On the centenary of Akira Kurosawa’s birth, Criterion pays tribute to the 
Japanese cinema great with a monumental box set, AK 100.
The 25 films gathered in this treasury include Kurosawa’s ultimate whodunit and international breakthrough Rashomon; his ever-epiphanic masterpiece Seven Samurai; the princess-and-peasants caper that inspired Star Wars, The Hidden Fortress; and colorful, late-career opuses like Ran and Kagemusha.
Festival-goer claims it was ‘psychologically inadvisable’ for him to hear Larry Ochs Sax and Drumming Core perform.
I, Sohrab, moved with my beautiful wife to NY 7/7/2008. Exactly one year before I came, an old young Japanese friend of mine Yamatsuka Eye of THE BOREDOMS got seventy seven NY drummers together to perform at Brooklyn Bridge Park on July 7th, 2007. 
Before the show he explained to reporters how the number 7 historically is associated with the Milky Way and a romantic myth about how Japanese ancestors came from a river of stars in heaven. These ancestors called themselves messengers of the sun, or sun goddess Amaterasu, and so the number 7 is associated with the sun. “You are the 78th member! This is because the sound will spiral outwards, from left to right, like DNA, from deep inside of us right out to you. The 77 drum group is one giant instrument, one living creature. The 77 boa-drum will coil like a snake and transform to become a great dragon! “- Yamatsuka EYE.
Sato Hironobu sensei (Kendo 8th Dan hanshi) and me at the BUDOKAN in Tokyo. Photo by Peter Ryan.
Text by Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi
As you might know I have been a long time in Japan studying Japanese martial arts, such as Judo and Kendo. For a while I studied both martial arts, but later I decided to focus only on Kendo.
Mohamed Badawi is a doctor of linguistics and founder, composer, and singer of the groups Diwan and El Nour. The oud, or Middle-East lute, plays a central role in his musical renditions. In addition to the oud, he also plays a Sudanese variation of the Bongos, which consists of three drums.
This is a promo-Video of Mohamed Badawi’s CD “Nosybe”. He is a Sudanese vocalist and oud player. The members are Roman Bunka (Guitar, Oud), Mohamed Abdelwahab Kununu (Accordeon), Shirley Anne Hofmann (Tuba, Trombone, Trumpet, Euphonium), Hatim Mileegi (Percussion), Daniel Sphani (Drums), Norbert Dömling (Bass), Mohamed Atif Abdel Hamid (Nay), Amro Sawwaf (Qanun), Tahir Mahmoud (Geige), Amro Subhi (Cello), Iman Aliy Ad-din (Chor, Kairo), Marwa Hasan (Chor, Kairo), Wala Mohamed (Chor, Kairo), Iman Mohamed Wadi (Chor, Kairo) Iglal Hashim (Chor, Sudan) Safa Osman (Chor, Sudan) Magdi Shaban Sukkar (Tablah, Bandir), Video by Oliver Wuerffell 2008, Produced by Hubl Greiner 2007.
