these are the timesdirty beloved
-

13.12.03


Saraswati
Flying Squirrel
Ardhanarishvara

from the somewhat scammy and unprovenanced Exotic India 'One Stop Shop for Indian Arts'
also:
Sahasrara Chakra
Shennong, the Chinese Deity of Medicine

Fear and Trembling

Ω{I thought Amélie Nothomb was a lot more popular than she seems to be from a google search. In english I mean. She's pretty renowned in the francophone world.
Fear and Trembling is a tight little ship, like a bath toy, like something when you were alone in there you might rub yourself with, other times just float it along through the bubbles and waves, and it's like that brightness too of the bath, the intimate brightness and skin of vulnerability but the doors are closed and you're alone. It's not masturbatory but it has that inversion, that sensual turning in.
Because it takes place in Japan I wonder if that's why it reminds me of Banana Yoshimoto's novels. Or its size, it's a small thing, like Kitchen and Lizard. It has that sense of deeply maintained control too, steadiness of realization.
It's a sweet book. I read it right through quite happily.
Nothomb is also affiliated with the firmly androgynous Robert, or Princesse Robert, a French music person of great feminine beauty but seemingly masculine gender. I can't respond to his music, which I've only encountered so far on his web site, because it will only play on the two main music applications, Real and Windows, neither of which work for me.}

I am a voyager and a seaman; that is a liar and a stupid fellow, in the eyes of that class of indolent haughty writers, who in their closets reason in infinitum on the world and its inhabitants, and with an air of superiority, confine nature within the limits of their own invention

In 1774, the first Polynesian to visit London travelled to England with the crew of Captain Cook's second Pacific voyage and became an overnight sensation. Seen as a living example of the 'Noble Savage', Omai as he was known, was discussed by scientists and philosophers, celebrated in all the best circles and written about in everything from poetry to pornography. He proved a lightning rod for European anxieties regarding imperialism, civilisation and the true nature of mankind.

Cook & Omai: The Cult of the South Seas Nov. .03
National Library of Australia

Jonathon Delacour on Donald Richie’s Ozu:
The other—equally important though less obvious—characteristic of the Ozu film is its emphasis on existential choice. It’s difficult to conceive of anything more at odds with contemporary Western society’s willingness to concoct excuses for all kinds of bad behavior than the notion that you are what you do, and nothing more nor less; the sum total of your choices, your actions, is the sum total of yourself.

Those of us who agree with Richie that “there is no immutable inner reality, no inner person, no soul” could do infinitely worse than follow a morality based on an appreciation of the transient beauty of everyday life and the need to accept responsibility for both our choices and the consequences that flow from them.

12.12.03


Albert Morse has a bunch of early days photoportraits of underground comics guys
also SF locals including this guy who used to show up at anti-war (Viet Nam) demos and remind at least me that seriousness could be dreary and less effective than great leaps of humorous insanity and fun.

Man na obra
...an old lady in my neighborhood blessed with a gift. It seems she can foretell the future and she’s often right. She gives advice and has ways to solve problems. They say her help ranges from issues with weight till the ones of the heart.
One day I met her by the waterside at Banda Bou (place in Curaçao). I asked her to predict if things will ever get better for Curaçao. She thought for a moment, glancing over the blue water and she answered: ”You know miss…

…your question is a bit complicated. The future is not fixed, you are the designated driver. There’s one advice I can give you today. If you want Curaçao to flourish: Work for it!

Izaline Calister

Last Day of The Marin Flea Market
8 letters is worth its nebulous and incalculable admission fee for this post alone

People are magnificent research, almost the best there is
More than half the skill of writing lies in tricking the book out of your own head.
Terry Pratchett in the Guardian UK
link Bookslut

11.12.03

maisonneuve

online literary magazine
great poetry
especially gripping Ted Koppel interview with retired Canadian general Roméo Dallaire about his experiences in Rwanda

link from the inspiring Maud Newton

10.12.03



just saw My Man Godfrey
"Stand still, Godfrey, it'll all be over in a minute."

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