It's About Time - Part II

It's so true!

IZ

Humanitarian Intervention 101

The question that has most plagued the minds of all those people who have a conscience and a deep desire to see justice and the fruits of liberty for all the oppressed peoples of the world is: what is the most effective form of humanitarian intervention? How does one go about freeing the globe's dispossessed of the inequities under which they must labour?

Here is an interesting and informative video, consisting mostly of highlights from a feature-length film which will be out later this year, which delves deeply into these questions. As you can see it contrasts two alternative views of humanitarian intervention. One is patently ineffective , crippled by outmoded and unrealistic ideologies and therefore bound to play into the hands of the very people who benefit from the oppression and exploitation of the weak. The other approach clearly seems to be a far more effective and efficient form of interventionism, based on a pragmatic appraisal of matters and a serious engagement with all the parties involved.

The video also engages with the heart-rending and difficult process of deciding whether to pursue interventionist as opposed to isolationist policies. Clearly and succinctly, the point is made that as tempting as isolationism may be in an increasingly disordered and chaotic world, those values and principles that we hold most dear compel us to intervene to improve matters as best we can.

A poignant and informative look at where the west is today, as well as a powerful vision of the way forward. As the padre in the video prays "it is in giving we receive."


IZ

The Order of the Stick!

A most amusing web-comic, based on an AD&D dungeon crawl. It maintains a story-line throughout, making it most addictive.

IZ

Hell, its About Time!

Ah... its been a long time coming. But now its finally on its way.
IZ











P.S. User-Friendly is another amusing web-comic.

DM of the Rings!

This is one of the funniest web-comics I've ever come across. Its a hilarious look at Lord of the Rings, as if it were an AD&D campaign that today's players were playing through.

Particularly funny if you have at any point in time played AD&D. Even funnier if you have been a DM in an AD&D game.

Here's a taste:
Now go to the site and read it from the beginning

IZ

A New Way to Say Hooray! (For April)

Firstly, I'm not sure why I titled this entry as 'A New Way to Say Hooray!' other than because its the title of a song by Shpongle that I listen to off and on...

Now I thought I was being all hoity toity by upgrading my 65 book challenge to a 75 book challenge, when I came across this dude! He's already read 100 books by the end of April... and in 7 different languages! Bah!

Anyhoo, I have come to the realisation that I am never going to actually get around to posting up reviews of all the books that I've read here. So, I thought I'd just post up lists of stuff that I've read - like a round up for each month.

So here's what I read in April:

1. Storm Front - Jim Butcher
2. The Illustrated Man - Ray Bradbury (re-read)
3. Every Man for Himself - Beryl Bainbridge
4. Letters From Atlantis - Robert Silverberg
5. Hybrids - Robert J. Sawyer
6. The Briar King - Greg Keyes
7. The Charnel Prince - Greg Keyes
8. Floating Worlds - Cecelia Holland
9. Temeraire - Naomi Novik

Hybrids was a very bland and rather disappointing finale to the Neanderthal Parallax series. The Briar King and The Charnel Prince were a fine pair of books to kick off the epic fantasy series: The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone. Storm Front is the first in the now super famous (and made into TV show) Dresden Files series of books that blends noir and urban fantasy elements. It was okay: nothing special but I wouldn't rule out reading more by the author. Letters from Atlantis was a fine novella by Silverberg. I'm beginning to realise that he was a pretty good writer after all, after having given up on him when I read 3 of his books with exactly the same plot back in the 90s. The Illustrated Man is a classic short story collection and should be read and re-read by every man, woman and child on God's green Earth (or anywhere else).

Every Man For Himself is an elegant book set during the voyage of the Titanic - I've now read two outstanding books by Beryl Bainbridge and if her other books are as good she may well establish herself as one of my favourite authors. Floating Worlds was a lovely surprise - a thumping big space opera with an outstanding main character and filled to the brim with a feminist and anarchist sensibility, a la Le Guin. Its been a long, long time since I've read anything like it. Lastly there was Temeraire - fantasy bubble-gum that combines Master & Commander-like antics with dragons set in Napoleonic times. Fun, warm, and I must say I'm looking forward to see what it will turn out like when Peter Jackson (of Lord of the Rings fame) brings it to the big screen.

So I have finally reviewed (sort off) the stuff I read last month. Hooray!

IZ

Hometown Baghdad

Somehow or the other I missed the Reality TV revolution. I've never actually watched an episode of any reality TV show, other than maybe a few seconds in between switching channels - nothing ever caught my eye.

Well except now. Hometown Baghdad makes for very interesting watching. Three twenty-something Baghdadis chronicle their lives. Each episode is a few minutes long and is distributed on the web. Its sometimes funny, sometimes sad... mostly sad I guess, but always moving. I would go on about it but its easier just to link to their webpage. I'd recommend watching the episodes in order. Some are better than others, but, as a whole, they are really give you an insight to some of what's happening in Baghdad outside of the news accounts and war stories.

IZ

Qawwali

One of the many ways I've been busy procrastinating from studying for my exams is by listening to/watching qawwalis on youtube. Aziz Mian Qawwal seems to have made a major impression. My current favourite is 'Teri Soorat Nigahon' which isn't a hard-core qawwali as such, but its one of his more famous ones. Here's the video, in which the late Mr. Aziz Mian is looking particularly scary: [now lets see if I've figured out how to embed videos properly yet!]:



Of course every qawwali session should start with a proper invocation, and 'Man Kunto Maulla' fits the bill. This is a super-charged, high-octane version from Aziz Mian's earlier days. Alas the sound quality leaves a little to be desired, but when it really gets going, one can't help but be swept along:



My wife prefers this somewhat more sedate version by Farid Ayaz and Abu Muhammad Qawwal (the sons of Munshi Raziuddin who was a truly awesome qawwal). This performance appears to have taken place outdoors in Lahore before some very stoned-looking diplomats and has an introduction by ex-PCB chief Shehryar Khan in English. Even the qawwals look cold.



Later in that same performance came this version of 'Merey Baney Ki Baat Na Poocho' (unfortunately incomplete in this video). The qawwals seemed to have warmed up somewhat, having shed their sherwani coats, and are in fine form. I particularly enjoy some of the poetry they interject here as well.



We were fortunate enough to see them perform these live after my brother's wedding at his in-laws' place. Witnessing a qawwali live is very different from seeing a recording. I don't think anyone has quiet mastered the art of really capturing the sheer expansive range of sound, though as recording technology develops in the music industry in Pakistan, I'm sure matters will improve. Some of the best existing recordings of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan are still those that he made in a studio for French Radio in the late 70s.

And for those who like to mix a little jazz with their qawwali I came across this video of a jazzy rendition of 'Dum Must Qalandar' played in a Brooklyn club. Funny. Compare it to the Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan version its based on (again poor sound recording, but some nice tabla work).

IZ

Very Short Stories

What with exams and things, I haven't really been able to cultivate this blog as carefully as I should. Mea culpa. To make up for it I shall post up a short story I wrote:

The blog stagnates. No one cares.

Hmm. To clarify matters, I should mentioned that it is a very very short story, limited to six words. Like these that Wired magazine asked science fiction writers to write.

IZ

The Book Challenge

Those who are wont to notice such things may well have noticed that the Zokuto metre has now been set to reflect a target of 75 books. Setting myself a challenge of reading 65 books in the year was looking to be far too easy so I have upgraded to... THE 75 BOOK CHALLENGE!!!

Its still a bit of a cop out though as I'm still waaaay ahead of the required book-read-rate! If I was not such a wuss I would go for the 100 book challenge....

Hmm. Let me get done with my exams and we'll see.

IZ

Ancient Computers and More on Banksy

Here's a lengthy piece on Banksy in the New Yorker. Interesting.
Also in the New Yorker is an article on what some archaeologists believe may have been the first computer in the world, discovered on a shipwreck in the Mediterranean Sea. Also Interesting.

IZ

Book: The Devil's Game

Now here is a book to look out for. It chronicles the American campaign to promote Islamic fundamentalism in the middle east since the 50s, wanting to use it as an ideological weapon against 'godless communism'. I think I'll get right on to amazon and order it today.

IZ

Kryptonite Discovered!

So a new mineral has been discovered that matches the fictional chemical make-up of kryptonite. Only its not green. And it will probably be called Jaderite since it was discovered deep underground in a Serbian mine at a place called Jader.

Its effects on superman is unknown.

IZ

Fatima Kazmi

Here is a link to the online art gallery of Fatima Kazmi. A lot of her work is on wood, where she works with the natural grains of the wood, letting them shape her paintings. Unfortunately the full visual impact of this is lost to a certain extent when viewed as photographs online. It still makes for interesting viewing though.

IZ

Edit: Oh, and in the interests of full disclosure: Fatima is married to my cousin, Ali