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September 2006

28/09/06 Confucius' Birthday

The sage's birthday was observed in the very early hours at Tainan City's (Taiwan, R.O.C.) Confucius Temple. The ceremony was accompanied by a sacrificial feast of a bull, a goat and a pig. Confucius lived between 551 and 479 BC and is regarded as China's greatest scholar and pedagogue. Tainan's Confucius Temple, constructed in the year 1666, is the oldest in Taiwan.

Participants at Confucius Temple in Tainan pull tuffs of fur from the sacrificial bull, for luck and guidance.

Daniel Pearl Day will be observed in Taipei on the 30th of this month. Other events are scheduled around the globe in the coming weeks, including in London the world premiere of Steve Reich's "Daniel Variations" (Oct. 8th) Details here: Daniel Pearl Foundation Organizers hope that music and dialogue can go some way towards curing some of the ills in the world. Been in a brain dead coma and don't know who Daniel Pearl was? here

Solomon Grundy

Solomon Grundy, born on Monday,
christened on Tuesday,
married on Wednesday,
sick on Thursday,
worse on Friday,
died on Saturday,
buried on Sunday,
and that was the end of Solomon Grundy.

Mesostic: Insanity Wet Rust

The mesostic is a type of poem invented by avant garde composer John Cage. Cage is perhaps best known for his "4'33"" a marvelous piece of performance art in which no instruments are actually played, the audience is instead encouraged to concentrate on the ambient sounds in the auditorium. It's not unusual for someone to develop the giggles during the first or second movements and then spend the rest of the performance trying to suppress it. The audience in effect becomes part of the performance.

In Sanity We Trust World Premiere, Download John Cage's groundbreaking 4'33" free and legal, like.

Cage's sonatas for prepared piano may have a slightly broader appeal. Evidently Cage learned (possibly at a very early age) that jamming things into the strings of a piano can alter the timbre somewhat. It works though, and Cage made very specific instructions about the specifications of the various various bolt's, nuts, erasers and clothes pegs.

"I certainly had no feeling for harmony, and Schoenberg thought that that would make it impossible for me to write music. He said, 'You'll come to a wall you won't be able to get through.' So I said, 'I'll beat my head against that wall.'"

-John Cage

Naxos Music Classical Spotlight: John Cage Music for prepared piano
Mesostic
Mathew Maccabe's Mesostic Generator - Create your own mesostic from content on a webpage.

Diversions

David Clark discusses Shakespeare's use of hendiadys
George D. Henderson introduces the writing of H. P. Lovecraft

The only difference between me and a Madman is that I am not mad.

- Salvador Dali

Don't Be Evil:

Google claim a commitment to providing free and unbiased access to information on the internet. Their declared company policy is indeed "Don't be Evil", though their concessions to Beijing for operations in China might appear to be at odds with that ethic. Google, along with Microsoft, and Yahoo have come under considerable criticism for their approach to China which allows for censorship of politically sensitive search entries.

Google, again along with Yahoo and Microsoft contend that they do more good than harm despite kow-towing to Beijing. This is not a view held by Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia, which has been banned in China since October last year. Wales has criticized and challenged the others to take a stance on internet censorship in China. Wales stated that censorship was "antithetical to the philosophy of Wikipedia".

We occupy a position in the culture that I wish Google would take up, which is that we stand for the freedom for information, and for us to compromise I think would send very much the wrong signal: that there's no one left on the planet who's willing to say "You know what? We're not going to give up.

- Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia.

U.S. Congress is set to introduce the much hailed Global Online Freedom Act today.

Articles

The Guardian - Wikipedia defies China's censors
Fast Company.com - How Google Grows...and Grows...and Grows
Wikipedia - Internet censorship in the People's Republic of China
The Inquirer - UK MPs slam "immoral" Microsoft, Google, Yahoo stance
Amnesty International U.K. - Amnesty accuses Yahoo!, Microsoft and Google of hypocrisy in China and urges users to take action against them
Global Online Freedom Act of 2006
Tibet Will Be Free - Yahoo Helps China Jail Another Cyberdissident
Microsoft - Microsoft Outlines Policy Framework for Dealing with Government Restrictions on Blog Content
Wired News - Google Defends China Policy
The Register - Yahoo! Worst in China

Comments

Blacklist of wiki have blocked lots of useful information entry China, but it also blocks the soul of fundamentalist, soul of Osama Bin Laden entry China. You know the bombers of London metro grow up in British, British government costs a lot to providing outreach and social services to them. It still can not prevent them became terrorists. In china there are no organizations providing outreach and social service, the people will be easier become terrorists if there is no limit import of information outside.

- Willy, China

Willy actually had quite a bit more to say on the matter, I've put the full version here: Don't Be Evil

Shaft: Down at your Life

Yes, it's down. The new album "Down at your Life" by SHAFT. It's a dirty rotten shame. Down at your life, a rare event which indubitably requires closer examination. Still, things could be worse and chances are they will be. Thank God for electric guitars! One can always find salvation in a song. Don't let a chance like this slip by. In other words just buy it. Shaft: Down at your Life

The Times They Are A-Changin'

Bob Dylan's latest album, "Modern Times" hit the charts at number one, his first number one album in 30 years. It also makes him the oldest living person (65) to enter the charts at number one.

When you purchase Bob Dylan's new album "Modern Times" through iTunes, you'll also get four bonus videos, and if you pre-order the album, you’ll get a fifth video, “Jokerman,” an iTunes exclusive. Plus, you'll also receive an exclusive pre-sale Ticketmaster access code for up to four tickets to Dylan’s upcoming tour. Just pre-order and the pre-sale code arrives via email.

Polygamist on FBI's Most Wanted List Captured: Reputed to have 72 wives, he begged to be arrested. Ironic Times

Diversions: Disorder In The Court Humourous transcripts of things people actually said in the American Courts.

Star Wars Episode III:

The Backstroke of the West

Many pitfalls may be encountered when translating between languages. Early attempts to market Coca-cola for example had some less than desirable results. While the phrase "Coke Adds Life" came out literally to mean, Coke brings the dead back to life, translations of the brand "Coca-cola" itself met with some unusual permutations such as the enigmatic "bite the wax tadpole".

Some screenshots from Star Wars Episode Three with captions translated back into english from the Chinese. Some of the results are hillarious. This is fast becoming a cult classic. May the farce be with you!

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