More Photos from K. Smokey Cormier

devil duck gone fishin'

blood orange web

rina's birthday present to herself

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All photos copyright 2009 K. Smokey Cormier

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Larry Sultan, Photographer and Teacher ... Rest in Peace

(c) 1990 Ross Andecman

Sometime in the mid to late 1980's, I took a class at UC Berkeley Extension. It was all about how to become a better Black & White darkroom printer. It was taught by the photographer Larry Sultan. He was a wonderful teacher -- smart, patient, good at explaining things, playful ... and so generous with his time. I learned a lot from him and became a much better photographer and printer.

I just found out today that he died this past Sunday. It's been years since I took that class, but I feel the loss.

Condolences to his family and friends.

Here are two obituaries if you want to read more about him:
New York Times obituary
San Francisco Chronicle obituary

Go here for a rememberance of Larry Sultan on Terry Gross’ radio program, Fresh Air. It includes a great interview with him. In that interview, he talks about photographing his parents and how it affected him.

And, if you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, you can see some of his work very soon. Here's an excerpt from his obituary in the SFChronicle:

Mr. Sultan was an artist trustee of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, which holds some 40 of his works in its collection. More than a dozen of them will go on display starting Saturday, when SFMOMA begins its 75th anniversary celebration. The shows have been in planning for a year or more, and the display of Mr. Sultan's work will be his 15th solo or group show at the museum.

"He's tremendously important, certainly to us," said Sandra S. Phillips, senior curator of photography at SFMOMA. "His work has always been about examining the special kind of life that is lived here in California, and the contemporary condition of the family. That is what motivated this really amazing body of work."

Kristin Chenoweth "A Lovely Way To Spend Christmas"

What have I been listening to in the past week? A Lovely Way To Spend Christmas by Kristin Chenoweth. And it's great!


Ms. Manitoba has a complicated relationship with Christmas. I was raised Roman Catholic and I was sincerely, deeply religious. Lots of thinking and feeling and observing and reading ... over time ... and I began to really resent the commercialization of the birth of the holiest. I started to feel that Christmas decorations and celebrations should be private. Spirituality is a private matter -- I still believe that.

So, I celebrate in my own way. * (Even though I eventually converted to Judaism, I celebrate certain things about Christmas because that is my upbringing, my memories, my connection to family and my past.)

One way is to listen to Christmas music. I love Christmas music. However, I do not like it played at work or in public areas. No, I want to pick when, where, and what.

And lately, I have picked Kristin Chenoweth. (Loved her in The West Wing and Pushing Daisies.) Her voice is so wonderful. And I love the variety of songs on A Lovely Way To Spend Christmas ... traditional, Broadway-showtune-style songs, Country twang songs. And, did I say ... her voice is incredible.

This is a disk that makes me happy when I play it. (And I rarely say stuff like that.) My 12-year old loves it too. We play it in the car. We end up in such good moods.

Highly recommended.

* Never do I decorate a tree. That's beyond what I want/need. Plus, folks, the trees ... I love them too much to cut them down.

Protect Me From What I Want

Check out these sayings from the artist Jenny Holzer.

Book List Updated December 2009

This is what the list looks like now:

Book List 2009

1. A History of Cambodia - David Chandler
   
2. A House in Gross Disorder - Cynthia B. Herrup
   
3. A Journalist, A General, and An Army in Burma - U Thaung
   
4. A Point of Light - Zhou Mei
   
5. A Spy's Revenge - Richard V. Hall
   
6. Agnes Smedley - J.R. & S.R. MacKinnon
   
7. Armed Communist Movements in Southeast Asia - Lim Joo Jock, Vani S., Eds.
   
8. Beating the Blues - Thase & Lang
   
9. Before Kampuchea - GMilton Osborne
10. Bird by Bird - Anne Lamott
    
11. Black Dog of Fate - Peter Balakian
    
12. Captains of Consciousness - Stuart Ewen
    
13. Chinese Customs - Henri Dore
    
14. Colonial Masculinity - Mrinalini Sinha
    
15. Comet In Our Sky: Lim Chin Siong in History - Tan Jing Quee and Jomo K.S., Eds
    
16. Daniel Deronda - George Eliot
    
17. Desis in the House - Sunaina Maira
    
18. Extraordinary Popular Delusions - Charles Mackay
    
19. Finnegan's Wake - James Joyce
    
20. First Person Singular - Joyce Carol Oates
    
21. Flashbacks - Morley Safer
    
22. Folklore of Tamil Nadu - S.M.L. Lakshman Chettiar
    
23. Gandhi's Truth — On the Origins of Militant Nonviolence - Erik H. Erikson
    
24. How I Adore You - Mark Pritchard
    
25. In Pursuit of Mountain Rats - Anthony Short
    
26. Incursion: From America's Chokehold on the NVA Lifelines to the Sacking of the Cambodian Sanctuaries - J.D. Coleman
    
27. Into Cambodia - Keith William Nolan
    
28. Khmers Stand Up! - Justin Corfield
    
29. Kranji - Romen Bose
    
30. Meena, Heroine of Afghanistan - Melody Ermachild Chavis
    
31. Minorities of the Sino-Vietnamese Borderland - Maurice Abadie
    
32. Nakshi Kantha of Bengal - Sila Basak
    
33. Niels Lyhne - Jens Peter Jacobsen
    
34. Nonsense - Robert J. Gula
    
35. No Cowardly Past - James Puthucheary
    
36. Orientalism - Edward W. Said
    
37. Outwitting the Gestapo - Lucie Aubrac
    
38. Pearl S. Buck, A Cultural Biography - Peter Conn
    
39. People's War, People's Army - Vo Nguyen Giap
    
40. Pol Pot - Philip Short
    
41. Primitive Art - Frank Boas
    
42. Prometheus Rising - Robert Anton Wilson
    
43. Reading Lolita In Teheran - Azar Nafisi
    
44. Rosie - Anne Lamott
    
45. Satyajit Ray: The Inner Eye (The Biography Of A Master Film-Maker - Andrew Robinson
    
46. Screenwriting 434 - Lew Hunter
    
47. Self Censorship: Singapore's Shame - James Gomez
    
48. Shanghai Refuge, A Memoir of the WWII Jewish Ghetto - Ernest G. Heppner
    
49. Sherpas Through Their Rituals - Sherry B. Ortner
    
50. Singapore:Journey Into Nationhood
    
51. Singapore & The Many-Headed Monster - Joe Conceicao
    
52. Singapore The Air-Conditioned Nation - Cherian George
    
53. Singapore's People's Action Party: Its History, Organization and Leadership - Pang Cheng Lian
    
54. Sisters in the Resistance - Margaret Collins Weitz
    
55. Slaughter and Deception: Batang Kali - Ian Ward & Norma Miraflor
    
56. Strangers Always A Jewish Family in Wartime Shanghai - Rena Krasno
    
57. Stress and Mental Health in Malaysian Society - Tan Chee Khuan
    
58. The Art of the Novel - Milan Kundera
    
59. The Autobiography of An Unknown Indian - Nirad C. Chaudhary
    
60. The Bengal Muslims 1871 - 1906 - Ahmed
    
61. The Birth of Vietnam - Keith Weller Taylor
    
62. The British Humiliation of Burma - Terence R. Blackburn
    
63. The Communist Struggle in Malaya - Gene Z. Hanrahan
    
64. The Devil Finds Work - James Baldwin
    
65. The Emergence of Modern Turkey - Bernard Lewis
    
66. The Hungry Tide - Amitav Ghosh
    
67. The Gift - Lewis Hyde
    
68. The Lives of Agnes Smedley - Ruth Price
    
69. The Mak Nyahs Malaysian Male to Female Transexuals - Teh Yik Koon
    
70. The March of Folly From Troy To Vietnam - Barbara W. Tuchman
    
71. The Mind's I - Hofstadter & Dennett
    
72. The Plague - Albert Camus
    
73. The Political Economy of Social Control in Singapore - Christopher Tremewan
    
74. The Rape of Bangladesh - Mascarenhas
    
75. The Remembered Village - M.N. Srinivasan
    
76. The Rise & Fall of the Knights Templar - Gordon Napier
    
77. The Singapore Council of Women and The Women's Movement - Phyllis Ghim Lian Chew
    
78. The Syonan Years I - Lee Geok Boi
    
79. The Syonan Years II - Lee Geok Boi
    
80. The Tin Drum - Gunther Grass
    
81. The Ugly Chinaman - Bo Yang
    
82. The Ultimate Guide to Chinese Tea - Bret Hinsch
    
83. The Way of All Flesh - Samuel Butler
    
84. The Worst Album Covers In The World Vol. 2 -
    
85. Time Bombs in Malaysia - Lim Kit Siang
    
86. Virtual Reality - Howard Rheingold
    
87. Vietnam: A Long History - Nguyen Khac Vien
    
88. Vietnam & America: The Most Comprehensive Documented History of the Vietnam War - Gettleman, et al
    
89. Warsaw of Asia: The Rape of Manila - Boni Escoda
    
90. Who Killed Aung San? - Kin Oung
    
91. Who Won The Malayan Emergency - Herbert Andrew
    
92. Witness to an Era - Frank Moraes
    
93. Women Against The Raj - Joyce C. Lebra
    
94. Women in the Holocaust - Dalia Ofer, Lenore J. Weitzman, Eds.
    
95. Writers' Workshop in a Book - Cheuse and Alvarez
    
96. Your Memory: A User's Guide - Alan Baddeley

Needless to say, most of these books won't have been read by December 31st. But — there ain't no harm in trying. I started off with a book list of 180 titles. The number increased to 231. I'll publish the final book reviews and an updated list for 2010 on New Years' Eve, showing exactly how many books I've read.

Will I win my pizza? I worked for it! Remember that much of this time was spent lying flat on my back drugged out beyond readability! Plus there was the monumental editing task I undertook in late August/early September, that kept me from reading for weeks! Pizza! I can has!

Book Review November 2009

OK. This represents the books read between August 16th and November 16th of this year. I'll publish the updated (and very much added to, dammit!) book list soon. For the original book list (at the start of the year), go here. For previous book reviews, go here, and here.

1. A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian - Marina Lewycka
   
   Borrowed? Courtesy of Brian.
   Recommended? Highly. This is a first novel by the author, and a very good first novel it is, recommended by your friendly neighbourhood Cat to anyone in search of good writing about troubling issues. For the record, it's not *really* about tractors, except peripherally. It's about how to cope with your elderly Dad having an affair with some tart less than half his age with big bosoms and dyed hair.
   Reread? Probably not. Too many books, too little time.
   
   
2. A Will For Freedom - Romen Bose
   
   Borrowed? No.
   Recommended? This is a book about Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and the Azad Hind Fauj (Indian National Army) in Singapore during WW II. A fascinating glimpse at a fascinating character. Highly recommended for anyone interested in history of India, British colonies, imperialism, WW II, Singapore, Japan, Southeast Asia.
   Reread? Probably not.
   
   
3. Apache Sunrise - Jerome Boyle
   
   Borrowed? No.
   Recommended? The author wrote this chronicle of his experiences in VietNam as a helicopter pilot with the Army's 1/9 Air Cavalry. It's not great prose, but it is a sharp and sometimes painful reminder of what the military life does to people, and what makes them who they end up being. Written in a chatty, easy style that would put the author in there with the good guys, those pawns of a government intent on feeding the MIC with a "military conflict," not a "war." Recommended. Especially in light of Iraq, Afghanistan, and future elections. Especially for Americans.
   Reread? Maybe.
   
   
4. Asian Labour In The Japanese Wartime Empire - Paul Kratoska, Ed.
   
   Borrowed? No.
   Recommended? This is a highly technical analysis of the various Southeast Asian nations and the effect on them (especially on labour) of the Japanese occupation and WW II. Although couched in dry academic language, it is painfully revealing. Recommended for those interested in the history of labour, S.E. Asia, WW II, war crimes, Japan.
   Reread? Probably not.
   
   
5. Bizarre Books - Russell Ash & Brian Lake
   
   Borrowed? A certain book-dealer is responsible for this outrage.
   Recommended? It's a funny little collection of book titles. Actual books published in earlier years. Even a PoliticalCat needs a little humour now and then, so if you do too, enjoy this little book.
   Reread? No.
   
   
6. Deeper - John Seabrook
   
   Borrowed? No.
   Recommended? Very dated. I mean, read it if you're the kind of geeky geeky geek who finds Teh History of Teh InnerTubes totally fascinating.
   Reread? No.
   
   
7. From Pacific War to Merdeka - James Wong Wing On
   
   Borrowed? No.
   Recommended? This short book is a series of interviews with MPAJA fighters in the Malayan Resistance against Japanese occupation in WW II. Although it's not a shining example of ebullient prose, it's a useful look at a largely neglected group of people who gave up everything for their dream of a liberated homeland.
   Reread? Probably, as needed.
   
   
8. How To Avoid Huge Ships - Joel Rickett, Ed.
   
   Borrowed? A certain book-dealer is responsible for this outrage.
   Recommended? Another collection of unintentional hilarity in the form of actual book titles.
   Reread? No.
   
   
9. In The Grip of A Crisis - Rudy Mosbergen
   
   Borrowed? No.
   Recommended? Rudy Mosbergen was a child in Singapore when World War II broke out. This is his memoir of what it was like growing up under the Japanese occupation. The book could have used a good editor, but it's well worth reading if you're interested in history of Singapore, Southeast Asia, war, WW II in the Pacific Theater, colonialism.
   Reread? Probably not.
   
   
10. Kinabalu Guerrillas - Maxwell Hall
    
    Borrowed? No.
    Recommended? An interesting little book on the resistance in Malayan Borneo against the Japanese during WW II.
    Reread? No.
    
    
11. King Rat - James Clavell
    
    Borrowed? No.
    Recommended? Clavell needs no introduction as a writer. I'm surprised at how good he still is, having read this book originally in the 1960s. Of course, he's writing about his own experiences, which gives the narration a certain power not otherwise easy to manifest. Highly recommended for a good (not-entirely) fictional look at the lives of British/American PoWs in Changi Gaol, Singapore, during the Japanese occupation.
    Reread? Probably.
    
    
12. Labour Unrest in Malaya - Tai Yuen
    
    Borrowed? No.
    Recommended? An excellent, if academic, look at labour history in the British colony of Malaya, with some eye-opening information about the "liberal" British government's treatment of anyone fighting for their rights as working people.
    Reread? As needed, only.
    
    
13. Life As The River Flows - Agnes Khoo
    
    Borrowed? No.
    Recommended? This is an excellent book about women in the MPAJA and the CPM ranks who fought for the liberation of their homeland from the Japanese occupiers and the British colonizers. The stories of these women are poignant, heart-rending, yet inspiring. They sacrificed everything to ensure that their descendants, their people, would have the freedoms they themselves lacked. Highly readable, fascinating, and recommended to anyone interested in the history of Malaya, the CPM, the MPAJA, Southeast Asia, the Communist Party, liberation struggles, women's history, war, WW II, Japanese role in Southeast Asia.
    Reread? Someday.
    
    
14. Living Hell - Goh Chor Boon
    
    Borrowed? No.
    Recommended? This book describes the experiences of one of the survivors of the Japanese-engineered and built "Death Railway" featured in the film Bridge on the River Kwai. The author, a young Singaporean, was, like many other Southeast Asians, taken away by Japanese military authorities to labour on the bridge. Fortunately for him, he had medical training, which saved him from the terrible, indeed, criminal conditions under which much of Japanese slave labour perished. This is a chronicle of his horrendous experiences on the Death Railway. He's not kidding when he calls it Hell. Highly recommended for readers interested in the history of war, WW II, war crimes, Japan, Singapore, Southeast Asia.
    Reread? Probably not.
    
    
15. Malaya and Singapore During the Japanese Occupation - Paul H. Kratoska, Ed.
    
    Borrowed? No.
    Recommended? Dr. Kratoska is a veritable fount of information, of the academic variety, on the Japanese occupation of British colonial Malaya. This is actually a highly readable book for those interested in such subjects, and is highly recommended by the proprietors of this fine blog.
    Reread? Someday, if needed.
    
    
16. Microserfs - Douglas Coupland
    
    Borrowed? No.
    Recommended? Dated. Also, just not that interesting. The characters are too cardboardy. It's hard to feel any empathy for them and their travails. And it's not a literary masterpiece, either.
    Reread? No.
    
    
    
17. Mountains Beyond Mountains - Tracy Kidder
    
    Borrowed? Brian's vast and fascinating library donates once again to TehPoliticalCat.
    Recommended? Highly. This is the story of Dr. Paul Farmer who has pretty much changed the way health care is delivered in Haiti - perhaps he hasn't healed the entire population yet, but he certainly is an admirable person with a genuine love for his fellow humans but not too blinded by rose-tinted glasses to understand that health care delivery must be different in Haiti and other such underdeveloped countries than it is in the developed. Dr. Farmer's love and concern for his patients (and the whole world qualifies, apparently, in his eyes) comes through with every word. Tracy Kidder has done a fine job of chronicling Farmer and his colleagues and their self-sacrificing journey to care for the forgotten. Please read this book. It will change your life.
    Reread? Probably.
    
    
18. Odd Man Out: The Story of the Singapore Traitor - Peter Elphick & Michael Smith
    
    Borrowed? No.
    Recommended? Peter Elphick is the author of the highly impressive book Singapore, The Pregnable Fortress. Although military historians have enjoyed taking potshots at that particular work, this Cat was nevertheless impressed by its readability and well-written record of the events leading up to the fall of the supposed Fortress. This book, however, is the chronicle of one Patrick Heenan, who apparently served as a fifth columnist for the invading Japanese during WW II. Heenan was never accorded a fair trial, and much of the evidence of his betrayal seems to have disappeared from the archives, but Elphick manages to lay out an interesting case for this interesting, if little-known, man. Highly recommended to those interested in the history of British colonies, war, WW II, Malaya, Japan, espionage, and the like.
    Reread? Probably not.
    
    
19. Phantoms in the Brain - V.S. Ramachandran
    
    Borrowed? No.
    Recommended? A fascinating book by one of the leading neurologists in the world on the nature of the human brain and its function. Read it, if for nothing else, then for the chapter on religion and the brain. Amazing, fascinating, mind-blowing. Highly recommended.
    Reread? Probably. Science R teh hot.
    
    
20. Raffles - Maurice Collis
    
    Borrowed? No.
    Recommended? A hagiography of Sir Stamford Raffles. Interesting, if somewhat cloying. I believe this book has been recommended by everyone but God to those interested in the history of British colonialism, with especial focus on Raffles. He was an interesting man, to be sure, although not as unalloyedly virtuous as Collis makes him out to be, like as not.
    Reread? No.
    
    
21. Red Star Over Malaya - Cheah Boon Kheng
    
    Borrowed? No.
    Recommended? A very interesting, if academic, study of the role of the CPM in the resistance and politics of the Malay peninsula. Recommended for those interested in the history of the region, the CPM, resistance movements, labour, colonies, British colonialism.
    Reread? As needed.
    
    
22. Rethinking Raffles - Syed Muhd. Khairudin Aljunied
    
    Borrowed? No.
    Recommended? An interesting look at a very different side of Raffles. Aljunied is to be commended for a serious yet interesting, readable work that shows British colonial policy and history at its ... most realistic. A decidedly required antidote to Collis' hagiography, see previous.
    Reread? Probably.
    
    
23. Sabah Under The Rising Sun Government - Stephen R. Evans
    
    Borrowed? No.
    Recommended? Not very well written, and very similar to a previously read work on the anti-Japanese resistance in (then) British Borneo. Interesting for those with an interest in the subject.
    Reread? Probably not.
    
    
24. Scouts in Bondage - Michael Bell
    
    Borrowed? A certain book-dealer is responsible for this outrage.
    Recommended? Ahahahahaha. More of teh funny.
    Reread? Probably not. Too many books, too little time.
    
    
25. Sea of Poppies - Amitav Ghosh
    
    Borrowed? A loan from the library of Ms. Manitoba, that ever-helpful little elf.
    Recommended? This is supposed to be Mr. Ghosh's opus, the first book in a trilogy that spans the Opium War and ranges from India to China to Britain and the Americas, taking in the islands of the Indian diaspora en route. A heavy read, but good. Although one really needs to know a little history of various different cultures to derive maximum satisfaction from this book, it's a rich source of information. It wouldn't hurt to have one's Hobson-Jobson close to hand, either.
    Reread? Probably not. Too many books, too little time.
    
    
26. Silicon Snake Oil - Clifford Stoll
    
    Borrowed? No.
    Recommended? I read this years ago and decided to reread it to see how dated it was. The answer is, very. I really liked this book years ago, but couldn't in all honesty recommend it now. Cliff Stoll was wrong about a lot of things.
    Reread? No.
    
    
27. The Dictionary of the Khazars - Milorad Pavic
    
    Borrowed? No.
    Recommended? Highly. This is a poetic masterpiece, and my only regret is I waited so long to read this book. Like Ghosh's book, it helps to know a little of the history of Russia, Serbia, and the Khazars, but it isn't necessary. Enjoy it for the incredible beauty of the writing. Kudos to the translator, who did a terrific job.
    Reread? When?
    
    
    
28. The Diving Pool - Ogawa Yoko
    
    Borrowed? From a certain Chan.
    Recommended? This is an eerily beautiful book. I'm amazed that I've never heard of this writer. I highly recommend the writer and her works. One of the few pieces of fiction that I will consider adding to my considerably overburdened bookshelves.
    Reread? Yes, but when, dammit.
    
    
29. The End of the War - Romen Bose
    
    Borrowed? No.
    Recommended? Bose writes about the aftermath of WW II in Singapore, and does a good job. For those interested in the history of that era and locale, this is a useful book.
    Reread? Probably not.
    
    
30. The Feckin' Book of Irish Insults - Murphy and O'Dea
    
    Borrowed? No.
    Recommended? Well, this was highly amusing.
    Reread? Maybe.
    
    
    
31. The Inmates Are Running The Asylum - Alan Cooper
    
    Borrowed? No.
    Recommended? Although anyone who's ever used software will agree with much of this book, parts of it read like Alan Cooper wants you to use HIS firm to analyze YOUR software! Annoyingly preachy and could have benefited from being about a third shorter.
    Reread? No.
    
    
32. The Malayan Union Controversy - Albert Lau
    
    Borrowed? No.
    Recommended? Academic treatise on a certain period in British Malaya's colonial history. An excellent book, but not of general interest.
    Reread? Probably not.
    
    
33. The Old Wine Shades - Martha Grimes
    
    Borrowed? Ms. Manitoba's vast collection of murder mysteries is responsible for this outrage.
    Recommended? Martha Grimes is an excellent writer, though not, in this Cat's opinion, a likely successor to Dorothy Sayers as the many reviewers cited in the book insist. This is an entertaining and readable book.
    Reread? No.
    
    
34. The Price of Peace - Foong Choon Hon, Ed.
    
    Borrowed? No.
    Recommended? A rather painful series of accounts, by people who lived through WW II in Malaya and Singapore, about their experiences of the Japanese occupation. Highly recommended but with reservations. War is ugly, and this book explains very well why.
    Reread? Probably not.
    
    
35. The Housekeeper and The Professor - Ogawa Yoko
    
    Borrowed? From a certain Chan.
    Recommended? Brilliant writer. This is an amazingly interesting book about ... mathematics. Srsly. It's hard to imagine a novelist capturing the imagination with a subject that has so often been decried as dry, impenetrable, abstruse, but capture Ms. Ogawa does, and not just one's imagination but one's fevered eyeballs as well. I couldn't put it down. No kidding.
    Reread? Definitely.
    
    
36. Three Cups of Tea - Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
    
    Borrowed? From a certain Chan.
    Recommended? Another must-read. This is the chronicle of Greg Mortenson's adventures in that part of the world where we are now sending even more troops to fight some ludicrous, undefined "war" that will benefit no one. Meanwhile, Mr. Mortenson is probably winning more friends and influencing more people from Pakistan to Afghanistan by the simple expedient of ... building schools. Relin captures Mortenson's naivete, frustrations, simplicity and most of all, his goodness. Read this book. It's another life-changing document and worth your money.
    Reread? YES.
    
    
37. Unit 731 - Peter Williams & David Wallace
    
    Borrowed? No.
    Recommended? Oh god. This book documents the doings of Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army. The doctors and scientists tasked with developing bacteriological and chemical weapons for the Japanese, that were tested on Chinese and Manchurian political prisoners and PoWs (including many European and American PoWs — I say this not because American and European lives are in any way more valuable than Chinese and Manchurian lives, but because of the denouement, the fate of the Japanese who ran Unit 731. After all, we tried the criminal Germans who experimented on the inmates of the concentration camps, right? Right. But we didn't try the Japanese who committed similar crimes. We let them go in return for their data, their live human experiments on women and babies and men who were members of an ethnic group that didn't deserve our consideration, I suppose. We told the American and European — oh, let's be honest — the white soldiers to shut the fuck up and denied them any compensation for their suffering or even a day in court, as is their right. And we took these secrets and turned these people loose to win high academic and professional awards from their grateful, if defeated, government and country. These war criminals continued to work in their various professions and were showered with accolades, and never held accountable for their crimes. Then we used their secret weapons, their tainted research, against the North Koreans and the Chinese in that bitter war. And we're surprised at how "paranoid" the North Koreans are. Jesus fucking Christ. This book is only for the strong of stomach. It was a bitter, depressing ordeal reading it. I'm glad I did, but be warned and keep your happy pills close to hand.
    Reread? Are you fucking kidding me? There aren't enough happy pills in the fucking universe to make me.
    
    
    
38. Vietnam Moment - Brenda Paik Sunoo and Ton Thi Thu Nguyet
    
    Borrowed? Ms. Manitoba to the rescue (??) yet again
    Recommended? A beautiful collection of poems/sayings of Vietnamese culture married to some beautiful photographs of VietNam, its colourful people and beautiful countryside.
    Reread? Probably. Someday.
    
    
39. War & Memory in Malaysia & Singapore - P. Lim Pui Huen, Diana Wong, Eds.
    
    Borrowed? No.
    Recommended? For those interested in the history of WW II, Malaysia and Singapore, Japan, war crimes, and the like. Grim subject.
    Reread? Only as needed.
    
    
40. You'll Die in Singapore - Charles McCormac
    
    Borrowed? No.
    Recommended? The author's account of his life as a PoW in Singapore.
    Reread? As needed.
    
    
41. You'll Never Get Off This Island - Keith Wilson
    
    Borrowed? No.
    Recommended? The author's account of his life as a PoW in Singapore.
    Reread? As needed.

Away We Go: Short Movie Review

Have you seen Away We Go yet? I just watched it (twice!) on DVD. I really liked it. The writing is very smart and warm ... and funny. The acting is very nearly perfect. It’s good, really good. I recommend it.

It was written by Dave Eggers and & Vendela Vida. Local writers.

Directed by Sam Mendes.

Maya Rudolph and John Krasinski are so very good in the main roles. But there are others who are wonderful too: Catherine O’Hara, Jeff Daniels, Allison Janney (who plays a very funny-crazy character), Jim Gaffigan, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Chris Messina, and Melanie Lynskey (chilling in The Shield).

Green Movie Making
If you get the DVD, make sure you watch the Special Feature about how they made the movie as “green” as possible. It was good to see that some filmmakers are working like this.

Disclaimer: Ms. Manitoba doesn't know anyone affiliated with this film. She has nothing to do with the studio, the distributor, or the guy that makes the popcorn. Zip. Nada. She just likes good movies.

No Little Tree car freshener for me ...

Ms. Manitoba is a woman of the *real* woods.

Happy Birthday, Jon Stewart !!

photographer unknown

Jon Stewart is one of our favorites here at TPC-CultureVultures. Have a great day, Jon!!!

From today's The Writer's Almanac (http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/) ...

It's the birthday of the comedian who has interviewed Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Jimmy Carter, John McCain, Tom Cruise, and Tom Hanks, and on whose show Senator John Edwards announced that he was running for president of the United States. Jon Stewart, (books by this author) the host of Comedy Central's The Daily Show, was born in New York City on this day in 1962. He was raised in New Jersey.

Stewart took over as the host of The Daily Show in January 1999. For the previous 15 years — since he'd graduated from college with a psychology degree — he had worked as a bartender, busboy, shelf-stocker, construction worker, soccer coach, puppeteer for children with disabilities, and he'd been employed by the State of New Jersey and the City University of New York.

All this time Stewart was trying to make it on the New York comedy scene. He lined up a gig at the Bitter End in Greenwich Village but was jeered off stage halfway through his act. Then he got a nightly 1:45 a.m. slot at the Comedy Cellar; his audience at first consisted mostly of the place's bartenders and staff. He became a friend and frequent guest on David Letterman's Late Night and was a candidate to replace him on NBC when Letterman left for CBS. Conan O'Brien got Letterman's spot in 1993, but Stewart got his own MTV show, which had the second-highest ratings on the network but was cancelled after two seasons. In 1999, Comedy Central's The Daily Show picked up Jon Stewart.

In 2007 a Pew Research poll indicated that Jon Stewart ranked as the 4th Most Admired Journalist — tying with Tom Brokaw, Brian Williams, Dan Rather, and Anderson Cooper. When Senator John Edwards announced his candidacy for president on The Daily Show, Stewart replied: "We're a fake show, so I want you to know this may not count."

Each morning on the day of the show, Stewart and the Daily Show team of writers gather for a morning meeting. They sift through material gathered via TiVo, Web sites, newspapers, and magazines looking for — as one show producer said — stories that "make us angry in a whole new way." In an article titled, "Is Jon Stewart the Most Trusted Man in America?" New York Times writer Michiko Kakutani reported on The Daily Show ritual: At lunchtime, Stewart is scrutinizing the jokes that will appear at the top of the night's show; by 3 p.m., a script has been written; at 4:15, there's rehearsal, followed immediately by rewrites; and then show is taped in front of a live audience in the studio at 6 p.m.

Stewart, who proposed to his wife through a crossword puzzle with the help of puzzlemaster Will Shortz, is also the author of a few books, including America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction (2004), which held the No. 1 New York Times Bestseller spot for 18 weeks in a row. He hosted the Academy Awards in 2006 and 2008.

Andrea Lewis, Rest in Peace

unknown photographer

Ms. Manitoba has just learned of the passing of journalist Andrea Lewis. She was respected and admired by so many people. It is a great loss.

To read an obituary in the San Francisco Chronicle, go here.

Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl

I'm reading this great book right now. Reichl is a good storyteller and this book is a memoir about part of her time with the NYTimes as a restaurant critic. Very interesting. Plus, she supplies recipes! What's not to like?

Want to know more about Ruth Reichl? Go here, oh compliant one.

Note: Ms. Manitoba has no affiliation with Ruth Reichl, her publisher, or the NYTimes. This is just a sincere recommendation.

Soupy Sales: R.I.P.

Yes, Ms. Manitoba has a fondness for Soupy Sales. He was damn funny! He was quirky and his show was very low budget. Yes, it was a children's show and I was a teenager... back then in the 60's ... but I'd watch it because he would throw out these zingers and he was so unpredictable. I like that in entertainers.

[We do Harold Pinter in one post, Soupy Sales in the next: we, too, are unpredictable.]

Remember White Fang, Black Tooth, and Pookie? How about Peaches, Philo Kvetch, and Onions Oregano? Willie the Worm?

Want to know more about him? Go here.

He once told this riddle (kids' show, mind you) ... what starts with F and ends in U-C-K? [long pause, some giggling in the studio] ... why FIRETRUCK, of course!!!

You just never knew what he was gonna do or say.

Happy Birthday, Harold Pinter! ... and R.I.P

From today's Writers Almanac ...

It's the birthday of playwright Harold Pinter, (books by this author) born on this day in 1930 in London. He is the author of The Birthday Party (1957), The Caretaker (1959), and Betrayal (1978). He once described the subject of his plays as "the weasel under the cocktail cabinet." He won the Nobel Prize in literature in 2005, and he died last December at the age of 78.

[We need more writers who will write about that damn weasel. -- msmanitoba]

Jack Kerouac Quote for Writers

photographer unknown

I want to work in revelations, not just spin silly tales for money. I want to fish as deep down as possible into my own subconscious in the belief that once that far down, everyone will understand, because they are the same as me that far down.
-- Jack Kerouac

Art: American Prayer Flags

Copyright April McDonald

Oakland artist April McDonald has kindly allowed this blog to post a virtual exhibit of her found art. It's not everybody who can turn out something so beautiful, political, powerful, and communicative with bits and pieces rescued from those who don't possess the wherewithal to see art in everyday things.

Copyright April McDonald

So much for Gertrude Stein's message about Oakland. There is a there there.

Copyright April McDonald

Armed with the everyday household implements of glue, stamps, scissors, thread, needle, and a few other materials, including rolls of felt of different colours, Ms. McDonald has found a way to create powerful images with a message:

Copyright April McDonald

Is there a gallery out there that will host these prayer flags?

Copyright April McDonald

Some of the messages are downright subversive:

Copyright April McDonald

If you know of a gallery that is looking for local artists' exhibits of their work, please let us know.



We will be posting more from this artist soon:

Copyright April McDonald

All images in this post are the property of April and Ian McDonald. Please respect their copyright, and do not reproduce these images without the express permission of the artists. Photos by Ian McDonald. Copyright April and Ian McDonald.

Parks: The Beauty and Bounty of Nature

Tree in Henry W. Coe State Park, copyright Cynthia Leeder

If you didn't already know, PBS is running Ken Burns' documentary on the National Parks system in the USA this week, titled The National Parks: America's Best Idea. You can see video clips from the documentary right here.

Wildflowers along the road, Henry W. Coe State Park, copyright Cynthia Leeder

Fellow-blogger FoTPC, who often writes a particularly good post or the other over at our sisterblog, ThePoliticalCat, has managed to persuade her good friend, photographer Cynthia Leeder, to contribute two beautiful photographs of one of her favourite parks, Henry W. Coe State Park, for our use. Please note that these photographs are copyrighted, and the copyright is owned by Ms. Leeder. Please respect her copyright and do not reuse these photographs without Ms. Leeder's express permission. Thank you.

We at this blog have plans to hike Henry Coe as soon as our knees are up to it. For those of you who don't already know, both ThePoliticalCat and Ms. Manitoba, your hosts at this blog, have recently had a knee replacement. We're assured that we can soon hike longer distances and rougher terrain. Both of which constitute some of Henry Coe's finer features.

If you haven't visited Henry W. Coe State Park, we encourage you to get off your duffs and go there! California Governor is trying to shut down much of the state's beautiful park system. What a shame! California has an abundance of State and Federal parks, and for those of us not wealthy enough to own sufficient land to showcase the beauties of nature, the park system, State and Federal, is one of the few places where one may go and enjoy nature in all her beauty. A good hike is a fine way to get much-needed exercise, and the view is hella better than the one from your treadmill if you're not one of those who is rich enough to own a home that has access to this beauty.

Many thanks to the lovely Ms. Leeder for sharing her photographs with us. As representatives of the hoi polloi, may we just say that these incredibly beautiful photographes give us a much-needed frisson of delight, a break from contemplating the daily pain-in-the-ass that politics and the news inflict on us.

L'Shanah Tova!

(c) 2009 K. Smokey Cormier

Ms. Manitoba wishes all of you a good and sweet year!!! May we all have more peace in our lives.

Music: The Amazing Blondel

You might say the denizens of La Casa de Los Gatos are mightily fond of the delicate plucking of stringed instruments. Lutes, sarod, pi-pa, shamisen. We love them all. Combined with the delicate breathing of some dulcet wind instrument, say, a flute, and bringing life to a creation of Renaissance/prog rock, one achieves The Amazing Blondel.

Here in part, Fantasia Lindum:



Swifts and Swains, Leafy Lanes and God Must Doubt. It makes us long to visit Lincolnshire, the land to which this album is an homage. Lindum is the Latin name of the town of Lincoln, set in verdant Lincolnshire, as the video clip shows.

Canning Season

(c) 2007 K. Smokey Cormier

Taken at the Edible Schoolyard in Berkeley, Ca.

Fresh Air: All Week It's Animals!

ANIMAL LOVERS ... Fresh Air is a public radio -- radio program hosted by the fabulous Terry Gross. This week Terry is interviewing people about animals -- all week.
To get to the Fresh Air website so that you can listen to the shows on your computer, go here.

EAT REAL in Oakland, CA

The Eat Real Food Festival is happening in Oakland this weekend. For those of you who live close by, I hope you go. There's some really good food there and other good stuff.

Here are some photos from the festival ...

All photos (c) 2009 K. Smokey Cormier

Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with any of the businesses or with Eat Real Food Festival. I'm just a loyal citizen in Oakland.

The folks at California Canoe and Kayak are really nice. I've rented a kayak from them a couple of times and went out with my daughters -- great fun!

Santa Cruz: Back from our annual trip

Ms. Manitoba loves Santa Cruz. I take my daughters there every year before school starts and we have a wonderful time. We go with a long-time friend who is an auntie to my daughters.

This year we wondered if we should go -- there's a forest fire north of Santa Cruz and two of us have asthma. But we decided to head there and leave if it was smokey.

Our tradition is to ride the Haunted Castle first.

It's old timey and not scary to me ... but is for my 12-year old.

My favorite rides: Crazy Surf (I once rode this 7 times in a row), Pirate Ship, bumper cars, Sea Swings (new this year), Logger's Revenge, Ferris Wheel, and the sky ride that takes you from one end of the boardwalk to the other (don't know the name).

I felt like you could see the economy affecting this tourist spot ... the beach didn't have as many people as there were in the past.




I can't ride the Cyclone ... but the others love it.



And a caramel apple is a favorite.



I love the Boardwalk. Love the classic rock they play. Love the arcades -- I get to play pinball which I love! And Skee-ball.


We had two fun-filled days. Then on Friday morning (8/21/09) it got very smokey. We checked out of our motel and left right away. It's supposed to be 90% contained now. It really depends on which way the wind is blowing. Like so many things ...

Book List 2009 August Update

Photograph copyright K. Smokey Cormier

This is what the list looks like now:

Book List 2009

1. A History of Cambodia - David Chandler
   
2. A House in Gross Disorder - Cynthia B. Herrup
   
3. A Point of Light - Zhou Mei
   
4. A Spy's Revenge - Richard V. Hall
   
5. A Will For Freedom - Romen Bose
   
6. Agnes Smedley - J.R. & S.R. MacKinnon
   
7. Apache Sunrise - Jerome Boyle
   
8. Armed Communist Movements in Southeast Asia - Lim Joo Jock, Vani S., Eds.
   
9. Asian Labour In The Japanese Wartime Empire - Paul Kratoska, Ed.
   
10. Beating the Blues - Thase & Lang
    
11. Bird by Bird - Anne Lamott
    
12. Black Dog of Fate - Peter Balakian
    
13. Captains of Consciousness - Stuart Ewen
    
14. Chinese Customs - Henri Dore
    
15. Colonial Masculinity - Mrinalini Sinha
    
16. Comet In Our Sky: Lim Chin Siong in History - Tan Jing Quee and Jomo K.S., Eds
    
17. Daniel Deronda - George Eliot
    
18. Dictionary of the Khazars - Milorad Pavic
    
19. Extraordinary Popular Delusions - Charles Mackay
    
20. Finnegan's Wake - James Joyce
    
21. First Person Singular - Joyce Carol Oates
    
22. Folklore of Tamil Nadu - S.M.L. Lakshman Chettiar
    
23. From Pacific War to Merdeka - James Wong Wing On
    
24. Gandhi's Truth — On the Origins of Militant Nonviolence - Erik H. Erikson
    
25. How I Adore You - Mark Pritchard
    
26. In Pursuit of Mountain Rats - Anthony Short
    
27. In The Grip of a Crisis - Rudy Mosbergen
    
28. Incursion: From America's Chokehold on the Nva Lifelines to the Sacking of the Cambodian Sanctuaries - J.D. Coleman
    
29. Into Cambodia - Keith William Nolan
    
30. Kinabalu Guerrillas - Maxwell Hall
    
31. King Rat - James Clavell
    
32. Kranji - Romen Bose
    
33. Labour Unrest in Malaya - Tai Yuen
    
34. Life As The River Flows - Agnes Khoo
    
35. Living Hell - Goh Chor Boon
    
36. Malaya and Singapore During the Japanese Occupation - Paul H. Kratoska, Ed.
    
37. Meena, Heroine of Afghanistan - Melody Ermachild Chavis
    
38. Minorities of the Sino-Vietnamese Borderland - Maurice Abadie
    
39. Nakshi Kantha of Bengal - Sila Basak
    
40. Niels Lyhne - Jens Peter Jacobsen
    
41. Nonsense - Robert J. Gula
    
42. No Cowardly Past - James Puthucheary
    
43. Odd Man Out: The Story of the Singapore Traitor - Peter Elphick & Michael Smith
    
44. Orientalism - Edward W. Said
    
45. Outwitting the Gestapo - Lucie Aubrac
    
46. Pearl S. Buck, A Cultural Biography - Peter Conn
    
47. People's War, People's Army - Vo Nguyen Giap
    
48. Primitive Art - Frank Boas
    
49. Prometheus Rising - Robert Anton Wilson
    
50. Raffles - Maurice Collins
    
51. Reading Lolita In Teheran - Azar Nafisi
    
52. Red Star Over Malaya - Cheah Boon Kheng
    
53. Rethinking Raffles - Syed Muhd. Khairudin Aljunied
    
54. Rosie - Anne Lamott
    
55. Sabah Under The Rising Sun Government - Stephen R. Evans
    
56. Satyajit Ray: The Inner Eye (The Biography Of A Master Film-Maker - Andrew Robinson
    
57. Screenwriting 434 - Lew Hunter
    
58. Shanghai Refuge, A Memoir of the WWII Jewish Ghetto - Ernest G. Heppner
    
59. Sherpas Through Their Rituals - Sherry B. Ortner
    
60. Singapore:Journey Into Nationhood
    
61. Singapore & The Many-Headed Monster - Joe Conceicao
    
62. Singapore The Air-Conditioned Nation - Cherian George
    
63. Singapore's People's Action Party: Its History, Organization and Leadership - Pang Cheng Lian
    
64. Sisters in the Resistance - Margaret Collins Weitz
    
65. Strangers Always A Jewish Family in Wartime Shanghai - Rena Krasno
    
66. Stress and Mental Health in Malaysian Society - Tan Chee Khuan
    
67. The Art of the Novel - Milan Kundera
    
68. The Autobiography of An Unknown Indian - Nirad C. Chaudhary
    
69. The Bengal Muslims 1871 - 1906 - Ahmed
    
70. The Birth of Vietnam - Keith Weller Taylor
    
71. The British Humiliation of Burma - Terence R. Blackburn
    
72. The Devil Finds Work - James Baldwin
    
73. The Emergence of Modern Turkey - Bernard Lewis
    
74. The End of the War - Romen Bose
    
75. The Gift - Lewis Hyde
    
76. The Lives of Agnes Smedley - Ruth Price
    
77. The Old Wine Shades - Martha Grimes
    
78. The Malayan Union Controversy 1942-1948 - Albert Lau
    
79. The Mak Nyahs Malaysian Male to Female Transexuals - Teh Yik Koon
    
80. The March of Folly From Troy To Vietnam - Barbara W. Tuchman
    
81. The Mind's I - Hofstadter & Dennett
    
82. The Plague - Albert Camus
    
83. The Political Economy of Social Control in Singapore - Christopher Tremewan
    
84. The Price of Peace - Foong Choon Hon, Ed.
    
85. The Remembered Village - M.N. Srinivasan
    
86. The Right To Die - Humphry-Wickett
    
87. The Rise & Fall of the Knights Templar - Gordon Napier
    
88. The Tin Drum - Gunther Grass
    
89. The Ugly Chinaman - Bo Yang
    
90. The Ultimate Guide to Chinese Tea - Bret Hinsch
    
91. The Way of All Flesh - Samuel Butler
    
92. Time Bombs in Malaysia - Lim Kit Siang
    
93. Virtual Reality - Howard Rheingold
    
94. Vietnam: A Long History - Nguyen Khac Vien
    
95. Vietnam & America: The Most Comprehensive Documented History of the Vietnam War - Gettleman, et al
    
96. Vietnam Moment - Brenda Paik Sunoo and Ton Thi Thu Nguyet
    
97. War & Memory in Malaysia & Singapore - P. Lim Pui Huen, Diana Wong, Eds.
    
98. Who Won The Malayan Emergency - Herbert Andrew
    
99. Witness to an Era - Frank Moraes
    
100. Women in the Holocaust - Dalia Ofer, Lenore J. Weitzman, Eds.
     
101. Writers' Workshop in a Book - Cheuse and Alvarez
     
102. You'll Die in Singapore - Charles McCormac
     
103. You'll Never Get Off This Island - Keith Wilson
     
104. Your Memory: A User's Guide - Alan Baddeley

What can I say? The fucking list keeps growing. Am I reading fast enough to keep up? Probably not. The only hope I have left is, I've got a two-week vacation coming up, and I plan to pack a minimum of 25 books to take with me. With no tasks to fulfil - no phone calls, email, food shopping or preparation, laundry, doctors' visits, physical therapy, ad nauseam — I should be able to read a minimum of 25 books, don'tchathink? Maybe I should pack 30 books. Sigh.