May 17, 2008 archive

Pablo Neruda was a Chilean born poet, who had a diplomatic career, and was politically actively. A life long leftist, he was a communist who at one time extolled the virtues of Stalin and like many came to regret that. Neruda had to go into hiding at one point in his life.

He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971.

Read about Neruda here, here, and here.

So what are y’all doing this weekend? I have to balance fun with duty somehow. The house looks like a colony of giant rats has taken over.

Please don’t rec pony party, hang out, chit chat, and then go read the excellent offerings on our recent and rec’d list.

Unlike A Flopping Fish Politician The News Here Is As It Should Be

Straight Forward

Saturday’s Headlines:  Obama Strikes Back at Bush On Diplomacy    Razor-sharp concertina wire installed at U.S.-Mexico border     Burma ‘guilty of inhuman action’   Beijing open to foreign aid and scrutiny in wake of tragedy    68% of Italians want Roma expelled – poll   EU may force car makers to reveal emissions in adverts    How picture phones have fuelled frenzy of honour killing in Iraq    Lebanese leaders gather in Qatar    Displaced Kenyans balk at government push to go home   Famine Looms as Wars Rend Horn of Africa    Shakira, other Latin American stars sing for their cause — ALAS

U.S. Planning Big New Prison in Afghanistan

WASHINGTON – The Pentagon is moving forward with plans to build a new, 40-acre detention complex on the main American military base in Afghanistan, officials said, in a stark acknowledgment that the United States is likely to continue to hold prisoners overseas for years to come.

The proposed detention center would replace the cavernous, makeshift American prison on the Bagram military base north of Kabul, which is now typically packed with about 630 prisoners, compared with the 270 held at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

Until now, the Bush administration had signaled that it intended to scale back American involvement in detention operations in Afghanistan. It had planned to transfer a large majority of the prisoners to Afghan custody, in an American-financed, high-security prison outside Kabul to be guarded by Afghan soldiers.

This quote is just beautiful writing, and a fascinating question I cannot answer about greatness.

I watched Springsteen very closely when he performed “Born to Run” toward the end of the show. I watched the close-ups of his face on the video screen, and I watched the way he moved around the stage, and I listened carefully to the pitch of his voice. My God, how many times has Bruce Springsteen performed this song by now? The album “Born to Run” came out in 1975, almost 33 years ago, and he performed the song even before the album came out. So has he performed it live 5,000 times? I’ll bet it’s been more. Maybe 7,500 times? Maybe 10,000 times?

There are certain professional things we have all done thousands of times. I know truck drivers who have driven more than three million miles. We all do. We know doctors who have delivered thousands of babies, and mechanics who have fixed thousands of cars, and chefs who have grilled thousands of steaks and all that. But Springsteen’s repetitions is a little different, and not just because Springsteen gets paid a lot more money to sing “Born to Run”, and not just because he gets many more perks and shrieking women and whatever. It’s because every single time Bruce Springsteen performs that song, there are thousands and thousands of people in the crowd that want a transcendent moment. That’s his song, but it’s also our song, it has meant something important to countless people. We will know if he means it.

I told you not to do that

A man in Gifu who was arrested for theft and traffic violations got himself into deeper trouble after setting fire to a futon at the police station where he was being held.

A 41-year-old Tochigi man was arrested for making some 8,000 “silent phone calls” to his 30-year-old ex-girlfriend after she broke up with him last July.

What’s the kanji for “Wear goggles, you idiot!”?

Ikea Japan has agreed to modify its instruction manuals after a Chiba man suffered a serious eye injury from a cracked screw while assembling a chest of drawers.

It was revealed that the Japan Swimming Federation is in a “crisis” over a new brand of Speedo that it says gives foreign competitors an unfair advantage.

Primero…go read smackdown goodness!

Proximo: Random tube seventies centric surfology loosely to do with bass lines and blamelessly inspired by Robyn’s mention of Nilsson. Could these be the absolute best bass lines evaahhh???

No.

Surely not.

Not even close, AAMOF, as you are about to prove in the comments! Show me up and dress me down….just don’t call me Shirley! But this first vid is surely the best bass song evah!

Obligatory YouTube — The Harptones “OOH Wee Baby”:

I was reading NLinStPaul’s essay, Full-Blooded Americans and I read the linked article as well as the comments in the article, most of which agreed that heritage and culture and background were very important.

Reminded me of an old Jewish story from A Treasury of Jewish Folklore edited by Nathan Ausubel:

Usually the orthodox rabbis of Europe boasted distinguished rabbinical geneaologies, but Rabbi Yechiel of Ostrowce was an exception.  He was the son of a simple baker and he inherited some of the forthright qualities of a man of the people.

Once, when a number of rabbis had gathered at some festivity, each began to boast of his eminent rabbinical ancestors.  When Rabbi Yechiel’s turn came, he replied gravely, “In my family, I’m the first eminent ancestor.”

His colleagues were shocked by this piece of impudence, but said nothing.  Immediately after, the rabbis began to expound Torah.  Each one was asked to hold forth on a text culled from the sayings of one of his distinguished rabbinical ancestors.

One after another the rabbis delivered their learned dissertations.  At last it came time for Rabbi Yechiel to say something.  He arose and said, “My masters, my father was a baker.  He taught me that only fresh bread was appetizing and that I must avoid the stale.  This can also apply to learning.”

And with that Rabbi Yechiel sat down.

Last week I wrote about smashing idols.

Full-blooded Americans.  Aristocrats.  The Rich.  The Famous.  I guess here I would add “The Familiar.”