So, we hit the Children of the Revolution concert over the weekend at the Broadway Performance Hall. Seemed like a pretty odd venue for music that you start tapping your feet to, and end up shaking your booty to. Nevertheless, it was pretty fun. They performed several of their standards - Kalimera (love it! I remember hearing it in Greece a few years ago, was really exciting to "recognize" what seemed like a local song), Angels in Bolivia, Liberation, Jonathan ... The guest performer - Keiko had a really guttural (ala Gipsy Kings) voice - hearing this petite japanese woman with this baritone voice was quite a surprise! Encarna performed somed fabulous flamenco, Geoffrey was amazing, truly amazing! Like always, they ended with Eleftheria - it was quite amusing to see droves of folks from the audience climb onto the stage and start jumping around!
One thing we noticed (again) - we seem to enjoy COTR's non-english songs the most. And it seems like this has something to do with the lyrics. Most of their english songs seem to be almost halting and stilted, devoid of the flow that the spanish and greek songs seem to possess. Given how much energy and talent seems to live in this band, it would be pretty cool if they could come up with more captivating lyrics that we could comprehend.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Monday, March 19, 2007
Woo Hoo Hoo!
So, yesterday was supposed to be the killer first double-digit run (10 miles). I wussed out and ran indoors (lame excuse: to save time!). But I compensated for that - I used a gradient and ... ran over 10.75 miles!!!
*happy*
*happy*
Volterra - not bad
So, we brunched at Volterra in Ballard this weekend. The location is awesome - in the heart of Ballard close to the farmers' market. A good-looking restaurant - pretty colors, an awesome skylight and a swanky bar. Now for the food: undecided! It took a second try to get our orders right (and yes, we were food bitches, we sent the first attempt right back!). And just as we were giving up on the place, the food that came out wasn't half bad! Which tempts me to give them another shot - maybe dinner next time.
Sitka and Spruce - *yummy*
Sitka and Spruce is a gastronome's delight. It is kind of a dinky little space, but the food is to die for. Most plates come in small sizes which makes for a fine sampling menu. The carrot, beet and parsnip salad was tasty (quirkily garnished with olives!), the turnips with collard greens were delightful. The highlights of the dinner however were the chestnut crepes (stuffed with chevre and greens) and the white bean salad. *drool*
The restaurant hosts community dinners on sunday, can't wait to try that out!
P.S.: *yay*! My first restaurant posting :)
The restaurant hosts community dinners on sunday, can't wait to try that out!
P.S.: *yay*! My first restaurant posting :)
Bitter:Sweet - short but sweet, very sweet!
Bitter:Sweet performed at the Triple Door last friday. And they were fantastic! Shana Halligan's sensuous voice and Kiran Shahani's haunting melodies made us happy! The accompaniments were great, but there was this one guy who was ostensibly scratching, but oh! so quietly that we could hear nothing of it :)
The Triple Door is a fabulous venue, but this kind of music begs for dancing room, so we're really hoping they hit the Showbox or Bumbershoot next time around. Also, the duo apparently performed all songs off their debut album (The Mating Game), but it seemed like they barely lasted 45 minutes. Time to release a new album!
The Triple Door is a fabulous venue, but this kind of music begs for dancing room, so we're really hoping they hit the Showbox or Bumbershoot next time around. Also, the duo apparently performed all songs off their debut album (The Mating Game), but it seemed like they barely lasted 45 minutes. Time to release a new album!
Monday, March 12, 2007
Vision and the Brain
This was a fun set of lectures! Part of the UW Psychology Lecture Series, the first talk by Dr.Murray focused on complexities of object perception in terms of size, brightness, etc. I loved how he started off his lecture with a couple of puzzles (similar to these) that demonstrated how deceptive visual perception can be. The latter part of his talk - about which parts of the brain ostensibly impact perception and interpretation as against just relaying electrical signals seemed to get a little muddier (not surprising given I'm less than a novice at this :)), but was still really interesting (http://faculty.washington.edu/somurray/research.html).
The second lecture by Dr.Goodale focused on how separate parts of the brain seem to be responsible for perceiving objects versus reacting to them. His subject of research was this woman who had sustained severe brain damage in the dorsal stream due to carbon monoxide poisoning - which affected her sense of perception, but left her capacity for controlled action (in response to visual impulses) intact! The latter is apparently controlled by the ventral stream, which in her case was unaffected. Her reactions were really intriguing - she was unable to recognize a pencil for what it is, but when the pencil was handed to her, she held out her palm in the correct position so as to be able to grab it. Her brain was able to receive the electrical signals corresponding to the image of the pencil, but she was not able to perceive what it was, though her brain was able to control her physical reaction to it. (http://psychology.uwo.ca/faculty/goodale/research/).
*sigh*. That probably doesn't sound very cogent!
The second lecture by Dr.Goodale focused on how separate parts of the brain seem to be responsible for perceiving objects versus reacting to them. His subject of research was this woman who had sustained severe brain damage in the dorsal stream due to carbon monoxide poisoning - which affected her sense of perception, but left her capacity for controlled action (in response to visual impulses) intact! The latter is apparently controlled by the ventral stream, which in her case was unaffected. Her reactions were really intriguing - she was unable to recognize a pencil for what it is, but when the pencil was handed to her, she held out her palm in the correct position so as to be able to grab it. Her brain was able to receive the electrical signals corresponding to the image of the pencil, but she was not able to perceive what it was, though her brain was able to control her physical reaction to it. (http://psychology.uwo.ca/faculty/goodale/research/).
*sigh*. That probably doesn't sound very cogent!
Zodiac
I *love* Mark Ruffalo! He rocked in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and in In the Cut. And he was my favorite part of Zodiac.
The movie was a tad bit too long, but pretty well paced. I really liked the fact that it seemed like a regular telling of a not completely solved mystery, not a souped-up drama revolving around some superstar detective. And it didn't focus on blood and gore (surprising for Fincher after Seven and Fight Club!), but more on how the series of random killings consumed the lives of these people trying to solve the mystery.
I liked it!
The movie was a tad bit too long, but pretty well paced. I really liked the fact that it seemed like a regular telling of a not completely solved mystery, not a souped-up drama revolving around some superstar detective. And it didn't focus on blood and gore (surprising for Fincher after Seven and Fight Club!), but more on how the series of random killings consumed the lives of these people trying to solve the mystery.
I liked it!
Planet India
Ok, back after a hiatus - *too* much of work!
Last friday, Mira Kamdar was a guest speaker at the Elliott Bay Book Company - she was reading from her latest book Planet India. It was quite interesting, we went to the event expecting to see a whole slew of desis curious to hear more about everything that is hip about India, but we encountered a mostly non-indian crowd with just a smattering of desi faces. Mira's book seems to revolve around the premise that India, with its growing worldliness and booming economy can be a microcosmic representation of the world. I'm yet to read her book, but it was fascinating to hear her talk about her attempt to get a pulse on India's meteoric transformation in recent years.
Most desis are extremely conversant in english (courtesy of the British Raj) - this has definitely helped make India all the more attractive as an outsourcing destination. In response to Mira's positive comments about the ubiquity of the english language in India, an older gentleman commented about how he felt native languages were falling by the wayside and cultures were being eroded. This raises an interesting question - what is it that actually holds India together anyway? A secular country with 22 official languages, a zillion dialects and a smorgasbord of cultures, it often seems like the struggle to escape from colonization is what created this country. And if that is true, is there anything wrong in english being a strong aspect of that identity?
Last friday, Mira Kamdar was a guest speaker at the Elliott Bay Book Company - she was reading from her latest book Planet India. It was quite interesting, we went to the event expecting to see a whole slew of desis curious to hear more about everything that is hip about India, but we encountered a mostly non-indian crowd with just a smattering of desi faces. Mira's book seems to revolve around the premise that India, with its growing worldliness and booming economy can be a microcosmic representation of the world. I'm yet to read her book, but it was fascinating to hear her talk about her attempt to get a pulse on India's meteoric transformation in recent years.
Most desis are extremely conversant in english (courtesy of the British Raj) - this has definitely helped make India all the more attractive as an outsourcing destination. In response to Mira's positive comments about the ubiquity of the english language in India, an older gentleman commented about how he felt native languages were falling by the wayside and cultures were being eroded. This raises an interesting question - what is it that actually holds India together anyway? A secular country with 22 official languages, a zillion dialects and a smorgasbord of cultures, it often seems like the struggle to escape from colonization is what created this country. And if that is true, is there anything wrong in english being a strong aspect of that identity?
Thursday, March 1, 2007
Socks and Shoes!
Given how much I love being barefoot, it is no surprise that I'm totally intrigued by these socks. Though I have to wonder: What on earth made them come up with a name like "Micro Mini Socks"? Are they the tiniest of the short socks ever made? Why couldn't they just brand them toe-socks and call it good?
And speaking of toe-wear, these shoes (if we can call them that!) seem really cool. I've enjoyed barefoot running, but I'm just not close to sandy shores or soft trails where I can do it often. Maybe if I survive my marathon, I'll try these out.
And speaking of toe-wear, these shoes (if we can call them that!) seem really cool. I've enjoyed barefoot running, but I'm just not close to sandy shores or soft trails where I can do it often. Maybe if I survive my marathon, I'll try these out.
Yay for Water!
It is so exciting that the reincarnation of Deepa Mehta's Water has been getting the accolades it deserves!
It has been a long, hard road for Water. The film was initially shelved in 2000 after Hindu fundamentalists blocked filming and caused extensive damage to the sets of the movie with the Uttar Pradesh government pretty much watching the riots from the sidelines. This incident goes on India's wall of shame! Deepa is a fantastic director and the initial cast for Water included acting powerhouses Shabana Azmi and Nandita Das. But the original ensemble didn't persist when Deepa decided to remake the film 4 years later in Sri Lanka. The new cast includes Seema Biswas, Lisa Ray and John Abraham.
Water is an amazing movie - revolving around the centuries-old tradition in India of turning women into non-entities once their husbands die. Seeing the women with shaven heads, draped in white saris and walking around devoid of emotion evokes familiar images of a conservative India. And contrary to fundamentalist hindu opinion, this movie does not insult Mahatma Gandhi! Rather, it just portrays quite effectively why conservative India needed (and still needs) Gandhi's progressive thinking.
And Yay for Canada for sending Water to the Oscars!
It has been a long, hard road for Water. The film was initially shelved in 2000 after Hindu fundamentalists blocked filming and caused extensive damage to the sets of the movie with the Uttar Pradesh government pretty much watching the riots from the sidelines. This incident goes on India's wall of shame! Deepa is a fantastic director and the initial cast for Water included acting powerhouses Shabana Azmi and Nandita Das. But the original ensemble didn't persist when Deepa decided to remake the film 4 years later in Sri Lanka. The new cast includes Seema Biswas, Lisa Ray and John Abraham.
Water is an amazing movie - revolving around the centuries-old tradition in India of turning women into non-entities once their husbands die. Seeing the women with shaven heads, draped in white saris and walking around devoid of emotion evokes familiar images of a conservative India. And contrary to fundamentalist hindu opinion, this movie does not insult Mahatma Gandhi! Rather, it just portrays quite effectively why conservative India needed (and still needs) Gandhi's progressive thinking.
And Yay for Canada for sending Water to the Oscars!
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