A Blue Moon is said to occur when there are two full moons in one calendar month. Americans had a blue moon on May 31st, with the first full moon of the month being May 2^nd). Owing to time zone differences, Europeans are enjoying a blue moon tomorrow on June 30^th. This phenomenon doesn't occur often, thus giving rise to the phrase "once in a Blue Moon" - find out about future occurances using a Blue Moon calculator. - via

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More importantly... look at the full moon today. And look at Jupiter, and Venus and Saturn in conjunction..close to each other...the really bright Venus and the small dot next to it is Saturn..

This page gives more details..

Night Sky Note for June 30, 2007

Saturday, June 30, 2007
Venus passes 0.7° to the south of Saturn. This is the best pairing of naked-eye planets this year. At 0.7°, both planets should fit into the field of view of a telescope with a wide field eyepiece. Venus is a 36% crescent. Saturn's rings are tipped 13°. Look with the telescope while the sky is still blue to get a better look at Venus' crescent shape. The Moon, which turned Full at 9:49 am EDT, will be rising in the southeast.

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Night Sky Note for June 29, 2007

Friday, June 29, 2007
Venus and Saturn are about 1° apart. Look to the west in the evening.
The asteroid "17059 Elvis" makes its closest approach to the Earth. Today, Elvis is only 135 million miles from the building. The asteroid, named to honor the King of Rock and Roll, was discovered in 1999. It's a main-belt asteroid orbiting the sun between Mars and Jupiter. 17059 Elvis is much too faint to see without a large telescope and a good finder chart.

Should Yale University return its relics of Machu Picchu? And who in Peru would actually benefit if it does? - NYT Magazine

See this slideshow with pictures of some of the relics.

Britain's Damien Hirst has been crowned the world's most expensive living artist at auction, lifting a title held for years by America's Jasper Johns. Hirst took the title on Thursday when Sotheby's sold his "Lullaby Spring" pill cabinet for 9.6 million pounds ($19.1 million).

Earlier last month, Damien Hirst had unveiled a diamond-encrusted human skull worth £50m - said to be the most expensive piece of contemporary art.

After I saw Amit's Linkastic post about the comic about Secret Worlds, I looked thru the next few.

This one is such a great demonstration of the geek being a little social-klutz and awkward when it comes to love. beautifully done..

P.S. There are many more really good ones ...do click through the rest to enjoy the series. It is 10 minutes worth spent.

Moreso today than in 1947, we have a tryst with destiny. Are we ready to shape our future?

I just read a very interesting article (via India Uncut), which was published some months back in the Bloomberg News (crossposted at IHT).

India Argues as Window of Opportunity Closes

Every modernizing society reaches a demographic inflection point where the returns from speedy -- and progressive -- economic policy-making rise exponentially. China was at that point in the early 1980s, and it made the most of it. India's clock has started ticking now.

The next 20 years are crucial. India can choose to act now and get rich, or its people can continue to argue, stay poor -- and become old. Indian policy makers can't continue to chew cud on state-asset sales, urban renewal, capital account convertibility and labor-market flexibility.

Vijay Kelkar, a former top bureaucrat in India's finance ministry, recently spelled out a pragmatic agenda for the government in his paper titled ``India's Economic Future: Moving Beyond State Capitalism.'' The paper, which Kelkar co-wrote with researcher Ajay Shah, makes suggestions that are as valuable as they are controversial. They include privatization of several government services, cash transfers to the poor, full currency convertibility and an end to exchange-rate targeting so as to make full use of monetary policy. ``This is our last chance,'' Kelkar said, presenting his paper in October last year. ``If we miss this opportunity, then we'll be in the dire straits of being a poor, aging country.''

Here is a presentation and the paper by Kelkar outlining what the Bloomberg article summarizes.

Also, some related papers:
- Connect and Catalyze
- Economic growth and India's future
- India - Strategies & Impacts
- India Rising - Faster Growth, Lower Indebtedness (World Bank)

All links above, except the last, are pdf files.

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The Bloomber article refers to Amartya Sen's Argumentative Indian (Reviews:1, 2, 3, 4. Excerpt: 1). I bought the book when I was in India earlier this year but have not started reading it yet. Late last year, I read the first 1/3rd of Sen's Identity and Violence: The Illusion of Destiny and was very impressed with his eruditeness.

Both these books are definitely a must-read...some day I shall make the time to read these instead of books like New Sudden Fiction (which is a good book actually - it is a collection of short pieces (4-7 pages long, at most), which I started reading this week. The instant gratification provided by short pieces is good for someone like me who seems to suffer from a shorter and shorter attention span as I grow older and do not seem to have the time (patience?) lately to read for hours lately... oh woe!)

"From the penthouse suspended silently so high above the winding traffic's iron lamentation, forty straight-down stories into those long, low, night-blue bars aglow below street-level, a lonely guilt pervades us all." - Nelson Algren in Nonconformity - Writing on Writing.

The book is a hotch-potch collection of essays from Nelson Algren, which were not published in the 1950s due to McCarthy's witch-hunt. (One particular essay (more about it later) really rings a bell in today's context of the "war on terrorism".) There are some really good essays in the book while some are really difficult to read and follow. The cover flap says it is full of quotable quotes and I sure enjoyed much of it, especially since he seems to share my penchant to quote others (definitely a "substitute for wit", in my case.)

For the time being, here is another gem from the first page of the book -- where Nelson quotes F. Scott Fitzgerald*

" ...that the natural state of the sentient adult is a qualified unhappiness. I think also that in an adult the desire to be finer in grain than you are.. only adds to this unhappiness in the end..."

Reading this, I am reminded of my earlier post on tristesse and Amit Varma's post where he writes:

Both make me sad in different ways, and remind me of how futile this whole game is. And so, recursively, we progress.

* Note to self: I really should invest the time to go back and read the so-called great American novel - The Great Gatsby - instead of spending time reading a number of non-descripit books, as is my wont! There are so many 19th and 20th classics that I have not read... but have read many books from the last 20-25 years that perhaps no one will remember in another 20 years even, let alone a century or two later!

In the Foreword to the Best American Poetry 2005, the series editor, David Lehman writes about a study published in April 2004 in the Journal of Death Studies that revealed that poets tend to die younger (age 62, on average) than other writes (playwrights at 63, novelists at 66, and nonfiction writers at 68).

Ofcourse this was from a study of almost 2000 dead writers from different countries and different centuries...and so the conclusions of this "study" can perhaps be easily argued against but I say only a poet could come up with an appropriate riposte to this :)

Franz Wright, who learned earlier in the same month that he had won the 2004 Pulitzer Prize in poetry, was asked to comment on Professor Kaufman's study. "Since in the U.S., the worse you write the better your chances of survival, it stands to reason that poets would be the youngest to die," he said gloomily.

Game, Set, Match... to the poets! :)

From the Best American Poetry 2005 comes this great insightful poem by Samuel Hazo, originally published in The Atlantic Monthly (subscription needed to access this link.)

Seesaws

The bigger the tomb, the smaller the man.
The weaker the case, the thicker the brief.
The deeper the pain, the older the wound.
The graver the loss, the dryer the tears.

The truer the shot, the slower the aim.
The quicker the kiss, the sweeter the taste.
The viler the crime, the vaguer the guilt.
The louder the price, the cheaper the ring.

The higher the climb, the sheerer the slide.
The steeper the odds, the shrewder the bet.
The rarer the chance, the brasher the risk.
The colder the snow, the greener the spring.

The braver the bull, the wiser the cape.
The shorter the joke, the surer the laugh.
The sadder the tale, the dearer the joy.
The longer the life, the briefer the years.

I especially liked what Hazo writes in the Contributor's notes.

"Seesaws almost created itself as a litany of balances, but all the balances seemed in conflict. Each of the things listed created its opposite, but there was always more there than simple opposition. The more I wrote, the more the irony became apparent to me. It was an irony that reminded me of a comment of Aristotle in the Poetics that the essence of drama (read: life) was the presence therein of a seeming contradiction: that the worst, for example, always happens when we think the worst is over; and that there is always a discrepancy between appearance and reality."

Started reading Best American Poetry 2005 and loved this poem by Sarah Manguso (originally published in Conduit)

Hell

The second-hardest thing I have to do is not be longing's slave.

Hell is that. Hell is that, others, having a job, and not having a
job. Hell is thinking continually of those who were truly great.

The kind of music I want to continue hearing after I am dead is
the kind that makes me think I will be capable of hearing it then.

There is music in Hell. Wind of desolation! It blows past the egg-
eyed statues. The canopic jars are full of secrets.

The wind blows through me. I open my mouth to speak.

I recite the list of people I have copulated with. It does not take long.
I say the names of my imaginary children. I call out four-syllable
words beginning with B. This is how I stay alive.

Beelzebub. Brachiosaur. Bubble-headed. I don't know how I stay alive.
What I do know is that there is a light, far above us, that goes out
when we die,

and that in Hell there is a gray tulip that grows without any sun.
It reminds me of everything I failed at,

and I water it carefully. It is all I have to remind me of you.

Also this poem (originally published in Image) by Garret Keizer was great, though admittedly I did not get it all.

Hell and Love

Hell is always grander to paint
Than the bliss of a resurrected saint;
More fun to show the lecher's doom
Tits and ass in the flicking gloom.

Yet love inspires more than hate,
A head caressed than on a plate,
And even should his colors wash,
I'd put Chagall in front of Bosch.

The passion is a painter's dream,
With hell and love a single theme --
The human body stripped to show
A death both merciful and slow.

What are you thankful for? Reading the Book of Gratitude can be an hour well spent....

1. What are you thankful for? Reading the Book of Gratitude can be an hour well spent....

2. Where are you on the Global Rich List?... (via Linkastic)

I wonder if there is a similar happiness meter and if one could plot a Happiness Index for individuals versus the Richness index, would there be a correlation? I think not....

Update: Seems people (specifically, the King of Bhutan, Jigme Singye Wangchuck) have tried to define a Gross National Happiness (GNH) index for countries in "an attempt to define quality of life in more holistic and psychological terms than Gross National Product."

Others have defined a Happy Planet Index while others study the economics of happiness.

Also, via Mefi and wikipedia:

Meet Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi- author of the book Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience which "investigates the happiness of doing, how the balance between stress/anxiety and slack/boredom effect experience and happiness, and how we can all use it to our advantage."

Csikszentmihalyi is a Professor of Psychology and has "devoted his life's work to the study of what makes people truly happy, satisfied and fulfilled" and is one of the world's leading researcher on positive psychology.[1]

In an interview with Wired magazine, Csikszentmihalyi described flow as "being completely involved in an activity for its own sake. The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz. Your whole being is involved, and you're using your skills to the utmost."[2]

And here is a Ask Mefi thread about finding flow in everyday life.

Another renowned name in the area of positive psychology is Barbara Fredrickson, who is Kenan Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the University of North Carolina where she is also Director of the Positive Emotions and Psychophysiology Laboratory.

Interesting post via BB

A new study suggests that there is a benefit to forgetting irrelevant or similar but less useful memories. According to Stanford University neuroscientist Brice Kuhl and his colleagues, suppressing certain memories reduces the cognitive load of remembering something else later on. Using fMRI to scan the brains of subjects as they performed memory tests, the researchers gained insight into the neural processing of competing memories. They published the results of the study in the current issue of the scientific journal Nature Neuroscience.

From New Scientist:

"Whenever you’re engaging in remembering, the brain adapts. It’s constantly re-weighting memories," says Kuhl. "In this simple test, we see it reverse memory to weaken competing memories. This is something that probably happens a lot in the real world."

A good example is the confusion that arises when we change passwords on our computers or email accounts. We often mix up old and new passwords at first, but through repetition we develop a strong memory of the new password and forget the old one.

Previously on BB:
• Naps improve declarative memory Link
• Better visual working memory stems from ignoring stuff Link
• Memory glasses Link

Listening to some music on Last.fm, I heard a song by Rachid Taha, an Algerian born singer, who sings mainly in Arabic.

You can see videos of him rocking here and here, a recording from a live concert with Khaled and Faudel ...and last but not least singing Rock-the-Casbah here!

Hearing him rock in arabic truly demonstrated to me how music is a universal language. Someone has to declare the freedom to enjoy music, a basic joy of life, a basic human right that should be available to every single individual. Ok.. maybe its a given.. no one has to declare anything... for the most part, music has been the refuge for human beings through trial and tribulations although totalitarian governments, like the Taliban, did try to curb and restrict it.

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P.S. Khaled was very popular in India in the 90s with his song Didi a big-hit in clubs and on TV. I quite enjoyed Khaled's song Aicha (sung in concert by Khaled and Faudel in the 2nd link). You can also hear more arabic music at this blog. Another famous Franco-Algerian singer I quite enjoy is Cheb Mami and have enjoyed his album, Meli-Meli multiple times. But Rachid and Faudel are new names to me and names to look for in the future when I am scouring the internet for some good global music!

P.P.S. Damn...what a coincidence. Here I am listening to Cheb Mami and other Rai singers and just read at the above wiki link for Cheb Mami that he was in the news just this week --- the French government has issued an international warrant to arrest Cheb Mami for jumping bail after being charged of "voluntary violence" against an ex-girlfriend.

We read and learned the poem A PSALM OF LIFE by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow as a kid and many phrases from the poem still tumble around in my head.

And so on this day, in celebration of the 90th birthday of a 'great' man.. my grand-father... a man who has lived life to its fullest and the personification of 'up and doing'....here is that gem of a poem. Wish there was reflected in me a small part of him...

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A PSALM OF LIFE

WHAT THE HEART OF THE YOUNG MAN SAID TO THE PSALMIST

Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream!
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.

Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each to-morrow
Find us farther than to-day.

Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.

In the world's broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
Be a hero in the strife!

Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant!
Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Act,--act in the living Present!
Heart within, and God o'erhead!

Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time;--

Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o'er life's solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.

Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.

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Note: A searchable database of his poems is here. Also, I did not realize that 2007 is Longfellow's bi-centennial year and that he lived for more than 45 years in Cambridge, MA and is buried in Mt. Auburn Cemetry, which I pass by often.

Garrison Keillor’s Good Poems for Hard Times claims “the meaning of poetry is to give courage.” In his critique of the book, David Orr say it’s not so: “That is not the meaning of poetry; that is the meaning of Scotch.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/13/books/review/13orr.html

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4155/is_20061231/ai_n17111397


http://www.nfsps.com/mo/ts/Poetry%20News%20001.htm
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http://www.signandsight.com/
http://www.globalprovince.com/witandwisdom.htm

As I wrote a short while back, the introduction by Garrison Keillor to his collection of poems - Good Poems for Hard Times is a vigorous sell for the power of poetry, if one was ever written.

Although reading the introduction in its entirety is highly recommended to get the full scope, I transcribe here a paragraph that struck a chord with me.

The meaning of poetry is to give courage. A poem is not a puzzle that you the dutiful reader is obliged to solve. It is meant to poke you, get you to buck up, pay attention, rise and shine, look alive, get a grip, get the picture, pull up your socks, wake up and die right. Poets have many motives for writing . .

... but what really matters about poetry and what distinguishes poets from, say, fashion models or ad salesmen is the miracle of incantation in rendering the gravity and grace and beauty of the ordinary world and thereby lending courage to strangers. This is a necessary thing. At times life becomes almost impossible, and you curl up under a blanket in a dim room behind drawn shades and you despise your life, which seems mean and purposeless, a hoax and a cheat, your shining chances all wasted, pissed away, nobody can change this or make this better, love is lost, hope gone, nothing left but to pour a glass of gin and listen to weepy music. But it can help to say words. Moaning helps. So does prayer. God hears prayer and restores the souls of the faithful. Walking helps. Many people have pulled themselves up out of the pit by the simple expedient of rising to their feet, leaning slightly forward, and putting one foot ahead of the other. Poems help.

A few more sentences later in the introduction that were also interesting.

How often in the past week did anyone offer you something from the heart? It's there in poetry. Forget everything you ever read about poetry, it doesn't matter -- poetry is the last preserve of honet speech and the outspoken heart.

and later..

Poetry is church. What animates poetry is faith, the same faith that moves the builder and the butcher.

..ending the introduction with:

This is a book of poems that if I knew you better and if you were in a hard passage I might send you one or two of along with a note, the way people used to do, believing in the bracing effect of bold writing. Whether you stole the book, bought it used or remaindered, found it on the bus, got it from your son for Christmas, I hope it does you some good. That was the reason for putting the poems together. These poems describe a common life. It is good to know about this. I hope you take courage from it.

However, like I wrote before, he does sell (and sometimes over-sell) poetry and its power.... this para below being a clear case of overstating the case :)

America is in hard times these days, the beloved country awash to the scuppers in expensive trash, gripped by persistent jitters, politics even more divorced from reality than usual, the levers of power firmly held in the hands of a cadre of Christian pirates and bullies whose cynicism is stunning, especially their perversion of the gospel to blast the poor and the meek and subvert the tax system in favor of the rich, while public institutions are put in perpetual financial crisis meanwhile newspapers dwindle in sad decline, journalism is lost in the whirlwind of amusement, and the hairy hand of the censor reaches out -- what mustn't be lost in this dank time, is the passion of young people for truth and justice and liberty -- the spirit that has kept the American porch light lit through dark ages of history -- and when this spirit is betrayed by the timid and the greedy and the naive, then we must depend on the poets. American poetry is the truest journalism we have. What your life can be, lived bravely and independently, you can discover in poetry.

Like I had written before, I started reading Bill Moyers' The language of life - a festival of poets, a collection of interviews with different poets, and particularly enjoyed the interview with Donald Hall. Reading these interviews made me want to read some good poetry and so I picked up a book of poems - coincidentally also with links to public broadcasting - Good Poems for Hard Times - selected and introduced by Garrison Keillor; as heard on The Writer's Almanac.

I started reading the introduction by Garrison Keillor - a vigorous sell for the power of poetry, if one was ever written - at 4am this morning ... but more about the introduction elsewhere.

And while it was Donald Hall who captured my imagination with his words in reading his interview in the first book, it is perhaps appropriate that amongst the first few poems I read (all good, as the title of the book suggests, it was these lines from a Jane Kenyon poem that have captured me in my waking hours this morning...

for oblivion or some condition even more
extreme, which I intuit, but can't quite name.

Some days, one does feel like this. I could never have captured this feeling in words like Jane Kenyon has so beautifully done here.

The most painful longing comes over me.
A longing not of the body....

It could be for beauty --
I mean what Keats was panting after,
for which I love and honor him;
it coould be for the promises of God,
or for oblivion, nada; or some condition even more
extreme, which I intuit, but can't quite name.
- from the poem Ice Storm, by Jane Kenyon