Babam ve Oğlum
My Father and Son
WEATHER IN BEIJING
Clima en Beijing
El Testamento del Paisa
30 November, 2008
19 November, 2008
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MICKEY!!
Mickey Mouse turns 80
On Mickey's 80th birthday the writer, broadcaster and Mickey Mouse expert Brian Sibley explains everything you need to know about the world-famous rodent.
MICKEY THE MOUSE
Mickey Mouse has featured in films, TV shows, video games and merchandise
If you go back to the origins of Mickey Mouse and look at the characters that appeared in those early films, there were all kinds of farmyard animals - pigs, cats, dogs, goats, horses, cows and mice, and they were all a realistic size.As the characters became more rounded and more sophisticated over the years, their animal nature regressed and they became more like people.
Mickey is a character who wears shoes, shorts and strange white gloves, he lives in a house, drives in a car and has a pet dog called Pluto. In itself, it is rather strange that a mouse has a dog as a pet.
Even if it's a small dog, it still means Mickey is enormous for a mouse.
MICKEY THE SYMBOL
Over the years Mickey Mouse has been a symbol of different things at different times.
In the 1930s, the time of the great depression, Mickey represented something very American to do with endurance and the ability to rise above defeat.Alongside Charlie Chaplin, he was an icon of the little man. They symbolised hope, optimism and a kind of inbred spunkiness.
In the first film, Steamboat Willie, he is rude to the authority figure, blows raspberries, thumbs his nose and is generally a little scamp.
As life improved in the 1940s, Mickey became redundant.
Disney had become the doyen of family entertainment and Mickey could no longer be the impertinent, revolutionary character.
So as Disney became more respectable, so did Mickey.
He became the MC, the compere or the circus ringmaster for a whole galaxy of characters like the irascible Donald Duck and the inept Goofy.
He became the pole of normality around which this bizarre entourage flew like satellites.
Move into the 1950s and Walt Disney started opening the first of his theme parks.
Mickey took on another role as the genial, mute host, the friendly person in a suit, welcoming people to this fantasy wonderland.
Now, in 2008, children are watching Mickey's Clubhouse on TV with a digital Mickey Mouse, and he is rejuvenated again.
MICKEY AND WALT
Mickey Mouse was incredibly important to Walt Disney.
In 1928 he had lost the rights to the character he was then animating - Oswald the Lucky Rabbit - a character not entirely dissimilar to Mickey but with floppy ears instead of round ones.
Disney's New York distributer decided to snaffle the rights to the long forgotten rabbit and sign up most of Disney's artists at the same time.
According to Disney legend, on the train back from New York, Walt Disney came up with the idea of an animated mouse.
He wanted to call the mouse Mortimer, but his wife Lillian convinced him that it was the worst possible name for a cartoon star and he agreed to change it to Mickey, apparently because he had Irish blood.On returning to California he started working on the first Mickey films - Plane Crazy and Galloping Gaucho, with his collaborator Ub Iwerks.
But before they were released, the movie industry was revolutionised by the arrival of the talkies.
It is a sign of Walt Disney's entrepreneurial acumen that at a time when people were doubting the efficacy of this strange new medium, he seized on the opportunity, shelved the first two films and made the third film, Steamboat Willie, in glorious, cacophonous sound.
It was the first ever cartoon with synchronised sound and was a huge success. It established Disney and kick started Hollywood animation in a new direction.
MICKEY THE CIRCLE
People used to say Mickey Mouse was very simple to draw, that any animator could draw him.
You simply drew the head by drawing around a dollar, then drew the ears by drawing around a quarter.
That is the secret of Mickey Mouse - he is based on circles.We respond to round characters far better than to spiky, sharp characters.
What they created, whether knowingly or not, was a character that had qualities of safeness, femininity and security.
A psychologist in the 1940s even said that if you showed a picture of Mickey Mouse to a child in a crib, that child would instantly smile.
The truth of the matter is that Donald Duck is much more entertaining, but what we have in Mickey is something very secure.
The shape is what endures. It is why Mickey was so obviously designed (although nobody knew it at the time) to be turned into cuddly toys and all sorts of other merchandise.
Go into a Disney store and it is full of exercise books and children's toys and children's clothing. People want to have a bit of Mickey.
MICKEY THE ICON
Andy Warhol said that Mickey was one of his favourite images. Even the Palestinian militant group Hamas used a Mickey-like image on their children's TV programme, spreading the message of Islamic Jihad.
It is fascinating that a character who hasn't made many movies in the last 20 years still has worldwide fame.
Maybe it is the fact that Walt Disney himself invested so much interest in the character.
He would often say to the animators in his studio, working on full length, big-budget films: "I hope you will never forget that this was all started by a mouse."
American philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson was supposed to have said that if you build a better mouse trap the world will beat a path to your door. Disney just made a better mouse.
BBC Today
A clip from Mickey Mouse's Birthday Party in 1942
The first released Cartoon of Mickey Mouse (Steamboat Willie 1928)
16 November, 2008
China, ¿Cerca de la perfección?
La reforma y la apertura de mercados de 1978 ha cambiado profundamente al país, pero, políticamente, el Partido Comunista no suelta la rienda. EL TIEMPO visitó el 'gigante asiático'.
A China le quedan 20 años para que su sistema de economía de mercado sea "perfecto". Al menos eso es lo que proclaman los funcionarios de más alto nivel hacia abajo, en el convencimiento de que el timonazo que dio en 1978 el líder Den Xiao Ping fue clave, no solo para mejorar el nivel de vida de sus más de 1.300 millones de habitantes, sino para proyectar al país como la potencia del milenio. O, como dicen ellos, "el más grande país en vía de desarrollo".
Un sistema que desafía a la más ortodoxa teoría del marxismo-leninismo y que defienden como un 'comunismo made in China'. Allí existe mercado abierto, propiedad privada, repartición de ingresos según el trabajo, consumismo y, en suma, capitalismo. Los chinos dejaron de usar el tradicional uniforme caqui, gris o azul (zhongshan) de la época de Mao Zedong, para remplazarlo, por ejemplo, por costosos Armani o prendas Zara. Todo, según sus ingresos.
Esa 'perfección' está en "liberar las razones humanas. Es decir, suplir la necesidad materialista social, en el sentido de que es más importante la necesidad espiritual", dijo a EL TIEMPO y a otros medios latinoamericanos Zhang Lina, subdirectora del Departamento de Reforma del Sistema, que forma parte del Comité de Desarrollo y Reformas de China.
No extraña, por eso, que en la calle Xiushui de Pekín se haya instalado el tradicional mercado de la seda (silk street), que no es más que una descomunal venta de artículos de exclusivas marcas... falsificadas, en el que no regatear es casi un insulto y en el que los turistas llegan en buses y gastan dinero a manos llenas. "Si te piden 1.000 yuanes, ofrece 300", aconsejó una turista española cargada de paquetes, mientras se probaba un collar de supuesta piedra jade.
Pero si en lo económico hubo apertura y reforma liberal, en lo político, el Gobierno y el Partido Comunista siguen manejando con pulso de hierro las riendas del sistema, una ortodoxia que conlleva dificultades en derechos humanos, trato a las minorías étnicas, libertad de expresión, de disentimiento y demás, al menos desde la óptica del ideal de las democracias occidentales.
'Hemos pasado de un sistema cerrado a uno abierto'
"Nuestro país ha experimentado un cambio profundo. Hemos convertido el sistema económico, basado en el modelo de la Unión Soviética, al actual sistema de economía social en el que el mercado juega un rol en la distribución de recursos. Hemos pasado de un sistema cerrado a uno abierto en todos los aspectos. La estructura social ha cambiado", dice Zhang.
Las cifras del cambio son aplastantes. La funcionaria repite de memoria que desde que arrancó la apertura y la reforma de Den, en 1978, la urbanización subió del 17 al 40 por ciento actual; la cantidad de pobres se redujo de 250 a 15 millones; la expectativa de vida aumentó de 68 a 73 años; el ingreso de la población se ha sextuplicado en la ciudad y en el campo, y otros datos descomunales que ponen de presente que la propiedad e iniciativa estatal se pueden mezclar con éxito con la economía de mercado.
La funcionaria no explicó si en la proyección a 50 años estaba que, por ejemplo, Pekín remplazará los viejos barrios por amplias avenidas repletas de autos que arrinconan a los ciclistas, o que la 'locura' de rascacielos de Shanghái la llevará a disputar el honor de ser el 'corazón financiero' de Asia. Lo que sí dejó en claro es que la prosperidad que se evidencia, y que aspiran a que llegue a más habitantes, especialmente rurales, fue disciplinadamente planeada y se debe a la continuidad de las políticas. Algo que, en los devaneos de la democracia occidental, quizás no se hubiera conseguido en apenas 30 años.
"Aprendimos que la práctica está primero que la teoría y debe dirigirla. Que los desarrollos económico y social deben ir de la mano, y que las reformas hay que hacerlas paso a paso, de lo fácil a lo difícil, del campo a la ciudad, diferentes tipos y grados de apertura, y no una reforma radical que quiera solucionarlo todo en breves plazos", reiteró Zhang.
No obstante, hay una sombra que inquieta: la crisis financiera mundial. Los más damnificados han sido sus principales mercados, es decir, Estados Unidos y Europa. Con la globalización, si el mundo baja su consumo, China siente el remezón.
Así lo reconoció el vicecanciller Li Jinzhang: "La crisis va a producir impactos negativos en China, pero estos son limitados y se pueden controlar. Si se tiene en cuenta el gran tamaño de la economía china, nuestra estabilización es un aporte a la salud de la economía mundial".
Sin embargo, el panorama se complica. Del magnífico 11,4 por ciento de crecimiento en el 2007, se podría caer al 8,5 que pronostica el Fondo Monetario Internacional para el 2009. A septiembre de este año había crecido 9,9. La subida de la producción industrial ha sido la más débil en siete años, la inversión extranjera también ha perdido vigor y las exportaciones e importaciones se han desacelerado.
El impacto de la crisis financiera mundial en China es "peor de lo previsto", admitió el jueves el primer ministro Wen Jiabao, cuatro días después del lanzamiento de un plan masivo de estímulo económico de 586 mil millones de dólares que serán invertidos en proyectos de impulso al consumo interno para compensar la caída de la demanda de los países desarrollados.
A pesar de esas cifras envidiables, a China le urge crecer a más del 8 por ciento, según los analistas. De lo contrario, sus proyecciones para los años que vienen, y para el 2028, cuando cumpla 50 años el proyecto de Deng, podrían sufrir serios tropiezos.
En el país hay confianza. Por eso, compran aviones a Brasil, beben vino chileno y cerveza Corona mexicana, pues quieren fomentar el consumo de productos con "valor agregado".
Pero del café colombiano quizás no hablar. El té chino, en todas sus formas, colores y sabores, difícilmente dejará de ser el rey.
Informe por EDUARD SOTO Por invitación del gobierno de la República Popular China
Fotos por Andres Vargas
A China le quedan 20 años para que su sistema de economía de mercado sea "perfecto". Al menos eso es lo que proclaman los funcionarios de más alto nivel hacia abajo, en el convencimiento de que el timonazo que dio en 1978 el líder Den Xiao Ping fue clave, no solo para mejorar el nivel de vida de sus más de 1.300 millones de habitantes, sino para proyectar al país como la potencia del milenio. O, como dicen ellos, "el más grande país en vía de desarrollo".Un sistema que desafía a la más ortodoxa teoría del marxismo-leninismo y que defienden como un 'comunismo made in China'. Allí existe mercado abierto, propiedad privada, repartición de ingresos según el trabajo, consumismo y, en suma, capitalismo. Los chinos dejaron de usar el tradicional uniforme caqui, gris o azul (zhongshan) de la época de Mao Zedong, para remplazarlo, por ejemplo, por costosos Armani o prendas Zara. Todo, según sus ingresos.
Esa 'perfección' está en "liberar las razones humanas. Es decir, suplir la necesidad materialista social, en el sentido de que es más importante la necesidad espiritual", dijo a EL TIEMPO y a otros medios latinoamericanos Zhang Lina, subdirectora del Departamento de Reforma del Sistema, que forma parte del Comité de Desarrollo y Reformas de China.
No extraña, por eso, que en la calle Xiushui de Pekín se haya instalado el tradicional mercado de la seda (silk street), que no es más que una descomunal venta de artículos de exclusivas marcas... falsificadas, en el que no regatear es casi un insulto y en el que los turistas llegan en buses y gastan dinero a manos llenas. "Si te piden 1.000 yuanes, ofrece 300", aconsejó una turista española cargada de paquetes, mientras se probaba un collar de supuesta piedra jade.
Pero si en lo económico hubo apertura y reforma liberal, en lo político, el Gobierno y el Partido Comunista siguen manejando con pulso de hierro las riendas del sistema, una ortodoxia que conlleva dificultades en derechos humanos, trato a las minorías étnicas, libertad de expresión, de disentimiento y demás, al menos desde la óptica del ideal de las democracias occidentales.
'Hemos pasado de un sistema cerrado a uno abierto'
"Nuestro país ha experimentado un cambio profundo. Hemos convertido el sistema económico, basado en el modelo de la Unión Soviética, al actual sistema de economía social en el que el mercado juega un rol en la distribución de recursos. Hemos pasado de un sistema cerrado a uno abierto en todos los aspectos. La estructura social ha cambiado", dice Zhang.
Las cifras del cambio son aplastantes. La funcionaria repite de memoria que desde que arrancó la apertura y la reforma de Den, en 1978, la urbanización subió del 17 al 40 por ciento actual; la cantidad de pobres se redujo de 250 a 15 millones; la expectativa de vida aumentó de 68 a 73 años; el ingreso de la población se ha sextuplicado en la ciudad y en el campo, y otros datos descomunales que ponen de presente que la propiedad e iniciativa estatal se pueden mezclar con éxito con la economía de mercado.
La funcionaria no explicó si en la proyección a 50 años estaba que, por ejemplo, Pekín remplazará los viejos barrios por amplias avenidas repletas de autos que arrinconan a los ciclistas, o que la 'locura' de rascacielos de Shanghái la llevará a disputar el honor de ser el 'corazón financiero' de Asia. Lo que sí dejó en claro es que la prosperidad que se evidencia, y que aspiran a que llegue a más habitantes, especialmente rurales, fue disciplinadamente planeada y se debe a la continuidad de las políticas. Algo que, en los devaneos de la democracia occidental, quizás no se hubiera conseguido en apenas 30 años.
"Aprendimos que la práctica está primero que la teoría y debe dirigirla. Que los desarrollos económico y social deben ir de la mano, y que las reformas hay que hacerlas paso a paso, de lo fácil a lo difícil, del campo a la ciudad, diferentes tipos y grados de apertura, y no una reforma radical que quiera solucionarlo todo en breves plazos", reiteró Zhang.
No obstante, hay una sombra que inquieta: la crisis financiera mundial. Los más damnificados han sido sus principales mercados, es decir, Estados Unidos y Europa. Con la globalización, si el mundo baja su consumo, China siente el remezón.
Así lo reconoció el vicecanciller Li Jinzhang: "La crisis va a producir impactos negativos en China, pero estos son limitados y se pueden controlar. Si se tiene en cuenta el gran tamaño de la economía china, nuestra estabilización es un aporte a la salud de la economía mundial".
Sin embargo, el panorama se complica. Del magnífico 11,4 por ciento de crecimiento en el 2007, se podría caer al 8,5 que pronostica el Fondo Monetario Internacional para el 2009. A septiembre de este año había crecido 9,9. La subida de la producción industrial ha sido la más débil en siete años, la inversión extranjera también ha perdido vigor y las exportaciones e importaciones se han desacelerado.
El impacto de la crisis financiera mundial en China es "peor de lo previsto", admitió el jueves el primer ministro Wen Jiabao, cuatro días después del lanzamiento de un plan masivo de estímulo económico de 586 mil millones de dólares que serán invertidos en proyectos de impulso al consumo interno para compensar la caída de la demanda de los países desarrollados.
A pesar de esas cifras envidiables, a China le urge crecer a más del 8 por ciento, según los analistas. De lo contrario, sus proyecciones para los años que vienen, y para el 2028, cuando cumpla 50 años el proyecto de Deng, podrían sufrir serios tropiezos.
En el país hay confianza. Por eso, compran aviones a Brasil, beben vino chileno y cerveza Corona mexicana, pues quieren fomentar el consumo de productos con "valor agregado".
Pero del café colombiano quizás no hablar. El té chino, en todas sus formas, colores y sabores, difícilmente dejará de ser el rey.
Informe por EDUARD SOTO Por invitación del gobierno de la República Popular China
Fotos por Andres Vargas
12 November, 2008
10 November, 2008
THE RAVEN
by Edgar Allan Poe (1845)
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
"'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door-
Only this, and nothing more."
Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December,
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow;- vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books surcease of sorrow- sorrow for the lost Lenore-
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore-
Nameless here for evermore.
And the silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each purple curtain
Thrilled me- filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;
So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating,
"'Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door-
Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door;-
This it is, and nothing more."
Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,
"Sir," said I, "or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;
But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,
And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,
That I scarce was sure I heard you"- here I opened wide the door;-
Darkness there, and nothing more.
Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before;
But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token,
And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, "Lenore?"
This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, "Lenore!"-
Merely this, and nothing more.
Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,
Soon again I heard a tapping somewhat louder than before.
"Surely," said I, "surely that is something at my window lattice:
Let me see, then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore-
Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore;-
'Tis the wind and nothing more!"
Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,
In there stepped a stately Raven of the saintly days of yore;
Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he;
But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door-
Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door-
Perched, and sat, and nothing more.
Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,
By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore.
"Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou," I said, "art sure no craven,
Ghastly grim and ancient Raven wandering from the Nightly shore-
Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!"
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."
Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly,
Though its answer little meaning- little relevancy bore;
For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being
Ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door-
Bird or beast upon the sculptured bust above his chamber door,
With such name as "Nevermore."
But the Raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only
That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.
Nothing further then he uttered- not a feather then he fluttered-
Till I scarcely more than muttered, "Other friends have flown before-
On the morrow he will leave me, as my hopes have flown before."
Then the bird said, "Nevermore."
Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken,
"Doubtless," said I, "what it utters is its only stock and store,
Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful Disaster
Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore-
Till the dirges of his Hope that melancholy burden bore
Of 'Never- nevermore'."
But the Raven still beguiling all my fancy into smiling,
Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird, and bust and door;
Then upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking
Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore-
What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt and ominous bird of yore
Meant in croaking "Nevermore."
This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing
To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom's core;
This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining
On the cushion's velvet lining that the lamp-light gloated o'er,
But whose velvet violet lining with the lamp-light gloating o'er,
She shall press, ah, nevermore!
Then methought the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer
Swung by Seraphim whose footfalls tinkled on the tufted floor.
"Wretch," I cried, "thy God hath lent thee- by these angels he hath sent thee
Respite- respite and nepenthe, from thy memories of Lenore!
Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore!"
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."
"Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil! - prophet still, if bird or devil! -
Whether Tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,
Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted-
On this home by Horror haunted- tell me truly, I implore-
Is there- is there balm in Gilead?- tell me- tell me, I implore!"
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."
"Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil! - prophet still, if bird or devil!
By that Heaven that bends above us- by that God we both adore-
Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,
It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore-
Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore."
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."
"Be that word our sign in parting, bird or fiend," I shrieked, upstarting-
"Get thee back into the tempest and the Night's Plutonian shore!
Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!
Leave my loneliness unbroken!- quit the bust above my door!
Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!"
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."
And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming,
And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted- nevermore!
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
"'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door-
Only this, and nothing more."
Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December,
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow;- vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books surcease of sorrow- sorrow for the lost Lenore-
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore-
Nameless here for evermore.
And the silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each purple curtain
Thrilled me- filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;
So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating,
"'Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door-
Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door;-
This it is, and nothing more."
Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,
"Sir," said I, "or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;
But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,
And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,
That I scarce was sure I heard you"- here I opened wide the door;-
Darkness there, and nothing more.
Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before;
But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token,
And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, "Lenore?"
This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, "Lenore!"-
Merely this, and nothing more.
Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,
Soon again I heard a tapping somewhat louder than before.
"Surely," said I, "surely that is something at my window lattice:
Let me see, then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore-
Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore;-
'Tis the wind and nothing more!"
Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,
In there stepped a stately Raven of the saintly days of yore;
Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he;
But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door-
Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door-
Perched, and sat, and nothing more.
Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,
By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore.
"Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou," I said, "art sure no craven,
Ghastly grim and ancient Raven wandering from the Nightly shore-
Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!"
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."
Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly,
Though its answer little meaning- little relevancy bore;
For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being
Ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door-
Bird or beast upon the sculptured bust above his chamber door,
With such name as "Nevermore."
But the Raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only
That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.
Nothing further then he uttered- not a feather then he fluttered-
Till I scarcely more than muttered, "Other friends have flown before-
On the morrow he will leave me, as my hopes have flown before."
Then the bird said, "Nevermore."
Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken,
"Doubtless," said I, "what it utters is its only stock and store,
Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful Disaster
Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore-
Till the dirges of his Hope that melancholy burden bore
Of 'Never- nevermore'."
But the Raven still beguiling all my fancy into smiling,
Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird, and bust and door;
Then upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking
Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore-
What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt and ominous bird of yore
Meant in croaking "Nevermore."
This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing
To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom's core;
This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining
On the cushion's velvet lining that the lamp-light gloated o'er,
But whose velvet violet lining with the lamp-light gloating o'er,
She shall press, ah, nevermore!
Then methought the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer
Swung by Seraphim whose footfalls tinkled on the tufted floor.
"Wretch," I cried, "thy God hath lent thee- by these angels he hath sent thee
Respite- respite and nepenthe, from thy memories of Lenore!
Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore!"
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."
"Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil! - prophet still, if bird or devil! -
Whether Tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,
Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted-
On this home by Horror haunted- tell me truly, I implore-
Is there- is there balm in Gilead?- tell me- tell me, I implore!"
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."
"Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil! - prophet still, if bird or devil!
By that Heaven that bends above us- by that God we both adore-
Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,
It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore-
Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore."
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."
"Be that word our sign in parting, bird or fiend," I shrieked, upstarting-
"Get thee back into the tempest and the Night's Plutonian shore!
Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!
Leave my loneliness unbroken!- quit the bust above my door!
Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!"
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."
And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming,
And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted- nevermore!
08 November, 2008
Mal Bicho by LFC
The lyrics are handwritten by Sr Flavio and under each line, you can see the English language translation. That, is the handwriting of Mick Jones. Tomas Cookman, co-manager of the band and Sergio Rotman, flew from Nassau to Atlanta in the middle of the recording sessions of "Rey Azucar" to record the ex Clash member as he was on tour with Big Audio Dynamite and had a free night."Flavio had given me the lyrics of the parts of the song that he wanted Mick to sing. At the studio, he asked me for the translation. He wrote his translation under Flavio's lines. After the session, I kept the lyric sheet - and as you can see, I still have it. " (Tomas Cookman)
06 November, 2008
A bit of art...
YOSHITOMO NARA
by Kara Besher
The artwork of Yoshitomo Nara is deceptively simple. Peopled with entities that call to mind toddlers or infant animals with their balloon heads, persimmon pit-eyes, and pinprick noses, each work is a peek into a world that seems eerily familiar.
A long-term resident of Cologne, Nara is being met with increasing international attention, having already exhibited in Milwaukee, L.A., Cologne and Seoul, with New York scheduled for later this year. Tomio Koyama, the artist’s Tokyo dealer, says that a major Nara sculpture was recently purchased by an American collector, and is earmarked for long-term loan to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
With a couple of books both in their second run, a limited edition wristwatch and a clothing line that incorporates motifs from his artwork, Nara is well on his way to developing a cult following in Japan.
Two concurrent exhibitions--one at the Ginza Art Space, the other at Tomio Koyama Gallery--show Nara’s bizarre storybook musings through drawings, paintings, fiberglass sculptures and a series of never-before-shown assemblages.
In the drawings, kiddies are engaging in innocuous solo activities: holding a flag, playing in a box, sitting on a potty, holding a book, standing in a puddle. But sometimes they are brandishing sharp little implements--knives and saws. Nara captures these scenes in a moment of stillness.
The children look up at the viewer with what seems to be a air of wariness. Or is it complicity? Do those heavy eyelids indicate post- or pre-nappy time, or do they embody a jaded cynicism, incongruent with the insouciance of childhood? Each work is an emotional trigger which has different effects on different viewers.
Sometimes, the artist says, he receives zealous messages from fans. One even slipped a note into his pocket. I know exactly what you are saying, the note said, I understand. "Maybe they understand more about the work than me," he says modestly.
What is it about this art that elicits such a strong response? It doesn’t seem very complicated. The style is intentionally flat, with blunt, uniformly thick lines. This, combined with a lack of modeling, texture or strong coloration, seems to force attention to the subject matter. Yet there isn’t much of that. Narrative content? Not much of that either. Expressiveness? Not really.
Nara’s artwork "clicks" because we sense that beneath the sparse execution is a direct portal to a personal, almost intuitive vision.
"I only draw what I know from experience," Nara says. Since they embody specific memories, or impressions, the works take on a marshmallowy snapshot quality. Like illustrations from a deranged children’s textbook ("S is for Switchblade...") they are narratives, but with no temporal start or finish. As such, the works have an almost totemic completeness.
Stylistically, an artist can do two very brave things in their careers: a Picasso-like switching between unrecognizable styles, or a Morandi-like pursuit of the same relentless vision (the challenge here is to maintain a pitch of intensity across a long line of similar works). It could be said that Nara falls into the second category.
The artist says he has no choice in the matter; he is compelled to do these images: "Even if I try to draw something different, it always comes out this way."
His hand moves reflexively over the canvas, and the image emerges almost of itself. This has inspired some to call what Nara does a form of "automatism." Despite the implied mediumistic overtones, the artist sees this impulse as ultimately coming from himself.
One characteristic painting is "Slash with a Saw/Nokogiri." In it, a pig-tailed girl stands impassively within the picture surface. The lack of reference suggests a groundless solitude that might make for a certain vulnerability, if not for what the girl is holding: a jagged-edged saw.
But this is no tree-house builder. The title, combined with the girl’s ambiguous expression, contributes to an almost palpable feeling of dread. What, or who, is she going to slash with that saw?
Nara doesn’t feel these weapons are instruments of aggression. "Look at them, they are so small, like toys. Do you think they could fight with those?" he counters. "I don’t think so. Rather, I kind of see the children among other, bigger, bad people all around them, who are holding bigger knives...."
Indeed, most of the figures in the paintings are looking up from a low vantage point, peering out into a world that is both threatening and mesmerizing. On second glance, is this a power discrepancy between the strong and the weak, and if so, could we be the aggressors?
To take sweet images from childhood, even as children could draw them, and infuse them with so much sharp-edged adult apprehension is not an easy thing to achieve, but Nara does. The utter disproportion between subject matter and mood creates a disturbing effect. The combination, though, is oddly satisfying.
Ours is a world where watching Teletubbies is the come-down of choice for experienced ecstasy ravers, where Pee-wee Herman is caught frotting himself in a movie theater, where heavy-headed Minnie Mouses are regularly molested at Disneyland. We have made a sport out of perverting our childhood icons. The betrayal implied in Nara’s work resonates, because it expresses a universally shared loss of innocence.
The enigmatic, abbreviated quality of Nara’s style may be an invitation for you to take your best subtextural potshot. But take care. In doing so, you risk revealing a lot about yourself, more than might be comfortable. Nara’s artworks are sticky-sweet booby traps, Rorschach tests for a post-modern innocence quotient. They are candy-cane puzzles begging to be deciphered, only to reveal the cavities inside our own grown-up hearts.
The artwork of Yoshitomo Nara is deceptively simple. Peopled with entities that call to mind toddlers or infant animals with their balloon heads, persimmon pit-eyes, and pinprick noses, each work is a peek into a world that seems eerily familiar.A long-term resident of Cologne, Nara is being met with increasing international attention, having already exhibited in Milwaukee, L.A., Cologne and Seoul, with New York scheduled for later this year. Tomio Koyama, the artist’s Tokyo dealer, says that a major Nara sculpture was recently purchased by an American collector, and is earmarked for long-term loan to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
With a couple of books both in their second run, a limited edition wristwatch and a clothing line that incorporates motifs from his artwork, Nara is well on his way to developing a cult following in Japan.
Two concurrent exhibitions--one at the Ginza Art Space, the other at Tomio Koyama Gallery--show Nara’s bizarre storybook musings through drawings, paintings, fiberglass sculptures and a series of never-before-shown assemblages.
In the drawings, kiddies are engaging in innocuous solo activities: holding a flag, playing in a box, sitting on a potty, holding a book, standing in a puddle. But sometimes they are brandishing sharp little implements--knives and saws. Nara captures these scenes in a moment of stillness.
The children look up at the viewer with what seems to be a air of wariness. Or is it complicity? Do those heavy eyelids indicate post- or pre-nappy time, or do they embody a jaded cynicism, incongruent with the insouciance of childhood? Each work is an emotional trigger which has different effects on different viewers.
Sometimes, the artist says, he receives zealous messages from fans. One even slipped a note into his pocket. I know exactly what you are saying, the note said, I understand. "Maybe they understand more about the work than me," he says modestly.
What is it about this art that elicits such a strong response? It doesn’t seem very complicated. The style is intentionally flat, with blunt, uniformly thick lines. This, combined with a lack of modeling, texture or strong coloration, seems to force attention to the subject matter. Yet there isn’t much of that. Narrative content? Not much of that either. Expressiveness? Not really.Nara’s artwork "clicks" because we sense that beneath the sparse execution is a direct portal to a personal, almost intuitive vision.
"I only draw what I know from experience," Nara says. Since they embody specific memories, or impressions, the works take on a marshmallowy snapshot quality. Like illustrations from a deranged children’s textbook ("S is for Switchblade...") they are narratives, but with no temporal start or finish. As such, the works have an almost totemic completeness.
Stylistically, an artist can do two very brave things in their careers: a Picasso-like switching between unrecognizable styles, or a Morandi-like pursuit of the same relentless vision (the challenge here is to maintain a pitch of intensity across a long line of similar works). It could be said that Nara falls into the second category.
The artist says he has no choice in the matter; he is compelled to do these images: "Even if I try to draw something different, it always comes out this way."
His hand moves reflexively over the canvas, and the image emerges almost of itself. This has inspired some to call what Nara does a form of "automatism." Despite the implied mediumistic overtones, the artist sees this impulse as ultimately coming from himself.
One characteristic painting is "Slash with a Saw/Nokogiri." In it, a pig-tailed girl stands impassively within the picture surface. The lack of reference suggests a groundless solitude that might make for a certain vulnerability, if not for what the girl is holding: a jagged-edged saw.
But this is no tree-house builder. The title, combined with the girl’s ambiguous expression, contributes to an almost palpable feeling of dread. What, or who, is she going to slash with that saw?Nara doesn’t feel these weapons are instruments of aggression. "Look at them, they are so small, like toys. Do you think they could fight with those?" he counters. "I don’t think so. Rather, I kind of see the children among other, bigger, bad people all around them, who are holding bigger knives...."
Indeed, most of the figures in the paintings are looking up from a low vantage point, peering out into a world that is both threatening and mesmerizing. On second glance, is this a power discrepancy between the strong and the weak, and if so, could we be the aggressors?
To take sweet images from childhood, even as children could draw them, and infuse them with so much sharp-edged adult apprehension is not an easy thing to achieve, but Nara does. The utter disproportion between subject matter and mood creates a disturbing effect. The combination, though, is oddly satisfying.
Ours is a world where watching Teletubbies is the come-down of choice for experienced ecstasy ravers, where Pee-wee Herman is caught frotting himself in a movie theater, where heavy-headed Minnie Mouses are regularly molested at Disneyland. We have made a sport out of perverting our childhood icons. The betrayal implied in Nara’s work resonates, because it expresses a universally shared loss of innocence.
The enigmatic, abbreviated quality of Nara’s style may be an invitation for you to take your best subtextural potshot. But take care. In doing so, you risk revealing a lot about yourself, more than might be comfortable. Nara’s artworks are sticky-sweet booby traps, Rorschach tests for a post-modern innocence quotient. They are candy-cane puzzles begging to be deciphered, only to reveal the cavities inside our own grown-up hearts.
01 November, 2008
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