Andre Gide
General
03
Dec 03
Quotations
Andre Gide
24
Nov 03
PKD
George sent me this link from Wired about Philip K. Dick’s Hollywood renaissance. Apparently, movie studios have been snatching up the rights to his stories left and right. Thanks, George!
12
Nov 03
Eurythmics
I discovered last night while reading the Jacques Barzun book that eurythmics is not just the name of an 80’s band. It’s also something REALLY cool:
Eurythmics – harmonious bodily movement, especially as expressed according to the system of �mile Jaques-Dalcroze, who developed eurythmics (1903) at the Geneva Conservatory of Music in an effort to overcome the rhythmic difficulties of his students. His aim was to bring the body under control of the mind through a system of gymnastics correlated with music. First, an unconscious technique of bodily response to the rhythm of music is developed, with the student eventually able to improvise an interpretation, through gesture language, of an entire composition. The system has influenced not only musical instruction but also the ballet and even fields outside of musical study. The first demonstrations of it were given in 1905, and the first Jaques-Dalcroze Institute in the United States was established ten years later. For a history of the Dalcroze method of eurythmics, see Nicolas Slonimsky, Music since 1900 (4th ed., 1971). See Elsa Findlay, Rhythm and Movement: Applications of Dalcroze Eurhythmics (1971).
20
Oct 03
The shifting balances of power
I found a few good articles over at Antiwar.com on the shifting of different alliances and relationships among the major world powers. No one really seems to know for sure which way the world is headed, but it seems clear that the role of the United States as the ‘sole remaining superpower’ (something you hear in American media) is increasingly being challenged more and more openly by the advocates of multilateralism. In response, the US foreign policy establishment has acted with a flurry of diplomatic and institutional activity, in addition to the usual implicit warnings against opposing the US.
-
Describing EU integration as “irreversible” in the paper released Monday, Beijing marveled at Europe’s 25 percent to 35 percent share of the global economy and its projected 450 million population once it expands into the former communist bloc next year.
The “white paper” follows a flurry of Sino-European ventures, including the Galileo global satellite system, described as a direct challenge to the American Global Positioning System monopoly in space.
The two sides are also working together on nuclear research.
France and Germany have been pushing hardest for closer ties with China, hoping to cash in on a lucrative market but also to develop a strategic alliance as a counterweight to American power after the diplomatic trauma of the Iraq war.
-
Jones has launched a counter-offensive to European plans for their own defence structures. Last week he inaugurated the “Nato Response Force” . The NRF, which will eventually be 21,000 strong, contains elite units from many Nato countries, ready to be deployed to troublespots anywhere in the world at just five days’ notice. The force has its own dedicated battleships, warplanes, troops, logistics and intelligence. Jones refers to it as “global”, ready to take on the challenges of the 21st century – primarily terrorist threats.
The NRF’s readiness to act in just five days, however, will depend on Nato politicians also being able to take decisions quickly – and given the furious rows over Iraq, which did not even involve Nato as an organisation, that could pose problems. But here Jones has an even more interesting plan. At present, Nato takes all decisions unanimously. “In future,” Jones told me, “ nations will probably have to consider whether the will of the majority can continually be stymied by the opposition of one or two nations.”
17
Oct 03
Moving
I’m moving to a new webhost to save myself some money. Things may act a little funny over the next few days as I switch the DNS over to his name servers.
16
Oct 03
New to me
The wikipedia gang has some new projects I just came across: wikiquote, wikibooks, and wiktionary. It is good to see this sort of thing.
30
Sep 03
Wow
I was talking to Michael (see photo below) on aim and got him to send me scans of some of his drawings. I was so blown away that I got him to let me post this on my website. He didn’t seem very comfortable with the idea at first, but I twisted his arm. He is very talented. I want to slurp out all his magic drawing powers like a vampire and add it to my own brain. This particular drawing reminds me somewhat of Albrecht Dürer‘s Melancholia. It has an engraving kinda quality.
Here are some more Michael drawings:
Girl drawing and oranges drawing
26
Sep 03
No one
No one seems to think this is cool but me…digital jewelry…by Nokia. Okay, true. I wouldn’t wear it, but I really like the idea. We need more pseudo-futuristic stuff. Like shiny fabrics and unitards!