| Taiko drums up spring festival
When Seiichi Tanaka came to America to attend the first Cherry Blossom Festival held in San Francisco 40 years ago, he was distressed there were no taiko drummers. The next year, he made sure the traditional Japanese drummers had a starring role in the annual event that celebrates the coming of spring. He started the San Francisco Taiko Dojo, which has been part of the festival every year since. Tanaka's son, Ryuma Tanaka, said it was the first time the taiko drummers performed outside of Japan. Ryuma Tanaka is now the general manager of the San Francisco Taiko Dojo and a member of the Cherry Blossom Festival executive committee. He's been busy getting ready for this year's festival, which began Saturday, runs through Sunday and continues next weekend in San Francisco's Japantown.
On Movies | Director tries an adult and her dog, for a change
And when White, the writer behind Chuck & Buck, The Good Girl, The School of Rock, and TV's late, lamented Freaks and Geeks, says "my kind of whatever" - well, Year of the Dog, which White wrote and which marks his directing debut, is not a kids' movie. The tale of a lonely office worker, played by Molly Shannon, who loses her much-beloved beagle, dives deep into despair, and resurfaces as an ardent animal-rights activist, Year of the Dog mixes comic portraiture with something sadder, stranger. Even the way White cast his movie suggests he wasn't simply going for laughs. Laura Dern has a role, as do John C. Reilly and Peter Sarsgaard - serious indie troupers all. "Molly has a certain big-comedy association," White explains, "and I do, too, in a way.
Homeland Security Follies
According to the sleeve of his latest book, Beyond Fear: Thinking Sensibly About Security, "in an Uncertain World, Bruce Schneier is the go-to security expert for business leaders and policy makers." If only the policy makers would listen, we'd be safer, happier and still free. Other books include Applied Cryptography, described by Wired as "the book the NSA wanted never to be published." Beyond Fear deals with security issues ranging from personal safety to national security and terrorism. Schneier is also a frequent contributor to Wired magazine, The Minneapolis Star-Tribune, and many other fine periodicals. He also writes a monthly newsletter, Cryptogram. I interviewed him on The RU Sirius Show. RU SIRIUS: First of all, why did you become a security expert? Were you a secure child? Did anybody steal your lunchbox at school? BRUCE SCHNEIER: I don't think I had any defining security episodes in my life, but I think you're right that security is something you're born with.
Jewish Christian And Muslim Sacred Texts Exhibition At BL
The British Library is proud to announce that HRH The Duke of Edinburgh and His Majesty Mohammed VI, King of Morocco, are the royal patrons of its forthcoming exhibition, Sacred: Discover what we share, which presents some of the worlds earliest-surviving, most important and beautiful religious texts from the Jewish, Christian and Muslim faiths. This groundbreaking exhibition is funded by donors representative of all three faiths, including the Coexist Foundation, The Moroccan British Society and Saint Catherine Foundation. Rare and exquisite examples from the Librarys collections - considered to be one of the greatest in the world will be presented alongside treasures on loan from other institutions. These include three Qurans from Moroccos Royal Library in Marrakech, as well as other loans from its national collections.
Pepsi Ice Center a big draw
BLOOMINGTON -- Jade Fung is getting the chance to learn figure skating while Emma Killian wants to try her hand at ice hockey.The girls are among more than 300 children who are participating in the current spring programs at the Pepsi Ice Center, located adjacent to the U.S. Cellular Coliseum in downtown Bloomington. The center, with a regulation NHL-sized rink, is operated by the city's Parks and Recreation Department and is part of the overall $35.8 million project that includes the Coliseum.The center opened in May, just a few months after the Coliseum, and has consistently seen more people sign up for classes and programs than projected. In addition, the center's open-skate times have drawn crowds of 200 to 300 people at a time. Demand for ice time has outpaced expectations to the point the city had to buy 100 more pairs of rental skates because the original 320 pairs were not enough.And the facility and its operation continue to be well received by parents who see the center as an alternate form of quality recreation for their kids.“In the first year, I was told if I had 100 kids participating the city would be happy," said Richard Beck, ice center manager.In the first set of classes held in the heat of last June, Beck said more than 250 children enrolled in Learn to Skate classes — a program that has grown to include about 380 children in classes held over the winter.Now taking her third class, Jade, who is 5, is enjoying herself.“Sometimes we fall on the ice, but we don't get hurt," she said as her mom, Collette Fung of Bloomington, put her skates on.“For us to do ice skating we would have had to drive out of town and we wouldn't have," said her mother.
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