Gandhi in San Francisco you ask? Yes, there is a statue of Mahatma Gandhi tucked away in one corner of San Francisco’s Ferry Building. You may miss it if since it is located a little away from where folks sit on the bay and watch the water, boats and the traffic on bay bridge. In… Continue Reading
Filmmaker Jason Reitman’s new film “Men, Women and Children,” is the opening night film at this year’s Mill Valley Film Festival. The film looks at how ubiquitous and always-on Internet and Social Media has permeated our lives, especially the lives of younger people. But, why single out the young folks? The adults are also plugged… Continue Reading
Karen Vasudev is a San Francisco bay area native, who spent time in India during the 1960s and 1970s. It was the height of the flower power and Hare Rama Hare Krishna movement here in the bay area when Karen relocated to Kanpur, India with her young son and husband. In a sense she missed the… Continue Reading
“Pride” is a new British Film based on a true story about an unlikely alliance between gays and striking Welsh miners. Think 1980 Britain when Margaret Thatcher was the Prime Minister of the country. A group of gay activists in London decide to support the striking miners, which was one of the largest mining strikes… Continue Reading
Mill Valley Film Festival is one of the last major film festivals of the year. Organized by the California Film Institute this annual film festival is generally held in the last quarter of the year in the beautiful town of Mill Valley located a few miles north of San Francisco. This year’s festival runs from… Continue Reading
Is it possible that Benedict Cumberbatch could be at this year’s Mill Valley Film Festival? He recently attended the Toronto Film Festival for the premier of his new film “The Imitation Man.” This is a true story based on the legendary British mathematician & code breaker Alan Turing. There is a India connection that the Turings had.… Continue Reading
This year’s San Jose Jazz Summerfest ((August 8-10, 2014) was a treat for your ears, eyes and soul. For 3 days I heard all kinds of music from jazz, hot jazz, blues, mambo, salsa, zydeco, gypsy and soul in various venues in downtown San Jose. This was the 25th year of the festival organized by San… Continue Reading
“This Ain’t No Mouse Music” is a new documentary about Chris Strachwitz by Chris Simon and Maureen Gosling. The filmmakers have known Strachwitz for many years. Strachwitz is a San Francisco bay area resident and an icon in the world of music. “This Ain’t No Mouse Music” traces the journey of Strachwitz’s obsession with finding and recording blues,… Continue Reading
The gap between the rich and poor is growing. This widening economic gap is a constant refrain we hear these days. How are people trying to make their ends meet and lead a decent life? How do people deal with their poverty? What does poverty in a small mid-western town in Missouri look like? Those… Continue Reading
San Jose Jazz Summer Fest celebrated its 25th year of its annual music festival. The 3-day music festival (Aug 8-10, 2014) was held in downtown San Jose and featured local, national and inter nation artists. It was spread across 12 stages. Booty Coolins headlined the show on opening night on the main stage, while the… Continue Reading
I wish these pictures could play the music we heard at the 25th San Jose Jazz Summer Fest that just concluded yesterday. Bootsy Collins headlined the show on the opening night on August 8, 2014 in the main stage right in front of the Fairmont Hotel. I caught a little bit of Bootsy Collins music… Continue Reading
“Calvary” is written and directed by John Michael McDonagh. This is his second film in a trilogy that he is making. “The Guard” was the first, and “Calvary” is the second and his third film is ” The Lame Shall Enter First.” Brendan Gleeson, the Irish actor is the star of this trilogy. “Calvary” is about… Continue Reading
Filmmaker Paul Lazarus has a new documentary Dean Kamen, a prolific, enterprising innovator and inventor. Kamen created the Segway. But, that is just one of his inventions, he has many more inventions in the medical and other field. All Kamen does day in and day out is dream of new inventions, prototype, tweak, tweak, tweak and then introduce… Continue Reading
Zillow and Trulia are two of the largest online real estate listings that millions of people use to sell, buy or rent a home. And today Zillow said it is acquiring Trulia for $3.5 billion in a “stock-for-stock” transaction and expects to close by 2015 according to this press release. With this acquisition Zillow will become… Continue Reading
I just got back from the famous Gilroy Garlic Festival. Today is the first day, and apparently the best time to visit if you want to beat the huge crowd. For years I vicariously read about the garlic festival, but never gathered the courage to venture down down to Gilroy, the garlic capital of the… Continue Reading
Filmmaker Paul Lazarus’s new documentary “Slingshot” made its global premier at this year’s Cinequest Film Festival. The film was a clear success with the audience judging from the standing ovation it received. I caught up with Lazarus to find out how and why he made this film and why water? How does Kamen do what he… Continue Reading
Ralph Steadman is a well-known artist and illustrator from Britain and a long-time collaborator of American writer Hunter S. Thompson. Steadman did all the illustrations for Thompson’s writings, including “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” which first appeared in Rolling Stone magazine. Thompson is credited with the term Gonzo journalism. Here is a wonderful, in-depth… Continue Reading
Zach Braff is an actor, writer and producer. His directorial debut “The Garden State,” won him lots of praise and fans. He now has a second film that he directed, acted and co-wrote “Wish I Was Here.” Braff was in San Francisco recently to promote his new film. Here is a teaser of the interview that… Continue Reading
California is an earthquake prone state and having an earthquake go back is part and parcel of your life. Earthquake faults run both in Northern and Southern California. In the last 100 years there were two major earthquakes, both of which occurred in Northern California. One was the 1906 earthquake of San Francisco described as one… Continue Reading
Happy July 4th to those celebrating the American Independence day. It was on this day in 1776 that the United States of America declared its independence from the British. A couple of years ago, we drove up to Calfiornia’s Gold country to witness a traditional July 4th parade. We drove from the San Francisco bay area… Continue Reading
“Internet’s Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz,‘ is a documentary by Brian Kannpenberger. The film traces the story of Swartz, a programming prodigy and social/political activist from his childhood to adulthood and why he took his own life on Jan 11, 2013. He was 26 years old. Swartz was surrounded by computers and the… Continue Reading
Filmmaker Andrew Rossi’s new documentary “Ivory Tower,” is a compelling documentary on the ballooning costs of higher education in the USA. Many students carry a significant amount of debt when they graduate from school. What does that debt total. How about $1 trillion? That is the number pegged to the student loan debt in the… Continue Reading
“I am Casey Kasem.” and thus began a Sunday ritual for millions of people, who flocked to their radio and transistor sets to listen to “American Top 40.” And for the net 2 hours folks would be glued listening to the program that ended when Kasem signed off with “Keep your feet on the ground and… Continue Reading
Borders. When we think of borders, we generally see them as straight or jagged lines on a map. That borders are rigid and defined is one notion – but there is the other side to this and that is borders are living, breathing entities where a lot happens. Towns located along any geographical borders tend to be… Continue Reading
HBO’s new show “Silicon Valley,” is at the end of its first season and has found a strong fan base. I was skeptical and unconvinced when I saw the first episode called “Minimum Viable Product.” It had lots of of hype and did paint a very flattering picture of this “cradle of innovation” and startup culture.… Continue Reading
The results for the “jungle primary” elections for Silicon Valley’s Congressional district 17 are in. It is going to be a battle between incumbent Rep. Mike Honda and Ro Khanna for the November elections. According to the Silicon Valley Congressional Elections in CA 17″ href=”http://blogs.kqed.org/newsfix/2014/06/03/live-updates-california-congressional-race-seventeen/”>results Rep. Honda won 48.6% and Ro Khanna got 27.1%. Trailing not too far behind… Continue Reading
The governor’s race in California just got very interesting with an unexpected turn of events. Governor Jerry Brown was a sho0-in for the primary elections in California. The question on many people’s mind in the Golden State was this – who will be his opponent come November? Which Republican candidate will be running against Governor Brown?… Continue Reading
Academy Award winner Stephen Gaghan (Traffic) talks about his new film “Candy Store.” The film is about Ukraine and he started to write the story over 4 years ago in collaboration with …., his friend. They have closed funding for the film that will star Ryan Gosling, Keira Knightley and others. I met Gaghan at… Continue Reading
“Maleficient” is is an old story with a new twist that worked for me. When I went in to see the film I was unsure what to expect. But, at the end of 90 odd minutes I must confess I quite enjoyed watching the film. Reimagine hearing the story of “Sleeping Beauty,” from the perspective… Continue Reading
Flight 93 took from Newark, NJ to San Francisco, CA on September 11, 2001. The flight never reached its destination. This was one of the 4 planes attacked by hijackers. Flight 93 was believed to be heading towards Capitol Hill in Washington DC, and some passengers onboard the plane foiled that attempt.The flight ended up… Continue Reading
The Kamla Show 