Earlier this week I rewatched Three Colours: Blue, one of my all time favourite films. It’s an incredibly beautiful film that deals with loss and an attempt to find freedom from pain. Julie’s attempt to free herself from pain involved trying to remove herself from any reminder of her past and any connection with others. The film is a striking testament to the human need for friendships and the healing compassion can provide. If I could recommend only one film to you, this would be it.

Baghdad Burning is a refreshing blog written by a young Iraqi woman that bears the tag line “Girl Blog from Iraq… let’s talk war, politics and occupation.” From the heart of the conflict she provides insight into life in Baghdad without the false belief that American forces, the interm government or Iraqi insurgents are truly benefitting Iraqis. The very real look into an occupied nation is facinating and truly moving. In March a book compiled from her entries will be published by New York’s Feminist Press, titled Baghdad Burning.

I’m very much looking forward to reading this collection when it arrives in under two months. We can only hope that her voice will be heard by more and more of those still ambivalent about the plight of the Iraqi people. We’re lucky to have insight from writers such as her that can avoid the trap of propaganda as much as possible through direct witnessing.

I’ve been drinking gingerbread flavoured tea tonight and have become quite addicted to it. Part of the appeal may be the nostalgia factor. I have fond memories from my childhood eating gingerbread at my grandmother’s home and recall gingerbread desserts at lunch during my elementary school years. Whatever the cause, it tastes wonderful.

A couple weeks before Christmas my parents asked me to order some books for myself online as a present and I did so, finding three books I really wanted that could be shipped right away and arrive around Christmas. A few weeks passed and I e-mailed the company I had purchased the books from in order to check on my order. Soon a reply informed me that they had made an error in listing two of the items as in stock, hadn’t bothered to inform me of this and had sent one of the books already. That week a package arrived for me that held all three books I ordered. Today another package arrived that contained additional copies of two of the books (with a value of nearly $50). It is important to keep a well documented inventory.

It’s been a while since I shared a photo of myself here outside of the photo album, so I’ll include a few shots here for in case you don’t yet know what I look like. The real reason I want to share them is to display my new favourite shirt, one from Stars, my favourite band. Wearing it, I feel like a true soft revolutionary. The shirt itself is soft, made from a very breathable cotton. It can be surprising how influential one’s clothing can be.

My friend Jeff hosts a college radio show at KUTE, the University of Utah station. If you’re looking for something to listen to between 9:00 AM PST and 12:30 PM PST on Fridays, be sure to listen to the webstream the station provides. Jeff has excellent taste in music and plays nothing but great alternative tunes. Tomorrow he’ll be interviewing Aimee Echo of theSTART and playing a Poe block.

Jeff pointed me toward a group called Universal Hall Pass this week and I’ve been greatly impressed by what I have heard so far. They sound a bit like Esthero and Poe touched with Middle Eastern modes, but are definitely a fresh new entity. Of note is their cover of Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire”, which they have made haunting, divergent and a great tribute. You can download this song and others at Universal Hall Pass‘ website.

I’m sure most of you folks have heard of the free ipod, free *whatever* offers that have been available in the U.S. for some time now. Now there’s one open to both Canadians and Americans. If you’d like to give it a try, I’d appreciate it if you use my referral link. The offer is legit, for the record.

I’d like to share drawings done by my longtime friend April and a new friend Heather. I always find it facinating to learn how others perceive me, and this is one concrete way of seeing that.

Dinty W. Moore‘s The Accidental Buddhist: Mindfulness, Meditation, and Sitting Still is an uncommonly genuine and honest account of an American trying to understand Buddhism and its place in America. Dinty presents his journey to become a Buddhist and his quest to see how the religion can fit within resistant America from the view of an everyman, a former Christian much like anyone you’ll find living in your own community. His language is as refreshingly free of pretense, providing a very accessable look at Buddhism.
The Accidental Buddhist follows Dinty as he meets with individuals and groups following the main Buddhist schools and also with more unconventional and western practitioners of Buddhism. The exploration is a very human and sceptical one and this will benefit many people who wish to learn about Buddhism, because so many of us hold scepticism about religion. Dinty does an excellent job of exploring these doubts and looking at many aspects of the people, practices and beliefs that the various forms of Buddhism hold.
The book is a delight to read as it is full of a perfect blend of humour and learning. I’ve been reading about Buddhism for many months now and I haven’t found a better book for a beginning Buddhist or someone curious about the religion. I must encourage you to take the time to find and read this book. There’s so much all of us can learn from this spiritual path and The Accidental Buddhist is an excellent starting point.

Through the fog there’s always the lighthouse’s beacon. Beyond the blizzard a hearth ever waits, aglow with the fires of friendship and home. For a grasping mind there is the bliss of learning to let go.
I’m feeling the fogginess I mentioned yesterday lifting gradually and am finding myself thinking with something approaching clarity. I finally gave in to the fog, enjoyed the momentary standstill and watched it lift. I enjoyed some time not willfully doing anything and now feel my clockworks poised to turn.

I discovered an amusing photo blog, Stand By Your Statue. It documents the travels of John and some of his friends as they stand by statues and imitate their poses. There are, at the very least, a few chuckes in store there.

You may recall that last month Bush visited Canada, specifically here in Halifax. If you’ve read my journal you may also recall that I was involved in the protest of Bush, his policy and his visit. One focus of our protest was opposition to his proposed Ballistic Missle Defence program, an inititive which has been shown to be ineffective, is incredibly costly, will not truly protect us and which has already prompted an increase in international tension and arms production.
Today word has leaked that Bush used his visit in an attempt to bully, threaten and force Canada into the BMD program.

How can Canadians be expected to support BMD after this thinly veiled threat that the U.S. would not help us in the future if we do not join up? Why would we want to sink our resources in an untested, unproved and never-to-be-ready system? Does Bush truly believe the Canadian people are so gullable as to take the word of a few agenda-driven politicians that this system will protect us when all evidence shows otherwise?

For the past few days my mind has been foggy. I’ve been unable to hold the things I’ve been feeling I need to focus on. Perhaps it’s winter that’s stirring up the fog, which may be just so much blowing snow. There’s another blizzard coming in a couple hours, and it couldn’t be better timed.

I’ve been thinking on the need for community on the internet, a more sincere and connected web rather than just a link here and there. That’s one aspect that stand-alone blogs and journals lack, the interconnectedness of community. Sites such as Live Journal, for all their limitations, do have ample community. Does anyone have any ideas for implementing a greater sense of community among disparate sites? One way I would like to begin is to start including links to those who read my journal on a links page so that I and other visitors can easily see who might be commenting or silently hanging on every word (if I want to feign conceit). If you read here often and would like to have your own site linked to, please let me know.

This past week I watched Intermission, a film set in Dublin that follows the lives of an odd cast of characters as their lives intersect through love, lust, greed and anger. It was enjoyable and comical, well paced and full of surprising connections and interactions. The highlight for me was Colm Meaney‘s Jerry Lynch, a police officer who was distinctly of the old guard, a “true Celtic” as he’d want to be known, a character that gave the film a distinct flavour and contributed to the comedy immensely.

One of my favourite publications and websites is Found Magazine, a home to found items, “love letters, birthday cards, kids’ homework, to-do lists, ticket stubs, poetry on napkins, telephone bills, doodles- anything that gives a glimpse into someone else’s life.” In essence, it’s a wonderful look into the lives of others through what they have lost, discarded and forgotten. Each time I look at the new collections of found things I’m moved to tears, smiles, head shakes and chuckles, filled with aspects of life.

My favourite find of all time is titled “i love.” The description adds a good deal to the item, but I find it immensely profound on its own. Is there any better mantra, motto or notion to live by than “I love”? If only each of us could take that scrawl to heart and simply love, with no single object or person needed.

The tsunami that hit Asia last month caused a tremendous amount of damage and change in the countries in its path. Some of the overlooked aspects are the psycholgical damage caused by such a tragedy and the cultural responses to the event. One facinating symptom of both is a large number of reports of encounters with ghosts.
In Thailand and other nations there has been surge of ghosts bringing fright and bewilderment to people living there. Experts believe that the ghost sightings are an expression of the trauma felt by so many in these countries that has adopted the motifs of the deeply spiritual cultures of the region.

I find this story especially interesting because it is very much like common ghost stories we have here in North America. Who here hasn’t heard a ghost story of disappearing passengers? I wonder what causes such similarities of stories, whether natural archetypes or outside cultural influence.
For further reading here are some articles.
“Thais Pray [] to Put Wandering Spirits at Rest”
“Tsunami Ghosts Cause Terror”
“Fear of Ghosts Torments Asian Tsunami Survivors”
“Tsunami Survivors Live in Fear of Ghosts“

Recently it came to light that complaints have been launched against the opening ceremonies of the 2004 Olympic summer games, held in Greece, to the American Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Male and female nudity and a mild simulated scene of lovemaking were the main targets of the filings. It seems that some people could not understand the beauty and benign displays of the Greek heritage from which the games originated. Rightfully, Gianna Angelopoulos, head of the olympic committee, warned the FCC not to pursue punishment for the displays.

I find it increasingly troubling that a nation that once held freedom high is now crippled with authoritarian, repressive thought and governance. Terror takes many forms, and it’s so sad that America is intent on cultivating a hatred and fear of beauty, of the human body, of breasts and genitalia.

Last June I watched what would become one of my favourite films of all time, Three Colours: Blue (Trois Couleurs: Bleu). This week I’ve watched the second movie in the Three Colours trilogy, Three Colours: White (Trois Couleurs: Blanc) and it has, not surprisingly, become another of my favourites.
The Three Colours trilogy is Krzysztof Kieslowski’s look at the three colours of the French flag, blue, white and red and the respective themes they represent, liberty, equality and fraternity. Though linked in many ways, they films are separate narratives, each with a distinct personality and direction. As the director’s final and, arguably, greatest work, they stand as three of the most influential and artistically important films of the 1990′s.
White is a black comedy and a love story, though not typical of either genre. The plot follows a Polish man, Karol Karol, through a divorce caused by an impotence he developed in France, through his flawed, eye-for-an-eye plans to gain a sense of revenge, and thus equality, with his ex-wife, who he still loves and who, evidently, still loves him. The film looks also at Europe in the recovery from the cold war, the transition from communism to capitalism (and the inequality of both) and human nature in general. The story holds subtle sense of humour and protrays a love gnarled with hurt, two aspects of the storytelling that make this film so facinating and truly unique.
Kieslowski’s attention to detail and deployment of symbolism is second to none. This film is filled with rich and vital symbolism that engaged me emotionally and intellectually in a way most films can not manage to. There were so many layers that even with multiple viewings I’m still discovering new aspects to appreciate.
The Three Colours trilogy has taken its place among the classics of cinema and for good reason. White is a strong film in its own right and when placed in context is even more meaningful and enjoyable to watch. This film’s going on my list of movies to recommend to everyone.

A blizzard has begun to fall on this city. At the moment there is a curtain of flurries falling but by tomorrow we may have as much as half a meter (1.5 feet for those of you still using outdated measurement systems). I’m both looking forward to the beauty of the blanket of snow and dreading moving through it.

Have you ever come across a phrase or word for which you could find no definition in a standard dictionary? I believe most of us have. Pseudodictionary.com is a web-based collection of slang, webspeak, colloquialisms and other uncommon expressions you may wish to learn the meaning of. It’s fun just to take a few minutes to browse through it even if you don’t have any words you’re itching to know about. Another interesting dictionary of sorts is Clich?Site.com, a website that has collected hundreds of clich?s and is sure to be a good guide for phrases to aviod in your writing and to overuse if you’re looking to annoy people or make them laugh. I’m fond of the Clich? of the Day, “She’s a peach.”

XFN is a very useful and inventive tool that I believe many journal keepers and bloggers will find useful and entertaining. “XFN (XHTML Friends Network) is a simple way to represent human relationships using hyperlinks. In recent years, blogs and blogrolls have become the fastest growing area of the Web. XFN enables web authors to indicate their relationship(s) to the people in their blogrolls simply by adding a ‘rel’ attribute to their [link] tags.” For instance, if I am linking to my friend Mark’s personal website, I will from now on include rel=”friend met” in the link tag, indicating that Mark is my friend and that I have met him (e.g. Mark Christian’s Shiny Plastic Bag). You can format the links using CSS2 and have them look different depending on the type of friendship you share with the person you are linking to (e.g. perhaps a heart image would come before the link to someone you are dating). I’d like to see something like this adopted widely because it’s a great way to explore relationship networks online and has a lot of potential to make websites interact in new ways. Please take a look at XFN, at least.

Have you been looking for new music or other audio to listen to on your computer or portable music player? CKDU, Halifax’s university radio station, recently launched a great new feature, Recent Sounds of CKDU. It’s an archive of all the station’s programming for the previous two weeks. You can download blocks of the station’s broadcasts or listen to a stream. The MP3 download is perfect for putting on your portable music player. CKDU broadcasts a very wide range of content, from hip hip to post-rock to world music. You can take a look at the schedule to find something you’ll enjoy.

One of my favourites on the CKDU schedule is Radio Free Polygon. an electronic music show that features some great tracks that you’d likely never hear on commercial radio. The show is associated with The Polygon Network, “an open collective of electronic musicians from Atlantic Canada,” that runs a net label where you can download full albums for free.

Another great source of music is Scissor Kick, a blog that shares promotional music and information about bands and artists currently under the radar. It focuses more on rock than does R.F.P. and has one bit on my favourite band, Stars.

Before returning here to close this entry I did one of my rounds. This hotel is in the midst of a great swirl of snow, snow that covers my boots when I walk through it and clings to them. More is falling at a rapid pace, tumbling with a speed more like that of rain than the snowflakes I’ve become used to. The lake is covered in a white layer, the ice of its surface hidden and unable to reflect the lights on its far shore, the lights that always fill me with a sense of beauty when I take the time to connect them. The snow, however, provides a wonder of its own, altering everything within sight with a striking monochrome.

I’d like to take up a few words and let you know about some music I’ve discovered in the past month.

Emilie Autumn is an accomplished vocalist and violinist who has produced a haunting album of atmospheric “fantasy-rock” (as the her official bio deems it), Enchant. You can download the album in full at her website here.

The Hampdens is a band hailing from Australia that makes brilliant indie-pop-rock. The band has a distinct sound, a mix of electronica, accoustic pop and R&B. This is a band to watch. Their unique style and such high quality initial offerings indicate greatness. Plus they don’t take themselves seriously, as their fantastic bio will show you.

From my local library I borrowed Katie McMahon‘s debut album, After The Morning. She was a singer with the original Riverdance and, as might be expected in her own work, created a brilliant collection of Irish folk music flavoured with world music.