Category
February 2, 2006
Marlborough Defuses Anti-Israel Claim
A private girls\’ school in Hancock Park has defused accusations of anti-Israel bias in the wake of an English teacher\’s speech on the Mideast at an all-school assembly.
7 Days in The Arts
Saturday, February 4
It’s the year of the gay cowboy, so why not the privileged lesbian? Head to the Geffen Playhouse for the Los Angeles premiere of David Mamet’s, “Boston Marriage,” titled after the Victorian euphemism used to describe a long-term, intimate relationship between two unmarried women. The play about two upper-class women involved thusly is also directed by Mamet and stars Rebecca Pidgeon, Alicia Silverstone and Mary Steenburgen.
Through March 12. $35-$69. 10886 Le Conte Ave., Westwood. (310) 208-5454.
Sunday, February 5
Israeli musician Ehud Banai comes to the Avalon Hollywood. Hear songs from the folk/rock/traditional songwriter’s album, “Answer Me,” which won Best Album of the Year at the 2004 Israeli Music Awards, and other favorites tonight only.
9 p.m. $45. 1735 Vine St., Hollywood. (323) 462-8900. www.groovetickets.com.
Finders Keepers?
It\’s definitely tsuris time at the pristine white acropolis complex of the Getty, which overlooks the San Diego Freeway, and at its wonderful, freshly renovated, fake Pompeian villa up the Pacific Coast Highway. Barry Munitz, the Getty Trust\’s president and CEO since 1998, has been battered with press reports about apparently uncontrolled and self-indulgent personal expense-account spending of the kind that we have learned to associate with corporate malfeasance. The Getty\’s vast assets may result from spectacular corporate earnings, but a trust is responsible to the public — to us! — not to stockholders. Insider staff dissatisfaction became most evident last fall, with the sudden resignation of Getty Museum Director Deborah Gribben.
Kate Braverman — Alive, Well, ‘Frantic’
\”Frantic Transmissions to and From Los Angeles: An Accidental Memoir,\” by Kate Braverman (Graywolf, $15).
\”Did I say that my work has been translated into Turkish? Apparently, it will be read in Istanbul, but not in Los Angeles.\”
Yes, Kate Braverman did say that in a telephone conversation from her new home in San Francisco. On more than one occasion, in fact, she mentioned this, digressing, ranting, in as polite a rant as possible, that she is merely \”referenced\” in Los Angeles, where she grew up and lived much of her adult life. The references have even taken on a funereal character.
Despite apparently being characterized by the Los Angeles Times a year or so ago as \”the late, legendary Kate Braverman,\” despite coincidentally bearing the same last name as the deceased character in Sidney Lumet\’s film, \”Bye Bye, Braverman,\” Kate Braverman, 55, author of the underground classic, \”Lithium for Medea,\” three other novels, countless anthologized short stories and now a new \”accidental memoir\” titled, \”Frantic Transmissions to and from Los Angeles,\” is anything but dead. \”Frantic Transmissions\” has just been published by Graywolf Press, a small, literary press in Minnesota, which awarded her its first-ever nonfiction prize for this latest effort.
My Friend, Shelley Winters
The movie house was dark. A beautiful blonde actress smiled at me from the screen in the small Duluth, Minn., theater.
\”She\’s Jewish,\” my grandma Goldie whispered as we watched \”Knickerbocker Holiday.\”
That was my introduction to Shelley Winters, a \”Jewish movie star.\” The very concept was inconceivable to my 7-year-old mind. Not only was she Jewish, but she kept it no secret. That was very rare in the anti-Semitic years following World War II.
A Timid Pro-Israel Lobby Doesn’t Work
Ever since news emerged that officials at Washington\’s powerful pro-Israel lobby were suspected of violating national security laws, speculation has raged over how this would affect its legendary clout. Now, two years down the line, after unceasing crises of investigations, subpoenas, surveillance, wire taps, grand juries and indictments, the consequence is clear: Unhappily, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is in peril of becoming a modern-day version of the ancient court Jew. In this case, that means bowing to the prerogatives of the Bush administration rather than using its avowed clout actually to influence government policy.
Out of the Picture
Summer\’s over, and I just got round 10 of Beth\’s camp pictures. She\’s made new friends, and seems to be learning a ton. She has that youthful exuberance. Adorable, no? Well, sort of.
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