Bibliodyssey

this is like one of the coolest things ever. This dude(?) finds old plates and rawings from books long faded into obscurity and makes them available again and links to the full text sources. BibliOdyssey

amazing photographs

visit some amazing photographs by this photographer based in asia who was in Burma right before the cyclone

Orhan Pamuk

this evening i went to a talk by Orhan Pamk, winner of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature. it was pretty good and luckily in english (with translations in Romanian). its really really hard trying to make sense of what people are saying if its anything other than everyday situations.

having sat through his discussion, i want to read something of his. maybe not the Nobel book, cause that may be too important for my little brain. he discussed nationalism and its use as propaganda to incite those lacking in education to fully make sense of the issues and preying on their fear while providing them with nothing. he also made the distinction between what we expect nationalism to be and the political manifestation or people selling their vision under the heading of but usually being devoid of any of the positive and/or definitive aspects of the culture it supposedly is saving/preserving. or maybe am putting my words in his mouth.

before i went to the presentation, one of my turkish students stated that many people in turkey hate him because he wrote about the armenian genocide. That student also stated emphatically that he was a liar that it was really the Kurds who did that. a fine example of children restating, believing, and propagating what they hear and the unlikelihood of anything changing that viewpoint

Pamuk also explained that part of his contract is to vet book covers in the countries his books are translated and published in because of the prevalence of the desire to place a mosque on all covers. given how important he is (am assuming that he is well respected in the literature world given that Nobel prize) its a little surprising that the lowest common denominator and cliches win.

release your inner pollock

'kay, this one isnt really feeding the lizard brain but it is a bit fun and a bit giddy. i realize am a bit easy to amuse but . . . so go to this site to create your own pollock-ian masterpieces. its kinda fun and will help stimulate blah blahs (yes, thats a scientific word) in your brain which will actually increase your productivity in other stuff. theres a study or something to prove or maybe hint at this. or maybe not really.

life before death

is a photo exhibit by walter schels on life and death, involving photos of people before and after death. its not macbre. really touching are what people said about their impending deaths and their reactions. all part of the human condition. see it here

addendum A,C. Clarke

see this is why i have to think about these posts before i write them.

on second thought, i dont think it was the tv thing that made me unable to watch the movie of 2001: space odyssey cause i watched tv when i was a kid. it was the stanley kubrick angle. its because i am a pleb, but i dont get his auteur. every kubrick movie i've ever watched, including full metal jacket which i liked the most, has left me disturbed and eh? i took a film studies class in which the teacher was a freaking ginormous fan of Kubrick and we watched some of his movies and were encouraged to watch others. i just couldnt (still can't) appreciate his genius or obliqueness.

Its almost universally agreed that 2001:space odyssey is one of the greatest movies of all kind. but, i think i would have appreciated the movie more if there had been kung fu or something.

Arthur C. Clarke

total sadness. Arthur C. Clarke passed away a couple of days ago. for those not knowing, he was one of the greatest sci-fi writers ever. he was one of the last generation of sci-fi authors who were actually scientists. i always felt that his, and others, books were a bit more awesome because their foundations were in theories actually understood by the writers.

he had been living in Sri Lanka for the last few decades and i gave serious thought to stalking him (in a really friendly manner, of course) when i was there. i realized that he didnt actually want to meet me. plus, I was too lazy.

he wrote 2001: Space Odyssey which was a pretty awesome book but the movie was a bit too much for me to sit in one place and watch. even as a kid, i think reading was a bit easier to handle that tv watching. Gene Roddenberry said that Clarke gave him the gumption to go ahead and create Star Trek despite opposition. I and millions of other Trek fans also thank Clarke for this.

for me the sadness, is that there will never ever be anything new with his name on it. but then again, he wrote tons of books i can busy myself with.

feeding the lizard brain

recently, an english only bookstore opened up in bucharest. yay! i went there yesterday and it was lovely. lots of books on lots of diff subjects and they would be willing to order stuff in. the really great thing about it is the lack of stephen king and wilbur smith. there are actually good books not necessarily the most popular from scary lists generated by zombies.

i totally love reading books digitally but alas, my poor little brain has issues with anything requiring thought in that format, precluding me from enjoying lots of books. but the drought it over and i have real books again. i looooooove pulp and genre fiction but sometimes i want more. not to mention, the pleasure of turning a page. though, am so near sighted that that can be difficult to do when reading in bed.