East meets West

Michael over at Innocent Bystanders posted this a while back.

To build harmony, trumpet America’s melodies.

A frequent comment from Afghans who saw the performance in Kabul was, “Your concert makes us feel normal again.” If you factor in local musicians performing these genres together with a handful of American soloists or, better yet, fusing their traditional music with ours, it becomes especially powerful.

There is still a deep well of appreciation for our culture and ideals. It would be wise public policy to nurture this appreciation. Through artistic dialogue, we can lead one another out of the gathering darkness of mutual distrust. The possibilities for this type of exchange are endless, and Americans, more than any others, have the means and the imperative to continue the communication.

You can read the whole thing. Michael puts this in context of a culture war, which I don’t completely disagree with. I see it as more of a transaction whereby both parties increase their wealth, though.

Take rai for instance. Rai is a fusion of western dance and rock beat with Algerian and Arabic melodies. It’s not bad. Here – I’ll post an example for you:

John Scalzi on George Lucas

Heh.

That’s harsh. Not wrong. But harsh.

If you do a little digging on the internet tubes, you can find the original screenplay for Star Wars entitled “The Star Wars”.  It’s proof of everything Scalzi has to say. Seriously, it’s no wonder Lucas couldn’t get financing for the original story.

Regime Change in North Korea

The Australian says that’s the word in the street in Beijing.

I have my doubts. I could be wrong about this, but if China was serious about NK not having the bomb, NK would not have the bomb.

Good fences, good neighbors?

Ace on Border Fences being built.

He asks: “Isn’t it funny how America and Israel just don’t seem to have the rights the rest of the world has?”

No, what’s funny is that we’re the only ones who care what the rest of the world thinks about how we enforce our borders.

Review – Thank You for Smoking – DVD

Jason Reitman, son of Ivan Reitman, adapted and directed this movie, based on the novel by William F. Buckley’s son Christopher.  Initial reaction – the apples didn’t fall far from the trees.

The parts I didn’t laugh at, I was chuckling at. The insider’s view of Washington, the father-son dynamic, the clever but not over the top graphics, it was all good. I was sorry I didn’t catch it in the theatre to bump up the gross an extra seven bucks.

Highly recommend. Great performances from Aaron Eckhart, William H. Macy and J.K. Simmons.

Reviews – Heroes – TV

Ok, I’ve been following this new show and I can say two things about it:

1. It’s good.

2. It’s taking its sweet time developing the story.

NBC just picked it up to finish out the season and that’s a smart choice. I’m not sure that I’ll be as sucked in as I am with ABC’s Lost, but it’s solid.

Lunch blogging

I think it was Benjamin Franklin who said, “Beer is proof that God loves you and wants you to be happy.” Or maybe it was Dave Barry. I get them confused. Anyhoo, I’d like to offer as corollary that Butter Chicken and Chicken 65 may mean that Shiva is also fond of you. Just saying. I could eat my weight in that stuff.

As far as I know, Allah still wants you dead.

Rare Meteorite Found in Kansas

Lionel Luthor was unavailable for comment.

Still…this is a cool little story. Ground penetrating radar, eh? I gotta get one of those. You know, in case I ever need to…well, okay I don’t know what I’d use it for. But it would be cool to have in the garage.

New to the Blogroll

You know what’s delightful? Finding a new blog, or new to you blog, that’s so well written you just keep scrolling and scrolling.

We’re adding Stephen Browne’s Rants and Raves.

Interesting thoughts from a guy who’s lived all around the world and isn’t bad at telling you about it. I liked his Random Thoughts post too and will post an excerpt apropos of the Kevlarchick thing below:

And speaking of wisdom expressed in brief remarks, has anyone ever defined love better than Robert Heinlein? “Love is when another person’s happiness is essential to your own.” And the earthy, descriptive corollary, “Love is what goes on when you’re not horney.”

And Raymond Chandler on manhood; when a woman asks Phillip Marlow, “How can a man who is so tough be so gentle?”

“If I weren’t tough, I wouldn’t be alive. If I couldn’t be gentle, I wouldn’t deserve to be alive.”

I recently quoted this is a class, and I swear I heard sighing around the room from several women.

I’m so there with my ten bucks

John at Analog Kid has the scoop on 300, with trailers AND a VDH link.

Trailer is safe for work, but I dropped the f-bomb three times while watching it.

I’m so there. Next March? Sigh.

Kevlarchick on Men

Or rather on manliness and its antithesis.

Rather than comment on this myself, I’ll just quote Lili Taylor from Say Anything:

Corey:Don’t be a guy, Lloyd, be a man. The world is full of guys.

“One of those “Huh – well waddayaknow?” moments”

Over at Enas Yorl’s. Sci-fi + Mormonism = Battlestar Galactica? I googled it up too; it’s no felgerkarb.

Speaking of the LDS, Muslihoon “came out” last week as a latter-day saint, in a remarkably short (for him) post. I mean, the guy could write 200 pages on use of the word “kalb” in Arab literature and make it interesting. But about his metaphorical hejira from Mecca to Deseret, he just gives a few sentences. Ah well, I guess there’s a price for maintaining internet anonymity.

Travel Tip from Elzbth

Things not to do in Kenya.

Good to know.

Dr. Seuss – The Not So Kid-Friendly Edition

For many of us the only Doctor Seuss we ever knew was the one that our parents read to us growing up. What is not very well known is that Dr. Seuss created hundreds of cartoons supporting the war effort during the 1940s. Here is a side of the man that many of us never saw. Dr. Seuss Went to War, presented by the University of California, San Diego, has brought them together in one place. Enjoy.

Captain Tuttle

Every Once In A While

Every once in a while you hear about a website that begs to be posted. This particular site was mentioned in a conference I attended today. My colleagues, Dex and Conger, tend to become rather passionate over the issue of politics. With that in mind, I present to you The Livingroom Candidate, a collection of presidential campaign commercials from the last fifty years.

Enjoy

CaptainTuttle