Miscellaneous Life Tidbits

[amtafs]

Men Explain Things to Me: And Other Essays by Rebecca Solnit

Song of the Day: ‘Aucun Express’ by Alain Bashung  An old college friend, that I maintain an online correspondence with, recently recommended that I read Men Explain Things to Me and swore that I would absolutely love it. As this felt like the umpteenth time that someone was recommending it to me, it seemed that I should follow their advice and read it. Women’s liberation has often been portrayed…

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[amtafs]

Life and all that it is!

Song of the Day: ‘Protocol’ by Leon Else Another rotation, another revolution and life goes on. Life goes on – it’s a classic statement that’s been made famous (and into a sitcom!) until it’s become clichéd. Yet, a passive one I think. Life goes on? No, the world moves on and so does the pattern of night and day, time moves forward, tick by tock but Life doesn’t just go on. Not unless a part of…

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[amtafs]

Zest of Youth

Song of the Day: ‘De Perros Amores’ by Control Machete There are some movies that really impact one and leave a far greater impression than one might like to admit. I first watched Into the Wild, in the spring of 2008, and, perhaps, it was the time or the place, or even the person that I was but even though I was impressed by several things: the cinematography, the sounds, and the poignant…

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[amtafs]

A Fine Balance -- Rohinton Mistry

A Fine Balance — Rohinton Mistry

Song of the Day: ‘Ma jeunesse fout le camp’ by Françoise Hardy Some time last autumn, we were walking around uptown Whittier (one of those little towns sprawled across Southern California, one drives by but hardly ever visits) and happened upon a second-hand bookstore. It was such a cute little shop, the books on the shelves haphazardly arranged into some form of an ordering semblance. I found…

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[amtafs]

Theeb -- Beware of Wolves

Theeb — Beware of Wolves

Song of the Day: El Amaken by Mohammed Abdo I usually avoid the ‘Middle-eastern’ sub-tab under the ‘International’ section of movies on Netflix, because the selection is so limited. However, this past Friday, too tired after a long day of work and in need of entertainment; I found myself browsing the section. One of the movies caught my eye. The description read: ‘World War I: The Arabian Desert…

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[amtafs]

El Orfanato/The Orphanage

Song of the Day: Reminiscing by Ailee I was going through my very long list of movies that are still awaiting a review, and one caught my eye. The Orphanage, the 2007 film by J.A. Bayona. I remember leaving the cinema thoroughly entertained in a brilliantly, shudderingly, suspenseful manner. Anyhow, I re-watched this weekend for the purposes of this review and maybe there is a correlation between…

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[amtafs]

La Vin de Sourires

La Vin de Sourires

Song of the Day: ‘You See Big Girl’ by Hiroyuki Sawano I have been doing an overhaul of my hard drives and in the process I’m finding many pieces of writing that have hardly seen the light of day. It almost feels the same as when one finds money in the pockets in a jacket or coat that one hasn’t worn in a long time; and though you know it’s your money, it still feels like a gift. One such piece…

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[amtafs]

Imagining Islam: Can one speak of a scientific understanding of Islam, or must one rather talk about the Western way of imagining Islam?

Imagining Islam: Can one speak of a scientific understanding of Islam, or must one rather talk about the Western way of imagining Islam?

In a short account designed for a broad Western audience, it is useful and even necessary to start with that question. Ever since the 1940s when national liberation movements emerged, there have been continual debates on this issue, many of them sharp and passionate. (more…)

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[amtafs]

The Metamorphosis -- Franz Kafka

Song of the Day: ‘I Feel So Smoochie’ by Kurt Elling

“A novella about a man who finds himself transformed into a huge insect, and the effects of this change upon his life.” That was the summary on the back of the copy of The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, I recently checked out from the library to read for the purpose of this review. Now with a summary such as that, I can hardly see why one would…

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[amtafs]

The Green Butchers (De Grønne Slagtere)

The Green Butchers (De Grønne Slagtere)

Song of the Day: ‘Death’ by Made in Heights

Not knowing what to do with myself on a Saturday evening, after having spent the afternoon in bed sick and feeling sorry for myself, I decided to entertain myself with a movie.

Anywho, if you have ever seen a Scandinavian movie, you already know that they usually tend to be on the more morbid end, but this movie The Green Butchers is plain weird.

(mor…

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[amtafs]

The Hobbit Trilogy - A Lesson in Less is More

Song of the Day: ‘I See Fire’ by Ed Sheeran

In 2010 when I first heard that Peter Jackson would direct The Hobbit; I almost cried in excitement. That was soon followed by the news that it would consist of two parts. A little sceptical but still excited. Then those two movies were soon changed into threeand I was baffled. I had my reservations. And I realised my reservations were spot-on as soon…

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[amtafs]

Five Fascinating Facts about George Orwell's 1984

Five Fascinating Facts about George Orwell’s 1984

AMTAF!:

1984 by George Orwell has always been one of my favourite books. A wonderful post full of little gems by “Interesting Literature”. Quite an enjoyable read.

Originally posted on Interesting Literature:

1. George Orwell’s classic novel Nineteen Eighty-Four was published on this day, 8 June, in 1949.But this wasn’t the original title of the novel. According to the introduction to the Penguin…

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[svivus]

[amtafs]

Dance, Dance, Dance! 'Dance, when you're broken open. Dance, if you've torn the bandage off. Dance in the middle of the fighting.

[amtafs]

World's cutest Haka. How great is that kid in the middle? So passionate <3

[nevver]

Design Crush

[amtafs]

Post-Modernism - Wriggling in the Crushing Grip of Reason

Post-Modernism – Wriggling in the Crushing Grip of Reason

Song of the Day: ‘Across the Universe’ by The Beatles

Calvin and Hobbes on ‘Postmodern art’ – An aside by Bill Watterson)’

There are some conversation staples that almost always occur. Minus the weather, politics, pseudo-economics, pseudo-philosophy, words such as ‘existentialist’ and ‘post-modern’ will find their way into even the most mundane conversation. The scenarios, the definitions, the…

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