I have decided to do a No Sponsor version and a Sponsored version of the subtitles. For .smi files, treat them like a .ssa file and it should work fine. The recommended method of using the file is to rename the raw or the sub file into the same name (still keeping the extensions of course) and playing it with most players.

Remember please that these are speed subs.

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And if this wasn't enough, yet another reason to love Portland...FONDUE!!

Probably the best Fondue of my life was consumed this past Friday evening on 21st...

Next weekend:

HELL YES!!!!!!!!

1. inter-Palestinian talks in Cairo
2. U.S.-Israel sowing seeds of discord
3. Abbas' strategy as failed
4. results of the Quartet's work in Palestine

To be honest, I haven't entirely followed the talks in Cairo because I find them irrelevant in so many ways. I've been re-reading a lot of Edward Said's writings on Oslo over the past month as I theorize and organize a chapter of my book I'm completing. I find that so much of what he said even in the time immediately following Oslo has not changed one bit. If anything it's gotten worse. As if Said were prophesying. And in some ways he was. In The End of the Peace Process, for instance, Said tells us:

Labor and Likud leaders alike made no secret of the fact that Oslo was designed to segregate the Palestinians in noncontiguous, economically unviable enclaves, surrounded by Israeli-controlled borders, with settlements and settlement roads punctuating and essentially violating the territories' integrity. Expropriations and house demolitions proceeded inexorably through Rabin, Peres, Netanyahu, and Barak administrations, along with the expansion and multiplication of settlements (200,000 Israeli Jews added to Jerusalem, 200,000 more in Gaza and the West Bank), military occupation continuing and every tiny step taken toward Palestinian sovereignty--including agreements to withdraw in miniscule, agreed-upon phases--stymied, delayed, canceled at Israel's will" (360-361).

Of course, Said is correct. But it has gotten so much worse in so many ways. Today is the 8th anniversary of the second or Al Aqsa intifada. And in that time period, Ma'an News reports the following disastrous casualties of Israeli terrorism and colonialism:

In the eight years since the start of the Al-Aqsa Intifadah Israel has destroyed Palestine’s infrastructure and killed 5,389 Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem....

Of those killed by Israeli forces, [Al Haq] said, 194 were women and 995 children. During the same time 135 Palestinian patients died at one of the 630 military checkpoints throughout the areas.

The group said 32,270 Palestinians were injured over the last eight years, and 3,530 of those injured have suffered permanent handicaps, and at least 220 Palestinians have died waiting for treatment abroad.

General Director of the Health Action committee Shatha Au’da said that Israel had destroyed entire infrastructures in Palestinian lands, from road networks, to health, government and security on account of occupation and siege policies. Palestinian lands and lives have been cut up by road-blocks, concrete walls, settlements and discriminatory policies.

Settlements have expanded 30% since the Annapolis conference alone, and since 2000 7,934 Palestinian homes have been demolished. Israelis have collected 66million Shekels in fines from Palestinians living in East Jerusalem since 2006, and in that city alone 27 homes are currently threatened with demolition.

There have been 450 kilometers of separation fence build across the land, and 45% of West Bank lands are not accessible to Palestinians.

These are stark statistics of reality here over the course of the last 8 years. But there are other issues Said addresses, which have contributed to the worsening conditions here and that highlight the erroneous notion that Oslo, or any other such agreement since it, is about "peace." One problem that Said addressed, which Salman Abu Sitta also has been speaking out about in important ways, has to do with the Palestinian Authority (PA) itself and who it does or does not represent. For his part Abu Sitta has been working on trying to create a real Palestinian governing body that represents all Palestinians not just those who are allowed to live here. Said made an important distinction between the PA and this much larger body of Palestinian refugees living in exile who comprise 7.2 million people today: "No final-status negotiating team can represent national (as opposed to municipal) Palestinian interests unless there are to be no further compromises on settlements, on sovereignty, water, and other natural resources, on entrances and exits, and on Jerusalem" (25).

It has never mattered what Israeli leader or political party has been in power. Each has been more devastating than the last. One might try to mask its rhetoric and proclaim some sort of "peace" agreement, but in the end what happens on the ground is an entirely different story. Said reminds us of what Oslo has meant for the PA. Here he is talking about 'Arafat, but the same may be said of Abbas:

Arafat cooperates with the Shin Bet [Israeli internal security (read: terrorist) forces] and the settlers in rounding up "opponents of the peace process," while the occupation of his people's land proceeds. Israel holds over six thousand Palestinian political prisoners [2008: 11,000] and still controls unilaterally the water supply (although it has conceded in principle that Palestinians will be given a small additional amount of water), and of course the military occupation continues. Rabin's plan is to substitute direct control, i.e., Israeli troops in the main West Bank centers, for indirect control, i.e., Israel troops outside the towns" (17).

Direct or indirect: it makes no difference in people's lives on a daily basis. The control Said speaks of is military, but that military control, regardless of what it looks like, has an effect on people's social, political, cultural, and economic realities. But partially because the economy is one of the top headlines in the media of late, I want to consider this aspect in relation to Oslo. Naomi Klein argues in The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism that various forms of disaster--environmental and man-made alike--have created a new type of economy that yields profits in a way that makes "instability the new stability" (428) in an economic context. She uses the state of Israel as a model for the U.S. to show how peace is an obstacle to a booming economy. Thus, she argues Oslo emerged, at least in part, from the Israeli point of view accordingly:

Communism had collapsed, the information revolution was beginning, and there was a widespread conviction inside Israel's business community that the bloody occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, compounded by the boycott of Israel by Arab states, was putting Israel's economic future in peril. Seeing the explosion of "emerging markets" around the world, Israeli corporations were tired of being held back by war; they wanted to be part of the high-profit borderless world, not penned in by regional strife. If the Israeli government could negotiate some sort of peace agreement with the Palestinians, Israel's neighbors would have to lift their boycotts, and the country would be perfectly positioned to be the Middle East's free-trade hub. (429)

Notice that the state of Israel had been affected by the Arab boycott of the Zionist state. This is key for those wanting a re-birth of that movement in spite of reports about the offensive nature of Jordanian complicity in their economic, normalizing relations with the Zionist state. But this economic desire on the part of the state of Israel motivated their so-called "peace" negotiations according to Klein:

That same year [1993], Shimon Peres, then foreign minister, explained to a group of Israeli journalists that peace was now inevitable. it was a very particular kind of peace, however. "We are not seeking a peace of flags," Peres said, "we are interested in a peace of markets" (429).

Klein reports that as a result of a tremendous influx of Russians into the Zionist state--many of whom are not, in fact, Jewish all reports to the contrary--boosted not only the population of illegal Israeli settlements, but also provided a new cheap labor force, which enabled the Zionist regime to all but cease employing the Palestinian workers who used to perform those same jobs. There are various other factors, but the end result is best described by Shlomo Ben-Ami who "describes the years after the White House handshake as 'one of the most breathtaking eras of economic growth and opening up of markets in [Israel's] history'" (433).

The business sectors that the state of Israel profited most from were technology and military. After the dot-com crash in 2000, the U.S. suffered a worse fate than the Zionist state because of its redirection of government spending. Here, in this passage from Klein's book, we can see once again why it is so crucial to participate in the academic and economic boycott of Israel because of the way that these sectors are always already tied to the military and the state:

The only reason the recession was not even worse, the newspaper [Tel Aviv's business newspaper Globes] observed, was that the Israeli government quickly intervened with a powerful 10.7 percent increase in military spending, partially financed through cutbacks in social services. The government also encouraged the tech industry to branch out from information and communication technologies and into security and surveillance. In this period, the Israeli Defense Forces [known also as Israeli Terrorist Forces] played a role similar to a business incubator. Young Israeli soldiers experimented with network systems and surveillance devices while they fulfilled their mandatory military service, then turned their findings into business plans when they returned to civilian life" (435).

One of those companies, no doubt, was Motorola, which is responsible for various human rights abuses and the occupation itself, as the Hang Up on Motorola campaign makes clear:

*Producing the 980 Low Altitude Proximity Fuse for the MK-80 series of high-explosive bombs. On July 30, 2006, during its war on Lebanon, the Israeli Air Force dropped an MK-84 high-explosive bomb on an apartment building in Qana, Lebanon. The bomb killed at least 28 civilians, many of whom were children, who had taken shelter in the basement of their apartment building.

*Developing and supplying the Israeli military with the “Mountain Rose” secure cell phone communication system, which is the exclusive communications system in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

*Supplying Israel with the Wide Area Surveillance System (WAAS) to monitor and maintain the illegal wall it has constructed in the Palestinian West Bank. Motorola Israel’s provision of the WAAS to Israel contradicts the International Court of Justice (ICJ) advisory opinion in July 2004.

*Providing radar detection devices and thermal cameras for 47 illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian land. According to the Fourth Geneva Conventions, Article 49, it is a war crime for an occupying power to transfer its civilian population in to occupied territories.

But I digress. Klein continues in that same paragraph I quoted from above on how this created a new war process (i.e., not "peace" process) economy after September 11th for the Zionist state:

A slew of new start-ups were launched, specializing in everything from "search and nail" data mining, to surveillance cameras, to terrorist profiling. When the market for these services and devices exploded in the years after September 11, the Israeli state openly embraced a new national economic vision: the growth provided by the dot-com bubble would be replaced with a homeland security boom. It was the perfect marriage of the Likud Party's hawkishness and its radical embrace of Chicago School economics, as embodied by Sharon's finance minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Israel's new central bank chief, Stanley Fischer, chief architect of the IMF's [International Monetary Fund] shock therapy adventures in Russia and Asia. (435)

In a nutshell, the state of Israel has tricked the world into believe that it gives generous offers, that it is interested in "peace," that it is interested in tricking Arab regimes into normalizing, at least economically, in order to create a tremendous economic boom for the state of Israel. Moreover, what Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza have become--and possibly Palestinians living in 1948--are guinea pigs there to enable the ITF to test its various demonic instruments of terror and torture on an innocent civilian population. And Klein makes it clear that the result has been "highly lucrative" for them:

Israel's exports in counter terrorism-related products and services increased by 15 percent in 2006 and were projected to grow by 20 percent in 2007, totaling $1.2 billion annually. The country's defense exports in 2006 reached a record $3.4 billion (compared to $1.6 billion in 1992), making Israel the fourth largest arms dealer in the world, larger than the U.K. Israel has more technology stocks listed on the Nasdaq exchange--many of them security related--than any other foreign country, and it has more tech patents registered in the U.S. than China and India combined. (436)

Many of these companies Klein mentions are those that work in cahoots with American contractors (aka mercenaries) who are working in Iraq and New Orleans (after Hurricane Katrina). Many of those are complicit in building the Zionist state's Apartheid Wall and on top of it exporting that to the U.S.-Mexico border where Americans are building their own Apartheid Wall (Elbit, Magal, Golan Group, Instinctive Shooting International are but a few of these companies). Klein is clear that she doesn't think this economic argument about disaster capitalism pushing forward the Israeli economy in a profitable way is the only reason why the Zionist state pursues war rather than "peace." But she does remind us why we must consider this as an issue:

The extraordinary performance of Israel's homeland security companies is well known to stock watchers, but it is rarely discussed as a factor in the politics of the region. It should be. It is not a coincidence that the Israeli state's decision to put "counterterrorism" at the center of its export economy has coincided precisely with its abandonment of peace negotiations as well as a clear strategy to reframe its conflict with the Palestinians not as a battle against a nationalist movement with specific goals for land and rights but rather as part of the global War on terror--one against illogical, fanatical forces bent only on destruction. (439)

The U.S. has learned well from this model of taking disasters, war, devastation and making it profitable. And in spite of the bailout plan for corporate American greed, Klein made some of these connections this week on Bill Maher's Real Time. As with her book, where she shows how in various contexts around the world that disasters have become profitable because they are used to help push through draconian policies to make only very particular sectors or people win tremendous profits. Watch this clip for more on the current U.S. context:

What does all this have to do with where I started? It is, in fact, relevant. The way that the U.S. and Israel have found, through their economic, military, political, and academic collaborations, to be profitable has made them prefer war economies or disaster economies to "peace." The PA, and Palestinian leadership, it would seem, in general does not seem interested in halting normalization, reinvigorating a boycott campaign, a real intifada. Much of what I've read about the talks in Cairo between the various political factions are not worth writing or even thinking about, quite frankly. It's just more of the same. It is feeding into the U.S. and Israel's creation of its divide and rule tactics by one bolstering Hamas (Israel) and the other bolstering Fatah (U.S.) in order to get more Palestinians to kill themselves (makes life a bit easier for those Zionist terrorist band). All other political parties seem to be more or less marginalized.

What is needed, I think, is unity to be sure. But unity for the sake of what. Said argued, as most Palestinians who are refugees, who live in exile argue that they must be represented. The PA has not--has never--represented this population of 7.2 million people. And whatever quibbling over issues and power there is within Palestinian leadership circles or between the normalizing-negotiating team and the Zionist colonists occupying Palestinian land it is very clear (read postings of letters from Abed, Al Awda in posts below): if the Right of Return under UN Resolution 194 were made THE ONLY priority, THE ONLY talking point, the only issue to negotiate over or fight to get back what rightfully belongs to Palestinians then all other issues would be solved. The issue of water, of borders, of Al Quds, of land--these issues would become non-issues. They would take care of themselves if we could only bring back those 7.2 million people who want to return--and force the Zionist thefts and bandits to pay reparations for those who choose not to return as well as to those who return.

Enjoy!  :-D

The construction of settlements is viewed as a major obstacle to peace [AFP]

The Palestinian president and Arab countries have criticised Israel over its settlement expansion policy in the West Bank during debates at the United Nations.

In a speech to the General Assembly on Friday, Mahmoud Abbas deplored as "racial terrorism" what he said were daily attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinian civilians, and urged the international community to take action.

"[The settlements] will not allow for the emergence of a viable Palestinian state because they divide the West Bank into at least four cantons," he said.

Prince Saud al-Faisal, the Saudi foreign minister, whose country formally called for the debate, said Israel must halt settlement activity and obey international law.

"Settlement makes the creation of a viable Palestinian state impossible," he said.

"The only path to Israel's security is peace and it is time for Israel to understand that it cannot continue to exempt itself from behaving in accordance to international law," Prince Saud said.

The Palestinian Authority, Saudi Arabia and the Arab League urged the UN Security Council to encourage the faltering peace process by demanding an end to Jewish settlements on Palestinian land.

In August, Israel approved the construction of 400 new homes in a Jewish neighbourhood in east Jerusalem and invited bids for the construction of another 416 settler homes in the occupied West Bank.

Quartet meeting

The Middle East diplomatic Quartet on Friday pressed Israel and the Palestinians to seal a peace deal this year, but also expressed "deep concern" over continuing settlement expansion in the West Bank.

A ministerial session of Quartet members, the US, Russia, the European Union and the UN, ended with a call on the parties "to make every effort to conclude an agreement before the end of 2008".

Quartet members "expressed deep concern about increasing [Israeli] settlement activity, which has a damaging impact on the negotiating environment and is an impediment to economic recovery and called on Israel to freeze all settlement activity."

They also reiterated that the parties "must avoid actions that undermine confidence and could prejudice the outcome of the negotiations".

In Annapolis, Maryland last November, Israel and the Palestinians revived negotiations toward resolving core problems such as the status of Jerusalem, the borders of a future Palestinian state and refugees, by the end of 2008.

Settlement expansion

Settlement expansion has nearly doubled since 2007, despite Israel's pledge to freeze such activities, Peace Now, the Israeli watchdog, said last month.

"The situation necessitates a serious stand by the international community and a clear call upon Israel to begin withdrawing its settlers and dismantling its settlements," Abbas said.

Settlement expansion has nearly doubled since 2007, according to Peace Now [File: EPA]

"It was recognised [in Annapolis] that this was a prerequisite for allowing negotiations towards ending the conflict to progress," he said.But Gabriela Shalev, Israel's UN Ambassador, told council members that while the settlements are a "delicate issue," they "are not an obstacle to peace".

"They have been used here as another instrument to bash Israel instead of addressing the realities on the ground," she said.

"There is much that those in the region can do to support that peace process, but it is not about more UN meetings.

"It is, first and foremost, about commitment to prepare the people of the region for the price of peace, to accept the true meaning of peace," Shalev said.

The West Bank has been under military occupation by Israel since 1967 and at least 400,000 Israelis have been settled in the territory, including East Jerusalem.

The settlements are illegal under international law, although Israel disputes this.

Bernard Kouchner, the French foreign minister, whose country currently chairs the European Union, restated the EU view that Israeli settlements, "wherever in the occupied Palestinian territories, are illegal under international law."

He added that settlement "harms the credibility of the process started in Annapolis and affects the viability of the future Palestinian state."

Reaching out

Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, shifted the focus of the debate away from settlements, instead urging Arab countries to "consider ways they might reach out to Israel".

She said the Arab world needed to fully understand that: "Israel belongs to the Middle East and will remain" in the Middle East.

Meanwhile, a group of 21 leading aid agencies said on Thursday that the Middle East Quartet was "losing its grip" on the peace process and must radically revise its approach.

The aid agencies said the Quartet has failed to hold Israel to account for expanding settlements in the West Bank. ]]> http://safetyfirst173.wordpress.com/?p=13 Fri, 26 Sep 2008 17:46:32 +0000 han http://safetyfirst173.ro.wordpress.com/2008/09/26/teaching-diary-240908/ first impressions

Small group (quartet), a significant change to the 9+ class sizes of the past. Four is the magic number in these context (maybe we'll discuss this in future classes), but for now, all I can say is… we have a band (2 treble instruments, bass and drums). How weird is that?

identity politics

All male class (all white, but, hey, this is Cork). Why is that? What happened to all the female students this year?

background and prior experience

No one in the group comes from a complete no-prior-experience-of-improvisation background. Does this mean the group has a head start, or that we come with baggage we need shed? How much are our habits (and as improvisers and performers we all have tricks we rely upon from time to time) going to be benefits or liabilities in the coming weeks?

introductions and contract

Everyone got to introduce themselves and state what they expect from the course. Whole bunch of issues came up which we'll be returning to in the coming weeks:

• interaction: stimulus and response, choices, etc.
• freedom
• restrictions and limits
• boundaries (and responsibilities?)
• (personal) expression

Paul brings up the concept of process (his word) and interaction (mine). We're starting in a good place here.

Owen is looking for freedom—freedom away from stylistic (idiomatic?) limits, and freedom in terms of 'expression'. How's that for a list of interesting and problematic terms? Plenty to go on….

first improvisation

First impressions: very polite.

Found the interventions of Kevin dramatic, and as was Owen's absence. (Learned that Andrea's listening is based on an almost LCR or surround sound system.)

The group is good at gauging duration (a request for five minute came in just under), so we probably won’t have to spend too many classes dealing with that issue. (We will likely need to deal with the issue of how to start and how to end of course….)

discussion

This, for me, is when the group starts to shine. Andrea brings up ‘choices’, Kevin wonders about the initial impulse that cascades through the group. We're not quite in a position to articulate a lot of these ideas in a pragmatic fashion yet, but we're entering interesting areas.

final improvisations

Notice that Andrea and Paul are very much into their instruments, while Kevin and Owen (especially Owen) are very much looking around at the group (visually driven?). So I requested that Kevin and Owen don’t look at the group, and Andrea and Paul to look up from their instruments.

Now that was interesting wasn't it? what's the mechanism here? what happene?

Unfortunately ran out of time. (Maybe return to this later…)

other business

Blog / class diary. Class volunteered to be frank about criticisms, etc. (I'm personally a little nervous about this: people often say they want the ugly truth until they get it.) Propose that we start by being civil on the blog, and then see what happens.

Oh, and the blog will be public. (Nothing like living dangerously.) I will, however, refrain from posting certain information up here: actual assessment (grades), attendance records, etc.

for next week

Question: Why improvisation? Of all the myriad of was to construct / perform / do music, why improvise?

How do we proceed?

• Plan A: we do a Karate Kid, paint some fences. I lay out a bunch of exercises…
• Plan B: freeform. Much more exciting, but much riskier. Class generates direction (I only mark the exit points).

Primary thing to note is that the student/instructor relationship (and responsibilities) will be different depending on the model we choose.

Had some discussion on this, and we'll vote on this next Wednesday.

To most Man Utd supporters, it was a relief to have him back. It is one thing to know that he has stayed back but to actually see him in the Reds ahead of his scheduled reovery period is so good.

Yes. Its Christiano Ronaldo who is back !!

The season hasn't exactly begun on a bright start. But then this is pretty similar to what had happened last time around and what happened by the end of the last season is right there for everyone to see. { but i guess i shall show off a little bit here and say "UTD were the CHAMPIONS OF EUROPE and the premiers of ENGLAND" :D }

Last time around, it was the golden trinity of Rooney, Tevez and Ronaldo that did the work for UTD. At the premier league, Chelsea did come close, but were not close enough. The loss of the "special one" did play a major part in it. But for this season, UTD have an extra helping of sorts in the form of one Dimitar Berbatov. So this season, I hope the quartet of Rooney, Tevez, Ronaldo and Berbatov prove to be more than enough for a resurgent Chelsea, a young Arsenal and the wily Liverpool.

The golden quartet will hopefully help in UTD securing a never-before in history of a double-double { ie win both the premiership and the champions league for 2 years in  a row }

The dream of a CL victory is also fuelled by the prospects of the "special one" ending Chelsea's dream in the champions league and even if the "special one" doesn't, I'm sure Chelsea's captain fantastic JT and awesome striker NA will do their bit in supporting UTD this time around as well.

Arsenal's chances are quite dim to be honest. They play the best looking football at the start of the season only for the young legs to tire by December and the old Arsene will be staring at a trophy less cabinet yet again.

Lucky Liverpool might be the  closest  to challenging  UTD's supremacy in Europe. They seem to be perennially lucky, specially in the CL.

But my hopes of a UTD double-double shall never falter. The eternal optimist in me shall never die.

I am slightly biased because I have been going to classical concerts with my dad since I was tiny. I can understand where people get the boring factor-I've fallen asleep at the majority of symphonies I've been to. But it's not necessarily a bored sleep, it's more of a peaceful sleep. It's more of a transcendence. I fall into this half-awake/half-asleep trance where the only thing I am aware of is the music. I see the music unfolding before my eyes in colorful crescendos, legatos, staccatos, and the most beautiful paintings of sound I've ever known. Sometimes the pace of the music becomes so intense that I can feel it in my chest, beating like it's my own heart. Only when the applause from the crowd erupts am I jolted awake, pulled away from my musical trance and into the concert hall again.

I've been to countless symphonies. I've heard Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Janacek, Mozart, Adams, and other lesser known composers. I've loved some and hated others. I've been inspired by some and bored by others. But amazing or not, symphonies all give me a rather similar experience-one that I cherish and love. But this past weekend my dad took me to a chamber concert, where a quartet (named Ariana) played three compositions:

1. "American" Antonin Dvorak: Quartet in F Major, Op. 96

2. "Intimate Letters" Leos Janacek: Quartet No. 2

3. Erno Dohnanyi: Quartet No. 3 in A Minor, Op. 33

We arrived in the hall and, like usual, the first thing that I noticed was that I brought down the average age by about 30 years. The next youngest people I saw looked to be at least seniors in college, probably older. So yes, there were a lot of old people there. But that's not indicative of the quality of the music, rather it is indicative of today's culture and our decreasing appreciation for classical music. Anyways, Dad and I chose a seat in the second row, literally ten feet from the four chairs arranged in a semi-circle in center stage. The musicians came out-three men and one woman on the viola. A quartet consists of two violins, a cello, and a viola.

The major difference in the experience of the quartet and a full symphony was, for me, that I could distinguish each instrument's notes. So as I listened to the piece as a whole, I could pick out which instrument was playing what sound. This is important because it helped a lot in noticing the interactions between the instruments, and even the musicians. In Janacek's "Intimate Letters" there was a part where the viola (who is supposed to represent Janacek's love, a woman named Kamila) and the violin were basically battling it out. Question/Answer. In the context of the composition's theme (Janacek's love for Kamila) I could really feel the emotions radiating from the music, and I could create my own picture of their relationship with virtually zero prior knowledge.

And that, I think, is the power of music, and all art in general. It is so damn expressive. You can say things in music that you couldn't say in words, or you could say something with art that you couldn't say with music. No matter what you have to say, there is a medium out there that fits it perfectly.

So the next time you think of classical music as "boring"...think again, and at least attend a recommended concert and see for yourself.

Peace.

At first I was a little dissapointed...then I thought it might actually be a blessing in disguse.  I will be the first to say that the beginning years in a violinists life are the dark years that should not be talked about or remembered, much less documented.

On that note, major kudos to my parents for being such good sports and tolerating all the sqeeks and horrible noises that come from an inexperienced violinist!

The point is, after 15 years of playing (MAN I feel so freaking old when I say that...) I want some documentation which means...I'm making a CD!  Now when I say this, by no means so I mean a CD to market...no thanks, that's not my purpose and doesn't sound appealing in any way shape or form.  However, it would be fun!  something to work towards...an excuse to play more...and something I've never done (unless you could the CD's we made at Sprague!!)

Here are my initial thoughts...lots and lots of options and decisions, but for the meantime...

Quartet:
▪    Quartet No. 14, Mozart
▪    Bachianas
▪    Holst, 4th mvt.
▪    Clair de Lune

Violin duo with Steven:
▪    Bach double (mvts?)

Violin + Viola w/ Meaghan:
▪       Sight read through a bunch yesterday, still deciding...

Violin + Guitar:
▪      Not sure as of now - I've got the music, haven't played w/ a guitarist yet - I'd love to try though!

Violin + piano (some w/ Mom and some w/ Tia)
▪    Salut d'amor, Elgar
▪    Medetation, Thais
▪    The Girl with the Flaxen Hair, Debussy
▪    Preludium & Allegro, Kreisler
▪    Concerto in A Minor, Vivaldi

Piano solo? (still not sure how I feel about this...)
▪    something from Putnam
▪    Invention No. 8, Bach
▪    Moonlight Sonata (so overplayed, but so beautiful)

Yup, so that's that!  I gave myself a year...ample time, yes?

Специални гости на проекта са виолончелиста от Филаделфийска филхармония Джон Коен, виолиста от Израел Аври Левитан, цигуларя Иван Въгларов и валхорниста Красимир Костадинов.

[googlevideo=http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1319546721313220395]

yay for the World Saxophone Congress, and the ราช of thailand playing the saxophone.

and now some pictures:

and now for the Thai phrase of the day

สวัสดีครับ

sawatdee khrap

Hello

American saxophonist and composer who revolutionised the modern jazz...

Coltrane formed his first group, a quartet, in 1960 including with pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Steve Davis, and drummer Elvin Jones. Under Atlantic Records, he recorded Giant Steps with his band and then became a non conventional soprano saxophonist. My favorite Things was his biggest success...Minha Galera, u may add other versions of the songs...I know you like one in particular...

Sofia Chamber Music Players

Ivan Penchev-violin

Darina Vasileva-piano

Tatyana Todorova-viola

Stoyan Bozhkov-cello

&

Silvet Salieva - double bass, Atanas Iliev - clarinet,

Pavel Rusev - cello and Svetlana Stancheva - violin

The Quartet "Quarto" was founded more than 3 years ago in Sofia, Bulgaria, as not only a piano quartet, but also as a flexible chamber ensemble with varying configurations, such as duos, trios, as a string quartet and as a quintet with piano, double bass or clarinet.

They present frequent concerts in Sofia and many other cities in Bulgaria (Sofia, Ruse, Stara Zagora, Varna, Dobrich) as well as in Italy, Germany and Austria.

Bulgarian and foreign musicians alike testify to the high level of these young musicians, as exemplified by their performances at and prizes from competitions such as the "250 Mozart Anniversary - 250 godini Mozart" (Sofia, 2006),”Brahms Competition” (Austria,2006), Competition “Austrian music” (Sofia, 2008) and others.

Frequent guests artists appearing with Quartet "Quarto" are Bulgarian pianists Dimo Dimov and Bogdan Stanev, clarinetist Atanas Iliev, bassist Silvet Salieva, violinist Svetlana Stancheva, cellist John Koen (Philadelphia, USA) and violist Avri Levitan (Israel).

The quartet and its guests have premièred numerous contemporary works by Bulgarian and foreign composers such as Georgi Arnaudov and Tsenko Minkin, Lubo Denev and Vasil Kazandjiev, Tom Knific, Dimitar Ninov and others.

Their current repertoire includes trios, quartets and quintets for piano and strings by Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert, Robert Fuchs, Frank Bridge, Dvořák, Mahler, Mozart, Schumann, Bartok, Marin Goleminov and others.

Quartet Quarto

Sexy Electronic string quartet from Enlgand...Victoria, Izzy, Chantal and Tasya

Video of Scala playing "rise" with sexy picture montage:

Scala on TV show "Britian's Got Talent"

Ci sarà pur mancato il FestivalBar (?), ma tra i successi (?) prodotti dall’azienda X Factor e una programmazione radiofonica generale mixata a colpi di nostalgia certo non si può dire che stiamo andando verso il nuovo.

Capisco quindi gli affezionati alla serie “Sailor Moon” che hanno deciso di dimostrare quanto poco si sa sulla serie. Sulle scelte stilistiche e concettuali del cartone animato spiegato a colpo di citazioni su una wikipedia su misura, tale wikimoon.

Da oggi, inoltre, mi propongo di non darmi pace fino a quando non saprò perché l’autrice di un prodotto di cotanta grazia da anni blocchi le ristampe. Mancanza di modestia o pacifica rassegnazione?

Here's some of the many others:

i hate everyone. OFF TO THAILAND

Let me start by first exploring this- what is dance? Dance is the physical interpretation of music. What is good dancing and what is bad dancing? Like beauty is it not a very personal thing, is it not something only the viewer of the dance can and should judge? If not then why do different people have different opinions and favorites?

What is divine dancing? Is Bharatanatyam only divine and no other dance form? Ok. I will give the author of the abovesaid blog some lieniency. Are only the Indian classical dances divine? This author seems to make a lot of fun for other dance forms. Any dance, where one is enjoying the dance, without the knowledge of self- is divine( limiting this only to dance- i believe anything done without the knowledge of being or self is divine) be it hip- hop, ballet or jazz etc. I feel the author of the above said blog should see a few programs to realize that there are dances which would physically challenge all the aspects of even the author's best Bharatanatyam dancer.

I am a Bharatanatyam dancer myself. But to say that only this form is good and divine and everything else is inferior, is not an idea I agree to. This author has even criticised dances in discos. Well I doubt the author has ever been into a disco. I feel one of the best places to observe what it means to dance- just dance, is a disco.  Is enjoying dancing not one of the purposes of dance itself? Is it not better than dancing infront of a audiance who are munching chips while the dancer is trying hard to catch their attention?

Have you ever heard a dancer saying, “This item was revealed to me by such-and-such Apsara in my meditation?”  is what the author comments in article . Well, since when did Apsaras and Gods started appearing in meditation? One should meditate to understand what it is and what are revealed thru it. Or is there any other meaning than what I understand that the author was trying to put across?

I still await the answer from the author for the question on what is glorious past? What is the current shit? What is art and what is not?  Hpw was an Alaripu was performed say 500 yrs ago, when Bharatanatyam was known as Sadir attam? This dear author was not even born, and because the author can't find answers on the internet, so the author cannot say anything.

"Although some idiots corrupted by the western pseudo-culture dare to expose their lack of brain by stating that “The body of a dancer of today considerably differs from that of an 11th or 14th century dancer, especially one known only from temple sculptures.” , it is an archaeological fact that the human bodies in South India were no different 50000 years ago from what these bodies look now. It is the styles of sculpture that came and vanished. The bodies remain the same "-  The author seems not to be  aware of the evloution process.

"there are no contemporary Bharatanatyam dancers whose death would result in the immediate death of 1000 of their fans" there is nothing on this earth that can produce such results, God didnot design human such a way. Else all the people who lost their beloved would die immediately.

the real dancing happens in the invisible worlds, where it is much more fun Please explain in detail...

Have you ever met a contemporary Bharatanatyam dancer who has at least 1 spiritual experience??? Since when people started talking loudly about their spiritual experiances to all
Tom Dick and Harry? The author can please enlighten whether the author had herself/himself had one such experiance? Iam sure he/she would know if her /his favorite dancers had one- we all would like to know, don't we?

Tuition was… free of cost. What was Guru Dakshina?

The author speaks endlessly regarding that perfect physical posture, that perfect expression - a dancer not having them  for which the below is the conversation that happened between us.

"the way you rip apart each one above, you sound as a considerable authority on the art form. considering this you might as well.

Dear, reading the above, has indeed stirred what has been on my mind since quite some time. Is a perfect araimandi more important that giving oneself into dance itself? i fall into this catagory.
Is dancing in itself more important than looking for people to clap for you? Very recently, due to some misunderstanding, i have been denied a slot for performance in a show in Sydney. I was dissappointed, I practice every day in my kitchen-dining space. Thats when my husband asked me this- Are you not happy that you have enough space and time to dance every day? is it not enough?

rgds
mallika

Oyoyoyoyo! You are making such irresistible compliments! Wow!

Is a perfect araimandi more important than giving oneself into dance itself?

The concentration and laya are important factors to touch the rasas, and to create a powerful spiritual atmosphere. Many good musicians (the violinist Sikhamani is a good example) “dance” (even their bodies move) while playing music. Are they dancers? No, they are musicians.

However, Bharatanatyam is not just about the inner, invisible things: it is about expressing (perfectly or not so) the inner experiences in the physical form. Without a perfect instrument and a perfect expression, the higher, spiritual truths, cannot be embodied.

We can also ask, what if the dancer cannot put her fingers into a perfect mudra? If you find a perfect body position, automatically your mind will move into a certain state.

If millions of people feel ecstatic at a disco when they give themselves into dance itself, is it important that they don’t dance Bharatanatyam?

If you are “looking for people to clap for you”, you need either to become a pop star or to consult a psychiatrist. Seriously, if you feel such a need, your pranas are not circulating properly (some channels are open, and you lose energy). Go, sit in padmasana

mallika Says:
July 29, 2008 at 9:46 am Bharatanatyam,
Now we are discussing something important here. While you are talking of araimandis, mudras etc, how much do you delve into the dancer really enjoying the dance herself. Iam a firm believer that one can give what one has, be it money or love or any feelings. While I was in theatre, doing skits and plays, one of my seniors told me, if you are not feeling it within, it shows to audiance mallika. And same goes for dance.
While there is such rush to become celebrities ASAP and remain so as long, be it in any field. I feel this is a question that one should ask oneself, ‘am i feeling bhakti, when iam potryaing it?’
Can you really deny the fact that most of the dancers are up there looking for people to clap for them?For all of them, its time to take a closer look and deeper meaning at what krishna said ‘ karmanye vadhi kaaraste, maa phaleshu kadachana…..’
FYI, if a perfect body pose is what leads to rasanubhava, then iam still to watch it. but i expreianced a stir in me when i did watch priya murle do a varnam, without a araimandi.

mallika Says:
July 29, 2008 at 9:51 am one more thing, its not only ectasy that we are talking about. if we are so insistant on being physically perfect poses, it doesnot need bharatanatyam. Even PrabhuDeva is physically perfect when he does his moves. or any bhangra dancer from punjab.
what takes bharatanatyam is that inner spiritual feeling, felt and transmitted. Unless one feels, no transmission can happen.

Bharatanatyam Says:
July 29, 2008 at 11:28 am I agree with you that there is no such a thing as an absolute physical perfection (in the types of bodies that humans have today). Moreover, people always see not the reality but what they expect and what they want to see.
You can captivate their minds even without a perfect araimandi, no questions about that. You are absolutely right that a perfect araimandi is not as important as the dancer’s enjoying the dance.The dancer’s body’s perfect physical position is as unachievable as a violinist’s absolute precision in taking notes. If a musician is sometimes off-key, is it important? Or rather, can YOU hear it? Even among the most professional violinists, there are no perfect ones: the notes cannot be taken with an absolute precision. The average (untrained) human ear can distinguish 22 microtones in an octave. My neighbour can hear only 6, I guess! So if some short-sighted people believe that PrabhuDeva (or Jothika) is physically perfect when he does his moves, it is because these spectators do not have a sharp (well-trained) eye, and do not understand what is Bharatanatyam.

Rasanubhava is not just a “stir”, my dear.

Can I really deny the fact that most of the dancers are up there looking for people to clap for them? No, I can’t. But these dancers will not be able to bring Tejas through them.
In fact, it is quite obvious (and boring) when the dancer is aware of the audience and tries to please them.

The author seems to have not much information on the Dance itself and its history. Much to my shock the author and me had the below conversation for the article http://bharatanatyam2dance.wordpress.com/2008/01/03/the-hereditary-ones-and-back-to-karanas/#comment-141

mallika Says:
August 2, 2008 at 12:45 pm

whats wrong with the TQ compositions? u seem not to like them. iam still thinking about the margam format though.
may be ’cause i am trained in tanjore style?

Bharatanatyam Says:
August 2, 2008 at 12:58 pm

think the TQ compositions are nice. u seem not to like them.

They are ok, if the dancer is good I enjoy watching them, no problem. I have seen, for example, Sakiye performed at least 100 times by all kinds of dancers of all kinds of styles, in solos, duos, trios and groups!

However, the kings that the TQ compositions extol are no longer alive. The kings are dead.

Imagine a contemporary composer composing an item dedicated to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Ms.Jayalalitha and containing lines praising her. As soon as Mr.Karunanidhi takes over again, this item will lose its relevance. Maybe the composer would end up in jail! The composer whose mind is tarnished by the desire/need to please a VIP will never produce a real masterpiece. For Rs.20000, some (second-rate) composers in Chennai will write you the lyrics and the music.
There are short-term (politically correct) items, and there are long-term items not marred by politics/business.

Think about what was BEFORE the present margam was introduced 200 years ago.


Oy-yo-yo! Maybe Which Tanjore style, may I ask you?

mallika Says:
August 3, 2008 at 9:09 am

how many tanjore styles do u know anyway? how can you comment on anything that you have not seen or felt, for eg sundari? Dance is the physical interpretation of music and in that music lies the feeling and etc. thats y bharata never told how to dance. he laid guidelines, he left the interpretation part. he wanted each human being/dancer to feel, interpret and reach that point of understanding/realization. gods dont show their teeth? r u sure? what abt ur fav kali?
while everything in the nature has undergone a change, including all kinds of art, y not dance or say bhartanatyam? y r u against it? no change or innovation or even bettermetnt can happen without such out of hte box thinking. yes i agree to the point that it might now be called, present day bharatanatyam of present day tanjore style of guru so and so…. but can u take an example , say a simple compsition and choreograph it exactly according to what sage bharata had written and meant in natyashastra? once u do that we will talk further.
darling, not everything that is old is great, and not everything that is new is shit

Bharatanatyam Says:
August 3, 2008 at 9:37 am How easy is it to infuriate you!

how many tanjore styles do u know anyway?

Many. More than 50, I guess.

how can you comment on anything that you have not seen or felt, for eg sundari?

I did watch Sundari in that DVD. I tried not to laugh! Did you see how she drops her jaw? Comic!
What I meant to say that I did not see her in person, when she was younger. I guess she danced much better

gods dont show their teeth?

I said, “devas” (the Sattva-loving powers of Mind). Not even the Mahadevas or the powers of Svar, who are above the 3 guna’s.

r u sure? what abt ur fav kali?

She is the exception, since she has to clean up the world’s garbage. Dirty job. Unlike devas, She is not attached to any guna.

while everything in the nature has undergone a change, including all kinds of art, y not dance or say bhartanatyam? y r u against it?

No. I believe even Urvasi has been evolving in her style The apsaras (or devas) cannot evolve unless they take birth on earth. All evolution is happening here.

can u take an example , say a simple compsition and choreograph it exactly according to what sage bharata had written and meant in natyashastra? once u do that we will talk further.

OK. I’ll talk to you in 40-60 years’ time. Sure My creative talent is (at the moment) zero. I would have to do a lot of pujas for Brahma

darling, not everything that is old is great, and not everything that is new is shit

Fine. I will be happy if you show (or tell) us what is there new that is not shit.

mallika Says:
August 3, 2008 at 10:37 am dear bharatanatyam,
you mistake my thoughts as fury. you have not infuriated me. just like cleaning the garbage that u do is mistook by many.
you not only have to open your eyes wide enough, but also your mind to let in some freshness and see things in a new and better perspective, then you will realise what is new and what is not shit.
while i really like and respect your honesty, pls dont hide under any pretext…. did u really think that way when i askedu abt sundari? welll….. there is something that is above everything- that is truth. and only our inner self knows whether we are true or not, right or not.
not only the devas, but also such human who is self realized and has reached the ultimate bliss thru meditation will have that kind of smile u have mentioned above.
to think that one knows everything and what one sees exists and what one knows only is right - is not a very good idea.
pls list down the 50 kinds of tanjore style of dancing in detail and i will tell u which one is mine.
how do u know that devas have that smile, and do u know the reason behind it, all the reasons that are there all the time?
why such frustration?

The author is obiviously unaware of the various kauthuvams and varnams like 'manavi chekona raada' by the Tanjore quartet.
 

Coming to the latest post by this author where the author poses certain questions on the commercialisation of Bharatanatyam.
The author starts by talking how mean it is to claim a copyright on one's work and how glorius were the people of the past that they did not do any such thing. Indeed, Ramayana was always, Valmiki Ramayana, then came Tuslidas's Ramanayana, then came our Ramanand Sagar... same goes for Mahabharatam and Bhagavatam... Iam tempted to name Pothana here..... Whilst it would have been beneficial to tell the readers that it was Vighneshwara who actually wrote Mahabharatam while Vyasa was narrating it and while is pen/thing with which he was writing broke, he broke off  one of his tusk and wrote the rest of Mahabharatam with it. Iam looking for a composition where I can choreograph this piece.

The author then quotes the following:

Read what Minakshi tells us:

The most popular legend is that of the amazing young tribal boy Ekalavya on being rejected by the ace trainer Dronacharya, raised his statue and with great dedication practised the art of archery and left behind Arjuna, the master archer, who actually learnt the art under the living guru. And the heartless guru asked for his thumb as gurudakshina or fees, and made him inferior before his royal disciple.

This is the most funny conclusion I have ever read, except Rama doubting Sita and subjecting her to the fire test. The author misses the basic comparision of Ekalavya's act to what is happening in the present day Bharatanatyam world. Can we not see the similarities between what Ekalavya's learning and present day online bharatanatyam courses, DVD teaching and distance certification courses? If this is right, then Drona was wrong indeed. 

I posted a comment for the above article for which I am still waiting for an answer.

mallika Says:
August 8, 2008 at 2:35 pm

what is sadir attam? to be precise, how did it look when one danced in that style,an alaripu or a padam,and may be not the present day bharatanatyam style? who dances that way now? how can one know? how can one say that that is only nice and not wat we do today? if one teacher charges some amount as a fee, but teaches more than for the said hours, is it wrong? is a bharatanatyam teacher supposed to teach free, when the student is someone who can afford the fee? what is the avg fee for bharatanatyam, rs.300-500 monthly for thrice a week hourly classes? how many students cannot afford it? how many children who cannot afford such money really find bharatanatyam interesting? should one just pull everyone into dancing, whether or not its his interest? like one is pulled into academics?
who is a ‘true bharatanatyam guru’? if we have ’sa, ri, ga,ma,pa,dha,ni’ ,we create ragas based on these seven swaras. now all the ragas will contain only these swaras, then what is original- this is without going into the details of the origin of the swaras themselves?

iam still thinking about the margam format though. 

may be ’cause i am trained in tanjore style? 

Well this is one of my long blogs hopefully I didn't bore you. Camp is from the 11 through 16th of August. So you won't be hearing from me that week obviously. I'll try and summarize this all after camp and post pictures on facebook and flickr. Great stuff!