The Silent "I"

Movie Review: Jobs

 

I finally went to see "Jobs" last night, mainly because it was playing down the street from me and I had some time to kill while my Candy Crush lives refilled. 

Unlike most people in Silicon Valley, I don't really have a preconceived notion of what Jobs was like in real life, whether he was a visionary or villain or something in between. The Valley seems to have a love-hate relationship with Jobs.  Nearly everyone I know has a "Steve Jobs was an jerk" or "Steve Jobs was a saint" story to share; sometimes one of each. I never met the man, so I am in no position to judge the accuracy of this movie or any other movie about him.  

"Jobs" is the movie that would result if you said "Siri, find me random anecdotes that Steve Jobs was an asshole" into your iPhone. Siri would likely say things like:

"Jobs denied stock options to most of the guys who helped build the Apple I in his parents' garage."

"Jobs initially denied that Lisa was his daughter, but named a computer after her anyway."

"Jobs was a fruitarian who didn't like to wear shoes." 

"Jobs lived in a palazzo in Woodside, while he made his parents lived in the same crappy tract house in Los Altos."

"Jobs had BO."

Conversely,  according to this movie, if you ask, "Siri, find me random anecdotes that Steve Jobs was a nice guy," you would get:

    "I don't understand your request. Try your search again."

Overall, the movie was mildly entertaining and had moments that were truly moving. There were a number of jumps in the script that didn't make much sense, or relied on the viewer to know something about Jobs to fill in the gaps.  Characters seemed to appear without much introduction or exposition and then just disappear. Since my only relationship to Apple is the Island of Misfit Macs located in my garage, I had no clue who most of these people were supposed to be.

The most fully realized relationship  in the movie was the one between Ashton Kutcher's Steve and Josh Gad's Woz.  To me, they were like Frodo and Samwise Gamgee in the Lord of the Rings, but instead of questing to save the Shire, they were on a quest to sell computers to the masses, most of whom could not operate blenders without injuring themselves.  Like LOTR, the real hero of the story, in my mind at least, was never Frodo, but the stalwart Sam.  Frodo may have been the chosen one, but he was nothing without the pure-hearted, portly Sam.  

When are they going to make "Woz: The Musical"? I'll be first in line on opening night. As for the upcoming Aaron Sorkin Jobs movie, I'll probably pass until it's available on iTunes.

If you'd like to know what I thought about Elysium, the Sci-Fi movie starring Matt Damon, check out my review on House of Prince. Thanks to Kim Tracy Prince for posting my Facebook ramblings in blog post form and inspiring me to dust off my blog and actually post something.

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California Girl

 

Beach at Laguna Niguel, California

My husband is fond of telling people that sixteen years ago, he dragged me to California "kicking and screaming". I don't remember kicking anyone, but I was pretty vocal about the fact that California was never on my wish-list of places to live, and that it would be a temporary stay. I made my husband swear a blood oath that if and when we ever had kids, we would move back to Austin to raise them.  I had family and friends and favorite haunts in Texas; California was a brave new world and I was sure I wasn't cut out for the lifestyle.

Growing up in the midwest, my impression of California was that it was a free-spirited, anything-goes kind of place, full of pot-smoking hippies, actors, and surfers.  I didn't know how I might fit in, even though I had previously made myself at home in Ohio, New York, Chicago, and Texas. I was willing, however, to try, as long as I had some assurance that if I hated it, the stay would be temporary.

Sixteen years and a house, a child, and a career later, I've grown to love California for its indescribable beauty and innovative spirit.  California is my home now, and I don't want to live anywhere else. I've been spoiled by the temperate climate, beautiful scenery, and opportunities around every bend in the road for some new adventure.

Pacific Sunset

I spent the past weekend in Southern California, and was struck by the beautiful beaches and serene, but glorious technicolor sunsets over the Pacific. The sky turned the colors of cotton candy, reflected in the waves of the Pacific, the beauty is enough to make you weep for no othe reason than you are there, and alive to witness something so glorious in its simple beauty. 

While Southern California can boast about its beaches, theme parks, and mountains, Northern California has its share of wonders as well. Where we live in the San Francisco Bay Area, we are no more than an hour from the beach, the mountains, or what I think is the most beautiful city in the world--San Francisco.  Lake Tahoe is a 3 hour drive, for gorgeous boating and hiking in the summer, or hitting the slopes in the winter. In Northern California, kids traditionally have a week off from school for "Ski Week", making up for the fact that there are no snow days due to the year-round mild weather.

I live in the town where Facebook, Google, and Pinterest all got their start, and every cafe is full of young men and women making deals, creating apps, writing code, and dreaming big dreams of making their mark on the internet and on the world. Palo Alto is a fun and exciting place to live and learn and dream. There is an iconic ad for Hewlett-Packard that shows the founders, (Bill and Dave to the locals) peering into a small garage in Palo Alto and seeing the whole world. In Palo Alto, Mountain View, San Francisco and all up and down the Peninsula, companies work hard to innovate and bring new ideas and products to the world.

I also love the diversity of our community here, where you can hear multiple languages on any street corner at any hour of the day. Children at my son's elementary school spoke 30 different languages at, the most common being Spanish, Korean, Chinese, and Hebrew. People from all over the planet gravitate to the Bay Area for work and school, and some never leave. Each culture leaves an indelible mark, and we are all richer for the experience.

I really doubt that I will leave California now, and if I did, you'd better bet there would be kicking and screaming involved. I'm a California girl now.

 I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective, and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own. Photos by Glennia Campbell, 2013. All Rights Reserved.

Garage Catharsis 101

 

Not a scene from Hoarders, but my actual garage.

 

Last fall, I attended a wonderful weekend retreat in Palm Springs called Camp Mighty.  The purpose of Camp Mighty was for the participants to focus on what they hope to accomplish in their lives and create a "life list" along with a plan for achieving five goals this year. 

I have to say, when I started looking at other people's life lists, I had a little bit of smug satisfaction in knowing that I'd accomplished many of the things they have yet to do.  Go around the world? (check) Meet and marry the man of my dreams (double check) See the Grand Canyon? Easter Island? The Galapagos? The Great Wall? Iguazu Falls? Greenland? Northern Lights? A Total Eclipse?  (been there, done all that). I chalk that up to being considerably older than most of the participants, but there's still some life left in this old girl, so I set out to make my list.

One of the things I put on my list of 5 goals for 2013 is to clean out my garage.  While my teammates at Camp Mighty are busily buying houses, producing plays that they wrote, and taking kids on Disney Cruises, I'll be wheezing and sneezing my way through a garage that should be listed in the city directory as a secondary landfill site. Sure, it would be more fun to plan a trip to Australia or go ziplining or write a screenplay or learn to shoot a gun (also on my life list), but the garage is the first thing I'm tackling in 2013.

I'm a little ashamed to admit that the photo above is of my actual garage on January 1, 2013.  I spent a few hours that weekend and most of MLK weekend moving things around, getting rid of empty boxes, and clearing a path from the house to the driveway.  Here's what it looks like now (without the bikes, which were moved back in after the photo)...

As you can see, not much changed.  I did, however, locate the following:

1. My State Bar of California Admission Certificate.  This should come in handy if anyone ever dares to question my bona fides to sue their asses.
2. Unopened mail, addressed to my husband, from 1987.  I delivered this to him, saying "Special Delivery! From the Reagan Era!"  He was not amused.
3. A folding stroller. Since my son is 12 and is closer to driving age than stroller age, I'm pretty sure we won't be needing it any more.
4. Some kind of prayer rug that made me think my husband might be a secret garage Muslim like Brody on Homeland.  It turns out it was a souvenir cloth his grandmother brought back from a trip to Iran in the sixties, when she met the Shah of Iran and had tea with him. I guess we should keep that, given that neither of them are still alive now.

Going through my garage has been like being on an archaelogical dig of my own life.  Many of the items have some memory attached to them, either for my husband or myself, so it's a much harder task to get rid of things than I originally thought it would be.  The garage has become a repository for the flotsam and jetsam of our life story together as a family, and before that, as individuals.  In some ways, our garage is full of reminders of the life list we've fulfilled so far.

What I've done so far to try to accomplish this:

• Created a Pinterest board of inspiring garage photos and how-to blog posts.
• Made an appointment with a professional organizer to get some expert help.
• Given away 2 items on Freecycle. I posted a third, but evidently, no one needs a fan in the winter around here.
• Found out where we can recycle, since our local recycling center closed last year. Hint: it's in Sunnyvale.
• Bought a table to sell Alex's old toys at the Parents Club of Palo Alto & Menlo Park's annual Rummage Sale. I have also enlisted my semi-pro garage saler BFF, Terry, to help in that endeavor.
• Donated 2 VCRs, a DVD player, a CD Player, a TV, a boombox, and a box of random cables to an elementary school e-waste collection fundraiser.

My friend, Stefania, suggested I rent a dumpster and start flinging stuff in it, but since a large portion of the stuff in the garage doesn't belong to me, I figured I'd better start small and work my way up to the dumpster. Consider that Plan B, at least for now.

If anyone wants to call the people from Clean House, I wouldn't object.

Photos: Glennia Campbell, (c) 2013

The Lion King in SF: Long Live the King!

 

Jelani Remy, as Simba in The Lion King

My family had the opportunity to see the latest incarnation of The Lion King at San Francisco's  beautiful Orpheum Theater recently, courtesy of SHN.  My son and I had seen the show about 7 or 8 years ago, when he was a very little tyke who was scared to death of the big stampede.  He was so scared, in fact, he hid under the seat until the wildebeast stampede was over. As a jaded, world-weary 12 year old, I wasn't sure how he might respond to what had been one of his favorite, yet most traumatic, stories of his childhood.  At twelve, he was as enthralled with this production as he was with the one he had seen at age 5, and more impressed than ever with the showmanship, the dazzling costumes, puppetry and sheer magic of the production.

Prior to the show, we had a chance to meet the stars of the show, Syndee Winters and Jelani Remy, who play the adult Nala and Simba, respectively.  Both are hugely talented singers and dancers, and are destined for great things on the stage or movies and television, wherever they chose to land.  They were wonderful with all the moms and kids, answering questions and posing for pictures with everyone. 

The Lion King is not a show that is easy to write about; so much of it is visual and defies words.  From the waving grass on the savannah represented by dancers posing and contorting themselves on the ground, to the African-inspired songs sung in Swahili, to the visual schtick of comic relievers Timon and Pumbaa, the show is chock-full of stunning imagery and auditory delights.

This is a show I can recommend for the entire family, although, be forewarned that some scenes may be intense for the youngest children.  There were a 3 year old and 5 year old sitting in front of me who took the whole thing in stride, but my son was a little more sensitive to loud noises and the death of Simba's father, Mustafa when he was 5.  Know what your child's sensititivies and tolerances are for loud noises, the idea of a parent's death, and a tremendous amount of visual stimulation and plan accordingly. Older kids will definitely love the music, costumes and jokes.

If you are looking for a real holiday treat, or a terrific present for grandparents, go see this staging of The Lion King before it leaves San Francisco on January 13, 2013.  Tickets are available on-line at SHNSF or by calling 1-888-746-1799.

 

Photo Credit: Top photo by Joan Marcus, courtesy of SHN/Disney. Used with Permission. Bottom Photo by Glennia Campbell, The SilentI.com, All Rights Reserved.

Disclosure: We received three complimentary tickets and some Lion King promotional products from SHN Orpheum, but no financial or other compensation for this post.  As always, the views expressed herein are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of SHN Orpheum or the Disney Corporation.

 

Cavalia Opens in San Jose

Internationally acclaimed circus-style show Cavalia by Normand Latourelle, one of the creators of Cirque de Soleil, arrived in San Jose, California last week amid a flurry of manes and tails and hooves, and local press. Cavalia combines beautiful trained horses, daring feats of riding and acrobatics, lights and music for a spectacular entertainment.  It's a mash-up of horse show and circus, a "Horse de Soleil," if you will. I was there on their arrival with a number of bloggers, newspapers, and TV stations to cover the event.  It's not every day a world-renowned show like this comes to town.

I was driving on Highway 101 near the airport week before last when I noticed a huge white castle-like structure on the side of the highway, normally reserved for empty lots and office parks.  I don't go that way often, but I knew it didn't belong there.  I wondered what it was and saw the sign that said "Cavalia" with a picture of a horse.  I thought maybe San Jose was opening up some new Renaissance dinner theatre or hosting some kind of show pony competition.  I looked it up and found out that it was something much more.  When I received an invitation to attend the press preview, my curiosity got the better of me and I had to see it for myself.

The horses arrived on Friday, much to the delight of the trainers/performers who ride and care for the horses while they travel.  The horses were back from two weeks of R&R at a large horse farm, a kind of horse spa, where I'm sure they enjoyed idyllic frolics through verdant pastures, pedicures, and plenty of fresh air.  The performers also had time off, and were lined up outside the stable to greet their horses when they arrived by truck.  The company had finished a successful run in Mexico City a few weeks prior, and were ready for prime time in San Jose.

Performer Fairland Ferguson came out to greet the members of the press on hand and answer questions about the show, the horses,  and the performers.  There were several young girls along with their moms in attendance, who all wanted to know how one trains to become a performer in Cavalia. Fairland noted that she had grown up around horses and after finishing college had learned trick riding in a dinner-theatre show in her home state of South Carolina.  The performers hail from around the world, and we cold hear them speaking French, Spanish, and English as they milled around waiting for the horses to arrive. 

The horses finally pulled up and the excitement was palpable. It was clear that the performers and the horses share a special bond.  We were then treated to a tour of the stables and a short demonstration in the practice tent of various riding techniques used in the show.

On Tuesday, we were invited back to see a sneak peak of the show, with full costumes, music and lights.

The show is ostensibly about the evolution of the relationship between horses and people, so the opening scene is very austere: a beautiful horse running freely around the arena, and a man in simple costume giving hand an voice commands and befriending the horse.  The segment ends with the man riding bareback on the horse, with no saddle, bits or bridles, just holding onto the horse's mane. It is a simple, gentle performance that was touching and beautiful.

Later, acrobats bound in from the sidelines and perform some amazing tricks, including a guy doing about 30 one-armed handsprings in a row that made me tired just watching him.  A troupe of dancers whirled around while the acrobats performed gravity-defying flips and formed various human pyramids and towers.

In the following segment with a backdrop reminiscent of the Coliseum, Roman riders thundered in, circling the arena, with a rider standing atop a pair of perfectly sychronized, incredibly fast horses.  How the riders kept their balance is a mystery to me, although performer Fairland Ferguson earlier told us that "you have to develop big thighs" to do this.

Probably the most enchanting portion of the show was what looked to me like a fairy tale sequence in which female aerialists, hanging by the thinnest of silver wires, dropped down to swoop above and around male riders and horses.  It was a beautiful, ethereal scene, like colorful birds or angels descending into the theater to protect and guide both horse and rider. The women performed some lovely acrobatic dance moves in the air, while snow fell all around.

As the show progresses, the tricks and settings become more elaborate and fast-paced, culminating with acrobats, aerialists, and two dozen horses all performing simultaneously. It was a dizzying spectacle, and it was hard to know where to look at times with so much happening at once.

Cavalia runs in San Jose from July 18-August 12, 2012. Tickets are available through their website, and range from about $50-$250. VIP packages are available that include dinner and some special access. If you like horses, circuses, or just plain fun, go see it.  You will surely be entertained and delighted.

Disclosure: I was invited as part of the media corps to cover the arrival of the horses and a complimentary short preview of the show. I did not receive any compensation for writing this review. All opinions are solely my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cavalia.

Photos: All photos were taken by Glennia Campbell for TheSilentI.com. Sets, costumes, and scenes depicted are copyright of Cavalia and were photographed permission.  All Rights Reserved.

Transit of Venus 2012

 

Transit of Venus

 

On June 5, North America got to witness a rare sight: the transit of Venus across the face of the sun.  This alignment of Venus falling between the earth and the sun shows up as a small dot traveling across the face of the sun.  This astronomical occurrence won't happen again until 2117.

My husband Frank was out with our local astronomy club and was able to capture the image above using his digital camera and a high-powered telescope.  He texted me several times that day to tell me to look outside at sun down so I could see it.  Unfortunately, I was on the East Coast, where giant storm clouds covered the sky most of the day.  I didn't get to see it for myself.  I was glad that he and Alex got a chance to witness this once-in-a-lifetime event.  It looked like a lovely sight.

"Venus favors the bold."
-Ovid

Photo Credit: Frank Schellenberg, used with permission. All Rights Reserved.

Abel Gance's Napoleon, Epic Silent Movie: Guest Post by Frank

My husband, Frank, discovered that Abel Gance's epic silent film, Napoleon, was playing with a live orchestra in Oakland last weekend.  When I found out it was 5 1/2 hours long, I told him, "You're on your own, bub."

This is his account of a classic movie-going experience that may not be repeated.

I had the good fortune to get a ticket last weekend for the final showing of Napoleon, Abel Gance’s silent movie masterpiece. I recall hearing about the version released with a score by Francis Ford Coppola's father in the early 1980’s, but I skipped it then, and always wondered what I’d missed.

Now, for the first time in 30 years, a new, more complete restoration was on offer as part of the 2012 San Francisco Silent Film Festival, It was being shown with a live performance by the Oakland East Bay Symphony, playing an original score conduced by the composer Carl Davis. Billed as a once-in-lifetime experience, I snapped up a ticket online and headed to Oakland on Sunday, April 1.

This French movie was made in the 1920s, and was first shown in 1927. The director, Abel Gance, got funding to make 6 films to chronicle the whole life of Napoleon. He blew the entire budget on just the first installment, which only carries us through Napoleon’s early life, but even with this limited material, the film is over 5 hours long.

At first, we see him as a teen at boarding school, commanding a snowball fight among his peers. We watch the French Revolution and Napoleon’s imprisonment and the effect this has on him. We see his military talent (and defiance of authority) at the Battle of Toulon in 1793, his romance and marriage to Joséphine, who turns out (at least according to the movie) to have been imprisoned with him (and was saved by a judicious bureaucrat who literally ate – yes, tore up and swallowed - her paperwork rather than letting her be guillotined). The film finally ends with Napoleon’s invasion of Italy in 1796.

Holiday Entertaining with Fresh & Easy

This weekend, I was thrilled to host a house party for some of my blogger and work friends sponsored by Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Markets.  The folks from Fresh & Easy brought in some of their best holiday fare for us to try out, including Brie & Cranberry Pastry Puffs, Mini Beef en Croutes, and Bacon Wrapped Shrimp appetizers. The appetizers are in the prepared foods section of the store, and are uncooked when you buy them. Just pop them in the oven for about 10 minutes, and you have tantalizing, decadent appetizers that seem like you've been slaving all day to prepare. I mean, seriously, how could you go wrong with brie cheese wrapped in butter pastry? Or anything at all involving bacon?

A few months ago, I went to an event in San Francisco to launch new Fresh & Easy stores in Northern California.  I had never heard of Fresh & Easy before that, and was delighted to learn that they offer fresh, wholesome foods at reasonable prices. Fresh & Easy is owned by the British supermarket chain Tesco.  They are in the middle of opening stores in California, Nevada, and Arizona. In addition to their own branded products, they also offer some of the top name-brand items and fresh bread from Il Fornaio bakery. 

APEC Summit on Women & the Economy

Romi Haan was a housewife in South Korea with a problem: how to keep the floors clean without spending hours a day doing it.  Because of the ondol tradition of heating homes through the floor, Koreans spend a great deal of time at home in a central room, on the floor.  As Romi says, "Koreans live on the floor. We sleep on the floor. We eat on the floor. We sit on the floor. We play on the floor." 

Keeping the floor clean is serious business for Korean women, and means daily washings, down on their hands and knees.  Romi wanted to free herself of this daily chore, or make it a little easier for herself and her friends.  So, she imagined a steam cleaner to do just that: clean the floor with less effort and cut the time spent on washing the floor in half. It was a way to get women up off the floor and out into the world.

When Romi approached a bank about a government loan program to get her product made, the bank officer asked her, "What company did your husband bankrupt that makes you now have to work?  Are you doing this for him?"

When she told him that her husband was not the reason she wanted to go into business, he didn't believe her. Her application was denied. Romi didn't take no for an answer, and persisted with her dream. She mortgaged her home and quit her job to pursue her invention.  She was able to get her business up and running in three years, but faced other hurdles. 

When Romi tried to market and distribute her product, she was met with skepticism and disdain by male buyers for department stores. She would go in to talk to them, and they would ask her, "Why do you need a steam cleaner when you have a vacuum cleaner?"

She explained that a vacuum cleaner would sweep the floor, but her cleaner would mop it. After an hour-long discussion the buyer would ask again, "Why do you need a steam cleaner when you have a vacuum cleaner?"

Ten years later, Romi Haan is now the CEO of a multinational, multimillion dollar appliance and beauty products company, Haan Corporation. She is one of the few female CEOs in South Korea, and her business is thriving. She represents a new breed of Korean women executives and a model of successful entrepreneurship. Her story is not atypical of the challenges that women face in the global economy, but her success is unfortunately too rare.

I was privileged to hear Romi's story firsthand at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Women & the Economy Summit in San Francisco recently. The conference brought together women leaders, government officials, diplomats, and corporate innovators to discuss actions to improve the lives of women in the Asia-Pacific region, and by doing so, the world's economy. Recognizing that women are a vast, largely untapped resource for change and growth, the group spent a week in San Francisco working on plans for change.  This was one of several meetings around the Pacific Rim leading up to the APEC Summit in Hawaii in November, which President Obama will attend.

The Conference Keynote was delivered by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a woman who has inspired a generation of women to enter political life to try to dismantle the political barriers that keep women from fully participating in economic growth.  Secretary Clinton's speech was a call to action, for all nations to tap the power, creativity, and drive of women to help elevate all people, across all regions.

San Francisco Chinatown: Fun Things to Do on a Budget

One of my favorite movie musicals as a child was Rogers & Hammerstein's Flower Drum Song, mainly because it was the first movie I ever saw that had Asian and Asian-American actors in leading roles. It didn't matter to me that the plot was ridiculous or that some of the actors weren't even Chinese (or even Asian in some cases).  I just remember being proud of the fact that people who somewhat resembled people in my family had made it to the big screen. 

One of the most memorable songs was the song called "Grant Avenue".

A western street with eastern manners,
Tall pagodas and golden banners
Throw their shadows through the lantern glow.

You can shop for precious jade
or teakwood tables or silk brocade
Or see a bold and brassy night club show,
On the most exciting thoroughfare I know.

We call it
Grant Avenue, San Francisco,
California, U.S.A.
Looks down from Chinatown
Over a foggy bay.

I had this romantic notion of San Francisco's Chinatown as a child.  I thought of it as an exotic, bustling thoroughfare of commerce and cable cars in the town where they invented Rice-a-Roni, quite possibly on Grant Avenue itself.  I think I made up that last part, but it made sense to me, since that was all I knew of San Francisco as a kid in Ohio in the 1960's was what I saw on television.  When I was about five, I used to stomp around the house singing "Grant Avenue! San Francisco! Cal-i-forn-i-a! U! S! A!" until my mother informed me that we were not Chinese and I needed to knock it off.

Anyway, San Francisco's Chinatown holds a special place in my heart.  Last weekend, we did a little mini-vacation and spent the weekend in San Francisco.  We stayed at the Orchard Garden Hotel, courtesy of the We Blog Travels Travel Writing Contest that I won last year with this post about San Francisco for kids.  We decided to see what we could do in San Francisco on a tight budget, and we started off with a walk through Chinatown.

The Orchard Garden is located next to the the Chinatown Gate, on Bush and Grant Avenue.  We were able to walk down the famed Grant Avenue, checking out a thousand and one souvenir shops, selling everything from silk purses to shoes to sculptures to tourist trinkets.  I have to admit, I had the "Grant Avenue" song stuck in my head as we walked along, stopping at nearly every souvenir shop along the way.

Althought it's called "Chinatown", the wares sold on Grant Avenue are sort of Pan-Asian, so you can find imports from Korea, Japan, India, and Thailand as well as China. Some of the best buys are comfy shoes and slippers, porceline dishes, and souvenirs of San Francisco. Alex salivated over racks of reproduction Samurai swords in one shop, and we beat a hasty retreat out of another that featured posters of nude Chinese women from the 1940's.  Every time my mom comes to town, we go jewelry shopping in Chinatown. The jewelers are usually open to bargaining on prices if you chat with them, and will usually throw in a jade bracelet or earrings if you press them. 

Some of the shops feature upscale artwork, Buddha sculptures, pottery, and fake designer bags.  I like the more Zen-inspired ones, with incense, stone garden Buddhas, and inspirational paper weights.