The joy of reading

If only I could write like this...

Alone, perhaps, they each could have explored the city with pleasure, followed whims, dispensed with destinations and so enjoyed or ignored being lost. There was much to wonder at here, one needed only to be alert and attend. But they knew each other much as they knew themselves, and their intimacy, rather like too many suitcases, was a matter of perpetual concern; together they moved slowly, clumsily, effecting lugubrious compromises, attending to delicate shifts of mood, repairing breaches. As individuals they did not easily take offense; but together they managed to offend each other in surprising, unexpected ways; then the offender -- it had happened twice since their arrival-- became irritated by the cloying susceptibilities of the other, and they would continue to explore the twisting alleyways and sudden squares in silence, and with each step the city would recede as they locked tighter into each other's presence.-- Excerpt from Ian McEwan's The Comfort of Strangers.

Life's little compromises

On March 6-8, 2007

Where I want to be:

The Malian minstry of culture has recently announced that a homage will be paid to Ali Farka Touré in Bamako and Niafunke on March 6, 7 and 8 2007. Activities include conferences, debates and a mega concert in a football stadium attended by the likes of Toumani Diabate, Oumou Sangare, Manu Dibango, Youssou N'dour, Alpha Blondy, Bembeya Jazz, Ry Cooder, Marcus James, Bonnie Raitt, Peter Gabriel, Ramata Diakité, Boubacar Traoré(Kar Kar), Habib Koité, Salif Keita, Baaba Maal, Tiken Jah Fakoly, Carlos Santana, Tracy Chapman [ref].

Where I most likely will be:

At work!

Update: Turns out, I was working on these days but not at work. I was in dismal Lehigh at a conference - though the conference itself was enjoyable and productive, the place was really depressing!

Vieux Farka Toure

After the passing of Ali Farka Toure, the future is in good hands... heady stuff here from his son, Vieux Farka Toure

Just listen to him casually strum the guitar sitting in his backyard in Bamako, Mali.Genius..I tell you, the kid's got the dad's genes, no doubt!

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Pandora's box

Welcome to Pandora.com, a great internet resource to listen to new music. Take a musical journey and develop your own playlists, which evolve over time (with your feedback) to suit your tastes, while simultaneously exposing you to new groups and music.

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Wikipedia enlightens me that Pandora's box opened and released evil and misfortune into the world and in "modern times, Pandora's Box has become a metaphor for the unanticipated consequences of technical and scientific development."....so, the title doesn't really work - unless you did not expect the bountiful new amazing world opened up and made available to everyone by the internet or if you think the devil has the best tunes :). To my ears (and soul), music can be a soothing balm, a refuge, a life-sustaining force...

In any case, even as you listen to music - in my case, first Ry Cooder and then Stevie Ray Vaughn strumming - go enlighten yourself some more about the legend of Prometheus & Pandora's box or her jar, if you will!

RIP - James Brown

James Brown died Xmas day...Tributes pour in as fans and fellow artists celebrate the life of 'Godfather of Soul'..

Enjoy these videos of him in performance, via Boingboing:

Eyesight, Super Bad, I Feel Good, It's A Man's World, Please Please, Sex Machine, at the Olympia, Soul Power, on the Ed Sullivan show, and an unusual TV interview he did when he was in a chemically altered state of consciousness after having been released from jail.

Incidentally, James Brown holds the record for the artist who has charted the most singles on the Billboard Hot 100 without ever hitting number one on that chart.^[ref]

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Charlie Gillett bids farewell to other artists who died over the last 12 months on his great show on BBC Radio.

Country: Mali
Title: Gambari Didi
Artist: Ali Farka Toure
CD Title: Savane
Label: World Circuit
Cat. Number: WCD075

Country: Jamaica
Title: Israelites
Artist: Desmond Dekker
CD Title: Desmond Dekker: Definitive
Label: Trojan
Cat. Number: TJDDD239

Country: USA
Title: Tequila
Artist: The Champs
CD Title: Teen Beat
Label: Ace
Cat. Number: CDCHD 406

Country: USA
Title: El Watusi
Artist: Ray Barretto
CD Title: Rock Instrumental Classics Vol 4: Soul
Label: Rhino
Cat. Number: E2 71604

Country: USA
Title: Viejos Amigos
Artist: Freddie Fender
CD Title: Canciones di mi Barrio
Label: Arhoolie
Cat. Number: CD 366

Country: Algeria
Title: Hak Hak
Artist: Cheikha Rimitti
CD Title: Nouar
Label: Sono
Cat. Number: CDS 7396

Country: Romania
Title: Caravan
Artist: Fanfare Ciocarflia [Ioan Ivancea]
CD Title: Gili Garabdi
Label: Asphalt Tango
Cat. Number: CD-ATR 0605

Country: Egypt
Title: Nabra
Artist: Hamza El Din
CD Title: Rough Guide to the Music of Egypt
Label: World Music Network
Cat. Number: RGNET 1114 CD

You!

You are 'Person of the Year'

You are Time magazine's "Person of the Year" for the explosive growth and influence of user-generated Internet sites such as YouTube, Facebook and MySpace. You were chosen over Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, North Korea's Kim Jong Il and former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. Congratulations.

Ok...whatever - though I am a big fan of user-generated tv (Current.tv) and to some extent of YouTube.

Blaah.... what a come-down from last year's Persons of the year - Bill Melinda Gates and Bono of U2 - people who actually are making a difference in the world.

Two quotes

“People who live the most fulfilling lives are the ones who are always rejoicing at what they have.” - Richard Carlson

True.. that quote rings very true to me as it reflects my philosophy in life. But sometimes I wonder if it is crap like this that keeps me from getting somewhere. Perhaps, I rejoice too prematurely in what I have or rather I am satisfied and content with what I have and in doing so get too complacent, thereby lacking the drive, the attitude, the chutzpah to go get something tougher to attain.

Update: Damn... I tried to find who Richard Carlson is... if I have the right guy, it turns out he died on December 13, 2006 - the day after I posted the above quote here. Richard, age 45, died of a cardiac arrest while enroute from California to a television appearance in New York. Richard Carlson was an author of the "Don't Sweat" series of motivational/self-help book, which included the bestseller, Don't Sweat the Small Stuff--and it's all small stuff, which I remember seeing in a bookstore or at the library some time back and still remember the title of that book as a quotable quote. By the way, the above quote is from his book, Shortcut through Therapy.

Also, I learned that there was an actor called Richard Carlson, that I had never heard of.

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Festering in bad moods is a bad habit of mine...and so comes obvious advice from someone called Brenda Anderson:

“Bad moods become bad days, which become bad weeks, which become bad months and years. Before you know it, you’re living an unhappy life and you probably think this is ‘normal’. It’s a shame, because life can and should be wonderful. You can transcend the circumstances that are pulling you down … you need only to learn how.”

How... indeed...How....that is the million $ question.