burning of books

Shih Huang Ti did it, Hitler did it and Mao did it -so why are thought dictators afraid of other streams of thought for knowledge is power and ignorance kills. Why then would there be SOPA? Would knowlege be the domain of the rich and privileged when the internet which has been one of the greatest leveller of stratified social classes is limited to a narrow group? The old fashioned way is to burn that which is different and so a threat to whose security? The modern way is to firewall it or commodify that which should be the right to know of all regardless of race,religion or social class.

The solitude of prime numbers

I've just finished viewing this touching movie based on the debut novel by Paulo Giodarno called The solitude of prime numbers.The emotional scars on these two lost souls reverberates through their growing up years and spans from high school years to his winning a prestigious scientific international award and her descent to a failed marriage and bouts of anorexia.The emotional and psychological torments that haunt both from some childhood tragedies continue into their adult years as their guilt is manifested in the self mutilation of the male protagonist and the bouts of anorexia of the female.I just hope our bookstores have better stocks of books instead of greying eroticas.The two characters are like the same poles of a magnet,forever pushing each other away because they have too much in common.I just can't believe that Mr Giordano is a physicist and wrote this amazing novel whilst preparing for his Phd in particle physics.He is like Primo Levi.the scientist who can be brilliant in both the right and left brain.


I've this crazy habit of reading diffrent genres at the same time.I'm into Naguib Mafoz:Tales from the Arabian Night and the economist A. Sen's " Development As Freedom.

My back pain woke me up the other night and I was reading Haruki Murakami's short story on "The Mirror" when I fell asleep on the sofa.I had this dream within a dream sensation when I heard soft rattling from the balcony.Thinking that it might be a cat burglar,I l peered out through the kitchen window.There was no breeze as it was a stifling hot night-the heat was so oppressive that the trees could not breathe.then i saw the warm orange glow of the dragon lantern that I hung on the railing of the balcony.I thought I had removed the green candle before putting it there.This dragon was made of transparent yellow cellophane paper with a brilliant red hued body stuck with dazzling sequins and a blue tail.Green tassels hung from its jaws.No way,I rubbed my eyes,the dragon was moving as if some invisible hand was holding the bamboo stick that was tied to it.

I rushed back to the sofa and covered myself with the throw rug.The next day,I asked around the neighbourhood.It seemed that a 6 year old little girl was playing with candles secretly on the night of The Mooncake festival when without her grandparent's notice,the lantern she was holding caught fire as she slipped and fell .



I think Murakami's eeries story on The Mirror had just overactivated my imagination or if not,who was that holding my red dragon lantern?

Escape from the coming winter

The migratory birds have come back.I'm damned dumbstruck when this magnificent species soared above as I was closing the window this morning.I've seen water hens and white egrets and turquoise feathered king fishers.This awesome yellow billed stork is a fine specimen of nature.

the Age of the paradoxical Man

Is this the age of the paradoxical man?


If it isn't broken, why break it?

If it's broken,why not fix it?

 

fifty shades of red

What's the hype about fifty shades of gray except that it's an adult movie in less graphic form.

Thought I would jump on the bandwagon and read that light fiction.Instead of turning me on,it's good comic relief for those in the middle ages with waning hormones to browse through such raging hormonal descriptions that make me turn 100 shades of red. Ha ha ha  how can one not laugh when a man's voice is described as warm caramel chocolate and the heroine's legs tremble like Jello.

personalised air conditioned suits

People have different threshold tolerance to heat and cold.Centralised air conditioning doesn't offer those who have low tolerance to cold temperatures a choice.Could material engineering and redesign of clothing be done so that instead of external temperature control,individual clothes like suits or helmets might be worn so that it can be adjustable by the wearer to suit their preference and they would be more energy conservation due to reduced dependence on centralised heating and cooling systems.

How do race car drivers keep themselves comfortable in the  punishing heat of race circuits?

"   The tyranny of the present over the future"   Jeffrey Sachs

Not in Our names

Ru guo tian xia wei min

wei shen mo xi hai wei jia


If heaven is for the people
then why are the four seas our homes?

a biochemical boost

natural love potion

euphemism

Do not disturb



Shhhh!    Human construction in progress

When kumar meets karma.his fate is sealed

the search for karma

The sign of the times

Kenichi Ohmae foretold the arrival of the M shaped society in which the middle class which formed the bulwark of the industrialised society has seen their standard of living deteriorating.Chomsky said that society is regressing when upward social mobility is restricted as business elites work hand in hand with the political elites to tighten their grip on the concentration of wealth.
     The gap in incomes would widen further as power is concentrated in this politico-economic nexus.The change from aristocracy to democracy,from pre industrialisation to industrialization has seen the creation of a large pool of middle class earners that contributed to the growing consumer class for the products manufactured by the captains of industries.With rising use of robots and technology,will human capital be made obsolete?If they are made obsolete,who would be the consumers of the manufactured products?
      Should society encourage self sustaining communities that would reduce the ecological footprint and utilize the artisan and individual skills of weavers,carpenters,tailors,bakers instead of anonymously made products which lack the pride of labour and craftsmanship?

An eyeball for a fishball

An eyeball for a fishball
will soon drive all the bodies up the wall
so it ain't no matter if you're short or tall
the thing is don't feel small
just have a ball!

a mad house,a sad cat,a bad day

a taste for blood

god of wealth

yummy for the tummy

Flee fish,free fish

fish hatchery

fishy brain waves

test tube babies

meowtants

what is it good for?

"War is not about who is right but who is left"

An apple

" To a worm in an apple,the world is an apple "

the days of indian summer

Thankfully Msia has been spared the onslaught of floods,typhoons,tsunamis or earthquakes that have been wrecking the Asian continent.Now the glorious Indian summer of blazing sunshine is back.When we drove past the rambutan trees laden with red bunches of the hairy fruit or see the trees with dangling with the thorny durians,life is much more leisurely and more scenic in the rural areas.

But yesterday,while out hunting for my craving for Japanese food,I was nearly seduced.It took all of my mental strength to say no to that tanned hunk of a teapot