| Fool Me Thrice
Dana Stevens finds the film disturbing and ingenious. Jody Rosen traces Sacha Baron Cohen's shtick back to vaudeville. Ilan Greenberg reports that Kazakhstan is lousy with journalists in search of the "real" Borat; Eric Weiner describes the "real" Kazakhstan. Check out a podcast that's designed to be listened to after you've seen the movie (there are spoilers galore) here. .
For the Love of Henry
Want to keep a secret? Don't tell Henry," she said. Rachel's first experience at motherhood went perfectly when she gave birth to daughter Lauryn in 1998. She expected the same when Henry came along June 15, 2002. "It was the absolutely most perfect day," she said. "A beautiful day, weirdly perfect." Her water broke at 5 a.m. They went to the hospital, and the anesthesiologist suggested that, because it was her second child, she probably would deliver rather quickly. Henry had other ideas, putting his mom through 16 painful hours before arriving at 9:01 p.m., and weighing nearly 11 pounds. When her physician asked if she had been on any kind of medications during her pregnancy, she knew something was, indeed, wrong. Then she saw her baby son.
Bryan Appleyard on art on the web
Go to town.hall.org/radio/HarperAudio and click on Wallace Stevens. Click on the first file. You will hear the voice of Stevens in old age reading The Idea of Order at Key West, one of the most perfect poems of our time – no, of any time. A shiver ran down my spine when I first did this. I’d never heard Stevens’s voice before. Not into poetry? Okay, go to YouTube and put "Picasso" in the search box. Click on the video entitled "Picasso is painting . . ." You will see a scene from a French documentary, showing a wry, half-naked Picasso dashing off a very odd picture. You prefer the history of ideas? Input "Foucault Chomsky". The first video shows Michel Foucault and Noam Chomsky debating on Dutch television – well, not so much debating as conducting competing monologues.
Chinese new year enjoys an early welcome
The Chinese calendar is based upon cycles of the moon, with the beginning of the year falling between late January and early February. Chinese timekeeping, meanwhile, is recorded in 12-year cycles. So, the Year of the Rat occurs once every 12 years. Many other Asian cultures also use this method to mark the passage of time. "This is our second Chinese new year celebration," said Bruce Lockard, director of Modesto's Maddux Youth Center. "We're building toward the big celebration Feb. 10 at the Centre Plaza." Lockard said anywhere from 400 to 500 people were expected to drop by the senior center Sunday, and the place was packed at midafternoon. Last year's inaugural program attracted about 300 people. The Modesto Parks and Recreation Department co-sponsored the event with help from the Modesto Chinese American Culture Club, Stanislaus Chinese Culture Society, Stanislaus Chinese Association and the Fantasia Performing Arts Center of Fremont.
January 2008 - Posts
Should be interesting to see how much pickup this little story gets. Apparently Mike Huckabee backers raised a reported $111,000 during a ministers' conference hosted by Kenneth Copeland Ministries in Newark, Texas. This could be problematic for two reasons. Read More... .
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