Fausta's Blog

American and Latin American Politics, Society, and Culture

Archives for October 2006

October 29, 2006 By Fausta

Lost in Translations

The rest of the family had other things to do, it was too windy and cold to be going for a long outdoors walk, and I didn’t feel like going to the movies, so this afternoon at the very last minute I went to McCarter Theater to see Translations. It was too late to call friends so I went by myself.

I got to the ticket office at 1:20PM, and was given the choice of either a seat in the upstairs balcony or a front-row orchestra seat. Since the front row has more leg room and the upstairs seats are cramped, I was really really close to the action. I was in my seat by 1:35PM.

The first thing I noticed was the dirt.

The entire floor of the stage is covered with 6″ of dirt, and a 3′ wide section stuck out from under the curtain. I looked at the orchestra floor and it had been swept, so I sat down and hoped that none of the dirt would land on my clothes. The last time I sat that close to the stage was four years ago when we went to see Fortune’s Fool and the entire family got sprayed by Alan Bates’s wet dinner napkin and Frank Lagella’s spit. Except for Langella’s spit, we had a great time.

The curtain went up promptly at 2PM.

I knew nothing about the play, but it’s a story about the Latin-and-Irish-speaking Irish being overtaken by the English-only English. Apparently the 19th century Irish had time to go to night school and study the Classics after spending their days toiling outdoors with the wheat harvest and the livestock. On stage, however, all the Irish speak fluent English and the Latin is translated into English. Once the first Englishman walked on the stage wearing a horse guards uniform it all started to feel like a Monty Python sketch; The character who got her hands blistered from the wheat harvest even smells the potato blight coming.

Since the location is supposed to be by the ocean, the sound effects include the sound of ocean waves reaching the shore.

Unfortunately, I have been falling asleep to that very sound nearly every night for the past two years thanks to my handy-dandy Timex Alarm Clock Radio and CD Player with Nature Sounds. It’s gotten to the point where the sound ellicits a Pavlovian response. I dozed off and missed at least ten minutes of the action. For all I know dirt might have fallen on my clothes and I didn’t notice.

I woke with a start and realized that the man to my left was in a deep sleep, chin over chest, hands on his lap, his chest breathing rythmically to the sounds of the ocean. At least he didn’t snore.

We weren’t alone. During the intermission a friend and her mom asked if I’d been having trouble staying awake, since they had dozed off up in the balcony and were in need of caffeine.

After the intermission the theater was so cold I had to watch the rest of the performance wearing my coat, while on stage a rain machine was working overtime and the actors were performing in soaked clothes, water dripping from their hair. I felt sorry for them. There had been a leak dripping on to the stage and the actors for all of the afternoon, so at least we in the audience found out why. Mercifully the Nature Sounds had been put to rest for the third act.

The acting was very nice, particularly Chandler Williams’s energetic performance as George. However, this was one case when the production values really got in the way.

The Packet had an article about Translations, and here‘s a reviewer who thinks “the play resonates poignantly in light of the Americanization of Iraq”. Must have been that rainy seashore atmosphere and those Latin-speaking local yokels. Thinking of Iraq obviously’s preventing him from thinking of sex all the time.

Translations will be going to Broadway’s Biltmore Theatre Jan. 4, 2007. Let’s hope they lose the nature sounds by then.

(technorati tags McCarter Theater Brian Friel theater entertainment)

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October 29, 2006 By Fausta

Come and see the violence inherent in the system!

. . . . Help! Help! I’m being repressed!

Not dead yet? At least not dead on video. (If you understand spoken Spanish, watch the video here and tell me if he’s senile or not. He sounds senile to me). El Confetti lets it rip (h/t Pajamas), while Val announces Coming soon: the fidel castro ADIDAS Bionic Track Suit iPod interface. Twelve, six hour speeches for those heavy workouts.
Time again for another installment of Tierra de Poderes?
Nooooo!
You Tube has removed it: This video has been removed due to terms of use violation..

And here the Dixie Chicks are claiming that they’re being repressed.

——————————————

The Cotillion Colloquy is up
Cotillion_colloquy

And I’m sure the gentlemen will love that photo.

——————————————

Dr Sanity has the Insanities:

——————————————

Before I go, the latest on fried Coke, which unlike fried chocolate sandwiches and deep fried pizza, was not invented by the Scots. I’ll have a slice of deep fried pizza with vegemite on the side, please. The desserts would literally kill me.

(technorati tags Cuba Fidel Castro not dead yet)

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October 28, 2006 By Fausta

Saturday blogging: Camille Paglia

I’ve been a fan of Camille Paglia for many years. Her writing is always interesting, always clear and always thought-provoking. You can go back and read her essays and they’re still as fresh as the first time you read them.

She does tend to get carried away with the meaning of symbolism: For instance, while skyscrapers might be phallic, the very obvious reason men (and women) architecs design them is not because they are phallic, but because so far they’re the most practical way to maximize the use of space in highly populated areas.

Be that as it may, while you might not agree with her views, it’s worth reading her books. (I make an exception: I haven’t read the one on Madonna because if it was up to me Madonna would still be working at the IHOP. ‘Nuf said on Madge.)

I first started reading her work in the early 1990s when I came across her book Sexual Personae at a used book store in Manhattan. I bought it because of her essay on Pre-Raphaelite art, about which I have an interest, and after that I kept going back for more of Paglia’s writing. This kind of writing is not light reading, however. It demands commitment and attention.

Her very successful book of commentary on poetry classics is much easier to read, and it lends itself to reading in brief intervals, as you want to read the poem, think about what it says to you and then read what she has to say. Reading is two minds communicating; in Break Blow Burn it’s three minds.

Now she has a new book about visual images coming up, and Salon has an interview. Here’s a sampler:

On Foley and the Democrats

And with the Democrats’ record of sex scandals, what the hell were they thinking of? For heaven’s sake, after we just got through the whole Clinton maelstrom! What Clinton did with Monica Lewinsky was far worse than any evidence I’ve seen thus far about what Foley did with these pages. Clinton, whom I voted for twice, used his superior power as an employer to lure Monica Lewinsky, who was perfectly willing, into these squalid sexual assignations on the grounds of the White House. There was a time when feminists were arguing, in regard to sexual harassment in the workplace, that any gross disparity in power cannot possibly produce informed consent. All of a sudden, all of that was abandoned for partisan reasons in the Clinton case. I take the European view that any government official has the right to conduct as many sexual affairs as he wishes — off government property. But Clinton, with all his power, somehow couldn’t figure out a way to discreetly meet his chosen women at the mansions of his many friends. I can understand why hotels and motels might have been difficult to manage, with the telltale Secret Service presence. But to use the hallway off the Oval Office for those encounters — to be serviced by a young woman to whom he gave no other dignity and whom he used like a washrag — he turned that hallway into a sleazy mosh pit! The Democrats are being extremely imprudent to arouse all those sleeping tigers again — particularly if their next presidential nomination is Hillary Clinton. They’ve reignited the endless series of charges about Clinton’s allegedly abusive physical encounters with women, beginning when he was governor of Arkansas. The Foley case shrinks in comparison to Clinton’s rumored history of hitting on women in subordinate positions.

On Condoleezza Rice:

Every feminist who wants to smash the glass ceiling should realize she has a stake in Condi Rice’s success.

On a woman president:

If we want a woman president, we need to start training ambitious young women not in women’s studies, with its myths of universal male oppression and female victimage, but rather in military history and national security issues.

On Bob Woodward:

Oh, Woodward, what a big yawn! Who the hell cares about Woodward? I mean, at this point, he’s just an inside-the-Beltway figure. I certainly don’t need him to clarify my view of the Iraq debacle.

Chomsky certainly doesn’t fare any better, and neither does robo-Hillary.

Read the interview, buy the books.

Prior Paglia post
(technorati tags Camille Paglia books)

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October 28, 2006 By Fausta

Children are the salvation of their parents.

and here is one instance:

Related post here.

Lyrics for the song:

“I can only imagine what it will be like, when I walk by Your side…
I can only imagine, what my eyes will see, when Your Face is before me!
I can only imagine. I can only imagine.
Surrounded by Your Glory, what will my heart feel?
Will I dance for you, Jesus? Or in awe of You, be still?
Will I stand in Your presence, or to my knees will I fall?
Will I sing ‘Hallelujah!’? Will I be able to speak at all?
I can only imagine! I can only imagine!

I can only imagine, when that day comes, when I find myself standing in the Son!
I can only imagine, when all I will do, is forever, forever worship You!
I can only imagine! I can only imagine!

Surrounded by Your Glory, what will my heart feel?

Will I dance for you, Jesus? Or in awe of You, be still?
Will I stand in Your presence, or to my knees will I fall?
Will I sing ‘Hallelujah!’? Will I be able to speak at all?
I can only imagine! Yeah! I can only imagine!

Surrounded by Your Glory, what will my heart feel?

Will I dance for you, Jesus? Or in awe of You, be still?
Will I stand in Your presence, or to my knees will I fall?
Will I sing ‘Hallelujah!’? Will I be able to speak at all?
I can only imagine! Yeah! I can only imagine!

I can only imagine! Yeah! I can only imagine!! Only imagine!!!
I can only imagine.

I can only imagine, when all I do is forever, forever worship You!
I can only imagine.”

(h/t for the video Pajamas)
Technorati tags men Dick and Rick Hoyt Dick Hoyt)

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October 27, 2006 By Fausta

The misunderstood mufti

SCROLL DOWN FOR A LINK TO THE TRANSLATION OF THE SPEECH

Sigmund, Carl and Alfred has a post, “The mufti loves women in the same measure he loves Jews” directly quoting the mufti of Australia who thinks unveiled women are uncovered meat.

It seems the mufti feels misunderstood.

Not that this is the first time: He surely felt equally misunderstood back in 2004 when he praised the September 11 terrorist attacks as “God’s work”.

Or when he dismissed the Holocaust as a “Zionist lie” and when stated that he believes that Israel is a “cancer that is planted in the heart of the Ummah (Muslim community)”.

But fear not, the Beeb finds him Neat, snappy and eminently quotable.

A change of clothes, and you’d think he’s another Noel Coward.

On the BBC: The BBC’s commitment to bias is no laughing matter (h/t SC&A)

Update: Via Pajamas, Advice from Imam Yahu al-Zirius
Spiritual Leader, Fostaz al-Vegimita Mosque

UPDATE, Saturday 28 October The Australian recorded and translated, and now has a new transcript of his speech (via Blue Crab Boulevard)
Here’s the SBS translation (h/t Dr. Sanity)

A culture of ingrained evil

(technorati tags Islam, Australia, Sheik Taj Aldin al-Hilali, BBC)

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October 27, 2006 By Fausta

Georgetown U bought for $20 million

Remember the prince who offered $10 million to Rudolph Giuliani after the 9/11 attacks, and Giuliani turned down the money after the prince suggested U.S. policies in the Middle East contributed to the September 11 attacks?

The prince found someone for sale: Georgetown U.

Via Phyllis Chesler, BRAVE NEW SCHOOLS: Georgetown gets $20 million from prince promoting Islam. Just months later, university ejects evangelical Christians from campus

The Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University has been renamed after Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal donated $20 million to its projects. And while that may be just the tail, the dog appears to be moving away from its historic Catholic and Jesuit teaching philosophy too.

The Center’s leaders say it now will be used to put on workshops regarding Islam, fostering exchanges with the Muslim world, addressing U.S. policy towards the Muslim world, working on the relationship of Islam and Arab culture, addressing Muslim citizenship and civil liberties, and developing exchange programs for students from the Muslim world.

The “Christian” part of the center’s projects at the university that has a history of 200 years of higher education following its Christian founding, is conspicuous by its absence in its website plans for its 10-year future.

But that won’t be a surprise to leaders of a number of Christian evangelical groups whose leaders recently were told to leave the campus and not list Georgetown University as a site for operations in the future.

Read the whole article.

Phyllis also emailed information on how to contact Georgetown University:

President John J. DeGioia
Office of the President
204 Healy Hall
37th & O Streets, NW
Washington, DC 20057

Tel: (202) 687-4134
Fax: (202) 687-6660

I urge all Georgetown alumni and parents to make themselves heard.

Marathon Pundit has more on the prince and GU.

(technorati tags Georgetown University Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Christianity)

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October 27, 2006 By Fausta

Cuba’s non-cooperation campaign, Panama’s canal, Brazil’s second round, and other LA items

Cuba: the non-cooperation campaign: Mary Anastasia O’Grady reports on the latest trend in resistance: Cubans Begin to Just Say No

At this time the military seems to be loyal to Raul. Nevertheless, the dictator in waiting has at least two reasons to be worried. The first is Hugo Chávez, who pours an estimated $2 billion into the Cuban economy annually and seems to believe that he is the rightful revolutionary successor to Fidel. Rumor has it that attitude is not going down too well with Raul or his men. As Brian Latell, former CIA analyst and author of “After Fidel” (Palgrave Macmillan, 2005), pointed out this week: “It may also be reasonable to speculate that Raul and his military commanders feel contempt for the mercurial and often bizarre Venezuelan, who rose no higher than lieutenant colonel in the decidedly less professional and accomplished Venezuelan military.”

Fold into this mix the tension that already exists between elements of the regime that see themselves as ideologically pure and loyal to Fidel and Raul’s army, which seems to enjoy making money — as Mr. Latell describes so well in his book — and all kinds of complications arise.

Yet Hugo and the fidelistas might be the least of Raul’s troubles. Less noticed by the international press but at least as threatening are the island’s dissidents, who are once again stirring things up, this time with their “non-cooperation campaign.” While conventional wisdom discounts the movement as weak, disorganized and easily infiltrated, every action of the government suggests that popular resistance to the regime is spreading, even after a brutal wave of repression was unleashed more than a year ago.

It is also worth noting that Lula, a left-wing president of a country that has traditionally supported the Cuban dictatorship, has publicly lamented Castro’s failure to democratize. That doesn’t bode well for continued international support for the island slave plantation.

Non-cooperation is a strategy aimed at whittling away at the most fundamental tool of every totalitarian regime: fear. The system can survive only if each Cuban believes he is greatly outnumbered by lovers of the revolution and that in speaking out, he is doomed. This is why the regime risked so much bad press to crush the dissidents in March of 2003 in a brutal island-wide crackdown. Intense, debilitating fear must be kept alive if the regime is to survive.

Opponents of the regime also understand the power of fear and it is why they are hopeful about the non-cooperation campaign, which provides a passive way for Cubans to quietly discover solidarity. Rather than calling on citizens to actively rebel against the government, “non-cooperation” asks them simply to refuse to participate in the oppression.

Last Wednesday, Cuban dictator Fidel Castro may have slipped into a coma (related post here). And here I thought he was in a freezer.
Update Val looks at The Home Stretch.

Panama: The biggest Caribbean story of the month, possibly the year: Panama votes to expand the Canal. You must read Publius Pundit’s comprehensive round-up. This will affect world trade and international relations for a longer time and with more repercusions than the death of the island-prison’s tyrant.

Brazil: second-round elections: In Brazil Campaign, A Barroom Brawl
And a Class War. Presidential Race Spotlights A Big Cultural Divide Between North and South
. The divide is not only cultural, it’s economic. The state of Sao Paolo has a greater DGP than the country of Argentina, while the north is poor. The BBC has a video, Brazil election divides nation

Argentina: Twelve years after the bombing of a Jewish center in Buenos Aires, prosecutors have charged high-level Iranian officials. Iran, of course, denies the charges. The 1992 bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires remains unsolved.
Update Michael Totten has more.

Mexico: No surprise at this reaction.

(technorati tags Cuba, Panama, Brazil, Brasil, Argentina, Mexico)

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October 27, 2006 By Fausta

Friday Fun

This week I found out that one of the windows needs replacement. This bit of news gave me a twitch in my right upper eyelid, since earlier this year we had completed a huge remodeling, renovating, and updating project here at casa de Fausta. At least the old window’s in a room that didn’t get renovated.

Hence, the need for some levity:

Reverend Husband hosts a panty raid way down under (via SC&A)

Captain Underpants And The Preposterous Plight Of The Purple Potty Principal:
Captain Underpants Costume Foils Fun

For more pre-shrunk cottony goodness:

Meanwhile, across the big puddle, some girls were running an underwear black market out of their school’s basement. Glad to see that the entrepeneurship spirit’s still alive in the younger generation.

While on an underwear theme, I’m sure you’ll be glad to hear that Rod Stewart’s hanging up his panties.

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Andrew Sullivan knows the Vatican better than the Pope. Now Lileks knows Andrew better than Andrew.
(h/t The Anchoress. See Hewitt for the original)
——————————

On a different subject, Baron Bodissey found my younger clone, Cecilia Malmstrom, university lecturer and EU parlamentarian,

who not only has the height, build, and hair color, but completes the look with my current eyeglasses and an old jacket I used to own. My son thinks the resemblance is “so close, it’s spooky”.

I wonder if her right eyelid twitches when she finds out the window needs replacing.

(and no, I won’t post my picture, but thanks for asking all the same.)

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