Sweet is the Air
You know who you are and how special as well:
July 27, 2010
July 21, 2010
A Small Present For A Special Someone
January 29, 2010
Left v Right
Hey you. Yeah. YOU. You know me, right? You've met me or emailed me or read this blog (highly unlikely) or seen the many techy things I've posted to MyFace or whatever the young folks are using these days. You know that I am an engineer with an ax to grind, defending analytical rigor, science and the left brain with all the vigor of a tea party "patriot" in line for Sarah Palin's 'book'. So you'll be as surprised as I was at the response that a TED conference speaker's talk elicited.
The talk covers the subject of whether or not schools teach creativity and what the implications of that are for the future. The thesis of the talk is that the current method of education does a great job of training students to be cogs in the industrial-era machine, but it doesn't do a good job of teaching any of us to be creative. This creativity is of course necessary for engendering future innovations, although the talk is heavy with talk of the arts, dance, etc.
It got me wondering whether I had some of that same creativity. After all, I do write this, among other things, I draw, and so on. But is it really creativity, or just something I do to give the illusion of creativity and cultivate that "Renaissance man" image that I crave. Yeah, I can admit it. I know for a fact that I am a product of the education factory, molded into an engineer with the "slide-rule grip" and exciting "mouse action" arms. So does my desire for creative expression mean that the system has failed (either at stamping out creativity, or encouraging it)? The whole thing leaves me wondering what future education would be like in a regime like this - would we all try to be dancers or painters or singer/songwriters (please, God, not that); conversely, who will spend their time building things and making things. Indeed, considering the suffering of artists who struggle to express themselves, is all the creativity even going to make everyone happy? And how much of this question is legitimate or an attempt to justify my own experience? All questions that can't be easily answered.
January 28, 2010
Goodbye, Holden Caulfield
When I was 11 years old, I stood on my bed and looked at the books on the highest shelf of the bookcase that my parents had kept in my room. There were a lot of books there that my Dad had put there to relieve the overflow on the big bookcase in the living room, but most of them were "boring". Still, I had just finished my latest Hardy Boys book and wanted to keep reading (where has that feeling gone?) and picked a book that was about the same size. It had a maroon cover with simple yellow letters on it that spelled out the title and the author's name. I opened the book to page one and read this:
“If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don’t feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth.”
I gasped, laughed and reread it. Then I debated whether or not to read the passage out loud for my Dad in case he decided I was too young to be reading that sort of thing. Finally I did and he laughed with me, and smiled, probably remembering when he had first read the Catcher in the Rye. I read that book then, then again two years later, then again 2 years after that, then again when I got to college. It was simply written and brilliant and I loved it. Who was J.D. Salinger that he had so easily written a book that described everything and so perfectly?
It appears that he died yesterday, quietly. I hadn't ever read his other works, partly out of laziness and partly because there's no way anything could measure up to Catcher. Now I feel a bit foolish, as we say goodbye to him from beyond the fence. I guess I'd better start reading.
August 1, 2009
Calling It
Yes, Adam Sandler, I don't like you. I think you're a hack, and this snippet of the article about "Funny People" backs me up (Sort of):
That’s too bad because while Mr. Sandler doesn’t have the necessary acting technique or even the natural warmth to convince you that his character cares about anyone else, he is undeniably a star, the movie’s biggest draw and its most effective and powerful presence. It’s easy to buy him as both a selfish jerk and a maudlin self-pitier, whether George is weeping alone into his designer sheets or confiding some medical news to his housekeeper, the only sympathetic ear around. With his flatline drone, stand-and-deliver gestural performance and prickliness, Mr. Sandler is effortlessly charmless, and in his performance you see the risky movie this might have been if Mr. Apatow had pushed harder.
Eat it, Sandler.
July 29, 2009
Tron
I am a nerd. You know this. Some would also call me a geek (thanks Iain). So it's no wonder (especially in light of the disappointments of this summer and you know who you are]) that I was skeptical of the new Tron movie project. Until I saw this trailer, which is apparently just a visual effects test. I was then forwarded this link to the work of the director, Joseph Kosinski.
The guy seems to have it all down and was doing Tron before he was doing Tron if you gather my meaning. The Nike stuff we did is pretty awesome, and frankly I can barely wait to see what he does with a full length feature.
oeuvre link courtesy of Mr Bond
Tron trailer link courtesy of Bruce-stapha
June 27, 2009
MJ
Well it's taken me a day or two to get to grips with the whole Michael Jackson death thing. Unlike a lot of people who have been weeping in the streets and clubs and in their cars as his songs play over and over. Last night at a fundraiser at Citrine in the City, when MJ's songs played girls got choked up and ran out of the room. I was not among them, but the moment wasn't lost on me. When you think about it, Michael Jackson was the soundtrack to a large portion of everyone's life - EVERYone. There's not many places you could go in the world where people didn't know him, where his songs didn't get the party started. I'm grateful to have been around for the whole thing (even though it got weird at the end), and in small measure, I'd like to thank him for the happiness, the songs and for helping me get everyone up to dance at Lisa Rubin's New Years Eve party in 2004. You made me a hero that night, so thanks MJ.
I could go on and on, reminiscing about the first time I heard the Thriller album, but I'm doing a crappy job of eulogizing the guy so I'll kick it over to this short piece by Ray Smuckles.
June 12, 2009
Liz Lemon vs Kermit the Frog
Not head to head mind you, after all I love these characters way too much to risk losing either even in a hypothetical head to head (quoth Peter Griffin: "Nope, I never risk the Fett man, even on a sure thing"). My friend Andrew sent me this brilliant link which unearths the most nefarious of conspiracies, and yet one I wouldn't dream of trying to stop. The thesis of this incisive blog post is that most of 30 Rock is ripped off from the Muppet Show.
While the evidence is not exactly super-compelling, there are a ton of similarities which just serve to make me love both shows more. You should follow the links to Muppet-ized 30 Rock episoides, but even more you should watch the Muppets' appropriation of 30 Rock!
And if that's not enough, watch Tina Fey, the "Bookaneer" - adorable.
May 4, 2009
The Ads, Man
Now, I'm sure you're going to say "No one trusts corporations these days! Look at the outrage over the bailouts!". To which I reply, yes, there is some generalized mistrust of corporations but to a great extent that mistrust is bounded by the overt actions of those corporations. In other words, when the corporation leverages other means of influencing popular sentiment or public perception - such as advertising - it's generally transparent to the general population. Look to the two billboards above 8th street as an example, telling you to retool your 401k with the help of FinancialCo, and to "Get on the road to retirement! We'll guide you". This coming from a company in a sector whose value has dropped 60% in the last year and a half.
aside: In the movie Total Recall, Arnold Schwarzenegger's character lives in a time when Mars has been colonized and there is a push on the part of the colonizing corporation to encourage people to resettle there. On Earth, the advertising for the Martian colony shows verdant pastures and happy, smiling people, content with their decision to be pioneers! All this is terrible slimy and heavy-handed. Now, contrast this, with the hawking of various wares in Minority Report which is much more subtle, but much more insidious. Step out one more layer and you realize that in predicting a future where advertising is much more pervasive, etc, they are actually pitching products to you in a much more pervasive way (ie as "entertainment"). Enjoy your Tab.
Now this nudging of the public consciousness is not as advanced as it is in our dystopian fictions, nonetheless examples of it abound. Beyond product placement in movies, music videos, concerts, sporting events, etc
March 15, 2009
Aspirations
Kids, we all need aspirations and goals. Here is an idea for you all:
March 1, 2009
Y Making it Big
Like most nerds, I am a big fan of comics, although I like to pride myself for evolving past stories of spandex-clad do-gooders cavorting around the city, with a quip and blow for equally colorful miscreants.
aside: That introductory sentence was almost entirely inspired by the prose of Stan Lee - thanks Stan!
So like the evolved nerd I am, I have instead been reading comics that talk about people, their lives and all that David Copperfield crap that I'm sure you all hate.
aside: That sentence was entirely lifted from Catcher in the Rye - thanks JD Salinger!
At any rate I ran across a comic entitled "Y, the Last Man" which follows the exploits of the improbably named Yorick, a "lovable" escape-artists/slacker who rises one morning to discover himself (and his pet monkey) literally the last man on earth. That is to say that all the other men have died mysteriously and only women are left. The world turns into the sort of "womyn's land" different from the one envisioned by separatists in the 70's. Now, I'm really not going to sit here and argue about whether or not the disappearance of men would lead to a heaven on earth or what have you. I will say that the book is interesting, though poorly drawn and with somewhat weak dialogue at times. But it's interesting...
You know what else is interesting? That one of the characters on Lost was reading Y the Last Man in Spanish in a scene, the same week that a Y the Last Man poster is on the eponymous hero's wall in the show Chuck.
WTF people? What's with the full court press on this comic? Could a movie be in the offing? Does Hollywood like getting women to complain? The answers are mostly yes, here. While the comic is not - mostly - some adolescent fantasy of being the last man alive to service a world of women, it is also not a different adolescent fantasy of how awesome the world would be if women ran the show. There's a lot of room to screw it all up, most of which has been at least traversed by the authors of the comic, but Hollywood does have bigger budgets. Gosh, this post went somewhere entirely different from where I thought it would.
February 18, 2009
In Memoriam: Tayeb Salih
I got a dose of bad news this morning as I checked through my usual news sites. I read news of the passing away of ElTayyib Salih (Tayeb Salih to you non-Arabic speakers out there) at age 80 in London. This is a global tragedy for such a distinct literary voice to be so decisively silenced forever. It's also a national tragedy, certainly in Sudan, where we have had so little to be proud of in recent years; but it's also a tragedy on a personal level. My father met 'amu (uncle) ElTayyib during a conference in the UK more than a decade ago. The older man befriended my gregarious and inquisitive father, and they remained friends in the years after their meeting. My Dad made an effort to visit 'amu ElTayyib whenever he was in the UK, to catch up and exchange stories and news. In fact, it was during one of these trips that my Dad mentioned that I had never read his seminal book, Season of Migration to the North. He generously responded by giving my Dad two inscribed copies of the book in English and in Arabic. When Dad got home, we all read the books. My brother was shocked and scandalized by the books, with their frank discussions of sexuality and violence - taboo subjects in the Sudan in every sphere. "No Sudanese could have written these books!" he exclaimed. As for me, I wasn't sure; this had opened many intellectual doors for me, but rocked some of the foundations of my thinking on what it meant to be Sudanese. I wondered if I'd ever get to meet the man himself, thank him and talk a little about what he'd written.
Of course that cannot happen now, and I sit here feeling several things beyond the obvious loss. First of all is the general anger that this under-appreciated author recieved such shoddy obituaries in the press. There was no mention cause of death or anything. Yes, he's an old man, but considering that the New Yorker practically devoted last week's issue to John Updike, it wouldn't have been too much to just show a little more of the circumstances of his life and death. It wasn't till quite late in the day that those circumstances were revealed. I called my Dad, and he told me that he'd been in a coma due to his kidney condition, and it had only been a matter of time. Guess it was better to hear that from Dad than the NY Times.
The only other thing that I feel pretty strongly about is that he was never recognized on the appropriate scale. I feel like someone (maybe me?) should write to the Nobel committee and recommend that they consider him, but I'm not sure if all that mail goes directly to a shredder in Stockholm.
My outrage is running out steam, and I've stepped back from the precipice of emotion I was at when I started writing. Rest in peace 'amu ElTayyib, and thank you.
January 20, 2009
Inauguration
I couldn't even bear to get clever with the title of this post. This is by far one of the most significant events I have ever been witness to, and my only regret is not being able to be there. Well also, having to work and not even watch it properly on television. The Inauguration is the biggest event of recent memory, and actual good news. Against this historic backdrop, the new President and his family are backlit, and seem to glow almost preternaturally in what can only be a reflection of the glow of hope and warmth from the population of the United States (and the world). The other scene set is the departure of the former (and I say "disgraced") President. As he boarded Marine One, I recalled the article I had seen earlier that day in the Economist, which was an honest, and disparaging assessment of the Bush 2 years. It contains several statements, which reminded me of the real pity of those years:
... the Bush I knew was part scamp and part bumbler, a timeless fraternity boy and heedless cutup, a weekday gym rat and weekend napster.
and ...
... many people who met him were astonished by what they described as his “lack of inquisitiveness” and his general “passivity”.
and ...
Lack of curiosity also led Mr Bush to suspect intellectuals in general and academic experts in particular. David Frum, who wrote speeches for Mr Bush during his first term, noted that “conspicuous intelligence seemed actively unwelcome in the Bush White House”. The Bush cabinet was “solid and reliable”, but contained no “really high-powered brains”. Karen Hughes, one of his closest advisers, “rarely read books and distrusted people who did”.
and especially:
The fruit of all this can be seen in the three most notable characteristics of the Bush presidency: partisanship, [politicization] and incompetence.
But finally, there was the chilling image of the malevolent eminence gris who symbolizes - more than the ex-President himself - the lost potential and long term effect of those years.
Seeing him at the Inauguration in his wheelchair - like a robot sent from the past - made me think of a generation of Bond villains with their evil stares, cold demeanors and general whiteness.
Still it's not good to dwell on those sorts of bad feelings. Instead we should look to the future I think. While I am restraining my overall optimism, it's difficult and I am finding myself swept up in events. There is a sense of being awake for a new dawn of reason and rationality in America. That sense has me nervous, hyper-aware and full of anticipation., but it feels great. I live in a country where my leader is as smart or smarter than I am. I live in a country, probably the only country, where my leader could have followed ended up here after following the path he did. I live in a country where there is hope.
December 24, 2008
Product Placement
Dec 19th Khartoum, Sudan 7:17p local time
Khartoum is where I spent my formative years (junior high and high school) and, for a place that I didn't really spend that much time in, I am tied to it very strongly. The city, and the country, have changed considerably even in the two years I've been away. After my last trip I had lamented the rampant consumerism that had suddenly engulfed the country, and on my return I find it even more pronounced than before, yet also more refined. To go back to my note about marketing abroad, I notice how different print advertising is here than it is in Abu Dhabi. Most new print advertising is very Sudanese in character, showing Sudanese families or individuals engaged in whatever behavior the phone company or the producers of toothpaste want them to.There is a tinge of humor (and good humor) to these billboards, which one does not find in Gulf advertising, and to my mind has a lot to do with the national character.
That national character appears to be changing, of course, as everything inevitably does. I accompanied my cousin, Gift of Gab, and his wife to one of the new garden style cafes that have sprung up around the capital. There under a large neem tree (what is the English name of those?), and various large, fancy new umbrellas were arrayed around a lot of clean, glass-topped tables. Here in the land of cold Pepsi and somewhat cool water, was a menu with ice mocha frappacinos, Slush Puppies, and so on. This may not seem like much to the casual foreign observer, but growing up, there were only a few options: water, Pepsi (not Coke), fruit juice (of whatever kind happens to be in season), or tea (only hot, only black). The embarrassment of riches that these new choices represent is mind-blowing in light of this fact. The clientele of this cafe was not composed primarily of foreigners (and Westerners in particular), but mainly of Sudanese from a wide variety of age groups. The young folks were dressed in incongruously conservative clothes, which somehow managed to also be revealing and fashionable (this schizophrenic fashion is something I notice but am ill-equipped to discuss - you can look up a wide variety of articles on youth culture in Iran to get a feel for what I am talking about). The open flirting between tables of high school aged boys and girls is, again, not something remarkable to foreign sensibilities but quite surprising to those of us who have seen this change. While there is no where on earth where young people do not make goo-goo eyes at each other (and I mean nowhere), the openness or subtlety with which they do it marks out the inhabited boundaries of the culture (beyond which, of course, only dragons lay).
The second thing I noticed was the condescension of the young folks congregated at this cafe directed towards those who didn't belong there - including myself. With everyone dressed to the nines to see and be seen, my own much more casual style of dress marked me out, not as an expatriate but a lower-class pretender sullying the sanctum of their much more sophisticated world. Perhaps the small class warrior that unaccountably lives within me saw more than was actually there, but it seemed to me to be a sad commentary: that the gap between the haves and have-nots in the Sudan had widened so much, and that there was some perceived shame to being "poor" in a country that is composed primarily of poor folks.
December 14, 2008
Pity He Missed
I'll let the video speak for itself, but this is as good as the time someone tried to hit Anne Coulter in the face with a pie:
As you can imagine we saw this a thousand times on AlJazeera.
December 13, 2008
Access Denied
I arrived in Dubai last night and drove with my aunt and uncle to Abu Dhabi. I was relieved to find they had a wireless network set up and went to check what my peoples have been putting up at Flickr when I was met with this:
My first brush with internet censorship! I feel so oppressed, and strangely glamorous (damn you, Che Guevara!). More posts to come, hopefully.
November 19, 2008
One Last Hurrah
I know I know. I said I'd stop being exuberant after two weeks from the election, but this video is simply happy-making.
Psychological Warfare
As the self-appointed "voice of rational Muslims" everywhere, I feel I have to speak out on (so-called) Dr Ayman el-Zawahiri's recent statement on behalf of Al-Qaeda. He was making a statement regarding the recent election of Barack Obama to the highest office in the land, and has, of course, stirred up controversy. It wasn't the usual threats, or the claims that Mr Obama was a puppet of "the Jews" or what have you, that I found to be particularly infuriating. No, it was the use of the term "house Negro", the genteel cousin of "house nigger", that really lit a fire under me.
The men in the caves in Afghanistan have a particular worldview, which, among other things needs the United States to be both oppressive and openly unjust. While The election of the Mr Obama to the highest office in the land undercuts part of that assertion. This is not to say that the particular audience that they are playing to will necessarily outright reject their message, but perception (especially the subtle ones of Mr Obama's racial make up and complicated religious past) is a powerful thing. Unless the new administration does something nakedly belligerent in the region, the tide of public opinion in the region can be shifted, finally. Frankly, this can/should be assisted with a PR campaign to paint the would-be theocrats in Afghanistan as racists based on these remarks. This would play particularly well in the non-Arab parts of the Muslim world (large swaths of Africa, south and southeast Asia - see where I'm going with this?).
As for me, I never liked these guys to begin with, but this remark just leaves a terrible taste in my mouth. Having been on the receiving end of Egyptian ideas about race and culture, I take even less kindly to this. Hopefully this will backfire on them... hard.
November 7, 2008
Thanks, Abu Ghraib
For making sights like this more commonplace in so-called democracies. I am fairly certain that things like this happen all the time, but for democracies this is just abhorrent and unacceptable. The sound you hear is no one in the US government commenting or condemning it. Thanks W. and Abu Ghraib, thanks a lot.
November 5, 2008
Gloating
Hopefully this will be the last time that I gloat over this historic victory....
After the results were in last night I went to several international news websites for more perspective. In the South African Mail and Guardian, I read the reactions their reporter got off the opposition, like thisTexas Republican supporter:
"I do not know how I feel," she said. Then she found her voice. "My reaction is: what is America thinking? How could he get hold of the country? I am afraid our way of life is about to change drastically," she said.
Think how we felt TWICE over the last two years lady. The paper's analysts agreed with the feeling I'd had, which is that the Republican party needed a drubbing in order to rip the scales off its collective eyes and make them reassess.
Experts now predict the Republican party now faces a deep period of introspection. Fault lines are opening that might pit social conservatives against economic conservatives.
The only fear there is the power of denial.
But some people pinned the blame for McCain's defeat on circumstances beyond the campaign's control. They said the political environment was virtually impossible for them and then Obama had run a slick and professional campaign."It's been marketing. All around the one word 'change'. They used that to get all these people on their side," said local tech worker Marilyn Martindale.
That's why they call it getting beaten, lady. This wasn't luck, this was hard hard work. McCain could have run a professional campaign too but chose to dick around with bigotry and scare tactics and this is where it got him. He wasn't true to himself, he let himself get led around by the same dirt bags that deep-sixed his own campaign in 2000. I hope this discredits that style of politics for a couple of decades.
The rest of the world is looking on, and celebrating with us. Hell, they're stumbling over themselves to claim him as their own! It's like the world is breathing a sigh of relief, "Oh thank God, America, we were hoping you'd come to your senses!"
In the meantime, I hope our friends and neighbors wake up to the fact that Barack Obama is President of the United States and not supporting the President in a time of war is "unpatriotic" and "un-American". The Real America just got him elected to the White House and it's open to the rest of you if you want to come live here and prosper with us.
November 4, 2008
Tina Fey Tina Fey Tina Fey, I'm Not Ashamed to Say It
Just heard Tina Fey's interview yesterday on Fresh Air, about 30 Rock, and her new found success as Sarah Palin's satirical foil. What a woman!
October 31, 2008
This DEFINITELY Stays in Vegas
On my way home today from the BART station and saw this billboard advertising a themed hotel in Las Vegas. I'm not sure if this is done on purpose or not but the billboard basically appears to show some guy wincing as he gets sodomized by a very enthusiastic woman. I know that Vegas is supposed to be "wild" but I didn't think this was the sort of thing they refer to that should "stay in Vegas".
October 30, 2008
Colbert Endorses Obama: a Grateful Nation Breathes a Sigh of Relief
Man, I am really getting crazy with all these media posts lately! Anyway, last night's Colbert Report was a work of such subtle satirical genius that it may actually affect the election as well as the pull of the moon on the tides. To my mind the key line was:
"[I am endorsing Obama], that doesn't mean I'm going to vote for him! There are a lot of things you can endorse but not do anything to support." With the caption Like the Constitution.
Close second:
"[McCain] just needs to do something to prove that he has the judgment to lead and knows where this country wants to go ... Senator McCain, you need to endorse Barack Obama, now that'll make you look like a Maverick!"
October 29, 2008
Small Time Celebrity
I was talking to my Dad the other day and he mentioned that my little sister has become a minor celebrity in Shanghai.
aside: I should preface this by saying that she had called me the other day to tell me that her language teacher had put her name forward for a small role on a popular daily soap opera. She was supposed to play the role of the new foreign wife. After getting over the shock of seeing an actual black person in their studio, the producers gave her the job.
She has since appeared in only one episode, but apparently to a modest viewership of roughly 300 million people. Since the show she's been accosted on the street by erstwhile fans many times and was even told (by no less personage than a university professor) that she hoped my sister's issues with her mother in law would soon come to an end. It's another example of the strange disparities between the modern image of China and the essentially simple nature of it's population. Still it's amazing to think of the modest viewership of my sister's show as being the equivalent of every man, woman and child in the United States.
October 20, 2008
Beating a Dead Moose
God bless you, Alec Baldwin!
link courtesy of Capt. Excitement
October 18, 2008
Black Marks
On September 12th 2001, I stood outside my house in a neat little sub-division in Chandler, Arizona staring up at the sky at dusk. The sky was empty, and clear. Occasionally you could see the blinking red trail of jet fighters on sortie over the valley. Tears were rolling down my cheeks for several reasons. The day before I had awoken (like many people) to images planes, towers, smoke and bedlam. Standing there right then, knowing who had perpetrated this crime, I know that life was going to get much much harder for me and my family. The thought of my little sister getting harassed the next day on her way to classes, or walking around on campus had me in a panic. I feared a massive backlash, and a future in an internment camp.
Many of those things did not come to pass, but prejudice increased, and a sense of not belonging did too. I could ignore it most of the time, not thinking about being pushed to the edges of civic life. As Obama battled through the primary season, I was saddened that this man who was in some ways like me was pandering to the middle, but knew these were the vagaries of presidential politics. When he emerged as the Democratic candidate I thought about canvassing for him, but as rumors of his being a Muslim came out, it occurred to me that my campaigning for him could be a liability. I found myself becoming ashamed of who I was for a moment, and then got angry; angry that I was being made ashamed for something there was no shame in; angry that I was forced to stay on the sidelines of a crucial election; angry that after all the effort to become a citizen, I was being told I would never be a part of this country, that my presence was tolerated so long as I kept quiet.
So it was nice to hear someone finally stand up and point out how unacceptable all this talk of Obama's being Muslim is. That it is an open slur, to imply Muslims constitute some kind of a fifth column, or are incapable of being good Americans. It was such a relief that I sent an email to CNN to express my gratitude.
UPDATE 10/19/08: Colin Powell has endorsed Obama on Meet the Nation, and had this to say on the "Obama is Muslim" trope:
"I'm also troubled by, not what Senator McCain says, but what members of the [Republican] Party say... such things as 'Well, you know that Mr Obama is a Muslim'."Well the correct answer is, 'He's not a Muslim, he's a Christian, he's always been a Christian'. But the really right answer is, "What if he is?' Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer is 'No', that's not America."
October 6, 2008
Jump!
This sign expresses the rage at having to bail out the Wall Street "fat cats" (who else hates that expression? I might have to blog my disdain for it). I don't care what This American Life might say, I won't change my mind about this. I think we need to have them dance the little lame piggy dance for our money - in their boxers - in the middle of the street. bastards.
link courtesy of PhatMunkay
September 15, 2008
More Reasons to Love Tina Fey
Why is that the comedians are the only people calling it as they see it? Thank you Tina Fey and Amy Poehler for speaking the truth to power.
link courtesy of Capt Excitement
September 9, 2008
School, Hospital, Whatever
Shockingly the folks at the GOP don't know the difference between Walter Reed Medical Center and Walter Reed Middle School. Perhaps no one should be surprised, considering that they are not keen on funding either education, healthcare or veteran's benefits.
link courtesy of Phatmunkay
September 8, 2008
Flip-flops and other Political Footwear
Regarding the Republican nominee for VP (on which my own views are quite well known) I have seen a silver lining. Her appearance on the scene has outed a lot of the flip-flopping hypocrites on the right. As usual the Daily Show does the job that the so-called legitimate news outlets ought to be doing.
September 3, 2008
In a World ...
Sad to report that the "movie voice guy" - whom we all recall from his signature "In a world ..." phrase - has died. Usually I don't much care to remark on celebrity goings on but this is different. The man's voice was ubiquitous, so much so that I can't think of movie trailers without thinking of his voice, in the same way that every pack of tissues is Kleenex and photocopiers are Xerox machines. I offer up these two examples of homages to him, here (about 3:30 in) and here, and this example of his work, here.
August 31, 2008
Traitor? Nice Try.
Last night I went to the movies with my family, which is one of my brother's favorite pastimes for the family. We saw the new film Traitor starring the incomparable Don Cheadle. I usually avoid this sort of movie since it invariable offends and reminds me that I will always been a foreigner in this country, regardless of which passport I carry. I won't spoil the plot of the movie for those of you who might be interested in seeing it but I do have some comments about it.
August 26, 2008
Some culture
Although some of you may not see it that way. This here is an interesting explication of the whole Dave Chappelle palaver from last year. It's actually worth a read I think.
August 22, 2008
I {Heart} Nerdcore
In case you were both wondering what was up with the Large Hadron Collider (at CERN in Geneva) AND needed some rockin' beats, I present to you Alpinekat's explanation - in verse.
August 6, 2008
Artificial Life
When I was in college I got really into the cyberpunk novels of William Gibson. In Neuromancer and the subsequent novels Gibson introduces and expands a world where the line between humans and machines is blurred. The body is an almost infinitely upgradeable machine, that is optimized and modified for a variety of reasons. The movie got me into movies like Ghost in the Shell, which took some of those ideas and mixed them with ideas preempting the Matrix. The movie revolves around a military unit composed entirely of cybernetically "enhanced" people pursuing the nefarious terrorist known as the Puppetmaster. The film is very visually compelling and the introduction is quite an elegant - yet dark - vision of what's to come. Altogether it made me question the nature of "life" and what really constitutes it.
I ran across this today and it was strangely reminiscent of that introduction. The way the manufacturers of the mannequins talk about them: their design and creation, and what they mean; it's as if they are creating real women out of the foam and plastic that they mold. There's an eerily loving quality to what they say which would be creepy without having seen or read some of the works above. Regardless it's also interesting to watch.
July 29, 2008
Sudan + China = Uneasy Relationship
Interestingly enough I've been thinking about this same issue for a while now, and was surprised when it was on the news this morning in the car. While most folks think of China as either blindly rapacious, or overall ungainly and not accustomed to it's place in the world, that is untrue. Frankly, the Chinese are extremely savvy players on the world stage and their recent successes have not come overnight, but have been the result of years of diplomacy and thoughtful strategy. Their current influence in Africa (particularly where there are natural resources to be had) is based in work done throughout the 70's, or rather, they plan for the far future instead of just the near term. Have a listen to NPR's analysis or read it if you can't listen.
July 28, 2008
So Soon?
I had heard of this W movie, but thought it was still in the conceptual stages till I saw the trailer. I have to say I'm surprised, not least of which because the whole thing is happening so quickly and is apparently timed for release near election time. Does anyone think it will affect the course of events? Also, why couldn't this have come out before the previous election? What conspiracy is responsible for that I ask you? Heck, I don't know, and I don't know if this movie will be any "good" either for entertainment or commentary.
July 20, 2008
Who Watches the Watchmen?
I do.
Nerd friends, the Watchmen has been adapted into a movie and I for one am going to be first in line to see it. It's a great graphic novel, and probably one of the first to question the whole "superhero" genre and find it wanting. Check out the trailer here and don't bother telling me I am a dork - I already know.
July 8, 2008
In Case You Don't Know Him ...
Mike Birbiglia might be the funniest new comedian I've heard in a long time. Check out his take on - well I'll let you figure out what he's talking about, but it's so on.
June 27, 2008
Change = Constant
In reference to my previous post - it all changes and it changes quickly at that. My business unit had it's final hurrah party yesterday ("Doing the impossible for 25 years!") and many of us planned to attend with the sort of irony usually reserved by hipsters. It was to be a day of goodbyes and cheesy music when suddenly -
I got an email telling me that those of us who had gotten jobs with NewCo were to skip the first hour and show up at the cafeteria for a special guest and an announcement. The special guest turned out to be the chairman of the Faceless Corporation board who told us in a very roundabout way that the factory was not closing -
cue Kool and the Gang's "Celebrate" -
Apparently at the literal 11th hour, the nameless bean counters who only rival our lawyers for control of the direction of the company discovered a massive demand for one of our old products. Guess who gets to stay open to satisfy that demand ... that's right! So the factory stays open minus its star technicians (who got poached so fast it gave them whiplash), most of it's engineers, and some of the equipment which has already been dismantled. 10 points for giving hope to those who hadn't got new positions, subtract 9000 for timing and any kind of foresight.
Unfortunately for me, Fat'n'Happy is still leaving, as is Biggles, Hatchet Face, and many more for whom this is the last day. Against that backdrop I'm packing up my cubicle to move to another one on the third floor. This is like the season finale of The Office.
May 31, 2008
Dorks in the Movie Line
Best quote of the last 4 days: "All those women dressed up in line to see the Sex and The City movie, I realized they're not just dressed up, they're dressed up like the characters in the movie! It's like Star Wars for girls, which character are you?"
May 16, 2008
Empty Cans Make Louder Booms
If ever there was an example of the right wing machine's blind following and general incompetence it is this set of remarks made by some right wing radio blowhard. When prompted to qualify the branding of Barack Obama as an "appeaser" by the President, the sound of crickets chirping was drowned out by the loud barking to silence any dissent. Thanks right wing for showing why knowing history is important.
May 12, 2008
Graffiti
Those of you who know me better know that I have a weird love of graffiti. Not the "Giants Rule!" or "for a good time ... " variety, but the good stuff. Anything that involves more than one can of Krylon and a large canvas made of brick or subway car iron. More recently I've gotten into the mad intricate stencils of artisits like Banksy, who is wickedly subversive and quite clever. It's in some cases not as visually appealing as an old school tag, but it always has a lot to say and utilizes the specific environment of the graffiti as a part of it.
Which brings me to this little gem (which you can find here if you can't get that first link to work). It's graffiti that moves! Taking a surreal style and make it shift, crawling across walls and buildings leaving a white trail like a slug's on pavement. It's beautiful and it's hard to imagine that it took anyone this long to come up with the idea. It also does a great job of highlighting the interface between the art and the reality it reflects and embellishes. Great stuff ... what do you guys think?
link courtesy of the byrninator
May 6, 2008
The Democrats So Far
I think they should do one for the entire election cycle or even for the Iraq war! It's a nice compressed version of the Democratic primary process and consequently highlights the inconsequential nature of most of the "race":
kudos to the folks at Slate.
March 20, 2008
Solids of Deformation
So now that I've seen that Schweppes commercial I'm obsessed with slow motion photography and I've been searching the world for amazing films. I found THIS one immediately after the Schweppes one and I'm awed by the way that balloon deforms as it hits the ground - and doesn't burst!
And this one which is awesome if only for the way the light shines through the water:
Refreshing
This Shweppes commercial is one of the most beautiful things I've seen in a while:
The slow deformation of the balloons as they hit the ground and stretch to the limits of the rubber they're made of seems to symbolize something - at least to me. This point is emphasized by how quickly the rubber reforms around the surface of the remaining water and just seems to vanish. Even in slow motion the rubber seems to just disappear leaving the water still in the same partial tear-drop they had been in moments before. The last image of a water balloon hitting a man in the face, causing the water to spread around his face like a silver halo - that's just brilliant.
link courtesy of providence
February 11, 2008
A Musical Interlude
Just read about this composer - Nico Mulhy - and thought you folks might enjoy a selection of his works. It's quite modern with some hints of Stravinsky in the midst of the all the minimalism.
Betrayed: A Play
I read an article in the New Yorker last year about the people who have the most to lose from the Iraq debacle: the Iraqi staff and interpreters who have risked their lives helping the American forces. Some were motivated by patriotism, some idealism and some by profit but all of them have put themselves into the line of fire to try to bring their country out of the mire of its Ba'athist past. The article's author, George Packer, has written a play based on is interviews with those folks, and a clip from it is available here. It's very poignant and I suggest you guys take a look.
January 24, 2008
Resolution Update
I posted some New Year's resolutions here earlier this month. I didn't do a good enough job of telling you why I wanted to do the things I mentioned and I just came across someone who describes my situation perfectly. It's also a fairly accurate depiction of my progress as well.
Honestly this guy "somegreybloke" is quite funny. I came across him totally by accident and I have to say that it's been a pretty good find so far. It's the deadpan delivery that really brings it home. According to Dr Germ, this is basically how British folks are. Due to my inherent gullibility I totally believe that. You should too.
January 18, 2008
The New Money
This may not be true but I'll be damned if it doesn't sound plausible. I can feel the money not jingling in my pocket already.
link courtesy of the bwolson
January 8, 2008
Round the Clock Election Coverage
2007 was by far the noisiest year in recent memory, for me. A majority of that noise issued from the various candidates and pretenders to the position of the President of the United States of America. A gaggle of these folks have caused a lot of unnecessary hubbub with their talk of perhaps, maybe joining the race, the formation of their exploratory committees, their withdrawal from exploration of the idea of joining the race and their hypothetical policies if they were possibly thinking of exploring the idea of getting into the race. It all got to be too much and as November rolled around I welcomed the thought that it'd soon be over, before of course remembering that it was only 2007.
At first I thought I had the "voter fatigue" that they are always talking about in the media, but how could I so early in the election cycle. And how is it that the election cycle has oozed out of 2008 and back into 2007? This set me thinking about the issue - the main issue as I saw it - the inflation of the election cycle. Many people have written about this particular issue, and the general consensus is that it's just too dang long. Firstly, it promotes voter fatigue (known, occasionally, by it's other name voter apathy); secondly, it's a waste of money. No news there, right?
Where there is news however, is the News. Yes, the politicians' war on democracy is ongoing, but really we could all just decide not to pay them any mind. That's a little difficult when the news outlets are blowing the politicians' hot air into every corner of the nation. I certainly don't mean to absolve the pols of their responsibility in this, but it strikes me that without the cable news (if you want to call it news) there would be less of a sense of how it all just drags on and on. Discussions of slivers of policy differences between prospective candidates in the same wing of the same party, so-called "gaffes" that one candidate has made, outrageous appeals to emotion; all of these are cast in front of an uninterested public. Which begs the second question: in a media environment supposedly regulated by the market, how can this be what outlets choose to cover? This is particularly vexing since in the United States about ~70% of eligible voters are registered to vote, and of those registered, on average a little more than 50% actually vote.
Setting aside the reasons for this low turn-out (perhaps not the lowest in the developed world, but suspiciously low for a country actively trying to spread democracy at gunpoint in the Middle East), let's ask a simpler question: why would a media outlet spend so much in resources to cover a story that such a low percentage of the population apparently cares about? Why hire people to nitpick through everything a candidate says if, in th elong run, the candidate will never really be called to account for his or her statements? It's a lot of sound and fury which signifies nothing, if I might paraphrase a much better writer. One would think that the market - the vaunted Deus ex machina that cures every ill - would correct for that when there is such a low interest in the political process. If there truly is interest in the process, then are we seeing a voyeuristic interest in politics - as if it were something that were happening to someone else? I can't figure it out, but if anyone knows please go ahead and clear it up for me or call your local round the clock news channel with an explanation.
January 1, 2008
A Step Down
So now all of a sudden Khartoum has become Palermo? An American USAID rep and his driver were shot on his way back from a new year's eve party. This news is quite shocking for a variety of reasons, not least of which is the shift that it indicates. For all the problems in the Sudan, Khartoum is a relatively safe place. No muggings, armed robbery is a rarity, and larcent of any kind tends to take the form of stealing something when the owner is not around and/or asleep. So how, all of a sudden, did this happen?
The Sudanese government initially claimed that it was due to a 'road rage' incident. Come again? This isn't LA, it's Khartoum! Where no one owns a gun, let alone an automatic weapon.
And how is it that anyone would kill a USAID officer? They are relatively harmless and more importantly, they're a manifestation of the good that can be done by a superpower. We're not even talking about "inconvenient" observers in Darfur, he's a functionary in the embassy in the capital. So where does all this come from?
June 15, 2007
Childhood Frankenstein
I wrote recently about watching the Star Wars 30th anniversary program and all the humbug that involved. The sinking ship of my childhood couldn't survive getting rammed by the Lucas marketing machine, so it's with some relief that welcomed news of the Robot Chicken Star Wars special. After all it combines everyone's favorite movie with action figures (not dolls, Mom) which is totally awesome. Actually more to the point, it's the sort of ironic comeuppance that I'd been hoping would come along. After all if it weren't for the marketing Death Star at LucasArts, we wouldn't have had the extensive collection of action figures that enabled Seth Green and his merry band of vulgarians to regale us with the unsanitized b-reel that is Robot Chicken. That they are returning to their roots and attacking Star Wars is quite a delicious little treat, which I intend to relish.
May 27, 2007
We Really Are All the Same
I was watching a bit of television yesterday and talking to my roommate when Carmen Electra came on screen in an art gallery and started talking about her photography. The CEO of Ritz comes in and Carmen began to extol the virtues of Ritz Camera, who helped get her those "big enlargements" for her prints. As David Ritz brushed off her gushing, he said, "That's ok, Carmen, we get enlargements to anybody quickly!" Then the announcer said the words "big enlargements" several times to drive the point home (thanks guys, we get it).
All of this is crass, but not entirely surprising. What IS surprising though, is the sight of David Ritz looking at boobs. That's right, in the midst of aw-shucks-ing his way through an ad, he glances down at Carmen Electra's breasts. How does that escape the editing wizards at the ad company? In a way it's hilarious, of course. I mean it goes to show that we men are all the same (just like your mom told you) no matter if you're some yobbo watching television or the owner of a rather mediocre chain of photography specialty shops.
May 26, 2007
Happy Birthday Cash Cow
Boy, can you believe Star Wars is 30 years old? After 30 years the portion of my childhood that has been most relentlessly marketed has acquired a reach and maturation that few stories have. So it's sort of odd to think of anyone who hasn't seen it - and yet this gentleman has. And he's blogged the experience. His account contains gems such as this:
26.20
R2-D2 has stormed off in a huff. The excitement of starring in a classic film is all too much for him, the poor love.
I highly recommend it, if only to return you to that perfect moment when you didn't know anything about it all and it was all new. Oh those days of innocence.
November 8, 2006
Time Lapse
October 28, 2006
Reaganomics, Sudan Style
No matter how long I live here, I still feel like a foreigner. Sometimes I feel provoked to revert to this "other" status, and the emotions it produces are contradictory and confusing. So I was surprised at the purity of my distaste for this article. The author's main theme is the disparity between the quality of life in the capital and the provinces (especially the long suffering Darfur). This wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the tone of the article which is self-righteous and condescending.
While The disparities between rich and poor are great throughout the developing world, they are never wider than in the presence of crude oil. It thrusts the economy through the sound barrier and pulls the elite with it, as well as those fortunate or smart enough to tack onto them. This is rounded out by expatriates who are now willing to invest their money - which leaves the bottom 70% of the so of the country in the same position they were in prior to the discovery of oil. Add the other factor, which is the gap between the capital and the provincial towns in most of the developing world and you can begin to imagine how the contrast appears. It is made more poisonous by the proximity of the haves and the have-nots. The situation reinforces itself, like a snake swallowing its own tail, despite the subtle, incremental improvements in peoples' lives (e.g. cell phones in everyone's hands, etc).
All of this is terrible, and you find yourself wondering whether or not to invest in your country or not; whether to be glad for the incremental improvements or decry their effects on the national fabric; and so on. You are angered that the kleptocratic government that has dragged your country into the muck is also the one with the good fortunate to preside over the largest boom in the nation's history; while simultaneously you are pleased that things are finally looking up and that your countrymen can enjoy the things that other people do.
That is not the tone that the author of this article takes. Instead you get the impression that he is angry that the country is seeing a pick up at all, especially in light of the political stance that the United States has taken. On more than one occasion he laments the trade that is taking place between the Sudan and other countries in the Middle and Far East - countries that are currently benefitting from that trade to the exclusion of US companies who are denied access due to the sanctions placed by the US government. "How dare they be doing well, despite our displeasure at their record on human rights?!" he seems to be saying.
"... [Y]oung, rich Sudanese, wearing ripped jeans and fancy gym shoes, sit outside licking scoops of ice cream as an outdoor air-conditioning system sprays a cooling veil of mist." Air-conditioning?! How dare they!? That these barbaric Africans could possibly be comfortable despite Sally Struthers' best efforts to comfort them is apparently too much for the delicate sensibilities of the author. As is the revelation that "across Khartoum ... flatbed trucks hauling plasma TV’s fight their way through thickening traffic". With an example like the US where not one tv, plasma or otherwise, was bought during the Katrina fiasco (remember that?), how could the Sudanese fail to do the right thing?
What makes it all so galling is that I find myself defending the very regime which I detest. Yet I feel I must, because of the hypocrisy of articles like this.
October 11, 2006
Take it All Off
Thanks Jack Straw for pointing out that Muslim women could take off their veils/head coverings whenever they wanted to! My God, we had no idea! I mean it had just never occurred to any of them that it was even possible. Boy it takes a smart guy like yourself to show the way to we many many ignorant Muslims. Thank you so much for showing us the light of your brilliance!
September 26, 2006
Arrival
The Daily Show, that most complete and incorruptible of news shows, has finally arrived. I thought it had arrived when former President Clinton was interviewed on there. I stand corrected, as they have just interviewed the current president of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The questioning in the short period that TDS has in order to do this seems so much more honest and relevant than what you'd find on a so-called "reputable news source". What makes it most interesting is the rumor that Mr Musharraf requested the interview, and not the other - and more traditional - way around.
August 21, 2006
Call Center
Not what I usually do, but I got this link at work and about fell out of my chair. It would have been more amusing if my boss hadn't walked into my cube moments afterwards. If you've ever wondered what goes on when you call customer support ...
link courtesy of the stepper guys ...
July 12, 2006
Massive Attack
One of my favorite bands, Massive Attack, is coming to the Bay Area in September. Who wants to go? Tickets go on sale tomorrow. These guys practically invented trip-hop and are well worth the price of admission.
July 10, 2006
Adieu Zizou
Thi should technically be under "The Annals of Sport" but I don't want to add a new category so here goes. Te World Cup Final yesterday was a hard game to watch. While these sorts of contests are always unfair, it seems doubly so that Italy came out at the top of the pile. With their uninspiring and opportunistic football, they are scavengers on the greatness of other teams. It seems to bear out the general trend to reward mediocrity - although now I feel that I am not giving the Italians their due. It's just that they don't make me love the game in the same way that other teams do, and in this case in the way that watch Zidane did.
March 21, 2006
Cultural Exchanges
How does one find new Music? Easy, Libby, you go to the horse's mouth. In today's digital world? You could either ask your friends, badger me, or open Pandora's box. No, this isn't some high falutin' porn site, it's actually an extension of the Music Genome project, which aims to take one song and extrapolate all the songs that share the same "genes" or characteristics. Listen. You might hear something new that you like.
March 9, 2006
Security
Being an employee of a large evil corporation and a blogger is a life fraught with difficulties and pitfalls. Much like a man married to a rich yet insane widow with a more fulfilling mistress, one has to tread very carefully indeed. The consequences are excessive to say the least. Much like the aforementioned man, of course, one cannot simply give up the mistress, and in fact the longer one is married to the insane widow, the more one needs the attentions of the mistress. And so one continues to blog and to blog about work - to abruptly drop the uncomfortable metaphor.
Lately there's been a focus on "information security" at the office. In order to drive the point home the corporate thought police have put posters up all over the place, with a fellow in a cleanroom (or "bunny") suit with a sullen look in his eyes holding hands with a pre-pubescent girl in a white walled room. The girl has a strange smile on her face which contrasts with the threatening look in the man's barely visible face. The whole thing has the air of a child who has been or is about to be abducted and possibly molested. The large caption says "Who is Protecting [Faceless Corporation]?", but gives off the message, "Who is Protecting your Children from [Faceless Corporation]?"
February 28, 2006
Man Bites Dog, or Worse
In a classic story of man bites dog, my already notorious little nation has descended to another nadir in the course of human history. My only question is how is this in the news? Especially considering what probably happens in Wales on a daily basis.
courtesy of Gil, Blankey, and Butta Phat
Perception is Reality
More proof that perception is reality. Would you have seen Fight Club if you'd seen this trailer?
courtesy of Durnell
February 16, 2006
Cartoons, Riots and "The Other" Standard: UPDATE
Just in case no one knows what the cartoons were all about. A little overwrought I think, but worth a look. Better to be informed about the reasons you are burning down a McDonalds in a Kabul suburb.
In a slightly related issue, I was listening to the BBC news on the way home tonight and was amused to hear that there is currently a Hebrew production of "The Producers" in Tel Aviv. Apparently "Springtime for Hitler and Germany" is going over a lot better than people thought it would! They still haven't burned the theater down, or protested in the streets, not surprisingly. Hopefully we'll get there soon ...
link courtesy of Butta Phat Les
February 14, 2006
Cartoons, Riots and "The Other" Standard
I wasn't going to write about any of the events that have been going on in Europe and elsewhere, but people have been asking me about it nonstop. I think this may be because I am the only Muslim they know, but I also hope it's because they know I have some insight on world events. I've answered questions a couple of times this week and I may as well weigh in on this most public of forums, and I may as well discuss a couple of other topics as well.
Continue reading "Cartoons, Riots and "The Other" Standard" »
February 8, 2006
Becks and Posh
The phenomenon that is David Beckham and his wife, ex-Spice Girl Victoria Beckham (aka Posh Spice) is something that is endlessly entertaining to me. More entertaining is their interview with Ali G. There's nothing like the sight of an athlete trying to match wits with a comedian, it's like watching a chimp trying to derive Maxwell's equations from first principles.
The other part I loved was the way that conversation with Ali G drew Posh into less than posh diction. Wonderful! It's a study in how far apples fall from trees, to wit: not far. Hilarious!
link courtesy of CDC
January 31, 2006
Fear of Girls
I should be hiding this, but hell, we've all been there. I just want to be perfectly clear, I only tried it one time and I didn't even inhale - or enjoy it at all for that matter! Fear of Girls
courtesy of Pedro
January 15, 2006
Leafing Through
In a stunning return to this blog, Pedro has given me another choice link. This one goes to the British Library's Online Gallery. My favorites so far are Sultan Baybars' Qur'an and Mercator's first atlas of Europe. The ability to leaf through the books means that the only thing missing is the smell of old books.
June 7, 2005
Dept of the Obvious
Watching television this afternoon, I saw an advertismenet for the Gillette Mach3 shaving razor. With Father's Day around the corner, the over-stimulated announcer was lowing through a verdant image of the Platonic soccer field. In the center of the field stood the slightly disheveled and beatific object of a thousand soccer fantasies (and probably many less wholesome ones).
"You could win a trip to Madrid to meet one of hte world's best soccer players - David Beckham!" Only in America do you have to explain who he is ... tragic.