Glee: Teenage Dream

This is amazing and wonderful ... a valentine to all the young gay men out there ...



[If it doesn't stream smoothly, go right here.]

Ms. Manitoba has lived through severe homophobia. This video made me sob. I cried for sadness and joy. Sadness for all the young ones who have lost their lives because of homophobia. Joy that we have come at least this far. In my day, Lee Grant couldn't say "pregnant" on her TV show and now we have this. I am thankful. More road to go, however.

Sharon Olds

Photograph by Catherine Mauger.

Happy Birthday, Sharon Olds.

Sharon Olds is one of my very favorite poets. I fell in love with her poems in the early 80's. This is one of her most beautiful, most devastating poems.

I Go Back to May 1937

by Sharon Olds

I see them standing at the formal gates of their colleges,

I see my father strolling out

under the ochre sandstone arch, the

red tiles glinting like bent

plates of blood behind his head, I

see my mother with a few light books at her hip

standing at the pillar made of tiny bricks,

the wrought-iron gate still open behind her, its

sword-tips aglow in the May air,

they are about to graduate, they are about to get married,

they are kids, they are dumb, all they know is they are

innocent, they would never hurt anybody.

I want to go up to them and say Stop,

don’t do it—she’s the wrong woman,

he’s the wrong man, you are going to do things

you cannot imagine you would ever do,

you are going to do bad things to children,

you are going to suffer in ways you have not heard of,

you are going to want to die. I want to go

up to them there in the late May sunlight and say it,

her hungry pretty face turning to me,

her pitiful beautiful untouched body,

his arrogant handsome face turning to me,

his pitiful beautiful untouched body,

but I don’t do it. I want to live. I

take them up like the male and female

paper dolls and bang them together

at the hips, like chips of flint, as if to

strike sparks from them, I say

Do what you are going to do, and I will tell about it.

* * *

I once had the pleasure of reading this poem at a fund-raiser.



And from today's edition of The Writer's Almanac:

It's the birthday of best-selling poet Sharon Olds, born in San Francisco on this day in 1942. Her collections include Satan Says (1980), The Dead and the Living (1984), The Gold Cell (1987), The Matter of This World (1987), The Sign of Saturn (1991), The Father (1992), The Wellspring (1996), Blood, Tin, Straw (1999), The Unswept Room (2002), Strike Sparks (2004), and One Secret Thing (2008). Since she began publishing in the 1980s, her poems have appeared in more than 100 poetry anthologies.

She grew up in Berkeley, California, where she was brought up as a "hellfire Calvinist," she said. Though a nonbeliever from a young age, she said that she was greatly influenced by the "great literary art and bad literary art" of her church. Psalms were great art, she said, and hymns were not. She said, "The four-beat was something that was part of my consciousness before I was born."

She went across the Bay to Stanford for college, where she studied a bunch of different languages, including French, German, Greek, Italian, and Middle English. And then she moved to New York City to do a Ph.D. in literature at Columbia. She wrote her own poems, but she wasn't happy with them. She felt as though she were imitating the poets she studied for grad school. She was 30 years old, desperately wanting to find her own voice, and had what she calls a "religious experience" wherein she made a deal with the devil on the steps of Columbia's library. She once described it like this:

"I said to free will or the pagan god of making things, or whoever, let me write my own stuff. I'll give up everything I've learned, anything, if you'll let me write my poems. They don't have to be any good, but just mine." It was in the syntax of her prayer that came an epiphany. She explained: "What happened was enjambment. Writing over the end of the line and having a noun starting each line — it had some psychological meaning to me, like I was protecting things by hiding them. Poems started pouring out of me and Satan was in a lot of them. Also, toilets."

She started going to writing workshops at the local YMCA, and eventually she published her first collection of poems, called Satan Says (1980). She later realized that she wrote in the structure of the hymns of her youth, which is what felt comfortable to her, but that she "had to ride over the end of the line" to craft her poems.

When her first book was published, she was a few years shy of 40. Within a decade, she'd released several highly acclaimed, best-selling collections, and she'd also become the director of the Graduate Writing Program at NYU. She was so busy that she decided for one year she would not watch TV, read a newspaper or book, or go hear music, just so that she'd have enough time to do her job and keep writing poetry.

She was poet laureate of New York from 1998 to 2000. She still teaches creative writing at NYU, and she writes poems from her apartment on the Upper West Side, in a rocking chair with a view of the Hudson River. She uses different colored ballpoint pens to compose poems, and sometimes puts stickers on the pages of her drafts, which remind her of the stained glass windows of her religious youth. She said that she loves "odd" or "strange" words. She said: "By the time I see that it's a poem, it's almost written in my head somewhere. It's as if there's someone inside of me who perceives order and beauty — and disorder. And who wants to make little copies. Who wants to put together something that will bear some relationship to the vision or memory or experience or story or idea or dream or whatever."

She once described poetry as coming from her lungs, and said that to her, "Poetry is so physical, the music of it and the movement of thought." She said that over the years, she has noticed that ideas for poems will come to her when she's dancing or running, and that these ideas seem to come to mind with the act of breathing deeply, with the intake of oxygen. She said, "Suddenly you're remembering something that you haven't thought of for years."

Her advice to young poets is this: "Take your vitamins. Exercise. Just work to love yourself as much as you can — not more than the people around you but not so much less."

She once said: "I'm not asking a poem to carry a lot of rocks in its pockets. Just being an ordinary observer and liver and feeler and letting the experience get through you onto the notebook with the pen, through the arm, out of the body, onto the page, without distortion."

And, "Poets are like steam valves, where the ordinary feelings of ordinary people can escape and be shown."

Crazy Heart: Mini review

I tried to watch Crazy Heart -- I really did. What a lousy unbelievable story! A wet dream for white male sixty-somethings. Here's this 57-yr old, has-been country singer. A terrible drunk. And this barely-30-yr-old woman (Maggie Gyllenhall) falls in love with him. The guy is a wreck!!! And broke! AND ... *she's* got a kid. Maybe there is a woman in this country that would fall in love with this character and take him in -- but all her friends would be talking about her behind her back: "She's gone absoFUCKINGlutely nuts!!!" There are no women I know who would do that to their child -- I don't care how cute this guy is when he plays with the kid. Nobody I know would bring a train wreck into their child's life. (Okay, maybe lots of us start out when we're young with train wrecks and then have kids with them -- that's different.)

Really ... this is fantasyland for older men (executive producers who give the green light to screenplays like this!!).

I am a Jeff Bridges fan from waaaaaaaaaay back. And he is very good in this. It's the premise that is so wrong. And Jeff Bridges has done much better work in my opinion: The Fisher King, The Fabulous Baker Boys, Fearless, and the-not-well-known film - The Amateurs.

The other acting is very good too. But I just kept shaking my head.

I loved Jeff Bridges' singing and the songs are quite good. But, I just kept shaking my head.

Johnny Depp and Tim Burton: Dark Shadows

Ms. Manitoba is behind in the news ... but I just heard that these two will be working together on a Dark Shadows feature film. I'm so excited!

I was really into Dark Shadows the tv show back in the day. I had a night job (Ms. Manitoba has told you before -- I've had a million jobs!) as a switchboard operator ("one ringy dingy, two ringy dingy" ... to quote another favorite of mine) in New Jersey. So, I'm really looking forward to this one!

Michael Pollan talks to moths ...

Michael Pollan says that moths should: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly Pants.”




[once again Ms. Manitoba's brain strikes]

Gerald Durrell: Learn From Our Mistakes

(c) 2007 K. Smokey Cormier

Gerald Durrell wrote a letter to seal in a time capsule, and he said:

"The world is to us what the Garden of Eden was supposed to be to Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve were banished, but we are banishing ourselves from our Eden. The difference is that Adam and Eve had somewhere else to go. We have nowhere else to go. We hope that by the time you read this you will have at least partially curtailed our reckless greed and stupidity. If we have not, at least some of us have tried. … All we can say is learn from what we have achieved, but above all learn from our mistakes, do not go on endlessly like a squirrel in a wheel committing the same errors hour by hour day by day year after year century after century as we have done up to now. We hope that there will be fireflies and glow-worms at night to guide you and butterflies in hedges and forests to greet you. We hope that there will still be the extraordinary varieties of creatures sharing the land of the planet with you to enchant you."

Gerald Durrell was a zoologist and writer Gerald Durrell and was born in Jamshedpur, India, in 1925. He loved animals. From the Writer's Almanac:

He worked for a while collecting animals for zoos, but his methods clashed with the zoology ideas of the day— he wanted to get rare animals and increase their populations, not just get the showy animals that people would pay a lot of money to see.

His dream was to open a zoo of his own. His older brother, Lawrence Durrell, was a successful novelist, and Lawrence suggested that Gerald should write an autobiography in order to raise money. So in 1953 Gerald published The Overloaded Ark, a huge success in Britain and America, and he went on to write 32 more books, mostly nonfiction, many of them best-sellers, including A Zoo in My Luggage (1960), A Bevy of Beasts (1973), and My Family and Other Animals (1956), a memoir of his childhood.

This is so Canadian - Quality over Quantity

(c) 2010 K. Smokey Cormier

From Yahoo news ...

TORONTO (Reuters) – Book lovers seeking a copy of the winner of Canada's premier literary award are out of luck, unless they're ready to settle for an electronic version.

"The Sentimentalists," a surprise winner of the C$50,000 Scotiabank Giller Prize this week, is trickling only slowly into bookstores as its tiny publisher cranks out copies.

The book, by first-time novelist Johanna Skibsrud, is sold out across Canada.

Nova Scotia-based specialty publisher Gaspereau Press can produce only 1,000 copies a week of their finely bound books, using an old-fashioned press.

...

Indigo has sold all four of its hardcover copies of the prize-winning book, which is based on the story of Skibsrud's father, a Vietnam War veteran. It has thousands more on order.

Canadian media said Gaspereau Press has received offers from a few large publishers, including UK-based Random House, to print more, but it has so far refused, sticking to its mantra of quality over quantity.

Giller winners often sell tens of thousands of copies, a huge multiple of original sales. "The Sentimentalists" had a first run of 800 books and was reported to have sold around half of that before the novel was placed on the longlist of nominations for the Giller nomination.

But Silver said Indigo has sold hundreds of copies of its electronic version, up from just a handful before the prize was announced...

(Reporting by Claire Sibonney; editing by Janet Guttsman and Rob Wilson)

I'm proud that I spent some of my youf in Canada.

Happy Halloween! And Feliz dia de los muertos!

(c) 2010 K. Smokey Cormier
Devil in a blue dress

Book List 2010

Sadly behind on everything this year, except dealing with medical crises and lawsuits. Wevs, as y'all might say.

This is the list for 01/01/2010:

Book List 2010

1. A Ceremonial Death - B.J. Oliphant
   
2. A History of Cambodia - David Chandler
   
3. A House in Gross Disorder - Cynthia B. Herrup
   
4. A Journalist, A General, and An Army in Burma - U Thaung
   
5. A Mercy - Toni Morrison
   
6. A Novel Bookstore - Laurence Cousse
   
7. A Point of Light - Zhou Mei
   
8. Agnes Smedley - J.R. & S.R. MacKinnon
   
9. Among the White Moonfaces - Shirley Lim Geok-lin
   
10. An Advanced History of India - Majumdar, Raychaudhuri & Dutta
    
11. Ancient Roman Feasts & Recipes - Jon Solomon
    
12. Asian Dragons & Green Trade - Simon Tay & Daniel Esty
    
13. Beating the Blues - Thase & Lang
    
14. Before Kampuchea - Milton Osborne
    
15. Bird by Bird - Anne Lamott
    
16. Black Dog of Fate - Peter Balakian
    
17. Buddhism in Vietnam - Minh Chi, Ha Van Tan, Nguyen Tai Thu
    
18. Cambodia Silenced: The Press Under Six Regimes - Harish Mehta
    
19. Captains of Consciousness - Stuart Ewen
    
20. Chinese Customs - Henri Dore
    
21. Christmas Island -
    
22. Colonial Masculinity - Mrinalini Sinha
    
23. Daniel Deronda - George Eliot
    
24. Death for Old Times' Sake - A.J. Orde
    
25. Desis in the House - Sunaina Maira
    
26. Finnegan's Wake - James Joyce
    
27. Fire in the Lake - Frances Fitzgerald
    
28. First Person Singular - Joyce Carol Oates
    
29. Flashbacks - Morley Safer
    
30. Flower of the Dragon - Richard Boyle
    
31. Folklore of Tamil Nadu - S.M.L. Lakshman Chettiar
    
32. Gandhi's Truth — On the Origins of Militant Nonviolence - Erik H. Erikson
    
33. Grasshoppers & Elephants - Wilfred Burchett
    
34. Hero And Deity - Pham Quynh Phuong
    
35. In Pursuit of Mountain Rats - Anthony Short
    
36. Incursion: From America's Chokehold on the NVA Lifelines to the Sacking of the Cambodian Sanctuaries - J.D. Coleman
    
37. In The Woods - Tana French
    
38. Into Cambodia - Keith William Nolan
    
39. Isvar Chandra Vidyasagar - Subhal Chandra Mitra
    
40. Juliet, Naked - Nick Hornby
    
41. Khmers Stand Up! - Justin Corfield
    
42. Looking for the Aardvark - A.J. Orde
43. May 13 - Kua Kia Soong
    
44. Major Pettigrew's Last Stand - Helen Simonson
    
45. Meena, Heroine of Afghanistan - Melody Ermachild Chavis
    
46. Minorities of the Sino-Vietnamese Borderland - Maurice Abadie
    
47. Murder and Mayhem in 17th Century Cambodia - Alfons van der Kraan
    
48. Myths About The Ethnic Chinese "Economic Miracle" - Go Bon Juan & Joaquim Sy
    
49. Nakshi Kantha of Bengal - Sila Basak
    
50. Nonsense - Robert J. Gula
    
51. No Cowardly Past - James Puthucheary
    
52. Offerings: The Ritual Art of Bali -
    
53. Orientalism - Edward W. Said
    
54. Outwitting the Gestapo - Lucie Aubrac
    
55. Pearl S. Buck, A Cultural Biography - Peter Conn
    
56. People's War, People's Army - Vo Nguyen Giap
    
57. Pham Xuan An, General of the Secret Service - Hoang Hai Van & Tan Thu
    
58. Physics and Philosophy - Werner Heisenberg
    
59. Pol Pot - Philip Short
    
60. Primitive Art - Frank Boas
    
61. Reading Lolita In Teheran - Azar Nafisi
    
62. Rosie - Anne Lamott
    
63. Sapphires & Garlic - Ruth Reichl
    
64. Satyajit Ray: The Inner Eye (The Biography Of A Master Film-Maker - Andrew Robinson
    
65. Screenwriting 434 - Lew Hunter
    
66. Self Censorship: Singapore's Shame - James Gomez
    
67. Shanghai Refuge, A Memoir of the WWII Jewish Ghetto - Ernest G. Heppner
    
68. Shantaram - Gregory David Roberts
    
69. Sherpas Through Their Rituals - Sherry B. Ortner
    
70. Shirin Fozdar: Asia's Foremost Feminist - Rose Ong
    
71. Singapore:Journey Into Nationhood
    
72. Singapore The Air-Conditioned Nation - Cherian George
    
73. Singapore & The Many-Headed Monster - Joe Conceicao
    
74. Singapore Women Re-presented - Constance Singam and Audrey Chin
    
75. Singapore's People's Action Party: Its History, Organization and Leadership - Pang Cheng Lian
    
76. Sisters in the Resistance - Margaret Collins Weitz
    
77. Sisters of Heaven - Patti Gully
    
78. Square Foot Gardening - Mel Bartholomew
    
79. Still Life - E.E. Horlak
    
80. Strangers Always A Jewish Family in Wartime Shanghai - Rena Krasno
    
81. Stress and Mental Health in Malaysian Society - Tan Chee Khuan
    
82. The Art of the Novel - Milan Kundera
    
83. The Birth of Vietnam - Keith Weller Taylor
    
84. The British Humiliation of Burma - Terence R. Blackburn
    
85. The Devil Finds Work - James Baldwin
    
86. The Elegance of the Hedgehog - Muriel Barberry
    
87. The Emergence of Modern Turkey - Bernard Lewis
    
88. The Emperor - Ryszard Kapuscinski
    
89. The Enthusiast - Charlie Haas
    
90. The Gift - Lewis Hyde
    
91. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larsson
    
92. The Girl Who Played With Fire - Stieg Larsson
    
93. The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest - Stieg Larsson
    
94. The Hatchet Man of Singapore - J.B. Jeyaretnam
    
95. The Hungry Tide - Amitav Ghosh
    
96. The Likeness - Tana French
    
97. The Lives of Agnes Smedley - Ruth Price
    
98. The March of Folly From Troy To Vietnam - Barbara W. Tuchman
    
99. The Mind's I - Hofstadter & Dennett
    
100. The Mother Tongue - Bill Bryson
     
101. The Narrow Strip of Land - Tran Mai Nam
     
102. The Pantropheon - Alexis Soyer
     
103. The Penang Po Leung Kuk -
     
104. The Plague - Albert Camus
     
105. The Political Economy of Social Control in Singapore - Christopher Tremewan
     
106. The Remembered Village - M.N. Srinivasan
     
107. The Rise & Fall of the Knights Templar - Gordon Napier
     
108. The Singapore Council of Women and The Women's Movement - Phyllis Ghim Lian Chew
     
109. The Singapore House - Norman Edwards
     
110. The Syonan Years I - Lee Geok Boi
     
111. The Syonan Years II - Lee Geok Boi
     
112. The Tin Drum - Gunther Grass
     
113. The Triads in Singapore and Malaya - Leon Comber
     
114. The Ugly Chinaman - Bo Yang
     
115. The Unexpected Corpse - B.J. Oliphant
     
116. The Way of All Flesh - Samuel Butler
     
117. Time Bombs in Malaysia - Lim Kit Siang
     
118. Victims and Perpetrators - Ea Meng-try & Sorya Sim
     
119. Vietnam & America: The Most Comprehensive Documented History of the Vietnam War - Gettleman, et al
     
120. Vietnam Cultural Window
     
121. Warsaw of Asia: The Rape of Manila - Boni Escoda
     
122. Who Killed Aung San? - Kin Oung
     
123. Women in the Holocaust - Dalia Ofer, Lenore J. Weitzman, Eds.
     
124. Writers' Workshop in a Book - Cheuse and Alvarez
     
125. Yogini Cult & Temples - Vidya Dehejia


126. Your Memory: A User's Guide - Alan Baddeley

Go ahead. Tell me I overdid it. See if I care.

Obviously I'll never finish this fucking buttload of books before January. Stay tuned for the book review.

2009 Final Book Review

This is it! The final review of books on my reading list for the year.


2009 Final Book Review

• A VietCong Memoir - Truong Nhu Tang
  
  Borrowed? No.
  Recommended? A very, very interesting look at the VN war from the inside. The writer, who now lives in France, was a member of the "middle" - neither pro-Viet Minh nor pro-American, initially. He describes how his sympathies turned towards the Viet Minh (later derisively termed by the Americans "Viet Cong"), and the resulting power shifts and political ideologies created by the long battle by VietNamese nationalists against foreign occupation, colonization, and all the ills attendant thereupon. He suffered for his ideology, and is understandably somewhat bitter as a result, but his memoir is well worth reading.
  Reread? As time permits.
  
  
• Armed Communist Movements in Southeast Asia - Lim Joo Jock, Vani S., Eds.
  
  Borrowed? No.
  Recommended? A series of scholarly papers on the nature and capabilities of the armed factions of the Communist party throughout Southeast Asia. Technical. Requires a reasonable familiarity with the history and politics of the region. Only for those with real interest.
  Reread? Probably not.
  
  
• Comet In Our Sky: Lim Chin Siong in History - Tan Jing Quee and Jomo K.S., Eds
  
  Borrowed? No.
  Recommended? A must for anyone with any interest in the history of Southeast Asia. A revealing look at the machinations of the British and the puppets that they used in order to hold on to the last vestiges of their crumbling empire. It will change your outlook on history and politics, regardless of your current ideology.
  Reread? Yes.
  
  
• Kranji - Romen Bose
  
  Borrowed? No.
  Recommended? Only for those with any serious interest in the WW II as it played out in the Pacific Theater, and the commemoration of the individuals who lost their lives therein. Light reading, despite the heavy subject matter.
  Reread? No.
  
  
• Lavinia - Ursula K. LeGuin
  
  Borrowed? Bri. Blame him.
  Recommended? Interesting, but only to SF fans, feminists, and those with an interest in the classics. Not her best effort, but readable.
  Reread? No.
  
  
• Musicophilia - Oliver Sacks
  
  Borrowed? Bri. Blame him some more.
  Recommended? Highly. Few scientists are as enjoyable and thoroughly readable, in fact, delightful, as Dr. Sacks. La Casa de Los Gatos has never read a book by this author that didn't cause a neuronal tingle, and lots of "Aha!" moments as his skillful hand draws the skeins of various observations into a magical tapestry with the underlying scientific theories. An utter joy for anyone interested in the human brain.
  Reread? Pleez. We begs and begs.
  
  
• Niels Lyhne - Jens Peter Jacobsen
  
  Borrowed? No.
  Recommended? A pretty book. Not sure that I liked it much. It's lyrical. The author is skilled. Had the same feeling as when reading Virginia Woolf. Skilled writer, subject matter not very interesting. Nevertheless, the literary world swoons over both writers. We are willing to accept blame for being an eccentric curmudgeon with unlikely, as it were, likes and dislikes. Feh.
  Reread? Nope.
  
  
• Sisterhood: The Untold Story - Joash Moo
  
  Borrowed? No.
  Recommended? Not really. Interesting only if you have prurient attitudes about transsexuals, or if you want some anecdotal information about transgender life in Malaysia.
  Reread? Nuh-uh.
  
  
• Slaughter and Deception: Batang Kali - Ian Ward & Norma Miraflor
  
  Borrowed? No.
  Recommended? Oh boy. This is one of the incidents that will never be forgotten by the people who experienced it, and that the British Foreign Office has done their best to cover up for decades. Post WWII, Malaya was ready for independence, but the British (who fled like chickens when the Japanese came bicycling over the Burma road) were not ready to give up their colonies. As a result of their wartime Lend-Lease agreements with the US, the British needed resources to repay their indebtedness, and the colonies were their resources. Needless to say, the natives did not agree, having lost many of their number in the fight to defend their nation (after the British, assuring them for decades that they were protected, turned out to have lied, and fled to evade the consequences), and during the terrible war years that followed. This book is the description of one of the post-war crimes that occurred, when British troops massacred an entire village for the "crime" of being, apparently, unable to understand English. Britain's My Lai. Ward and Miraflor have done a fine job of documenting the incident. A must-read for anyone interested in the history of WWII, colonial history, Southeast-Asian history, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and British history.
  Reread? Ah, yeah, sure. Soon as I need to lose some more weight or something.
  
  
• The Communist Struggle in Malaya - Gene Z. Hanrahan
  
  Borrowed? No.
  Recommended? Hanrahan is a "cold warrior." 'Nuff said. Nothing in this book that you couldn't find elsewhere in a more objective presentation.
  Reread? Puh-leez, as in, never.
  
  
• The English Patient - Michael Ondaatje
  
  Borrowed? Ms. Manitoba, of course.
  Recommended? Highly. Frankly, I didn't expect to like this book much. Any time a book is raved about by all and sundry, you can pretty much bet that it appeals to the lowest common denominator, cough, cough, Dan Brown. Ondaatje is, of course, worlds above the likes of Brown. Not sure if I'm ready to put him in my pantheon of Great Writers (Kafka, Garcia Marquez, Rushdie, Zola, Mo Yan, Tanizaki, Tagore, Sharat Chandra, et al). Must read more. Excellent book, highly recommended.
  Reread? Groan. As soon as there is time.
  
  
• The Mak Nyahs: Malaysian Male to Female Transexuals - Teh Yik Koon
  
  Borrowed? No.
  Recommended? This book is actually the result of research into issues affecting the lives of the transgender/transexual community in Malaysia. The author is sympathetic, yet objective. For those interested in gender issues, social issues, transgender/transexual issues in Asia.
  Reread? Not really.
  
  
• The Queen's Gambit - Walter Tevis
  
  Borrowed? That wretched Canuck, at it again.
  Recommended? To chess lovers, Tevis fans, and anyone who needs a fun read. Not a weighty tome, although as chess-impaired, we have to admit that a lot of it just went Whoooosh! right over our heads.
  Reread? No.
  
  
• The Ultimate Guide to Chinese Tea - Bret Hinsch
  
  Borrowed? No.
  Recommended? A good guide for beginners. The writer is quite the Sinophile, and clearly knows his stuff, but if you're not into Chinese tea, this book is a little too too for you.
  Reread? No.
  
  
• The Worst Album Covers In The World Vol. 2 -
  
  Borrowed? The offender shall remain nameless.
  Recommended? Sure, if you want to guffaw at teh Tacky. Enjoyed it. Good break from reading about war crimes.
  Reread? No.
  
  
  
• The Yiddish Policeman's Union - Michael Chabon
  
  Borrowed? The Canadians have infiltrated this blog as well as our heads. We welcome our new Canadian overlords.
  Recommended? Highly. Never liked Michael Chabon before, but this book set that right in a big way. This is a writer who, if he keeps producing stuff like this, is going to win some big-assed fucking prize, and you heard it here last. Love the Yiddishkeit. Read it. You'll love it. Nu, what have you got to lose?
  Reread? Oh hell to the fucking yeah.
  
  
• Vietnam: A Long History - Nguyen Khac Vien
  
  Borrowed? No.
  Recommended? For a history of VietNam from a VietNamese viewpoint, by an eminent and highly respected VietNamese scholar, look no further. Sad to say, the post-revolutionary period to the present is somewhat lacking in the fine detail of the earlier periods, but this is the definitive tome if you want VietNamese history uncoloured by colonial prejudice.
  Reread? Geeze, when? Love to, but WHEN?
  
  
• What is the What - Dave Eggers
  
  Borrowed? Blame those damn Canucks. They're taking over the world, eh?
  Recommended? Highly. Dave Eggers is another writer that I never could get into before. I'm told I need to read Zeitoun to appreciate the full magnificence that is Dave Eggers, but if you can read this book and not think that the writer is simply effortlessly brilliant, well. Dave Eggers, I used to fucking HATE you. I'm converted now. The trick to writing someone else's story is to become invisible, to allow the subject to have their own voice, yet to be the master of that story, to patch it and polish it and put it in order so that someone who doesn't know the protagonist can form an idea of just who that person is, what shaped them, their pains and griefs, their triumphs and losses. Eggers does this masterfully. Zeitoun next.
  Reread? Let's see, was it "Hell to the yeah?"
  
  
• Who Won The Malayan Emergency - Herbert Andrew
  
  Borrowed? No.
  Recommended? Um. Herbert Andrew was, like, some low-level gunny in Malaysia sometime after WWII, during the period called (euphemistically) the Emergency. He has opinions. Not all of them seem to be grounded in fact.
  Reread? This book would totally be a candidate for "Hell to the No."
  
  
• Women Against The Raj - Joyce C. Lebra
  
  Borrowed? No.
  Recommended? For historians, feminists, military buffs, Singaporeans, Malaysians, Indians, Southeast-Asians, and the curious. The book describes the women of Malaysia (of Indian origin), who bravely armed themselves, formed the Rani of Jhansi regiment, and fought against the Japanese. The stories of the women who survived are interwoven with the historical background in which they lived and fought. Fascinating book. Highly recommended.
  Reread? Time, time.
  

Jon Stewart at the 92nd Street Y

Here's an excerpt of an interview ... Terry Gross (from Fresh Air) interviewing Jon Stewart back in September at the 92nd Street Y in NYCity ...


GROSS: I'm going to read some questions from the audience.

Mr. STEWART: Mm-hmm.

GROSS: What role does Judaism play in your professional life? How about your personal life?

Mr. STEWART: I can't believe that came out of 92nd Street Y.

(Soundbite of laughter)

Mr. STEWART: You know what's great? Look through that. I bet they're all that.

(Soundbite of laughter)

Mr. STEWART: What role does Judaism play in your day? Next question: Judaism, does it play a role?

(Soundbite of laughter)

Mr. STEWART: Next question: your roles and Judaism, what do you think?

(Soundbite of laughter)

Mr. STEWART: The - I mean I don't know even, so what is it again? What is it again?

GROSS: It is again, what role does Judaism play in your professional life? How about your personal life?

Mr. STEWART: What role does Judaism play? Wait - let me, I don't know who asked this question, so let me just direct it to the audience, what do you want me to say? That it forms my...

(Soundbite of laughter)

GROSS: Let me focus the question for you. I think maybe what they want to hear is did you ever practice? Was being Jewish ever significant to you, other than culturally, the kind of humor and...

Mr. STEWART: I think I am genetically, I don't know what tribe I am from, but...

GROSS: The Henny Youngman tribe.

(Soundbite of laughter)

Mr. STEWART: Yeah, I mean I'm not a - I don't prescribe, necessarily, to - I don't, you know, there's so many different things that go into Judaism and the cultural aspect of it. I feel like an outsider. So, to some extent, I guess, Diaspora is in my wheelhouse. But I don't know if that's Judaism or other things, or just the way my brain is wired.

GROSS: Well, you probably feel like an outsider among Jews, too.

Mr. STEWART: That's right.

(Soundbite of laughter)

Mr. STEWART: I would consider myself reform in the sense that, for instance on Yom Kippur this year, I had a bacon, egg, and cheese Croissanwich.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

But, folks, it's waaaaaay more fun to listen to it. If you wanna, go here.

Obama and Devil with a Blue Dress On

(c) 2010 K. Smokey Cormier

Keeping things in perspective: I'm very unhappy about the recent announcements by the "Justice" Department -- that they're going to appeal the judgement about "Don't ask, don't tell" and that they will, indeed, enforce U.S. law and arrest marijuana users in California -- no matter how we vote. I'm unhappy. So, I'd love the calacas in the blue dresses to bite Obama's neck. Fantasy. However, what I really want is for Obama's administration to succeed. Why? Because the alternative IS SO MUCH WORSE!!!!!!!! So, what's a girl to do? Create a photograph.

John Lennon: Rest in Peace and ...

Happy Birthday.

Sending peace and love to his friends and families.

We are big John Lennon fans here at TPC-CultureVultures.

Thanks Google for that great John Lennon Logo!!!

There's a great show devoted to John Lennon at Fresh Air. Check it out: Cynthia Lennon, Paul McCartney, and Ringo Starr remember John in interviews. Historian Jon Weiner talks about the FBI files on Lennon.

Thank you, Jennifer Aniston!

Bill O'Reilly recently attacked Jennifer Aniston for her comments in support of women who use artificial insemination to become mothers. But Jennifer Aniston didn't go quietly into that good night ... she fought back. And with a sense of humor ... which is Ms. Manitoba's preferred method of vengance ... although not achieved as often as she'd like.

O'Reilly claimed that her remarks were "destructive to our society." He also accused her of "diminishing the role of the dad." (Isn't it really the philandering dads and the deadbeat dads who abandon their families -- isn't it their fault that the role of dad has diminished? ... if it's even true that their role has been diminished.)

He ranted: "Dads bring a psychology to children that is in this society, I believe, under-emphasized. I think men get hosed all day long in the parental arena."

Aniston told People.com, "Of course, the ideal scenario for parenting is obviously two parents of a mature age. Parenting is one of the hardest jobs on earth.

"And, of course, many women dream of finding Prince Charming (with fatherly instincts), but for those who've not yet found their Bill O'Reilly, I'm just glad science has provided a few other options."

LOL, here at TPC-CultureVultures. And, thank you, Jennifer Aniston for saying "two parents" instead of "a husband and wife."

Note: Ms. Manitoba supports equality of opportunity for all. But she also greatly supports Zero Population Growth ... 'member that old philosophy? So, she'd prefer if people, if at all possible, would adopt.

Visiting San Francisco 2010

All photos by K. Smokey Cormier who holds the copyright thereof ... or some such thing

Howdy, folks.

If you're visiting San Francisco in the summer and fall of 2010, here are some suggestions. Don't be afraid to explore. It's a great city to explore!

Note: Dress in layers. Bring a warm sweatshirt or jacket with you every day… unless the San Francisco Bay Area is having a heat wave, then you don't have to. The weather can change dramatically during the day. It can get quite cold there … especially around 5:30 pm when the fog rolls in during the summer. The fog is preceded by cold winds. And don't think I'm nuts. We have a totally different weather zone here in the Bay Area. Actually we have many weather zones. Because some places in the East Bay are very hot.

Here are some fun things to do when you come here ...

Take the ferry to Alcatraz or Angel Island.

Visit:
· Ferry Plaza Farmer’s Market (on Tues, Th, and Sat – check their website before you go)

· Pier 39

· Embarcadero Center -- shops


Walk across the Golden Gate Bridge. If you’re not into walking, you can drive and stop at the rest stop/outlook area – and view breathtaking views (if there’s no fog). DRESS WARMLY … even if it’s sunny. Because it’s very windy there.

This is a view of the Golden Gate Bridge from the Sausilito side (north).

Academy of Science building – new building; supposed to be the best in the world right now.

Visit Chinatown. Very interesting. Then you can have Dim Sum for brunch at City View restaurant – one of the best dim sum restaurants in S.F.



If you go to SFMOMA (San Francisco Museum of Modern Art), walk around Yerba Buena Center – beautiful landscaped grounds, there are shops, restaurants, a tea shop, nice places to sit outside, Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, butterfly garden, fountain and waterfall. Also in the Yerba Buena center – METREON. Metreon is the first-of-its-kind entertainment center in the heart of downtown San Francisco. This 350,000 square-foot complex features an eclectic mix of restaurants, shopping venues, theatres, and entertainment destinations, including the West Coast's largest IMAX theatre.


Have you been too busy? Have you been doing too many urban things? Want to see something stimulating and also relaxing? Go to the San Francisco Botanical Gardens.



If you have kids ... San Francisco Zoo



****** Art in the summer 2010 ******


25 Years at Pixar – till Jan 9, 2011 Oakland Museum

[see my previous post about the re-opening of this wonderful museum]

this is a great museum – near a BART station.

From the museum's website:
The Oakland Museum's newest exhibition celebrates 25 years of Pixar animation, displaying the East Bay studio's unique visual style and extraordinarily vivid digital animation that brought the world Toy Story, WALL-E, and Finding Nemo. Written on the front wall of the exhibit is a quote by the Emeryville animation company's chief creative officer, John Lasseter: "Computers didn't create computer animation any more than a pencil creates pencil animation. What creates computer animation are artists."

Pixar Animation Studios, which is now owned by The Walt Disney Company, is famous for its innovative take on the artistry behind its animation. Rather than bubbly cartoons, Pixar uses a semi-photorealistic style. Instead of stories based on pre-existing fairy tales, Pixar comes up with tales set in the modern age that feature unusual characters such as garbage-cleaning robots, cooking rats and grumpy old men with houses that float away by balloon. Among its films are Toy Story, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars, Ratatouille, WALL-E, and Up, all of which have won Academy Awards.

After a five-year, 14-stop worldwide tour that kicked off at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 2005, the exhibition that covers Pixar's entire lifespan is coming home.

* * * * * * * * * *

Shanghai - Asian Art Museum, till Sept. 5


* * * * * * * * * *

Calder to Warhol Introducing the Fisher Collection - SFMOMA, until Sept. 19

* * * * * * * * * *

Contemporary Jewish Museum StoryCorps StoryBooth October 12, 2008 - November 7, 2010

The Contemporary Jewish Museum is the first museum in the country to host a StoryCorps StoryBooth. StoryCorps is a New York-based oral history project.

>>>> also check their web site for the latest exhibitions

reflecting pool in front of the Contemporary Jewish Museum

* * * * * * * * * *

de Young museum The Birth of Impressionism: Masterpieces from the Musee D'Orsay, until Sept 6.


* * * * * * * * * *

And remember:


Dress in layers.

Dress in layers.

Dress in layers.

Dress in layers.

Dress in layers.

My Baby by Ken Nordine

photo (c) 2010 K. Smokey Cormier

[Setting the scene ... a record playing ... very tasty cool jazz is playing ... High Top, saxaphone, fingers snapping ... A man with a very velvety deep voice sing-talking -- "Word Jazz" as he calls it]


Wantcha to know that I love my baby
And my baby loves me
Short time ago, we went out
together, to a place called Far Out -- up in Limbo
The rhythm was there.
Yeah!
Something special was in the air.
I reached over and held my baby's hand.
She gave me a little squeeze.
I knew we were in the same key.
Everythings's beginning to swing!
In a quiet, cool, warm way.
My baby didn't say anything.
Just looked at me with that special look she has.
I looked back with that special look I get when my baby looks at me with that special look she gets.
I couldn't help myself!
It was love for sure.
I picked my baby up.
Danced over to the stage.
And I told the leader: "Leader, this is my baby."
He just said "Crazy!"
My baby gave him a special look like my baby does.
He could see my baby had eyes to swing.
So he adjusted the mic and he simply said in his complicated way "of course."
And my baby's shy
So I gave it the first try.

[piano and some scatting ... and to find out the rest, go here or here]

-- My Baby featuring Ken Nordine

Little tidbit about Ken Nordine: he was Linda Blair's vocal coach for The Exorcist. For more info about Ken Nordine, visit this site on Wikipedia.

A gondola in Oakland? Oaktown? Oaksterdam?

Yes. And here's proof.




You can catch one at The Lake Chalet Seafood Bar & Grill right on the shores of Lake Merritt.


(Okay, maybe I overplayed it saying "the shores of Lake Merritt" as if it were Chicago and Lake Michigan. But I do *love* Lake Merritt.)

Mini review of The Lake Chalet Seafood Bar & Grill: The food is quite good. Service excellent. The environment is very special.

[Disclaimer: Ms. Manitoba is not affiliated in any way with this restaurant. I don't know anyone who works there or owns the place. Ms. Manitoba just likes to get around town and try restaurants. And give kudos where appropriate.]

Happy Birthday, President Obama!

President Obama, you had a wonderful victory followed by a very rough year and a half. I would not like to be walking in your moccasins. I hope you will have some fun today. Forty-nine! You only have this year left in your forties ... use it wisely.

From today's Writer's Almanac ...

Today is President Barack Obama's 49th birthday. He was born in Honolulu, Hawaii on this day in 1961, despite whatever you've heard of the contrary.

He's the author of the New York Times best-selling books Dreams from My Father (1995) and The Audacity of Hope (2006).

Chuck Lightning responds ...

Photo by Rina Prussin

Remember just the other day I blogged about this song "Self" by Deep Cotton that I liked very much? 'member, bunkie?

[official site for Deep Cotton: go here.]

One of the founding members of Deep Cotton and the writer of the song -- he commented on my post ... take a look ...


s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s

Chuck Lightning has left a new comment on your post ""Self!" by Deep Cotton":

Hey.

This is Chuck Lightning of Deep Cotton...

Loved the post!

You did a really, really great job with your transcription, but I thought I'd give you the full lyrics, so you could understand the parts that were unintelligible...

And keep listening...we have a lot more music coming soon...


Self!

Verse 1:

I’m getting ridiculous!
I’m getting ridiculous!

Always feels like I
Playing games and I
Losing all the time
Maybe it’s just my mind

And the guitar says to you:

Self! Extra points now if you refuse to take your medication!

Self! Extra points if you’re black and dance white or are white and talk black now!

Self! Bonus rounds if your own girlfriend thinks you’re gay! And you think she’s right!

Chorus:

Doo da breakdown do the game right now just lose and die and don’t forget it!

I’m getting ridiculous!

Doo da breakdown do the game right now just lose and die and don’t forget it!

I’m getting ridiculous!

Verse 2:

Who will help me with the mirror?
Who will help me with the beat?

Son, Take out the trash!

“There are maggots in there, dad, there’s maggots!”

Doo da breakdown do the game right now just lose and die and don’t forget it!

“There are maggots in there, dad, there’s maggots!”

Doo da breakdown do the game right now just lose and die and don’t forget it!

Self! Extra points if your shadow has applied for a transfer!

Self! Extra points if the lyrics have just stopped making sense!

Self! Extra points if you wonder where these gray hairs came from!

Raise your hand if dancing is your therapy!

Self! Extra points if you thought this game was going to end differently...

With two children, a house, and an electric car…

Raise your hands if you would like to buy a new body or just a little more time!


Always feels like I
Playing games and I
Losing all the time
Maybe it’s just my mind

Self! Extra points if you do not know how to put your heart back together!

Raise your hand if it all sounds like science fiction and it’s just your life!

If you have memories for sale, please see the ushers in the yellow suits…

They can help you now…

Tom Waits Quote

"You really can't be too concerned with what people think of you. You're on your own adventure of growth and discovery. Like Charles Bukowski said, 'People think I'm down on Fifth and Main at the Blarney Stone, throwing back shooters and smoking a cigar, but really I'm up on the top floor of the health club with a towel in my lap, watching Johnny Carson.' So, it's not always good to be where people think you are, especially if you subscribe to it as well ... which is easily done, because then you don't have to figure out who you are, you just ask somebody else."

-- Tom Waits to Barney Hoskyns, 24 April 1985