JarJar Nixon's Blues Kitchen

http://www.cis.rit.edu/~ejipci/buddy_rich.htm

Saw the movie version of the legend a couple of nights ago. What struck me was how much the Irish houses looked like the thatched dwellings you can see in Central Vietnam's highlands.

A 'Rheingold' That Stands on Its PrincipalsBy Tim Page, The Washington Post, March 27, 2006

The best way to approach Washington National Opera'snew production of Richard Wagner's "Das Rheingold," which opened Saturday night atthe Kennedy Center, is as a solid, abstract and sometimes veryattractive updating of a classic.In short, forget most of what you might have read about this beingthe first installment of an "American 'Ring' " -- that is, a staging of Wagner's four-evening "Ring" cycle based on what WNO callsthe "rich history of the United States."

It isn't,unless you count as pointed political commentary, dressing up the earthgoddess Erdalike the lady on the Land O' Lakes box, castingAfrican Americans inthe roles of the captive Nibelungs, and having thegiants Fafner andFasolt bop and swagger like wild 'n' crazy guyconstruction workers.Perhaps the next three operas in the series -- a new"Die Walkure"will enter the repertoire next season, with"Siegfried"and "Gotterdammerung" promised for later -- will deepen the American subtext....

Did u read The Historian? If so, you will get goose bumps from this:

I am in the middle of the book--about chasing vampires through Eastern Europe, especially Romania and Turkey; semi-good writing filled with oodles of 'coincidences'--and last night at a reception I ran into...the Romanian Ambassador to Korea. Of course, his necktie was the color of ...blood red.

Surely more terrifying than V for Vendetta could ever be...

http://michaelmelcher.blogspot.com/

http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20060301faessay85202/paul-r-pillar/intelligence-policy-and-the-war-in-iraq.html

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/03/24/politics/main1434576.shtml

Environment: New Reptile Found in Vietnam

120 words 21 March 2006 Vietnam News Brief Service English (c) 2006 Toan Viet Limited Company. All rights reserved.

Scientists from the Vietnam Institute for Ecology and Creature Resource and the Russian Saint Petersburg Institute for Animals have recently discovered a new lizard species in central Vietnam and southern Laos. The newly-found animal scientifically known as Acanthosaura Nataliae was identified in Danang City, Quang Nam, Gia Lai and Kon Tum provinces of Vietnam, and Saravani and Xekong provinces in Laos.

The lizard is supposed to belong to the Natalia salamander family. Earlier, a new species of Tai lizard was found for the first time in the world at the Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park in Vietnam

Darrin McGavin from Night Stalker fame passed away a mnth or so ago; I didn't realize it until reading Entertainment Weekly just now. A great, 1970s TV series that later inspired the creators of the X-Files. He was also the dad in the movie version of Jean Shepherd's A Christmas Story.

Jean Shepherd was on e of the greatest humoroists ever to emerge from New Jersey.

A blood clot the size of a marble fell out of my nose last night. Allergy season. Too dry, too much pollen, too much yellow sand from China, too muck Claritin. Yuck.

My local morning DJ bears an uncanny resemblance to the Great Missing Thom Burger...

http://afnkorea.net/Yongsan/showdj.asp?DJID=27547

Thanks, Dr. Jo, for your advice on those two Spanish books I ordered through Ebay that never showed up. I left negative feedback. Is there anything else I can do?

http://search.hankooki.com/times/times_view.php?term=ogburn++&path=hankooki3/times/lpage/nation/200603/kt2006031516000444430.htm&media=kt

The following are Vietnam related presentations, from the upcoming Association for Asian Studies conference, to be held at the Marriott hotel in San Francisco, Thursday April 6 to Sunday April 9.

See http://www.aasianst.org/annmtg.htm for more details on the conference:

THURSDAY SESSION 5. 7:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m. Nob Hill B - Lower B2 Level Individual Papers. Issues in Contemporary Political Economy: East and Southeast Asia Chaired by Paul Hutchcroft, University of Wisconsin, Madison Health Provision, Inequality, and Decentralized State Finance in Vietnam Jonathan London, Nanyang Technological University

SESSION 9. 7:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m. Sierra Suite H - 5th Floor University Culture, Literature, and Language in Southeast Asian Studies - Sponsored by COTSEAL Chaired by Ruth Mabanglo, University of Hawaii, Manoa Cultural Politics in Southeast Asian Language Instruction Mariam Beevi Lam, University of California, Riverside South Vietnam Literature: 1954-1975 Period Quyen Di Chuc Bui, University of California, Los Angeles

FRIDAY SESSION 49. 10:45 a.m.-12:45 p.m. Nob Hill B - Lower B2 Level Governing Reproduction: Women's Bodies in Vietnamese Society, 1600- 2005 Chaired by Frank Proschan, Smithsonian Institution Goodwives versus Dangerous Nuns: Problems with the "Chaste" in Early Modern Vietnam Nhung Tuyet Tran, University of Toronto The Natural Laws of Reproduction and Inheritance in Nguyen Vietnam C. Michele Thompson, Southern Connecticut State University The 1986 Law on Marriage and the Family: Codifying a New Reproductive Space Harriet M. Phinney, University of Washington Codifying Reproduction: Uterine Identity and New Reproductive Technologies in Contemporary Vietnam Melissa J. Pashigian, Bryn Mawr College Discussant: Frank Proschan, Smithsonian Institution

SESSION 66. 10:45 a.m.-12:45 p.m. Yerba Buena Salon 9 - Lower B2 Level Poster Sessions R`m Thang Bay: Offerings to Wandering Spirits in Contemporary Vietnam Margaret B. Bodemer, University of Hawaii, Manoa Universities They and We: Trust and Suspicion on a Vietnamese-American Spiritual Journey Karen Fjelstad, San Jose State University Settling the "Nomads": 100 Years of Sedentarization Policies towards Ethnic Minorities in Vietnam Pam McElwee, Arizona State University Illinois, Urbana-Champaign SESSION 67. 1:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m. Yerba Buena Salon 4 - Lower B2 Level Politics and Problems in the Production of Knowledge about Southeast Asia - Sponsored by the Southeast Asia Council Chaired by John Sidel, London School of Economics Economic Ideology and the Mismeasurement of Poverty: The Case of the Vietnam Household Living Standards Survey Jonathan Pincus, United Nations Development Programme

SESSION 69. 1:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m. Yerba Buena Salon 1 - Lower B2 Level Religion in East and Southeast Asia: Transformation in Regional Perspective Chaired by Thomas DuBois, National University of Singapore [none specifically on vietnam]

SESSION 72. 1:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m. Nob Hill B - Lower B2 Level Bodies in Motion: New Paths into Vietnam's Past Chaired by Erica J. Peters, Independent Scholar The Changing Motions of Meals in Vietnam, 1820-1920 Erica J. Peters, Independent Scholar Locating and Relocating Children: Vietnamese Feminists and the Colonial Orphanage System in the 1930s. Christina E. Firpo, University of California, Los Angeles The Bac Hung Hai Irrigation Project: Willow - B2 Level Motor-Powered Mekong: The Vietnamese-"Kohler" Revolution in the Delta David A. Biggs, University of California, Riverside Discussant: Peter Zinoman, University of California, Berkeley

SESSION 96. 3:15 p.m.-5:15 p.m. Pacific Suite C - 4th Floor Local Institutional Innovation under Decentralized Government: Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam Chaired by Alasdair Bowie, George Washington University Innovating Economic Governance in Provincial Vietnam: Luring the Private Sector in North, Central, and Southern Regions Alasdair Bowie, George Washington University Special events, Friday 7 pm: Vietnam Studies Group - Pacific Suite C - 4th Floor

SATURDAY SESSION 118. 8:30 a.m.-10:30 a.m. Sierra Suite H - 5th Floor Southeast Asia's Changing Security Environment: New and Conflicting Views from Within Chaired by Donald K. Emmerson, Stanford University Bending ASEAN Norms to Secure the Straits of Malacca: New Forms of Multilateral Security Cooperation in Southeast Asia Michael S. Malley, Naval Postgraduate School Toward the Creation of a Jakarta- Beijing Axis? Ignatius W. Wibisono, Center for Chinese Studies Fighting the Yankees Again? Vietnamese Security Perceptions, Military Planning, and the Role of Psychology and Ideology Tuong H. Vu, Naval Postgraduate School Thai Alignment Behavior: Bandwagoning, Balancing, or Bending with the Wind? Ann Marie Murphy, Seton Hall University Discussant: Donald K. Emmerson, Stanford University

SESSION 139. 10:45 a.m.-12:45 p.m. Pacific Suite C - 4th Floor The Literary Culture of South Vietnam Chaired by Jason A. Picard, University of California, Berkeley Tangible Objects: Materiality in South Vietnamese and Diasporic Writings Thu-huong Nguyen-vo, University of California, Los Angeles Poisoned Waters: Vietnamese Youth in the Works of Duong Nghiem Mau Jason A. Picard, University of California, Berkeley Espionage and Responses to the "Foreign" in the Literature of South Vietnam Duy Nguyen, University of California, Irvine Death, Buddhism, and Existentialism in the Lyrics of Trinh Cong Son John C. Schafer, Humboldt State University Discussant: Cam N. Nguyen, University of California, Berkeley

SESSION 140. 10:45 a.m.-12:45 p.m. Nob Hill C - Lower B2 Level Cultural Commodities, Production, and Power in Southeast Asia Chaired by B. Lynne Milgram, Ontario College of Art & Design Foreign Yet Local: Silk Entrepreneurs and National Identity in Southeast Asia Sandra Cate, San Jose State University Food and Textiles as Fluid Markers of Identity in Lao PDR Penelope Van Esterik, York University Reclaimed, Reused, Recycled: Developing Fair(er) Alternatives in Work in the Philippines B. Lynne Milgram, Ontario College of Art & Design New Trades in Old Textiles: Commodity Flows in Northern Vietnam Sarah Turner, McGill University Discussant: Jean Michaud, University of Montreal

SESSION 161. 2:45 p.m.-4:45 p.m. Nob Hill D - Lower B2 Level Individual Papers. Modern Developments and Popular Culture Chaired by Nancy J. Smith- Hefner, Boston University Doing Their Duty: Achievement Motivation in Vietnamese Children and Teenager Kathleen Carlin, Tulane University

SESSION 179. 5:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m. Yerba Buena Salon 4 - Lower B2 Level Society and Circulation in Eastern Eurasia Chaired by John E. Wills, Jr., University of Southern California The Myth of Vietnam's Poor Center: Region, Circulation, and Political Economy in 500-Year Perspective Charles Wheeler, University of California, Irvine The Age of Gem Trade in Asian History, c. 1279-1911 Laichen Sun, California State University, Fullerton Interregional Circulation, Chinese Migration, and the Transformation of Southwest China C. Pat Giersch, Wellesley College Discussants: Alexander Woodside, University of British Columbia John E. Wills, Jr., University of Southern California College

SESSION 185. 5:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m. Sierra Suite J - 5th Floor Vexed Relations: Rethinking the Second Indochina War through the Perspectives of the South Vietnamese and their Military Allies Chaired by Larry Berman, University of California, Davis


From Friend to Enemy: Relations between Cambodian and South Vietnamese Armed Forces during the Second Indochina War Lien-Hang Thi Nguyen, Harvard University The Value of "Local Knowledge": Assessing the Historical and Cultural Contribution of Thailand's Forces in South Vietnam, 1967-1972 Richard A. Ruth, Cornell University Journeys of Reconciliation through Landscapes of Memory in Vietnam Christina Schwenkel, Stanford University Discussant: Edward G. Miller, Dartmouth College Saturday evening 7:15 pm, special events: University of California Press, Journal of Vietnamese Studies Reception - Sierra Suite C - 5th Floor Sunday

SESSION 207. 8:30 a.m.-10:30 a.m. Sierra Suite H - 5th Floor Vietnam Keywords Chaired by Christophe Robert, Princeton University "The Fight against Social Evils is Every Family's Responsibility": Old Keywords, New Politics in Contemporary Vietnam Christophe Robert, Princeton University Marital Infidelity through the Metaphor of Com (Rice) and Pho (Noodle): Social Practice versus State Policy Binh Ngo, Cornell University The Petrified Motion of "Hoa": On "Becoming Urban", and "Becoming Culture" in the Vietnamese Sense Erik Harms, Duke University Grassroots Democracy + Transparency = Growth? A Critical Inquiry into Keywords used in Vietnam 's Campaign for Poverty Reduction Hong T. Bui, Cornell University Discussant: Dat Bao, Assumption University

<http://www.journeyfromthefall.com/index.asp>

Journey From The Fall Journey From The Fall at the <http://www.asianamericanfilmfestival.org/films/film_detail.php?i=61> 24th San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival Thursday, March 23, 2006 7:00 PM

The first major American film to dramatize the traumatic aftermath of the Vietnam War from a Vietnamese perspective, Ham Tran's impressive feature-length debut delves into the stories of those left behind after the fall of Saigon.

http://global-tour.daegu.go.kr/eng/guide/notice_view.asp?notice_gubun=news¬ice_cd=0000000115&p_page=

"The Producers" is currently showing in Daegu, my old stomping ground. "Grease" opens next month. Real live, full-cast musicals.

When I saw "Wayne's World" in a movie theater Daegu about 14 years ago, not a single person got the jokes. Good and bad I guess, that no one knew what Garth meant when he told his buddy he could hurl in a tiny paper cup.

http://techweb.com/wire/security/181502468

Don't use your debit card if you have to enter your PIN #.

Vietnam Update 2006Dilemmas in Difference: New Approaches to Ethnic Minorities in Vietnam

The Australian National University, Canberra, 23-24 November 2006

The Vietnam Update for 2006 addresses the topic of ethnic minorities in Vietnam.

The organisers are now calling for papers that seek to make a significant empirical and conceptual contribution to understanding minority ethnicities in Vietnam. The signature theme of the conference is 'challenging stereotypes'. This emphasis reflects our belief that untested assumptions, a lack of solid research, and insufficient attention to the voices of ethnic minority people, have flawed too much of the existing literature on ethnic minorities in Vietnam. Having identified these problems, the 2006 Vietnam Update aims to provide a forum for a critical engagement between old ideas and new research. To that end, we are seeking contributors who want to make an informed, richly illustrated, and critical contribution to our theme, in ways that have the potential to change knowledge about ethnic minorities in Vietnam.
For further information, please contact any of the following organizers:
Convener: Li Tana, Division of Pacific and Asian History, RSPAS, The Australian National University. Email: tana.li@anu.edu.au

Russell Heng, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore. Email: russell@mail.iseas.edu.sg

Ben Kerkvliet, Dept. of Political and Social Change, RSPAS, The Australian National University.
Email: ben.kerkvliet@anu.edu.au

David Koh, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore. Email: davidkoh@iseas.edu.sg

David Marr, Division of Pacific and Asian History, RSPAS, The Australian National University. Email: dgm405@coombs.anu.edu.au

Philip Taylor, Dept. of Anthropology, RSPAS, The Australian National University. Email: philip.taylor@anu.edu.au

Philip TaylorDepartment of AnthropologyResearch School of Pacific and Asian StudiesThe Australian National UniversityCanberra ACT 0200Phone: +61-2-612 52300Email: philip.taylor@anu.edu.au

http://www.democracyarsenal.org/

I think I'll add this one to my regular links...

James Brown is the Prime Minister of Soul!

(Note: would be interesting to know who his cellmate is; I think this is the case that developed last year.)


Agence France Presse -- English March 4, 2006

Vietnam town relieved Glitter behind bars

DATELINE: VUNG TAU, Vietnam, March 4 2006 BODY: Many in this southern Vietnamese resort town breathed a sigh of relief after former British glam rocker Gary Glitter was jailed for three years for child sex abuse.

The faded 61-year-old star was sentenced Friday for repeatedly molesting two local girls aged 11 and 12 last year behind the high walls that surround the three-bedroom bungalow he rented on the South China Sea.

On Saturday, the former king of the glam era was back behind the mouldy walls and razor wire of the local prison where, since his November arrest, he has shared a spartan cell with a corrupt Vietnamese oil industry official.

"Many people are very angry," said Pham Minh Chiem, 52, who runs a souvenir stall on a beach in Vung Tau, a popular weekend getaway for people who live in Ho Chi Minh City, 130 kilometres (80 miles) away. "He deserves to go to prison," he said. "It's a question of dignity.

He violated Vietnam's people. He violated Vietnamese law and Vietnamese morality." Glitter, born Paul Francis Gadd, was convicted of committing obscene acts against children in the house that Vietnamese prosecutors say he also frequently shared with three prostitutes.

Even in a tourism and oil town notorious for its more then 400 red-light bars, karaoke joints and massage parlours, Glitter's presence had disturbed the locals since he arrived early last year. "I saw him here on the beach many times with little girls and older girls, drinking beer all day," said Nguyen Ngoc Mai, 50, who plies the beach selling tropical durian fruit she carries in her bicycle basket.

"Sometimes he spent 40 or 50 dollars on beer a day. He liked to drink beer with lemon. He drank so much, so much... Some of the girls were so young. Later I saw him on television when he was arrested."

In Glitter's neighbourhood, too, residents said they had long wondered what went on inside the stilted wooden house on Tran Phu street, where silk lanterns light an airy terrace below a traditional Vietnamese-style roof.

"Sometimes I saw him with a girl on the back of his moped, sometimes I saw him with three girls," said Le Thi Hoa, a mother of one who works close to the 1,600-dollar-a-month rental house. "I think his face was not so good, he looked like a bad man," she said, gesturing at her head in the international sign for madness. "

....The judge who presided over the closed trial, Hoang Thanh Tung, called Glitter sick and abnormal, detailing instances of fondling, oral sex and more disturbing sexual acts with the children. "We have never seen a case like this before," a senior local police official told AFP, asking not to be named. "I hope we will never meet someone like him again. I hope we will never see a second Glitter."

http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~sdenney/ecepa

Great source for contemporary docs. Thanks, Steve.

Now K., another close friend since high school, is also intimating that he may tie the knot too.