Its time we can stop calling Dhoni as India's best captain. Look at the way Clarke led Australia crushed West Indies 5-0 ...

Well we cant help Indian Cricket as long as a GHILLI player is there as captain

PS: I am Kind of sorry for being too harsh against Dhoni, who deserves minimal respect as he is the captain. But you see, i just cant :( ..

Imperia -- the sushi happy hour was super-packed, too crowded really, and the sushi was passed apps, which means my friends and I each got about three pieces. They were tasty--cream cheese and eel, a crunchy take on spicy tuna--but I don't know that I'd be inspired to go back. Their weekday happy hour (4 to 7) does boast 2 for 1 apps, so it might be worth a light dinner stop.

Sullivan's -- because the sushi happy hour was so packed, we hit Sullivan's next door for their Thursday night $5 bar entrees and $5 specialty martinis. We didn't end up eating (though we later made a pit stop at the Torchy's Tacos trailer next to Little Woodrow's with good results--fabulous, spicy queso!!) there, but we plowed through their martini menu! The fellow in the group enjoyed the Dirty CEO martini, a dirty vodka martini with blue cheese-stuffed olives. The ladies alternated between the Caprihna (a Brazilian concoction my friend described as "lime-y with a banana aftertaste"), the Mango Tango, and the Goodnight Kiss, a new take on the chocolate martini, as it doesn't use creamy chocolate liquer, which makes it taste much lighter and less calorie-laden (not to assume it isn't, it just tastes like it isn't), plus it's topped off--er, um, bottomed--with an actual Hershey's kiss in the bottom of the glass. [sidenote: I don't think the beef is free range. I asked the bartender and he proceeded to tell me that you can't raise cows in cages. Um ...]

Thai Tara -- A friend and I went for lunch yesterday, and it was quite good. It's the random little restaurant on West Sixth, across the street from Union Park. I hear it has a great business lunch crowd, and perhaps a lunch buffet, but as it was a holiday weekend Saturday, there were only a few tables occupied. We started with some spring rolls (better than Thai Passion's, and served with a MUCH better sauce), and a soup, the Tom-Ka I think. It's a coconut milk, chile-lime soup with delicious flavor, though I only had a bite or two. Then we had two traditionally Thai dishes: Pad Thai with shrimp and Green Curry with beef (don't worry, I didn't eat the beef ... I doubt it's free range). The Pad Thai was tasty and relatively light; the green curry was spicy, creamy, and delicious. I also tried a little bit of mixing the two; that isn't recommended. I will definitely try Thai Tara again, and before Thai Passion!

Remember I'm a bit of a Thai food rookie. Does anyone else have an opinion on the Thai Food Wars?

I came here with my parents and my aunt and uncle. It was a really nice beautiful sunny Sunday, and pretty much the entire city was out, rollerblading, biking, walking, suntanning at the beach. Yeah, downtown and Stanley Park were crazy busy. We got to the Fish House and since we had a reservation, were seated right away. There was a couple in front of us without a reservation and I think they were told to wait; the restaurant was pretty packed with families big and small (many were tourists). It's pretty nice inside, high ceilings, spacious dining rooms with large doors and windows, beautifully lit with sunlight, nice patio. 

I liked their menu - their fresh sheet menu has a LOT of different fish (probably the most I have seen) that I would have liked to try except it was a lunch thing and I wasn't too hungry, so I didn't order from there.

Everybody gets a complimentary pastry to start. Their pastries are made in house, and carried out in a giant basket and you get to pick from a muffin, croissant, or scone. I tried a bit of everything - the croissant was the best, flakey and warm and not too buttery. The blueberry scone was great too, especially with the blueberry preserves that was served with the pastries. The apple muffin was the least exciting.

Hmmm.... Flakey fresh croissant:

Unfortunately there are only a few pics of the rest to post, as everybody had the warm salmon salad, which was garnished with some daikon, tomato and chives. It was a good salad although nothing too spectacular. You can upgrade to from pink to sockeye for a few bucks more.
 

Except for my dad who always picks burgers (doesn't really matter where he goes, it's always burgers. And fries. And occassionally, a boring Caesar salad. You guessed it, he was also the one who chose the boring muffin):
 

Our server was a most proper and warm guy who was really pampering. The service is not speedy at all, but that is to be expected - you're there to relax and enjoy your brunch. And they get everything right. We ordered a few coffees and I an Americano and Dad got some Merlot and all of that was pretty good. I was the one who paid (of course!) and the bill only came out to be about 20 bucks per person. 

Overall, quality and service and the atmosphere here is great. I would have loved to try some of their fresh fish, so maybe next time. If I had the choice though, and was in the neighborhood, I would definitely pick the Sequoia Grill over the Fish House, any day. Both places are excellent. The Fish House probably has a better, larger fish menu, and is more "fine-dining", but personally I like sitting at the Sequoia Grill, and I find they put more effort into making and presenting their food. That's just me.

The Fish House in Stanley Park

8901 Stanley Park Drive, Vancouver

Tel: 604-681-7275

Emptiness

Originally uploaded by

Miss Gong & The Flickers

Watts, Alan (1915-1973)

No one really knows just who the British-born Alan Watts was. Scholar, writer, Tantric yogi, ex-Catholic synthesizer of Eastern and Western beliefs--all would apply.

An innovate teacher, Watts mastered the art of spontaneity. His wit and enthusiasm made him one of the leading advocates of mystical introspection.

His abundant charms, however, may have been garnered at the expense of rigorous thought.

For example, one of his arguments about the West "not getting it" is developed from simplistic assumptions.

In his video, Time: The More it Changes, Watts says that Western psychologists used to explain human behavior in terms of instinct, and now - 1972 - people tend to speak of "drives." He then provides counterexamples to suggest the opposite, saying that he's not "driven" to eat or have sex, but rather chooses to "identify" with these activities.

The problem with this argument is that not all psychologists see human behavior as solely motivated by "drives." Even Freud, whose idea of the libido is often viewed as excessively instinctual, recognized the importance of social forces in regulating biological drives.

Meanwhile, twentieth-century existentialists argue that what makes a human truly human (and free) is the "gap of nothingness" that stands between drives and actions (or inaction). And religious people speak of "grace" that may override drives.

But Watts did popularize and provoke. In 1968 he admitted to taking five different types of psychedelic drugs to learn about mysticism.

I myself have experimented with five of the principal psychedelics: LSD-25, mescaline, psilocybin, dimethyl-tryptamine (DMT), and cannabis. I have done so, as William James tried nitrous oxide, to see if they could help me in identifying what might be called the "essential" or "active" ingredients of the mystical experience.

Alan Watts, "Psychedelics and Religious Experience," California Law Review, Vol. 56, No. 1 (Jan., 1968:74-85), p. 75.

As the following demonstrates, Nordstrom and Pilgrim take an extremely dim view of his ideas.

Watts' mysticism is deviant because it seeks perversely to undo mystical experience. This is done by inferring from the fact that mystical experience is not ineffable, that there is no separation between the spiritual and the physical, which eventually is transformed into the view that the spiritual and the physical are virtually the same thing, which Watts calls his "spiritual materialism"...[this] both precludes the possibility and obviates the necessity of mystical experience. What is perverse about Watts' mysticism, in a word, is that it is antimystical.
This would not be so perverse were it not for the fact that Watts considered himself to be a mystic, as remarks like "I am a shameless mystic" and "a mystic in spite of myself" make clear.
Watts is a strange and confusing combination of a man-of-letters and a mystic, who used his extraordinary articulateness and literary ability to undermine mystical experience by rejecting the sense in which such experience is ineffable. What one is left with, unfortunately, is, as Zen master Rinzai once put it, "words and phrases, however excellent."

Louis Nordstrom and Richard Pilgrim, "The Wayward Mysticism of Alan Watts," Philosophy East and West, Vol. 30, No. 3 (Jul., 1980: 381-401), pp. 381-382.

Love or hate him, according to legend Watts predicted a flash of lightning which would accompany his death. At the moment he died, a local Druid's bell apparently rang out in town, off schedule. Later, a lightning flash hit the cable leading to the bell.

Similar paranormal phenomena are said to have accompanied the death of Carl Jung, another prominent innovator and advocate of an East-West synthesis. » Confucianism, Ego, Id, Superego, Taoism, Wu Wei, Yogi

Add to this, report errors, suggest edits or voice your opinion by posting a comment

Movie link here- http://stylewars.com/westfc/WestFC.mov

via Mare139 at 12oz

No texto, que publicou em seu blog, a jovem jornalista defende as "conquistas (profissionais) só são válidas quando você tem a plena noção de que batalhou mesmo por aquilo que desejou, queimou neurônios e passou noites em estudos, um aumento de salário que veio pelo esforço próprio e não por uma estratégica cruzada de pernas".

Leia o post completo no blog da Alessandra

Alessandra também é colaboradora do portal As Notícias.

Parabéns Alê!

Il sito del programma contiene i podcast di numerose puntate monografiche ed una serie di schematiche informazioni sulla raccolta e l'importanza delle conservazione e della sostenibilità. La finalità è più che altro didattica e rivolta alla divulgazione di base, alla sensibilizzazione sui temi ambientali e d'uso popolare delle piante medicinali che non all'informazione medico-terapica vera e propria ma è comunque gradevole, se non altro perchè l'idea è carina ed il formato snello. Per dare un'idea del target basta osservare la grafica del sito e notare la presenza, tra le altre cose, di un album colorabile per bambini corredato di informazioni di base per il riconoscimento delle pincipali piante officinali.

BY NIRMAL MANGAR

GANGTOK, July 02: Hee-Bermiok Tourism Development and Heritage Conservation Society (HBTDHCS), West Sikkim has been selected for the Consumer News and Business Channel (CNBC) TV award for the year 2008 under the category “Best Village Tourism and Best Community Participation.”

The award will be given away in a glittering ceremony in Mumbai tomorrow.

NK Subba, the area MLA, Hee-Bermiok has already left for Mumbai.

While talking with SIKKIM EXPRESS over the phone today, TN Sharma, the president of HBTDHCS said, “It is a happy moment for all the people of Sikkim for Hee Bermiok conservation society to be conferred with such a prestigious award.”

“We have always strived for better in terms of village tourism and had earmarked our presence globally with the annual village tourist festival,” he said.

Hee Bermiok Tourism Development Committee was formed in the year 2005 with the main motive to promote rural tourism in the State.

Since its inception, HBTDHCS organizes tourism festival every year under the Kalej Valley Heritage and Tourism Festivals Conservation Society with the help of local organizations, NGOs and various Government Departments. This is the major annual summer event and also a platform for the peoples of Hee Bermiok to showcase cultural wealth of the area.

Hee Bermiok is the newest name on Sikkim’s impressive list of tourist destinations. Bounded by Kalej Khola on the North, Hee Khola in the West, Rangit and Rangsang river in the East and Samdong reserve forest in the South, it offers the tourist, a trek or a bike-ride through the Barsey Rhododendron Sanctuary with the breathtaking Khangchendzonga looming large over the horizon.

An enchanting treat in the Limboo traditional houses and campfire in the hush green mountains with the rooster birds providing the background score are some of the unforgettable moments one gets to savour.

This is a guest post to WestBlog from Rick King, executive vice president and chief operations officer of Thomson Reuters North American Legal in Eagan, Minnesota:

I'm going to have some extra work on my plate for awhile. But I'm really looking forward to it.

Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty just appointed me chairman of the State of Minnesota Ultra High-Speed Broadband Task Force. I'll lead this 26-member group that includes 20 apoointments by Pawlenty and I am honored to have the leadership role. It is a credit to a team of people at West and Thomson Reuters who are advocates for expanded broadband and its benefits, and even helped create the bill to establish the task force.

You can read the governor's news release about the task force on his Web site.

While we're just getting things organized, plans are for our group to meet at least once a month, and more frequently in smaller groups, until our report is due to the governor by November 1, 2009. The first meeting is scheduled for August 15.

The task force's recommendations will:

1. Identify a level of broadband service and connection speeds that will be reasonably needed in Minnesota by the year 2015
2. Describe the policies and actions and cost estimates to meet the goals
3. Identify areas in Minnesota that lack necessary infrastructure to support broadband service
4. Evaluate strategies and financing mechanisms in other areas to support comprehensive broadband deployment

In April, Governor Pawlenty was on our Eagan campus to sign the broadband bill establishing the task force. Tom Glocer, Thomson Reuters CEO (left) and Peter Warwick, North American Legal president and CEO (right) joined Pawlenty for the signing ceremony.

I've been an advocate for expanded broadband for quite some time. And, as a former technology executive, I understand that broadband is an essential infrastructure if Minnesota - and the entire United States - is to compete in a global economy.

One obvious benefit of expanded broadband to corporations in any industry is that it allows their employees to work more efficiently from home, either occasionally or on a regular basis.

Standard DSL and cable modems in our home offices do not currently allow any of us to access our network applications at speeds that make good business sense. Compared to Pacific Rim countries, the U.S. is lagging behind.

I'm excited to get the task force up and running and I am interested to hear your thoughts on the issue and any advice you have.

Rick King
Executive Vice President, Chief Operations Officer
Thomson Reuters North American Legal

Subscribe to WestBlog

A look back at history of how the west began its dependence on oil. Eventually, it was due to the gradual change from coal to oil powered engines that were needed for the First World War.

Straight from Kanye's mouth in the latest Skee.TV Cipher Battle with Charles Hamilton, The Game, and Kanye West.

Kanye West:

"N*gga got a lot of Nike's, now Nike giving me checks. November "what" n*ggas gonna get the Yeezy's"

Reality Films

Philip Gardiner's Diary of a Vampire provides an intriguing glimpse into the world of Bram Stoker, the Irish author of Dracula (1897).

As possible influences on Stoker's work the film looks at European history, Freemasonry, Asian mysticism, mythology, the esoterica of Madame Blavatsky and her disagreement with the German religion scholar, Max Müller.

Much visual and narrative emphasis is given to the idea that, in contrast to the scathing account given in the biblical Book of Genesis, the serpent represents sexual energy that may be transformed into spiritual power--i.e. the kundalini and the seven chakras.

Whether or not this kind of subtle power is healthy, hypnotic or perhaps even manipulative is left to open debate.

The film's treatment of the serpent is further developed by mention of the Christian belief that, as a symbol of evil, the snake is something to be overcome through intercessory prayer and, in the past, abject violence.

Dracula, then, is taken as a symbol for the English fear of esoteric cults during a time that saw a subtle resurgence of the ongoing conflict between the 'Christian West' and 'Pagan East.'

To its credit, this thoughtful and well-researched film asks which side Stoker is on, or whether he is merely observing and inadvertently encouraging a nascent consciousness shift that culminates in a full-fledged Gothic revival during the Victorian age.

Diary of a Vampire is highly recommended for those interested in the ongoing tensions and ambiguities found among Christian and non-Christian beliefs, especially with regard to the Victorian era and the esoteric, occult and underground influences of that period.

--MC

InshaAllah this reaches everyone in good health. By the grace of Allah (swt) many active and sincerely devoted youth have begun to connect with each other from all across the country. Through mediums such as email list servs, conferences, face book, and online forums these youth have demonstrated incredible understanding of Islam's revolutionary ideology. Often times because of their unadulterated view of Islamic tradition, they end up feeling isolated within their own communities and resort to finding young adults through other means. In the last couple of years we have begun to exchange ideas about the future of Islam in America and the necessary steps that need to be taken by communities and their respective leaders. After noticing that many of our communities are facing the same problems, and feeling that the majority have neglected to address them properly, we have decided to take our issues directly to our scholars across the board.

One of these preeminent issues is regarding race relations, and ethnocentricity. The reality of the matter is that racism exists down to the roots of many Islamic centers, pervading even up to the mouths of some religious leaders. The Caucasian, Black and African American, and Latino growing Shia communities are feeling more and more isolated as they continue to search for avenues to practice their new found faith. The masjids are increasingly becoming deficient for our new converts and reverts by failing to provide adequate resources. Often times they naturally bring with them their old styles of dress, hair, and slang. Unfortunately out of lack of insight and patience, many centers stuck in their own cultural ignorance tend to shun and look down upon such 'foreign' behaviors. Countless numbers of reverts have turned back from Islam because of this type of attitude.

Full article: www.insight-info.com

I also came across a very similar pair on ASOS where they are available for just $21.63- a steal if you consider how much Kanye would have paid for his designer pair and they're pretty much exactly duplicated.

Damn! I gotta get me some moneys.

I have some pictures to put up with this post, but I left the CF card reader in the back of the truck again. For some reason I felt compelled to needlessly purchase a CF card reader last night. I forgot my tripod too so I have to buy a new tripod as well. Unbelievable. Since I don't have the pictures for today, I will put up some others just to keep you entertained.

The first is Carmen from this winter:

The second is a high dynamic range shot from a year or two ago at Hoover:

Now, I know that neither of these pictures have anything to do with anything, but I promised you moments of entertainment separated by paragraphs of heartache and when you see these photos I think that while you probably experience neither heartache or entertainment to a cathartic degree, you might leave this blog somehow inspired, ready to begin your real life again.

Don't forget that tomorrow is First Thursday, so if you're out for the festivities down South Congress anyway, you might as well check out the Prototype/La Luz sales!

Speaking of sales, I was running down Sixth Street today (to get to the Gold's Gym) and ran past Julian Gold, where all sale merchandise is an extra 25% off. I haven't been there yet--I think I'm too poor--but perhaps a sale-on-a-sale is just the motivation I need.

This just in: Celebrate the start of a long weekend with a BBQ (including veggie dogs!) at the cool 2110 block of South Lamar, home to Moxie & The Compound, Aviary, Downstairs apparel, Legendary Beads, and Birds Barbershop. The stores will be offering discounts and serving up food and drink!

With all the sensational rhetorical from US leaders over the years, one must ask what the reality is. For all the grand speeches and claims of freedom, America has been time and time again to be shown on the side of oppressive regimes. This is not America bashing or “anti-Americanism”, this is the reality. America supported Suharto in Indonesia, Fulgencio Batista in Cuba and Saddam Hussein in Iraq. And they supported apartheid in South Africa.

Dictators and malevolent political systems have been given the green light by successive administrations. Governments who are friendly to US/Western political and economic interests are supported, even if they do not act in the best interests of their people. Often these governments are overthrown by popular movements, which are usually hostile to the West and have an “extreme” political or religious agenda (Iran, Cuba, Afghanistan or Algeria for example). Although these regimes are often vilified by the West as “oppressive” or “freedom-hating”, these are the countries that often lend support to human rights struggles against western backed regimes. Fidel Castro was a great supporter and friend of Mandela’s during the struggle. Mandela did not forget his supporters upon his release and criticised those who felt Mandela should distance himself from anti-West supporters.

"Those South Africans who berate me for being loyal to our friends, literally they can go and throw themselves into a pool. I am not going to betray the trust of those who helped us."

"I do that because of a moral authority ... that we should not abandon those who helped us in the darkest hour of the history of this country," Mandela said. "They gave us the resources for us to conduct the struggle and to win."

Arguably the ANC did commit acts of “terrorism” but that term is as good as meaningless, especially as most definitions do not consider motive or the cause. What is the difference between Western hailed “freedom fighters” and “terrorists”? Mandela and the ANC did indulge in bombing and sabotage campaigns during their struggle, but had the West not made apartheid possible, would this have been necessary. Instead of supporting the rights of Africans, the West was propping up a racist regime and their war against their people. It was the CIA who tipped of the security police in 1962, leading to Mandela’s arrest. The ANC had been linked to African communist movements and allegedly the Soviet Union, so were condemned in the Cold War hysteria. The West had considerable economic interests in the region and South Africa was a key ally in the region.The support of the West for Apartheid was noted by black revolutionary Dr Martin Luther King in 1967.

“…The tragedy of South Africa is not simply in its own policy, it is the fact that the racist government of South Africa is virtually made possible by the economic policies of the United States and Great Britain…”

In the 80’s public opposition to apartheid continued to grow, yet Western countries still managed to allow South Africa to maintain its institutionalised racism. Despite the minimal criticism aimed at the former US president after his death, Ronald Reagan was a key supporter of apartheid in the 1980’s. It was President Reagan who placed the ANC and Mandela on the US terrorist list in the first place. In 1986, Nelsen Mandela’s wife Winnie accused the Reagan Administration of supporting “the racist white regime”. Britain was not innocent, with Baroness Margaret Thatcher opposing sanctions on the country and maintaining the party to be a terrorist organisation. And meanwhile New Zealand was tearing itself apart in 1981 when the Springboks toured.

“If there is a country that has committed unspeakable atrocities in the world, it is the United States of America. They don't care.” Mandela 2003

Yet this history has been well concealed through hollow photo opportunities and false respect. If people really respected the man, should they not acknowledge their mistakes and apologise for their countries’ support for apartheid? Is it that they willingly neglect to remember the past, or do they have a warped view of reality? Mandela is instead placed on a pedestal, given a Presidential Medal of Freedom, a pat on the back and given a bloody good 90^th birthday party. No lesson is actually learnt. And mistakes will again be made, dictators will be propped up, popular uprisings suppressed, and future Mandela’s will be imprisoned. And no doubt they will be lauded upon release, and more lovely photos can be taken.

While no amount of google search could find anything much of an apology or even an acknowledgment of US support for apartheid, 2004 Presidential Election winner Senator John Kerry came close when he said the United States has “moved closer at last to removing the great shame of dishonouring this great leader by including him on our government's terror watch list”.

Condoleezza Rice appeared to be more concerned about looking stupid:

“(Removing the ANC was a) rather embarrassing matter that I still have to waive in my own counterpart, the foreign minister of South Africa, not to mention the great leader Nelson Mandela.”

And some suffered from short time memory loss:

“The label of 'terrorist' will no longer be affixed to associates of the ANC -- among them one of the world's great heroes, Nelson Mandela. Our country stands with those who struggled to bring the reprehensible system of apartheid to an end,” House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman.

Britain’s Conservative Party is at least a little more honest than their counterparts across the Atlantic:

“The mistakes my party made in the past with respect to relations with the ANC and sanctions on South Africa make it all the more important to listen now. The fact that there is so much to celebrate in the new South Africa is not in spite of Mandela and the ANC, it is because of them - and we Conservatives should say so clearly today.” David Cameron 2006

It makes you think just how much influence politics and economics have in the way we view international figures. Monster can be condoned as necessary evils, and people’s heroes can be vilified as terrorists. It makes me wonder whether we always choose the right enemy and whether we have the right friends. Should we expect today’s villains from other struggles to be tomorrow’s heroes?

On a related topic I intend to write a post about Zimbabwe, looking at media coverage in the west and the possible options available to the international community to deal with the tyrant Robert Mugabe. Certainly no hero there!

Anyway - it sucks that South Africa is "sleeping" on the whole issue. Our president is smart, very smart - one then has to think as to why he has not taken the necessary steps to make sure that things go well in that country. Many of us are speculating that there are alterior motives here.

Yes indeed - Mugabe has lost his marbles, and to make matters worse, he's not the only one affected but scores of people are, where their human rights are being taken away from them. The violence taking place there has both been shocking and disgusting. But hey, it is after all the last days and things are panning out the way it was said they would.

The MDC puts it well when it says ZANU PF has lost it, headlines today say the party has told the West to "go hang"-BBC - the irony here is that ZANU - PF is securing a very tight noose around it's own neck.

But then again... who is it that said - ‘All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing’...? Ahh, it is that wise man Edmund Burke