For the academics, the full version here.
30 July 2009
29 July 2009
Towelhead
Cultural clash: how to be Lebanese in Bush’s America? Who should date your 13 years old daughter? A nigger, or the white reservist next door? The solution unravels in Jazira’s life. It’s just a story, but a beautiful one.
24 July 2009
The Concretes
horrible band, simple melodies, amateurish orchestration and execution. Don’t listen to them. Don’t even download them.
23 July 2009
Sphinx’s wings
This book has changed my life. If I hadn’t read it, I would be a different person; I might have lost money in the market, or made a new friend; I might have seen a place I didn’t see. I might have spoken great words enflaming the heart of the crowds. I might have done millions of other things; I read this book instead.
22 July 2009
Dinner
Marco came over, but you already know it because you tweet. We spent our time waiting, and we visited St.Caterina’s Church in Eindhoven in the quest of some religious obscenity as in the “Giudizio Universale” di Michelangelo, which we both recently admired.
We had dinner with Nanni, Enith, Loes, Rosaria and Peter who was trying to celebrate his birthday unsuccessfully: no presents, no kisses, no cake. Despite all my attempts, conversation centered mainly on sex. However, as individual who successfully went beyond his own mid-life crisis, I could scientifically observe my friends in their quest-for-happiness. Nanni, for instance, declared that happiness is an effortless overpaid job; even though still quite far from his ideal, he is convinced that he is on the right track. Rosaria agreed, and added:
“The essence is not to do, do, do, but to be, be, be”
”So, what do you want to be?”
”I want to have a lot of money and spend my days shopping”
That sounded to Marco like “to have, have, have” but he did not care that much: he had spent his last months concentrating on his own life and could not fine the key to happiness until recently – it was hidden beneath a good night of sex.
For Enith happiness is the ability of writing, reading and painting a lot, but the success of her strategy can be measured only when you are 80 years old. Loes did not want to wait that long, but she is already very happy, and how could it be otherwise? Peter is far too young for a quest on happiness, and bought a huge TV. And I could not care less about happiness, since Marco came over.
20 July 2009
19 July 2009
17 July 2009
Avishai Cohen (Aurora)
Avishai Cohen is one of the most talented contemporary double-bass players. His albums have a fine construction, powerful rhythms, intelligent melodies and a very long breath. His last work, Aurora,
is not contradicting the expectations set with Gently Disturbed. Besides Avishai now explores influences from his Levant's heritage, giving this work a wonderful Mediterranean atmosphere. But this time he chooses the song as central musical entity, and songs needs lyrics. Cohen is a great musician, but a mediocre poet; his lyrics are terrible, and devastate his songs.
“You shouldn’t write things in a different language than your mother-tongue”, as Enith once told me after reading the lyrics of River Man in this blog.
That’s a shame, and I must discourage you from listening to this album.
15 July 2009
Salsa dura
Put 100ml of water, added with the juice of one lime, 3 mint leaves, a glass of champagne (brut) and 10 mixed strawberries on a very low flame. Add 250g of gelling sugar while mixing, and slowly let it boil for max 1.5 minutes. Let it slowly cool down until it forms a Salsa Dura. Ideally in summer nights to garnish necks, earlobes, navels, fingertips and other parts of young human bodies.
Yuri Buenaventura – Salsa dura
14 July 2009
13 July 2009
12 July 2009
Religion
Here links are made between those religions and the Mitra cults, as well as the zarathustra cult. The bible myths are examined one by one. I found the astrological explanations very charming, it would give an explanation of the new testament that fits. However, what stroke me the most is that all those myths can be explained in thousands different ways. Religion is the suspension of critical reasoning, and therefore its explanation are always fallacious. It’s a shame, or better it’s a pity that our sexual inhibitions have so much to do with religion.
Or better saying: the only difference between fairy tales and religion is that fairy tales are for children.
07 July 2009
Silvio Berlusconi Gay (Sabina Guzzanti - English subtitle)
Welcome message from Berlusconi to all the first ladies visiting Italy during the G8 summit. For the russians among you, there are even some references to Putin.
enjoy!
06 July 2009
Il Contesto
A simple plot, a parody of a detective story. A policeman is investigating a very simple case. As soon as he feels close to the solution, some extra complication appears, making the case more obscure; again and again, the policeman gets closer to the killer, and every time a new party enters the game: mafia, secret services, political parties, church, you name it.
This small book has been written in 1972, but only published much later. Sciascia started writing it with a lot of fun, and ended in frustration.
Italy’s situation today is even worse. We have a masonic prime minister, accused of bonds with mafia, convicted for a large set of crimes, unconvictable thanks to a self-written and promulgated law, owning the italian media system. Italy has consistently shown the lowest scores on economic growth, information and freedom of speech, as well as law enforcing among the western civilization.
Today there are bloggers that censor comments in fear of political or even criminal prosecution; there are twitters that deride commentators, and some others that even declare that they do not tweet while they are, in the astonishing silence of public opinion. Only Berlusconi’s death might save Italy from his misery.
A review in Italian of this book here.
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