Sleep deprivation + lots of caffeine
(to the tune of Joni Mitchell's Both Sides Now)

The search for knowledge, the search for truth
Solid like a picture from a photo booth
The underlying cause, the defining proof
I’ve looked at science that way


But there are factors our reductionistic models omit
And human bias and corruption that make you want to quit
And phenomena it doesn’t fit
Science has limits that way


I’ve looked at science from both sides now
As skeptic and believer, and still somehow
I find it a useful heuristic,
So it’s to the methods of science I’ll stick.

(There's a second verse, too, about god, but I haven't written it yet. But there's a pattern.)
- posted by k @ 8:07 PM

 
In other news
I am thinking about joining (as in becoming a member) at the Harvest Co-op where I shop. It's $25 a year, but you get discounts and a dividend of some sort at some (annual) point. I pretty much always shop there unless I need a (highly processed) item of some sort that they don't carry. For example, I had to go to Shaw's to get a refill on Marmite.

But they have bulk spices and the widest selection and lowest prices on fake meat products (in some cases $2 less than Shaw's). It goes a long way for my quality of life.

I am still having ambivalence about becoming a member of the UU I go to every week. Maybe they should have bulk spices.
- posted by k @ 4:05 PM

 
Blog: dead?

• Until recently, I haven't had anything to say other than posting an article with a few comments, which is easier to do and finds a larger audience when I do it on Facebook. However, especially given the now-large number of people who can see my profile on Facebook (by Facebook's standards, all "friends," but in real life many acquaintances, several colleagues, etc.) there are some things that just don't seem to fit there. Such as the following highly personal revelations:

• Christmas music: A) I don't mind it as much this year because I figure it's a way of fighting off the cold and dark. But in regards to music that is piped in to public places: I still DO NOT WANT any Kenny G muzak (as I was subjected to in the airport). And never, never any form of Carol of the Bells or Little Drummer Boy. At least it seems like more of this piped-in xmas music has been secular/seasonal and mellow (e.g. "let it snow," "it's cold outside"). B) The real upside of christmas music is that people (including me) get to hear more different kinds of (ok, western classical) music (and probably more live music) from the rest of the year. I think for many people, this is the only time they hear renaissance music, brass quintets, etc (for some people even choirs and orchestras). So for many people they associate these sounds with christmas, but at least they are getting to hear and appreciate it. And I like hearing all these different textures, too. And maybe I can find some free concerts.
  

• Today in a waiting room I came across the November issue of Saveur magazine for the first time. It is gorgeous. It is the magazine I have always been looking for but didn't even know it. I have never felt this way about a magazine before. From the title I thought it would be a stupid snobby food magazine, but then I saw the splash about "Autumn's Tastiest Vegetable!" Inside the organization is something beautiful and innovative as well: there's a feature on Japanese udon noodles that includes a travel piece to a place in Japan known for them, food writing about udon, a recipe for making Udon at home, possibly something about their history and different ways they can be served! Likewise a piece on Catalan cooking features stories about the people and their food, recipes (including a recipe for salsify and chicken). And then there is a sidebar about salsify! And then another about how and where to find it in the US!! !!!! And of course writing about regional American food, too, including an article on the origins of the green bean casserole (which includes an anecdote about the queen of Iran!) and a recipe for it (not involving a canned soup). And a story about NPR food people! It is not a vegetarian magazine, but it is respectful of vegetables. It is about the sensuality of food, but it understands that this means colors, textures, flavors, contrasts--not necessarily drowning everything in butter, foie gras, etc! As far as I can tell it is respectful to the people and cultures it visits. And it is not snobby! Humble home-made foods are extolled alongside restaurant cuisine. And the pictures of food are beautiful, but they are also appropriately not food porn--nor do they appear tarted up or elaborately "staged". And the website had an article on South Indian cooking which not only failed to offend me but taught me things I was glad to know--and then I saw they byline: Madhur Jaffrey! Who are the geniuses who put this magazine together? Where does its vision and guidance come from? How long as it been in publication? What horrible secret is it hiding?
  

- posted by k @ 4:37 PM

 
Thoughts on reading Narayan's Ramayan
Since Diwali is coming up, I went to the library to find an English Ramayan to read. My criteria were: in English, not too long, not too scholarly (emphasis on narrative), preferably by an Indian author/translator, and more-or-less faithful to the canon (i.e. no embellishments, and subtractions only for the sake of length and clarity). The best thing I found that met these criteria (and wasn't away in the book depository) was this:



R.K. Narayan, 1971, Penguin Classics (a newer edition is available, too, with a neat cover).

It is pretty short and reads easily with an emphasis on telling the story (i.e. moving the narrative along). There are occasional notes from the author ("here the poet revels in the details of the procession...") but no footnotes or other scholarly formalities. Rather than being based on Valimiki's (400 BCE) version, it is adapted from the retelling of the 11th century (CE/AD) Tamil poet Kumban. Fair enough, I suppose. As far as I can tell (which is admittedly not very far) the story is the same.

Why read the Ramayan, anyway?

• It's just a great story, and works on several levels. Family drama and emotions that are understandable across time and cultures, a great adventure story, fascinating mythological figures on par with any in the Greco-Roman stories, difficult choices for noble heroes, etc.

• Because it's such a great story, it has inspired all kinds of art (paintings, sculpture, decorative arts, music, dance) for centuries all over South and South East Asia. Knowing the story gives one a background to better appreciate and understand such art and allusions--just as knowing the story of Romulus and Remus explains why there are all those bizarre wolf-suckling twins carved across Europe.
  

• It may contain wisdom that is relevant even today. However, I'm not sure how much of this comes across in Narayan's version because it is shortened--makes sense given the audience he was aiming for. For example, on the eve of his scheduled coronation, Ram is given extensive advice by his father, King Dasarath. After a few of Dasarath's sentences, Narayan clips it, saying "He went on thus for some time and then ended the meeting." I am rather curious to see more of what his advice was. This is as if someone telling the story of Hamlet said only "And then Polonius gave Hamlet some advice.

On the other hand, can useful lessons be inferred just from the bones of the story? The positions the characters make, the choices they make and their repercussions? Possibly.

Someday I would love to do a Humanist reading of the Ramayan. I think this kind of re-interpretation/re-understanding happens to Judeo-Christian texts and stories in UU churches a lot. So far, I think one promising angle is Manthara. If we understand her, rather than as a character, as the internal voice of greed and fear, then suddenly the story goes from being a mythological soap opera to being a reminder of the dangerous smallness the human spirit can succumb to when threatened. How else could the situation have been dealt with? What can we do when we hear our inner Manthara whispering to us?

I would also be interested in exploring what/how "duty" can be understood in a modern, humanistic context. No ideas yet on that one.


Finally, one of the things that can be problematic when reading the Ramayan (as with any ancient text, I suppose) is the view and role of women. It is hard to know how much of the patriarchical stuff was interpolated in later and how much is original. It's certainly not as bad as it could be in that many female characters are strong, have agency, can be either "good" or "evil" or even both/transition. But pretty much across the board the female characters in the story get the short end of the stick.

But fortunately, the Ramayan is still inspiring artistic interpretations, and the latest that I know of is cartoonist Nina Paley's retelling from Sita's point-of-view: Sita Sings the Blues. I have seen a short clip of this a few years ago and look forward to seeing the whole thing (it was hard to see Ram as a "dumb jock," but I will reserve further comment until I can see the complete work).



- posted by k @ 8:28 PM

 
Great Performances at the Met
Partly, I am posting to see if my title shows up on Billy's blogroll. My god, it might actually lead to people reading this. Which means I might have to actually think about what I'm saying. Which is contrary to the mission of this blog.

Oh well.

Anyway, I am currently watching the Met's recent production of Verdi's Macbeth, which is being broadcast as a special subseries of PBS' Great Performances. I found it already in progress while I was channel surfing. Looking at the series website, I realize I have actually run into 3 or 4 of these the same way. Every time, I have stayed to watch, amazed. Admittedly, I am the type of person who will often stop to watch an opera broadcast on TV, including the bits and pieces on Classic Arts Showcase.

But what really strikes me about these Met productions is...the productions! The staging and directing decisions are bold! innovative! applying modern theatrical approaches to a form considered by many to be stale and stagnant. And yet never gimmicky (at least as far as I have seen). Who is the artistic director behind this? Surely not James Levine?--I thought he just handled the music part.

For example, this Macbeth is set in post-WWII Europe (not unlike Geoffrey Tennant's Macbeth!) and I cannot even begin to describe to you the setting of their Fille du Regiment .

No, rather than being gimmicky, I find that these productions and re-settings help identify and relate to the audience what the work has captured about the human experience--which is universal (not across individuals, but across space and time). And in my opinion (I know others differ) that is the highest purpose of art.
- posted by k @ 6:01 PM

 
Things I have been saying all along (but it's good to hear them from someone else)
1. Speaking of Faith Interview with Greg Epstein. Greg Epstein is the Humanist chaplain at Harvard, and I think I will be sending him a (positive) email. In this interview he clearly distinguishes his "New Humanism" from the "New Atheism" of Dawkins, Hitchens, and a third guy. "Most non-religious people are not anti-religious," Epstein says in the interview. Thank goodness someone finally said this in a public forum! Also he emphasized how humanism is more about what we DO believe in (the human experience, human capacities, human development, etc.--finding meaning and purpose in life that are not contingent on supernatural explanations) that what we don't. (PS Speaking of Faith has an amazing amount of free content on their website--I recommend it).

2. Healthy foods don't have to be expensive (or highly processed). Here is the list: oats, eggs, kale, potatoes, apples nuts, bananas, garbanzo beans and broccoli. Most of these things are on my routine shopping list. I have to admit that although I have intended to buy oats, since I didn't have a convenient place to buy them in bulk (i.e. only as much as I needed rather than a whole large container) I have been buying instant oats. Potatoes and bananas I am ambivalent about because of carbohydrate content--the potatoes, if baked and not smothered in cheese kind of balance it out with fiber, but one banana counts as two servings of carbs. Garbanzo beans I used to buy regularly, then found I wasn't using, but I had been thinking of using them more. However, to my dismay I am finding cans of beans at $1.50+ rather than the 60-75cents I expected and preferred. Nuts are also not that cheap, unless you can buy them loose (i.e. in bulk).
- posted by k @ 7:37 PM

 
Things that suck
1. HWY 880. Any direction, any day of the week, any time of day.




2. Tomato salmonella scare and resulting lack of tomatoes in restaurants.


Things that is interesting:

Study finds depression can trigger diabetes
- posted by k @ 9:23 PM