RoxAnna

A MESSAGE FROM MAYOR MENINO :

2009-10-23T07:31:00.000-07:00

And the Boston Public Health Commission:

" Despite higher rates of screening Black women are
more likely to die from breast cancer than White women.
Pink is not the only color associated with breat cancer "

Now, what am I supposed to do with this piece of information ?
Feel guilty ? Happy ? Safe ? Excluded ?

And what should a Black woman feel
Sad ? Envious ? Threatened ? Humbled ?

We are all women, we are all in danger and colour is the
last thing in our minds when we go for a check up.
And while Viagra is the discovery of the century
not much has been done for breat cancer, in any shade or form.

And, how cheap to use "pink" as an election enticement .

Status Quo

2009-10-22T13:28:00.000-07:00

I DO NOT MAKE ANY SENSE

SIBIU 2009

2009-09-15T05:24:00.000-07:00

I'VE SPENT HALF OF MY LIFE
TRYINMG TO ESCAPE THE ROMANIAN LANGUAGE
AND THE OTHER HALF LOOKING FOR IT

SCRISOARE DE DRAGOSTE

2009-09-06T01:19:00.000-07:00

Zilele-acelea largi si inalte
Le-qm traqit fara tine. Plecasem departe

Nu puteam sa-ti raspund, de cit drum ne desparte
In zilele-acelea largi si inalte.

Si mi te-aminteam , si calatoream,
Privind din caleasca albastra , pe geam

Padurea, castelul cu turnuri ciudate
Atit de pustii, de intortocheate.

Iar cind am ajuns si-am oprit se-nserase.

(Emil Brumare - Submarinul erotic)

But you already know all this

RUGACIUNE LAICA

2009-09-06T00:43:00.000-07:00

Doamne, nu ma nimici
Lasa-mi peste trup lumina
Ca pe-o haina de purtat
Pin-ajung linga fintina
Clipei plina ochi cu apa
Stravezie. Sete-mi este,
Sprijinit de ghizdul tare,
Sa primesc blinda ta veste
Ca mai pot sa-mi tirii mina
Moarta printre fluturii vii.
Doamne, nu ma nimici,
Lasa-mi ca vesmint lumina.

o pagina din Emil Brumaru
intr-o duminica dimineata la Sibiel

My thought is broken
again
between two worlds

CLXXVI

2009-09-04T10:10:00.000-07:00

INDURA-TE ,COBOARA SI VINO SA MA VEZi
PAN' NU SE-ASTERN PE MINE SOLEMNELE ZAPAZI

Vasile Voiculescu - citit in ploaie la Sibiu

COMMENT S'EN SORTIR SANS SORTIR

2009-09-02T02:47:00.000-07:00

The last night movie “The Black Forest “ overwhelmed both through the beauty of images, and the richness of its theme. That follows the characters through war and peace, through dialogue and silence. A real cinematic jewel 1992 directed by Bob Connolly and Robin Anderson .This is the last chapter of their renowned Papua New Guinea trilogy.

All through the workshop,the scope of Thierry’s movie selection was telling – through its variety of themes, modes of expression, artistic messages, directors’ skills and editors triumphs .Names of legends :Alexander Sokurov, Johan van der Keuken, Robert Kramer, Rithy Panh, Henry Colomer, Claude Mourieras,Bruno, Ulmer, Didier Nion, Florence Moreau, Serghei Dvortseevoy, Christophe de Ponfilly.

And for me, who would watch movies day and night,it was an ephemeral time of documentary magic - from “7 Moments de Bonheur”, “My Vote is a Secret”, “Lumieres sur l’oubli”, The Portraits of Alan Cavalier, to “A mi-mots”, “Welcome Europa”, “Fucking Sheffield”, “Tokyo – the Day the War Ended”, “S21”, “La Terre de l’aberrant, “La langue ne ment pas”, “Chats perches”, “Elegy of a Voyage”.

And when time of departure arrived, Thierry kept his promise and the last moment of happiness, was projected on the screen – a love poem “Passionement” written by a Romanian poet Gherasim Luca – who recited in French for the surprised audience in a Transylvanian village “ JE T’AIME, JE T’AIME , PASSIONEMENT

Thierry left , leaving behind Leibniz’ quote
“ Pourquoi y a t'il quelque chose plutot que rien ."

Remember , he said
“The documentary is the Art of the 21st century ,
that will always bring light to forgetting.”

August 28, 2009 Sibiel Roxana von Kraus

MY VOTE IS A SECRET

2009-08-31T09:22:00.000-07:00

Or not quite…the entire day being dedicated to the open presentation of ideas and possible movie projects.
The process always amazes me – here are 16 foreign students who do not know either the land or its language. Even less the culture, social milieu, history or political geography. En plus, they do not know each other and will have to produce a movie together. And still, these young film makers are able to create images, sounds, dialogues – a complete documentary movie – in only four weeks –from this initial stage to the final presentation in Sibiu.
Thierry Garrel sees the documentary as an” open question. It is not a machine to see, but to think “

And thinking they did - a Polish student would like to record a Gypsy symphony in images. No dialogues, no interviews – just ‘lieders ohen worte “. He already found a musical atelier that restores violins – Of local gypsies and Sibiu philharmonic musicians.
The other students, question the project -“What do you want say ?” “How will you make the tune visible? “What do you want us, the viewers to feel ? “ Beauty, beauty everywhere…. says the student.

Otilia, a delicate young Moldovian is interested in “children’s games.” In Kishinau the kids play “imaginary river games” - jumping from Nistru to Prut…and Otilia would like to discover the Romanian games. I think most of kids,from anywhere are in front of the computer nowadays, but still these waterways remind me of Eminescu ‘s Doina, recited by my father in Boston, so far away from home –‘De la Nistru pin la Tisa tot Rominu plinsemi-sa”

Ionut, a Romanian director has a “space”, close by in the mountains, where cement and steel took over the wooden home– transforming the Transylvanian village into an European Metropolis… Huge empty houses, enriched locals, Arabian horses, caviar and champagne – mark the ‘’transition”, the passage from simplicity and beauty to progress and ugliness. Thierry warns : “Be careful in using metaphors in documentaries !!! They may dilute the story instead of enriching it.”

Mila, coming from Serbia is interested in rituals and traditions threatened by the new EU rules…Since the European integration, pigs can no longer be slaughtered in the Romanian villages for Christmas , The dead can no longer be mourned by their family at home, but only in church. The old trees are felled along the village roads. The strict EU rules replace the Old, in a new world where both the sorrow and the joy seem to vanish under Bruxelles control. Thierry , as a Frenchman living in Vancouver understands and likes Mila’s idea .– “il faut des rites”’ In the movies even “shooting is a ritual.”

Malena, a Peruvian editor living in Vienna, would like to surpass time and geography by finding “treasured objects” - those hidden memories, kept and given from one generation to another….She intends to talk to locals , visit their homes and discover their heritage wrapped in the cloth if time,
From some strange reason I find the idea of creating “magical realism” in Romania disturbingly foreign ,and I can not stop my words : “ Malena , you are in country where having a Bible carried a prison term. We are not the Palestinians who took their house keys to the refugee camps in Lebanon and Jordan…When I immigrated I was not allowed to take my birth or marriage certificate, my university diplomas, my wedding ring or my photographs. Communism killed our souls , our treasured objects were replaced b y whispered memories. We hardly survived the present and never understood the past.” “ ……… My voice breaks and I dissolve in tears, to the delight of Thierry who sees me as the future audience. ”Roxana’s emotion prove that Malena’s idea has documentary value”.
Yes, I think – she may celebrate the treasured objects through their nostalgic absence.

AUGUST 25, 2009 SIBIEL ROXANA VON KRAUS

BONHEUR , HAPPINESS, FERICIRE

2009-08-31T05:24:00.000-07:00

BONHEUR, HAPPINESS, FERICIRE..
It was the theme of the first day at Aristoteles. Beautifully introduced by Thierry Garell, “the Master of Documentary”, who after thirty years of directing and producing the genre for ARTE , has just retired to enjoy life and teach others this extraordinary art of nonfiction.
The class, of sixteen students from Eastern and Central Europe has the good fortune of viewing his montage of “ 7 Moments de Bonheur” in documentaries : from the first scene of a small child eating , to “L’Amour qui dure” - the marriage that marks a love story. Followed by “My Vote is a Secret”- announcing Mr. Mandela’s victory in the South Africa Election , when people went back to Soweto – singing. – another wedding of sorts,,…My favorite passage was “Lumieres sur L’Oubli” – that follows the archive news reels of the end of the Spanish Civil War , moving between Las Ramblas in Barcelona to the street café in Bruxelles ,from the prisons of Cyprus releasing the Turkish-Ciprioti war prisoners to crying mothers , embracing their returned sons –completely unaware of the news cameras, reporters, or us…. This is exactly how I felt when I held my son, coming back from Iraq. The time has stopped around me , and he became my life.
“La Vie comme elle Va” , the life went by and we expected the last scene. But the seventh moment was delayed , meant to conclude the teaching session of our “documentary en desordre. “
According to Thierry Garrel “the documentary speaks simultaneously to our sensibility, our imagination and out intelligence.” And to prove the point we screened three more documentaries in the afternoon: the “Portraits” of Alain Cavalier – short stories of women with an unique métier, “Contacts” –a photo journalistic report on Nan Goldin and “A mi-mots” a whispered poetic film on Edna O’Brien. Who says that “writing is holy, in the pure sense of the word. It is an extension of prayer and religion” And the more you read the better you write, because “MAGIC FOLOWS THE VERY FEW!”
A thought shared by Thierry Garrel – “the more documentaries you see, the better movies you will make.”

August 24, 2009 Sibiel – Roxana von Kraus

The Chinese Walnut

2008-11-06T08:02:00.000-08:00

I found the tree this morning,in the Arboretum.
Lonely, under a thin, unconvincing November rain.

A cyclist in a blue parka and red helmet dropped his bicycle on the side and starting a waving dance around the grass,started to pick up the leafy branches.
Shook the rain off and placed them tightly under the jacket, close to his body.

" Are you in love with this tree ?" I ventured..
" Yap. See the leaves , they come down in sections, all at once, not individually !
And it all happens today "
" Together we perish ! I guess "

What a lovely morning this is going to be.

LES AMIS

2008-06-04T11:14:00.000-07:00

sont comme des ballons.....
une fois que tu les laisses partir, tu ne peux les rattraper.
Donc , je vais t'attacher avec ma corde du coeur afin de ne pas te perdre.

MIRRORS

2008-06-03T10:40:00.000-07:00

I saw Bob Wilsons' "In the Blink of An Eye" in Athens last year.

Based on Mevlana Rumi's poems the play dissolved the words into dances,the poetry into movement. The Turkish and Greek verses remained completely unknown to me, but their images made up for the silence. The finale was played against a wall of turning mirrors, reflecting both the light and the transparency of the Whirling Dervishes. I found out later, that in the Islamic art and religious mysticism the mirrors signify the presence of God, as they reflect his creation.
See, how much one can learn in a week end in Athens ?

Back home at Cape Cod , I read "Mirrors in the Brain" by Giacomo Rizzolatti, a researcher at the Parma University, Italy. In the early 1990 he discovered the "mirror neurons" , a mechanism in the brain that gives us the ability to instantly and efortlessly understand the actions, intentions and minds of other people.... the American week ends can be surprinsingly enriching, too.

Myth and History

2008-05-29T11:20:00.000-07:00

According to Jean Cocteau

L'HISTOIRE est du VRAI qui deviant FAUX

et

le MYTH est du FAUX qui s"INCARNE

Splendour in the Grass

2008-05-28T08:14:00.000-07:00

An American friend once looked at a Trabant and could not help remarking
"wow, I have this engine in my lawn mower'!

Speaking of which, I wonder why are the Americans so obsessed with lawns..British too , but at least they have some gardens near by. It feels like the War of Independence peeled off any love for tea or flowers leaving us with Frost.

Walking through the Arboretum, you see first a dog followed closely by somebody looking exactly like him.

The Inner Body Experiences

2008-05-27T14:17:00.000-07:00

I bet ,
there are more fun than the Outer Body equivalent ...

Michaelei

2008-05-22T07:36:00.001-07:00

Mi-e dor d-un cer senin cu rindunele
Cu marea lina ca-n pahar
Sa clipocesca ,usor la mal
LA TREI PAPUCI pe plaja copilariei mele

Ultima scriosare scrisa de tata pentru mine.
Era deja la Mass General in Boston ,
asa departe de Constanta ,
si de Trei Papuci...

Path Finder

2008-05-22T07:10:00.000-07:00

To get cash from an ATM machine I need my preset code. First I choose the English or Spanish option,if in Boston, then I log in the numerical code, follow the directions and hope for the best.

To read my emails, personal, business and fun I need a user name and a password. To post this note I would need another password. To make my airline reservations on Worldspan I need a new password every month, and to report the tickets a new password every quarter. And then come other passwords for UTube, Facebook, Yahoo chess, PayPal, American Express on line, Bank of Boston account, Chase pay by mail,Amazon, Ebay...

But when I call Bloomingdales to place a catalogue order, I just have to say my name and they already know everything - from the zip code to the bra size...So does Amazon who sends emails suggesting the books and movies that I should not miss this month...And that Nigerian finacier who invites me to spend his millions...And the Viagra expert who advises on penis enlargements..

Really, I think the passwords protect only US from our OWN world - that otherwise is common knowledge to everybody else.

Alter Ego

2008-05-20T12:57:00.000-07:00

Why would anybody need one ?
I can hardly manage my own .

Sense of Reality

2008-05-19T07:59:00.001-07:00

None, on this side of time !

I keep my watch to "ora Bucurestiului"
And, just add five hours to find Boston.
Seven while in San Francisco.

Time becomes real,
only through falling...
Like sand .

SUNDAY MORNING

2008-05-18T09:25:00.001-07:00

Or so it seems.

If you are too depressed to be depressed than you really have a problem .

de ce oare toate intructiunile de inregistrare pe blog mi-au venit in Romineste ?
poate a venit timpul, vremea sa ma intorc acasa .
desi nu am plecat nicioadata .

Reversed Reality

2008-05-17T11:08:00.000-07:00

A homeless man after an intense search through the garbage can in front of Sonsie Cafe,emerges with a bottle of some dark liquid. He pours it out and takes off with an empty bottle. I wonder why in the world he would need it for ?

I love my books so I always cover them for taking along on planes and subways.
One day a guy asked me if I am reading a "sex manual" that I felt the need to keep "under cover .

As a student in Bucharest I was asked to guide a group of foreign tourists through the city. After about two hours of driving, accompanied by my dry comments of -
"on the left you see the Village Museum" and on the right you admire the "Arch of Triumph " ....somebody finally, told me that the entire bus group was blind.

SOUP DE JOUR

2008-05-15T07:13:00.000-07:00

Running by the Franklin Hospital today I see a poster listing the signs of stroke: sudden dizziness, sudden numbness, sudden confusion ! Well, I have them all.
Except confusion. That is not Sudden .

My mother's highrise in Boston has a large elevator with an even larger post inside WARNING . THIS ELEVATOR IS NOT SAFE . Well , I consider myself warned.
A policeman woman waits for all the elevator travelers in the lobby.
I wonder why.

I was told to forget about Past and Future and just live the Present.
Only to discover that NOW is that silent breath between two thoughts,
that I can never reach ...

Somewhere in my world

2008-05-14T10:27:00.000-07:00

May fourteen

Writing to you feels
like swimming under the sea.
I wait till my heart breaks
to come up for air

Allegro ma non tropo

2008-02-11T12:35:00.000-08:00

Debussy was in love with Camille Claudel
Camille was in love with Rodin
Rodin was in love with everybody else
but her

KHIVA

2007-12-14T22:29:00.001-08:00

I MANAGED TO REACH KHIVA TOO. BY TAXI. THERE WAS ANOTHER TRAVELLER IN MY HOTEL WHO BOOKED AMIN AND HIS CAR SO I JUST SHARED THE COST , 90 DOLLARS ROUND TRIP, FOR A 500 KMS BUHKARA-KHIVA. ' HE IS A SIMPLE MAN' I WAS TOLD. WELL , MAYBE , BUT FELIX MY TRAVELLING COMPANION TURNED OUT TO BE SPANISH AS INTRODUCED, BUT LIVING IN MANHATAN WITH HIS WIFE WHO WORKS AT UN AND HIS TWO DAUGHTERS. ALL LIVED IN MEXICO, YEMEN, CAMBODIA, MONGOLIA ..AMONG OTHER PLACES. SO IT WAS A PLEASANT TRIP ISPEAKING SPANISH, RUSSIAN WITH THE DRIVER, AND ROMANIAN AND ARABIC WITH EVERYBODY ELSE. WE WERE THE ONLY ONES IN THE HOTEL, PROBABLY IN THE TOWN. TILL THE MORNING ARRIVAL OF A NOISY GROUP OF JAPANESE.THEY ARRIVED LIKE BIRDS WITH CAMERAS.

KHIVA IS A VERY OLD TOWN, ALL A FORTRESS, LIKE THE BYZANTINE PALACE WE VISITED IN SPLIT. IT WAS COLD, VERY COLD -SO I BOUGHT ANOTHER HAT AND A PAIR PF GLOVES. THE SUBZERO TEMPERATURE THOUGH DID NOT STOP THE ROW OF WEDDINGS OF THURSDAY CEREMONIES - ALL BRIDES WEARING WHITE, LOW CUT DRESSES WITH SHORT SLEEVES. THE GROOMS LOOKED FROZEN BUT CONTENT. LEE, I FOLLOWED YOUR INSTRUCTIONS AND TOOK SOME VIDEOS OF THEIR WILD DANCES. THE PEOPLE OF KHIVA ARE NOT PLEASANT THOUGH. - LIKE IN BUHKARA OR SAMARKAND - MUCH ROUGHER AND UNFRIENDLY. THE COLD MUST HAVE GOT TO THEIR HEART. WE RETURNED THE NEXT DAY , DRIVING 120 KMS AN HOUR. THERE WERE CHECK POINTS FROM TIME TO TIME WHERE AMIN WOULD JUMP OUT OF THE CAR WITH HIS DRIVING LICENCE AND A BANK NOTE OF 1000 SOMS NICELY FOLDED INSIDE . JUST TO MAKE SURE , THEY DO NOT KEEP US WAITING OR OPEN THE BAGPACKS ..IT WAS BETTER BEFORE HE SAYS, NO MONEY TO BE PAID, WE HAD MORE WORK, EVERYBODY WAS THE SAME...YOU HEAR THIS EVERWHERE. - - THEY ARE NOT CRAZY ABOUT KARIMOV WHO IS GOING TO BE RE ELECTED ON DEC.28TH FOR THE THIRD TIME, WITHOUT AN OPPOSITION....BUT THEY ALL ADORE PUTIN WHO IS A VERY SMART AND PROUD MAN. SO HERE YOU GO WITH THE CENTRAL ASIA POLITICS.

BACK IN BUKHARA I WAS WALKING THROUH THE BAZAAR TO DISCOVER A STAND WITH AN ENDEARING DISPLAY OF LENIN FLAGS, WRITINGS OF THE KORAN AND RUSSIAN ORTHODOX ICONS. IT REMINDED ME OF THE HAVANA MARKET WHERE MARYLIN MONROW IS SMILING NEXT TO CHE GHEVARA. THE AMUSING WORLDY AFFAIRS OF OUR LIVES.

I AM LEAVING TOMMOROW , BY TRAIN ,TO TASHKENT AND THEN FLY TO ISTANBUL FOR ONE NIGHT AND BACK TO THE SNOWS OF BOSTON.

BRIAN YOUR PICTURE WITH THE KIDS IS WONDERFUL. I OPENED THE FILE IN DOWNTOWN BUKHARA. AND YOU LEE AND RICKI MUST HAVE HAD A GLORIOUS TIME AT THE OPERA, AND I ENVY YOUR SUMMER IN SAN CLEMENTE STACEY.

ALL IN ALL , LOVE FROM THE LAND OF 1001 ARABIAN NIGHTS.

CU DRAG

Roxana von Kraus Quo Vadis Inc. 288 Newbury Street Boston, Massachusetts 02115 USA  Tel: +1 617 421-9494 Fax: +1 617 421-0928

10 Great Gift Ideas - Take a Look!
mail.com Shopping