review, books

Faust

Faust has been sitting on my bookshelf for close to two years now, waiting for me to read it. I had kept neglecting the book, but promising to read it eventually, since finishing The Magic Mountain. Finally, I decided to throw it in my pack for New York.

Kaufmann’s translation includes the German on one page and the English on the opposite, allowing one to view the original work in conjunction to what you’re reading. A novel and appreciated addition, even though the only German I know was learned from killing Nazi zombies in Return to Castle Wolfenstein.

Goethe is full of wit and humor – twisted, sexual humor that would make Tipper Gore gorge out her eyes – that comes across well in Kaufmann’s translation. I found it quite enjoyable. It inspires you to push through the somewhat more confusing scenes that lack the entertainment of Mephisto. (Like those angles up in heaven. Why would anyone want to go hang out with those boring, drab, self righteous egotists when you could be with Mephisto and his wenches during Walpurgis Night?) I think a great many more people would enjoy the book, if they would only give it a shot.

Snow and Cold

The temperature was about 60°F when I left NYC yesterday. I’m told it normally hovers around freezing this time of year.

My flight landed to find snow on the ground, and the temperature in the mid-30°s – a good 10°-20° colder than usual. It rarely snows here.

What’s with that?

My train home was delayed about an hour. The power switches weren’t working, so the crew was forced to manually switch. The old fashion way. We pulled in at about 10:30PM.

It was 31°F, with a foot of snow. My walk home was doubled in length.

Now it’s 15°F outside and a bit warmer inside. The sidewalks and roads have been cleared, exposing thick ice underneath.

Leaving On a Jet Plane

Tomorrow, I fly to New York. I don’t know if I’ll be online during the trip, but if I am, you can contact me at: vagabond at pig dash monkey dot com

It Seems to be a Trend

I was awoken at 3:54AM last Sunday by another ruckus out my window. A group of perhaps 6 college kids were walking down my street, being followed by a middle-aged man, screaming variations of “He threw jam in my face!” and “I’m not the mother fucker to fuck with!”

It appeared he was angry with only one of the kids, and that unlucky fellow was there with only one other. The rest seemed un/lucky bystanders. The friend of the target was walking to his car and began to unlock it when the middle-aged man threw one, maybe two, punches in the face of the jam-thrower. The old man was promptly shoved away while the two friends got into the car. They sat there for a couple minutes, I assume dialing 911, while the old guy beat the car with his bag and continued yelling.

By this time, three of the onlookers were taking pictures and video, and another was on her phone. (One girl forgot to disable her flash. I wondered if she was packing.) The angry guy started to walk away, and the rest of the kids jumped into the waiting car to drive away, except the girl on the cellphone who yelled at them to wait for 911.

The only somewhat related police report is this:

Reported: Nov 19 2006 3:58AM Offense: MALICIOUS MISCHIEF Case #: 06B49724 (A1) was cited for malicious mischief for smashing the window of a vehicle. Arrested: BROWN, MARK ALBERT Age: 40 (DOB: Feb 27 1966 )

I imagine he could have busted a window of the car while hitting his bag against it, though I think the assault part would be slightly higher charges. I went back to sleep before the police arrived.

review, books

Licensed to Kill

Robert Young Pelton’s Licensed to Kill is the definitive post-9/11 book on guns-for-hire. From Baghdad’s Route Irish to the Afghan/Pakistan border, RYP is able to enter the closed world of mercenaries, PMC/PSC, and other contractors in a way that academics and reporters cannot.

In a world where Blackwater is deputized, this seems an important book for all. Like the guns they wield, mercenaries can be used for good or evil.

(Those interested in the EO/Sandline mercs of the ‘90’s would do well to add Three Worlds Gone Mad to their reading list.)

review, books

Lonely Planet Travel Writing

It was recommended to me last summer that I read Lonely Planet’s Travel Writing. I expected the book to be about the art, but instead it focused more on the details of how one enters the travel writing and scene and how to get published – something I have little interest in. If you’re serious about making travel writing a profession, particularly if you’re interested in writing for guide books, then this may be a worthwhile read. For the rest of us… just write.

Urtica dioica

Stinging nettle, an oft-overlooked “weed”, is quite the powerful herb. It’s leaves and stalks perform as a diuretic and an anti-inflammatory. It’s known to lessen the effects of seasonal allergies and can also be used as a dye.

Susun Weed says:

Stinging nettle leaves and stalks are gentle enough for an everyday nourishing brew and powerful enough to heal damaged tissue. Kidneys, lungs, intestines, and arteries are tonified, strengthened, and gradually altered toward optimum functioning with consistent use of nettle, freshly cooked or infused. Women love this rich green plant during pregnancy, childbirth, and lactation for its safe diuretic effect, its gentle restorative laxative effect, its assured anti-hemorrhagic power, and its contribution to their over all well-being. Antiseptic when fresh juice is used as a wash for skin, kitchen, or stable, nettle also clears auras and energetic pathways. Hair gleams, grows, thickens, and darkens when nourished and rinsed with nettle infusions...

Last night, I concocted an infusion by placing 1/2 oz of dried nettle in a glass jar, and pouring 2 quarts of boiling water over it. In the morning, the plant material was strained out of it. I drank about half of it throughout the day and the rest, used as a rinse on my hair after shampooing in the shower. I experienced a sort of buzzing, euphoric effect after pouring it over my head, though I think this may just be the combination of the refrigerator-temperature infusion in a hot shower combined with placebo. I’m curious to notice any effects in the morning, other than my head smelling something akin to a compost pile.

review, books, conflict

The Road to Hell

Michael Maren’s The Road to Hell: The Ravaging Effects of Foreign Aid and International Charity shatters the glossy image of NGOs as humanitarian organizations concerned with the betterment of third-world peoples. Instead, he claims Aid as a new kind of colonization. Focusing on Somalia, Maren shows that NGOs there not only didn’t help refugees, but actively killed them. That NGOs supported the power of Siyaad Barre and, later, Mohamed Farah Aydiid. And that NGOs were largely responsible for continuing and worsening famine conditions in the early ‘90’s. In the end, he shows them as no more than Corporations concerned with profit.

It’s an excellent book. Not only for exposing the Aid industry, but for the history and understanding of Somalia.