Kitchen Confidential: Savoring The Pleasures of Company As A Private Chef

Let's keep this Lo-Fi in the overlap of the table of contents and a career in 'the gig economy' going back some 30 years working on-and-off for several years cooking in domestic service in the east end of Long Island for week-ends and other extended times elsewhere. Sidney Rittenburg and his wife Wang Yu Lin were frequent guests. Enjoyable guests.
The kitchen was open for preparations before breakfast, lunch and dinner as well as open to casual conversations. Like so many others that were invited, I never really knew - or wanted to know - their places in the world or if they had places at all. Life is filled with surprises . . . 

Trailer for "The Revolutionary
Link > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vH9w34onSC8

Published on Oct 26, 2011

Views: 15,400

"During China's Cultural Revolution, Sidney Rittenberg, an American citizen, became the most important foreigner in China since Marco Polo. Arriving as a GI interpreter at the end of World War II, he was the only American citizen to become a member of the Chinese Communist Party, and was an active participant in the Chinese communist revolution and its aftermath. An intimate of the Party's leadership, including Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai, he gained prominence at the Broadcast Administration, one of the most important agencies of government. But in the convulsions of a giant country constantly reinventing itself, he twice ran afoul of the leadership, and served a total of 16 years in solitary confinement. He returned to the United States in 1980.
Rittenberg's story would be just a footnote of history, except for his exceptional intellect, uncompromising honesty, and engaging personality. Over a five-year period, award-winning former-CBS journalist and China specialist, Irv Drasnin, interviewed Rittenberg to produce a compelling, complex and unique understanding of the 20th century's biggest revolution. From Sid first meeting Mao in the caves of Yan'an, to his becoming famous and powerful during the Cultural Revolution, to his battling insanity in solitary, his journey and his profound insight illuminate a much greater history. Mao's rule over China included both extraordinary progress and complete chaos. As China rises in the world, it is important to understand this past. It's a history few Chinese are aware of, let alone many Americans, told by an American who was there."
Find out more at: http://revolutionarymovie.com
This trailer can also be seen at: http://vimeo.com/30921878 

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MORE:
Use Your Head and Follow Your Heart:
Sidney Rittenberg at TEDxBend
Link > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3pYsM-JL5Q

Published on Jun 16, 2012

 

Sidney Rittenberg has known every Chinese leader: Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai, the notorious "Gang of Four," Deng Xiaoping, and the present president and premier. The Army trained Sidney in Chinese Studies during World War II, and sent him to China. He later joined the UN Relief Program, met and formed a friendship with Zhou Enlai, and in 1946 accepted the invitation to help train Chinese journalists working in English. He became a leading translator for the Works of Mao Zedong, and was the only American citizen accepted into the Chinese Communist Party, until he withdrew from the party during the Cultural Revolution. In China, Sidney found Yulin, his dream girl and lifetime partner; she has been for 56 years the source of his happiness and the strength behind his achievements. 16 of Sidney's 35 years in China were spent as a prisoner in solitary confinement on charges of being an American spy. He was freed in 1977 and eulogized by the post-Cultural Revolution Chinese government as a true friend of China.

His family became a myth and a legend, giving them easy entrée to China's leaders — a great advantage for their consulting work. As consultants, Sidney and Yulin have helped clients like Intel, InFocus, Nextel, Levi Strauss, Hughes Aircraft, ARCO, Microsoft, and Teledesic, as well as CBS' Dan Rather and Sidney's close friends, Mike Wallace and the Reverend Billy Graham. Sidney has appeared on virtually every major TV and Radio interview program, he has been interviewed or reviewed by every major newspaper, and frequently gives seminars on the China business. He has been Distinguished Professor of Chinese History at the University of North Carolina, where an endowed chair has been announced in his honor, and is currently Visiting Professor of China Studies at Pacific Lutheran University. Sidney's 35 years in China are chronicled in "The Man Who Stayed Behind," co-authored with (then) senior Wall Street Journal writer, Amanda Bennett.
In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)