I attended a preview of Star Trek: The Exhibition that opens Friday October 23 at the Tech Museum. I am a Star Trek fan but not a Trekker. I have seen all of the television series with Next Generation being my favorite. I have seen all of the films except the most recent.

So, let us take a tour …

When you enter the exhibit, you are greeted with a pillared entry. Do not go racing past them, take the time to notice they have text on them, from the “where no one has gone before” dialogue to a list of episodes.

Pass the pillars and you will be in a large area that includes uniforms and artifacts. There is a display featuring all of the Enterprises beginning with the Enterprise aircraft carrier, followed by the space shuttle, and then the starships. The centerpiece in this room is an immense model of the 1701-A Enterprise.

We exit this area to the right and enter the bridge of the original series. This for me was a disappointment. It is a scaled down bridge with no interactive features; unless sitting in the Captain’s chair or at the helm is being interactive. The consoles have plastic non-push lit up buttons. A few of these could be setup to activate display screens, sound effects, and communications chatter. Having the forward view screen animated would liven up the bridge. Note: no photography allowed throughout the exhibit. A photo of you in the Captain’s chair is available for a fee.

We exit the bridge through the turbolift and proceed down a walkway passing displays of Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock’s uniforms.

Proceeding along the walkway, we enter a corridor of the 1701-D Enterprise (Next Gen), this portion of the exhibit being my favorite. First up along the corridor is Captain Jean-Luc Picard’s ready room. This closed-off area includes the Captain’s uniform, various props, and a bottle of Chateau Picard wine. Continue down the corridor to a full-scale Transporter. You can stand on the Transporter and wish photography were allowed. Look up at the monitor to see yourself; will you beam down? Next to the Transporter room is a full-scale model of the Guardian of Forever, the time portal from “The City on the Edge of Forever.” Another lost opportunity for a photo of you going through the portal. These two rooms include Captain chairs, a shooting model of the Borg ship, along with more artifacts and uniforms. Before leaving the corridor, take a close look at the displays on the walls of the corridor.

Leaving the corridor, we enter “The History of The Future.” The History of The Future is a timeline, which goes chronologically from right to left. Not only is it a bit strange that the timeline is right to left, you enter the room to the left of the timeline. This room includes shooting models of the Enterprise and other ships. There are more uniforms on display here including those from the recent Star Trek film.

That’s it. End of the exhibit; however, turn the corner and there are two motion simulators,

The two rides have an extra fee each.

There is an eight-seat ride that I found to be rather tame. There were six aboard, I was in the last row and had an obstructed view of the display screen. You are fighting the Borg as Worf (Michael Dorn) narrates. The ride rocks back and forth enough for you to slide back and forth on the bench seat. You may want to skip this one.

The other simulator is a two-seater. This one is fun. You get strapped in as you will be rolling and looping. The display is right in front of you and again you are fighting the Borg. There is a warning that the ride may be too intense for some; you will be upside-down a few times. If you are going to ride both simulators, do this ride second.

I recommend Star Trek: The Exhibition even though the admission is a bit pricy.

Check the Tech Museum’s Star Trek: The Exhibition website for ticket pricing, hours, costume guidelines, and more.

Star Trek Exhibit Photos…

As mentioned by Bill Cosby

Someone was always singing the praises of Calvin’S, so I suggested stopping there to pick up lunch. We found this little hole in the wall, at 1411 The Alameda, amazing.

As soon as we stepped through the door our eyes filled with things foreign to San Jose. We saw sodas with strange names like Birch Beer. Even stranger for ‘This is Sharks Territory’ was being confronted with reference to the Philadelphia Flyers! All was forgiven as the aroma of Calvin’S found our noses.

The menu is not the same old, same old local fare. We ordered Cheesesteak Sandmiches (not misspelled) and a soda to go. As we paid the bill the owner, Jonne Aleeson, showed off his cell phone pic of Mayor Chuck Reed.

We rushed home unwrapped our Sandmiches, split the Birch Beer, and began to sing praises.

Calvin’S - menu, map, hours, etc.

Photos

Viewed Saturday, June 12 at the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum, along with Passion Flower (review following).

Daisy rides the train with her brother Noah

If TS Eliot came back to life reincarnated as a filmmaker, he would be Alejandro Adams. This is what I wrote on my notepad halfway through this movie, and while I firmly believe this comparison, it also makes a review of his movies very difficult. How could you write a one page review of Eliot’s The Waste Land and make the average reader understand the greatness of the work? I missed this film when it played at Cinequest 2008, so I was very happy to have this second chance to see Adams’ first feature film.

Like The Waste Land, it is difficult to adequately review an Adams film without writing an entire 10 page essay. His films defy a one or two paragraph blurb; there is far too much going on, too much you have to figure out yourself. This is the beauty of his first two films; he will never tell you what is happening, and nothing will be explained to you. You are merely an observer in the film’s world and it is up to you to decide what the story is about. While this film had more of a beginning-middle-end configuration than did Canary, his second film, it is still just a section of time in the lives of these characters.

Around the Bay is a movie with four main characters: all four are protagonists of their own story, and antagonists in another. Such is real life. The four characters are all interrelated in some way: you have a father, a daughter and a son by two different ex-wives, and a girlfriend. The truth of this plot is that none of the four characters really know any of the others as they should, and they battle through the film trying, and failing, to understand each other. I could spend time explaining the intricacies of the plot, but the experience of watching the film is much more important than the details of the story.

Little snippets of scenes spliced here, there, and everywhere; some with jarring blackout cuts, some scenes and their dialogue simply overlapping each other. An unsettling puzzle of quiet scenes that ensure you will never know for sure what is coming next. Such a quiet movie with so little written dialogue, but it also contains so much noise; there is a constant stream of crickets or train noises drowning out everything else. Adams knows how to manipulate this minimalist use of sound to create a cacophony of unrest. If you took out all background sound and dialogue, and replaced it with Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, you would still have the same experience watching this film.

Instead of written dialogue, many scenes are spent watching the characters sit silently; it is up to us to read their thoughts. This can frustrate the average moviegoer, but is also the beauty of Adams’ films; like a great poem, the viewer must interpret what is going on in the minds of the characters. This contributes to the feeling of being a voyeur into this world. At times the screen just goes silent – often when the character of the father is almost experiencing some emotion, as if he’s trying to use silence to drown it before it surfaces.

Will Alejandro ever get rich with his films? Probably not with this film, but I don’t think he cares. He is a true artist-slash-genius such as many literary authors who were never given the fame they deserved while alive. I predict his films will be taught in film school one day, but this does not mean the average viewer should forget his name. If you ever get your hands on a DVD of Around the Bay I suggest you set aside 96 minutes of quiet time to sit and observe the entire film in one viewing. When it is over you will be happy that you gave the film the attention it deserves.

I also saw the documentary film Passion Flower, by Jarrod Whaley.

Skip Cisto prepares the tattoo for Ann Law

This was a beautiful film about a woman with a double mastectomy who decides to get a passion flower tattooed around the area of her scars. The woman, Ann Law, is a dancer who has decided against being fitted with prostheses or submitting to reconstructive surgery. The entire film is set in the tattoo parlor, and Ann arrives with friends while chatting happily. Throughout the film she explains her story as tattoo artist Skip Cisto proceeds with the process. We see everything from the drawing being transferred to her skin, to the coloring in of the tattoo. Cisto treats Ann and her story with great respect, almost reverence, and appears to be aware of the part he is playing in this metamorphoses. Ann even chats happily about the rain outside. She says that the rain makes her glad she’s there in the parlor, that if it were sunny she would want to be playing outside. But of course the rain is also a symbol of rebirth, and it marks the transformation of Ann from cancer survivor to a work of art. When it is over she stands up and admires with the rest of us her perfectly smooth torso that is now a canvas for the passion flower. There is no cringing or wincing from anyone on film or in the audience as she displays her bare chest, just as there is no longer any sign of a scar. Her metamorphosis into a whole woman again is complete.

Bay Area filmmaker Alejandro Adams‘ first feature, Around the Bay, appeared on several critics’ top ten lists at the end of 2008. His second feature, Canary, prompted Dennis Harvey of Variety to hail him as “an arresting talent.” Babnik, a Russian-language sex-trafficking thriller, is currently in post-production. Amity and Child of God are currently being filmed.

Jarrod Whaley of Oak Street Films currently resides in Chattanooga but preparing for his move to the Bay Area this summer. He has also written and directed the upcoming dark comedy Hell is Other People.

Jeffrey James Lippold

With the convenience of NETFLIX I just don’t get out to the movie theater much. But when my daughter, with her connections, invited me to see the controversial ‘Angels & Demons’ free with her, I said, “OK”. Then remembering that Jeffrey had a part (Carabinieri Captain) in the film, I had to say, “Yes!, When can we go.” I met Jeffrey (Jeffrey James Lippold) at Cinequest 19. He starred in ‘Samurai Avenger: Blind Wolf’, and I became an instant fan…

I’ll get my mind off of Jeffrey and offer this advice for enjoying ‘Angels & Demons’: Get your popcorn and soda before taking your theater seat. Once Harvard symbolist Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) takes on the secret of the Illuminati; the killing of Catholic cardinals, you won’t want to miss a scene. My daughter’s visit to Rome caused her to whisper, “I was there!” as the film took us to the architecture along the ‘Path of Illumination’.

Angels & Demons is now in the saved section of my NETFLIX Queue – I will see it again.

Angels & Demons Decoded: A study of Dan Brown’s novel.
Tue, May 26, 8:00p and Wed, May 27, 12:00m
Comcast – Channel – 62

iTunes Angels & Demons game application $4.99

I attended the Opening Night performance of The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee with open expectations.  I had never heard anything about the show before and did not know what to expect, and I got the same feeling from other audience members in attendance.   Two hours later we filed out of the SJ Rep with euphoric hearts and maybe a tear in an eye or two.  This is a production that draws you in from the moment you step into the theatre, and it continues on with a catharsis of hysterical laughing, hopeful rooting for your favorite speller, and heartbreaking sorrow for the losers.  It is an interactive production like no other and simply put, is not to be missed.

My guest and I stepped into the theatre and gasped with delight when we saw the stage had been turned into an extraordinarily detailed gymnasium.  It was brightly lit even as the audience was finding their seats, and the bright colors and fun details from floor to ceiling really helped make the audience excited before the play even began.  When the play started at 8pm the house was packed full and ready to see what this play was all about.

Every character in this play is the protagonist of their own little story, and we slowly learn about each student as the play goes on.  Four members of the audience are also chosen to participate on stage and are given spelling words until they have been eliminated from the competition.  There is a lot of playful fun-poking and the audience cheered loudly for all the students whether they won or lost. 

There is no fourth wall in this production and the audience is a fully participating part of the play.  Fifteen minutes into the production on Friday the audience was uncontrollable in our laughter and yelling and rooting for each speller.  Halfway through the play the character of Chip Tolentino walks through the aisles with a candy box and slings M&Ms and Kit Bars at the crowd while singing about his “Unfortunate Erection”.  But soon after this we started to quiet down as the student characters in front of us slowly opened up and we saw some of the sadness and hurt and disappointment they held inside.

As the play tells us, “Life isn’t fair,” “Life is pandemonium,” and “the good don’t always win.”  These are hard lessons that we all have to learn in life, and the students in the spelling bee are dealing with extraordinary pressures put upon them from their parents, society and themselves to succeed.  There is only going to be one “winner” at the end of the spelling bee.  But as director Timothy Near tells us, this play shows that “working hard, being creative and making good friends in the process IS winning.”

The actors in this production were incredible.  You never for one moment believe you are looking at adults playing children, you only see six hopeful preteens sitting in the gym waiting for their turn to spell.  Clifton Guterman as Leaf Coneybear and Dani Marcus as Olive Ostrovsky were special standouts who make you fall in love with their characters.  Berwick Hayes as Mitch Mahoney brings comic relief and much love and comfort to the characters and participating audience members.  But every member of this cast was amazing.  I also give high marks to scenic designer Robert Broadfoot, costume designer Shigeru Yaji and musical director Dolores Dura-Cefalu.

(more…)

If you don’t live in close proximity to any teenage girls you may not realize that Britney Spears was at the HP Pavilion Sunday night. Britney herself thought she was in Sacramento, but I’ll save that story for later. The Pussy Cat Dolls joined her for an Easter night concert that was not as great as it should have been but still left the audience screaming in delight.

I brought three 17 year old girls with me, and they were out of their minds with excitement to see Britney and the Pussy Cat Dolls. We arrived extra early so we would have time to buy some T-shirts ($40), a Britney mug ($10), a large bag of “Britney Pop Corn” ($4.50) and a soda in the Commemorative Britney Cup, a large orange plastic thing that will last approximately three runs in the dishwasher and cost $7.50. Then we took our Britney Pop Corn and our shirts and went to sit down.

The stage was set up like a three-ring circus with a cylindrical film screen hanging over the center ring. There was also a cylindrical curtain in the center ring allowing for entrances and exits through the middle. It was a nice set up that allowed the entire pavilion access to views of the stage and made every seat at the HPP a good one.

The Pussy Cat Dolls took the stage at 7pm, and although the Pavilion was barely half full at this time, the screams were deafening. My three guests were out of their minds with excitement as I nonchalantly sat in my seat updating my Twitter account about the concert – I’ll be honest, the PCD are not my thing, but I do enjoy some of their songs. There was a spiral staircase in the center ring which they used to dance on, and they also ran back and forth between the three rings. They had some great dance numbers and the audience loved them. Pussy Cat Doll lead singer Nicole Scherzinger gave a shout out to San Jose what seemed like 30 times in their 45 minute set; I suppose Britney wasn’t paying attention – but again, that’s for later in the story. The crowd went wild when they started up “Jai Ho” from Slumdog Millionaire, and again I give them props for their dance numbers, they definitely brought their skills with them. There were only five Pussy Cat Dolls on a huge three ring stage, but they made use of all three rings and really gave their all in the dance numbers. They closed their act with “When I Grow Up”, a song to which not even I am immune. I sang and danced with the rest of the audience, we shouted our applause as they ran off stage, and we sat back down to wait for Britney.
Britney Spears review after the jump

Mark Tran

The theme of Mark Tran’s ‘All About Dad’ hits close to many homes here in Silicon Valley. Not only must the characters (Vietnamese immigrants and their children) struggle with common generational differences, they must deal with the parents’ ideal of success.

The film more than lived up to the expectations of the packed theatre. Members of the filmmaker’s family were in attendance for the screening, and I may have been seated next to the proudest “papa” in the house, Scott Sublett. Mark’s script was developed in Scott Sublett’s (’Generic Thriller’) San Jose State screenwriting class.

The only fault I found with the production was that the father’s epiphany happened unrealistically fast, although this is a minor quibble in an otherwise exceptional film.

‘All About Dad’ a Cinequest best bet.

Last night I made it to just one film at Cinequest. Truffe is a French-Canadian film that mixes up comedy, horror, and sci-fi in a surreal blend. The story revolves around a Montreal truffle-hunter and his wife. He digs for the fungus in tunnels beneath their home, and she serves them at a diner. Unfortunately, the new preponderance of truffles (caused by global warming) has led to a price collapse, and the neighborhood is suffering. In addition, a corporate truffle cannery, led by creepy space aliens, is attempting to corner the market, by any means necessary.

All of this absurdity led to plentiful guffaws from the audience, but I must admit I was somewhat mystified by many of the moments when others broke out in laughter. The film was shot in sharp, high-contrast, and detailed black-and-white, giving it a dark mood. The careful camerawork and sense of detail gave the film, to me, a sense of seriousness that might have been part of why I found some scenes merely amusing when others were laughing out loud.

Truffe will be shown again Monday, March 2, at 9 pm at Camera 12.

Lippold, 'The Drifter'

Director Kurando Mitsutake dropped Spaghetti and Sushi into a blender, hit the liquefy button and poured out a spoof film of perfect consistency … ‘Samurai Avenger: Blind Wolf.’

This is not a film for the faint of heart or should I say, not for the queasy of stomach. Those who like blood and guts won’t be disappointed. Maybe some Intel 3-D next time?

The storyline did its job, which was to support the action scenes. The narrative gave intervals of relief from the gore with a laugh or with weapon (sword) education etc.

I asked Jeffrey James Lippold (Drifter/Lead) if the film’s take on swordplay and the soul of the samurai was based on fact. He said that some may have come from myth and folklore, but that some might have been performed at one time.

I thank Cinequest for the opportunity to be among the first to view ‘Samurai Avenger: Blind Wolf.’ A film destined to attract a huge world following.

(How this photo of Lippold, ‘The Drifter’, came about. During the Q & A – He politely declined when someone asked about his physique and calls to remove his shirt rang out. For me, he gave a little bit.)

Last chance to take it all in: Monday 3/2

9:30 PM at the Repertory Theatre

You know how you drive past a small restaurant a billion times and yet never go in, despite feeling rather curious about it? That’s basically how my boyfriend and I have been for the past year or so as we drive past Sushi Coast on 4th St. in San Jose. Well we finally decided to give it a try and I gotta say, it wasn’t that bad.

Now by no means am I a sushi expert and I’m not that daring to boot. We tried some the same kind of rolls we like at other places and they were all quite tasty.

• Dragon Roll (Shrimp, Crab, Eel & Avocado)
• California Roll
• Sunny California Roll (Deep-fried California Roll)
• Lion Queen Roll (Crab, Avocado, Broiled Jumbo Scallops)
• Shrimp Tempura Roll

The rolls are rather large and you get quite a few pieces (6-10 for the ones mentioned above) – we were quite stuffed and had to bring home a good portion of them. The service was great — but we went around 7 o’clock on a Tuesday and there were not a lot of customers. Decor was typical, however they had a slew of wooden boats I wanted to take a photo of but there were a few people in the way. Maybe next time!

We also checked reviews online, like the reviews at Yelp – 3.5 stars. My philosophy is if there are a considerable about of positive reviews it’s worth trying out for yourself.

Looking back at my old post here about sushi, a reader named Eric pointed out Sushi Coast in the comments! And it only took me almost two years to try the place out.. ah well!