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Movie Reccommendation: Amreeka

As a (beginner) student of the Arabic language, this movie caught my eye because I recognized the phonetically spelling of the Arabic word for "America". I finally got around to watching the movie this weekend.

The movie is set in the early stages of the War in Iraq. The story is simple, a Palestinean woman and her teenage son travel to America to start a new life away from the turmoil of the Gaza strip. The plot focuses on their culture shock in a post-9/11, wartime America.

Although some aspects of the plot seem somewhat contrived (a pot-smoking, punk-rock, antiwar cousin who shows, Fadi the teenage son, how to 'be cool' in America- you may recognize Alia Shakwat from Arrested Development, Whip It) the movie is a reminder of the cultural attitudes toward Arabs in America so strong during the first half of the past decade- attitudes that have persisted today.

These cultural themes are communicated through the context of, Muna - the hardworking, compassionate and hilariously self-deprecating protagonist. Reminiscent of "A Raisin in the Sun" it is a story of a family just trying to get by in a hostile and frightened world.

Note: If you get the DVD be sure to watch the short film "Make a Wish" in the bonus features

Project Focus

In our world today, the internet has become an essential part of information sharing, communication and other important pieces of life. Essentially all of the developed world is connected in some way or another to an internet source. However, in third world countries access to the internet is by no means an available resource. Lyantonde, a community in rural Uganda which is an epicenter of the African AIDS crisis, is miles away from the nearest internet source. This leaves the inhabitants of Lyantonde isolated from the rest of the world. Project Focus is working to change that.

http://projectfocus.org/current

The goal is to build a solar-powered internet cafe in Lyantonde that would allow the community to communicate with the outside world. The project is currently is a heavy fundraising stage, as well as spreading awareness on college campuses. To get involved or make a donation please click the link above. To spread awareness, post the link to your blog, Facebook, Twitter or other social media outlet.

Looking down those highways I understood more clearly than ever what peace meant. In time of peace the world is self-contained. - Antoine De Saint Exupero

For my mother

if there are any heavens my mother will(all by
herself)have
one. It will not be a pansy heaven nor
a fragile heaven of lilies-of-the-valley but
it will be a heaven of blackred roses
my father will be(deep like a rose
tall like a rose)
standing near my
(swaying over her
silent)
with eyes which are really petals and see
nothing with the face of a poet really which
is a flower and not a face with
hands
which whisper
This is my beloved my
(suddenly in sunlight
he will bow,
& the whole garden will bow)

ee cummings

To donate to relief efforts in Haiti see Red Cross link on the left side bar.

Why not let people differ in their answers to the great mysteries of the Universe? Let each seek one's own way to the highest, to one's own sense of supreme loyalty in life, one's ideal of life. Let each philosophy, each worldview bring forth its truth and beauty to a larger perspective, that people may grow in vision, stature and dedication. -Algernon Black

On Being Challenged

http://www.recombinantrecords.net/docs/2009-12-Challenged.html

This cartoon by Stuart MacMillen is great!

I'm posting it for anyone who loves being a student

-and knows why.

Wanted

This is a section of a pamphlet I received from my local chapter of Oxfam International (http://www.oxfam.org/), an organization that fights for human rights and eradication of poverty. They deal with issues from agriculture to aid effectiveness to education. As an International Studies major, I have the somewhat vague 'dream' -- career aspiration -- of bringing about positive change in the lives of the disenfranchised and all in all making the world a better place on an international level. This seems like a fitting job description. Maybe I will work for Oxfam...

Reccommendation: Life of Pi, by Yann Martel

The plot of Life of Pi by Yann Martel is not neccessarily thick- it's structure is simple and not necessarily new. It's plot is familiar, a castaway lost in the Pacific Ocean- facing untold dangers and the insanity of solitary survival. What sets Life of Pi apart is it's depth. Rather than a simple Robinson Crusoe-like survival-adventure story (Pi, a 16 year old boy is lost at sea with a Bengal tiger as his primary companion) it is a full exploration of humanity and specifically, the spiritual nature of our existance.

What is truth? What is it to be human? What is it to be alive?

What connects us to each other? How are we connected to a higher power?

Do we have a choice in shaping our reality?

"All living things contain a measure of madness that moves them in strange, sometimes inexplicable ways"

"There are always those who take it upon themselves to defend God, as if ultimate reality, as if the sustaining frame of existance were something weak and helpless....These people fail to realize that it is from the inside that God must be defended, not the outside. They should direct their anger at themselves for evil in the open is but evil from within that has been let out. The main battlefield for good is not the open ground of the public arena but the small clearing of each heart."

"I am a person who believes in form, in the harmony of order. Where we can, we must give things a meaningful shape"

The world isn't just the way it is, it is the way we understand it"

A final note on the author: Yann Martel, as the name suggests sounds like a a supremely interesting man. According to his bio on the back cover of the book "Yann Martel was born in Spain to Canadian parents in 1963. He grew up in Costa Rica, France, Mexico, and Canada. After studying philosophy at university, he worked variously as a dishwasher, tree planter, and security guard. Then he began to write. When he's not living somewhere else, he lives in Montreal"

Introduction

[She] had that curious love of green- the sign of a subtle artistic temperment

-Oscar Wilde

Quint Buchholz "Auf Dem Weg Zu Den Buchern"

The poetry of the earth is never dead. -John Keats

I FEEL THE FEAR

but walk fast toward it.

-Markus Zusak

We sail at sunrise daily.

- Helen Hunt Jackson

The more I think about it the more I realize that there is nothing more artistic than to love others.
-Vincent Van Gogh