Trust Stephen Colbert and his team to find an ingenious way to highlight that American is a nation of immigrants. Immigration is a hot topic button in this year’s Presidential elections. “Immigration makes some voters nervous,”says Colbert. And how does Colbert address the immigration issue on his show? Through food. Yes, that is right –… Continue Reading
Meet Mythili Kumar, who is the founder and artistic director of Silicon Valley-based Abhinaya Dance Co. She founded the dance company in 1980 and has won many awards for her original and innovative work in dance. Recently, we sat down to speak with Kumar to find out more about her work as a cultural ambassador and… Continue Reading
Cascada de Flores is a San Francisco-based musical ensemble that plays music from Mexico, Cuba and Latin America. Their repertoire consists of original and old, forgotten music from these regions. But, what they do is package and present that forgotten and new music in new and evocative ways. The group was founded by Jorge Liceaga and… Continue Reading
https://www.youtube.com/embed/N4d7Wp9kKjA” target=”_blank”>David Bowie passed away of cancer today. He just celebrated his 69th birthday and also released a new album called Blackstar. The news was confirmed through Bowie’s official twitter account. January 10 2016 – David Bowie died peacefully today surrounded by his family after a courageous 18 month battle… https://t.co/ENRSiT43Zy — David Bowie Official… Continue Reading
Director Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s latest Bollywood film Bajirao Mastani appears to be a hit in the San Francisco Bay area according to an unscientific poll I conducted. The first few days were sold out explained the ticket sales person at the local Silicon Valley theatre when I went to see the film. I, of course, waited for a… Continue Reading
Santa Clara county is not only home to many Silicon Valley companies, but is also home to some of the oldest vineyards in California. Some of the vineyards in Santa Clara Valley are over 100 years old. Surprised? So was I when I discovered the Santa Clara Wine trail, which is literally a few miles south… Continue Reading
Tim Sika is hooked on films, and therefore it should come as no surprise that he is the host of Cellouloid Dreams, a radio show from San Jose and also contributes to 810 AM KGO radio station and is the President of the San Francisco Film Critics Circle. As if he did not have enough… Continue Reading
Cascade de Flores is a San Francisco Bay area musical ensemble founded by Arwen Lawrence and Jorge Liceaga in 1999. Their musical repertoire consists of music from Mexico and Latin America. A hallmark of their repertoire is they focus on bringing music from the hidden corners of Mexico, Cuba and Latin America. Their last album Radio… Continue Reading
Our interview with author and essayist Pico Iyer on writing, traveling, American pop culture, data obesity, mass distraction, films and Bollywood. Earlier this year Iyer was in San Francisco, which is where we recorded this interview. Is travel writer the best way to describe Iyer? He calls himself a “transport writer.” Transformation is a subject that… Continue Reading
Filmmaker Lenny Abrahamson’s new film Room is based on Emma Donoghue’s novel by the same name. The film is about a mother-son relationship in a little room, which is where they have been confined for a few years. That little room represents the whole universe for the little boy, and the only visitor they get is… Continue Reading
Meet San Francisco Bay area’s Tava India Kitchen’s Hasnain Zaidi, Chief Operating Officer. In this interview Zaidi shares the back story of how Tava was born and what kind of food they serve. We also find out if they were inspired by the success of Chipotle, the restaurant chain that serves Mexican food. Tava… Continue Reading
Freedom is the theme for this year’s 3rd i San Francisco International South Asian Film Festival. This year marks the 13th year of the festival that takes place in San Francisco from Oct 22 through Oct 25, 2015 in Palo Alto on Nov 1, 2015. The festival features features, shorts and documentaries from various South… Continue Reading
Meet Samantha Moitke of Mayfield Bakery and Cafe in Palo Alto. We caught up with Executive Pastry Chef Moitke at the first food and technology event called BiTESV at Santa Clara. Moitke was part of the original team when Mayfield Bakery and Cafe opened. In this interview we spoke about the food served in the… Continue Reading
Filmmaker Cary Fukunaga’s new film, Beasts of No Nation, releases today in theatres and on Netflix.This is the first time that a feature film is releasing simultaneously in theatres and streaming online. With this film could Los Gatos-based Netflix became a key player in the film industry? We spoke to Fukunaga and Abraham Attah, the young… Continue Reading
Is Bollywood listening? Idris Elba is open to working in Bollywood films as he tells us in this interview we recorded in 2010. Fast forward to 2015 and Elba is a sought after actor and has garnered praise for his work on the small and big screen. Right now the buzz is around his role… Continue Reading
We caught up the talented Avery Ruzicka, head baker and partner of Manresa Bread in Los Gatos, CA at the BiteSV conference in Santa Clara. BiteSV was the first food and technology conference that was held in June 2015 in Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara. Chef/Owner David Kinch heads Manresa, a Michelin-starred restaurant that consistently gets rave reviews.… Continue Reading
A couple of days ago during a visit to San Francisco’s The Fairmont Hotel I finally got to meet Thomas Wolfe, Chief concierge of the hotel. Elegantly dressed in a suit and a bow tie he graciously answered all my inquisitive questions about the hotel’s rich history and famous guests like, Alfred Hitchcock and Ella Fitzgerald, who… Continue Reading
Filmmaker Stanley Nelson’s new documentary The Black Panthers: Vanguard Of The Revolution opened in the San Francisco Bay area on October 2, 21015. The film traces the complex history, influence and legacy of the The Black Panthers in America, and specifically in the African-American community. The Panthers were founded in 1966 in Oakland by Huey Newton… Continue Reading
Dosas in a San Francisco street corner? South India Street Food in the heart of San Francisco? I walk by Market and Montogomery quite often and how in heaven’s name did I fail to see this? Who started Dosa Brothers? These were the thoughts flitting through my mind as I impatiently waited for the traffic light to… Continue Reading
I did not know what to expect from The Intern. Like most of you I saw a trailer and then De Niro’s appearance on Jimmy Fallon’s show, where he barely spoke about the film. What caught my interest is that De Niro and Anne Hathaway were paired in a film by director Nancy Meyers, who co-wrote… Continue Reading
Meet Geeta V. Patel, who directed and wrote Meet The Patels a documentary about one family’s quest fo find a suitable bride for their son. Beta, you have to get married is what Geeta’s parents tell Ravi, her sibling, who had just turned 30. Crisis, crisis, crisis is what I was thinking says Geeta. In Meet The… Continue Reading
I kept missing the various screenings of East Side Sushi in San Francisco Bay area. The film screened at the 2014 Cinequest Film Festival and I marked it as “must-watch” film, but never got around to watching it. It won the audience award at Cinequest. The film then screened at CAAMFest and I missed that… Continue Reading
This month marks the third anniversary of my TV show where we feature interviews and conversation with entrepreneurs, technologists, filmmakers and other news from the San Francisco Bay area. The TV show’s goal is to is to connect the various communities of the Bay area through stories and showcase the diversity of the area. I spent more… Continue Reading
In 2013 South Korean director Bong Joon-Ho released his first English film Snowpiercer in the US. The film is based on a graphic novel by Jacques Lob and Jean-Marc Rochelle, which Joon-Ho read in one sitting at a bookstore in South Korea. It took him a few years before he was able to make the… Continue Reading
Theodora Lee is a trial lawyer and a winemaker and owner of Theopolis Vineyards in Mendocino County in Northern California. Lee first discovered Northern California’s wine country when she was a young associate at Littler Mendelson law firm. She waited almost 20 years before she was able to buy 20 acres of land in the wine… Continue Reading
Graham Annable and Anthony Stacchi are the directors of The Boxtrolls, a 3D, stop animation film from Laika Entertainment. The film is based on Anthony Snow’s book Here Be Monsters. Annable and Stacchi adapted the boxtrolls characters from Snow’s book and called it The Boxtrolls. In this podcast interview we spoke to Annable and Stacchi about… Continue Reading
It is always a challenge to figure out which shows to attend at the San Jose Jazz Summerfest. And this year was no different. On the last and third day of the festival I ended up watching Storm Large and her band. She is a sassy, no-nonsense singer, who effortlessly went from singing a… Continue Reading
San Jose Jazz is celebrating its 26th Summerfest (Aug 7-9, 2015). With a dizzying array of shows spread across 12 stages it is always a challenge to figure out which ones to attend. I ended up watching about 5 shows today that included a wonderful world premiere of Etienne Charles‘s San Jose Suite. The piece pays homage… Continue Reading
Best of Enemies is a riveting documentary film that takes you back to the 1968 Presidential elections and the intense politcal debate between William F. Buckley and Gore Vidal on ABC. Buckley and Vidal represented and stood for two different visions of America during this time. The debate was not a loud one, but a… Continue Reading
Best of Enemies is a new documentary film about the famous and sharp-edged political debtate between William F. Buckley (R) and Gore Vidal (D) during the 1968 Presidential elections. The debate took place on ABC television and was a hug success because of the sparks that flew between these two intellecutal giants of that… Continue Reading
The Kamla Show 