The Matthew B. Ridgway Center will host guest lecturer Ambassador Glyn Davies at 3:00 p.m., Wednesday, January 16 in room 3911 Posvar Hall. Ambassador Glyn Davies is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, and was appointed by Secretary of State Clinton as Special Representative for North Korea Policy in November 2011.
A yearlong U.S. effort to engage nuclear-armed North Korea culminated in the announcements by Washington and Pyongyang of the so-called “Leap Day” understanding on February 29. A fortnight later, North Korea announced it would launch a multi-stage rocket carrying what the reclusive state said was a civilian satellite. After an intensive four weeks of public and private calls on Pyongyang from the other five members of the Six-Party Talks not to proceed, the April 13 launch failed, but triggered unanimous censure from the 16-member UN Security Council. Ambassador Davies will describe the talks leading to the Leap Day understanding, the fallout from North Korea’s aborted launch, and where this leaves our efforts to hold Pyongyang to its denuclearization and other promises. He will also discuss Washington’s views of new leader Kim Jong Un, the likelihood of change in North Korea, and diplomatic prospects in this season of political transition in key Six Party states.
The University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University, and Toonseum are collaborating to bring an anime film festival to Pittsburgh! Join us for film showings, art exhibits, and lectures on the history and influence of Japanese animation. All films presented in Japanese with English subtitles. All films are free and open to the public!The films playing are: Akira (アキラ) on February 5th, 5 Centimeters Per Second (Byōsoku Go Senchimētoru, 秒速5センチメートル) on February 11, Memories on February 18, and Summer Wars (Samā Wōzu, サマーウォーズ) on February 25. Most are free---all except Akira, which is free with Toonseum admission on February 5th---and all but Akira are held on the campuses of Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh. A lot more details available on the series' official website.
As the days grow colder, we often turn to liquid meals for convenience and comfort. But the ones at Ramen Bar won't induce you to call up any exes or give you a raging hangover. No, they might just be good for you.There are several reviews of Ramen Bar up on Yelp, which had a soft-opening in Squirrel Hill in November and had its proper opening last week. The thirteen reviews are mixed so far, and the restaurant has earned three out of five stars overall. For Pittsburgh I'd rate it an A-, as it's the only place in the city devoted to ramen. If it were in a larger city, though, it would earn a C and wouldn't be anything special. We're not diverse enough yet to be discerning, and we get fired up about small movements in the generally-right direction. It's still rather new, and is soliciting advice for improvements on its Facebook page, but the glaring omission of "tonkotsu ramen"---left off the menu because the pork-bone soup is cumbersome and was preemptively deemed unpopular in the Jewish neighborhood of Squirrel Hill---nearly defeats the restaurant's purpose. People may be short on patience, though, because
Join us with Michael John Simkin, Sake Sommelier, as we learn about sake. A discussion and casual tasting with follow the lecture.The event runs from 5:30 to 7 pm, and registration is required.
Michael has spent many years in Japan-some in residence and the rest in travel, traveling extensively through Japan’s sake landscape, interning at many breweries working to learn the intricacies of how sake is made. Mr. Simkin is also the most favored sake expert used by the Washington D.C. Japan-America Society, as well as the San Diego Japan Society.
As the Korean peninsula enters its seventh decade of conflict, are there prospects for peace — or renewed conflict? How is an increasingly isolated North Korea balancing itself after a major transition in leadership? Will the rise of China push South Korea into closer relationships with the U.S. and other regional powers? Join the Council as one of America’s leading North Korean negotiators examines the path for reconciliation and cooperation in one of most highly-contested areas in the world.The talk and luncheon run from 12:00 to 1:45 pm at The Duquesne Club downtown (map). Registration is required and the cost is $65 for those not members of the World Affairs Council
* Chinese Conversation Club - January 10 and 24 at 6 pm in the Large Print Room, for intermediate learnersOn the "Learn" page atop the website is a list of other resources for language-learning and cultural exchange in the Pittsburgh area, including additional Chinese and Japanese classes and conversation partner programs.
* Japanese for Beginners - January 14 and 28 at 6:30 pm in Classroom A
* Japanese II - January 8 and 22 at 6:30 pm in Classroom A
* Japanese Conversation Club - January 15 at 6 pm in the Large Print Room, for intermediate and advanced learners
* Korean for Beginners - January 12, 19, and 26 at 1 pm in the Large Print Room
* Korean II - January 12, 19, and 26 at 11 am in the Large Print Room
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| Ando's "The Oval" on Naoshima. Image by Telstar Logistics. |
Today a new type of museum is emerging—one that fuses inventive architecture and landscape design with radical conceptual and installation art. These sites typically mix old and new, featuring collaborative plans by several designers and encouraging exploration outdoors.The exhibit features such work by three Japanese artists: Ryue Nishizawa, Hiroshi Sambuichi, and Tadao Ando, the latter's installations on the island of Naoshima drawing special attention here.
follows them on a trip to Japan in 2009 to meet with donor families and recipients, and advocate to raise Japan’s still-low organ donation rate. The two are natural storytellers, compelling and poetic on the power of human connections—as twins, biracial Americans, and organ recipients almost mystically tied to their donors. Mr. Smolowitz makes their post-transplant vibrancy—they climb mountains, run, swim—all the more exhilarating by first showing, through archival footage, how they more than paid their dues through countless hospitalizations and surgeries since they were babies.A lengthy Japan Times review continues:
From the viewpoint of Japan, where only 193 transplant operations were performed in 2009, compared with nearly 28,000 in the twins' native United States, they were the "miracles" of the film's Japanese title indeed.The "Miracle Twins" (ミラクルツインズ) website has a larger summary, additional resources on the movie and the background, and a collection of reviews and awards-won. The movie is actually available for free Hulu, and at a price via other online sources.
In the Hong Kong stop, more than 370 items - from Warhol's paintings, drawings, photographs, screen prints, movies and sculptures to archival objects documenting his life - will be displayed. While iconic works such as Campbell's Soup, Jackie, The Last Supper, Marilyn Monroe, Mao, Self-Portrait and Silver Liz should not be missed, some Hong Kong-specific work are what make this stop special.The Pittsburgh museum has information about this and the other exhibitions on the Asian tour.
"Andy Warhol archived in cardboard boxes items from his daily life into 612 'Time Capsules' from the 1970s until his death in 1987. We asked the [Warhol] museum to open Time Capsule 23 especially for us, which houses over 20 items related to the city when he visited Hong Kong and Beijing in 1982," says Ng Ka-lun, modern art curator of the Hong Kong Museum of Art.
"The items include a calendar of 1983 he bought from a local book store. Another record of his visit is a photo Warhol captured from the hotel he stayed at, presumably the Mandarin Oriental, overlooking Victoria Harbour and Kowloon."
We are looking for people to work as film extras on Thursday, DECEMBER 13. At the Petersen event center to recreate an olympic wrestling event at the Seoul Olympics. We are looking for people of multiple ethnicities who are able to work a full day (12 hours or more). Would probably start around 10am or 11am and go to 10pm or 11pm that evening.The movie tells the story of former Olympic wrestler Dave Schultz and the man who killed him. Schultz was a 1984 Olympian and coached in Seoul. I went to the Petersen Events Center today to have a look inside the new Sangmu Gymnasium, but of course it was closed off. One visitor took a few grainy pics, though, and posted them to her Twitter here and here.
of 85 year-old Jiro Ono, considered by many to be the world’s greatest sushi chef. He is the proprietor of Sukiyabashi Jiro, a 10-seat, sushi-only restaurant inauspiciously located in a Tokyo subway station. Despite its humble appearances, it is the first restaurant of its kind to be awarded a prestigious 3 star Michelin review, and sushi lovers from around the globe make repeated pilgrimage, calling months in advance and shelling out top dollar for a coveted seat at Jiro’s sushi bar.
For most of his life, Jiro has been mastering the art of making sushi, but even at his age he sees himself still striving for perfection, working from sunrise to well beyond sunset to taste every piece of fish; meticulously train his employees; and carefully mold and finesse the impeccable presentation of each sushi creation. At the heart of this story is Jiro’s relationship with his eldest son Yoshikazu, the worthy heir to Jiro’s legacy, who is unable to live up to his full potential in his father’s shadow.
represent the culture of various ethnic groups that settled in Allegheny County and are supported by these cultural groups and governments.Also in the news section is a post about an August fundraiser, which teaches us that for some reason Franco Harris is the Honorary Consul General of the Republic of Korea in Pittsburgh.
