CRITICS' PICKS.Art Traces of beauty: Words become vibrant images and images express themselves eloquently in ``Visible Traces: Rare Books & Special Collections In library science, special collections (often abbreviated to Spec. Coll. or S.C.) is the name applied to a specific repository within a library which stores materials of a "special" nature. From the National Library of China,'' the free exhibition of ancient Chinese List of ancient Chinese is a list of noteworthy people of ancient China. Different definitions of "ancient" China exist, but most agree that it is before the Tang dynasty. Related lists A general listing of existing lists related to this topic. art and artifacts artifacts see specimen artifacts. on view at Central Library in downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, located close to the geographic center of the metropolitan area. The sprawling, multi-centered megacity is such that its downtown core is often considered just another district like Hollywood or . Running through June 25, the exhibition suggests ancient China's cultural sophistication so·phis·ti·cate v. so·phis·ti·cat·ed, so·phis·ti·cat·ing, so·phis·ti·cates v.tr. 1. To cause to become less natural, especially to make less naive and more worldly. 2. , advanced scholarship and preoccupation with beauty, evident in lavish silk scrolls, richly illustrated Ming Dynasty books, rubbings from bronze vessels and carved stone sarcophagi from 200 B.C., maps, calligraphy calligraphy (kəlĭg`rəfē) [Gr.,=beautiful writing], skilled penmanship practiced as a fine art. See also inscription; paleography. European Calligraphy In Europe two sorts of handwriting came into being very early. and other objects never seen outside China before. Among the many rarities is the ``Map of Pingjang,'' one of the few surviving maps of the Song Dynasty (960-1279), and the largest, most complete stone-engraved map of a Chinese city. ``Visible Traces'' is on display at the Getty Gallery of the library, located at Fifth and Flower streets, and is open during library hours, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday. - Reed Johnson Music Midniters special: As lead singer for the East Los Angeles East Los Angeles, uninc. city (1990 pop. 126,379), Los Angeles co., S Calif., a residential suburb of Los Angeles, in an industrial area. It has a large Mexican-American population. There is a performing arts center and a cultural center. A junior college is there. r&b band Thee Midniters in the '60s, Little Willie G. played a major part in the barrio bar·ri·o n. pl. bar·ri·os 1. An urban district or quarter in a Spanish-speaking country. 2. A chiefly Spanish-speaking community or neighborhood in a U.S. city. sound, influencing groups such as Los Lobos. Thee Midniters were boyhood pals who attended East L.A.'s Salesian High School and were considered the greatest Latino rock band of their era. Still an idol of the barrio, Little Willie G. cornered the market on the delivery of slow and soulful ballads. Regional Midniters hits included ``Land of 1000 Dances,'' ``Whittier Blvd.,'' ``Sad Girl,'' ``The Town I Live In'' and ``That's All.'' Little Willie G. appears Sunday at the Green on the Hill in Signal Hill, part of the inaugural Chicano Blues Festival which also features the Fabulous Thunderbirds' Kid Ramos and the Blazers. Ramos plays on Willie G.'s new album, ``Make Up for the Lost Time'' (HighTone), in which the singer updates classic Midniters material like ``It'll Never Be Over for Me'' and ``To Be With You.'' The Green on the Hill is at 27th and Walnut Avenue, Signal Hill. Show time is 2 p.m., and admission is $15 and $20. Information: (818) 367-6614. - Fred Shuster Buddy on Muddy: Blues guitarist and showman Buddy Guy will offer a tribute to the great Muddy Waters at this weekend's fourth annual Fender Catalina Island Blues Festival. Guy, who Eric Clapton calls his favorite blues axeman The word axeman has a number of uses:
He appears Saturday at the event, which also offers blues acts such as Brit crooner Paul Rodgers (Free, Bad Company), Savoy Brown, Indigenous, Deborah Coleman and Guitar Shorty today and Sunday. Guy, known for wild guitar histrionics and boundless energy on stage, hadn't issued a domestic album in a decade until 1991's Grammy-winning ``Damn Right, I've Got the Blues,'' featuring cameos from Clapton, Jeff Beck and Mark Knopfler. That's when the Guy bandwagon picked up steam. Festival tickets are $15 to $65. Guy appears at 8 p.m. Concert and boat tickets can be purchased by calling: (800) 228-2546. - Fred Shuster Festivals All things Yiddish: One of the Western world's richest and most durable cultures is also one of its currently hippest - as you can tell from the name of this week's countywide multimedia celebration of all things Yiddish. ``YK2! The New Face of Yiddish Culture'' incorporates song, dance, comedy, theater, seminars, readings and family events in seeking to spread appreciation for the unique, 1,000-year old fusion of German, Slavic and Hebrew traditions into a piquant cultural vernacular. Extending through May 21, the festivities fes·tiv·i·ty n. pl. fes·tiv·i·ties 1. A joyous feast, holiday, or celebration; a festival. 2. The pleasure, joy, and gaiety of a festival or celebration. 3. include Sunday's free family-oriented ``Yiddishland'' marking Israel's 52nd Independence Day and including live klezmer music, a puppet enactment of an old-fashioned shtetl shtetl any small-town Jewish settlement in East Europe. [Jewish Hist.: Wigoder, 552] See : Rusticity wedding and Yiddish craft-making (10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Pan Pacific Park, two blocks east of Fairfax between Third and Beverly). This week, CSUN's Performing Arts Center A performing arts center, often abbreviated PAC, is a multi-use performance space that can be adapted for use by various types of the performing arts, including dance, music and theatre. will host the L.A. premiere of choreographer John Malashock and playwright Karen Hartman's ``Blessings & Curses,'' a contemporary spin on Jewish folklore (8 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, $10-$30). And on Friday, CSUN CSUN California State University Northridge will host ``Zingen far Sholem,'' a lecture/performance exploring Yiddish song (7:30 p.m., Grand Salon, Student Union, $10). For more information on events, call the Yiddishkayt! hotline at (323) 692-8151. - Reed Johnson Film Doing combat: ``Gladiator'' brings back the Roman action movie with a vengeance. Starring Russell Crowe as a general-turned-slave with, well, an attitude, this Ridley Scott-directed epic goes for an in-close, visceral and gritty look at arena combat. The new film has neither the piety nor the Technicolor sheen of Hollywood's sword-and-sandal behemoths that last lumbered across screens in the 1960s. It does share some of the old school's superficial, heavy-handed storytelling, but the emphasis here is really on the fighting, which is staged as excitingly as anything in ``Spartacus'' or ``Ben-Hur.'' Bloodier than past films on the subject (though hardly as gruesome as the real thing was), ``Gladiator'' nicely sets the stage for the truly great gladiator gladiator (Latin; swordsman) Professional combatant in ancient Rome who engaged in fights to the death as sport. Gladiators originally performed at Etruscan funerals, the intent being to give the dead man armed attendants in the next world. movie that is yet to be made. - Bob Strauss Television Sex, rock and the 1980s: ``Sex 'n' Death,'' airing Saturday at 7 p.m. on BBC America, is essentially ``Network 2000,'' a look at state-of-the-art cynicism running rampant in the television industry as embodied by a ``reality'' series that'll do anything to offend and shock its audience. Well, not anything; they do pause at the thought of showing a corpse rot on the air. The film gets a little schematic by having that program's host, Ben Black (a charismatic Martin Clunes), struggle with the moral aspects of what he does for a living - does anyone really think the folks behind ``Who Wants to Marry a Multimillionaire mul·ti·mil·lion·aire n. One whose financial assets are worth several million dollars. multimillionaire Noun a person who has money or property worth several million pounds, dollars, etc. ?'' had a moment's pause until the stink of it blew up in their faces? Still, its outrage is palpable, and it features one of the funnier seduction scenes to come along lately - rabbits and doves are disgorged as a magician is undressed. Last chance - probably - to see the acclaimed series ``Freaks & Geeks,'' about Midwestern high school kids in the early '80s realizing life ain't fair, which was proved beyond all doubt when the show was recently canceled by NBC NBC in full National Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. commercial broadcasting company. It was formed in 1926 by RCA Corp., General Electric Co. (GE), and Westinghouse and was the first U.S. company to operate a broadcast network. . Three episodes will be presented at the Museum of Television and Radio Museum of Television and Radio, American museum that chronicles the evolution of radio and television; opened in New York City as the Museum of Broadcasting in 1976. It is in effect the first public library devoted to the electronic media. today at noon, and four more Saturday at noon; the must-see program is the six-episode marathon of episodes never aired introduced by series executive producers Paul Feig and Judd Apatow Saturday from 5 to 10 p.m. The Museum, at 465 N. Beverly in Beverly Hills, will retain copies of the unseen episodes for viewing after the marathon, as well. More information at (310) 786-1091. Veteran Texas rocker Joe Ely certainly embodies the spirit of the roadhouse road·house n. An inn, restaurant, or nightclub located on a road outside a town or city. roadhouse Noun a pub or restaurant at the side of a road Noun 1. , where the tough guys are boisterous, but reveal their soft sides after knocking back too much tequila. A solid songwriter and a spirited performer, Ely presents some of his famous tunes - ``Me and Billy the Kid,'' ``I Saw It in You'' and ``Everybody Got Hammered'' - on ``Austin City Limits Austin City Limits is an American television music program and a staple of the Public Broadcasting Service. Known for featuring country music, the show also broadcasts performances of folk, jazz, bluegrass, blues, rock and roll, alternative rock, indie rock and other genres. ,'' Saturday (actually early Sunday) at 12:50 a.m. Native-American blues band Indigenous also performs. - David Kronke CAPTION(S): 6 photos Photo: (1 -- 2) ``Visible Traces: Rare Books & Special Collections From the National Library of China'' showcases ancient Chinese art and artifacts for viewing at the Central Library in downtown Los Angeles. (3) Little Willie G., lead singer of 1960s r&b band Thee Midniters, appears at the Chicano Blues Festival on Sunday. (4) The fourth annual Fender Catalina Island Blues festival features Buddy Guy. (5) Russell Crowe stars in the epic thriller ``Gladiator.'' (6) Texan rocker Joe Ely presents some of his music on ``Austin City Limits,'' early Sunday morning. |
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