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Rating:

This is a very entertaining film about a blind San Francisco blues player (Paul Pena) who became captivated with Tuvan throat singing, and the odyssey that ensues. Interestingly, the story starts with the phsysicist Richard Feynman, who became fascinated with the country of Tuva shortly before his death. Through a series of connections, this results in Paul Pena going to Tuva to compete in their annual throat singing competition (first prize is a horse). It's quite a moment when he takes the stage in the middle of the film, though my interest faded a bit after that. Overall though, a great slice of musical life!

Last weekend we attended a memorial concert for Mr. Pena, which had a pretty wonderful range of performers as you might imagine. Turns out blues (kudos to "Big Bones") and throat singing make a pretty interesting mix.

Rating:

I was excited to get this book, as I thought it would be a good insider's view of Hollywood. Turns out that insider's view means you get lots of anecdotes about Reese Witherspoon and Arnold Schwarzenegger. There are also a lot of stories about the pioneers who figured out different ways of releasing movies to maximize the money, but frankly who cares? Worse yet are the stories about the folks who figured out that the studios liked to have lots of data. Wouldn't waste your time on this unless you want to work in a studio.