Monday, June 27, 2016

Barkat: Helen Mirren an inspiration to millions--I saw her live at the Jerusalem Cinematheque

Rabbi Yehuda Lave

Self-Confidence to Ask Questions

People with higher levels of self-confidence feel comfortable asking questions. People with lower levels of self-confidence might feel that they don't have a right to ask questions. They might worry that the person they ask might be critical of them for asking. Or they might worry about appearing deficient for not knowing the answers.

If a lack of self-confidence ever prevents you from asking a pertinent question, ask yourself, "If I had greater self-confidence, what would I ask right now?"

Then, even if you feel a bit uncomfortable about asking, realize you can speak up and ask. Once you do, you will have a breakthrough. You will have proven to yourself that feeling uncomfortable about asking a question doesn't need to stop you from asking.

Love Yehuda Lave

Cancer breakthrough as scientists discover new ways of blocking potentially lethal tumours spreading around the body

Scientists find new ways of blocking lethal tumours spreading

'Free floating' cancer cells are able to survive because of surface proteins that normally keep tumours anchored to one place, scientists from Queen Mary University of London found.

Read the full story:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3655880/Cancer-breakthrough-scientists-discover-new-ways-blocking-potentially-lethal-tumours-spreading-body.html

23 June 2016

Lab-grown bones made from FAT used to repair jaws of pigs - and they could help reconstruct features of accident victims

Bones grown from FAT could help reconstruct faces of accident victims 

Biomedical engineers at Columbia University In New York, grew new bone (pictured) in the laboratory from stem cells taken from fat before it was implanted into the jaws of 14 pigs, to repair damage.

Read the full story:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3656546/Saving-face-Facial-bones-grown-FAT-used-repair-jaws-pigs-help-reconstruct-features-accident-victims.html

23 June 2016

Barkat: Helen Mirren an inspiration to millions

Oscar-winning British actress Dame Helen Mirren, who is in Israel to emcee the 2016 Genesis Prize ceremony honoring Israeli-American violinist Itzhak Perlman, was herself honored on Wednesday by Mayor Nir Barkat with the inaugural Jerusalem of Gold Award for Excellence in the Arts and Humanities.

Mirren received the citation for her "contributions to society and for the inspiration she brings to millions of people around the world."

"Helen Mirren is a symbol of status and unprecedented artistic success serving as an inspiration to millions around the world," Barkat said at the ceremony in Jerusalem's city hall.
"Mirren has enlisted her success and fame in order to make the world a better place and the city of Jerusalem is honored and happy to award her the Jerusalem of Gold medal for her work," he said.

The award recognizes artists and intellectuals who have made a significant contribution to society through their work and actions.

"It is an indescribable pleasure to be your guest of honor in Jerusalem and an incredible honor to be the first to receive the Jerusalem of Gold medal," Mirren said.

 

"Exceptional films need extraordinary actors, screenwriters, producers, and directors.

As such, everyone must have a place from which to draw inspiration. The breathtaking scenery of Jerusalem makes it without a doubt one of the most inspiring places in the entire world," she added.

Prior to the ceremony, Barkat accompanied Mirren on a tour of the Old City, beginning with the City of David National Park and concluding by the Western Wall.

"It's just the most extraordinary, moving and powerful experience to be here, to look at the incredible work that's been done to reveal these histories.

 


I've always believed in history," said Mirren. "I think that we have to remember what happened in the past always as it informs our future and it certainly informs our present.

"I'm a great believer in that.

To be in this situation where you see the past being revealed before your eyes is the most extraordinary, passionate and moving experience."

Mirren and Perlman spent the day prior to the award ceremony visiting and meeting with members of the press at the Jerusalem Press Club, as well as with Israeli dignitaries, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Knesset also held a special event Wednesday evening in honor of Perlman in the presence of Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein, Jewish Agency chairman Natan Sharansky, Genesis Prize chairman Stan Polovets, and representatives of organizations working for the inclusion of disabled people.

As part of the evening, Perlman met with disabled people working in the Knesset.

Prior to the event, Edelstein said, "It is a great honor to host maestro Yitzhak Perlman, the Genesis Prize laureate. The event will focus on the integration of disabled persons in all aspects of life and will shine a very important light on this issue, which the Knesset has been advancing for a number of years."

Perlman is the third recipient of the prestigious $1 million Genesis Prize, dubbed the "Jewish Nobel Prize," which recognizes people who have "attained excellence and international renown in their chosen professional fields, and who inspire others through their engagement and dedication to the Jewish community and/or the State of Israel."

He will be awarded the prize for his "exceptional contributions as a musician, teacher, advocate for individuals with disabilities, dedication to Jewish values and the State of Israel."

See a video of her visiting the old city:

http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Barkat-Helen-Mirren-an-inspiration-to-millions-457521

 

 

 

Before a packed Cinemateque audience, Oscar-winning British actress Helen Mirren dishes on her varied career, British politics and her upcoming performance in 'The Fast and the Furious

Dame Helen Mirren is the only actress in the world who could who could discuss the complexity of performing Shakespeare on film, her portrayals of Queen Elizabeth II on stage and on screen, and her excitement at appearing in the next installment of The Fast and the Furious series.

Mirren, who was in Israel to emcee the presentation of the Genesis Award to violinist, educator and human rights activist Itzhak Perlman, spoke about these and other topics in an appearance at the Jerusalem Cinematheque Wednesday night. She received a standing ovation at the packed auditorium.

The Genesis Prize, dubbed the "Jewish Nobel," was awarded on Thursday night in Jerusalem.

 


One of the greatest and most beautiful actresses of all time, Mirren spoke with wit, self deprecation and fierce intelligence about her extremely varied career. She has played everything, including the classics (A Midsummer Night's Dream, Hamlet), comedy (Arthur, Calendar Girls), noir (The Long Good Friday), drama (The Woman in Gold, in which she portrayed a woman trying to get back artwork the Nazis stole from her family), superior police procedurals (the Prime Suspect television series), and action movies (Eye in the Sky, the Red movies). She won an Oscar for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in the The Queen, and a Tony for her portrayal of the monarch in the 2015 play The Audience, two high points in a career filled with awards and acclaim.

Her appearance at the Cinematheque, where she was interviewed by director Benjamin Freidenberg, was the culmination of a retrospective of her work presented there.

Mirren,70, said that she was happy to be a part of the Genesis Prize ceremony because it gave her an opportunity "to appreciate and say thank you" to Perlman. She also said she was pleased to that the prize gave her a chance "to come back to Israel. I've only come here twice but every time I've come, I've wanted to come back."

 

Mirren was in Israel first as a kibbutz volunteer in the Sixties. She also visited the country when she played a Mossad agent in The Debt, a 2010 remake of a 2007 Israeli film of the same name. The Debt, directed by John Madden, was like "manna from heaven. Scripts like that and roles like that don't come along that often." She was full of praise for Gila Almagor, the actress who played her role in the original film, calling Almagor's performance "a brilliant piece of work."

Mirren did not discuss the political situation here, although she spoke out against cultural boycotts of Israel when receiving the Career Achievement Award at the Israel Film Festival in Los Angeles last year.

However, she did delve briefly into British politics when she spoke about her roles in two films about the conflict in Northern Ireland: Cal, a film for which she won the Best Actress Award at Cannes, and Some Mother's Son, where she played the mother of an IRA member in a prison.

She said she agreed to make Some Mother's Son when it seemed that a peace accord had been reached between the British and the IRA, but that just around the time of the film's release, "another bomb went off and the peace collapsed, and here I was in a film humanizing" the IRA. While promoting the film, she recalled, "I got the toughest questions in southern Ireland."

In the wide-ranging interview, the actress, whose father was a Russian immigrant to Britain (he anglicized his name to Mirren), discussed how she got into acting.

"I didn't go to drama school," she said, because her family did not have the money to send her, although she always knew that she "wanted to be a great theater actress."

Mirren said she trained to be a teacher for three years, then performed in a youth theater group, the performances of which were reviewed by national critics.

"It was a great stroke of luck, which I didn't realize at the time," she said. "I got amazing reviews and I left college immediately."

The teaching profession's loss turned out to be the audience's gain. Reminiscing about her first big movie role, in the steamy 1969 Age of Consent, in which she played the sexy young muse to an aging painter (James Mason) in the South Seas, she said she was thrilled to appear in a movie directed by Michael Powell (The Red Shoes), but that "It wasn't his best film."

She treated to the audience to a funny story about her arrival in Hawaii dressed in her best starlet leather miniskirt, with no one to meet her at the airport.

Talking about some of her BBC television roles that followed, among them many classics, she revealed that "they recorded over the tapes, they are lost, that precious canon of work," and that only a few videos survive.

Inspired by Monica Vitti in Antonioni's L'Avventura ("She made me realize what film acting could be") and the films of Anna Magnani ("I watch her films again and again to refresh myself"), she began a stellar film career.

As she spoke, it became clear how much she has been a creative partner in many of her roles, including those she made with the acclaimed directors Peter Greenaway (for whom she starred in The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover) and Robert Altman (Gosford Park). Of Greenaway, she said, "He sees his films as fine art, pure art."

Altman "understood technique so profoundly, he threw the technique out" and took Mirren's bold suggestion to cut a scene she considered extraneous, and to add another one later on. "It was because of that scene that I got an Oscar nomination" for her role in the film, she said.

The film for which she won her Best Actress Oscar, Stephen Frears' The Queen, was daunting because of the queen is such a wellknown figure and because "the Brits have such a love-hate relationship with her."

What helped alleviate her panic was her realization that "you're just doing a portrait of her... It's me as an artist, it's not her... It was liberating."

Among Mirren's upcoming projects is her role in Fast and Furious 8, the latest installment in the action franchise. "I'm a great admirer of Vin Diesel," said Mirren, with her trademark blend of joie de vivre, humor and grace. "I'm sure it will be great fun.

life after death? Thousands of genes are seen coming to life TWO DAYS after animals die

Genes switch on after death, with hundreds becoming active days after

Researchers at the University of Washington turned to two model lab animals, and found evidence of activity in 1,063 genes after death, which has implications for humans.

Read the full story:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3654014/Is-life-death-1-000-genes-switch-animals-die-hundreds-active-days-after.html

22 June 2016

How coffee could be your liver's saviour: Drink shown to protect against a host of deadly diseases Inbox x

Now drinking coffee can protect against most liver diseases

The British Liver Trust today adds to the growing weight of evidence around the health benefits of drinking coffee, publishing an 83-page report summarising all existing research on the subject.

Read the full story:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3653618/Now-drinking-coffee-protect-against-liver-diseases-Molecule-contained-caffeine-thought-slow-growth-tissues-damage-organ.html

22 June 2016

Mobile phones used by hospital staff 'harbour viruses that cause stomach upsets and lung infections' Inbox x

Mobile phones used by hospital staff found to harbour viruses

Swabs revealed evidence of viruses on 38.5 per cent of devices.The discovery, made in France, raises concerns about hygiene in hospital wards housing vulnerable patients - especially children.

Read the full story:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3652375/Mobile-phones-used-hospital-staff-harbour-viruses-cause-stomach-upsets-lung-infections.html

21 June 2016

a little humor

 As you slide Down the Banister of Life In 2016 --   Remember:

 

1..Jim Baker and Jimmy Swaggert have written an impressive new book.
It's called ...'Ministers do more than Lay People'


2..Transvestite: A guy who likes to eat, drink and be Mary. 

 

3..The difference between the Pope and your boss, the Pope only expects you to kiss his ring.


4..My mind works like lightning, one brilliant flash and it is gone. 

 

5..The only time the world beats a path to your door is if you're in the bathroom.


6..I hate sex in the movies. Tried it once. The seat folded up, the drink spilled and that ice, well, it really chilled the mood. 

 

7..It used to be only death and taxes.   Now, of course, there's shipping and handling, too.


 

8..A husband is someone who, after taking the trash out, gives the impression that he just cleaned the whole house. 

 

9..My next house will have no kitchen - just vending machines and a large trash can.


10.. Definition of a teenager?  God's punishment...for enjoying sex.


 

Thought for the day: Be who you are and say what you  feel... because those that matter..don't mind...and those that mind... don't matter!


 


 

 And as you slide down that Banister of Life

you should pray that all the splinters are

pointed the other way...