Born Yesterday
for Sally Amis
Tightly-folded bud,
I have wished you something
None of the others would:
Not the usual stuff
About being beautiful,
Or running off a spring
Of innocence and love --
They will all wish you that,
And should it prove possible,
Well, you're a lucky girl
But if it shouldn't, then
May you be ordinary;
Have, like other women,
An average of talents:
Not ugly, not good-looking,
Nothing uncustomary
To pull you off your balance,
That, unworkable itself,
Stops all the rest from working.
In fact, may you be dull --
If that is what a skilled,
Vigilant, flexible,
Unemphasised, enthralled
Catching of happiness is called
- Philip Larkin
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Friday, December 17, 2010
Listen:
After The Storm.Mumford & Sons
And there will come a time, you'll see, with no more tears. And love will not break your heart, but dismiss your fears.
Listen:
To Be Young (Is To Be Sad, Is To Be High).Dave Rawlings Machine
Album: A Friend of A Friend (2009; Acony)
Album: A Friend of A Friend (2009; Acony)
Listen:
Jumpers.Sleater-Kinney
Album: The Woods (2005; Sub Pop)
My falling shape will draw a line between the blue of sea and sky
Listen:
What's Mine Is Yours.Sleater-Kinney
Album: The Woods (2005;Sub Pop)
Sit down, honey, let's kill some time.
Listen:
Dreams.Fleetwood Mac
Album: Rumours (1977; Warner Bros.)
Thunder only happens when it's raining; Players only love you when they're playing; They say women, they will come and they will go; When the rain washes you clean you'll know
Listen:
Winter Winds.Mumford & Sons
Album: Sign No More (2009;Island/Glassnote)
And my head told my heart, "Let love grow," but my heart told my head, "This time no, this time no"
Listen:
Your Rocky Spine.Great Lake Swimmers
Album: Ongiara (2007; Nettwerk)
They told me to be careful up there where the wind rages through your hair.
Read:
I'm starting to dream in color
swimming in Silvia red night gowns
and dancing into silhouettes of purple and crimson.
psychedelic actually,
if you take the time to think within that perspective.
it's like a toned-down rave set in slow motion by overdose.
and where are you?
are you passed out on the lawn in front of some closed down swapmeet?
did the flicker of insomnia turn you off like a light switch you hadn't paid the bill for?
who now, will answer your phone or pay homage to your quips
or late night phone calls to God?
I wish I could say that I relayed the message
but my nerves never were enough.
I wonder if the angels ever picked up on the twisted games you played on their names.
Many people never bothered to decipher it all.
But on occasion I did.
When the time was convenient,
when the moments were dull.
I delved into it.
I tried anyhow.
Forgive me for never letting you pass.
For standing arms and legs wide apart to halt the inevitable.
I wish for so many seconds
that I was there to do something,
to show something,
some inkling of understanding through sarcastic grimaces.
To you, who will read this and play dead for flair,
may you call upon me from the imaginary casket when you get this.
Fore I do see that you could never leave like that.
- Kathleen Quinn
swimming in Silvia red night gowns
and dancing into silhouettes of purple and crimson.
psychedelic actually,
if you take the time to think within that perspective.
it's like a toned-down rave set in slow motion by overdose.
and where are you?
are you passed out on the lawn in front of some closed down swapmeet?
did the flicker of insomnia turn you off like a light switch you hadn't paid the bill for?
who now, will answer your phone or pay homage to your quips
or late night phone calls to God?
I wish I could say that I relayed the message
but my nerves never were enough.
I wonder if the angels ever picked up on the twisted games you played on their names.
Many people never bothered to decipher it all.
But on occasion I did.
When the time was convenient,
when the moments were dull.
I delved into it.
I tried anyhow.
Forgive me for never letting you pass.
For standing arms and legs wide apart to halt the inevitable.
I wish for so many seconds
that I was there to do something,
to show something,
some inkling of understanding through sarcastic grimaces.
To you, who will read this and play dead for flair,
may you call upon me from the imaginary casket when you get this.
Fore I do see that you could never leave like that.
- Kathleen Quinn
Listen:
Breathing Rapture.LeLoup
Album: The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations' Millennium General Assembly (2007; Hardly Art)
Oh, love is shaped like cities burning sifting through the ashes after. We will find your life in laughter, Oh, the black and breathing rapture.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Read:
Maiden Name
Marrying left your maiden name disused.
Its five light sounds no longer mean your face,
Your voice, and all your variants of grace;
For since you were so thankfully confused
By law with someone else, you cannot be
Semantically the same as that young beauty:
It was of her that these two words were used.
Now it's a phrase applicable to no one,
Lying just where you left it, scattered through
Old lists, old programmes, a school price or two,
Packets of letters tied with tartan ribbon --
Then is it scentless, weightless, strengthless, wholly
Untruthful? Try whispering it slowly.
No, it means you. Or, since you're past and gone,
It means what we feel now about you then:
How beautiful you were, and near, and young,
So vivid, you might still be there among
Those first few days, unfingermarked again.
So your old name shelters our faithfulness,
Instead of losing shape and meaning less
With your depreciating luggage laden.
- Philip Larkin
Marrying left your maiden name disused.
Its five light sounds no longer mean your face,
Your voice, and all your variants of grace;
For since you were so thankfully confused
By law with someone else, you cannot be
Semantically the same as that young beauty:
It was of her that these two words were used.
Now it's a phrase applicable to no one,
Lying just where you left it, scattered through
Old lists, old programmes, a school price or two,
Packets of letters tied with tartan ribbon --
Then is it scentless, weightless, strengthless, wholly
Untruthful? Try whispering it slowly.
No, it means you. Or, since you're past and gone,
It means what we feel now about you then:
How beautiful you were, and near, and young,
So vivid, you might still be there among
Those first few days, unfingermarked again.
So your old name shelters our faithfulness,
Instead of losing shape and meaning less
With your depreciating luggage laden.
- Philip Larkin
Read:
Reasons for Attendance
The trumpet's voice, loud and authoritative,
Draws me a moment to the lighted glass
To watch the dancers -- all under twenty-five --
Shifting intently, face to flushed face,
Solemnly on the beat of happiness.
--Or so I fancy, sensing the smoke and sweat,
The wonderful feel of girls. Why be out here?
But then, why be in there? Sex, yes, but what
Is sex? Surely, to think the lion's share
Of happiness is found by couples -- sheer
Inaccuracy, as far as I'm concerned.
What calls me is that lifted, rough-tongued bell
(Art, if you like) whose individual sound
Insists I am too an individual.
It speaks; I hear; others may hear as well,
But not for me, nor I for them; and so
With happiness. Therefore I stay outside,
Believing this; and they maul to and fro,
Believing that; and both are satisfied,
If no one has misjudged himself. Or lied.
- Philip Larkin
The trumpet's voice, loud and authoritative,
Draws me a moment to the lighted glass
To watch the dancers -- all under twenty-five --
Shifting intently, face to flushed face,
Solemnly on the beat of happiness.
--Or so I fancy, sensing the smoke and sweat,
The wonderful feel of girls. Why be out here?
But then, why be in there? Sex, yes, but what
Is sex? Surely, to think the lion's share
Of happiness is found by couples -- sheer
Inaccuracy, as far as I'm concerned.
What calls me is that lifted, rough-tongued bell
(Art, if you like) whose individual sound
Insists I am too an individual.
It speaks; I hear; others may hear as well,
But not for me, nor I for them; and so
With happiness. Therefore I stay outside,
Believing this; and they maul to and fro,
Believing that; and both are satisfied,
If no one has misjudged himself. Or lied.
- Philip Larkin
Read:
Places, Loved Ones
No, I have never found
The place where I could say
This is my proper ground,
Here I shall stay;
Nor met that special one
Who has an instant claim
On everything I own
Down to my name;
To find such seems to prove
You want no choice in where
To build, or whom to love;
You ask them to bear
You off irrevocably,
So that it's not your fault
Should the town turn dreary,
The girl a dolt.
Yet, having missed them, you're
Bound, none the less, to act
As if what you settled for
Mashed you, in fact;
And wiser to keep away
From thinking you still might trace
Uncalled-for to this day
Your person, your place.
- Philip Larkin
No, I have never found
The place where I could say
This is my proper ground,
Here I shall stay;
Nor met that special one
Who has an instant claim
On everything I own
Down to my name;
To find such seems to prove
You want no choice in where
To build, or whom to love;
You ask them to bear
You off irrevocably,
So that it's not your fault
Should the town turn dreary,
The girl a dolt.
Yet, having missed them, you're
Bound, none the less, to act
As if what you settled for
Mashed you, in fact;
And wiser to keep away
From thinking you still might trace
Uncalled-for to this day
Your person, your place.
- Philip Larkin
Monday, November 8, 2010
Read:
You have your way. I have my way. As for the right way, the correct way, and the only way, it does not exist. - Friedrich Nietzsche
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Read:
Risk! Risk anything! Care no more for the opinions of others, for those voices - Katherine Mansfield
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Read:
XXXI
The North Ship
70º N
Fortunetelling
'You will go on a long journey,
In a strange bed take rest,
And a dark girl will kiss you
As softly as the breast
Of an evening bird comes down
Covering its own nest.
'She will cover your mouth
Lest memory exclaim
At her bending face,
Knowing it is the same
As one who long since died
Under a different name.'
The North Ship
70º N
Fortunetelling
'You will go on a long journey,
In a strange bed take rest,
And a dark girl will kiss you
As softly as the breast
Of an evening bird comes down
Covering its own nest.
'She will cover your mouth
Lest memory exclaim
At her bending face,
Knowing it is the same
As one who long since died
Under a different name.'
Read:
XXVIII
Is it for now or for always,
The world hangs on a stalk?
Is it a trick or a trysting-place,
The woods we have found to walk
Is it a mirage or miracle,
Your lips that lift mine:
And the suns like a juggler's juggling-balls,
Are they a sham or a sign?
Shine out, my sudden angel,
Break fear with breast and brow,
I take you now and for always,
For always is always now.
- Philip Larkin
Is it for now or for always,
The world hangs on a stalk?
Is it a trick or a trysting-place,
The woods we have found to walk
Is it a mirage or miracle,
Your lips that lift mine:
And the suns like a juggler's juggling-balls,
Are they a sham or a sign?
Shine out, my sudden angel,
Break fear with breast and brow,
I take you now and for always,
For always is always now.
- Philip Larkin
Read:
XXIV
Love, we must part now: do not let it be
Calamitous and bitter. In the past
There has been too much moonlight and self-pity:
Let us have done with it: for not at last
Never has sun more boldly paced the sky,
Never were hearts more eager to be free,
To kick down worlds, lash forests; you and I
No longer hold them; we are husks, that see
The grain going forward to a different use.
There is regret. Always, there is regret.
But it is better that our lives unloose,
As two tall ships, wind-mastered, wet with light,
Break from and estuary with their courses set,
And waving part, and waving drop from sight.
- Philip Larkin
Love, we must part now: do not let it be
Calamitous and bitter. In the past
There has been too much moonlight and self-pity:
Let us have done with it: for not at last
Never has sun more boldly paced the sky,
Never were hearts more eager to be free,
To kick down worlds, lash forests; you and I
No longer hold them; we are husks, that see
The grain going forward to a different use.
There is regret. Always, there is regret.
But it is better that our lives unloose,
As two tall ships, wind-mastered, wet with light,
Break from and estuary with their courses set,
And waving part, and waving drop from sight.
- Philip Larkin
Read:
XVIII
If grief could burn out
Like a sunken coal,
The heart would rest quiet,
The unrent soul
Be still as a veil;
But I have watched all night
The fire grow silent,
The grey ash soft:
And I stir the stubborn flint
The flames have left,
And grief stirs, and the deft
Heart lies impotent.
- Philip Larkin
If grief could burn out
Like a sunken coal,
The heart would rest quiet,
The unrent soul
Be still as a veil;
But I have watched all night
The fire grow silent,
The grey ash soft:
And I stir the stubborn flint
The flames have left,
And grief stirs, and the deft
Heart lies impotent.
- Philip Larkin
Monday, November 1, 2010
Listen:
Dissolve (The Bloody Beetroots Remix).The Chemical Brothers
and of course, the original...
Dissolve.The Chemical Brothers
Album: Further (2010; Freestyle Dust/Parlophone)
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Read:
Quotations from “Chapter 2: Intimacy and Privacy” in Witold Rybczynski´s Home: A Short History of an Idea (1987)
“Homliness is not neatness. Otherwise everyone would live in replicas of the kinds of sterile and impersonal homes that appear in interior-design and architectural magazines.”
“Can people really live without clutter?”
“Words are important. Language is not just a medium, like a water pipe, it is a reflection of how we think.”
“Religiosity and avarice, delicacy and cruelty, luxury and squalor, asceticism and eroticism existed side by side.”
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Listen:
Brothers On A Hotel Bed.Death Cab For Cutie
Album: Plans (2005;Atlantic Records)
And I have learned
That even landlocked lovers yearn
For the sea like navy men
Read:
Honey and Salt
A bag of tricks -- is it?
And a game smoothies play?
If you're good with a deck of cards
or rolling the bones -- that helps?
If you can tell jokes and be a chum
and make an impression -- that helps?
When boy meets girl or girl meets boy --
what helps?
They all help: be cozy but not too cozy:
be shy, bashful, mysterious, yet only so-so:
then forget everything you ever heard about love
for it's a summer tan and a winter windburn
and it comes as weather comes and you can't change it:
it comes like your face came to you, like your legs came
and the way you walk, talk, hold your head and hands --
and nothing can be done about it -- you wait and pray.
Is there any way of measuring love?
Yes but not till long afterward
when the beat of your heart has gone
many miles, far into the big numbers.
Is the key to love in passion, knowledge, affection?
All three -- along with moonlight, roses, groceries,
givings and forgivings, gettings and forgettings,
keepsakes and room rent,
pearls of memory along with ham and eggs.
Can love be locked away and kept hid?
Yes and it gathers dust and mildew
and shrivels itself in shadows
unless it learns the sun can help,
snow, rain, storms can help --
birds in their one-room family nests
shaken by winds cruel and crazy --
they can all help:
lock not away your love nor keep it hid.
How comes the first sign of love?
In a chill, in a personal sweat,
in a you-and-me, us, us two,
in a couple of answers,
an amethyst haze on the horizon,
two dance programs criss-crossed,
jackknifed initials interwoven,
five fresh violets lost in sea salt,
birds flying at single big moments
in and out a thousand windows,
a horse, two horses, many horses,
a silver ring, a brass cry,
a golden gong going ong ong ong-ng-ng,
pink doors closing one by one
to sunset nightsongs along the west,
shafts and handles of stars,
folds of moonmist curtains,
winding and unwinding wips of fogmist.
How long does love last?
As long as glass bubbles handled with care
or two hot-house orchids in a blizzard
or one solid immovable steel anvil
tempered in sure inexorable welding --
or again love might last as
six snowflakes, six hexagonal snowflakes,
six floating hexagonal flakes of snow
or the oaths between hydrogen and oxygen
in one cup of spring water
or the eyes of bucks and does
or two wishes riding on the back of a
morning wind in winter
or one corner of an ancient tabernacle
held sacred for personal devotions
or dust yes dust in a little solemn heap
played on by changing winds.
There are sanctuaries
holding honey and salt.
There are those who
spill and spend.
There are those who
search and save.
And love may be a quest
with silence and content.
Can you buy love?
Sure everyday with money, clothes, candy,
with promises, flowers, big-talk,
with laughter, sweet-talk, lies,
every day men and women buy love
and take it away and things happen
and they study about it
and the longer they look at it
the more it isn't love they bought at all:
bought love is a guaranteed imitation.
Can you sell love?
Yes you can sell it and take the price
and think it over
and look again at the price
and cry and cry to yourself
and wonder who was selling what and why.
Evensong lights floating black night waters,
a lagoon of stars washed in velvet shadows,
a great storm cry from white sea-horses --
these moments cost beyond all prices.
Bidden or unbidden? how comes love?
Both bidden and unbidden, a sneak and a shadow,
a dawn in a doorway throwing a dazzle
or a sash of light in a blue fog,
a slow blinking of two red lanterns in river mist
or a deep smoke winding one hump of a mountain
and the smoke becomes a smoke known to your own
twisted individual garments:
the winding of it gets into your walk, your hands,
your face and eyes
A bag of tricks -- is it?
And a game smoothies play?
If you're good with a deck of cards
or rolling the bones -- that helps?
If you can tell jokes and be a chum
and make an impression -- that helps?
When boy meets girl or girl meets boy --
what helps?
They all help: be cozy but not too cozy:
be shy, bashful, mysterious, yet only so-so:
then forget everything you ever heard about love
for it's a summer tan and a winter windburn
and it comes as weather comes and you can't change it:
it comes like your face came to you, like your legs came
and the way you walk, talk, hold your head and hands --
and nothing can be done about it -- you wait and pray.
Is there any way of measuring love?
Yes but not till long afterward
when the beat of your heart has gone
many miles, far into the big numbers.
Is the key to love in passion, knowledge, affection?
All three -- along with moonlight, roses, groceries,
givings and forgivings, gettings and forgettings,
keepsakes and room rent,
pearls of memory along with ham and eggs.
Can love be locked away and kept hid?
Yes and it gathers dust and mildew
and shrivels itself in shadows
unless it learns the sun can help,
snow, rain, storms can help --
birds in their one-room family nests
shaken by winds cruel and crazy --
they can all help:
lock not away your love nor keep it hid.
How comes the first sign of love?
In a chill, in a personal sweat,
in a you-and-me, us, us two,
in a couple of answers,
an amethyst haze on the horizon,
two dance programs criss-crossed,
jackknifed initials interwoven,
five fresh violets lost in sea salt,
birds flying at single big moments
in and out a thousand windows,
a horse, two horses, many horses,
a silver ring, a brass cry,
a golden gong going ong ong ong-ng-ng,
pink doors closing one by one
to sunset nightsongs along the west,
shafts and handles of stars,
folds of moonmist curtains,
winding and unwinding wips of fogmist.
How long does love last?
As long as glass bubbles handled with care
or two hot-house orchids in a blizzard
or one solid immovable steel anvil
tempered in sure inexorable welding --
or again love might last as
six snowflakes, six hexagonal snowflakes,
six floating hexagonal flakes of snow
or the oaths between hydrogen and oxygen
in one cup of spring water
or the eyes of bucks and does
or two wishes riding on the back of a
morning wind in winter
or one corner of an ancient tabernacle
held sacred for personal devotions
or dust yes dust in a little solemn heap
played on by changing winds.
There are sanctuaries
holding honey and salt.
There are those who
spill and spend.
There are those who
search and save.
And love may be a quest
with silence and content.
Can you buy love?
Sure everyday with money, clothes, candy,
with promises, flowers, big-talk,
with laughter, sweet-talk, lies,
every day men and women buy love
and take it away and things happen
and they study about it
and the longer they look at it
the more it isn't love they bought at all:
bought love is a guaranteed imitation.
Can you sell love?
Yes you can sell it and take the price
and think it over
and look again at the price
and cry and cry to yourself
and wonder who was selling what and why.
Evensong lights floating black night waters,
a lagoon of stars washed in velvet shadows,
a great storm cry from white sea-horses --
these moments cost beyond all prices.
Bidden or unbidden? how comes love?
Both bidden and unbidden, a sneak and a shadow,
a dawn in a doorway throwing a dazzle
or a sash of light in a blue fog,
a slow blinking of two red lanterns in river mist
or a deep smoke winding one hump of a mountain
and the smoke becomes a smoke known to your own
twisted individual garments:
the winding of it gets into your walk, your hands,
your face and eyes
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Read:
Your white shoulders
I remember
And your shrug of laughter.
Low laughter
Shaken slow
From your white shoulders
White Shoulders by Carl Sandburg
I remember
And your shrug of laughter.
Low laughter
Shaken slow
From your white shoulders
White Shoulders by Carl Sandburg
Monday, October 18, 2010
Listen:
Tear Down This House.The Avett Brothers
Album: The Second Gleam (2008; Ramseur Records)
I have no memory of who I once was and I don't remember your name
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Monday, October 11, 2010
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Listen:
Pale Blue Eyes.The Velvet Underground
Album: The Velvet Underground (1969; MGM Records)
Linger on, your pale blue eyes
Listen:
Dance Hall Days.Wang Chung
Album: Points on the Curve (1983; Abbey Road Studios)
We were cool on craze
Listen:
Just Like Heaven.The Cure
Album: Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me (1987; Fiction)
Spinning on that dizzy edge, I kissed her face and kissed her head,
And dreamed of all the different ways I had to make her glow.
Listen:
Cosmic Love.Florence + The Machine (2009)
Album: Lungs (2009; Island)
In the dark I can hear your heartbeat
Friday, October 8, 2010
Listen:
Da' Dip.Freak Nasty (1996)
Album: Controversee... That's Life... And that's the Way It Is (Triad)
Friday, August 13, 2010
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
What's your favorite movie quote?
Easy one!
"I guess I could be pretty pissed off about what happened to me, but its hard to stay mad when there's so much beauty in the world. Sometimes I feel like I'm seeing it all at once, and it's too much. My heart fills up like a balloon that's about to burst. Then I remember to relax, and stop trying to hold on to it, and then it flows through me like rain, and I can't feel anything but gratitude for every single moment of my stupid little life. You have no idea what I'm talking about, I'm sure. But don't worry. You will someday" ~ Lester Burnham, American Beauty
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Listen:
Strange Overtones.Brian Eno & David Byrne
Strange overtones
Though they're slightly out of fashion
I'll harmonize
I see the music in your face
That your words cannot explain
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Monday, July 19, 2010
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Watch:
By the size of that belly, I suspect that he takes to the bottle quite often. I really just can't believe he was that pissed off about the mall being closed (for the G20 summit)
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
In The News:
I have such a big boner for Hillary Clinton.
- But think about what’s happening to people as we speak today. Men and women are harassed, beaten, subjected to sexual violence, even killed, because of who they are and whom they love. Some are driven from their homes or countries, and many who become refugees confront new threats in their countries of asylum. In some places, violence against the LGBT community is permitted by law and inflamed by public calls to violence; in others, it persists insidiously behind closed doors.
- Just as I was very proud to say the obvious more than 15 years ago in Beijing that human rights are women’s rights and women’s rights are human rights, well, let me say today that human rights are gay rights and gay rights are human rights, once and for all.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Listen:
Corazon.Los Auténticos Decadentes
yo no soy tu prisionero y no tengo alma de robot.
y es que ahi algo en tu carita que me gusta
que me gusta y se llevo mi corazon.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
In The News:
Trafficking in Perssons (TIP) Report 2010 has been released. Andy maybe you wanna watch Hillary Clinton being amazing at the release of the report. She really has been quite a leader in putting policy spotlights on the rights of women and god damn is her hair looking good. A few select quotes from Ms. Clinton:
Tier 1: Countries whose governments fully comply with the TVPA's minimum standards
Tier 2: Countries whose governments do not fully comply with the TVPA's minimum standards, but are making significant efforts.
Tier 2 Watch List: Countries whose governments do not fully comply with the TVPA's minimum standards, but are making significant efforts AND a) the number of victims of severe trafficking is very significant or is significantly rising b) failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat severe forms of trafficking c) the determination that a country is making significant efforts was based on commitments by the country to take additional future steps over the next year
Tier 3: Countries whose governments do not fully comply with the minimum standards and are not making significant efforts to do so
Argentina - 2
Bolivia - 2
Bosnia & Herzegovina - 1
Brazil - 2
Burma - 3
Cambodia - 2
Chile - 2
Colombia - 1
Cuba - 3
Ecuador - 2
Guatemala - 2WL
Iceland - 2
Israel - 2
Laos - 2WL
Mexico - 2
Paraguay - 2
Peru - 2
Philippines - 2WL
Poland - 1
USA - 1
Uruguay - 2
Venezuela - 2WL
- Human trafficking not only exploits and victimizes women and girls it also fuels the epidemic of gender-based violence around the world.
- Human trafficking crosses cultures and continents.
- Traffickers must be brought to justice. And we can't just blame international organized crime and rely on law inforcement to persue them. It is everyone's responsibility. Businesses that knowingly profit or exhibit reckless disregard about their supply chains. Governments that turn a blind eye or do not devote serious resources to addressing the problem.
- We have to ensure that our policies live up to our ideals and that is why we have for the first time included the United States. As this report documents, cases of trafficking are found in our own communities. In some cases foreign workers, drawn by the hope of a better life in America, are trapped by abusive employers. And there are Americans, unfortunately, who are held in sexual slavery. Some find themselves trapped through debt to work against their will; in conditions of modern day bondage.
- Human trafficking is not someone else's problem. Involuntary servitud is not something we can ignore or hope doesn't exist in our own communities.
- This report is a catalog of tragedies that the world cannot continue to accept, but it is also a record that deserves praise and recognition because it exemplifies hope and action, because hope without action cannot be our goal.
Tier 1: Countries whose governments fully comply with the TVPA's minimum standards
Tier 2: Countries whose governments do not fully comply with the TVPA's minimum standards, but are making significant efforts.
Tier 2 Watch List: Countries whose governments do not fully comply with the TVPA's minimum standards, but are making significant efforts AND a) the number of victims of severe trafficking is very significant or is significantly rising b) failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat severe forms of trafficking c) the determination that a country is making significant efforts was based on commitments by the country to take additional future steps over the next year
Tier 3: Countries whose governments do not fully comply with the minimum standards and are not making significant efforts to do so
Argentina - 2
Bolivia - 2
Bosnia & Herzegovina - 1
Brazil - 2
Burma - 3
Cambodia - 2
Chile - 2
Colombia - 1
Cuba - 3
Ecuador - 2
Guatemala - 2WL
Iceland - 2
Israel - 2
Laos - 2WL
Mexico - 2
Paraguay - 2
Peru - 2
Philippines - 2WL
Poland - 1
USA - 1
Uruguay - 2
Venezuela - 2WL
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Friday, June 11, 2010
Listen:
Fantasy-Impromptu in C sharp minor, Op. 66: Sebastian (as heard in Brideshead Revisted.Julian Jarrold)
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Monday, May 31, 2010
In The News:
- "The Obama administration is adopting an increasingly confrontational approach with BP -- accusing company executives of intentionall underestimating the scale of the Gulf oil spill to spare themselves billions in fines." It's always reassuring to hear that your own government thinks the BP execs are full of shit. Also...they can't seriously think that stopping the leak in August is the best they can do, right? [Politico]
- The American Medical Association passed a resolution that no doctor or hospital should have to go against their personal morality when treating a patient. Uh... what? Keep your religious and personal moral beliefs out of my scientifically based medical treatment. I don't mix my religious beliefs with my work. Or find a religiously funded and themed hospital to work at .. any of your Saints will do. But it's ridiculous to allow doctors and nurses to refuse services based on personal morality. I think we all know who will suffer the most from this... women of reproductive age. [Change]
- Can a non-Muslim be a Maldivian? Mohamad Nazim, born in Maldives has come out as an atheist. According to law a non-Muslim cannot became a citizen. But what about a citizen that becomes a non-Muslim? [Hassan Ziyau]
Monday, May 24, 2010
Monday, May 10, 2010
Listen:
Moons and Junes and Ferris wheels
The dizzing dancing way you feel
As every fairy tale comes real
I've looked at love that way
But now it's just another show
You leave 'em laughing when you go
And if you care, don't let them know
Don't give yourself away
I've looked at love from both sides now
From give and take, and still somehow
It's love's illusions I recall
I really don't know love at all.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Read:
"People live their lives in ways that make sense to them at the time—not in ways that make sense to everyone else"
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Listen:
The M.I.A music video for "Born Free" is fucking amazing, appalling, and fucked up!
M.I.A, Born Free from ROMAIN-GAVRAS on Vimeo.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Monday, April 5, 2010
Listen:
Pros:
Joanna Newsom's songs have incredible instrumental construction.
Joanna Newsom's songs have great lyrics
Cons:
Joanna Newsom's songs have Joanna Newsom's voice.
Solution:
Covers! I found the most delicious cover by Final Fantasy ---- oh lawd.
Joanna Newsom's songs have incredible instrumental construction.
Joanna Newsom's songs have great lyrics
Cons:
Joanna Newsom's songs have Joanna Newsom's voice.
Solution:
Covers! I found the most delicious cover by Final Fantasy ---- oh lawd.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
South America
I went on a shopping spree today. I bought two very comfortable and light pair of woven pants (red and yellow), a bright blue FANNYPACK (called a banano here in Chile), this amazing pair of orange pants with a fanny pack built into them, and these really cool leather green sandals made in Chile (they seriously need to be broken in.. it's hard leather and I already have 3 baby blisters on my right foot)
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Monday, March 29, 2010
Read:
The Pope's Penis by Sharon Olds
It hangs deep in his robes, a delicate clapper at the center of a bell. It moves when he moves, a ghostly fish in a halo of silver sweaweed, the hair swaying in the dark and the heat -- and at night while his eyes sleep, it stands up in praise of God.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Because Sharing Is Caring
Boy do I have entertainment news that just made my heart explode today.JENNIFER BEALS has landed a leading role in a new TV series called Ride-Along. She plays a lady police chief opposite of some cowboy rebel cop. Whatever. I'm sure it will be awful. I hate cop shows... but it's JENNIFER BEALS! After having welcomed Bette Porter into my life and fantasies I will watch Jennifer Beals peal potatoes for 12 hours straight and be extremely satisfied with life. Besides where there are cop dramas there is sweating and heavy breathing -- Let's just think about that once more: Jennifer Beals...sweating...heavily breathing...and wielding a gun. However...there will be no more girl-on-girl kissing, fucking, nor titty-grabbing. Boo.
Also I hear that my friend Frances McDormand (who I had the pleasure of meeting in 2009 at a Martha Wainwright concert in New York City) is going to be in the Transformers 3 movie. What? Why? I haven't seen the first two and really have no desire to. Maybe they actually are really good. But CGI just doesn't really turn me on. But you can bet your last penny that I'll be jumping right into Transformers 3 to see what Frances is doing on screen. I hope she's witty...I like when she's witty.
And then there's Laura Linney. I'd been hearing about this "The Big C" show as of late due to all the heat Gabby Sidibe's been taking in regards to her weight. Howard Stern's "deep concern" about her weight preventing her from being in anything other than Precious has been all over the Webs. So when I heard she was going to be in a TV series I immediately got out the "you go girl" signs out. But then... then today I found out [after doing a bit of research to what exactly IS this "The Big C" series] that Laura Linney... Laura LINNEY ( I also saw her in public once - at the Philidelphia airport. But she looked rushed] is going to be the LEAD of this show. I'll be streaming that somehow onto my computer. Goddammit Showtime stop making such irresistable TV shows.
And I leave you with this:
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Remember:
This is my baby cousin Sharmine. She's 5 now. This was taken 2 Christmas' ago in the Philippines and you see those hand glasses? I taught her how to do that. Anyways, she's really just the cutest little girl.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Monday, March 22, 2010
Remember:
CHICK-O-STICKS!!!!!!! My dad brought them home from work one day. The candy man was selling them and they're a childhood favorite of his. Coconut + Peanut Butter... what more could I ask for?
Sunday, March 21, 2010
South America
[More for my sake than yours - but if you're moved to check them out - by all means go for it. Genres and time periods are wide and varied]
- Shamanes - Lejos De Ti [Chile]
- Shamanes - Empieza A Mover Tu Cuerpo [Chile]
- Fanny Lú - Tu No Eres Para Mi (Remix ) Ft. Angel & Khris [Colombia]
- Fanny Lú - Celos [Colombia]
- Shakira - La Loba (DJ Tiago Remix) [Colombia]
- La Noche - Rico Y Suave [Chile]
- Lucybell - Cuando Respiro En Tu Boca [Chile]
- Manu Chao - Je Ne T'Aime Plus (Damien William Remix) [France]
- Calle 13 - No Hay Nadie Como Tu ft. Cafe Tacuba [Puerto Rico]
- Garras de Amor - Bailalo [Argentina]
- Américo - Te Vas [Chile]
- Los Mac's - La Muerte de Mi Hermano [Chile]
- Los Ramblers - El Rock Mundial [Chile]
- Victor Jara - Te Recuerdo Amanda [Chile]
- Victor Jara - El Derecho De Vivir En Paz [Chile]
- Los Jaivas - Todo Juntos [Chile]
- Morodo - Binghi No Cry [Spain]
- Magic Juan - Baby Come Back [USA]
Watch:
American Beauty.Sam Mendes
"I guess I could be pretty pissed off about what happened to me, but its hard to stay mad when there's so much beauty in the world. Sometimes I feel like I'm seeing it all at once, and it's too much. My heart fills up like a balloon that's about to burst. Then I remember to relax, and stop trying to hold on to it, and then it flows through me like rain, and I can't feel anything but gratitude for every single moment of my stupid little life. You have no idea what I'm talking about, I'm sure. But don't worry. You will someday"
"I guess I could be pretty pissed off about what happened to me, but its hard to stay mad when there's so much beauty in the world. Sometimes I feel like I'm seeing it all at once, and it's too much. My heart fills up like a balloon that's about to burst. Then I remember to relax, and stop trying to hold on to it, and then it flows through me like rain, and I can't feel anything but gratitude for every single moment of my stupid little life. You have no idea what I'm talking about, I'm sure. But don't worry. You will someday"
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Read:
Hands down, my favorite book has got to be The Awakening by Kate Chopin. It may be the only book that has made me cry. Also my Jeep is named after the protagonist, Edna Pontellier."The voice of the sea is seductive; never ceasing, whispering, clearing, murmuring, inviting the soul to wander for a spell in the abysses of solitude; to lose itself in mazes of inward contemplation. The voice of the sea speaks to the soul. The touch of the sea is sensuous, enfolding the body in its soft, close embrace."
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
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