Well, off to ye olde Garden State for an Arab/Italian wedding....I foresee chaos...
Time Out of Joint - Western Dominance, Islamic Terror, and the Arab Imagination - I think this is an amazing piece of writing. It made me almost ecstatic to read at some points, partly because of the quality and knowledge gained, but also because of its perspective. To me, this is operating from the opposite perspective from Edward Said's Orientalism, which is really cool because in that it is acknowledging the force that orientalism is, and at the same time offering the perspective that orientalism by its nature supresses. Furthermore, it shows how literature affects the world outside of academia, which is also a nice subject to touch on in my opinion.
-Facezero - this is my new favorite art
-an excerpt from Roland Barthes's A Lover's Discourse - I remember reading from this in literary analysis, I still think it's a fun read
There was a fun English-major moment this morning - three people coincidentally all used the myth of Narcissus to take apart the movie Cat People in different ways. One guy read it as the main female character (and monster) being similar to Narcissus, attracted to but unable to reach her aggressive and sexual side. I read it as the husband being like Narcissus, the two women in the film's love triangle acting as his reflection. He tries to force the woman/monster into his ideal image of her (his reflection), but is unable to consummate the act (like Narcissus). He solves the tragic ending of the myth, however, in finding another reflection of himself embodied in the other woman, as asexual as he is. The third person actually found her idea in Narcissus' resurrection as the eponymous flower; a 'complete' flower has four parts: male, female, and two neuter. In the movie there is the husband, his wife/monster, the asexual woman, and a psychiatrist who's sexual advances are frustrated. WaBAM. I just thought it was cool that we could use myth in several different ways to take apart and learn from a story that seems entirely different at first glance.
"Vaughn [my favorite Alias character] fights in a slightly militaristic style, but it's more close combat, like jujitsu. He's going to get in, lock up his opponent, take it down to the ground and finish it off." - this makes for a very happy frankie. (from an article on how they choreograph different characters' fighting styles in Alias)
-resonance - my new favorite art
-Girrion - I'm kind of leery about it, but seems interesting
-my first thought was that they were Lilliputians, but I think Kevin was more on the money with Oompaloompas
Way back when in elementary school, there was this wonderful swath of desert between the classrooms proper and the various kiddy-sized fields. My most recent memory of it was of how small it seemed, but back in the days of glorious recess there were rolling hills and gullies galore to explore. And there were also the forts. I remember asking another person who had gone to Sunrise if they remembered the fort wars we used to have, and was gruffly rebuffed, their existance denied.
Then I started to wonder if I was just making up memories, just to have something pleasant to associate with elementary school. But unless there was a shared hallucination, Xuemei remembers them too! In all their ludicrous detail, to boot. Forts were usually centered around a large mesquite or palo verde, although I remember a couple at the base of steep slopes or hidden in a copse of desert broom - that last one would take on a weird enigmatic quality, where girls and boys might go in the shadows of the branches when the "snow" was falling from the desert broom. One fort had a tall lookout tree that was easy to climb, while another was a giant among mesquites and actually often contained a couple of forts at a time, each maintaining a close watch on the other. Of course, there were any number of small forts that would shift mercurially with each recess from small palo verde to small palo verde.
Groups of us would stake out a certain area every recess, brandishing our variegated clubs and setting up traps. We would set cholla segments in precarious positions, ready to silently drop on the unwary intruder who brushed a stray branch, or create elaborate stick and rock traps that would fountain sand when stepped on properly. Apparently, Xuemei was even set to stripping mistletoe of its gooey berries so the sticky mess could be snuck over to other forts and used as a messy medium for the sabotage of sitting-branches or rocks.
Every once in a rare while, there were even abortive wars. I can actually remember one of the sand-traps improbably working during a rush of girls through a fort I was in; the sudden cloud of dust scattered the girl's charge and left us cheering and coughing as they ran off. Mostly there was peace of sorts, as we plotted out patrols or sent someone to spy on the condition of forts across the desert. We were actually usually occupied setting the boundaries of and fortifying our own areas each recess over again, and exploring what resources we had for traps and prestige (one fort was known for its high ground and shady, be-mistletoe'd tree, while in another there was an unfortunate diaspora of scared kids from an unearthed nest of spiders).
Once, however, there was a rivalry that actually built up, and forts on one end of the desert actually stayed coherent for a while. As best as I can remember, I think I was in the fort that had the lookout tree at the time, and somehow we got pulled into defending the fort at the top of the steep slope. Several combined forts stood spread along the slope, yelling and waving our sticks at the opposing kids who were loping over the hill before us in a spread-out charge. Ironically, I remember the person who disavowed any knowledge of the forts as the one who exhorted us in a countercharge across the slope as they flanked us from the high-ground/mistletoe fort. As I turned to follow him a plastic baggy full of sand cometed passed my head; luckily, it did not bludgeon me, but its open end dropped a cascade of hot sand into my face and down my shirt. The last thing I remember of the incident was blinking my eyes furiously to clear the dust from them and standing fast midway down the slope, beating aside another kid's slashing cuts with a mesquite branch. I don't really remember whether we won or lost, but you know what?
Those were good times.
"A storm is blowing from Paradise; it has got caught in his wings with such violence that the angel can no longer close them. The storm irresistibly propels him into the future to which his back is turned, while the pile of debris before him grows skyward. This storm is what we call progress." - Walter Benjamin, Theses on the Philosophy of History
My new favorite conditioning drill conveniently uses Xuemei's big blue balance ball. Which means it has more uses than an extra seat at the dinner table, alliteration, and jokes about blue-balls, apparently. Basically, you kneel on the ball with both knees, and balance while running through striking techniques (forward and down). The idea is that it's like getting a ground-n-pound, but the opponent has the wherewithal to cover and try to reverse your mount. There's the body-sensitivity gained of course, but also a workout of the small muscles in your legs and back that are normally overtaken by the large muscle groups. Of course, if you fall off the ball it's nice because it helps you train to drop into a different pin, like a side-mount or cradle. Or smash your head on the coffee table. You know. Whatever.
-The Katurran Odyssey - seems like an interesting read; pretties in the gallery
-not that "Rapper's Delight" wasn't naturally somewhat incomprehensible
-literary theory is crazy. (via the prof)
-and congrats to Kevin on his brown belt!
White Comanche - Not really much to say about this movie. It's sheer absurdity is going to aid me in the essay I'm writing on it, at least. I think the fact that William Shatner stars as twin half-Comanche brothers pretty much sums it up. Tangentially, Bookman's is the best store ever; where else can you get eight Westerns and Ultimate Knockouts for under fifteen dollars?
-Globalvote 2004 - I don't think anyone I know outside of the country reads this, but what the hell
-insomnia with TrekEarth - Above the Clouds, Fighters, where r u? (via Carolyn), Dream Moment
-I almost want to try to sign on with the Israeli Civilian Special Forces just so I could get a motorcycle (notwithstanding whatever other issues I have, to totally qualify that)
***, ***, ***, *** - really interesting entries that remind me of my mom, what with her love of words and how Old World stuff slips into family life (like today, she ironically shifted to Italian instead of Arabic in the midst of a polemic on how Xuemei and I need to grow balls)
-yet another Bloodlines plug (I'm totally down with someone buying me this)
-Islamic art - my favorite is the one with the angel Gabriel, natch
-Treasure Box - kind of an antiqued and smaller Samarost
So The Peacekeeper Wars was pretty awesome. They're showing it in its entirety on Sunday, which would be nice to see, if time-consuming (Carolyn reminded me of details from the first part that I had forgotten, as she had taped it to watch today). I think one can see how they crammed a season or two of episodes into four hours, but they did a nice job all in all, with cameos and new concepts and loose ends tied galore. And a bloody happy ending. Bastards. I'll never forgive them for the way they pulled an Alias on the series finale.
Wyatt also noted the re-occurrence of a certain theme in skiffy (and I'm sure elsewhere as well, just don't feel like looking at it yet) lines. That is, the golden age collapsing and thus setting up the contemporary-to-characters setting. What I thought was especially interesting is the variance in that theme. In Farscape, after the collapse those who maintained the peace attempt to maintain it in the only way they know how - by force, which leads to them being reviled as warmongers. In Battletech, the golden age collapses because of a corrupt government and dictator, and the peacekeeping armies exile themselves - only to return and attempt to impose a whole new peace and culture on what is almost a new golden age. In Warhammer 40,000, the golden age is created by force, and destroyed because of a civil war (of the Lucifer+angels archetype), leaving an endless slow decline into chaos.
The idea I'm mulling is that these were successful because they use the golden-age-collapse archetype with quality writing, and also because they tend to avoid overt idealism. That is, they don't quite recognize anyone as outright "good," and if they do, those people tend to get screwed over a lot (re: the Caballeros and Grey Death Legion in Battletech, the main characters of Farscape, and everyone and their mother's left nut in 40k). Andromeda attempted to work with a pretty good collapsed-golden-age motif, but didn't go anywhere because of its writing and actors and unremittant idealism. And Firefly? Sorry, people who liked that, but I think it deserved what it got (I really did try to like it, too, I just couldn't). Besides it getting hung up on some of the same things as Andromeda, they started out with a kind of original, kind of old-school Star Wars archetype (failed/failing rebellion), and then mixed that with a limp interpretation of the Western genre. I think some expansion and deepening of their science-fiction setting might have helped, and a closer reading of Westerns and their cynical romanticism (both to avoid or possibly work with ingrained stereotypes and to draw out post-colonial and frontier themes).
-unfortunate name, and interesting looking, but what is it?
-best shirt in the entire world (if you're not one of the two people who might get the reference, feel free to ask and be regaled)
Jon Stewart on Crossfire - this got me pretty riled up, in truth; I also have a whole new respect for Jon Stewart
-on foreigners as insurgents in Iraq (via Wyatt)
-Ark Visual Effects - small gallery of art, video
-random concept - there's just so much potential in this for a great character or even short story built around it...I guess you have to have been a 40k nerd at some point to get the full import, but still...
-tangentially, Dawn of War is a pretty amazing game based on 40k (at least going by the demo Wyatt downloaded). There are a great many oooo's and aaaahhhh's to be had, and some nice "holy shit" 's in there too; it's basically a regular RTS, but with great voice acting, and the feature of zooming in on the (nicely interfaced) combat to see cool finishing moves when it gets to hand-to-hand (even the E3 video doesn't really do it justice).
A random principle of the zen state as applied to the physical body as enumerated in the car after aikido this morning: when a cherry blossom falls from a tree, the tree does not tell the flower to fall: it just falls. When a person is in a zen state, they do not tell their body to move (on any subconscious or or conscious level), it just does. Aka, a lightbulb appeared above our heads. (We weren't trying to sound pretentious, mind, just working through the classic 'do the technique without thinking' admonition)
-Growing Up Sexually: A World Atlas - pretty dry for the most part, and the sources seem kind of suspect for some reason, but interesting
-'spiro-graph on LSD'
-ah, fun with werds
-smabee art - small gallery
-thought this was cute (from a yoga article):
The Psoas is:
(A) A remote tribe in Papua, New Guinea. (B) A revolutionary computer operating system. (C) The muscle that is the key to your structural stability.
While Xuemei and I were getting groceries at the Chinese market the other day, something clicked as I made my usual uncomprehending rounds among the various foodstuffs. I was thinking of trips with my mom to the Arab market; to be more specific; at the Arab market, there was always pretty much uniformly Arabs of various stripes, usually Lebanese or Syrian browsing the bins of olives and dates. If there was anyone of any other ethnicity around, they were very obvious just by being an exception. Of course, my brother and I were included in that category, and were probably a little bit extra odd for being attached to our mom and saying thank you in Arabic.
Aaand back to the Chinese market. There one can find a kind of even mix of Hispanic and Asian customers, and perhaps one grizzled white dude buying his liquor and smokes. I guess after having only been to a Middle Eastern-centered store for so long I must have unconsciously expected there to be another homogenous group of people. Why the disparity, I wonder?
-Asia Food - useful for a trip to the Chinese market
-La Terre vue du Ciel - gorgeous photography of places all over the world from height, France was the best section in my opinion
-this must have taken skill, effort, and raw talent
"It's the storm we all have to endure. We hate it. But it's every raindrop - it's every harsh element that runs down our faces that traces out who we are. Our shape. It reveals the passion, the defiance, the space in the world the rain cannot displace." - if anyone wants the source, ask, otherwise I think it might confuse what might be taken out of the words themselves...which all makes this sound way more self-important than it is, I just thought it was nice
-drunk vs rugby team, and not even in a hooligan-ish manner!
-Bunny - creepyeerie, but cute
-Demons - more interesting in theory than in practice; the most interesting section in my opinion is the Judeo/Christian bit
I feel like this poem needs a good revision or few, so any thoughts appreciated:
Somewhere in my head
I am always screaming -
hands straining to clutch at my temples
jaw clenched tightly open.
Somewhere in my head
a fire begins to burn, wetly.
The coals it ignites make my skull glow with heat -
but I can not flinch my scalp away.
Somewhere in my head
A dark star blooms.
Its black light blinds me from the inside,
inside where I have no eyelids to shut away that violent sun.
Somewhere in my head
I slowly realize there is an intangible weight
Suffocating something that is not breath, and pressing
with a heaviness that no strength of mine can carry.
I can I walk away to find quiet -
and stare at nothing with hooded eyes;
but somewhere, in my head,
I am always screaming.
Sandkings - by George R. R. Martin. Unfortunetaly, this puppy's out of print; it's an anthology written by Martin before he became all famous. I had read this when I was much younger after picking it up already well used from Bookman's, and had been intrigued, but had been overwhelmed at the same time. This time I still felt a bit overwhelmed, but in the same way that Martin's novels have that effect, so in a good way. Kind of the speculative science fiction of Philip K. Dick, but with emotion and character development and sensuality and horror, you know, stuff that might have kept many of Dick's stories from sucking. Pun unintended, there. Sorry, yeah that was kind of tangent.
-"Join Ken Bowers, author of "God Speaks Again: An Introduction to the Bahá'í Faith", Saturday, October 9, on "Faith Under Fire," a new cable television program broadcast on the PAX-TV network..." - ok, not cool. Basically, a fundy Christian evangelist is not-so-subtly going after the Bahá'í religion now, on the basis that apparently tolerance between religions [re: main tenant of B.] is not down with the jebus-thumpers [insert the Bird right here].
-I have no idea what this is, but it's eeriepretty
-ohh, it's awwwnnn...again. (via Wyatt)
-midnite.rain - art in noah-kh's section
-snake info - it would be awesome if my kukri knife was actually named for a kukri snake's fangs, but okay if it's the other way around
-and somebody just drove by playing "Scotty doesn't know" really loud. Aweso.
As I sat through poetry, desperately trying to not listen to people exclaim how much they hate reading (why are these people English majors, again?), I started thinking about music for some odd reason. My thought was that music might be a kind of poetry for mathematics; if a poem is words arranged in a way that's different from prose or normal speech to make something beautiful or strange or moving, might not music be math arranged in a similar way - the tones assigned to each note being the figurative language?
-zoomquilt - hairs rose on the back of my neck
-tascha - art; and she does commisions...
-it's stealing the yummies!
How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents - While the structure of this novel is of the clever sort that would normally make you read it twice, I'm not sure I feel like doing so. Alvarez has a good few (uncannily in some cases) similar motifs going in her work to Judith Cofer's, and the writing is of the same caliber, but I couldn't bring myself to identify with any of the characters. It seemed to me that the heart that's in some other Chicano literature has been candycoated in this novel.
-sonic boom photos - I wonder if the guy who took the picture of the Phantom got knocked over
-Gangus - some gorgeous art in the Workshop section; might have to sift a little, though
-flower clock - read about this in the Wildcat...go organic!
-be a spy: see the world!
I was thinking about something I noticed when doing yoga, as I haven't actually been able to do much what with overly bruised hands an' all. If I can keep up with doing yoga daily for a while, there are readily apparent benefits: repaired minor injuries from jujitsu, all the standard ones like digestion, relaxation, quieter mind, and augmented physical attributes (ie, higher kicks and deeper pins). The thing is, after a while I hit this wall, where the yoga doesn't seem to do as much, and my progress in deepening the poses just stops or even reverses a little. Right now my thought, which seems to have beared out in practice, is that I have to exercise correspondingly to the yoga to maintain its effectiveness. That is, if I have pain or trouble with a camel pose, I should bridge more; if my shoulders click or are tight, Hindu pushups, &c.
-for some reason, this comic really got to me
-Head of the Ohio - in lieu of having a UA team to cheer for, go Carolyn!
-RayFresh - photography by Shiver
-History of Car Logos - I remember learning about Subaru in 'Appreciating Japanese Pop Culture.' I also learned they use Jennifer Lopez for their ads across the pond.
-Magic Key - adorable cartoon music video (via Phil)
I think it's interesting that as much as people complain incessantly when the weather is hot around these parts, they rarely ever remark on when it's so autumn-ly perfect. I don't mean that to sound pretentious or to knock anyone, I figure it's more just an example of a common-to-all phenomena. In any case, as I've remarked upon several occasions, the weather is incredibly nice now. As much as I adore the warmth and monsoons of summer, autumn and all its smells and sensations is like a happydrug for my system.
Random idea proposal! What if poems had a broader role in the media? Might they change how beauty is perceived in teen magazines? Would readings from local artists break up the incessant barrage of visual imagery and cacaphonous soundbytes? Anyway, I could go on....
-Beware! Penguins!
-Def Jam vids - I know I've already endorsed this game, but the Soul Caliber-esque mix of relatively realistic moves (re: jujitsu throws and locks, Thai clinching) and fantastical throws really makes me want to buy an Xbox
-ok, ok, very bad taste, but "Nominations open for most fuckable Arab" (and Queen Noor is gorgeous, and really really intelligent to boot)
