1. Outrage over Indian Muslim and Israeli player teamed for doubles. Outrage by whom? Where? The fact that the kind of people (i.e. extremists on both sides) who would care about this have enough media savvy and access to make it seem like it's a big deal is what's the problem. (Also the fact that whoever is writitng these stories didn't bother to specify exactly who is upset and to put that group in context.) Seriously, for the love of God, get over it. They are playing tennis. You are making yourself look bad.

2. You know, when you are in the middle of packing up or getting rid of all your belongings and removing all traces of yourself from a place, that's not the best time to read an article about Holocaust deportations.
- posted by k @ 1:16 AM

 
Wait a minute!

• Amy Winehouse isn't black??? I always pictured her looking like Macy Gray.

• There was bad news about aspartame (Equal, Nutrasweet) and cancer in rats but I don't have a link right now.
  

- posted by k @ 1:38 AM

 
"To make injustice the only measure of our attention is to praise the Devil."
Normally I don't click on ads. Because then you get a pop-up ad, right? And I try not to pay attention to the ones I'm supposed to watch to read Salon. However, today apparently someone's market research has allowed them to target me accurately, because I not only clicked on the ad, but am now thinking of actually paying for an advertised product.

Of course, before making a rash decision I've decided to blog about it.

The advertised product is Ode magazine, which doesn't seem to have an online version. Their tag line is "The magazine for intelligent optimists." Here is an elaboration on that from their editor:

" I believe it IS news when natural nutrients are shown to cure diseases better than commercial pharmaceuticals do.
I believe it IS news when people in villages and cities in countries that rarely make headlines stand up for their own culture, their own hopes and their own future, by opposing the juggernaut of multinational corporations seeking to take their resources and profit from their misery.
Here are two reasons why our mainstream media don’t agree with me:
Bad news sells - cynical news editors sum it up in the phrase, “If it bleeds, it leads…”
All major media in the US is owned by large, wealthy, multinational corporations, with huge investments in the way things are. "

That seems to make sense. I would read a magazine that brings us some of the good news that's not reported elsewhere. We all already know that hearing bad news all the time makes us fearful and anxious, which makes us more likely to support a totalitarian government, feel insecure and buy things we don't need, try to take a pill for everything as a first resort rather than a last resort--we all already know that, right? So it seems like a good idea to have a source of good news to counteract some of that. In particular I'm reminded of a line from Jack Gilbert:

"To make injustice the only measure of our attention is to praise the Devil."

This is a practical application of that, it seems like. And they even send you a CD of a guided meditation and plant a tree in your name, which makes it almost irresistable to me. $20 for 10 issues. Hmm. Would I have time to read this magazine? Are there other magazines I'd rather subscribe to? So I might not actually buy it, but I think I support the idea.
- posted by k @ 1:48 PM

 
Dates and Deadlines

• I promise you I only went there looking for the release date. Which is July 27, 2007.

• The last Harry Potter book comes out July 21, 2007.

• Therefore, we can infer that the deadline for my dissertation to be written up (at least a first draft) will be July 20, 2007. Logic prevails, once again.

• So I guess I will re-take the GRE in August.
  

- posted by k @ 3:56 AM

 
More of the same

• Research is now showing that five spices we've long savored just for their flavor are also nutritional powerhouses. Courtesy of yahoo.

• Today I saw/heard the Kaiser Chiefs' "Everything is average nowadays"--I was surprised, because based on this song I would say I liked their music, but based on "Ruby" (which has gotten so much airplay this year!) alone, I wouldn't. But the video to "Ruby" is cool. Do they exist in the US? Overall I'd probably still find them a little dark (lyrically) for my taste, but now I'm willing to listen to more of their stuff to see if I like it.

Labels: holistic nutrition, pop music

- posted by k @ 9:56 AM

 
Ever wonder how much caffeine is in stuff?
Here's a chart where you can see! Highlights: Coffee 135g, Tea 30g, Coke 46g, decaf coffee 5g.
- posted by k @ 1:08 AM

 
Spoonful of cinnamon helps blood sugar stay down
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Adding some cinnamon to your dessert may temper the blood sugar surge that follows a sweet treat, a new study suggests.
Researchers at Malmo University Hospital in Sweden found that adding a little more than a teaspoon of cinnamon to a bowl of rice pudding lowered the post-meal blood sugar rise in a group of healthy volunteers. [click title for full story]

I think cinnamon is also an anti-inflammatory, which may not be coincidental. Boy some people are going to feel stupid when ayurveda and chinese traditional medicine are shown effective in clinical trials.
- posted by k @ 2:36 PM

 
Ok, for a number of reasons I'm not going to get into right now, I think my next big thing is going to be a focus on anti-inflammatory foods and practices. I have felt for some time now that my various health...well, I wouldn't call them problems, but my health thingies...that they are somehow different symptoms of a systematic issue.

The good news is that what I have to do is what I'm already doing/planning to do

• Lose weight
• Exercise
• Avoid saturated fats, trans fats, simple sugars, nitrites, preservatives
  
• Don't avoid nuts, seeds, green vegetables, brightly colored fruits & veg, and whole grains
• Also good: ginger, garlic, turmeric, parsley, capsaicin (peppers)
  
• Omega-3s! Like you get from flaxseeds. I'm just saying.

The bad news is that some people suggest that members of the nightshade family should be avoided. These include potatoes, eggplant, and tomatoes. Gasp! I hope that's not true. The jury is still out.
- posted by k @ 1:36 PM

 
Why your kids expect to be rich (from MSN money)

- posted by k @ 6:06 AM

 
Why do gyms play such crappy music?
That is the title of a recent article/blog post on Salon (click the link above to read the article). This is an issue close to my heart, but I was surprised as I read the article. You see, some time ago I reconciled myself to the fact that music that's good for working out to is usually music that I would hate in any other part of my life. In fact, I find myself more and more often switching to the "thumpy-stupid" station (which is also the one that comes over the speakers) when I'm running at the gym. Music that's interesting may make you wonder where the beat is, or may take liberties (e.g. rubato, accelerando) with the tempo, or may feature cadenzas, caesuras, fermatas, etc. Consistently thumpy music doesn't let you wonder; there's the beat! THERE IT IS! RIGHT THERE! I cannot stand listening to "dance" music, but it has its purpose: it is so full of consistent thumpyness that if you don't move to it you will pretty much go crazy. The people who make it know this and design it thusly.

faster tempos help increase heart rate during exercise but also notes that the type of music, be it a "Wagner opera or a Red Hot Chili Peppers tune," doesn't really matter. Similarly, research from London's Brunel University shows that when people listen to synchronous music -- music that matches the rhythm of their exercise -- they can endure 20 percent more exertion,


I doubt you'd find sufficient tempos in Wagner, even though his music can be quite full of emotion and movement. Of course I nearly spit my tea onto the screen when I saw where some of this research has been done, but I guess it's not surprising since we have a whole department of Sport Sciences here. Anyway, I couldn't agree more. I can feel it when that happens--when my pace and the music are synched--and it really gives me a boost. The other thing that can give me a boost is if it's a song I know. So, as much as I hate to admit it, what I'm thinking will probably be the best workout mix for me is one of those cheesy "gay dance party" CDs. C'est la vie. Don't think of it a music, think of it as vitamins.
- posted by k @ 4:24 AM

 
Journey
I am listening to Ali Akbar Khan's crossover/world/fusion album, Journey on my iPod right now. It is a revelation.

In 2004, at Northern Public Radio's CD/Album sale in DeKalb Il, I was startled to find a copy of this album on CD and snapped it up for $5. If I recall correctly, I uploaded it to my laptop (was using RealPlayer then. because I didn't know better!), burned a copy for myself and gave the original away to someone in my family. (I think. or did I keep the original and give away the copy? I don't remember.) Anyway, I didn't really listen to it much on my laptop. Then in 2006 I received an iPod for my birthday and started using iTunes to manage music on my laptop; some time subsequent to that, possibly as recently as this September I downloaded software to convert .wma and realplayer files into mp3s so I could import them into iTunes. In that process I discovered that I had Journey on my laptop, converted it to mp3s and brought them into iTunes, and copied those files onto my iPod.

I've listened to it a couple of times on my laptop, but today possibly for the first time I am hearing it from my iPod and as I said above, it's absolutely a revelation. Like when you see the restored version of a classic film. For the first time, I am hearing the western instruments used throughout: piano, trap set, synthesizer, guitar--clearly and distinctly! Before I could only occasionally make them out, and I am sure I never noticed the guitar or synthesizer before.

And so, for the first time, I can hear and compare the Indian and Western elements overtly, rather than having the vague experience of its not being completely traditional and feeling that the 3-minute drum solo (drums, not tabla etc.) sticks out like a sore thumb. Actually hearing the synth or piano chords at various points in fact reinforces what thought and musicality must have gone into these pieces because (as far as I can tell) the Indian instruments are tuned to their own normal scale, which includes "quarter-tone" differences not found in the Western 12-tone scale, whereas the Western elements are tuned in the Western scale, and nevertheless they play together tunefully and harmoniously. The idiomatic articulations and rhythms in the Indian instruments are there, but when you listen behind them Western rhythms and accompaniment styles (as in the guitar bits) can be heard.

I always love listening to music though headphones, and especially with the sound quality and equalizer options my iPod gives, and for exactly this reason--it makes a close listening possible, as when you do a close reading of a text. Anything that was recorded, you can hear, should you choose to focus on it. You can zoom in and out with your mind's ear and follow only the tamborine, or harmony vocals, or hear the melody in a new way when it's all crystal clear and in stereo and going directly into your head.

And of course, one thing that remains the same in this experience and my original 1994(?) encounter with the album (on cassette tape!) is Ali Akbar Khan's playing. It's evocative, lyrical, intimate and virtuosic. Like...I don't know, Eric Clapton on guitar crossed with Itzakh Perlman on violin. Amazing at any sound quality. Reminds me, I would like to hear some of his straight-up classical stuff since I've enjoyed this hybrid album so much.
- posted by k @ 8:22 AM

 
Let's talk about sitcoms

1. Canada's Muslim sitcom answer to Goodness Gracious Me: Little Mosque on the Prairie.

Some excerpts from the interview on On The Media (gotta love that show):

BOB GARFIELD: [...] Since January, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has been airing Little Mosque on the Prairie, a comedy about a small Muslim congregation in rural Canada rubbing elbows with the local Christians, where headscarves, prayer mats and Islamic tradition all serve as props....Zarqa Nawaz is the creator of the show and Mary Darling its executive producer. They join me now. Zarqa, Mary, welcome to the show.

[...]

BOB GARFIELD: But I have to ask you this. In many ways, I think Little Mosque just exchanges one set of stereotypes for another batch, I mean, or at least typical one-dimensional sitcom characters. I mean, you’ve got the pretty one, you’ve got the venal one, you've got the almost-perfect one, your imam, you've got one zealot, and so on. There's not a whole lot of verisimilitude here. In that sense, have you really gained anything by way of genuine understanding?

ZARQA NAWAZ: Oh, absolutely. I mean, I would completely disagree with you. In fact, what we've done is created Muslims who are husbands and wives, who pay bills and raise their kids. We have never seen that Muslim on television ever before.

And I've had Americans come up to me and say, oh, my God, you know, I look at this bearded man; instead of now being afraid of bearded men when I see them on the street, I think that they're regular people, and you've taken away that fear that I used to have before, ‘cause all I ever would see on CNN or Fox or 24. They were the ones screaming and yelling, death to America and oppression to women, and that's all they were.

And yet, now you have a man in the show who's a single father, raising a daughter, struggling, having a difficult time, and it's changed my perception of you and your community. So absolutely, I would say it's done a lot for change.

BOB GARFIELD: Now you are in New York for an event at the Museum of Radio and Television. Last week, I guess, you were in Los Angeles at its Museum of Radio and Television for a panel about this program because it's generated so much interest. You're all about creating understanding, exploding stereotypes. And you go through this entire panel, and a woman stands up with the last question, and what does she say?

MARY DARLING: How do you feel about making a show that promotes terrorism?

BOB GARFIELD: [LAUGHS] And how do you drag yourself out of bed to go to work in the morning –

MARY DARLING: [LAUGHS] I have to, you know –

[OVERTALK]

BOB GARFIELD: - if that's what you're dealing with?

MARY DARLING: Obviously, you knew you touched a nerve. And I think the Jewish community has gone through this, the African-American community has gone through this. And through popular culture they've been able to erase some of the stereotypes about them. I know it sounds strange, but sitcoms are sort of a vehicle for a change in people's perceptions of an image of a group of people. And now it's our turn.

There you go. Sitcom as mechanism for consciousness-raising. If that's not co-opting the machine and using it for good, I don't know what is. Plus the killer bit about why this sort of thing is necessary ("How do you feel about making a show that promotes terrorism?"--that's a facepalm, right there).

Ok, so while I have actually been enjoying my year more-or-less without TV, I think there are going to be a couple of sitcoms I am going to take up.

1. One is Scrubs, which I've started to see a little of and have really enjoyed,
   
2. and the other is Ugly Betty because the premise sounds interesting and the reviews have been good. (Do you know, when I was home last week and flipping through the channels I actually saw a little bit of the original Spanish-language Ugly Betty? I knew right away what it must be because you never see women looking like that in most telenovelas.)
   
3. Oh wait, I have to add one more: 30 Rock. I was excited about this because of course I love Tina Fey, but then the reviews said it was uneven, but then I saw a few minutes of it and I liked it enough to want to see more. You know what would be so cool? If somehow they stuck 30 Rock and 60 whatever thing together and there was a show made by Tina Fey and Aaron Sorkin together! Think about it! It would be so cool. As long as Sorkin wasn't too bossy and dumb and lighting up all the time.

But except for those, and The Simpsons and Good Eats I'm not planning to watch much TV. Will probably give it up again in the fall out of not having a TV, anyway. You know, it's not that I think TV as a medium is inherently bad (even though most US shows make me want to gouge my eyes out), but I think commercials help to make it bad. Not just because of their content, which is mind- and soul-rotting, but also because of the ways they constrain shows' format and content.
- posted by k @ 8:42 AM

 
Dear Senator Lieberman,
Please shut up already. Why don't you and Senator McCain go off and form your own "centrist" party? You could call it the Spineless Reactionary Buttkissing Party.

The only thing I'm afraid of is that you'll succeed.
- posted by k @ 4:29 AM

 
The world is full of interesting things
And you can find out about so many of them in the Chron!

For example:

• Grand opera gets grander with state-of-the-art screens. Summary: screens to improve the view up in the balcony, include close-up shots, etc. Commentary: Hey, sounds like a good idea to me--not only simulcasts, but opportunity of a new way of experiencing it while you're in the hall. And if you prefer the old fashioned way there are still plenty of seats for that. Strikes me as forward-thinking without being unnecessarily gimmicky or revisionist.
  

• Mika! (also here) Except the thing about him playing to tiny crowds in the UK 6 mos. ago can't possibly be right because 6 mos. ago he had a #1 single and was the feature album-of-the week on Radio 2. Does this mean his CD is out in the US? Does that mean I can (finally) download it from iTunes?
  

• Ok, this one was not in the chron, but it's still interesting. Redoxon. Sinuses have been worrying me since I got off the plane, so I went to the pharmacy to get some kind of Vitamin C thing or Airborne if I could find it (didn't find it) and I found Redoxon. It's Vit C+Zinc in effervescent tablets i.e. you drop it in water and it fizzes. Ok, let me see if I can enumerate the reasons why I find this incredibly cool. First of all, I'm not sure why they put the zinc in there (oh, it says zinc helps immunity too? that's cool) but zinc is one of those things I wonder if I'm low on sometimes (vegetarians can risk being low on zinc and iron if they're not careful). Secondly, the taste is good. It's an orange flavor and kind of like Tang, except not overwhelmingly sweet and with a slightly saltiness at the end. In fact, because it's very low in sugar and caffeine free I would be happy to drink this as a beverage accompaniment to lunch or dinner (or possibly even breakfast). In fact, I wish I could, but you're not supposed to take more than one per day (body will start flushing vit c and you'll lose water etc). Third, the fizzing is fun to watch: first the orange tablet sinks to the bottom and your cup is like a tiny volcano or soothing fountain; then, as it loses mass faster than it loses volume, it becomes buoyant and floats to the top while still erupting. What fun! I wish there were more vitamin/mineral supplements I could take this way, though I know some probably couldn't be absorbed/delivered in this format. Also, for the record I do believe in getting your nutrients from a balanced diet, but sometimes I take a multi or supplement to "top up" something that I think might be a little low, usually iron and b vitamins.
  

• By the way, I think flaxseeds/flax oil is going to be my next big thing. Like kale and tomatoes.

- posted by k @ 9:52 AM

 
It's official: this country is spiritually bankrupt
Real actual commercial:

Woman, contemplating buying her husband a TV (for father's day?): Hmm, do you think he'll like it?

Talking blue light bulb: No. He'll LOVE it! And he'll love you. Nothing says love to a man like a hi-def TV. And it might even get you something from over there (indicating jewelery counter).

I swear this was an actual commercial I saw today. I don't remember the store, but the mascot/logo is a talking blue light bulb. If someone made this as a satirical commercial about the problems with Conventional Wisdom* values in America today, they would be accused of being over the top. But this was an actual commercial. Buy your husband's love with...a TV! And he'll reward you with...jewelery! If you're lucky! WHAT THE FLYING F?

I don't know how we got into this situation, and I don't know what it will take to get out. But you know what? If all it takes is the Church of England, the monarchy and the BBC, you can sign me up.


*The good news of course is that we're not really a culturally homogeneous nation where everyone shares the same values and of course very few people literally believe what their TV tells them. But I think it's a slow leaching poison.
- posted by k @ 9:49 PM

 
Speaking of distractions and media inundation
So I learned from the excellent Anna C. last night that apparently KFRC is back on the air at 106.9 FM instead of where it used to be. This came up as part of yet another one of those conversations about how there are no good radio stations in the Bay Area, and why aren't there?

Background: KFRC used to be an oldies station, but then at some point last year it went through a couple of format changes. The first pushed it later, so instead of 60s & 70s it was 70s & 80s. Then, even worse, it became a country station, and THEN, even worse, apparently it became a Christian talk station (fortunately I didn't experience this directly--I just know what Anna told me).

With the loss of KFRC and The Drive a few years before that, I started listening to KFOG a lot, and I like KFOG, but I don't know a lot of the songs and you really need a station you can just turn on and sing along to.

Anyway, who are these people who speculate on whether radio is obsolete? Not me.
- posted by k @ 9:26 AM

 
This place is crazy
It seems like there are so many distractions, so much advertising, and so much emphasis on style, glamour, flash. Blech!

This was my impression, but then I had to remind myself that I don't have a TV back there, and while there are commercial radio stations with advertising there, I don't listen to them. So it could be a sampling error.
- posted by k @ 8:41 AM