07.30.03
Posted in One World at 1:47 am by Thomas
Here is a site listing the numbers from 1 to 10 in more than 4500 languages.
It is interesting to browse through this massive catalog of languages, all of them representing a separate culture, history and the identity of a people who were proud, who talked, laughed and sang in that language.
And while many of these languages still exist, much more is lost forever. Thousands of languages will never be spoken again.
Of course much of this is the natural progression of human history, ever more mobile people mixing, spreading and suffocating languages and cultures. But on the other hand it represents the catastrophic loss of much of what has been established before. Songs never to be sung again. Stories never again to be shared.
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07.27.03
Posted in Media at 6:22 pm by Thomas
We saw “Postmen in the Mountains” yesterday.
This is a beautiful, evocative movie telling a very simple story about a young men who takes over a strenuous postal route through the mountains from his father. On his first tour, the father accompanies him and the two spend more time together than ever in their life, both of them discovering how much they didn’t know about each other.
The film shows us villages in deepest China, where time seemingly stands still. The two men hike through lush bamboo forests and cross creeks to deliver the mail and they are greeted by a handsome cast of villagers.
Since the film was done digitally, the grainyness and strong colors give it the feel of a documentary, enhanced by the fact that many of the supporting villagers play themselves. I especially enjoyed the scenes in a village of the Tong minority where the two postmen witness a wedding dance.
The only negative point about the movie are the English subtitles, which are in desparate need of English-native editing.
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07.22.03
Posted in PhotoBlog: Street Copy at 11:22 pm by Thomas
Sutter Street, San Francisco
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Posted in One World at 12:26 am by Thomas
Quote of the day from turningtables (I’ve talked about this blog before)
“it is very hard to be a half full kind of person in the middle of this half empty kind of thing…”
It is, isn’t it? Over the last year or two, a group of ugly and nauseating characters has changed the world we live in. Lately, shameless lies and murderous behaviour have become the modus operandi, and it seems we are not yet at the end of this tunnel.
It is hard to keep that very small flame of hope alive, that even if things don’t exactly look great right now, it will only be a matter of time before sanity returns.
Well, it’s good to see that there are still some Half Full Kind of People around…
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07.21.03
Posted in Japan at 11:32 pm by Thomas
Laughing Knees is Miguel Arboleda’s weblog from Japan. He seems to be a gentleman in his middle years who has spent his life in many places, accumulating a mountain of wisdom.
His blog is one of the most lyrical and poetic I have found, he mostly writes about travel, hiking and experiencing nature.
A regular antidote to the insanity in the news…
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07.16.03
Posted in PhotoBlog: Street Copy at 8:35 pm by Thomas
Bush Street, San Francisco
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Posted in PhotoBlog: Street Copy at 8:18 pm by Thomas
Polk Street, San Francisco
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Posted in One World at 12:45 am by Thomas
turningtables is a blog written by an US soldier in Iraq.
He writes almost daily and his reports are a very honest and intimate look into the daily lifes of the US soldiers deployed in Iraq. Here a few quotes:
“i actually have been performing an ‘experiment’…i’ve been asking random soldiers who the vice president of the united states is…a very simple question…but i found a surprising answer…the majority of those i asked did not know the answer nor do they care…this is bad…our lives are at stake…our country as well…and we do not even pay attention…we have a voice…but we do not choose to use it…”
“i’m thinking in my head…where the hell do i go…should i get under a truck…what’s the best spot for staging a defense…i’m looking around…sizing up tent city…and i realize that i’ve never really thought about my canvas home in terms of a battle field…”
“when i get close to some walls i can hear iraqis on the other side…sometimes i want to talk out loud just to see what would happen…would they answer…what would they say…how would they say it…what if they spoke english…what would we talk about…would he yell at me…would he try to give me stuff…would i give him anything…”
“the animosity is growing and i’m not sure how to subdue it…the iraqi fundamentalists who praised us and danced when we took baghdad now scream for us to leave immediately…what would become of iraq then…i don’t know…we have opened a can of worms…”
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07.13.03
Posted in Culture at 10:49 pm by Thomas
We went to the Stern Grove Festival today and I can’t believe that it took us 3 years in San Francisco to even hear about these events!
The venue for these concerts is a deep valley in a park in the south-western part of San Francisco and the stage area is surrounded by huge redwoods and eucalyptus trees. It’s a beautiful setting for these concerts and even better – it’s free!
Today we saw the Afro Celt Sound System and it was a transcending experience to hear their world music (in the truest sense) with the kind of multicultural crowd that only San Francisco can produce. All of this under the bluest sky with the smell of eucalyptus everywhere…
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07.12.03
Posted in PhotoBlog: Street Copy at 2:09 pm by Thomas
Hyde Street, San Francisco
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