http://home.uchicago.edu/~srasul/blog/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss en shaz@uchicago.edu Shaz Rasul Tue, 22 Aug 2006 23:52:06 -0500 Tue, 22 Aug 2006 23:49:41 -0500 iBlog 1.4.6 Shaz Rasul Murmurings to the Masses, Volume II Murmurings to the Masses, Volume II Shaz Rasul shaz@uchicago.edu Murmurings to the Masses, Volume II Arts & Entertainment http://home.uchicago.edu/~srasul/blog/C1117916253/E20060822234941/index.html I'd imagined not inviting you to my new new internet home until it was fully furnished and I was entirely unpacked. Of course, art imitates life, and so that means you'll be traipsing around the new place while there is a sense of disarray, furniture reassembly, and boxes all over the place.

(Um, there's a new home for this weblogging enthusiasm of mine: here) ]]> Tue, 22 Aug 2006 23:49:41 -0500 http://home.uchicago.edu/~srasul/blog/C1117916253/E20060822234941/index.html http://home.uchicago.edu/~srasul/blog/C1117916253/E20060816075220/index.html I caught "The Twelve Disciples of Nelson Mandela" at the Black Harvest Film Festival last week.

It'll be on PBS in September.

A good film for anyone with an interest in contemporary South African history.

If you're not keen on SA History, aspects of the filmmaking might annoy you. The movie is at once a exposition about the Bloemfontein 12 and their journey into exile for the ANC, and a step-son's eulogy for his stepfather (one of the Bloemfontein 12). In delivering this eulogy, the film begins to become an autobiography of the filmmaker, which is minorly distracting (but certainly annoyed many of the reviewers).

I was able to meet the filmmaker at the screening. ]]> Tue, 15 Aug 2006 07:52:20 -0500 http://home.uchicago.edu/~srasul/blog/C1117916253/E20060816075220/index.html http://home.uchicago.edu/~srasul/blog/C1117916253/E20060814195827/index.html I finally watched Syriana on Saturday night. I've had it out from netflix for at least a month.

I liked what Syriana stood for. It captured the essence of the contemporary clusterfuck that results from the competing interests and flawed characters/entities attached to the modern middle east. When Clooney can't give simple answers to seemingly straight-forward questions, without the preface "it's complicated, but...", I feel like the essence of the situation is somehow captured.

Now, this essence might have been captured to a fault, as the movie might have been rendered unwatchable because of the slippery characters, the uncertainty of the heroes and villains, and general spastic nature of the narrative, but (again) I think this is as evocative a reification of the situation as you'll see in film.

I liked the flawed characters that are the underpinnings of generally understood entities/concepts like "reformer", "terrorist", "soldier", "government official", "lawyer", "businessman", "economist", "man of faith", etcetera.

I tend not to watch films about that region of the world (or this nexus of issues) because the gross oversimplifications that you can somehow let slide in everyday speech can't be ignored on the big screen. That said, Syriana didn't bother me in the end, because, well, it was complicated. ]]> Mon, 14 Aug 2006 19:58:27 -0500 http://home.uchicago.edu/~srasul/blog/C1117916253/E20060814195827/index.html http://home.uchicago.edu/~srasul/blog/C1117916253/E20060814192358/index.html In the spirit of repurposing, here are excerpts from emails that I have sent today. Most of it is nonsense.
---

Let me congratulate you on getting out of california.

It's fascinating work that you do.  I hope you realize that.

would it be possible to go back to the burrito place that features "the triple-threat"?  I've been thinking about that burrito for over a year now.

I should add, if you think that I hold a grudge then that guy's a real piece of work.

this has got too much of an absurdist quality for me to be able to take today.
i'm sure i'll be back to blithely accepting the absurd soon enough

we encouraged some people to apply and sent some suggestions to [...] before they made this process public

I'll warn [...] about the pitfalls of this sort of thing today on the phone or in person tomorrow, but brace yourself for them signing on as test site for the new product.

I hope that things have been going better for you lately.

We were encouraged to post the job long before we were anywhere near ready to start the interview process.  I understand that this may mean some of you have taken other opportunities

It's a bit of a maze to actually find us.

I'm willing to take those two steps, but I'm not willing to spend any more of our resources on [...]until october.

are you back from your expedition yet?

The thing I should tell you is that the peace corps is a transformative experience, so I'd caution against programming/predicting too far ahead into the post-peace corps life.

After all your priorities might be rethought as a result of your experience and you should leave some flexibility in your future planning to allow the experience to effect you. ]]> Mon, 14 Aug 2006 19:23:58 -0500 http://home.uchicago.edu/~srasul/blog/C1117916253/E20060814192358/index.html http://home.uchicago.edu/~srasul/blog/C1117916253/E20060812231610/index.html I believe the window to write about my 4 days off sandwiched around lollapalooza has passed. Suffice it to say that I took 4 days off, and mostly managed to keep TS (who was in town for lollapalooza) sufficiently entertained with a music-themed tour of chicago. I had myself a break of sorts from the normal routine, but it was just a different kind of busy in chicago, which leaves me still needing a series of do-nothing days.

I should publicly thank flavorpill for my free tickets to lollapalooza. I answered a trivia question correctly in their weekly chicago newsletter. Besides the opportunity to win free things, they tend to recommend an interesting batch of events and happenings in the home city. I look forward to reading their recommendations every tuesday. You should subscribe to their weekly chicago email newsletter (hint, hint). ]]> Sat, 12 Aug 2006 23:16:10 -0500 http://home.uchicago.edu/~srasul/blog/C1117916253/E20060812231610/index.html http://home.uchicago.edu/~srasul/blog/C1117916253/E20060807111024/index.html On the last day of Lollapalooza:

Mucca Pazza
Sparta
Nickel Creek
Hot Chip
Andrew Bird
Matisyahu
Reverend Horton Heat
Wilco
Broken Social Scene
Red Hot Chili Peppers

The "plus" category: Mucca Pazza, Sparta, Andrew Bird, Matisyahu, Wilco

Best Acts of the Day: Wilco and Andrew Bird

Other things: The worst thing about concerts has always been concert-goers. There's a startling lack of concert etiquette in general in our contemporary society, and "easy" music festivals like lollapalooza seem to exacerbate them. Beyond that, it was a fun time. I enjoyed the variety of the lineup and the ability of different people to construct different experiences for themselves. That's freedom. ]]> Mon, 07 Aug 2006 11:10:24 -0500 http://home.uchicago.edu/~srasul/blog/C1117916253/E20060807111024/index.html http://home.uchicago.edu/~srasul/blog/C1117916253/E20060806030401/index.html Today I saw:

Rainier Maria
Cold War Kids
The Go! Team
Coheed & Cambria
Particle
Gnarls Barkley
Blackalicious
The Flaming Lips
Kanye West

Bands that were in the "plus" category: Rainier Maria, The Go! Team, Coheed & Cambria, Gnarls Barkley, Blackalicious, The Flaming Lips, Kanye West.

Best act of the day (tie): The Flaming Lips and Gnarls Barkley. The Lips played a greatest hits type of set in a short time without compromising any of their flair for the dramatic. Gnarls Barkley had tremendous stage presence.

Self-Realization: While I'm not too old for any of the music, I am well past the point where I have much patience for crowd antics. The crowd surfing at Coheed and Cambria was particularly galling.

Other things: Kanye suffered through some sound issues during the first 1/4 of his set. Not good. Blackalicious drew a great crowd, which is bodes well for them.

Next up the final day. ]]> Sun, 06 Aug 2006 03:04:01 -0500 http://home.uchicago.edu/~srasul/blog/C1117916253/E20060806030401/index.html http://home.uchicago.edu/~srasul/blog/C1117916253/E20060805002853/index.html Great Start to Lollapalooza 2006. Here's who I saw on Friday:

deadBoy & the Elephantmen
The Subways
The M's
Editors
Mute Math
Ryan Adams
Iron & Wine
The Raconteurs
Sleater-Kinney
Death Cab for Cutie

The groups that were in the "plus" category: The Subways, The M's, Iron & Wine, The Raconteurs, Sleater-Kinney. Iron & Wine is here mostly because they handled the venue better than I thought they would. The Subways played much "bigger" than their album. Chicago's own "the M's" were a new find for me. Sleater-Kinney played fantastic and really set a high bar for women who rock. The Raconteurs were the best act of day one. Besides playing their album fantastically, they (jack white) did a cover of "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley that was the individual highlight of the day.

The bands that were in the "eh" category": deadboy & Elephantmen, Editors, Mute Math, Death Cab for Cutie. The Editors could be in the "plus" category, as they had a great stage show, but I just couldn't see myself buying a CD of theirs.

The only "minus" act I saw today was Ryan Adams. This is unfortunate because his last three solo albums have been good, and his songwriting is of a high calibre. It's just that he has a careless jerk persona that he brings to the stage which really takes away from his ability to take his singing seriously. He even referenced it today, "you're just waiting for the meltdown" before launching into a long several minute digression about "eggs".

Am looking forward to Day 2. ]]> Sat, 05 Aug 2006 00:28:53 -0500 http://home.uchicago.edu/~srasul/blog/C1117916253/E20060805002853/index.html http://home.uchicago.edu/~srasul/blog/C1117916253/E20060729221905/index.html I was tremendously saddened to learn that Mark Gordon and his wife were killed in a fire.

My first job out of college was working for Gordon's law firm, and not only had Mark personally given me a chance but he also created a new position for me. I've been disappointed with myself for not doing a better job of reconnecting with those former co-workers of mine after I returned from the Peace Corps, and this only exacerbates that feeling.

I can only offer my condolences to the Gordon's family and all their friends. ]]> Sat, 29 Jul 2006 22:19:05 -0500 http://home.uchicago.edu/~srasul/blog/C1117916253/E20060729221905/index.html http://home.uchicago.edu/~srasul/blog/C1117916253/E20060727195201/index.html DGY and I were interviewed by Catalyst Chicago today about Technology in the Public Schools. ]]> Thu, 27 Jul 2006 19:52:01 -0500 http://home.uchicago.edu/~srasul/blog/C1117916253/E20060727195201/index.html http://home.uchicago.edu/~srasul/blog/C1117916253/E20060726082652/index.html I read movie-critic Richard Roeper's book, "Sox and the City: A Fans Love Affair with the White Sox from the Heartbreak of '67 to the Wizards of Oz" and have to say that I wasn't particularly impressed.

He's a fan, certainly, I'm not implying that he's one of those celebrity so-called fans that tend to turn up when the cameras are rolling and the team is winning. The book tried to be about him being a fan and about the team over the years at the same time, and would have been better served by taking either approach (rather than both).

The best parts of the book were clearly his discussions of the sox teams of the 60s and 70s.

The writing about last year's team wasn't particularly compelling. The most memorable line being one about how quickly Mark Buehrle pitches (like he's left the oven on at home). The most unfortunate being his attempt to coin to the phrase "bi-soxual" to mean a chicago fan who claims to like both the cubs and the white sox. I don't think it works. It sounds like one would like both the white sox and the red sox.

Actually, I did like some of the "cubs fan vs. sox fan" writing, but none of it is new to a chicagoan. ]]> Wed, 26 Jul 2006 08:26:52 -0500 http://home.uchicago.edu/~srasul/blog/C1117916253/E20060726082652/index.html http://home.uchicago.edu/~srasul/blog/C1117916253/E20060724071409/index.html I recently came to the conclusion that I may never unpack to my satisfaction, so it's unwise to make that a pre-requisite for anything.

It's a busy week+ at the shazopolis (I was going to go with shazterdam but there aren't enough red lights here, and new shaz city wasn't quite right). My parents + grandparents and niece visited yesterday. It's the first time since we lived in Oak Lawn that my dad has played ping pong (1989), and the first time ever that my niece has played. On wednesday, I'm going to host a get-together of former co-workers (the CUIP Classic Crowd), next monday I'm hosting a mini-retreat/work-day for the current staff at work, and next week TS is staying here in advance of Lollapalooza. I'm taking a few days off that week before lollapalooza. I'm thinking about inviting a wide-range of personalities over, on the Thursday (Aug 3), for a pseudo-party. That idea is winning at present. I won't decide for a few more days.
]]> Mon, 24 Jul 2006 07:14:09 -0500 http://home.uchicago.edu/~srasul/blog/C1117916253/E20060724071409/index.html http://home.uchicago.edu/~srasul/blog/C1117916253/E20060718215500/index.html I've been teaching a course this july for public school teachers on using blogs, wikis, and podcasts (along with ppt, digital photography and digital videography) in the classroom. It's fun, has been going well, and will run for another week and a half.

Of course, this means that I don't have any energy for taking pictures or weblogging in my personal (or more accurately, non-work) life. One needs to have some separation.

So, I scanned a batch of pictures yesterday but didn't do much with them afterwards. I've been making a point to make a comment whenever KRT posts from the middle-east. Most of the time has been spent sleeping or working through the personal hell that is my list of "unfinished business". I'm convinced that a few more of those things being dealt with are a prerequisite before I can really enjoy this era (which could be as much as 2-3 years) for what it's worth. ]]> Tue, 18 Jul 2006 21:55:00 -0500 http://home.uchicago.edu/~srasul/blog/C1117916253/E20060718215500/index.html http://home.uchicago.edu/~srasul/blog/C1117916253/E20060716195630/index.html I've gotten out of the regular habit of taking pictures with the phone, which is fine except for that the last few weeks have had their share of documentable events. I'll get back into this sooner or later.

]]> Sun, 16 Jul 2006 19:56:30 -0500 http://home.uchicago.edu/~srasul/blog/C1117916253/E20060716195630/index.html http://home.uchicago.edu/~srasul/blog/C1117916253/E20060710190001/index.html Films I've seen recently: The 3 Burials of Melquiades Estrada was great. Baraka had some great visuals, but didn't do much for me. I am Trying to Break Your Heart - A film about Wilco was quite good. I'll be seeing Wilco perform for the first time at lollapalooza later this summer.

"Syriana" is the next movie from netflix that i'll be watching. I'd like to see "A Scanner Darkly" and maybe "Superman: Returns" in the theater in the next week or so. I'm not good at making it to the theater though.

CDs I bought last week:

I went to Hyde Park records and Dr. Wax over the weekend.

"Foo Fighters" (1995) - I had owned it, but never replaced it after it got stolen. After a listen, I realized that having is not so pleasing as wanting.

"Africa [Live]: Novus Series 1970" by Miriam Makeba - I had a burned copy of this album, which I consider to be the finest collection of Makeba's work (she is at the height of her powers). A must-own for any fan of South African music.

"Sound Directions: Funky Side of Life" by Yesterdays New Quintet - I tend to buy everything that Madlib releases. I was underwhelmed by this release though.

"Grrr" Hugh Masekela (1966) - I'm still working through a Jazz appreciation program. Last week I listened to some Joe Pass, Bill Withers, Mingus, and Roy Hargrove. This week I bought another Hugh Masekela CD. I think the documentary "Amandla!" about the role of music in the anti-apartheid struggle is a fantastic starting-off point for a journey into South African music (Masekela is particularly insightful).

Thom Yorke's album "the Eraser" hits the shelves on Tuesday which will give me an excuse to go to downtown and buy some random new music. ]]> Mon, 10 Jul 2006 19:00:01 -0500 http://home.uchicago.edu/~srasul/blog/C1117916253/E20060710190001/index.html http://home.uchicago.edu/~srasul/blog/C1117916253/E20060707230008/index.html More summer reading -- "A Human Being Died That Night: A South African Woman Confronts the Legacy of Apartheid" by Pumla Godobo-Madikizela.

This is certainly familiar ground for me as I've made it a hobby of mine to read different accounts of SA's Truth & Reconciliation process. The accounts are all wildly different in their framing of the issues. For example, you could say that Krog's "Country of My Skull" took an emotional/poetic view and Tutu's "No Future without Forgiveness" took a theological/empathic view. Similarly, Godobo-Madikizela takes a psychological view of the situation.

It's interesting reading. It's in the same vein of much of the recent literature/theater on the topic in that it takes an emblematic character (like "Prime Evil" Eugene De Kock) as the core of the story and builds the author's observations out from there.

What I liked most about the book was Godobo-Madikizela's explicit references to Arendt's "Eichmann in Jerusalem" and drawing very clear parallels between the Nazi regime and the Apartheid regime and using Arendt's conceptualization of "the banality of evil" to look at the justifications used for implementing/permmitting Apartheid.

That said, I wouldn't recommend this book unless you're very much into TRC literature. I still think that "Country of My Skull" is the best book about the South Africa's TRC process, but I'd recommend Tutu's "No Future Without Forgiveness" as the place to start an inquiry into the subject matter. ]]> Fri, 07 Jul 2006 23:00:08 -0500 http://home.uchicago.edu/~srasul/blog/C1117916253/E20060707230008/index.html http://home.uchicago.edu/~srasul/blog/C1117916253/E20060705230600/index.html I managed to postpone the meeting I wasn't prepared for to Thursday (and i have a good two hours now to prepare, plus another hour plus in the morning).

I had lunch with the O's (who were in town for a family funeral).

And, thanks to the help of DB, CLR, AS, and FM, we were able to get the ping-pong table set-up.

It's a different world now. ]]> Wed, 05 Jul 2006 23:06:00 -0500 http://home.uchicago.edu/~srasul/blog/C1117916253/E20060705230600/index.html http://home.uchicago.edu/~srasul/blog/C1117916253/E20060702231728/index.html My summer reading series kicked off with Palle Yourgrau's "A World Without Time: The Forgotten Legacy of Godel and Einstein" which I had happened upon in a bookstore in DC in March.

I'd imagine that this kind of book is difficult to write, trying at once to be accessible enough to the general public by focusing on the characters and their challenges, while at the same time trying to do justice to their work, the science, and wanting the work's detail & nuance to be the center of the story.

For the most part, Yourgrau succeeds in balancing the two -- painting engaging pictures of Godel and Einstein, illustrating the intersections between their lives & works, all the while taking us through Godel's works both from a general level of abstraction and (when necessary) into the nitty gritty of the logician's general method and it's applications (and implications) across the disciplines. It is only in the end, where he vociferiously defends Godel's reputation as a philosopher, that he betrays the reader's confidence in the narrative. It is also in this last section, where Yourgrau describes the politics of the academe (in this case, the philosophers closing ranks to exclude the outsider Godel) that the story loses it's idyllic/historical bend.

I was very interested in the philsophical questions surrounding Time in my younger days. Inevitably, readings of philosophy turned into readings of physics, astrophysics, and then back around to literature. "A World Without Time" in that sense reminds me that there is often a disconnect between our intuitive understandings of the world and the formalisms of that same world and that the reconciliation of the two is itself often a life's work. ]]> Mon, 03 Jul 2006 23:17:28 -0500 http://home.uchicago.edu/~srasul/blog/C1117916253/E20060702231728/index.html http://home.uchicago.edu/~srasul/blog/C1117916253/E20060702163611/index.html Friday: ET and I went to Wrigley after work to watch the Southsiders shortstop Juan Uribe steal the show with 5 RBIs as the Chicago White Sox defeated the Chicago Cubs. Go Sox!

Afterwards, I stopped in at the Art Institute to wander about. The free hours have been shifted to Thursday and Friday nights (5-9) which strikes me as a sensible thing to do (particularly if you are interested in have more people enter your museum). A good crowd at about 5.30p. Aside: There's still something soothing about the medieval weapons room.

Saturday: Quality Time with the Parents, and a trip to IKEA

Sunday: Household maintenance, watching baseball on TV, and the production of lists

Monday: Full day with the Family. High-Quality Barbecue.

Tuesday: Too many tasks from the "unfinished business" list (see Sunday) need my attention before Wednesday morning.

Wednesday: Rough meeting first thing in the morning that I know I'm not going to be ready for. Afterwork -- the ping pong table construction project!

Thursday: My sister's birthday dinner.

Also: I'd like to work in a stop at the "African Caribbean Festival of Life" in Jackson Park along the way. Films: Maybe try to see the new Superman movie in what's left of the weekend, try to catch Mongolian Ping Pong at Facets later in the week. ]]> Sun, 02 Jul 2006 16:36:11 -0500 http://home.uchicago.edu/~srasul/blog/C1117916253/E20060702163611/index.html http://home.uchicago.edu/~srasul/blog/C1117916253/E20060630000302/index.html I was impressed by Amadou & Mariam, the blind duo from Mali, whose reputation for being a stellar live act is well-deserved. I've been listening to their last album "Dimanche & Bamako" (produced by Manu Chao) off and on for the past 2 weeks, and I've liked it. The concert had much more of a wonderful heavy african funk sound than I expected, which was well loved by the biggest most boisterous millenium park crowd that I've seen yet.

A 20 minute intermission wasn't enough to cool off a crowd that got worked into a frenzy during Brazilian sensation Seu Jorge's opening set. Playing Millenium Park for the second consecutive year, Jorge's set primarily focused on material from his album "Cru" with a few of his famed David Bowie covers thrown in for good measure. Once again his percussion section delighted the crowd with a long solo set.

The World Music "Music Without Borders" program at Millenium Park is filled with high caliber world music acts that are worth checking out (and I should add that the pritzker pavilion @ millenium park is a fantastic venue to see a show).
]]> Thu, 29 Jun 2006 00:03:02 -0500 http://home.uchicago.edu/~srasul/blog/C1117916253/E20060630000302/index.html http://home.uchicago.edu/~srasul/blog/C1117916253/E20060625212450/index.html I saw DJ Spooky and Bora Yoon perform at the HotHouse on Friday night. Subliminal Strings. A night of experiments in classical music & hip-hop. Fantastic. Thrilling.

Of course, I couldn't talk a single one of my contemporaries into going. I even cast the net out wide for this one, because I was so convinced that it would be an incredible experience. It underscores my general intuition that I really need to find different people in this city, especially since I'm not leaving here any time soon.

Beforehand, I went to Millenium Park to see the Grant Park Orchestra perform Mozart's Requiem with a group of Tibetan monks. The monks were interesting. I expected chanting, but instead got some Tuvan style throat harmonies in addition to the chanting.

Beyond that the weekend was fairly non-descript. Spent some time with my father on saturday, some time with my sister on sunday, stopped in at work for a pair of hours on sunday morning. Watched some baseball games on TV. Spent some time outside walking around the neighborhood. Got the wireless music setup in the apartment working (airport express + airtunes).

My week upcoming: Monday is part II of the move (couch, bookshelf, table-tennis table), Thursday is Seu Jorge and Amadou & Mariam at Millenium Park, Friday is the Cubs-Sox game at Wrigley as a kickoff to 4 days off for the July 4th weekend. ]]> Sun, 25 Jun 2006 21:24:50 -0500 http://home.uchicago.edu/~srasul/blog/C1117916253/E20060625212450/index.html http://home.uchicago.edu/~srasul/blog/C1117916253/E20060617025355/index.html Friday afternoon. Got out of work a little early today. Packed my laptop, a book to read, and a notebook, and then rode my bike to the planetarium. Beautiful early summer day. First time that I've taken the new bike all the way downtown along the lake shore drive bike path. They've done some nice work with the pathways and the south lake front in general. It feels like a few lifetimes ago, in the spring of 1994, when ETL and I walked from hyde park downtown. I remember some parts of the trail being sketchy (to say the least).

This is a part of how i expect the summer to go. Lots of time outside on the lake. Most of the reading or writing that I manage (this is being written on the laptop on the planetarium lawn with the skyline in the foreground) will probably happen outside. I'll get to enjoy the summer weather (there's something special about chicago in the spring and early summer) and get my exercise in riding the bike.

I've been asked a couple of times now how i'm enjoying the new routine. I have to say it's right for me. Part II of the move (things still at my parents place, a few things that i need to buy still) won't happen until the sunday after father's day, so I'm not entirely set-up in the new place. But it's good. I'm doing alright for myself. I've even started to recycle.

The job is going well. I've gone from feeling like I was a little old for the work I was doing to feeling like I'm too young for the work at hand. Which is entirely where I want to be. The job itself is a good mix of new things that I'm ridiculously good at and new things that I have to work to figure out. JL used to say that "flow" occurs when our skills and challenges are roughly in proportion to each other and maintain some kind of sensible linear relationship. So, you could say that I'm in flow.

Addendum: Met up with FM to see Xmen III at River East. A good fun film. As a fan, I have some issues with the caricatures of some of the characters, but nothing severe enough to detract from my ability to enjoy the film. Took the metra back. Easy way to get back to HP from downtown late. ]]> Sat, 17 Jun 2006 02:53:55 -0500 http://home.uchicago.edu/~srasul/blog/C1117916253/E20060617025355/index.html http://home.uchicago.edu/~srasul/blog/C1117916253/E20060610230917/index.html I watched Cry, The Beloved Country on Saturday night.

I'd read the book towards the end of my peace corps service in South Africa in March of 2001. There was a lyrical quality to the book that sticks with me still. I'd read a string of things beforehand that were plot-focused plot-driven, and so it was a treat to read something where the words themselves were as important as the story they were trying to tell. I liked that the adaptation kept some voiceover narration to maintain Patton's distinctive voice.

The film version was good. James Earl Jones and Richard Harris were great. I'd have liked to see the son's story fleshed out more (like it was in the book), but even without that the film was compelling.

The shots of the drakensburg and rural natal (KZN) were stunning and brought me right back to the hiking trip that SB and I took through the drakensburg in 2000. Good times.



]]> Sat, 10 Jun 2006 23:09:17 -0500 http://home.uchicago.edu/~srasul/blog/C1117916253/E20060610230917/index.html http://home.uchicago.edu/~srasul/blog/C1117916253/E20060604183551/index.html A good weekend for the culturati.

I spent part of saturday at the 57th Street Art Fair, which has grown quite a bit since the last time I attended (2002?). Some stunning art. Unfortunately the bulk of it was too pricey for me (truly a shame since I have so many walls to fill in the new place). Nevertheless, the 57th Street Art Fair is one of those fantastic Chicago events that every Chicagoan should at some point spend some time at.

I spent a good part of Sunday morning at the Printer's Row Book Fair. I was joined by AMR, SV and his friend dan, and later on by CLR & NP. Good times. A few books were purchased but the general slowness of the unpacking clearly put the breaks on the kind of frentetic book buying that has typified years past. Again, a fantastic event that every chicagoan should partake in at least once. Very rarely do you get such license to talk about books! While the book buying was minimal, I did, buy some pieces of art to hang on the walls in the new place. Next stop, the frame shoppe! ]]> Sun, 04 Jun 2006 18:35:51 -0500 http://home.uchicago.edu/~srasul/blog/C1117916253/E20060604183551/index.html http://home.uchicago.edu/~srasul/blog/C1117916253/E20060604182554/index.html Very surprising in how the story resolved itself, after a steady build-up that seemed to have led in quite a different direction. I'd give it 3 and a half stars (if I were in the film rating business). First movie I've seen via Netflix in what feels like forever.



]]> Sat, 03 Jun 2006 22:25:54 -0500 http://home.uchicago.edu/~srasul/blog/C1117916253/E20060604182554/index.html