Astor Piazzolla - Veulvo al sur

Some musical discoveries:

• Lhasa
• Gotan Project
• Dead Can Dance (not new, but new favorite)
  

recommended reading

• The Alex Studies: Cognitive and Communicative Abilities of Grey Parrots Maxine Pepperberg. A collection of papers by the pioneer of cognitive ornithology, describing (in depth and with exceptional scientific rigor) the cognitive abilities of gray parrots. The methodology used is almost as interesting as the findings.
  
• The White Masai Corinne Hofmann. Even after reading the book I do not understand what it was about her Masai that induced her to leave behind everything she knew. Given the few insights available of this hard culture, the glimpses in this book are hard won. Not to mention the descriptions of general logistical problems that commonly arise all over Africa (and probably many other third world countries).
• The Places In Between Rory Stewart. This man must be crazy, but that's probably what got him through the Afghan winter in a precarious time...
• Behind the Wall: A Journey Through China Colin Thubron. Still savoring this one, and reading slowly. At once poetic, and without attempts to sugarcoat, this travel writer made sure to understand both the language and history before setting out to understand the people. An amazing travel story.

Trois couleurs: Rouge

The Judge: Deciding what is true/right and what isn't now seems to me...a lack of modesty.
Valentine: Vanity?
The Judge: Vanity.

Valentine: You're not afraid?
The Judge: I wonder what I'd do in their place. The same thing.
Valentine: You'd throw stones?
The Judge: In their place? Of course. And that goes for everyone I judged. Given their lives, I would steal, I'd kill, I'd lie. Of course I would. All that because I wasn't in their shoes, but mine.

More quotes...

Pictures

I now know why there are so few pictures in books and articles:
There is a space quota, and images are sometimes heavily penalized.

A picture cannot just look good anymore, but must really convey the space of the hundred words it obstructs...

My cup runeth over

when the number of coffees match the number of hours
one meeting catches the tail of the next
and the words just flow into the middle of the tables
which is better, research or teaching, or both?

Boundaries

This New Year is full of new resolutions, from having a proper lunch at least once each working week, to personal growth, to 20 full push-ups.

Why? Because there's no point in stopping growing now is there!