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Mr. & Mrs. Smith S01E06 "Couples Therapy (Naked and Afraid)" cinematography

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Olivia Harrison at the 14th FICM, courtesy of moreliafilmfest.com.

Interview with Olivia Harrison at the 14th FICM by María Cristina Alemán, published 3 November 2016

Olivia Harrison, writer and producer, attended the 14th edition of the Morelia International Film Festival (FICM) to present the documentary George Harrison: Living in the Material World (2011), directed by Martin Scorsese and co-produced by herself. In an interview with FICM, she shared the experience of working with Scorsese in such a personal project. She also talked about her relationship to Mexico, her country of origin, and about her love of Mexican cinema.

How was the experience of working with Martin Scorsese in the co-production of George Harrison: Living in the Material World?

It took some time for me to be able to let go and really immerse myself in the process of the documentary. Marty [Scorsese] was very wise keeping me away from it while he found the story and put something together for me to see. He is an extraordinary storyteller and he has the ability to get to the heart of the subject. That was really what I wanted, but I wasn’t as prepared for it as I thought I would be. It was an extraordinary experience to be working with him on this very personal project.

Could you share more about the experience of exploring your family’s archive footage for the film?

George [Harrison] filmed a lot; he liked to film everything and he actually photographed a lot too. He once said he was going to make a documentary about himself. He said it was going to be the first documentary about a person who is not in it, because he was always behind the camera. But somehow Marty managed to find film where George had set the camera up and put himself on the screen, in the shot. It’s a very large archive, there are songs, lyrics, letters, film and music, and all aspects of George’s life, so it was a lot of research.

Besides producing this documentary, you are currently collaborating with The Film Foundation. Could you tell us more about your work in this institution and about the importance of preserving and restoring film?

Through Marty I met Margaret [Bodde] and Jennifer [Ahn] from The Film Foundation. I love film and I love Mexican films. I grew up watching Mexican films and listening to that music, so after funding the restoration -through George’s Material World Charitable Foundation- of some Charlie Chaplin short films and then an English movie and then a Russian movie I thought, how about some Mexican movies?

So now we are embarking on the restoration of some Mexican films. I love Mexican cinema, I love Macario (1959) and María Candelaria (1943), I love the films from the Época de Oro. Jorge Negrete is my hero. I grew up listening to Trío Calaveras and Trío Los Machos, so this is why I really wanted to have the pleasure of restoring Mexican Film.

This is so important and so urgent.

It really is. We visited some vaults in the Filmoteca [de la UNAM] and it was amazing. There are cans of film piled six feet high and you think, somebody’s got to get in there!

Your family is originally from Mexico, would you like to tell me more about your relationship with this country?

I was born in Los Angeles but my grandparents were born in Guanajuato. I haven’t spent much time in Mexico, but it is really where my heart is. My sister is married to a beautiful Mexican artist from Tonalá and my mother is still alive, so I guess we are a normal Hispanic family, more than an American family I would say.

When my husband married me, he married into a Mexican family. George loved Mexican music, he watched some of these films with me, he even had Jorge Negrete on the jukebox. My father used to sing with his brothers, around 1938, and like every musician he used to go around with his guitar. So George actually took my dad into the studio and recorded him. And my dad and my mother sang like four full songs, that probably your mother and your father, or your grandparents know.

Wow, this is material for another film: the George Harrison – Jorge Negrete connection.

We used to have to call him Jorge. Sometimes if he wanted to use another name, he would use Jorge Arias, because that is my maiden name.

(More here.)

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thateventuality: George Harrison photographed by Olivia Harrison, Cliveden House, 1981. Photo © Harrison Family. 

Many thanks to the Harrison family, and Genesis Publications, for sharing these beautiful photographs.

“In the summer of 1981, my parents were visiting us in Henley from California, and it was a glorious day, so we decided that we should get out of our beautiful garden for a change, to visit another beautiful garden local to us in Oxfordshire. We spent a wonderful afternoon in that gardens of Cliveden House - just George and myself with Dhani and my parents - and I took a few shots of George. They have always been some of my very favorite photos of George. This was also the first place we ever saw the magnificent Gunera Manicata (Brazilian giant rhubarb), and so we came home and decided to plant some of our own the next day, which still flourishes.” - Olivia Harrison, Genesis Publications newsletter, 18 May 2017

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Olivia Harrison, photographed by Terry O’Neill; Olivia in Maui, photographed by Carinthia West. These rare images were shared on Twitter.

“[Olivia] is a beautiful person. His son, Dhani, is a beautiful kid, man. I’ve seen him recently. He is doing very well - very strong and inspired. Olivia had the hardest job in the world, because she loved George more than all of us, and she really took care of him and cleared the path in front of him, behind him, and inherited that crazy life, you know.” - Tom Petty, Rolling Stone, 17 January 2002

“I fell for her immediately. She is a very calming influence. She has been very supportive and we are blissfully happy together. I told her I didn’t want her doing all that typing. We started going with each other, and four years later we married.” - George Harrison, quoted in The Mirror, 1 December 200

“I thought he was really somebody who was saying something that I connected with. He was really a very captivating person - he was working and I liked his music, I liked what he was doing. We just seemed like partners from the very beginning.” - Olivia Harrison, Living in the Material World

“Olivia says that, towards the end, when he [George Harrison] knew he was dying, her husband would comfort her by saying: ‘Olivia, you’ll be fine, you’ll be fine.’ And is she? ‘Fine is OK, but it is not really good enough, is it? But George was right, I am fine and I am OK, although I will miss him until my dying day. But he walked his road and now I have to walk mine.’” - The Telegraph, 24 January 2005 (x)

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Hearty Vegetable Soup

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Easy Vegetarian Chili with Mushrooms

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Spinach Ravioli with Mushrooms!

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CAJUN CRAB DIP

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CAJUN CAULIFLOWER TATER TOTS CASSEROLE

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Tempura 🍤

OVEN FRIED TEMPURA BATTER SHRIMP LETTUCE WRAPS WITH A TERIYAKI SAUCE

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4 Qualities of Meditativeness

Softness. While the mind is alert and attentive during meditation, the body is relaxed. The best way I can describe the nature of this relaxation is by likening it to softness. If you have ever spent some time in a hot tub, you know the kind of softness to which I am referring. It is like a kind of lightness, almost ticklish, that permeates your very bones. It is soft and relaxing. From a scientific perspective, this is probably because meditation activates the parasympathetic nervous system.

Slowness. As you sit for longer periods of meditation, the mind loses much of its momentum. Instead of jumping from thought to thought, encouraging an endless stream, your attention has been brought to rest as the witness of your thoughts. The more you witness the thinking mind, the less fragmented and more smooth its operation becomes. Someone once said to me: “Slow is smooth and smooth is fast.” That couldn’t be more true when it comes to being the master of your mind, rather than being used by it.

Quietude. Although thoughts may still arise, the sense of quietude is not defined by the absence of mental noise. Rather, it is like a stillness in your heart. It feels silent because it has nothing to say; its very quietude is its tastiness. Thoughts may come and go in the mind but this quietude is like an attitude. It is not a created attitude, however. It is felt when we ourselves become still within and rejoin that primordial silence.

Patience. When you meditate, you must “forget” or set aside thoughts of what you want to do after the meditation. Think of it like committing to watch a television episode. You’ll deal with what has to be dealt with afterward. Then you will notice something curious in your meditation practice. The less concerned you are with doing other things, the more focused you will naturally become in meditation. Just as you don’t need to force yourself to focus when watching television. Willingness to be present is itself patience. Thus when you practice meditation you are also practicing wakeful serene contentment, even if it doesn’t feel that way.

All of these qualities are interconnected. They are interrelated with each other, with meditation, and with our activity in our daily lives. When you take up a daily meditation practice, gradually you are introduced to these qualities experientially. Then you will find it easier and more accessible to center yourself in them as you attend to your tasks throughout the day.

Namaste

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The Five Practices

Right Mindfulness

Do not think about the past or future. Do not day-dream. Be mindful, focus,pay attention to what is happening right here right now. As best as you can enjoy the moment.

Right Understanding

Remember that everything we perceive, everything we see, hear, touch or smell is part of the whole Universe. Everything is a manifestation of the Divine, known as the Dharmakaya in Buddhism and personified as Amida Buddha. Everything we perceive is Amida Buddha. We are surrounded by Amida and never separated from the Divine. This includes other people and ourselves also - we are all Amida Buddha.

Right Thought

Everything happens according to Destiny. The will of the Universe is played out. There is a grand plan for everything which is ordained by the Divine with wisdom and compassion. We should bear this in mind and submit to the Divine Dharmakaya.

Right Effort

From right understanding and thinking comes contentment, but effort must be made to cultivate contentment. We must remember that desire is the cause of suffering, while contentment is the greatest wealth. We should try to control and limit our desires. Be content be happy.

Right Concentration

Right concentration is mental stillness. It is a quiet mind. A direct result of contentment and submission. A mind that does not over-think, worry or imagine.

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Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps

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