Bring On The Joy

It's time for some joy, bring it!

Angel City Chorale (ACC), the celebrated Los Angeles choir led by Founder/Artistic Director Sue Fink, will jump-start the season in style with Bring on the Joy, the choir’s 23rd annual set of holiday concerts and sing-alongs during the first weekend in December. The festive evenings will bring together talented Los Angeles-area singers and instrumentalists with a tapestry of seasonal favorites featuring musical textures from diverse traditions. The inclusive, family-friendly concerts will take place at Wilshire United Methodist Church in Los Angeles over two very special nights on Saturday, December 3, and Sunday, December 4, 2016. Tickets range in price from $22 for children to $75 for VIP packages (see details in last paragraph). The performances start at 7:00pm and include a 15- minute intermission; a dessert reception follows each performance. For additional information on ACC, please visit http://www.angelcitychorale.org.

“Our amazing soloists, choir, and orchestra are able to create stunning musical performances without losing the spontaneity, sparkle, and joyous community spirit missing in our big city life,” says Fink. “There is a rare feeling of connection at these events among the diverse participants – the positive energy generated is palpable, like a booster shot of joy: it hits you right in your heart.”

Bring on the Joy –

Angel City Chorale kicks off the season with its eagerly anticipated annual set of winter concerts and sing-alongs. This year’s exciting 23rd edition, Bring on the Joy, will entertain audiences with an infectious blast of holiday cheer over two family-friendly nights.

The vibrant performances, a reflection of Los Angeles, feature a 25-piece live orchestra and an array of seasonal favorites with musical textures from diverse traditions. Audiences will also get the chance to sing with the lively 160+-member choir on familiar songs during the popular sing-along.

This stunning choral exploration features Classical, Traditional, Spirited Contemporary, and Gospel R&B. In addition to popular American Christmas carols, African, Chanukah, Celtic, Medieval, Beatbox, Pop, and British vibes will be presented. The diversity of the program represents the rich tastes and talents of the choir.

Selections at these joyful evenings include works by Gustav Holst, Amy Grant, John Rutter, Pentatonix, Nat King Cole, and more. Angel City Chorale is also proud to present the world premiere of “Feast of Snow” by gifted Los Angeles composer/former ACC choir member Philip White (Ray Donovan [Showtime], Agent Carter [ABC], Revolution [NBC], Supernatural [CW]). This will be the second time ACC premieres a work by White, who is a composer for film, television, interactive media, and the concert stage. The Los Angeles Master Chorale has also performed two of White’s choral works, the last of which was a commission.

Links –

• Angel City Chorale (ACC) - http://www.angelcitychorale.org

• Bring on the Joy Tickets - http://angelcitychorale.org/concerts-events/bring-on-the-joy-concert

• Bring on the Joy FB Event Page - https://www.facebook.com/events/342134072799070

• ACC’s Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/AngelCityChorale

• ACC’s YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/user/AngelCityChorale

• ACC’s Twitter - https://twitter.com/AngelCityChoral

• ACC’s SoundCloud - https://soundcloud.com/angelcitychorale

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Michael's Musings

As You Can See It Has Gotten Cooler In Los Angeles
Michael Shinafelt

Hey Peeps, today is the day we tug the turkey and toss the salad, "yes" Virginia it's Thanksgiving!!!

It's also Thursday which is the day of the week I share my thoughts and feelings, because after all sharing is caring. 

Time to stuff that turkey, gobble, gobble!


I am thankful for a many things this year, one is that my testosterone level is healthy and ready to rumble.

Riding on a bummer that Gold's Gym Hollywood is holding no spin classes tomorrow. I could have really used a good helping of Jessica after the culinary sins I will be committing today.

The Wicked Witch of the West really exerted herself in The Wizard of Oz, when she used poppies to make Dorothy and crew sleep. She could have simply had the winged monkeys serve up a giant turkey.

While I am not a fan of the show's music, I am thankful for the cast of Hamilton.

Mashed potatoes rule!

Brie rules too.

Southern California is having such a mild winter, check off another thing to be thankful for.

Who doesn't love jazz hands?

Today is also the day of Football and the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Choices are a good thing. Unless your Sophie.

Once I had an awesome pet duck named Duke, no we didn't eat him for Thanksgiving, but the Holiday made me think of him.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Be thankful I am on Instagram & Twitter at:
https://www.instagram.com/michaelshinafelt/
https://twitter.com/mshinafelt?lang=en   

Pose Like A Mannequin

ID, Don't Leave Home Without It
Ellen DeGeneres 

Tuesday was no laughing matter when Ellen DeGeneres arrived at the White House to receive her Medal of Freedom as she apparently forgot her ID. So what is a funny gal to do? Well first post a selfie outside of the Nation's Capital to prove you can't get in on Twitter with the caption:

They haven't let me in to the White House yet because I forgot my ID. #NotJoking #PresidentialMedalOfFreedom

Once inside you post an epic mannequin challenge video with such notables as Robert DeNiro & Diana Ross.

This how Ellen spent her Tuesday, posing like a mannequin and receiving a medal from Barrack Obama. Wow! All I did was take a meeting and work. Congratulations to Ms. DeGeneres for an honor well earned.

Pose like a mannequin with Ellen & the gang below -

Ellen on Twitter:
ttps://twitter.com/search/ellen+degeneres  

Puppy Love - Lady Gaga

Gaga, Koji, Miss Asia & The Pup With No Name

Oh that Lady Gaga and her intrepid Instagram ways. She just had to post a pic of herself and the latest addition to her family...a new puppy with no moniker just yet. Damn you woman name your dog before you post a public image of it! Diabolical!!!

Here is what Gaga had to say for herself:

I'm proud to announce we added a new member to the #JOANNE family 😇 I haven't named him yet but I call him both cowpig and moopig in the meantime! I chose him last moment because my best friend since I was 4 @booconnor Chef extraordinaire of @thepomeroynyc bought him, we didn't want them to be separated!

Awwwwwwwwwwww....how sweet. Be sure to check out her latest effort Joanne, because I said so, you don't need A Million Reasons, one is enough.

Gaga on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/ladygaga/?hl=en 

Love In An Elevator

Going Down?
Tom Ford & Richard Buckley

Have any of you seen Tom Ford's Nocturnal Animals? I've been told that I would really like it and am going to try to catch over Thanksgiving day weekend.

Here's a fun little fact to kick off your week. Did you know that writer/director of NA, Tom Ford met his husband in an elevator?

Yep, apparently it was love at first sight for he and Richard Buckley. By the time they hit the ground floor all bets were off and they knew they were meant and moved in together within a month. Talk about living it up when your going down.

Sometimes I guess you just know. 

It's just another Manic Monday kids, make it a good one!!!

NA on IMDB:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4550098/?ref_=nv_sr_2

Sunday Is For Snoopy!

Threesome
Tori Spelling, Snoopy & Jennie Garth

Call me sentimental, call me old, call me whatever you like, this image of Tori Spelling and Jennie Garth snuggling Snoopy got me in the mood for the impending Christmas Holiday.

Why? Well they remind me of my youth, duh! Also there is Christmas decor in the background, double duh! I grew up with Snoopy on all of the Charlie Brown specials and Beverly Hills 90210 was a cool show, once, so there, I've confessed. 

Yeah I know Thanksgiving is this coming week but Christmas is already in the air and after turkey day comes and goes, all bets are on Santa Claus and venison.

This most holy of photo ops took place at the Countdown to Christmas event at Knott's Berry Farm in Southern California.

Enjoy your Sunday and get Snoopy with it!

Tori on IMDB: 
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001760/?ref_=nv_sr_2
Jennie on IMDB:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001259/?ref_=nv_sr_1  

Saturday Sinema: Behind THE COVE

Little fish, big fish swimming in the water...

YAGI Film Inc. announces the U.S. premiere of Behind THE COVE, a documentary film rebuttal to the Oscar-winning film The Cove with week-long screenings in New York and Los Angeles, in late November (11/25/16 – 12/1/16) and early December (12/2/16 – 12/8/16), respectively.

Behind THE COVE, the 105-minute Japanese film by first time director Keiko Yagi, includes interviews with people on both sides of the international whaling dispute, including the director and antagonist from 2009’s The Cove, the Academy Award-winning film which negatively portrays the practices of fishermen in the small, remote town of Taiji in Japan. 

This is the first film to respond to anti-whaling The Cove from the Japanese perspective. While generally highly regarded, The Cove has also been lambasted by some critics for being one-sided propaganda, Japan-bashing, for lacking a basic understanding of related cultural issues, and for using deceptive filmmaking strategies. The depiction of Japanese people in the film has also been controversial.

What started out as a personal investigation, triggered by childhood memories of whale dishes, led first-time Japanese documentary filmmaker Keiko Yagi to the town of Taiji, the center of the whaling debate and the stage of The Cove. With no budget, limited experience in filmmaking, no fluency in English, but armed with a video camera and a strong desire to find out the truth of the matter on whaling, Yagi discovered a much bigger story than she had initially imagined.

In Behind THE COVE, Yagi attempts to present a comprehensive picture of the dolphin and whale hunting issues in Japan, which includes interviews with people on both sides of the whaling dispute, its sinister political side, what The Cove did not offer, and a unique take on the topic. Throughout filming, Yagi got to know the anti-whaling activists, who set-up camp in Taiji every year during the dolphin-hunting season. In her film, Yagi also presents the ‘voices’ of the Japanese, who usually consider silence to be a virtue. To get a balanced and greater understanding of the story, she also interviewed experts in the whaling world from Japan and overseas, including representatives from the International Whaling Commission (IWC), scientists, and researchers. As Yagi delved into the topic, specific issues with The Cove became apparent.

“Before Western environmental and animal activist concerns persecuted the animal agriculture and fishing practices of the East in such a highly publicized and critical way, you’d think they’d first take a serious look at the situation at home prior to using Japan, a quiet country, as a scapegoat, ” says Yagi. “In the U.S. alone, billions and billions of land and marine animals are subjected to deplorable conditions before they are brutally killed for food each year to satisfy the heavy meat-eating habits of Americans…. the relatively small fishing village of Taiji, in rural Japan, accounts for marine animal deaths in the thousands, not billions. To demonize such a relatively small industry abroad, when compared to the magnitude of what’s happening in – and is relatively ignored in – the U.S., seems a bit misguided and, perhaps, even racist.”

Yagi is not alone in these sentiments. David Cox of The Guardian Film Blog called The Cove a “piece of evangelism,” and subsumed that from a neutral point of view “Westerners.... kill and eat cows. Easterners eat dolphins. What's the difference?” Academic Ilan Kapoor, echoing the famous phrase by Gayatri Spivak, argues that “It's a case of (mostly) 'white men saving cute dolphins from yellow men.’”

Hirotaka Akamatsu, Japanese Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, said “It is regrettable that this movie is made as a message that brutal Japanese are killing cute dolphins.” According to Michelle Orange, of Movieline, “As a piece of propaganda, The Cove is brilliant; as a story of ingenuity and triumph over what seems like senseless brutality, it is exceptionally well-told; but as a conscientious overview of a complex and deeply fraught, layered issue, it invokes the same phrase as even the most well-intentioned, impassioned activist docs: Buyer beware.”

Yagi further explains, “In Japan, some fishermen, particularly in remote rural areas, see dolphins and whales as just fish, consumed for centuries as part of local cultural traditions…. in China, dog meat from man’s best friend is acceptable to some as a food source…. in the bacon-loving U.S., highly intelligent and social pigs are widely considered suitable for cruel slaughterhouse practices and the dinner table. There are cultural differences as to which animals are deemed acceptable as food sources and which are not. One of the key questions our film poses is: Who gets to choose which animals are okay to eat?”

Yagi will be in attendance at a selection of screenings in both New York (Cinema Village) and Los Angeles (Laemmle Music Hall), during the film’s U.S. debut. For additional information, please visit http://www.behindthecove.com/index_en.html.

Behind THE COVE (2015, Documentary, Japan, 105 min.) –

New York Screenings:Friday, November 25 - Thursday, December 1, 2016

Cinema Village22 East 12th StreetNew York, NY 10003212-924-3364https://www.cinemavillage.com/Now-Playing/behind-the-cove.html

NYC Q&A Sessions with the Director (after the screening):• Fri. 11/25 at 7:10pm• Sat. 11/26 at 7:10pm• Sun. 11/27 at 5:10pm

Los Angeles Screenings:Friday, December 2 - Thursday, December 8, 2016

Laemmle Music Hall9036 Wilshire Blvd.Beverly Hills, CA 90211310-478-3836http://www.laemmle.com/films/40990