Granada 18 (pronouns)
November 13th, 2009 at 23:59Translation is like a sex change operation: to change the form in order to make shine the essence, the beauty, the truth of that which lies within. And yet no form or shape is ever adequate. (more…)
Archive for the ‘xyz -- everything else’ Category
Granada 16 (mutton)
November 9th, 2009 at 17:33On the flight to Granada I made a vow: not to complain about the disappointments of Spain’s cuisine and its wine. (The notable exception is a Moscatel from Horacio Calvente:, subtly bitter-sweet, gently graced by the moon. A delight from Granada’s mountains.) (more…)
Granada 13 (roastbeef)
October 14th, 2009 at 14:05It’s lunchtime and the city goes to sleep for four hours. I don’t normally eat lunch (I prefer dinner) nor do I take a nap during the day. With no one to talk to, I read.
In the inside there is sleeping, (more…)
Still Working On That?
July 16th, 2009 at 19:43There is nothing quite as disappointing as dinner in an American restaurant.
No matter how much money I spend or how far I travel, the food invariably tastes sanitized, drained of its original flavor, infused with a suffocating plethora of aromas. As if the American palate has no patience for the acid sweetness of the tomato, the gentle comfort of chicken, the salty freshness of the oyster, the maternal fierceness of lamb, the coquettish charm of pork. One taste is never enough. Instead chefs invent shocking combinations of ingredients whose flavors exceed even the presumptuousness of chewing gum — or a smoothie. (more…)
Wise Latina Woman
July 14th, 2009 at 23:03For the longest time in history humans were a minority.
Consider this passage from John Berger’s “Here Is Where We Meet”
The Cro-Magnon reply to the first and perennial human question of: Where are we? was different from ours. The nomads were acutely aware of being a minority who were overwhelmingly outnumbered by animals. (more…)
Dreamtigers
July 5th, 2009 at 11:49Jorge Luis Borges’s marvelous DREAMTIGERS is available online in its entirety at The Floating Library. (Thank you ghost of Dr. Sineokov!)
Here’s an excerpt: The Draped Mirrors
Islam asserts that on the unappealable day of judgment every perpetrator of the image of a living creature will be raised from the dead with his works, and he will be commanded to bring them to life, and he will fail, and be cast out with them into the fires of punishment. As a child, I felt before large mirrors that same horror of a spectral duplication or multiplication of reality. Their infallible and continuous functioning, their pursuit of my actions, their cosmic pantomime, were uncanny then, whenever it began to grow dark. One of my persistent prayers to God and my guardian angel was that I not dream about mirrors. I know I watched them with misgivings. Sometimes I feared they might begin to deviate from reality; other times I was afraid of seeing there my own face, disfigured by strange calamities. I have learned that this fear is again monstrously abroad in the world. The story is simple indeed, and disagreeable. Read the rest of the story
What’s neo about Nazis?
July 3rd, 2009 at 17:06The prefix neo signifies “a new, revived or modified form of some doctrine, belief, practice, language, artistic style or designating those who advocate, adopt or use it.” (OED)
A neo-Nazi is thus someone who supports the revival and modification of Nazism or Nazi ideological principles, or propagates a modified form of Nazism. But did Nazism ever disappear? And how are neo-Nazis different from Nazis? (more…)
Harvard Is Not Poor
June 25th, 2009 at 21:53A few weeks ago I was wondering why Americans so calmly endured the atrocities produced by the banking crisis. That might have changed. Today I ran into a demonstration of Harvard workers and students protesting the layoff of 275 clerical workers and forced early retirement of an additional 500 staff members. With “dignity and respect” (quoting an email message from Harvard’s president) layoffs will begin on Monday.
Protesters were chanting “Harvard is not poor”. Indeed! Thanks to ruthless and greedy investments Harvard’s endowment is still at approximately $26 billion, more than 400% of its value 20 years ago. Harvard University is the world’s richest university, one of the wealthiest nonprofit organizations and among the world’s most successful corporations.
Harvard has the means as well as the moral obligation to become a role model for a socially responsible university — a university governed by fairness and justice; a university that serves the society in which it thrives.
Here’s a radical proposition for the Harvard Management Company to contemplate: Harvard is not poor. Harvard can transform itself into a university with a conscience.
Sign the “no layoffs petition” here.
Eastploitation
May 19th, 2009 at 19:59Those of you who read German I urge to read this book: Martin Leidenfrost: Die Tote im Fluss (The Dead in the River).
A careful and highly sensitive report on the atrocities caused by Western European eastploitation; an admirable gesture of compassion and responsibility. (more…)
Vienna 5 (Schnitzel)
May 18th, 2009 at 13:21I love Schnitzel. I grew up with Schnitzel, on Schnitzel. My mother makes an excellent Wiener Schnitzel.
Traveling to Vienna from the U.S. I crave simple food. Slow food. Most of all I crave Wiener Schnitzel. I have one every other day. My Viennese friends make fun of me. It would never occur to them to order the Wiener Schnitzel on the menu.
Wiener Schnitzel is undeniably simple (though, like all simple dishes, difficult to prepare): veal, breading, lemon, cucumbers, potatoes sprinkled with parsley, a glass of Grüner Veltliner.
In its simplicity the Wiener Schnitzel is the antithesis of the often over-spiced food served in American restaurants.
Or is it? (more…)
