Thursday, June 28, 2007

Failed States

What do Haiti, Somalia, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan and Burma all have in common?

They're all rated as more stable than Iraq by Foreign Policy's Failed States Index. The only country that was worse was Sudan.

Failed states are the foremost global security risk. They are breeding grounds for civil strife, terrorism and extremist ideologies. Iraq was certainly not a great place before we invaded, but it wasn't as bad as it is now.

I'm so glad W decided to start this war to make me safer.

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Chad - On the Electric Violin

My multi-talented friend Chad Gifford, who plays the meanest electric violin I've ever heard, has joined forces with Dick Prall to play some mighty fine music. I heard them play a small show at Uncommon Ground on Sunday night. It was fantastic. Check out his website, check out the music. Chad's not actually playing on Dick's current CD, but will be on the next one.

Iranian Underground Music

I saw a very interesting movie with my friend Nora last night. It was called Sounds of Silence and was presented by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, one of my favorite organizations. The film-maker is of Iranian background, but grew up in Europe and was covering the censorship and repression felt by non-traditional musicians in Iran. He interviewed hip-hop, rock and pop artists as well as a journalist who had organized an underground, on-line only music festival.

Because of the limitations placed on the lyrics, music, and appearance of the artists by Ershad, the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, the musicians told stories of shows cancelled and of not being able to record and publish their music. Many of them spoke of distributing their music via the web. Generally, they couldn't sell their music and make money from it, but at least it was being heard by audiences larger than what could fit in the living room.

Amir Hamz, the filmmaker, mentioned he'd been talking to CNN and also had a distributor signed on, so keep your eyes open for it.

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Slaughterhouse Five or Do We Have Free Will?

I've just finished reading Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut. Has anyone else out there read it? Can you explain it to me?

It was interesting on a number of fronts:
  • Definitely not a front-to-back narrative. When the narrator dies, he simply continues narrating the book. You hardly even notice.
  • Calling WWII the Children's Crusade resonates with our current conflict. When I see lists of the dead, 95% of them are far younger than I am.
  • It questions the existance of Free Will. Aliens teach the narrator that all of time is already laid out and visible, if you know how to see it. In fact, in the entire novel, the protagonist seems to make only 1 decision, to marry a woman no one else wants to marry. Everything else in his life seems to be a matter of being in the right/wrong place at the right/wrong time and being accepting of what happens.
I am a free-will/personal-responsibility sort of person myself. Maybe it's a matter of wanting to feel in control, or of not being cut of from opportunity. Thoughts? I'd love to hear....

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Everyone can be Jackson Pollack

I found this website, and it's lots of fun for wasting time. The paint will change color when you click your mouse:

http://www.jacksonpollock.org/

Monday, June 11, 2007

"Doubt is a Virtue"

There's a great piece on Salon.com today about JFK's belief that Doubt is a virtue, and how our current administration and political culture could use a bit more mature doubt and less swagger and blind self-assurance.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2007/06/11/doubt/index.html

Wednesday, June 6, 2007

Northern Michigan (or what I did on my vacation)

For the Memorial Day weekend, my mother and I went to northern Michigan, which is where she spent summers as a child. Here are some pictures.


Trillium


A view through the trees to Lake Michigan


A Beach at Wilderness State Park


Same Beach


Flowers at Wilderness State Park

Tuesday, June 5, 2007

Simple Pleasures

Here are a list of the things I'm thinking about today that make me smile:
  • Dinner with old friends
  • A kiss from my 2 year-old god-son
  • My fountain pen
  • The smell of a BBQ, even if it's someone else's
  • The rhubarb pie I made on Sunday
  • Eating it out on the fire-escape looking at the clouds
  • Taking a nap with the cat