Dieser Freitagabend im Kulturzentrum Albert Camus* war besonders spirituell und kommunizierend. Zu sanfter Musik auf Valiha [Bambuszither], Flöte, Geige und Gitarre, gespielt von zwei Kindern des [1978 verstorbenen] Dichters Dox, gesellten sich leichte Choreographien der Gruppe Zanatohatra.  Und die Poesie scheint aus ihrem Grab aufzuerstehen…
Am Ende der 2000er Jahre hallt das Werk von Dox und Esther Nirina immer noch in uns nach. Sie bleiben eine Mahnung, die malegassische Poesie zu bewahren, deren Noblesse getrübt ist durch die Kälte einer Öffentlichkeit, die unsensibel geworden ist für spirituelle Gegenstände jenseits der Kirche.

Glücklicherwiese ist die Rettung da… An dieser Dichterlesung konnten die jungen Dichter von Faribolana Sandratra** mit ihren erfrischenden Texten die Fackel bewahren. Der Stil ändert sich, aber die Flamme bleibt die gleiche. / Hernan Rivelo, L’Express de Madagascar 30.11.
*) Wie fast alle Zeitungen der Welt stehen auch malegassische im WWW für alle Welt sichtbar, vergessen aber hinzuzufügen, um welche Stadt es sich gerade handelt. (Denn  ihre Stammleser, die das Blatt aus dem Hausbriefkasten ziehen, wissen es natürlich). Nehmen wir an, es handelt sich um die Hauptstadt Antananarivo.
**) eine malegassische Dichtergruppe

Hier: Feldforschung in einer Vereinigung von malegassischen Schriftstellern und Dichtern in Antananarivo (Universität Bayreuth)

(Auch eine interessante Vorstellung: Ethnologische Feldforschung bei jungen Dichtern in Bayreuth. Wenn jemand so etwas macht, oder sich Kenntnis verschafft etc.: Nachricht genügt!)

Enfin un article qui montre Prague sous un visage nouveau, plus proche de la realite et bien loin des cliches pour touristes de masse de la derniere decennie (meme si certains sont encore tenaces: je ne recommande pas du tout le musee du communisme, un vrai piege a touristes).

De bonnes adresses, de bonnes idees: DOX, Modernista, Maxim Velčovský, La Bodeguita del Medio ou encore (et surtout) Aromi cites dans l’article. Merci!

“Imposeriez-vous à une amie de passage à Paris l’ascension de la tour Eiffel, si mythique soit-elle ? Même un jour de grand désert d’inspiration, l’embarqueriez-vous pour une promenade en bateau-mouche sur la Seine ? Il est grand temps d’appliquer ces sages principes à toutes les villes-musées du monde. Certes, le château de Prague se voit comme un nez au milieu de la figure dans le paysage urbain et son histoire est bien plus riche que celle de notre dame de fer ; mais cela vaut-il une journée entière entre touristes, au risque de passer à côté de la Prague contemporaine ?
La « perle aux cent clochers » a connu bien des démons au cours des pires années noires de la Tchécoslovaquie. Mais d’autres fantômes, liés à son héritage culturel, continuent de hanter les rues de la capitale, la figeant dans la même imagerie poussiéreuse depuis des siècles : musiciens maestros (Dvořák, Mozart), poète maudit (Kafka), prince impérialiste (Charles IV) ou personnage politique (le dramaturge Václav Havel).
Non, Prague n’est pas seulement belle et romantique : galeries d’art contemporain, clubs de jazz, restaurants à la mode et cafés branchés essaiment dans la ville, aux côtés d’adresses pittoresques restées (presque) intactes. Vingt ans après la Révolution de velours et l’effondrement du bloc soviétique, partez à l’assaut de la hype pragoise.”

Prague en cinq leçons (Le Figaro Madame / 20.11.2009 / Sibylle Grandchamp)

Hoje acordei mais cedo.  Mais cedo uns 10 minutos e fui pra varanda fumar um cigarrinho matinal com um café preto sem açúcar (já sei que vou morrer, parem!). No meu prédio, existem apartamentos de  1, 2 e 3 quartos eu moro no de um (pobre), só que moro no 1º andar, isso me rendeu uma enorme sacada, que só serve pra juntar sujeira, fumar, estender roupa, e fazer festa, opa! Serve pra bastante coisa até. Então, estava eu lá olhando para cima. Essa é a vista:

Foto da janela do @doxdox que ele mesmo tirou e eu tô usando sem pedir. Ou seria do prédio vizinho? Não sei!

Imagine-se  na foto olhando para baixo, têm uns 7 apartamentos e lá no último, o único com sacada, tá mais pra varanda, mas tudo bem, estou eu. Fumando e tomando café.

Com disse, acordei uns 10 minutos antes do normal e fui lá fora. A partir das 06:45  foi uma sinfonia de despertadores. Fiquei rindo sozinha dos assalariados que tem que acordar cedo como eu. Agora sei o toque de despertador mais alto do prédio, é o do dox. Deu um barulhão e alguns segundos depois ele estava na janela berrando la de cima pra mim.

Tópico 2#

Amanhã tem show do velhas no Obs, tem a programação ali. Eles vão lançar o novo CD na galera (sou monga e faço piada tosca). “Ninguém beija como as lésbicas”, é o nome do CD, e eu vou pra dentro da garrafa.

Beijo da Té

Updated throughout the day.

Updated 3.23 PM EST:  Analyst Michael Mayo says Citigroup (NYSE:C) will take a $10 billion write down the quarter. Citi denies it (CNBC)

Updated 10.24 AM EST:  Cisco (NSADAQ:CSCO) may drop its bid for Tandberg  (Barron’s)

Venezuela may have gold reserves with a total value over $13 billion.  (CNBC)

JP Morgan (NYSE:JPM) may have had concerns about Galleon as early as 2001 (Financial Times)

Likely near-term tech acquisition targets include Sapient (NASDAQ:SAPE), Computer Sciences (NYSE:CSC), WNS (NYSE:WNS), Amdocs (NYSE:DOX), Cognizant Technology (NASDAQ:CTSH) and ExlService (NASDAQ:EXLS) (Reuters)

Time Warner (NYSE:TWX) may spin-off AOL in December  (TheStreet.com)

CIT (NYSE:CIT) is likely to file for bankruptcy in the next few days.  (Reuters)

Cargill is the largest private company in the US followed closely by Koch Industries  (Forbes)

Douglas A. McIntyre

Source

Note the very bushy tail and the white tip.

Now consider this account of a  supposed dog-fox hybrid that was killed in Warwickshire, England, in 1906.

I think a really good case can be made that this animal was a side-stripe jackal pup, like this one. The head shape in the depiction of the “dog-fox” hybrid suggests that this is a side-striped jackal. The animal in question is said to be smaller than a fox, which suggests a juvenile animal.

Menageries of the day probably kept this species of jackal, which may have bred. Perhaps one of the pups escaped his parents’ cage and went wild in the forest.  For that time period, I doubt that a young jackal could have been captured in Africa and taken to England while it was of that size. Because of the length of its transport to England at that time, if it had been caught wild in Africa, it would have already grown considerably by the time it arrived (and escaped).

I should also note here that red foxes cannot hybridize with dogs or any member of the genus Canis. They have often been reported, but they have never been able to withstand scrutiny. However, it might be possible that dogs could produce hybrids with South American canids, some of which are called foxes but really aren’t.

Certaines choses changent, d’autres non, parfois pour le meilleur mais malheureusement souvent aussi pour le pire…

Notre weekend dernier fut centre autour du quartier de Holesovice (Prague 7). Quartier qui occupe le meandre de la Vltava au nord de Prague, ancienne banlieue industrielle et populaire maintenant en pleine mutation et qui se reconvertit peu en peu en quartier moderne et branche, Holesovice etait aussi le centre du design tcheque pour quelques jours en abritant le festival designblok 2009. Un bon cru, meme si le designblok 2008, qui tournait autour du quartier de Karlin (Prague 8), etait a mon avis plus interessant, peut etre moins bien organise mais plus spontane, mois commercial.

Quelques bonnes surprises tout de meme, comme les Superstudio Classic 7 (Jankovcova 49) et Superstudio A7 Holešovický pivovar (U Průhonu 13) ou avaient lieu les expositions principales. Ou encore le DOX (Centre d’Art Contemporain, Poupětova 1) ou avait lieu une vente aux encheres d’objets contemporais (voir le site de CohnAuction en Anglais). Et meme le nouveau bar/restaurant/club/scene SaSaZu ou avait lieu la “Design Lover Party” dimanche soir, et ou etaient remis les prix cette annee, qui a su rehabiliter une partie du marche couvert de Prague, par le passe plutot un no-man’s land qu’un lieu maintenant digne d’Ocean Drive a Miami Beach. J’ai beaucoup aime aussi l’exposition temporaire du Musee des Arts decoratifs: “Čerstvé! / Fresh! Design 1999—2009” (Uměleckoprůmyslové museum v Praze u(p)m, 17. listopadu 2, Prague 1).

D’autres moins bonnes surprises aussi, comme cet immeuble au centre de l’ancienne brasserie qui a mon avis n’a pas sa place la. Et des mauvaises surprises, malheureusement, en particulier le projet Prague Marina (Jankovcova 8), qui se voulait etre un port moderne au coeur meme de la ville, mais qui au final n’incorpore en rien les batiments historiques existants (qui d’ailleurs n’ont meme pas ete restaures) et ne sont, au final, que des immeubles sans aucune creativite ou originalite… En comparant cette marina avec d’autres villes par exemple scandinaves, on ne peut etre que tres decu… Decu aussi en voyant certains projets immobiliers qui s’affichent sur plusieurs batiments delabres du quartier et qui au final ne garderont rien du batiment originel – encore des bureaux ou des appartements identiques a tous ces projets qui fleurissent a Prague. Dommage que ces projets soient acceptes comme tels, sans aucun respect des batiments historiques. Dommage aussi que ce qui fait l’originalite de ce quartier, avec ses constructions industrielles particulieres, soit remplace par autre chose, qui fait justement perdre l’attrait du lieu… Je ne suis pas contre la resonstruction elle-meme qui est necessaire, mais contre ce remplacement pur et simple d’un caractere, d’un passe et d’une histoire qui fait (pour l’instant) tout l’attrait et l’originalite de Holesovice.

Pour finir avec les mauvaises surprises: Molo22 (U Průhonu 22), un restaurant branche, un interieur “hype” et moderne, et un service “a la tcheque”… Nous avions deja essaye, mais l’experience de samedi fut tres negative. Un mauvais jour, un serveur fatigue et plutot lent, je peux l’excuser. Des plats qui arrivent froids apres 30 minutes d’attente, ca devient plus problematique. Mais avoir a demander l’addition deux fois au bar et entendre le patron demander au serveur de me demander un pourboire (je ne parle que peu tcheque mais je le comprends) qui, devant moi, s’execute et surligne au marqueur rose fluo la ligne ”service is not included” de l’addition, ca je ne peux l’accepter. J’ai laisse 5 Kc de pourboire et n’y remettrais plus les pieds. Si on veut paraitre 2009, on arrete avec les methodes de 1999.

Pour finir sur une note positive, je recommande vivement l’exposition gratuite A1 architects avec leurs petites maisons utopiques, non pas a Holesovice cette fois-ci mais a la Galerie VŠUP (nám. Jana Palacha 80, Praha 1).

By Jaap Blom

The article Accepting Exceptions - in issue #81 of the magazine DOX – shows the efforts of the EU to alleviate the strict copyright laws for documentary filmmakers by having issued a Green Paper on common legislation for the free movement of knowledge within the European market. The paper is modelled after the Documentary Filmmakers’ Statement of Best Practices in Fair Use, which has been used in the US since 2005 and has been a great help for filmmakers. In the article Video Active and the European Film Gateway are mentioned as being good coalition partners backing up the goals mentioned in EU’s Green Paper; hopefully to become a White Paper in the near future.

De fapt, o chema Dora. Nu stiam asta in momentul in care m-a abordat ca sa-mi ceara o tigara. Pe-atunci fumam mai mult. I-am dat, si am urmarit-o cum se indeparta – cu privirea atintita fix pe silueta ei seducatoare, stransa in costumul de piele. Categoric, imi captase atentia.

Nu-mi venise sa cred cand am vazut-o urcand in saua motocicletei si demarand in viteza. Arata exact ca o amazoana calare pe un armasar negru, naravas. Am ramas – pierdut – privind in urma ei. Eu si ceilalti barbati aflati – intamplator – pe acea parte a trotuarului.

A doua oara cand am intalnit-o n-a mai fost totul asa de pasnic. M-a lovit zdravan, pe trecerea de pietoni. Venea in viteza, nu m-a vazut, nici eu nu m-am asigurat inainte de a traversa… deh, se intampla. Cand m-am ridicat, ma privea incremenita din saua motocicletei. Am recunoscut-o abia cand si-a scos casca. Am renuntat atunci sa ma gandesc la durere. I-am spus ca daca voia alta tigara putea s-o ceara si fara sa dea peste mine. N-a gustat gluma, era prea socata.

A soptit doar un “imi pare foarte, foarte rau” – cateva secunde mai tarziu. Si aproape ca a izbucnit in plans. Un individ de pe margine – dornic de afirmare – m-a intrebat daca e cazul sa cheme politia. Atunci, amazoana s-a inmuiat de tot. Cateva minute mai tarziu, ne-am despartit. Ea – cu teama ca va avea probleme cu politia. Eu – cu numarul ei de telefon in buzunar, scris pe pachetul de tigari. Langa numarul de inmatriculare al motocicletei, ca sa fiu sigur ca nu-mi trage clapa. Inca se temea ca voi merge la politie.

Ne-am intalnit in seara urmatoare. Am ascultat-o – timp de cateva ore – vorbind despre motociclete. Pentru ea, era mai mult decat o pasiune. Era deja o obsesie. Evident, am incercat sa o sarut la despartire. Nu m-a lasat. Mai mult, mi-a spus sa nu-mi fac iluzii ca ea va face vreodata sex cu mine. Am convins-o – cu foarte mari greutati – sa ma invete sa merg pe motocicleta. Si m-a invatat, in cateva zile. Permisul de conducere pentru motocicleta l-am obtinut doua saptamani mai tarziu, prezentandu-ma direct la examen. Din economiile pe care le aveam pentru masina, mi-am cumparat prima motocicleta. Prima, nu pe Cassandra.

Devenisem foarte atasat de ea, insa nu reusisem nici macar sa trec de granita primului sarut. Ma atragea. Mult. Foarte mult. Insa – mereu – pastra distanta. Imi spunea ca ma vede doar ca pe un amic, nimic mai mult.

Incet, am intrat in cercul ei foarte restrans – de prieteni. Atunci i-am aflat si porecla – Dox. De la “paradox”, dupa cum aveam sa aflu mai tarziu.

Am aflat astfel si ca avea probleme mari cu parintii. O vreme, plecase de acasa si dormea la rude. Se ferea insa sa dezvaluie motivul din spatele certurilor. Devenea foarte irascibila daca insistam, asa ca am renuntat sa mai intreb.

In repetate randuri imi spunea ca nu va vedea niciodata in mine mai mult decat un bun prieten – si sa nu ma indragostesc de ea, pentru ca voi avea doar de pierdut. Insa era deja prea tarziu. Devenisem aproape de nedespartit, dar totusi stiam atat de putin despre ea…

M-a rugat intr-o zi sa o insotesc la un salon de tatuaje. A ales acelasi tatuaj pentru amandoi. Asa a aparut aripa neagra de pe umarul meu stang. Obisnuia sa-mi spuna ca cealalta aripa e a ei – si ca nu vom putea zbura decat impreuna. Pe doua roti.

Am facut insa greseala de a-i spune ce simt. A plans. Mult. Atunci – la foarte mult timp dupa ce-o cunoscusem – am aflat ca era lesbiana. Si ca acesta era si motivul pentru care parintii ei o renegau. A adormit, plangand – in bratele mele. Am continuat insa sa tin la ea. Mult. Foarte mult.

Dox a pierdut pariul cu viata intrand intr-un parapet – la un inceput de Septembrie, acum cativa ani. Calare pe cele doua roti la care tinea atat de mult. Cu gandurile vraiste, cu mintea incetosata – dupa un alt scandal monstru facut de parintii ei. Sunt printre foarte putinii care – in mod regulat – ii aseaza un buchet de flori langa cruce.

Desi au trecut ani buni de-atunci, imi amintesc fiecare detaliu. De parca s-ar fi intamplat abia ieri.

Ea e femeia pe care am iubit-o chiar stiind ca n-o pot avea niciodata. Ea e femeia care a nascut in mine pasiunea pentru mersul pe doua roti. Ea e motivul pentru care o prefer pe Cassandra in defavoarea oricarui alt mijloc de transport. Pentru ca ea zboara cu mine. De-acolo, de sus. Avand acum propria pereche de aripi. Albe.

By Tony Bedard (writer), Andy Clarke (artist), Jose Villarubia (colorist)

The Story: The story opens with a Dominator Fleet Admiral doing possibly the most original thing I’ve ever seen to break out of a force field in space. The splash-page outcome is spectacular. Then Khunds move in and we are brought to the Gil’Dishpan world, where Dox is trying to pull stuff back together. Our favorite little tyrant is as popular as ever with everybody he looks to for help. Then Starro’s forces attack.

What’s Good: Dox, as always, my favorite little dictator is in fine form; blustering, manipulating, ordering and plotting so that he gets his way. It’s worth mentioning that Dox really is a creation of both writer and artist. Bedard has the story, but the superb, expressive faces that Dox makes throughout the book add just as much. Furthermore, since the art is so good, Bedard has the flexibility to do less dialogue and exposition.

The Aliens – Dominators are always cool. Bedard has their point of view down pat. The Gil’Dishpan are the same. They speak differently, think differently and surprise you throughout the story. They even have a Reefmarshall. I don’t have a lot of experience with them (I stopped reading Legion long before they were introduced), but the warping powers are great and I love what Bedard, Clarke and Villarubia do with them. The Khunds are also depicted reveling in their idiosynchracies.

As for the art, Clarke and Villarubia deliver outstanding work. The Lunavore, while scientifically implausible, is visually arresting, as is the Dominion fighter chasing it. Another nice touch is Dox’s personal force field. It’s so much more obviously primitive than Brainiac V’s. I really appreciate this sort of retro tip of the hat to continuity. And the cover, including Villarubia’s blending of the colors, is just fantastic.

There’s a writing rule which says you should never put a gun on the mantle-piece in Act One, unless you intend to fire it in Act Three. When the Durlan faces off against a dominator on the Gil’Dishpan world, she says, “I wouldn’t fire a blaster in a methane ocean, Admiral.” Let’s just say that Bedard doesn’t disappoint in Act Three, so his plotting is up to snuff.

What’s Not So Good: There’s almost no point in having this section here for me when I’m reviewing R.E.B.E.L.S., but if pressed, I will say that Wildstar as a character leaves me cold. I don’t find her slightest bit compelling. However, there are so many other good characters, that maybe this is intentional. If pressed further, I would argue that you can’t ignite a methane planet. If oxygen (which is required to combust methane) were already in the atmosphere, it would be slowly reacting anyway with the methane to produce carbon dioxide and water, both of which are very stable.

Conclusion: Month after month, R.E.B.E.L.S. delivers. This book is no exception. Go buy it.

Grade: A-

-DS Arsenault

So, more personal information about the meatpuppet?  Ask, and you shall receieve.

Of course, a number of these pics are blotted out, the only ones that aren’t are the ones that reveal information that’s already fairly public info.  But, in each of these pics, the information decribed is exactly what’s on the page meatpuppet is holding.  All 100% accurate.  For obvious reasons we cannot make ALL of this info completely public, but perhaps some private sharing of the uncut versions of these pics could be arranged with some of the more loyal fans…

Let’s make it interesting.  Two of the pics there, the ones without any dox or labeling, are just begging to be macroed.  Whoever comes up with the most degrading/funniest/best caption gets their captioned pic posted here, as well as the full uncut set of meatpuppet’s dox pics.  Sound interesting?  Then get those imaginations cranking!!