williamaveryhudson

She’s the real deal, I think.

Here are some quotations:

The Indian scriptures hold the faculty of speech in great esteem. To speak beautifully, sweetly, eloquently, kindly, lovingly, you invoke the goddess of speech, Saraswati.

Even if you are filled with sorrow, offer a smile to others. Others’ sorrows are much deeper than yours. Be happy.

Isn’t there something incredibly touching about a gentle breeze? Doesn’t your heart expand and grow still beside a gentle brook? What is the effect of a gentle rain, so soft, so mist-like?… A gentle look from a tiger, the gentle rays of the morning sun, the gentle movement of an eagle gliding through the air. All these creatures and forces have the capacity to be fierce and tumultuous. Yet when they reveal their gentleness, your heart leaps up into ecstasy.

Read her book and visit her website.

Posts for peace, sound environmental stewardship, humane economic policy and promotion of human health and creativity. About the blogger.

yoga

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Visiting Turkey for 11 days at the end of August. Istanbul, obviously, and one other region. Not the southern shores, which may be too crazed in summer. That leaves a hard choice among the Aegean coast, Cappadocia, and the far east:

Aegean Coast

• “Along the coast between Antalya and Fethiye,” “outdoor activities, historic ruins, and extraordinary natural sites converge”[1]
• “Healthy Aegean cuisine” - “heaven” for vegetarians; “the local wine may be the best you’ll taste in Turkey without having to spend a fortune”[2]
• “Hop in hot springs or jump in cool waterfalls in the middle of pine forests”[2]
• For those with a good imagination and love of the Iliad, Troy is a “magnificent site,” “highly suggestive with its remnants of massive, rough-hewn walls, a paved chariot ramp, and strategic views over the coastal plains to the sea”; others may find “an unimpressive row of trenches with piles of earth and stone”[2]
• Pergamum (Bergama) has the Asklepion, “believed to have been the world’s first full-service health clinic”[2]
• Ephesus (Efes) is “the showpiece of Aegean archeology”… “probably the most evocative city in the eastern Mediterranean, and one of the grandest reconstructed sites in the world”[2], “second only to Pompeii” as an introduction to ancient Roman civilization[1]; the Ephesus Museum (Efes Müzesi) is “one of the most important in Turkey”[1]
• Aphrodisias “is one of the largest and best preserved archaeological sites in Turkey”[2]
• Bodrum’s nightlife is “legendary”[1]

Turkey Travel Planner summary.

Cappadocia & the Interior

• Cappadocia is a UNESCO World Heritage Site
• “The region hosts the accumulated history of some 11,000 years of human habitation, a claim matched by few other places on earth”[2]
• “Some of Cappadocia’s finest hotels are tucked into elaborately appointed caves”[2]
• Ankara has the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations (Anadolu Medeniyetieri Müzeli), “the finest archaeological collection in all of Turkey”[1]
• The interior is also the “center of the great Hittite Kingdom… the ancient site of Hattuşaş constitutes one of the most important archaeological sites in Turkey”[1], and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Turkey Travel Planner summary.

The Far East

• During the summer, the region “is usually less rainy… but still quite cool compared to the rest of Turkey”[2]
• Lake Van - “As in Israel’s Dead Sea, the water is rich in natural minerals and very alkaline; you’ll be remarkably buoyant in the startlingly blue water”[2]
• “A perfect cone rising to the sky from the flat plains around it, Ararat is quite a sight to behold… an extinct volcano covered with snow even in summer, [it] soars dramatically 16,850 feet above the arid plain surrounding it”[2]
• “On the tranquil, uninhabited islet of Akdamar, among the wild olive and almond trees, stand the scant remains of a monastery which includes the truly splendid Church of the Holy Cross”[2]
• “The ruins at Ani are what draw most people to this remote area of Turkey… a mix of severe mountains, tiny Kurdish settlements, and fields of wildflowers”[2]
• The region appears to be one of the least light-polluted places on Earth - the night sky must be mind-blowing!

Turkey Travel Planner summary.

References:
1. Frommer’s Turkey. 4th Edition, 2006.
2. Fodor’s Turkey. 6th Edition, 2007. Recommended!

Posts for peace, sound environmental stewardship, humane economic policy and promotion of human health and creativity. About the blogger.

turkey

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Too many great films! I’ll try to see these:

ACCURACY OF DEATH, aka SWEET RAIN (Japan, 2008)
FINE, TOTALLY FINE (Japan, 2007)
THE INUGAMI FAMILY (Japan, 1976)
M (Korea, 2007)
MAD DETECTIVE (Hong Kong, 2007)
MURDER OF THE INUGAMI CLAN (Japan, 2006)
PRINCESS OF NEBRASKA (U.S., 2007)
PUBLIC ENEMY RETURNS (Korea, 2008)
SAKURAN (Japan, 2007) [Berlinale post]
SPARROW (Hong Kong, 2008)
SUKIYAKI WESTERN DJANGO (Japan, 2007)
THEN SUMMER CAME (Japan, 2008)

Posts for peace, sound environmental stewardship, humane economic policy and promotion of human health and creativity. About the blogger.

film festivals asian film

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Limiting the list to the capacity of a standard CD:

Breit
Pelleas und Melisande
Arnold Schoenberg
Berliner Philharmoniker
Herbert von Karajan
Schoenberg, Berg, Webern

Stay Golden
Au Revoir Simone
Cooperative Music

Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)
Martin Hoffman; Woodie Guthrie
The Byrds
The Byrds (Boxed Set)

The Prayer
Bloc Party
A Weekend in the City

New York, I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down
Mahoney; Murphy; Pope
LCD Soundsystem
Sound of Silver

Across the Universe
Fiona Apple
Across the Universe

Wait for Me
Maggie Cheung
Clean (Music from the Picture Soundtrack)

Prelude in E Minor
Frédéric Chopin
Jorge Bolet
Bolet Live at Carnegie Hall

Requiem, Op. 48 (Pie Jesu)
Gabriel Fauré
Oxford Camerata
Broken Flowers: Music from the Film

Mawaca
Ahkoy Te - Hotaru Koi
DP/Adaptacao: Magda
Musicadobrasil

Safety Bricks
Kevin Drew
Spirit If…

Wake Up
Rage Against the Machine
Rage Against the Machine

I’ve Been Out Walking
Jim White; Nina Nastasia
You Follow Me

Luka
Suzanne Vega
Tried and True

Window Sill
Arcade Fire
Neon Bible

Operator
Ron “Pigpen” McKernan
Grateful Dead
American Beauty

Innocent When You Dream [Barroom]
Tom Waits
Franks Wild Years

Pricked in the Heart
Matthew Friedberger
The Fiery Furnaces
Widow City

Methodology note: Library is 80 GB and growing (in WMA format). I listen, rate and randomly pick from the best.

Posts for peace, sound environmental stewardship, humane economic policy and promotion of human health and creativity. About the blogger.

playlists

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June and July, New York is the place to be:

New York Asian Film Festival (20 June - 6 July)
Japan Cuts (2 July - 13 July)
Asian American International Film Festival (10 July - 19 July)

Posts for peace, sound environmental stewardship, humane economic policy and promotion of human health and creativity. About the blogger.

film festivals asian film

Comments and Links Appreciated!