Passing Afternoon

Black Mona Lisa

When I use my iPod, I usually have it on shuffle and listen to individual songs instead of albums. For the past month or so, I've been listening to albums and most of the time doing so does nothing to change my opinion of an artist or album. Once in a while, though, I've come across a great album, like Lamya's Learning from Falling that's more than a collection of songs that were thrown together for one reason or another. Lamya is best known for Empires and while I like that track (and absolutely love the remixes), Black Mona Lisa is my favorite song. I freely admit my love of this song is because of an emotional connection rather than any qualitative artistic merit. My favorite verse is

I used to be a connoisseur Of hate, self hate, paternal hate Hate cum gratis I connected every kind Sipping it like red wine The insecurity was mine The ties that bind were My design

Though now I can see why I connected with this song, back in 2002 when the album was a bit more... clueless. Isn't it strange how we can be blind to the obvious? Sadly, Lamya died earlier this year of a heart attack at the age of 35. Maria Lawson covered Black Mona Lisa but I don't care for it since Lawson's arrangement didn't add anything to the original.

Paris: Gay Pride, Briefly

Paris

Bonjour, Bitches!

I'm going to Paris next week! As with so much in my life, this trip was not planned until the very last minute.I have much packing to do, but hopefully I can get that done over the weekend. As a bonus, I'll be in Paris during Pride. I'm so excited... I'm so exciteeeed!... I'm so... SCARED!

The License

Via everywhere.

Looks like my uncle is OK. (I actually thought the wrong one was visiting Honduras.) Overall, there doesn't seem to be that much damage from the earthquake. I'm still trying to get more info.

Earthquake

My poor country is only in the news when calamity strikes.

There was an earthquake 40 miles from Roatan early this morning. I've seen varying reports of the extent of the damage, although overall it doesn't seem too bad. I'm hoping a lot of people weren't made homeless since the quality of construction in the country is, shall we say, less than stellar. I'll have to call my grandmother to get an update because I'm sure she knows more than any new outlet.

(ETA: I found out one of my uncles is visiting Roatan. If there's one thing my family has, it's a horrible sense of timing.) 

Earlier in the month, there was rioting in Roatan. In my quick search, I couldn't find any "official" articles on the riots (which would probably change if I ran a Spanish-language search) but there was this article. Basically, mainland Hondurans are afraid they won't be allowed to work on the island without approval from a government agency called Zolitur. The mainlanders are pissed, which is understandable, but they didn't much care about Roatan or the Bay Islands before our tourist industry was really developed and the cash started flowing. Plus, there is the simple fact that Roatan is an island so it can't accommodate an unlimited flow of people from the mainland. But then, I'm don't pretend to be unbiased about the issue.

OK, this is old already, but it still makes me laugh.

Live Long Yadda Yadda Yadda

In Silence

I highly recommend listening to this episode of the Radiolab podcast. In it, Jab Abumrad explores the meaning of silence in Bible via the stories of Abraham, Isaac, and Noah and somehow ties that in the nature of human existence. It's wonderfully done and very thought provoking. Go, listen now!