Hey anyone seen the movie Twilight Samurai(2002)? I generally look at imdb user ratings, rottentomatoes’ review ratings and the wiki article on the film when deciding on watching a random movie on TV. While browsing channels the other day, this Japanese movie came up and I was soon engrossed in it and didn’t bother to check the ratings out. I loved the film. It was indeed a classic.

I agree with an imdb reviewer who called this movie “A Samurai flick Jane Austen would love”.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0351817/
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/twilight_samurai/

Swami’s “Sugarless” – love it!

fav early autumn sound obsession: Swami’s single “Sugarless” from their new album 53431.

if you’re on Twitter, hear it and comment here: http://www.twitvid.com/7973E

otherwise, check it at DesiHits.com: http://www.desihits.com/blog/article/video-swamis-sugarless-20090912

Mozart and copyright

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/9/12/762207/-Mozart-and-copyright

“The copyright extremists have a myopic view of the issue that would stifled the creativity of the Mozarts of the past. Funny that the great composer would be cited as supposed support for such a myopic and regressive approach to intellectual property.”

Hillary, witty

“If Obama walked on water, Bolton’d say he couldn’t swim”

–Hillary Clinton in Africa speaking to CNNi’s Fareed Zakari on John Bolton attacking Bill’s trip to North Korea.

PS. Speaking of Hillary, when she was recently in India for a 3/4 day trip, she did interviews with most national English language News channels including NDTV, CNN-IBN, Times Now. Most of it was repetitive–the questions and answers, somewhat boring. But I liked watching an hour long Teach India educational forum with Hilary and Bollywood star Aamir Khan, who does his part as a celebrity, to help educate under privileged children. Hillary seemed very involved, and I liked some of her answers to questions from the audience and the moderator. She fit right in the discussion and certainly didn’t look out of place. She empathized with Aamir, who was very passionate about the cause, some of her audience who were disheartened by the lack of results and knowing the reality of daily lives of so many children in India.

Update: Video: Hillary Clinton, Aamir Khan with Arnab [Teach India] – Part1 , Part2, Part3, Part4

Pharyngula: The Huffington snake oil

The Huffington Post has become, in a very short period, a powerful non-traditional media platform for liberal politics. (With a readership of over 10 million unique visitors/month, almost toe-in-toe with the hugely popular NYTIMESdotcom.) But when it comes to science, it lags….Scienceblogger PZ Myers, who (along with Orac of Respectful Insolence, also at Scienceblogs) might be known to some Intentblog readers as a Deepak Chopra critic:

Many of us have long noticed the truly awful quackery hosted at the Huffington Post, with acupuncturists, anti-vax fanatics, and general all-around kooks like Deepak Chopra given free rein.

Now Salon has pointed out the obvious, with some depth. Have you wondered why the HuffPo is so bad on science and medicine? The blame can be pinned directly on Arianna Huffington, who hand-picked with little discrimination or sense who the ‘medical’ contributors to the site would be. That’s the scatter-brained, credulous brain of Arianna on display in that mess on HuffPo.

Nice to see Gawker, another popular liberal outlet, comment on the Salon article:

HuffPo’s Dangerous Quacks, Hacks and Cultists

Salon has a great post by a doctor about medical quackery at the Huffington Post, where a columnist recently suggested colon cleansing could treat swine flu. This is the downside of HuffPo’s open, unpaid model — and culty recruiter. MORE>>

I agree with PZ and Gawker, the blame largely lies with Arianna…as this epic NewYorker biography “The many lives of Arianna Huffington” by Lauren Collins might hint….

Update: Orac weighs in on Dr. Rahul Parikh’s excellent Salon article:
The Huffington Post’s war on medical science is noticed

Todd And Sarah Palin To Divorce?

Alaska blogger Gryphen of Immoral Minority breaks this big scoop early in the a.m. today:

Exclusive! Sarah and Todd Palin are Splitsville!

Followed by Alaska Report.

Palin – Fox Explores “What Next?”

Washington Post behind the numbers: But can she cook? “Homemaker” seems to be the best suited job for Palin, according to the public. Yes, that’s right. Only 12% of Republicans think President’s her best next job, and only 4% of independents (6% of the public overall thinks that President should be her next job.)

Fox News is out with the first “what next?” poll on former governor Sarah Palin: “homemaker” tops the closed-ended list.

Here’s the full breakdown by party identification…

Q: What do you think is the best job for Sarah Palin
now that she has resigned as governor of Alaska?

                          All
                         voters   Dem   Rep   Ind
Homemaker                  32     45     18    34
Television Talk Show Host  17     21     14    15
Vice President             14      4     27    11
College Professor          10     12      7     8
President                   6      2     12     4
(Other)                    13     10     12    21
(Don't know)                8      6     10     8

Source: Fox News poll, July 21-22; +/-3.

Maureen Dowd:

As McCain pal and Republican strategist Mike Murphy so sagely observed recently: “If Sarah Palin looked like Golda Meir, would we even be talking about her today?”

Sarah should follow her own advice to Hillary and work harder to be capable. Until then, she’s all cage, no bird.

And if she wants to be a “homemaker”, she should learn to cook something other than a mooseburger. Until then, she’s all oven, no cookie. Sarah, you are hot, but all air,  no care &  so unfair! Got no dough? No bake, no cake for ya! You are all fake, all make. Sorry Sarah, for all’s sake, no take! Gee…that was bad. I hope it isn’t as bad as Palin’s poetics.

some fun stuff from this week [UPDATED]

Interesting facts on Irish lineage via Harvard prof/Cambridge cop controversy.

Poet John Lunderberg finds some found poems–but not a poet– in Sarah Palin.

Vanity Fair copy edits Palin’s  resignation speech.

And a Palin supporter edits the Vanity Fair’s edit. (No comedy here.)

A hilarious yoga campaign to save Sarah’s knees.

“It just rolled off the top of her head, all spontaneous-like, perfectly formed…[...]God, I’ll be sad when she gets a speechwriter…” Yes, you guessed it right; Sarah again. Mudflats reports on her latest speech.

And a priceless Palin party poll underway.

UPDATE on Palin saga:  Her farewell speech was no exception…

Sarah Palin’s Gradual Descent Into Incoherency

It’s like Peggy Noonan, Jack London, and William Faulkner wandered into the woods with three buttons of peyote and one typewriter, and only this speech emerged.

And she wrote this speech! In advance, on paper! What does any of it mean? It is amazing. Twenty years ago she could competently descibe a dog race, three years ago she could articulate a position on the abortion issue, and this weekend she composed a resignation speech by throwing culture war stock phrases into a hat and dumping it upside down on a copy of The Paranoid Style in American Politics.

And William Shanter  pays tribute on Conan O’ Brien show by performing her poetry set to music. (You can compare it with Sarah’s own performance here, poem begins at about 1:25 on video, and goes until 2:20) Below is the relevant extract, straight out of her farewell speech:

soaring through nature’s finest show.
Denali, the great one, soaring under the midnight sun.
And then the extremes. In the winter time it’s the frozen road
that is competing with the view of ice fogged frigid beauty,
the cold though, doesn’t it split
the Cheechakos from the Sourdoughs?
And then in the summertime such extreme
summertime
about a hundred and fifty degrees hotter
than just some months ago, than
just some months from now,
with fireweed blooming
along the frost heaves and merciless rivers that are rushing
and carving
and reminding us that here,
Mother Nature wins.
It is as throughout all Alaska that big wild
good life teeming along the road that is
north to the future.

Hi Grafers, been traveling lately in a third world country with little access to decent internet. Derek, heath and Ed thanks for your responses to Oprah-Chopra article. I wanted to share my thoughts on Orac and Chopra, but I think I better give it a rest. I want to share some thoughts about Sarah Palin, but I quit that thought.

Here’s something I just read that I like to share:

“the sorrow of a rose” by annaruiz

the sorrow of a rose
lies
in her thorns

how
she makes peace
with the blood-red sun

how the sunlight
fades
into moon

and
the finger
pointing
trickles with tears.

~A
http://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/Forum/viewtopic.php?t=9874&sid=76b93275b8e5237e348e8c1ec27c7777

Although the imagery is cliched, this poem works for me. I think the power of this poem lies in the brilliant way in which the (cliched)imagery of the rose is connected with the (cliched)imagery of the ‘finger pointing to the moon’.

P.S. Steve Toth, from the comment thread:

“When winter comes
roses lose their blossoms
but hang on
to their thorns”

There are people and then there are people…

I am not a great cut and paste artist, but this I have to share. People constantly amaze me with their big hearts and character. This is an extract from an email I just received:

‘Last Sunday, my wife, kid, and I had to travel to Andheri from Bandra. When I waved at a passing auto rickshaw, little did I expect that this ride would be any different. As we set off, my eyes fell on a few magazines (kept in an aircraft style pouch) behind the driver’s back rest. I looked in front and there was a small TV. The driver had put on the Doordarshan channel.

My wife and I looked at each other with disbelief and amusement. In front of me was a small first-aid box with cotton, dettol and some medicines. This was enough for me to realise that I was in a special vehicle. Then I looked round again, and discovered more – there was a radio, fire extinguisher, wall clock, calendar, and pictures and symbols of all faiths – from Islam and C hr istianity to Buddhism, Hinduism and Sikhism. There were also pictures of the heroes of 26/11- Kamte, Salaskar, Karkare and Unnikrishnan. I realised that not only my vehicle, but also my driver was special.

I started chatting with him and the initial sense of ridicule and disbelief gradually diminished. I gathered that he had been driving an auto rickshaw for the past 8-9 years; he had lost his job when his employer’s plastic company was shut down. He had two school-going children, and he drove from 8 in the morning till 10 at night. No break unless he was unwell. “Sahab, ghar mein baith ke TV dekh kar kya faida? Do paisa income karega toh future mein kaam aayega.” (“Whats the point of sitting at home watching TV. If I earn 2 paise they will come in handy in future”)

We realised that we had come across a man who represents Mumbai – the spirit of work, the spirit of travel and the spirit of excelling in life. I asked him whether he does anything else as I figured that he did not have too much spare time. He said that he goes to an old age home for women in Andheri once a week or whenever he has some extra income, where he donates tooth brushes, toothpastes, soap, hair oil, and other items of daily use. He pointed out to a painted message below the meter that read: “25 per cent discount on metered fare for the handicapped. Free rides for blind passengers up to Rs. 50.“

My wife and I were struck with awe. The man was a HERO! A hero who deserves all our respect. Our journey came to an end; 45 minutes of a lesson in humility, selflessness, and of a hero-worshipping Mumbai, my temporary home. We disembarked, and all I could do was to pay him a tip that would hardly cover a free ride for a blind man.’

One day I hope to meet Sandeep Bachhe and see his rick MH-02-Z-8508.

quiet lightning
a distant storm
the city noise drowns out
what thunder there is
all i hear is the train
yards away
thundering by
and flashes so bright
even the city lights
can’t blind them out
this street reminds me of Philly
he said
red bricks
weeds
and a cheesy mural
painted on the big garage door
of the piano warehouse
where we rehearse
his one man show
captivating and inspired
but out the window
and the corner of my eye
quite lightning
the rumble of the city
a storm passes by

“If you lend someone £20, and never see that person again; it was probably worth it.”
—Anonymous

Choprawoo…

Orac at Science blogs takes Deepak Chopra to task one more time after Chopra’s recent column criticizing NEWSWEEK’s brilliant cover article on Oprah promoting quackery on her show, “There is, however, one person who may cause Oprah a bit of trouble. Ironically, it’s one of her staunchest supporters. Indeed, it’s someone we’ve met many times before on this blog, and he’s outraged that NEWSWEEK would be so mean to Oprah. Indeed, I’m referring to a man for whom I once coined a term to describe his mystical, magical, pseudoscientific New Age blather. Oprah, meet Chopra. Deepak Chopra, that is. Again.”:

Oprah and Chopra sittin’ in a tree…

The mind is a chatter-box….

The mind is a chatter-box, the clatter of a cartwheel on cobbled streets, the clicking of a slow train, going over points as duality rails, so, mind the gap, when arriving at the station.
Truth is just the ticket to ride. Nothing stands still

As a gardener, my mind reminds me of a cauliflower…..virtually

Why I love Salman Rushdie

In the current New Yorker magazine, there’s a Salman Rushdie story titled In The South, which opens like this:

“The day that Junior fell down began like any other day: the explosion of heat rippling the air, the trumpeting sunlight, the traffic’s tidal surges, the prayer chants in the distance, the cheap film music rising from the floor below, the loud pelvic thrusts of an “item number” dancing across a neighbor’s TV, a child’s cry, a mother’s rebuke, unexplained laughter, scarlet expectorations, bicycles, the newly plaited hair of schoolgirls, the smell of strong sweet coffee, a green wing flashing in a tree…”

What puts the knife in my heart?  That he ends the list of urban events and sounds with “…a green wing flashing in a tree.“

Summer song: Mumzy Stranger’s One More Dance

Here’s one of those summer songs one can’t get out of one’s head:

The apparent repeats in the lyrics are close echos, not true repeats.

The great beats, addictive mix and lyrics are why the song sticks.

The official lyrics are here.

Check out Rishi Rich Productions Making Mumzy’s “One More Dance” Video, too.

One More Dance is the most popular song on my songs blog, and it’s the most searched-for post here.

shameless self promotion

Okay, so I’ve been a busy little artist.
Here is my youtube channel.

http://www.youtube.com/user/derekaldermanglass

or you can just type in “derek alderman” in the the search bar.

More stuff to come……..

derek

An old way of looking at new work

A new article in the upcoming NY Times Magazine is one of most revolutionary things I’ve ever read from within the American sociocultural environment:

The Case for Working With Your Hands — by Matthew B. Crawford.

An excerpt:

“..After finishing a Ph.D. in political philosophy at the University of Chicago in 2000, I managed to stay on with a one-year postdoctoral fellowship at the university’s Committee on Social Thought. The academic job market was utterly bleak. In a state of professional panic, I retreated to a makeshift workshop I set up in the basement of a Hyde Park apartment building, where I spent the winter tearing down an old Honda motorcycle and rebuilding it. The physicality of it, and the clear specificity of what the project required of me, was a balm….”

The benefits of a feverish mind

If anyone’s interested, I revised my personal web site this past weekend.  I was pretty sick and couldn’t sleep for more than 30 hours.  Partway through my sleepless marathon, I thought about a quick redesign, and said, “Why not?”

One reason why getting sick should not be avoided altogether is the fertile and changed thinking that arises in a feverish mind, of which this revision is good evidence.  The bold coloring is a continuing spin out from love, with a sprinkle of exposure to Seidel.  Though I’m liking it for now, it’s not done –  I have a lot of content to add, I will probably try to create a WordPress install to support the writings section, and the design itself will change.  But anyway, it’s fresh and OK at the moment.

Fearless visual blogging

My two favorite visual blogs are

The Young Turks

and

Juxt Interactive

In the best of all possible worlds, everyone would check these out and I wouldn’t have to say why they’re my favs — and since saying why is against the visual paradigm, that would suit me fine.  But this ain’t the best of all possible worlds, hai na?   So here’s why: