysterious floating island inspired by "Gulliver's Travels." Takahata's "My Neighbors the Yamadas" (1999) features a Goop-like family who, according to animation expert Charles Solomon, inspired "Little Miss Sunshine." "Pom Poko" (1994), he says, "is wonderfully quirky" and tells the story of a group of raccoons who band together to fight humans from developing their home.
One of the things that sets Ghibli apart is its respect for kids.
As Solomon says, the studio's attitude, expressed in its films, is that "children are individuals, they're responsible, they grow, they're not bratty know-it-all's, they're not superheroes." Which makes all the films in this retrospective not only safe to take the kids to, but required viewing for adults and kids.
Here are some of the best scenes from twenty years of Studio Ghibli:
The Studio Ghibli film festival runs through February 12 at the American Cinematheque's theaters in Hollywood and Santa Monica, the Egyptian and The Aero.
Off-Ramp checks up on your New Year's resolutions
Lose 50 pounds. Give up smoking. Find a job. Stop drunk texting? We all make New Year's resolutions, but do we actually pull them off? Off-Ramp's Raghu Manavalan spoke to a few people around Los Angeles about their New Year's resolutions past and present to see if anyone actually succeeded.
Pasadena Playhouse and West Wing veteran Bradley Whitford: A white painting isn't art!
For seven years, actor Bradley Whitford played political operative Josh Lyman on TV's "The West Wing." He's got a new project – he’s starring in a rendition of "Art," an 80 minute play about three longtime friends torn apart by a very expensive white painting. It's written by Yasmina Reza, who also wrote "God of Carnage." which Roman Polanski directed a movie version of just last year. "Art" kicks off at the Pasadena Playhouse this Sunday. Off-Ramp producer Kevin Ferguson talked with Whitford as rehearsal was wrapping up.
While the synopsis may seem a little over the top, Whitford said that it's entirely possible for art to rupture friendships.
"We all know where there are situations where you don't want to talk about politics, like Thanksgiving, because how you feel about politics is an expression of putting your deepest values into action," he explained. "When you're talking about art and what art should mean, it's also a reflection of your deepest values and it can be a very treacherous place to go."
In the play, Whitford embodies a character who is horrified by his friend's recent art purchase. And as a skeptic of contemporary art, Whitford reveals that he can relate.
"I get really impatient with the contemporary art world, because I feel like not always but often, it's an originality contest, which to me is a pretty limited, low aesthetic bar," he said.
Whitford says he thinks the rule of novelty is frustratingly elitist. Like his character, he finds something as simple as a stark white canvas hard to take seriously, especially when it's monetized for high prices.
"I remember I was shooting something in Dallas, Texas, with Colin Hanks, and right in front of city hall is one of these multi-ton, rusted blob statues," Whitford recalled. "We were just about to roll and we’re both looking at this massive blob, and I just said 'Honey, sculpture is done,' and we both just started laughing, because how the hell would you know?"
"Art" explores ideas like Whitford's Dallas revelation through comedy, and the actor said it's easy to sit through. "It's very funny, it's thought-provoking and it's short. You can have a nice, little stimulating date and then go eat," he said.
To live and die in LA: Caitlin Doughty, star of YouTube hit 'Ask a Mortician' tours LA's oldest cemetery
Death is one of those things we don't think about much, until someone we know is dying. But Caitlin Doughty wants to change that. She's a licensed mortician in Los Angeles, and she's taken on a lofty goal: to make death a part of Americans' daily culture. She's using her blog and YouTube channel to help spread the message. Off-Ramp contributor Avishay Artsy caught up with her.
Doughty has provided an outlet for people to ask questions, and its popularity shows that people are curious to learn about something they often avoid. She's on her fifth YouTube episode, with each video getting tens of thousands of views. She said she gets all sorts of questions.
"Everything from really, really basic things – what is embalming, how do you cremate a body — to really interesting, weird, you know – if the zombie apocalypse happens tomorrow, what is the rate of decomposing bodies, or can you tattoo a corpse. The more ridiculous, the better," Doughty noted.
Perhaps it's the cheesy music and video effects or her comedic, truthful responses that make the subject more palatable to her viewers. But Doughty's own comfort with death came with time. Her interest was sparked by a traumatic death she witnessed when she was only eight or nine years old.
"I saw a girl fall from a balcony at my local mall and hit the ground – tremendous screams – it was a real, real turning point in my life," she said. "It was quite a psychological thing for me for quite awhile, and I think part of my interest in death might just be a way to figure it out."
Doughty took her fascination with her through college. After studying medieval history left her unsatisfied, she got a job as a crematory operator, earned a degree in mortuary science at Cypress College in Orange County and now works as a licensed funeral director in L.A.
On a visit to Evergreen Cemetery in Boyle Heights, Doughty detailed one of the more hidden features of L.A.'s oldest cemetery.
"Every year, Los Angeles County cremates roughly about 1,600 indigent dead, so homeless, people who can’t afford to pay for a funeral," she explained. "They cremate them and they bury them in a mass grave here."
The burial place is surrounded by barbed wire fencing and flat ground markers that show the year each group was cremated. "It's not like 'Come one, come all, to see the indigent dead.' It's probably not something they're particularly proud of," Doughty added.
While the thought of thousands being buried together may seem morbid, Doughty gets philosophical. "We try so hard in our lives to keep control over our body, and control over individual selves, that the idea of just having everybody in a big pile is kind of strangely appealing," she said.
Her plan is to run her own funeral home, where the dead are buried naturally. Families could even help prepare the body. This runs opposite from the status quo, where bodies are chemically treated in various ways, placed in a big casket and locked in a concrete and metal vault to keep the body from decomposing. Doughty said she prefers natural burials.
"It's just body, dirt, ground, decomposition, done-zo. Two or three weeks, just a skeleton left," she said. "It’s what bodies are meant to do. It’s bodies in their natural state.”
Three Places: Pacific Standard Time artist Linda Vallejo
For Pacific Standard Time, the Getty's enormous multi-museum retrospective on Southern California art, Off-Ramp producer Kevin Ferguson has been talking to artists featured in the exhibit and asking them the same question: take us to three places in Los Angeles that are important to you. This time he met with artist Linda Vallejo--she picked her home as her first place, tucked neatly in one of Topanga Canyon's most quiet and remote corners.
"The Artist" actor Penelope Ann Miller talks with Off-Ramp
The black-and-white silent film "The Artist" earned a leading six nominations Thursday for the 69th annual Golden Globe Awards, including a nod for best musical/comedy motion picture. Off-Ramp host John Rabe talks with actor Penelope Ann Miller, who plays Doris in "The Artist."
Rabe and Miller spoke at Taschen's party for the release of a new book of Marilyn Monroe's final photo shoot, featuring the photos of Bert Stern.
CyberFrequencies tackles Google, gossip on the web
CyberFrequencies' Queena Kim and Tanya Jo Miller talk with Marketplace's Paddy Hirsch about Google's new privacy policy, Wonkette, Don't Date him Girl and why the internet starting to look more and more like the National Enquirer.
Best of the Wurst - Sausages with Eat-LA
In another installment of our partnership with Eat-LA, host John Rabe and Eat-LA's Linda Burum visit Continental Gourmet Sausage Company in Glendale, and talk about other resources for the the best sausages in LA ... from German to Polish to Creole.
(The secret ingredients. Credit: John Rabe)
Linda Burum’s Sausage Hot List
German - Continental Gourmet Sausages (6406 San Fernando Road., Glendale 91201, 818-502-1447)
Argentine - Alex Meat Market, Carniceria Argentina (11740 Victory Blvd., North Hollywood, 91606, 818-762-9977)
Salvadoran - La Chiquita Market (19239 Roscoe, Northridge/Reseda 91324, 818-701-5005)
Polish - J & T Gourmet (1128 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica, 90401, 310-394-7227)
Armenian - Garo’s Basturma (1082-1088 N. Allen Ave., Pasadena, 91104, 818-794-0460)
Creole - Pete’s Louisiana Brand Beef Hot Links (307 W. Jefferson Blvd., L.A. 90016, 323-735-7470)
(Workers on the production floor of Continental Sausage. Credit: John Rabe)