The Italian, a 2005 film by Andrei Kravchuk, is a story about a Russian orphan who runs away from being adopted by an Italian couple so that he can find his mother. The performance by Kolya Spiridonov as 6-year-old Vanya is nothing short of extraordinary, natural yet missing nothing in emotional power or nuance. The final frame when he looks up at ( Read more... )

Remember what I wrote about your relationship status being immediately known on the Internet? Well, it has happened to me! I woke up to messages of condolences on Facebook, along with queries as to," Are you ok?", cyberhugs, etc. Very sweet, and a little funny. I say I'm ok, but it's taking a while to sink in. I promised not to write about it until ( Read more... )

I couldn't wait to see Ang Lee's new film, so I went by myself to Jurong Point, despite the fact that the censors have taken a knife to it so that more people will see it, which I think is really, really stupid. Anyway, I can't be objective about any Ang Lee film since I am such a big fan of his. Like Billie Holiday and Katharine Hepburn, the man ( Read more... )

I was listening to this song by Jerome Kern( sung by Tony Bennett) when it struck me how apt it was when applied to a recent situation that I found myself in ( Read more... )

How long do you take to "get over" someone? One young friend gives himself three days. Another took about a year. One woman apparently never got over her husband who left her. How does one go about getting over another, or a relationship ( Read more... )

The better part of Sunday I spent by the pool with a bunch of straight friends. Most of them are straight, many are married, and as I remarked to a gay friend just the weekend before, with these people I know where I stand. Not that I don't with my gay friends, but I wonder how rare it is for a gay guy to have a group of friends with whom you can ( Read more... )

It was a very long weekend. For some reason, and I know what that reason is, I was determined to party. It started on Friday night with dinner at Mark's where I saw Ken again after such a long time. We never really partied together before but since it was his first night back from Qatar, we all went out to Mox followed by Play followed by Taboo. ( Read more... )

I'm frustrated. I've been trying to write about the concert version of Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro by the Vienna State Opera which I have just come home from, and it is proving impossible. I'll just say for now that it was a wonderful evening and try to elucidate my thoughts and feelings tomorrow. Argh!

I've been adding new photos to my profile on Facebook. Well, not NEW photos. These were taken on my 2005 trip to Europe, and I had to go through the ones I took in Venice and Florence, and boy, did they bring back memories! I could almost feel the heat of that brilliant summer and taste the gelato I ate everyday! Venice really was my favorite part ( Read more... )

Isn't it just the way it is? Last night, I fell asleep almost straight away. I love it when I don't remember when I fell asleep. And now, tonight, insomnia strikes again. Too much stimulation before bed, I suppose. The Into The Woods DVD, followed by two chapters of Renee Fleming's book, The Inner Voice, which I just bought at Borders today. It's ( Read more... )