Roundup: 1.11

A roundup of news emanating from the 90089:

Thornton professor, cellist dies at 81:

Schoenfeld was born in Maribor, Slovenia, to a concertmaster father. The family moved to Berlin while she was young, and she began ballet classes with the Berlin State Opera at age 6. Her older sister was training in the violin at the time, and Schoenfeld soon followed suit, switching to cello at age 11.

Schoenfeld later earned her artist's diploma at Hochschule fr Musik in Berlin and remained studying until the family immigrated to Los Angeles in 1952.

Schoenfeld joined the faculty at the Arts Academy in Idyllwild, Calif., where she gained attention from the dean of Thornton, who later asked her and her sister to join the USC faculty.

"She was one of those living legends in the cello and music world," said Biryukov. "(That) world is going to be changed now, especially in Los Angeles."

I'm sorry to say I never took advantage of the chances I had to hear her live. The Schoenfeld sisters were living legends, the Yo-Yo Ma's of their age. They also were amazingly sweet. I remember attending a performance at Thornton and Elenore walked by. Something about her was so arresting, I spent the intermission scrutinizing every picture on the wall until I found one with a caption explaining who she was. Charismatic personality and cellist extraordinaire.

Globetrotting for a degree:

These guys are living what I often dreamed about sophomore year...

The typical graduate student usually does not find himself in need of AK-47-bearing guards to complete his homework.

But R.L. Hooker, a second-year master's candidate in production at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, is not the typical graduate student.

Last summer, Hooker and Gregg Helvey, also a second-year master's candidate in production, spent three months in dangerous and unfamiliar Kenyan territory shooting Hooker's thesis film.

Hooker's interest in the impoverished African country sparked when he visited Kenya for a wedding in summer 2005. Soon after his return, he began a Google search for Kenyan short stories.

"I read 12. Eleven weren't very good. One was amazing," Hooker said.

That story, "The Knife Grinder's Tale," by award-winning Kenyan author Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor, is about a father's journey from his village to the city of Kibera to understand why his son had been murdered.

No, I didn't dream about filming a movie in Kenya...mine was Uganda. I became fascinated with the idea of doing an independent research project, once I realized there were a number of resources on campus that aimed to facilitate that with money. I spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to find a way to get involved in a project that would produce an "undergraduate research grant," but I must have been working with the efficiency of a Rube Goldberg machine, because it all came to naught. I must say, I still look back on my inability to get involved in some way as one my bigger regrets from college.

But hell, enough about me, the real story here is this guy. He's in Kenya, filming his Master's thesis. The man had a dream, he pursued and he's had the time of his life. Message to everyone: start dreaming and then get on your horse...and ride it to Kenya.

Student is off to races as announcer:This would be totally sweet.

At the age of 14, USC senior Jonathan Horowitz made his first trip to the Los Alamitos Race Course, not knowing that he would make hundreds more. He would go on to become the youngest announcer in the world.

The full story is concise, but faskinatin'. It's amazing the things that people accomplish.