Life in Japanese Film: Donald Richie
Berkeley Arts and Letters
FORA TV
At this special evening of recollection and conversation, Donald Richie discusses Japan and his insights into Japanese culture and especially Japanese film with Tom Luddy, co-founder and current co-director of the Telluride Film Festival and an executive and film producer with American Zoetrope.
Praised by critics from Susan Sontag to Tom Wolfe, Richie is the foremost writer on Japanese culture in English. Born in Ohio in 1924, he has lived in Japan since 1947, except for time at Columbia University in the early 1950s and as curator of film at New York's Museum of Modern Art in 1968–73.
The author of some thirty books and dozens of essays, Richie is especially well known for his instrumental role in introducing Japanese film to the West and for his travel memoir The Inland Sea, which was adapted into a popular PBS documentary.
In addition to The Inland Sea, his books published by Berkeley-based Stone Bridge Press include Travels in the East, A Tractate on Japanese Aesthetics, The Donald Richie Reader, and The Japan Journals.
He recently wrote the forewords to A Critical Handbook of Japanese Film Directors by Alexander Jacoby, and Waiting on the Weather: Making Movies with Akira Kurosawa by Teruyo Nogami. Richie is also an experimental filmmaker. In 1988, he was invited to be the first guest director at the Telluride Film Festival.
To Watch the Episode
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Salty Dog Blues N Roots Podcast: Ray Manzarek N Roy Rogers; The Break; Jeff Lang; Kenny Wayne Shepard; Hillstomp; John Luke Logan; Bruce Springsteen; Fiona Boyes; Ross Neilsen N Sufferin Bastards; Alan Black; Bruce Cockburn; Backsliders; Kinks; Tedeschi Trucks Band; Bill Chambers; Sal Kimber; Greg Fingers Taylor; Transvaal Diamond Syndicate; Nancy McKeen Bluz Machine; Daryl Roberts; Jack Ladder; Ben Harper; Scott Henderson
Jewel
Salty Dog Blues N Roots Podcast (Australia)
1 Ray Manzarek N Roy Rogers -- Five And Ones
2 The Break -- Five Rocks
3 Jeff Lang -- Mama, Why You Holding Back Now
4 Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band -- Baby The Rain Must Fall
5 Hillstomp -- Little Angel Child
6 John Juke Logan -- The Truth Will Rock You
7 Bruce Springsteen -- Into The Fire
8 Fiona Boyes -- High Time
9 Ross Neilsen N Sufferin Bastards -- She Ain't You
10 Alan Black -- 3 Kinds Of Fool
11 Bruce Cockburn -- Get Up Jonah
12 Backsliders -- Bowie County
13 Kinks -- All Day And All Of The Night
14 Tedeschi Trucks Band -- Simple Things
15 Bill Chambers -- Just Dreaming
16 Sal Kimber -- Tempt The Rain
17 Greg Fingers Taylor -- Sleeping In The Ground
18 Transvaal Diamond Syndicate -- Hangman's Noose
19 Nancy McKeen Bluz Machine -- Slow Burn
20 Daryl Roberts -- Wall Of Stone
21 Jack Ladder -- The Barber's Son
22 Ben Harper -- Ground On Down
23 Scott Henderson -- Too Many Gittars
To Listen to the Episode
Salty Dog Blues N Roots Podcast (Australia)
1 Ray Manzarek N Roy Rogers -- Five And Ones
2 The Break -- Five Rocks
3 Jeff Lang -- Mama, Why You Holding Back Now
4 Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band -- Baby The Rain Must Fall
5 Hillstomp -- Little Angel Child
6 John Juke Logan -- The Truth Will Rock You
7 Bruce Springsteen -- Into The Fire
8 Fiona Boyes -- High Time
9 Ross Neilsen N Sufferin Bastards -- She Ain't You
10 Alan Black -- 3 Kinds Of Fool
11 Bruce Cockburn -- Get Up Jonah
12 Backsliders -- Bowie County
13 Kinks -- All Day And All Of The Night
14 Tedeschi Trucks Band -- Simple Things
15 Bill Chambers -- Just Dreaming
16 Sal Kimber -- Tempt The Rain
17 Greg Fingers Taylor -- Sleeping In The Ground
18 Transvaal Diamond Syndicate -- Hangman's Noose
19 Nancy McKeen Bluz Machine -- Slow Burn
20 Daryl Roberts -- Wall Of Stone
21 Jack Ladder -- The Barber's Son
22 Ben Harper -- Ground On Down
23 Scott Henderson -- Too Many Gittars
To Listen to the Episode
Making Contact: Growin’ Up, Comin’ Out, Speakin’ Proud
Growin’ Up, Comin’ Out, Speakin’ Proud
Making Contact (National Radio Project)
Every year across the country and around the world –– lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer people and those who support them gather to march, protest and celebrate. Over the past two decades, there have been profound transformations of human and civil rights for queer people in this country. Still, LGBTQ perspectives are largely absent from public discourse – especially the views of young queer people. On this edition, we hear from queer youth who are making radio to share their stories, perspectives and create social change.
Featuring:
“Dia’s Diary,” producers: Dia Fallana, Robbie Francis, Noah Miller. “Comics All Around,” producer: Thao To. “Glasnost,” producer: Alla Pekareva. “Riot Boyyy” Producer: Diego Ruiz.
To Listen to the Episode
Making Contact (National Radio Project)
Every year across the country and around the world –– lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer people and those who support them gather to march, protest and celebrate. Over the past two decades, there have been profound transformations of human and civil rights for queer people in this country. Still, LGBTQ perspectives are largely absent from public discourse – especially the views of young queer people. On this edition, we hear from queer youth who are making radio to share their stories, perspectives and create social change.
Featuring:
“Dia’s Diary,” producers: Dia Fallana, Robbie Francis, Noah Miller. “Comics All Around,” producer: Thao To. “Glasnost,” producer: Alla Pekareva. “Riot Boyyy” Producer: Diego Ruiz.
To Listen to the Episode
Publishers Weekly: Say Yes to Gay YA
Say Yes To Gay YA
By Rachel Manija Brown and Sherwood Smith
Publishers Weekly
We are published authors who co-wrote a post-apocalyptic young adult novel. When we set out to find an agent for it, we expected to get some rejections. But we never expected to be offered representation… on the condition that we make a gay character straight, or cut him out altogether.
Our novel, Stranger, has five viewpoint characters; one, Yuki Nakamura, is gay and has a boyfriend. Yuki’s romance, like the heterosexual ones in the novel, involves nothing more explicit than kissing.
An agent from a major agency, one which represents a bestselling YA novel in the same genre as ours, called us.
The agent offered to sign us on the condition that we make the gay character straight, or else remove his viewpoint and all references to his sexual orientation.
Rachel replied, “Making a gay character straight is a line in the sand which I will not cross. That is a moral issue. I work with teenagers, and some of them are gay. They never get to read fantasy novels where people like them are the heroes, and that’s not right.”
The agent suggested that perhaps, if the book was very popular and sequels were demanded, Yuki could be revealed to be gay in later books, when readers were already invested in the series.
We knew this was a pie-in-the-sky offer—who knew if there would even be sequels?—and didn’t solve the moral issue. When you refuse to allow major characters in YA novels to be gay, you are telling gay teenagers that they are so utterly horrible that people like them can’t even be allowed to exist in fiction.
LGBTQ teenagers already get told this. They are four times more likely than straight teenagers to attempt suicide. We’re not saying that the absence of LGBTQ teens in YA sf and fantasy novels is the reason for that. But it’s part of the overall social prejudice that does cause that killing despair.
We wrote this novel so that the teenagers we know—some of whom are gay, and many of whom are not white—would be able, for once, to read a fun post-apocalyptic adventure in which they are the heroes. And we were told that such a thing could not be allowed.
After we thanked the agent for their time, declined the offer, and hung up, Sherwood broke the silence. “Do you think the agent missed that Becky and Brisa [supporting characters] are a couple, too? Do they ever actually kiss on-page? No? I’M ADDING A LESBIAN KISS NOW!”
This Is Not About One Bad Apple
This isn’t about that specific agent; we’d gotten other rewrite requests before this one. Previous agents had also offered to take a second look if we did rewrites… including cutting the viewpoint of Yuki, the gay character. We wondered if that was because of his sexual orientation, but since the agents didn’t say it out loud, we could only wonder. (We were also told that it is absolutely unacceptable in YA for a boy to consensually date two girls, but that it would be okay if he was cheating and lying. And we wonder if some agents were put off because none of our POV characters are white.)
We absolutely do not believe that all our rejections were due to prejudice. We know for a fact that some of them weren’t. (An agent did offer us representation, but we ended up passing due to creative differences that had nothing to do with the identities of the characters.)
This isn’t about one agent’s personal feelings about gay people. We don’t know their feelings; they may well be sympathetic in their private life, but regard the removal of gay characters as a marketing issue. The conversation made it clear that the agent thought our book would be an easy sale if we just made that change. But it doesn’t matter if the agent rejected the character because of personal feelings or because of assumptions about the market. What matters is that a gay character would be quite literally written out of his own story.
We are avoiding names because we don’t want this story to be about one agent who spoke more bluntly than others whose objections were more indirectly expressed. Naming names can make it too easy to target a lone “villain,” who can be blamed and scolded until everyone feels that the matter has been satisfactorily dealt with.
Forcing all major characters in YA novels into a straight white mold is a widespread, systemic problem which requires long-term, consistent action.
To Read the Rest of the Essay
By Rachel Manija Brown and Sherwood Smith
Publishers Weekly
We are published authors who co-wrote a post-apocalyptic young adult novel. When we set out to find an agent for it, we expected to get some rejections. But we never expected to be offered representation… on the condition that we make a gay character straight, or cut him out altogether.
Our novel, Stranger, has five viewpoint characters; one, Yuki Nakamura, is gay and has a boyfriend. Yuki’s romance, like the heterosexual ones in the novel, involves nothing more explicit than kissing.
An agent from a major agency, one which represents a bestselling YA novel in the same genre as ours, called us.
The agent offered to sign us on the condition that we make the gay character straight, or else remove his viewpoint and all references to his sexual orientation.
Rachel replied, “Making a gay character straight is a line in the sand which I will not cross. That is a moral issue. I work with teenagers, and some of them are gay. They never get to read fantasy novels where people like them are the heroes, and that’s not right.”
The agent suggested that perhaps, if the book was very popular and sequels were demanded, Yuki could be revealed to be gay in later books, when readers were already invested in the series.
We knew this was a pie-in-the-sky offer—who knew if there would even be sequels?—and didn’t solve the moral issue. When you refuse to allow major characters in YA novels to be gay, you are telling gay teenagers that they are so utterly horrible that people like them can’t even be allowed to exist in fiction.
LGBTQ teenagers already get told this. They are four times more likely than straight teenagers to attempt suicide. We’re not saying that the absence of LGBTQ teens in YA sf and fantasy novels is the reason for that. But it’s part of the overall social prejudice that does cause that killing despair.
We wrote this novel so that the teenagers we know—some of whom are gay, and many of whom are not white—would be able, for once, to read a fun post-apocalyptic adventure in which they are the heroes. And we were told that such a thing could not be allowed.
After we thanked the agent for their time, declined the offer, and hung up, Sherwood broke the silence. “Do you think the agent missed that Becky and Brisa [supporting characters] are a couple, too? Do they ever actually kiss on-page? No? I’M ADDING A LESBIAN KISS NOW!”
This Is Not About One Bad Apple
This isn’t about that specific agent; we’d gotten other rewrite requests before this one. Previous agents had also offered to take a second look if we did rewrites… including cutting the viewpoint of Yuki, the gay character. We wondered if that was because of his sexual orientation, but since the agents didn’t say it out loud, we could only wonder. (We were also told that it is absolutely unacceptable in YA for a boy to consensually date two girls, but that it would be okay if he was cheating and lying. And we wonder if some agents were put off because none of our POV characters are white.)
We absolutely do not believe that all our rejections were due to prejudice. We know for a fact that some of them weren’t. (An agent did offer us representation, but we ended up passing due to creative differences that had nothing to do with the identities of the characters.)
This isn’t about one agent’s personal feelings about gay people. We don’t know their feelings; they may well be sympathetic in their private life, but regard the removal of gay characters as a marketing issue. The conversation made it clear that the agent thought our book would be an easy sale if we just made that change. But it doesn’t matter if the agent rejected the character because of personal feelings or because of assumptions about the market. What matters is that a gay character would be quite literally written out of his own story.
We are avoiding names because we don’t want this story to be about one agent who spoke more bluntly than others whose objections were more indirectly expressed. Naming names can make it too easy to target a lone “villain,” who can be blamed and scolded until everyone feels that the matter has been satisfactorily dealt with.
Forcing all major characters in YA novels into a straight white mold is a widespread, systemic problem which requires long-term, consistent action.
To Read the Rest of the Essay
The Marketplace of Ideas: The surreal life of Mexico City -- bilingual bicultural binational journalist Daniel Hernandez
The surreal life of Mexico City: bilingual bicultural binational journalist Daniel Hernandez
The Marketplace of Ideas (KCSB: Santa Barbara Public Radio)
Colin Marshall talks to Daniel Hernandez, bilingual bicultural binational journalist, blogger at Intersections, and author of Down and Delirious in Mexico City: The Aztec Metropolis in the 21st Century. In 2007, the Mexican-American Hernandez moved to Mexico City to explore its spirit of adventure, its multitude of youthful subcultures, its undercurrent of chaos, and its sheer day-to-day surrealism. His first book collects pieces on Mexico City subjects as far-ranging as fashion parties, kidnappings, original punk rock, death, cellphone-thieving transsexuals, a particularly intense native sauna, and the "emo riots" of 2008.
To Listen to the Episode
The Marketplace of Ideas (KCSB: Santa Barbara Public Radio)
Colin Marshall talks to Daniel Hernandez, bilingual bicultural binational journalist, blogger at Intersections, and author of Down and Delirious in Mexico City: The Aztec Metropolis in the 21st Century. In 2007, the Mexican-American Hernandez moved to Mexico City to explore its spirit of adventure, its multitude of youthful subcultures, its undercurrent of chaos, and its sheer day-to-day surrealism. His first book collects pieces on Mexico City subjects as far-ranging as fashion parties, kidnappings, original punk rock, death, cellphone-thieving transsexuals, a particularly intense native sauna, and the "emo riots" of 2008.
To Listen to the Episode
The Marketplace of Ideas: A dozen years of particularly gripping cinema -- film critic Dave Kehr
A dozen years of particularly gripping cinema: film critic Dave Kehr
The Marketplace of Ideas (KCSB: Santa Barbara, CA Public Radio)
Colin Marshall talks to Dave Kehr, former film critic at the Chicago Reader and Chicago Tribune and current DVD columnist for the New York Times. In his first collection, When Movies Mattered: Reviews from a Transformative Decade, he brings together his writings on some of the finest films and filmmakers of the mid-seventies to the mid-eighties, including Jean-Luc Godard, Manoel de Oliveira, Blake Edwards, and Albert Brooks.
To Listen to the Episode
The Marketplace of Ideas (KCSB: Santa Barbara, CA Public Radio)
Colin Marshall talks to Dave Kehr, former film critic at the Chicago Reader and Chicago Tribune and current DVD columnist for the New York Times. In his first collection, When Movies Mattered: Reviews from a Transformative Decade, he brings together his writings on some of the finest films and filmmakers of the mid-seventies to the mid-eighties, including Jean-Luc Godard, Manoel de Oliveira, Blake Edwards, and Albert Brooks.
To Listen to the Episode
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
R. Fink: Rock'n'Roll Suicide #90
Rock'n'Roll Suicide #90
by R. Fink
The Garage Punk Hideout
1. Ice 9: 27.3 (Cool)
2. Dex Romweber Duo: Jungle Drums (Is That You In The Blue, Bloodshot)
3. Cum Stain: Broke My Dick (You Should Fucking Die You Scumbag Trust Me Your Mother Won’t Miss You, Burger)
4. Ty Segall & Mikal Cronin: Suffragette City (Castle Face Group Flex, Castle Face)
5. Useless Eaters: Customer (Zulu, Gold Tapes)
6. Raydios: Turning Blue (Original Demo Recordings, Screaming Apple)
7. Bad Sports: Nothing To Do (Nashville’s Dead)
8. Total Control: No Bibs (Henge Beat, Iron Lung)
9. Eagle Boys: Taking Stock (Negative Guest List)
10. Rods: Do Anything You Wanna Do (Island)
11. Onion Dolls: The Kids (Twinkle/Last Laugh)
12. Curlee Wurlee!: Big Bang Shot (…Likes Milk, Moody Monkey)
13. Aggravation: Can’t Crush You (P.Trash)
14. Sleaze: Retro Sexy In Blue (Total Punk)
15. Spivs: I Don’t Want It (Damaged Goods)
16. PVC: Without You (Wall City Rock, Incognito)
17. Spartan Dreggs: Misery Shared (Damaged Goods)
18. Burning Itch: Say It Again (s/t, Tic Tac Totally)
19. Incredible Kidda Band: If You Think I’m Square (Too Much, Too Little, Too Late, Detour)
20. Speed: Speed Speed Speed Is Really All We Need (Real)
21. Hammer Damage: Laugh (Broken/Last Laugh)
22. Masonics: She’s My Baby (In Your Night Of Dreams And Other Foreboding Pleasures, Dirty Water)
23. Les Sexareenos: Wild Wild WIld (Live In The Bed, SFTRI)
24. Divorced: I Want To Die (Separation Anxiety, Untapped Resources)
To Listen to the Episode
by R. Fink
The Garage Punk Hideout
1. Ice 9: 27.3 (Cool)
2. Dex Romweber Duo: Jungle Drums (Is That You In The Blue, Bloodshot)
3. Cum Stain: Broke My Dick (You Should Fucking Die You Scumbag Trust Me Your Mother Won’t Miss You, Burger)
4. Ty Segall & Mikal Cronin: Suffragette City (Castle Face Group Flex, Castle Face)
5. Useless Eaters: Customer (Zulu, Gold Tapes)
6. Raydios: Turning Blue (Original Demo Recordings, Screaming Apple)
7. Bad Sports: Nothing To Do (Nashville’s Dead)
8. Total Control: No Bibs (Henge Beat, Iron Lung)
9. Eagle Boys: Taking Stock (Negative Guest List)
10. Rods: Do Anything You Wanna Do (Island)
11. Onion Dolls: The Kids (Twinkle/Last Laugh)
12. Curlee Wurlee!: Big Bang Shot (…Likes Milk, Moody Monkey)
13. Aggravation: Can’t Crush You (P.Trash)
14. Sleaze: Retro Sexy In Blue (Total Punk)
15. Spivs: I Don’t Want It (Damaged Goods)
16. PVC: Without You (Wall City Rock, Incognito)
17. Spartan Dreggs: Misery Shared (Damaged Goods)
18. Burning Itch: Say It Again (s/t, Tic Tac Totally)
19. Incredible Kidda Band: If You Think I’m Square (Too Much, Too Little, Too Late, Detour)
20. Speed: Speed Speed Speed Is Really All We Need (Real)
21. Hammer Damage: Laugh (Broken/Last Laugh)
22. Masonics: She’s My Baby (In Your Night Of Dreams And Other Foreboding Pleasures, Dirty Water)
23. Les Sexareenos: Wild Wild WIld (Live In The Bed, SFTRI)
24. Divorced: I Want To Die (Separation Anxiety, Untapped Resources)
To Listen to the Episode
H. Patricia Hynes: The Military Assault on Global Climate
The Military Assault on Global Climate
by H. Patricia Hynes
Truth-Out
By every measure, the Pentagon is the largest institutional user of petroleum products and energy ... Yet, the Pentagon has a blanket exemption in all international climate agreements ... Any talk of climate change which does not include the military is nothing but hot air, according to Sara Flounders.
It's a loophole [in the Kyoto Convention on Climate Change] big enough to drive a tank through, according to the report " A Climate of War."
In 1940, the US military consumed one percent of the country's total energy usage; by the end of World War II, the military's share rose to 29 percent.(1) Oil is indispensable for war.
Correspondingly, militarism is the most oil-exhaustive activity on the planet, growing more so with faster, bigger, more fuel-guzzling planes, tanks and naval vessels employed in more intensive air and ground wars. At the outset of the Iraq war in March 2003, the Army estimated it would need more than 40 million gallons of gasoline for three weeks of combat, exceeding the total quantity used by all Allied forces in the four years of World War 1. Among the Army's armamentarium were 2,000 staunch M-1 Abrams tanks fired up for the war and burning 250 gallons of fuel per hour.(2)
The US Air Force (USAF) is the single largest consumer of jet fuel in the world. Fathom, if you can, the astronomical fuel usage of USAF fighter planes: the F-4 Phantom Fighter burns more than 1,600 gallons of jet fuel per hour and peaks at 14,400 gallons per hour at supersonic speeds. The B-52 Stratocruiser, with eight jet engines, guzzles 500 gallons per minute; ten minutes of flight uses as much fuel as the average driver does in one year of driving! A quarter of the world's jet fuel feeds the USAF fleet of flying killing machines; in 2006, they consumed as much fuel as US planes did during the Second World War (1941-1945) - an astounding 2.6 billion gallons.(3)
Barry Sanders observes with a load of tragic irony that, while many of us assiduously reduce our carbon footprint through simpler living, eating locally, recycling and reusing, energy conservation, taking public transportation, installing solar panels, and so on, the single largest institutional polluter and contributor to global warming - the US military - is immune to climate change concerns. The military reports no climate change emissions to any national or international body, thanks to US arm-twisting during the 1997 negotiations of the first international accord to limit global warming emissions, the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change. To protect the military from any curbs on their activities, the United States demanded and won exemption from emission limits on "bunker" fuels (dense, heavy fuel oil for naval vessels) and all greenhouse gas emissions from military operations worldwide, including wars. Adding insult to injury, George W. Bush pulled the United States out of the Kyoto Protocol as one of the first acts of his presidency, alleging it would straitjacket the US economy with too costly greenhouse emissions controls. Next, the White House began a neo-Luddite campaign against the science of climate change. In researching "The Green Zone: The Environmental Costs of Militarism," Sanders found that getting war casualty statistics out of the Department of Defense (DoD) is easier than getting fuel usage data.
To Read the Rest of the Essay
More Resources:
H. Patricia Hynes: War and the Tragedy of the Commons
by H. Patricia Hynes
Truth-Out
By every measure, the Pentagon is the largest institutional user of petroleum products and energy ... Yet, the Pentagon has a blanket exemption in all international climate agreements ... Any talk of climate change which does not include the military is nothing but hot air, according to Sara Flounders.
It's a loophole [in the Kyoto Convention on Climate Change] big enough to drive a tank through, according to the report " A Climate of War."
In 1940, the US military consumed one percent of the country's total energy usage; by the end of World War II, the military's share rose to 29 percent.(1) Oil is indispensable for war.
Correspondingly, militarism is the most oil-exhaustive activity on the planet, growing more so with faster, bigger, more fuel-guzzling planes, tanks and naval vessels employed in more intensive air and ground wars. At the outset of the Iraq war in March 2003, the Army estimated it would need more than 40 million gallons of gasoline for three weeks of combat, exceeding the total quantity used by all Allied forces in the four years of World War 1. Among the Army's armamentarium were 2,000 staunch M-1 Abrams tanks fired up for the war and burning 250 gallons of fuel per hour.(2)
The US Air Force (USAF) is the single largest consumer of jet fuel in the world. Fathom, if you can, the astronomical fuel usage of USAF fighter planes: the F-4 Phantom Fighter burns more than 1,600 gallons of jet fuel per hour and peaks at 14,400 gallons per hour at supersonic speeds. The B-52 Stratocruiser, with eight jet engines, guzzles 500 gallons per minute; ten minutes of flight uses as much fuel as the average driver does in one year of driving! A quarter of the world's jet fuel feeds the USAF fleet of flying killing machines; in 2006, they consumed as much fuel as US planes did during the Second World War (1941-1945) - an astounding 2.6 billion gallons.(3)
Barry Sanders observes with a load of tragic irony that, while many of us assiduously reduce our carbon footprint through simpler living, eating locally, recycling and reusing, energy conservation, taking public transportation, installing solar panels, and so on, the single largest institutional polluter and contributor to global warming - the US military - is immune to climate change concerns. The military reports no climate change emissions to any national or international body, thanks to US arm-twisting during the 1997 negotiations of the first international accord to limit global warming emissions, the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change. To protect the military from any curbs on their activities, the United States demanded and won exemption from emission limits on "bunker" fuels (dense, heavy fuel oil for naval vessels) and all greenhouse gas emissions from military operations worldwide, including wars. Adding insult to injury, George W. Bush pulled the United States out of the Kyoto Protocol as one of the first acts of his presidency, alleging it would straitjacket the US economy with too costly greenhouse emissions controls. Next, the White House began a neo-Luddite campaign against the science of climate change. In researching "The Green Zone: The Environmental Costs of Militarism," Sanders found that getting war casualty statistics out of the Department of Defense (DoD) is easier than getting fuel usage data.
To Read the Rest of the Essay
More Resources:
H. Patricia Hynes: War and the Tragedy of the Commons
Monday, September 12, 2011
On the Media: The Wall Street Journal Disappears an Error
The Wall Street Journal Disappears an Error
On the Media (WNYC: New York City Public Radio)
In the wake of the Oslo attacks, The Wall Street Journal published an editorial blaming the violence on Islamic extremists. When further reporting revealed that the killer wasn’t a Muslim, the Journal changed its editorial online without issuing any sort of correction. Craig Silverman, who tracks newspaper corrections at his website Regret the Error, tells Bob that the Journal acted dishonestly.
To Listen to the Episode
On the Media (WNYC: New York City Public Radio)
In the wake of the Oslo attacks, The Wall Street Journal published an editorial blaming the violence on Islamic extremists. When further reporting revealed that the killer wasn’t a Muslim, the Journal changed its editorial online without issuing any sort of correction. Craig Silverman, who tracks newspaper corrections at his website Regret the Error, tells Bob that the Journal acted dishonestly.
To Listen to the Episode
Classics Off the Beaten Path: Performance (UK: Donald Cammell and Nicholas Roeg, 1970)
Showing this film at the Downtown Library at 7pm tonight -- free and open to the public.
On the Media: For Reporter John Conroy, A Torture Story Without End
For Reporter John Conroy, A Torture Story Without End
On the Media (WNYC: New York City public radio)
... former police commander Jon Burge was convicted after 30 years of accusations that he’d tortured dozens of suspects on Chicago’s South Side. It should have been the satisfying culmination of decades of single-minded investigative reporting on the story by longtime Chicago reporter John Conroy. But as Conroy explains, not all is as it appears to be.
To Listen to the Episode
On the Media (WNYC: New York City public radio)
... former police commander Jon Burge was convicted after 30 years of accusations that he’d tortured dozens of suspects on Chicago’s South Side. It should have been the satisfying culmination of decades of single-minded investigative reporting on the story by longtime Chicago reporter John Conroy. But as Conroy explains, not all is as it appears to be.
To Listen to the Episode
Making Contact: Survivors of Solitary Confinement
Survivors of Solitary Confinement
Making Contact (National Radio Project)
President Obama recently declared that “we have banned torture without exception.” However, some would take exception to this claim. The practice of isolating a person in solitary confinement for extended periods of time causes severe sensory deprivation and has been denounced as torture by the United Nations. But tens of thousands are locked up in solitary confinement in American prisons. Producer Claire Schoen met nine formerly incarcerated people, who described what it’s like not to talk to or touch another person, for years at a time
Featuring:
Hakeem Shaheed, Laura Whitehorn, Robert Dellalo, Bilal Sunni Ali, Munirah El Bumani, Ray Luc Levasseur, Tommy Escarciga, Diano King ArchAngel Rodriguez, and Robert King Wilkerson, solitary confinement survivors; Teresa Vaughn, mother of son who died in solitary confinement.
To Listen to the Episode
Making Contact (National Radio Project)
President Obama recently declared that “we have banned torture without exception.” However, some would take exception to this claim. The practice of isolating a person in solitary confinement for extended periods of time causes severe sensory deprivation and has been denounced as torture by the United Nations. But tens of thousands are locked up in solitary confinement in American prisons. Producer Claire Schoen met nine formerly incarcerated people, who described what it’s like not to talk to or touch another person, for years at a time
Featuring:
Hakeem Shaheed, Laura Whitehorn, Robert Dellalo, Bilal Sunni Ali, Munirah El Bumani, Ray Luc Levasseur, Tommy Escarciga, Diano King ArchAngel Rodriguez, and Robert King Wilkerson, solitary confinement survivors; Teresa Vaughn, mother of son who died in solitary confinement.
To Listen to the Episode
Sunday, September 11, 2011
HUM 230: Contemporary Japanese Literature and Culture in Translation
Building film/resource list for the Spring 2012 course -- suggestions always welcome:
Course Films
Late Spring (Japan: Yasujirô Ozu, 1949: 108 mins)
Rashomon (Japan: Akira Kurosawa, 1950: 88 mins)
Ugetsu (Japan: Kenji Mizoguchi, 1953: 94 mins)
Gojira (Japan: Ishirô Honda, 1954: 96 mins)
Hara Kiri (Japan: Masaki Kobayashi, 1962: 133 mins)
Under the Flag of the Red Sun (Japan: Kinji Fukasaku, 1972: 96 mins)
In the Realm of the Senses (Japan: Nagisa Ôshima, 1976: 109 mins)
Ghost in the Shell (Japan: Mamoru Oshii, 1995: 83 mins)
Fireworks (Japan: Takeshi Kitano, 1997: 103 mins)
Princess Mononoke (Japan: Hayao Miyazaki, 1997: 134 mins)
Ringu (Japan: Hideo Nakata, 1998: 96 mins)
Metropolis (Japan: Rintaro, 2001: 108 mins)
Still Walking (Japan: Hirokazu Koreeda, 2008: 115 mins)
Books:
Bolton, Christopher, Istvan Csicsery-Ronay Jr., and Takayuki Tatsumi, ed. Robot Ghosts and Wired Dreams: Japanese Science Fiction From Origins to Anime. Minneapolis: U of Minnesota Press, 2007.
Nitobe, Inazo. Bushido: The Soul of Japan. (Originally published 1904: Author's Edition, Revised and Enlarged 13th EDITION 1908) More print versions available at Project Gutenberg. Audio reading available here.
Fiction:
Murakami, Haruki. "On seeing the 100% perfect girl one beautiful April morning."
Websites/Podcasts/Archives:
About Japan: A Teacher's Resource
Akira Kurosawa: News, Information and Discussion
Anime World Order Podcast
Japan Society (New York)
Japan Society Film Blog
Midnight Eye: Visions of Japanese Cinema
A Short History of Japan
Toronto J-Film Pow-Wow
VCinema: Asian Cinema
Individual Articles/Chapters/Films/Videos/Audios:
"Akira Kurosawa." British Film Institute (Archive of Features)
Anderson, Sam. "The Fierce Imagination of Haruki Murakami." The New York Times (10/23/2011)
Brown, Steven T. "Machinic Desires: Hans Bellmer's Dolls and the Technological Uncanny in Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence." Mechademia 3: Limits of the Human. ed. Frenchy Lunning. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2008: 222-254.
Buchanan, Judith. "Cross-cultural Narrative Rhymes: The Shakespeare Films of Akira Kurosawa (Throne of Blood [1957], The Bad Sleep Well [1960], Ran [1985])." Shakespeare on Film NY: Pearson/Longman, 2005: 71-89. [Professor owns book -- ask for a copy of the essay]
Chaudhuri, Shohini. "East Asian Cinema." Contemporary World Cinema. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2005: 93-114. [Book available in BCTC library]
Domenig, Roland. "Proud to Be Pink: A Brief History of Kokuei." Far East Film (2011)
Fisch, Michael. "Nation, War, and Japan’s Future in the Science Fiction Anime Film Patlabor II." Science Fiction Studies 27.1 (March 2000): 49-68.
Hogg, Trevor. "Drawn to Anime: A Hayao Miyazaki Profile." Flickering Myth (May 26, 2010)
---. "Epic Dreamer: An Akira Kurosawa Profile." Flickering Myth (March 24, 2010)
Hollings, Ken. "Tokyo Must Be Destroyed: Dreams of Tall Buildings and Monsters -- Images of Cities and Monuments." CTheory (originally published in Digital Delirium. ed. Arthur Kroker and Marilouise Kroker. NY: St. Martin's Press, 1997.)
Iyer, Pico. "The World Dreamed But Not Judged." The Marketplace of Ideas (August 10, 2011)
Macias, Patrick. "Yakuzathon!" VCinema (March 24, 2010)
Napier, Susan. "When the Machine Stops: Fantasy, Reality, and Terminal Identity in Neon Genesis Evangelion and Serial Experiments: Lain." Robot Ghosts and Wired Dreams: Japanese Science Fiction From Origins to Anime. ed. Christopher Bolton, et al. Minneapolis: U of Minnesota Press, 2007: 101-122.
Noriega, Chon. "Godzilla and the Japanese Nightmare: When Them! is U.S." Aisan Cinemas ed. Dimitris Eleftheriotis and Gary Needham. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2006: 41-55.
Orbaugh, Sharalyn. "Emotional Infectivity: Cyborg Affect and the Limits of the the Human." Mechademia 3: Limits of the Human. ed. Frenchy Lunning. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2008: 150-172.
Richie, Donald. "Life in Japanese Film." FORA TV (April 21, 2009)
Tatsumi, Takayuki. "Generations and Controversies: An Overview of Japanese Science Fiction, 1957-1997." Science Fiction Studies 27.1 (2000)
Voss, Tobias. "Nuclear Blues." Japan Society (August 18, 2011)
Course Films
Late Spring (Japan: Yasujirô Ozu, 1949: 108 mins)
Rashomon (Japan: Akira Kurosawa, 1950: 88 mins)
Ugetsu (Japan: Kenji Mizoguchi, 1953: 94 mins)
Gojira (Japan: Ishirô Honda, 1954: 96 mins)
Hara Kiri (Japan: Masaki Kobayashi, 1962: 133 mins)
Under the Flag of the Red Sun (Japan: Kinji Fukasaku, 1972: 96 mins)
In the Realm of the Senses (Japan: Nagisa Ôshima, 1976: 109 mins)
Ghost in the Shell (Japan: Mamoru Oshii, 1995: 83 mins)
Fireworks (Japan: Takeshi Kitano, 1997: 103 mins)
Princess Mononoke (Japan: Hayao Miyazaki, 1997: 134 mins)
Ringu (Japan: Hideo Nakata, 1998: 96 mins)
Metropolis (Japan: Rintaro, 2001: 108 mins)
Still Walking (Japan: Hirokazu Koreeda, 2008: 115 mins)
Books:
Bolton, Christopher, Istvan Csicsery-Ronay Jr., and Takayuki Tatsumi, ed. Robot Ghosts and Wired Dreams: Japanese Science Fiction From Origins to Anime. Minneapolis: U of Minnesota Press, 2007.
Nitobe, Inazo. Bushido: The Soul of Japan. (Originally published 1904: Author's Edition, Revised and Enlarged 13th EDITION 1908) More print versions available at Project Gutenberg. Audio reading available here.
Fiction:
Murakami, Haruki. "On seeing the 100% perfect girl one beautiful April morning."
Websites/Podcasts/Archives:
About Japan: A Teacher's Resource
Akira Kurosawa: News, Information and Discussion
Anime World Order Podcast
Japan Society (New York)
Japan Society Film Blog
Midnight Eye: Visions of Japanese Cinema
A Short History of Japan
Toronto J-Film Pow-Wow
VCinema: Asian Cinema
Individual Articles/Chapters/Films/Videos/Audios:
"Akira Kurosawa." British Film Institute (Archive of Features)
Anderson, Sam. "The Fierce Imagination of Haruki Murakami." The New York Times (10/23/2011)
Brown, Steven T. "Machinic Desires: Hans Bellmer's Dolls and the Technological Uncanny in Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence." Mechademia 3: Limits of the Human. ed. Frenchy Lunning. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2008: 222-254.
Buchanan, Judith. "Cross-cultural Narrative Rhymes: The Shakespeare Films of Akira Kurosawa (Throne of Blood [1957], The Bad Sleep Well [1960], Ran [1985])." Shakespeare on Film NY: Pearson/Longman, 2005: 71-89. [Professor owns book -- ask for a copy of the essay]
Chaudhuri, Shohini. "East Asian Cinema." Contemporary World Cinema. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2005: 93-114. [Book available in BCTC library]
Domenig, Roland. "Proud to Be Pink: A Brief History of Kokuei." Far East Film (2011)
Fisch, Michael. "Nation, War, and Japan’s Future in the Science Fiction Anime Film Patlabor II." Science Fiction Studies 27.1 (March 2000): 49-68.
Hogg, Trevor. "Drawn to Anime: A Hayao Miyazaki Profile." Flickering Myth (May 26, 2010)
---. "Epic Dreamer: An Akira Kurosawa Profile." Flickering Myth (March 24, 2010)
Hollings, Ken. "Tokyo Must Be Destroyed: Dreams of Tall Buildings and Monsters -- Images of Cities and Monuments." CTheory (originally published in Digital Delirium. ed. Arthur Kroker and Marilouise Kroker. NY: St. Martin's Press, 1997.)
Iyer, Pico. "The World Dreamed But Not Judged." The Marketplace of Ideas (August 10, 2011)
Macias, Patrick. "Yakuzathon!" VCinema (March 24, 2010)
Napier, Susan. "When the Machine Stops: Fantasy, Reality, and Terminal Identity in Neon Genesis Evangelion and Serial Experiments: Lain." Robot Ghosts and Wired Dreams: Japanese Science Fiction From Origins to Anime. ed. Christopher Bolton, et al. Minneapolis: U of Minnesota Press, 2007: 101-122.
Noriega, Chon. "Godzilla and the Japanese Nightmare: When Them! is U.S." Aisan Cinemas ed. Dimitris Eleftheriotis and Gary Needham. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2006: 41-55.
Orbaugh, Sharalyn. "Emotional Infectivity: Cyborg Affect and the Limits of the the Human." Mechademia 3: Limits of the Human. ed. Frenchy Lunning. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2008: 150-172.
Richie, Donald. "Life in Japanese Film." FORA TV (April 21, 2009)
Tatsumi, Takayuki. "Generations and Controversies: An Overview of Japanese Science Fiction, 1957-1997." Science Fiction Studies 27.1 (2000)
Voss, Tobias. "Nuclear Blues." Japan Society (August 18, 2011)
Japanese Director Kaneto Shindō: On Sex
Our human existence is rooted in sex. .... It lies at the very heart of love. Though conservatives reject the very idea as dangerous, I would say that the way to save us from our own perversity is by confronting sex courageously. ... Sex brings relief from tension and enmity and leads to harmony in human relationships--husband and wife, [friends] and strangers. (109)
Kaneto Shindō, qouted in McDonald, Keiko. "Eros, Politics, and Folk Religion: Kaneto Shindō's Onobaba (1963)." Reading a Japanese Film: Cinema in Context. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2006: 108-121.
Friday, September 09, 2011
Media Education Foundation: Beyond the Frame - Alternative Perspectives on the War on Terrorism
Beyond the Frame: Alternative Perspectives on the War on Terrorism
Media Education Foundation
This DVD compilation offers a series of stand-alone interviews with some of the most prominent scholars, experts, and activists in political and social thought that critique mainstream media's coverage of the war on terrorism. This accessible format is designed to allow educators to bring the voices of these cultural analysts directly into their classrooms.
Launched in September 2001, Beyond the Frame is a series of interviews with leading scholars, experts, and activists offering alternative perspectives on the 9/11 tragedy and its aftermath. Originally a web-only project, it was a response to MEF's alarm at the dangerously restricted range of views presented by the mainstream media, largely confined to the opinions of political elites and a commercial frame dependent on advertisers and ratings.
Featuring some of the most prominent names in political and social thought: Seth Ackerman, Belquis Ahmadi, Joan Blades, Maliha Chishti, Noam Chomsky, Jo Commerford, Kevin Danaher, Cynthia Enloe, Henry Giroux, Janine Jackson, Robert Jensen, Sut Jhally, Darryl Kimball, Michael Kimmel, Mhahsa Khanbabai, Naomi Klein, Manning Marable, Mark Crispin Miller, Bernie Sanders, Ritu Sharma, Vandana Shiva, and Alisa Solomon.
Sections: Asking Why: Historical Contexts | Watching the Media | Women & the Afghan War | Homeland Insecurity | Resisting War, Defending Democracy | The Iraq War & Militarism
To See the Trailer and to Watch the Entire Documentary
Media Education Foundation
This DVD compilation offers a series of stand-alone interviews with some of the most prominent scholars, experts, and activists in political and social thought that critique mainstream media's coverage of the war on terrorism. This accessible format is designed to allow educators to bring the voices of these cultural analysts directly into their classrooms.
Launched in September 2001, Beyond the Frame is a series of interviews with leading scholars, experts, and activists offering alternative perspectives on the 9/11 tragedy and its aftermath. Originally a web-only project, it was a response to MEF's alarm at the dangerously restricted range of views presented by the mainstream media, largely confined to the opinions of political elites and a commercial frame dependent on advertisers and ratings.
Featuring some of the most prominent names in political and social thought: Seth Ackerman, Belquis Ahmadi, Joan Blades, Maliha Chishti, Noam Chomsky, Jo Commerford, Kevin Danaher, Cynthia Enloe, Henry Giroux, Janine Jackson, Robert Jensen, Sut Jhally, Darryl Kimball, Michael Kimmel, Mhahsa Khanbabai, Naomi Klein, Manning Marable, Mark Crispin Miller, Bernie Sanders, Ritu Sharma, Vandana Shiva, and Alisa Solomon.
Sections: Asking Why: Historical Contexts | Watching the Media | Women & the Afghan War | Homeland Insecurity | Resisting War, Defending Democracy | The Iraq War & Militarism
To See the Trailer and to Watch the Entire Documentary
Making Contact: Presumed Guilty - American Muslims and Arabs
Presumed Guilty: American Muslims and Arabs
Making Contact (National Radio Project)
American Arabs and Muslims are under the microscope, from Capitol Hill, to your local shopping mall. Some communities feel demonized and say they are living in fear of arrest. On this edition, we’ll hear stories about the past 10 years of America’s homeland war on Muslims and Arabs. We’ll also hear about racial profiling during previous war times.
Featuring:
Veena Dubal, Asian Law Caucus National Security and Civil Rights Program Staff Attorney; Lejla Duka, family member of the Fort Dix Five; Dominick Calsolaro, Albany Common Council Member; Noor Elashi, daughter of Ghassan Elashi of the Holy Land 5; Shaheena Parveen, mother of Siraj Matin; Marlene Jenkins, mother of Tarik Shaw; Sharmin Sadequee, sister of Shifa Sadequee; Tamer Mehanna, brother of Tariq Mehanna; Fred Korematsu, formerly interned Japanese American; John Frank, Clerk to Associate Supreme Court Justice Hugo L. Black; Tsuyako Kitashima, Nikkei for Civil Rights & Redress spokesperson; Donald Tamaki, lawyer for Fred Korematsu; Peter Irons, UC San Diego Constitutional Law Professor.
To Listen to the Episode
Making Contact (National Radio Project)
American Arabs and Muslims are under the microscope, from Capitol Hill, to your local shopping mall. Some communities feel demonized and say they are living in fear of arrest. On this edition, we’ll hear stories about the past 10 years of America’s homeland war on Muslims and Arabs. We’ll also hear about racial profiling during previous war times.
Featuring:
Veena Dubal, Asian Law Caucus National Security and Civil Rights Program Staff Attorney; Lejla Duka, family member of the Fort Dix Five; Dominick Calsolaro, Albany Common Council Member; Noor Elashi, daughter of Ghassan Elashi of the Holy Land 5; Shaheena Parveen, mother of Siraj Matin; Marlene Jenkins, mother of Tarik Shaw; Sharmin Sadequee, sister of Shifa Sadequee; Tamer Mehanna, brother of Tariq Mehanna; Fred Korematsu, formerly interned Japanese American; John Frank, Clerk to Associate Supreme Court Justice Hugo L. Black; Tsuyako Kitashima, Nikkei for Civil Rights & Redress spokesperson; Donald Tamaki, lawyer for Fred Korematsu; Peter Irons, UC San Diego Constitutional Law Professor.
To Listen to the Episode
David Wallechinsky: Why Do They Hate Us?
Why Do They Hate Us?
By David Wallechinsky
AllGov
...
Ten years after I wrote this essay, many Americans continue to insist incorrectly that the 9/11 terrorists attacked us because “they hate our freedoms.”
Back on October 11, 2001, pro-American sentiment around the world was as strong as it had been since World War II. But George W. Bush’s bullying “you’re with us or you’re against us” attitude put a quick end to that window of opportunity. When he invaded Iraq, a nation with no connection to the 9/11 attacks, he made the American reputation in other countries much, much worse.
When I first posted this piece ten years ago, some Jewish friends criticized me for saying that Israel could not survive without US financial aid. It is true that this aid represents just 1% of Israel’s gross domestic product. However, there continues to be a disconnect between the way Americans perceive their government’s Middle East policy and the way it is perceived by Muslims.
Americans like to think that we support ending dictatorships and replacing them with freedom and democracy. The US deposed Saddam Hussein in Iraq, spoke out against Hosni Mubarak in Egypt and fought against Muammar Gaddafi in Libya. But this righteousness has been selective. George W. Bush literally held hands in public with King Abdullah, the head of the Saudi dictatorship, and Barack Obama was filmed and photographed bowing down to him. When the Saudis sent troops to Bahrain to crush the pro-democracy movement, the US gave silent support. The Obama administration recently proposed dropping aid restrictions to the brutal regime of Islam Karimov in Uzbekistan. In the Muslim world, this behavior is viewed as the same old pre-9/11 strategy of ignoring the human rights abuses of despotic regimes if the dictators have something we want (usually oil or access to military bases).
The best homicide detectives, while investigating serial killers, try to understand the thinking of their adversaries. The best generals try to understand the mindset of their enemies before going into battle. The same process applies to fighting terrorism. As I said ten years ago, there is little that can be done to change the minds of fanatics. However, by looking at the actions of the United States from the point of view of potential enemies, it is possible to significantly reduce the number the people who actually try to commit terrorist acts against us.
To Read the Original Essay
By David Wallechinsky
AllGov
...
Ten years after I wrote this essay, many Americans continue to insist incorrectly that the 9/11 terrorists attacked us because “they hate our freedoms.”
Back on October 11, 2001, pro-American sentiment around the world was as strong as it had been since World War II. But George W. Bush’s bullying “you’re with us or you’re against us” attitude put a quick end to that window of opportunity. When he invaded Iraq, a nation with no connection to the 9/11 attacks, he made the American reputation in other countries much, much worse.
When I first posted this piece ten years ago, some Jewish friends criticized me for saying that Israel could not survive without US financial aid. It is true that this aid represents just 1% of Israel’s gross domestic product. However, there continues to be a disconnect between the way Americans perceive their government’s Middle East policy and the way it is perceived by Muslims.
Americans like to think that we support ending dictatorships and replacing them with freedom and democracy. The US deposed Saddam Hussein in Iraq, spoke out against Hosni Mubarak in Egypt and fought against Muammar Gaddafi in Libya. But this righteousness has been selective. George W. Bush literally held hands in public with King Abdullah, the head of the Saudi dictatorship, and Barack Obama was filmed and photographed bowing down to him. When the Saudis sent troops to Bahrain to crush the pro-democracy movement, the US gave silent support. The Obama administration recently proposed dropping aid restrictions to the brutal regime of Islam Karimov in Uzbekistan. In the Muslim world, this behavior is viewed as the same old pre-9/11 strategy of ignoring the human rights abuses of despotic regimes if the dictators have something we want (usually oil or access to military bases).
The best homicide detectives, while investigating serial killers, try to understand the thinking of their adversaries. The best generals try to understand the mindset of their enemies before going into battle. The same process applies to fighting terrorism. As I said ten years ago, there is little that can be done to change the minds of fanatics. However, by looking at the actions of the United States from the point of view of potential enemies, it is possible to significantly reduce the number the people who actually try to commit terrorist acts against us.
To Read the Original Essay
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