9.30.2008

fasting attempt # deuce...



AFTER MY ILL-CONCEIVED INITIAL ATTEMPT (ER, INTENT) TO FAST, i'm pulling myself up by the sandalstraps (much too hot for boots) and having another go. now, you may be thinking, "hey, isn't today the last day of ramadan?" (therefore missing my last chance @ collective deprivation). well, my moderately-informed friend, the answer is yes... basically. to get around this hurdle, i'll be operating on canadian (eastern) time, which means my abstention from consumption officially kicks off @ 17:24 (local time). how will i possibly survive this hideous ordeal (of which over a billion people have [voluntarily] subjected themselves to for the past month)? i plan on keeping my mind occupied by catching up on some reading, remixing reckoner, then camping out @ the estana curry house till the wee hours, watching the champs' league while those around me nosh on naan, tandoori chicken and vegetable korma. thanks to eid (or aidilfitri as it's referred to here), tomorrow is a national holiday, providing me with plenty of time to recoup. all-you-can-eat dim sum anyone?


nader on the wall street bailout...

9.29.2008

...flying kitty kickapoo power!



i say panda, you say pahndah...


WELL, i've finally managed to put together a complete (if incoherent) sentence in malay. here it goes...

"orang nasi asli yang miang sedang petik papaya."

...translation: the original horny rice people are 'plucking papayas.'

( credit: apsara )

u.s. 'war on terror' has not weakened al qaeda, says global poll...

despite its overwhelming military power, america’s war against al qaeda is widely seen as having achieved nothing better than a stalemate and many believe that it has even strengthened al qaeda. // steven kull, director of the program on international policy attitudes

9.28.2008

one pure thought // hot chip

...seriously, you should check it out//

wrestlers // hot chip

REMINDER TO ANYONE IN T.O. that hot chip will be playing the koolhaus tomorrow...

ecuador's correa claims poll win...

"Ecuadorian voters have convincingly approved a new constitution that increases presidential powers, exit polls indicate.

President Correa is offering more say in the running of the country to women, the poor and Ecuador's large indigenous community.

He says he is trying to reduce the power and influence of the business and land-owning elite which has always run the country.

Not surprisingly, there has been opposition to the proposals..." //
bbc news, 09.29.08
...as the all-too-often selectively quoted adam smith actually said: "all for ourselves, and nothing for other people, seems, in every age of the world, to have been the vile maxim of the masters of mankind." 

the end of voodoo economics // ian williams, the guardian, 09.26.08

waltz with bashir trailer...

the story of stuff...


from 'language and freedom'...

predatory capitalism created a complex industrial system and an advanced technology; it permitted a considerable extension of democratic practice and fostered certain liberal values, but within limits that are now being pressed and must be overcome. it is not a fit system for the mid-twentieth century. it is incapable of meeting human needs that can be expressed only in collective terms, and its concept of competitive man who seeks only to maximize wealth and power, who subjects himself to market relationships, to exploitation and external authority, is antihuman and intolerable in the deepest sense. an autocratic state is no acceptable substitute; nor can the militarized state capitalism evolving in the united states or the bureaucratized, centralized welfare state be accepted as the goal of human existence. the only justification for repressive institutions is material and cultural deficit. but such institutions, at certain stages of history, perpetuate and produce such a deficit, and even threaten human survival. modern science and technology can relieve people of the necessity for specialized, imbecile labor. they may, in principle, provide the basis for a rational social order based on free association and democratic control, if we have the will to create it.  //  chomsky

the shock doctrine...

9.26.2008

misc...

( small shrine around the corner from our apt )
( monorail arriving @ raja chulan station )
( the nearest curry/footie house )



( no you didn't )
( das fuhrer for das kinder? )
( burka barbie )
( 'red' in red )

tony robbins asks why we do what we do...

 
( what d'you know, he's not all razzle dazzle )

infomania, 09.25.08...

and the forecast calls for...

AS THE RAIN BARRELS DOWN ON THE ROOF ABOVE ME, i thought i'd say a word about the dynamic yet constant climate patterns in the region. first off, the average temperatures year-round hover somewhere b/w 26 and 32 degrees. it has yet to slip beneath the 24 mark since my arrival. beyond the unrelenting heat and humidity, there are essentially three discernible weather conditions: sunny, rainy/torrential and overcast. remarkably, these meteorological states alternate on an hourly basis; in the morning, it shines, in the afternoon, it pours, and in the evening, it dampens. although i've yet to be caught in a heavy downpour, andrew and i have definitely experienced our share of moisture. luckily, there's usually an open curry house or plush hotel lobby around in which to find refuge:one thing's for sure, it's looking like an extended summer//

9.22.2008

slacker uprising...

 

update: raja petra to be detained two years under ISA...

"KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Today editor Raja Petra Kamarudin was served with an order last night that would see him detained in Kamunting for two years under the Internal Security Act (ISA).

The detention order was signed by Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar last night.

He will be held without trial under Section 8 of the ISA, reporters were told by his lawyers, who were at the High Court hear to argue their habeas corpus application on Tuesday.

He was detained under the ISA on Sept 12. Two others detained that day, Seputeh MP Teresa Kok and Sin Chew Daily reporter Tan Choon Heng, have since been released..."
 (the star, 09.23.08)

a note of appreciation from the rich...

$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $
$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $
$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $
$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $
let's be honest: you'll never win the lottery )
$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $
$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $
$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $
$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $

for the love of money...

an unregulated global market is shifting the financial rewards away from those who do productive work to those who control money and are successful at convincing people to buy what they do not need and often cannot afford.  // david korten

(this one's for you, omar)

wall street meltdown...

9.21.2008

the beauty of chinlone...

if there's one thing i'm attempting, it's this:

classic snl skit...

9.20.2008

batu caves...




















tentative travel plans...

SO, i'll be exploring the following locales in the next few months. if you've got any tips or suggestions (things [not] to do, places [not] to go, etc.) don't hesitate to leave me a comment. and thanks again to those who've left me w/ much to consider...

from now till november:
( 1 ) singapore
( 2 ) bali
( 3 ) sarawak
( 4 ) penang
( 5 ) malacca

from december till january:
( 1 ) thailand
( 2 ) cambodia
( 3 ) laos
( 4 ) vietnam
( 5 ) hk

09.19.08...

( 'make amends' opening @ the b & w fest )



( the C-I-J crew )

( jk and shaki doing their thing )
( the interns @ the deutsche haus )
( the hipster scene @ palate palette )