Bindu's Repose

Bowling For Columbine

After seeing Bowling For Columbine, I feel violated! Not by the movie itself, but by the parts of our society (USA) that are brought into laser focus in the film. I feel outraged! Mr. Moore must have intended this response... well done!

While watching the film, I became aware of many analogs between the movies structure and critical writing techniques. I had a sense of the movie being a very carefully crafted argument that backs up a single strong thesis: the violence in this society can be completely explained by the institutionalized fear we are bombarded with. This single mindedness leaves me with some mistrust. I feel persuaded by the argument, and yet I’m left wondering if this "single bullet" theory isn't too simple.

Mr. Moore attempts to rebuke the idea that our problems come from a history of violence. He does this by pointing to other countries with histories that are even more violent than our own. He proposes that these countries are much less afflicted today (Germany and England for example.) I'm left with questions about the spiral nature of violence. How violence breeds violence and also how these cycles can be broken. I feel hope that there is a way to break the cycles (using England and Germany as examples) and some fear that the violence in these countries is just in a more dormant state at the moment.

Mr. Moore has provided a very substantial context for discussion about violence in our society, but he has not offered a vision about how we can stop the insanity. Once we understand the causes of violence, how do we break the cycles? Who will come up with solutions that we can work with? How will these solutions be implemented? Is there a way to break these cycles in a democracy that is governed by fear? Not many answer from me either, just more questions.

Does anyone have a good sense of the difference between the meanings of the words society and culture? I would be grateful for clarification. (The definitions appear to be recursive in my dictionary.)

L.S. Asekoff

My horoscope for this weeks says I'm supposed to put the following poem by L.S. Asekoff in my journal. Since this is the closest thing I have to a journal, and I like the poem, here it is:

Technomad

My intentions with this trip revolve around three key things: self-discovery, tea and technology. Obviously there is also a good dose of wanting to see the world and it’s inhabitants in the astonishing diversity that exists.

I believe that Steven Roberts came up with the term Technomad to describe his wandering life at the controls of a net connected bicycle. In January of '97, I heard Steven talk about his Winnebiko and the beginnings of the Microship project at an annual sales meeting for Aspect Telecommunications.

My fantasy about traveling around the world started way before that. Early on I was going to do the whole trip on a motorcycle. Now, just the thought of that much time on a bike makes my butt hurt! Lugging 20lbs of electronics (in addition to all the other necessities that made it into my pack) around with me seems to pail in comparison to trying to figure out how to get a motorcycle out of China and into Japan for example... And yet I still feel some trepidation about lugging that much gear (Laptop, PDA, GPS, Digital Camera) all the way around the world.

I was looking through an old friend’s website when I came across a technomad reference and realized that I had rediscovered a cultural paradigm that begins to describe this crazy obsession with lugging around gear.

As I read through Steven’s site I noticed one really interesting quote:

So there you have it. I’m heading off on a technomad trip. I wonder if I’ll pack up all my gear and ship it back home or if I will be able to sustain my sense of glee…

Harry Potter

Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Overacting. But seriously… The Chamber of Secrets is my least favorite of the 4 books so far. Given that, I think they did an awesome job! In spite of Ron Weasly’s overacting, Hermione Granger and Moaning Mertle were great as was Harry! Hermione really got under my skin in the first film so this was a significant improvement. The CG was MUCH better than in the first film. Dobbie and the Basalisk looked very realistic and the Quidditch match has this whole bludger chase scene that totally reminded me of the attack on the Death Star in Star Wars. The plot was significantly modified compared with the first film. In general, I think this was a good thing, however there were still a few awkward transitions. I give Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets a B+.

Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse

One of my favorite haunts in Boulder is the Dushanbe Teahouse. Part of my weakly ritual is to head over there on Saturday mornings and enjoy a leisurely breakfast and a pot or two of tea.

Sometimes I read or talk with other customers I really like looking at the painted ceilings too. But what I seem to like most of all is sitting at the tea bar and chatting with the bartenders and waitstaff. What a cool bunch of folks!

I took some pictures when I was there yesterday, but they didn’t come out very well. Here's the best one of a bad bunch:

Photos From Albuquerque Trip

Click on any of the following thumbnails for larger pictures: