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December 27, 2004

Tsunami

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Hokusai's most famous picture is a large wave that forms a yin to the yang of empty space?nature's yin and yang of life and death. According to Chinese philosophy all opposites that one experiences?health and sickness, wealth and poverty, power and submission?can be explained in reference to the temporary dominance of one principle over the other. All phenomena have within them the seeds of their opposite state and even though an opposite may not be seen to be present, no phenomenon is completely devoid of its opposite state. This is called presence in absence or as I see it we are all in a queue for the next big wave.

Worldchanging has just published a roundup of first-person accounts and news related to the tsunami disaster.

Wikipedia on the Indian Ocean earthquake.


Posted by mehrdad at 10:35 PM | Art | Journal 2004 |

December 26, 2004

The neo-conservative factor

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After the Naked Gun, a film about an incompetent gun-toting lunatic who creates total chaos and destruction wherever he goes.

Read this article by another hyphenated Adib about the neo-conservative-Likudnik!

Posted by mehrdad at 12:47 PM | Films | Politics 2004 |

December 24, 2004

Black dots

Here is a puzzle to keep you occupied over the festive period.
How many black dots can you count?

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Posted by mehrdad at 06:41 PM | Quiz |

December 19, 2004

Nissan Qashqai

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After Nissan's latest Concept car, the Qashqai.

Posted by mehrdad at 01:23 AM | Journal 2004 |

December 14, 2004

Yalda

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Here is another pictographic ambiguity for the occasion of Yalda (the Winter Solstice).

One of my earliest memories of winter is the warmth and cosiness of the Korsi, a low square table covered with quilt and a pot of hot charcoals placed underneath. My grandmother used to invite us all to gather around her Korsi during Shab e Yalda and treated us to pomegranates.

Posted by mehrdad at 12:07 AM | Design |

December 13, 2004

Hot Balls!

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Like cigarettes, laptops should come with a warning! Great Balls of Fire!

Posted by mehrdad at 01:12 AM | Technology |

December 08, 2004

Fountains

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Marcel Duchamp's 1917 Fountain and the Iranian version.

Marcel Duchamp's Fountain, a 1917 porcerlain urinal, has been voted the most influential artwork of the 20th century, in a poll of Britain's art world. According to a British art expert the work reflects the dynamic nature of art today!

2. Picasso, Les Demoiselles d'Avignon
3. Andy Warhol, Marilyn Diptych
4. Picasso, Guernica
5. Matisse, The Red Studio
6. Joseph Beuys, I Like America and America Likes Me
7. Constantin Brancusi, Endless Column
8. Jackson Pollock, One: No 31
9. Donald Judd, 100 untitled works in mill aluminium
10. Henry Moore, Reclining Figure 1929

Posted by mehrdad at 07:26 PM | Art |

December 02, 2004

American Splendor

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Before Weblogs, there was Harvey Pekar and his homegrown autobiographical comic books American Splendor. Last night we watched the DVD, which like its namesake comic documents Pekar's life, a not so mild-mannered hospital filing clerk. Inspired by his friend Robert Crumb, Peckar decided to retell his life in a comic book. 'Ordinary life is pretty complex stuff,' is what Pekar said to Crumb when he presented him with his first comic book.

Posted by mehrdad at 10:43 AM | Films |