How am I supposed to get any riding done?
A little Bob Dylan (All the Tired Horses).
Gets me everytime
Here come the tears. Yeah, that’s right, it makes me cry. The power of dance is a beautiful thing.
Infidel
Infidel – Ayaan Hirsi Ali
The author sums up the book in the last chapter:
“I moved from the world of faith to the world of reason–from the world of excision and forced marriage to the world of sexual emancipation. Having made that journey, I know that one of those worlds is simply better than the other. Not because of its flashy gadgets, but fundamentally because of its values.
The message of this book, if there must be a message, is that we in the West would be wrong to prolong the pain of the transition unnecessarily, by elevating cultures full of bigotry and hatred toward women to the stature of respectable alternative ways of life.”
I remember the genital mutilation from the first 1/3 of this book. Reading about it was pretty terrifying and is revisited multiple times. The book talks about the struggles of being an immigrant, of being a Muslim in Holland and of opening your mind to other ways of life. It’s also about making an informed decision on how to live your life, what you choose to believe and the struggles (and freedom) that come with that. The second half of the book gets pretty intense!
Ayaan Hirsi Ali becomes a politician and an activist and her books makes you think about the treatment of women around the world. It does this by sharing a first-hand perspective of what it’s like to be subjected to or witness this treatment. She asks provocative questions and makes you think. It’s a recommended read.
You just met somebody new
Love this! I appreciate the realness of this dancing. It’s the way you dance when your home alone (and having a truly awesome time).
Call your girlfriend – Robyn
Hitch 22
Hitch 22 – Christopher Hitchens
I picked this book up from the public library and was rather excited when I discovered that there was a LARGE PRINT edition. I jumped at the chance to reduce eye strain!
The LARGE PRINT edition was over 700 pages and, frankly, after reading two chapters, the thought of reading all 700 something pages no longer appealed to me. I think that the ridiculous size of the book was a little overwhelming and psyched me out (it was too big to carry around!). Needless to say, I never finished it. It is a big read in more ways than one (i.e. language, style and content). Hitchens was no doubt a very intelligent man, and could write sentences like song versus (eloquent and beautiful and stylish), but sometimes reading that can be exhausting. I think that I may try it again one day, but for now, I’m moving on to something a more enjoyable for subway rides and sleepy before bed reading.
Funny Face
Most people think of this dance number when they think of the movie Funny Face (starring Audrey Hepburn, Fred Astaire and Kay Thompson).
As far as I’m concerned, the best dance sequence in the movie happens when Fred Astaire and Kay Thompson lay down the Tallahassee number (see below). I used to clear out the living room furniture and lay down some serious dance moves of my own to this song back in my teen years.
She and Him
A fun little ditty. Oh, how I wish I was In The Sun this week.
Cold Hard Truth
Cold Hard Truth: On Business, Money & Life – Kevin O’Leary
My grandfather recommended this book. Like me, he’s a big reader and we often share book recommendations. Unfortunately, I don’t think that either of us has ever finished a book that the other has recommended (until now). Several years ago I recommended Dark Age Ahead by Jane Jacobs, he read two chapters, handed it back to me, and now lovingly calls me a socialist at family functions. We have mostly accepted and embraced the fact that we don’t have the same taste in books (or politics). Regardless, he is one of my favorite people to talk to; he grew up on the mean streets of Toronto and has some pretty awesome stories.
Turns out that Cold Hard Truth is a pretty good book. It’s starts off with this money, money, money thing, quickly stops being annoying and turns into a speedy autobiography combined with very high level business advice. I found it particularly interesting because I live with an entrepreneur and the similarities were comical at times. Entrepreneurs are intense, ambitious and where most play it safe, they go “all in”. I’d say that it’s a pretty unique quality, and one that makes for a pretty eventful life.
Happy 2012…
…or as my brother would say, “Generic New Years Post!”
On the first day of 2012 I thought that I would take a minute to remember my favorite album of 2011 – Helplessness Blues by Fleet Foxes. The album helped to make my morning commute bearable and provided both a powerful soundtrack to stroll to and a beautiful soundtrack to write to.
I had the pleasure of seeing this band live at Massey Hall this past summer and it was magical (not to mention Massey Hall is an amazing venue). The harmonies, the instruments, the lyrics, it’s all great and mushes together into a truly delightful experience. It also full of the surprises that one expects from alternative folky rock (or at least I do).
Here’s to new music in 2012!
A couple of my favorites, although the whole album deserves a listen. Enjoy!
This video is from one of the older albums (Fleet Foxes, released in 2008):
Rabbit Proof Fence
Rabbit Proof Fence – Doris Pilkington
I came across this book in a used bookstore and bought it because I was interested in reading an Australian book. I’d first heard of the story many years ago when I saw the movie, or at least part of the movie.
It’s the true story of 3 aboriginal (“half-caste”) girls who are taken from their family in area of Western Australia called Jigalong and brought to a native settlement near Perth called the Moore River Native Settlement – this one done with the intention of ‘assimilating black aboriginal and children of mixed marriages’. The girls then escape from the settlement almost immediately after arriving (this follows a brief description of horrible a place it is) and begin a long trek home to Jigalong. The girls are led by the eldest Molly (14 years old), a strong and intelligent leader who helps them evade capture for the entire length of their trip. The journey takes them almost 2 months and the girls finally make it home.
There are not a lot of details about what went on throughout the journey or how the girls felt; the book is very short. It was written by one of the girls daughters (Doris Pilkington), so it’s not a first hand account per se (this is likely why it’s missing the finer details). Doris’ mother and aunt (Molly and Daisy) provide the details of the story, with some historical information added in by the author (i.e. official communications from “The Protector of Aboriginals”). It’s basically a step by step account of the events that led up to the journey and then the journey itself. No doubt that the journey was amazing (truly amazing), the book however, is just alright.
This picture outlines the paths taken:
