UnHip LA

 

Thanks to reader Mac Photog, I learned that the Korean Cultural Center Los Angeles shows a free Korean movie every Thursday in its beautiful Koreatown location. This month’s movie theme is "My Funny Valentine," featuring four modern Korean romantic comedies: "My Scary Girl," "Rules for Dating," "One Fine Spring Day," and "All for Love." The movies are shown either at 3 pm or 7 pm, be sure to check the listing. The Center also has exhibits, free language classes, workshops and more.  Once upon a time, I tried to take language classes there.

Free Korean Cinema at the Korean Cultural Center Los Angeles
Screening Dates & Time: February. 7th at 3 pm, 14th at 3 pm, 21th at 7 pm, 28th at 7 pm 

Ari Hall on the 3rd Floor, Korean Cultural Center
5505 Wilshire Blvd. (Wilshire + Dunsmuir Ave)
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 936-7141 (ext. 122) cinema@kccla.org
www.kccla.org 

Rajmohan Gandhi, Grandson of Mahatma Ghandi, Speaks at Pasadena City College 

Rajmohan Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Ghandi, will be visiting Pasadena City College on Feb. 22 to speak about his grandfather’s teachings. The lecture, titled “Relevance of Gandhi in the 21st Century,” will be held in Sexson Auditorium at 10:30 a.m.

The talk will cover the author’s new, monumental biography of his grandfather, “Gandhi: The Man, His People and the Empire.” The book is said to be the first to give a complete and balanced account of Mahatma Gandhi’s life. With unprecedented insight and access to family archives, Rajmohan explores the evolution of his grandfather’s teachings of non-violent resistance, while examining the relations between Muslims and non-Muslims.

“PCC is extremely honored to host Professor Rajmohan Gandhi,” said Susie Ling curator of the event. “His grandfather fought for civil rights and peaceful change in South Africa and India. His ideals inspired many, including Martin Luther King and Caesar Chavez. With today’s chaos in the Middle East and chaos in our neighborhoods, we need to listen again to Gandhi’s words and be reminded of the integrity of ‘nonviolent civil disobedience’ to bring about positive change.”

Rajmohan, a peace activist, once served on the Indian Parliament. He also led the Indian delegation to the U.N. Human Rights Commission in 1990. He is currently in the South Asian Middle Eastern Studies program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

For more information, contact Susie Ling at shling@pasadena.edu. 

From  http://www.pasadena.edu/news/newsitem.cfm?ID=2073 

I saw this poster a few weeks ago at Mission and Las Tunas.  I hope little Ollie is home now.

 

Happy Chinese New Year!  It’s the Year of the Rat.  Reader C told me about the New Year’s Eve celebration happening at the beautiful Thien Hau Temple in Chinatown, L.A., so I went down to check it out last night. The festivities included a lion dance and martial arts demonstration, which were excellent and very fun, and throngs of Buddhists burning incense and offering prayers.  Too bad my camera did not capture it well. I did get some great video of a paparazzi-like crush upon the lions as people tried to pet them. I’ll load it once I figure out how to. Petting the lions was a highlight, also was stuffing money into a lion statue’s mouth. 

 

Look in the back to see the lion with bills in its mouth.

Petting the lions who have entered the temple.  Come back for my video of the mosh-pit like atmosphere.  Very fun!

Lions dancing in the dark. 

The San Gabriel Valley has a huge Lunar New Year Parade and Festival on Saturday, February 16, 2008, from 10 am to 5:30 pm on Valley between Almansor and Garfield, with the parade starting at 11 am.  Don’t miss this!  www.lunarnewyearparade.com/city_parade.htm

From the site:

The Festival will be held in the heart of one of the largest Chinese / American commercial districts in the southland. The one-day festivities attract about 50,000 people and consist of more than 250 booths.  There are many theme-oriented venues giving attendees a taste of the Chinese culture. The food court is an ideal place to sample dishes from different regions. Admission is free.

This filled up asap before, so hurry….