sorry...

couldn't hold myself back from posting this video. Looks like our house-favourite is going national, and international big time. And I am not apologizing for this cheesy image. See the video and judge yourself: The Stewart Factor on MSNBC.

tragedy as art & soliloquy, part I

Inspired by Toski's post, I hereby dedicate a portion of my day-to-day posts to the great Shakespearean tragedies. This section will time-travel into the minds of the valiants who refused to die "many times" before their death, through pre-raphaelite and neoclassicist images that sought "refuge" in tragedies.
Please listen to Tchaikovsky's SwanLake while going at it, to heighten your sense of sadness.


She shall be buried by her Antony.
No grave upon the earth shall clip in it
A pair so famous...
Antony and Cleopatra. This was true love, in a true love-hate relationship fashion. After losing the war to Octavius, Antony denounces Cleopatra. "This foul Egyptian hath betrayed me". Cleopatra stages her own death to get Antony back in her life which backfires on her. Antony, not being able to bear the pain, takes his own life. His asks Eros, his aide, to do the dirty deed for him (which drives a guilt-ridden Eros to commit suicide) and finally after several failed attempts wounds himself bad enough to die in Cleopatra's arms. Not one to back down, Cleopatra, refuses to surrender to Octavius, and intends to meet her love in her afterlife. She silently takes the bite of an asp in her hand. "Where's my serpent of old Nile? For so he calls me".

Cowards die many times before their deaths; The valiant never taste of death but once. Of all the wonders that I yet have heard, It seems to me most strange that men should fear, Seeing that death, a necessary end, Will come when it will come.

Julius Caesar. A story of envy, ambition, power, honour and patriotism. Ignoring soothsayer's premonitions, Caesar faces death at the Senate in the hands of the conspirators, who have taken oath to save Rome from a supposedly corrupt Monarchy. And such treachery is too much to bear for Caesar. "Et tu, Brute?" says Caesar, and "Then fall, Caesar..." says Shakespeare. "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears...", says Marc Antony at Caesar's death and drives the Romans against Brutus. Caesar's ghost haunts Brutus to warn him of his impending defeat in the war with Antony and Octavian "thou shalt see me at Philippi". Brutus and Cassius commit suicide rather than falling into the hands of enemies.

... and the cow goes moo

Bringing color to a mundane existence, a means of self expression, symbolism, or feeling beautiful, for whatever reason, the live body has, time and time again, become a canvas for art. On top of that, 'live' body and 'dead' paint, share a symbiotic relationship of the static and the dynamic.

my body is a wonderland

collage cow of London

give me a live elephant anyday

These days, cows seem to be our greatest sources of artistic inspiration. Dull, inane cows with body paints [CowParade] are taking over the world (Denver being the latest victim), and I find that disturbing... even more disturbing than lip plates. Somewhere, there is a disconnection. The last time I checked ART 101, there was a distinction between body paint and body art.

I ask myself, why have cows suddenly become our sources of inspiration? Have we turned towards cows for our symbolic or spiritual means of expression? If so, what good will come out of cows turning into rockets or stegosauruses, or ovens? Do we relate to cows more than any other animals for that matter?
How will these awaken me, you ask? I look at it and all I get back is a bland "moo". Now, go figure!

Boston Moo

Denver Moo 01

Denver Moo 02

Aaarrrr!!

"Isn't the ultimate treasure a child's smile? Isn't a drop of rain on the wing of a butterfly worth a million doubloons?
Yours, Calico Jack."
- A brief note found in Calico Jack's Treasure Chest, which he buried for safekeeping on an island just off the Florida keys. [ The Pirates! In an Adventure with Ahab]


Today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Here's splicing the mainbrace to Ol' Chum Bucket and Cap'n Slappy!
More Pirate Lingo

Have you apologized to Geraldo yet?!

They exist in a small little place where they account for nothing..." Geraldo had said about Stewart and Colbert on the O'Reilly factor. Stewart's response? "... Aaah, where's the flying aluminium debris when you need it!". [ video 01 ]
Never make fun of people who run a "Comedy" show. Geraldo Rivera learnt that the hard way. Here's how Colbert makes Stewart apologize to Geraldo in 4 parts. Hilarious!

Colbert to Jon Stewart, "You sir, are on notice!" [ video 02 ]	Daily Show "Stooge" Colbert! [ video 03 ]
"Jon, why are you closing yourself off from Geraldo?" asks Colbert.	Jon walks a mile in Geraldo's moustache. [ video 04 ]

freedom [of sorts], the double-edged sword

Let the games begin: "Have you no sense of decency, sir?"

keywords to play with:
freedom of speech, freedom of press, patriotism, terrorists, fear, manipulation, evil, un-american, nazi [latest addition]

Cards to draw to start a new round:
"My enemy's enemy is my best friend"
Countdown with Keith Olbermann

Better late than never

Finally saw it. The interview that brought the show down.

Did Jon Stewart actually call Tucker Carlson (that bow-tied guy from MSNBC) a d**k on National Television?? LOL!
TC reminds me of one of those puberty-angst-ridden, arrogant bullies trying hard to act like an adult, or sound intelligent. And you either try to yawn him away, or wish some other kid would come and beat the daylights out of him... right in front of you. Job well done, Jon!!!
[Jon Stewart "Crossfire" Transcript ]

So, Crossfire gets canned. CNN cut ties with TC. [No, not Tom Cruise, that's Paramount ].
And here is Jon's own spin on the show, "[Crossfire is] named after the stray bullets that kill innocent bystanders in a gangfight"... ending with a "... but tomorrow I will go back to being funny. And your show will still blow".
<- TC and his bowtie

my weekend indulgences

began with Slavin making sense in her TV interview on C-Span [sept 01, 2006], PBS Washington Week, and at some other places: view from Tehran , pink revolution, internet boom.

and Colbert playing "the Fool" [Bravo Colbert! Bravo!] in Roasting President Bush - 2006 White House Correspondents Dinner or presenting at the Emmys with Jon Stewart

Barbara Slavin and Stephen Colbert

ouch! you hit the wrong nerve!

Salman Rushdie threw a fit when New York Times scribe Guy Trebay insulted his wife, Padma Lakshmi. The "The Satanic Verses" author told Trebay: "If you ever write mean things about my wife again, I'll come after you with a baseball bat!" [ Page Six ]. Blog correspondent and author Gollum could not be reached for his thoughtful response to this article as of presstime. My guess is as good as yours.

footnote: Gollum is the co-author of Rushdie's forthcoming book "The First Amendment: Modifications since 1988", due Feb 2007 . Whether this particular incident will create a rift between the two and jeopardize the book's future is yet to be seen.