Arts Wrap: July 2012

The July Arts Wrap is here, albeit a tad late. I'll also be finishing up Costa Rica posts this week. It's been a busy month, to say the least, so blogging has been spotty. Arts Wraps are especially daunting since they take me so long to do, but I love them nonetheless. Enjoy!

Book--Fiction: Girls of Riyadh

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Or, as I like to call it: Fifty Shades of Grey: Saudi Style.

Published in 2005, this book was immediately banned in Saudi Arabia for its salacious content. (Heaven forbid somebody--a woman, no less!--points of the hypocrisies and double standards of Saudi culture.)

On the surface, it seems like a kid in junior high wrote this book. However, I know enough about Arabic to recognize a poor English translation when I see one.  (The translator herself expressed dissatisfaction with the end result, claiming that both the publisher and author, Rajaa Alsanea, interfered with the initial translation. You can totally tell.)

From the LA Times: "I was informed that the author intended to rewrite it, and thereafter I was kept entirely out of the process. The resulting text, with its clichéd language, erasures of Arabic idioms I had translated, and unnecessary footnotes, does not reflect the care that I took to produce a lively, idiomatic translation."

Poor translator. I would not want to be dealing with a wealthy, know-it-all Saudi girl.

"Perhaps the larger scandal, though, is that for some publishers and writers, literary translators remain derivative servitors rather than creative artists, a notion fostered by a long tradition within Euro-American letters of the writer as solitary genius and translation as a mechanical exercise."

Sadly, this is true. I haven't read much foreign literature, but Brock has. I never understood why he was so picky about buying the "best" version of Madame Bovary, War and Peace, The Brothers Karamzov, Don Quixote, etc. A book is a book is a book, right?

Well, I get it now. Unfortunately, there is only one available translation for Girls of Riyadh. If you're interested in Arab culture, it's worth slugging through. For my single friends complaining about how complicating the dating scene is in America: Count your blessings!

Life for Saudi women is changing dramatically, so this book is timely. I hope Rajaa Alsanea is not alone in her views and convictions--yallah, Saudi feminists!

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Book--Non-Fiction: Eat and Run

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Growing up the daughter of an ultramarathoner, I was familiar with Jurek. He's arguably the best ultramarathoner of our time. And he's a vegan.

This book was a siren calling my name. Along with great storytelling (props to his ghostwriter, Steve Friedman), Jurek incorporates fantastic vegan recipes into this autobiography (ultrarunners are notorious for fueling up on junk food during races, and he completely bucks that tradition). Just as inspiring to me is his mental toughness. Setting a course record at Hardrock with torn ligaments in his ankle? Are you kidding me?

Eat and Run  is the Born to Run of 2012. For anyone interested in running, health, or pushing limits in general, I highly recommend it.

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Television: Downton Abbey

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I won't do this show a disservice by trying to describe its brilliance.

Watch it. That is all.

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Film: Bridesmaids

A few months ago Brock and I caught The Hangover on TBS. I don't think either of us have ever laughed that hard at a movie, but we still felt good about our Mormon selves because it was EDITED.

Well, I caught Bridesmaids on HBO. Unedited. 

It was worth the guilty conscience.

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Music: KRCL Radio Station 90.9 FM

When you get sick of hearing a Gotye remix for the eleventy billionth time, tune your FM here.

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Photography: Tiffany Rebecca 

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One of my best friends in the entire world, Tiffany, is a very gifted photographer. For proof, check out this post. My favorite photo is the one above--a grandmother holding her new grandson.

Can you believe this is the first birth she's ever shot?

I'm so inspired by her work and so proud to call her my friend. Seeing a shoot like this makes me want to move to Chicago just  so I'll be in her neighborhood when it's time to deliver a little one! :)

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Comedy: The Office

A few weeks ago, Brock and I decided to start re-watching The Office from the pilot episode. It's a sign of a well-made show that even though I know  what jokes are coming, I still laugh. And even though I know  what happens with Jim and Pam, I still tear up when I watch this:

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Food: Talenti Caribbean Coconut Gelato

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Brock and I picked this up on a whim at Harmon's. Even though we've slashed our dairy intake, we're not above a buy-one-get-one-free deal on gelato--especially when it comes in such tempting flavors!

What I love about this gelato is its ingredients list: milk, sugar, cream, powdered milk, coconut, dextrose, guar gum, vanilla. Short, sweet, and (mostly) simple. That may explain why it TASTES SO FREAKING GOOD. Few things are more satisfying than cool, delicate coconut ice cream on a simmering summer's day.

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Fashion: Kate Lanphear

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Black and white never looked so good. Lanphear is the style director of Elle. As much as I love bold colors and patterns, I'm so impressed by Kate's minimalist approach to those things. And even though I'm drawn to feminine pieces, I'm love  women who rock androgyny. 

I'm a firm believer in The Sartorialist's admonition that hair plays just as big a role as clothing in our personal style. Kate epitomizes this. Her black-and-white, edgy closet is complemented by white, edgy hair. Love it.

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Journalism: Nate Silver

Which Records Get Shattered? by Nate Silver 

I am unabashed in my love for Nate Silver. He makes statistics sexy.

Consider the men’s long jump, for instance. The Olympic record in that discipline was set more than 40 years ago, in Mexico City, by the American Bob Beamon. About nine months before a man landed on the moon, Beamon made a giant leap — 29 feet two and a half inches — that has yet to be surpassed at the Olympic Games. (Mike Powell beat Beamon’s record at a non-Olympic meet in Tokyo in 1991, a record which itself is now more than 20 years old.) 

In another prestigious event, the women’s 100-meter dash, the world record of 10.49 seconds was set in 1988, at the Olympic trials in Indianapolis, by Florence Griffith-Joyner. She also set the Olympic record, 10.62 seconds, later that year in Seoul.
Those cases are not as exceptional as you might think. Only five track and field world records were broken at the Beijing games in 2008 out of 47 events. And it was actually a relatively productive Olympics by that standard: only seven world records had been established at the prior four games combined.

By contrast, 25 world records were set in the swimming competition in Beijing — out of just 34 events. The longest-standing world record in any swimming discipline is barely more than 10 years old. It was set by Grant Hackett in the 1,500-meter freestyle short course at the Australian Championships in 2001."

If you go on to finish the article, you'll read why  track records often stand for decades. It comes down to simplicity and accessibility. What Mr. Silver illuminates here factors heavily into my philosophy on exercise--namely, that I believe it should be free (or as close to it as possible). I know this sounds dumb, but I like knowing that people all around the world--rich, poor, rural, urban--could duplicate my workout regimen. In a small way, it helps me feel connected to both the earth and the people I share it with.

Arts Wrap: June 2012

Book--Fiction: Tinkers 

Fair warning: This book got passed up by every major publisher for good reason. It has no plot. It's molasses-slow. It's a little overwritten at times. But the final product is the most poetic reflection on life, living, death, and dying that I've ever read. 

When it finally got published, nobody noticed. Then it won the Pulitzer. Everybody noticed.

"[Tinkers] confers on the reader the best privilege fiction can afford, the illusion of ghostly proximity to other human souls." - Marilynne Robinson

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Book--Non-Fiction: On Writing Well

A seminal book in the world of writing how-to. Zinsser is a master of his craft who imbues wit, warmth, and humor into anything he puts on a page. This book has made me a more conscious writer. If you love the English language as much as I do, On Writing Well  belongs on your bookshelf.

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Television: Mad Men

I was impressed with the first three seasons of Mad Men, but not in love. It had talented actors and well-written storylines, but nobody seemed to be going  anywhere in terms of character development.

Then BOOM. Seasons four and five happened.

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Film: Jiro Dreams of Sushi

I saw this documentary at the IFC Center when we were living in New York. I was so inspired by Jiro and the love he has for his art--how he's always  trying to improve upon it, how he hates taking days off. As a millenial, I'm so tired of trite pep-talks about being passionate about what I do, choosing a career that I'm passionate  about, blah blah blah. 

Watch it in action. (Along with some serious food porn.)

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Music: Radical Face and The Random Canyon Growlers

The more I listen to Ben Cooper (the one man behind the one-man band of Radical Face), the more obsessed I am with his music.

Brock and I saw the Random Canyon Growlers at the SLC Farmer's Market a few weeks ago and haven't stopped listening to their sounds-like-it-was-recorded-in-a-basement sampler CD since! So refreshing to hear a group of young guys playing killer  bluegrass. It ain't dead yet, folks!

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Photography: Ian Ruhter's "Silver and Light"

In lieu of my past "Dance" category (which, c'mon, is kind of a hard one to fill every month), take a gander at what Ian Ruhter is doing with his camera/truck/time machine.

"Ruhter started shooting snowboarding in the mid ’90s after a stint as a notoriously rowdy pro rider. When print media moved from film to digital, so did he, but he became jaded on the lack of artistry and the amount of computer editing that was required. He missed the physicality of processing photos. He tried switching back to film, but couldn’t get the materials he wanted. Then he found wet plate, where, with a little bit of chemistry, he could make all of the supplies himself."

Photo Source

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Comedy: Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

A few weeks ago, my mom took me to this musical at the Playmill Theater in West Yellowstone. When she told me that the original movie starred Michael Caine and Steve Martin, I knew I had to see it. 

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Food: Five Star BBQ Company

You know how in those awful new-fangled country songs they sing about drivin' to the honkytonk and don't-stop-till-you-hear-a-banjo jizzjazz? They're talking about places like Five Star. Head out into the boonies on Geneva Road and you'll find it just beyond an old bar called The Hitching Post (I am not making this up). 

Five Star is a family-run restaurant that opened up about a year and half ago, and has since gained a rabid following of loyal customers. For good reason. The man behind the magic, JT, served his mission in the South and learned a thing or two about comfort food down there. His slow-cooked meats (brisket, pulled pork, smoked sausage, ribs...) are heavenly, but equally impressive are his homemade sauces and sides--all of which are made in-house. Sweet applesauce, cheesy mac, smoked beans, cornbread and honey-butter . . . oh, man. Don't forget to try JT's wife's pumpkin cake! If you're lucky, JT might have cooked up a fresh apple pie that day. If so, BUY A SLICE. 

It gets better: Brock and I both ate a veritable BBQ feast  here for less than $20. If that's not a reason to support local business, I don't know what is.

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Fashion: Karla Deras

Pretty sure Karla is my BFF who just doesn't know it yet. How could you not  want to chop all your hair off after looking at this girl?! Beats me--which is why I did it. Karla says her style is "like a pot of stew with simplicity being the beef and androgyny and femininity being the vegetables. Oh and spontaneity is the secret ingredient!" See what I mean? BFFs.

Karla's style is all over the board and the reason it works is because she has rockin' confidence. This woman is BOLD and I love it!

Can you  make a simple tank top look amazing? Image from Karla's Closet.

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Journalism: Tim Kreider and Dave McRaney

"The Busy Trap" by Tim Kreider

see also: "Why Only Yuppies Complain About Being Busy" by Jordan Weissmann

I love this piece because it touched on a lot of feelings that I've been dealing with lately. Namely, feeling like a disgusting reprobate for not  being out-of-my-mind busy. 

If you live in America in the 21st century you’ve probably had to listen to a lot of people tell you how busy they are. It’s become the default response when you ask anyone how they’re doing: “Busy!” “So busy.” “Crazy busy.” It is, pretty obviously, a boast disguised as a complaint. And the stock response is a kind of congratulation: “That’s a good problem to have,” or “Better than the opposite." 

It’s almost always people whose lamented busyness is purely self-imposed: work and obligations they’ve taken on voluntarily, classes and activities they’ve “encouraged” their kids to participate in. They’re busy because of their own ambition or drive or anxiety, because they’re addicted to busyness and dread what they might have to face in its absence. 

Busyness serves as a kind of existential reassurance, a hedge against emptiness; obviously your life cannot possibly be silly or trivial or meaningless if you are so busy, completely booked, in demand every hour of the day. 

Well guys, I'm in the throes of it now and I can tell you that it's freaking scary. Maybe I'll write a blog post on this later.

"Procrastination" by Dave McRaney

Again, another piece that I related to so well! I found this article through my friend Weston who is THE biggest procrastinator I've ever met (hey, takes one to know one!). This article talked about metacognition as a way to end procrastination. 

You must be adept at thinking about thinking to defeat yourself at procrastination. You must realize there is the you who sits there now reading this, and there is a you sometime in the future who will be influenced by a different set of ideas and desires, a you in a different setting where an alternate palette of brain functions will be available for painting reality. 

The now you may see the costs and rewards at stake when it comes time to choose studying for the test instead of going to the club, eating the salad instead of the cupcake, writing the article instead of playing the video game. 

The trick is to accept the now you will not be the person facing those choices, it will be the future you – a person who can’t be trusted. Future-you will give in, and then you’ll go back to being now-you and feel weak and ashamed. Now-you must trick future-you into doing what is right for both parties.

Isn't that a great thought?! For a control freak like me, it was revolutionary.

Capable psychonauts who think about thinking, about states of mind, about set and setting, can get things done not because they have more will power, more drive, but because they know productivity is a game of cat and mouse versus a childish primal human predilection for pleasure and novelty which can never be excised from the soul. Your effort is better spent outsmarting yourself than making empty promises through plugging dates into a calendar or setting deadlines for push ups.

You can thank that article for this blog post today.

Arts Wrap: February 2012

Book--Fiction: N/A

I totally slacked on fiction this month. My non-fiction book was quite the beast--I learned more from it than I probably would've from a semester-long college class on the same subject. Forgive me, I'll read some fiction in March.

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Book--Non-Fiction: Rule and Ruin

This will be future required reading in college political science classes, mark my words. After six years of researching in the Library of Congress (along with extensive interviewing), Geoffrey Kabaservice has created a historical masterpiece. It kills me that so very few people will read this book, since it is so very good (yet appeals to an extremely tiny audience). In Rule and Ruin, he details the downfall of moderation in the GOP, starting from Teddy Roosevelt in the early 1900's up till the present day, with much of his focus placed on the presidential elections of 1964 and 1968.

Rule and Ruin gives an unbelievably rich and detailed account of how the Party of Lincoln morphed into what it is today. I got tired of reading newspaper articles on the subject--everybody has an opinion, but I wanted history. Boy, did I get it.

I used up four  different highlighters throughout the course of Rule and Ruin and spent endless hours on Wikipedia brushing up on my 20th century American history. What's remarkable to me are the modern-day parallels that we can draw from the GOP's past experiences. History is repeating itself in more ways than you know.

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Television: Out of the Wild: Venezuela

I came across this show while searching in the O's on Netflix (I was looked for The Office). Nine average people are dropped off on Mount Roraima in Venezuela (think Angel Falls...or those flat-top mountains from the movie Up) and must traverse 70 miles through the wilderness back to civilization. There's no prize money at the end. There is no "winner." People don't get voted off.

The nine people are given three days of survival skills training, some backpacks with basic supplies (mosquito nets, machetes, flint for making fires, water purifiers, etc) and that's it. They traverse down mountains, through jungles, swamps, savannas, and down a river. Each person has a GPS device attached to their backpack, and they can press the "come-and-get-me" button at any time, at which point a helicopter comes and carries them away.

Despite hiking with 50-lbs packs all day, every day, the average contestant ate approximately 1000 calories per week. You'd think the lush Venezuelan climate and landscape would provide much more sustenance than that, but jungle living is much harder than people give it credit for.

Seriously, these people were such ballers. I don't know how they did it. What a testimony to the limits of the human body! It makes the contestants on Survivor  and The Amazing Race look like poseurs.

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Film: A Separation, Ponette, Breakfast at Tiffany's

Wow, where to start with these three gems? A Separation won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film this year, and rightly, rightly so. Even though Iranian culture is completely separate from Arab culture (Persians are not Arabs, contrary to what many think), it was interesting for me to watch and see how it related to what I knew in Jordan. (It's an Iranian film made by an Iranian director, so I assume A Separation reflects Iranian culture with reasonable accuracy.) It was also cool to hear Farsi spoken extensively for the first time in my life. I didn't understand a single word! Farsi is an Indo-European language; Arabic is Semitic. Despite using the same alphabet (although Farsi has a few more letters), that's about the extent of the two languages' connection.

A Separation has rich characters and a rich story. No other movie has made me question my definition of morality as much as this one.

Ponette is a French film from 1997 that depicts the story of how a young girl, Ponette, copes with her mother's sudden passing. Quite simply, this movie has the best acting I have ever seen in my life--and it's delivered by a FREAKING FOUR-YEAR OLD. You will not believe your eyes.

Definitely keep a box of Kleenex nearby as you watch this movie. Nothing is as tender--nor as heart-wrenching--as watching children try to interpret the lofty concepts of death, love, faith, and hope.

And, of course, Breakfast at Tiffany's. How did I go so long without seeing this?! Audrey Hepburn is simply divine in her role as the impulsive, delicate, and broken Holly Golightly. And George Peppard plays Paul Varjak to perfection.

Paul Varjak: I love you. 

Holly Golightly: So what. 
Paul Varjak: So what? So plenty! I love you, you belong to me! 
Holly Golightly: [tearfully] No. People don't belong to people. 
Paul Varjak: Of course they do! 
Holly Golightly: I'll never let ANYBODY put me in a cage. 
Paul Varjak: I don't want to put you in a cage, I want to love you!

"So what? So plenty!" Isn't that beautiful writing? (George Axelrod--look him up.) I love it when Paul goes on to say, "We belong to each other because that's the only chance anybody's got for real happiness." A Separation made me think about morality, Ponette made me think about death, and Breakfast at Tiffany's made me think about love (what a good month of movies I had!). Sometimes I suffer from Golightly Syndrome, and I'm so happy to have my own personal Paul Varjak to bring me back down to earth.

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Music: Madonna's Super Bowl Performance

Okay, so admittedly this was less music than it was entertainment, but I'm still obsessing over it.

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Dance: Ballet West's Don Quixote

I have no video for this, but it was a lovely performance! I wrote about it here.

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Comedy: Saudis in Audis

What? You didn't know Arabs could poke fun at themselves? Remy is one of many!

Food: Birthday Cake Oreos

I have no idea how this category eluded the January Arts Wrap, but it was an egregious error on my part. This month ushered in Birthday Cake Oreos, which are basically Funfetti Oreos. YEAH, AWESOME. They're a limited edition specialty Oreo to commemorate Oreo's 100th anniversary. My family may or may not have collectively downed five boxes of these in the past three days.

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Fashion: Blair Eadie

Again, how did I not include this category in my inaugural Arts Wrap?! Shameful. A few of you out there know that I'm obsessed with Blair "Bee" Eadie. Atlantic-Pacific is my favorite fashion blog by far. I love Bee's signature wrist of jewelry, her layering, pattern mixing, clean lines, color combinations . . . okay, so basically everything. Here are my two favorite outfits she blogged this past month.

Image from Atlantic-Pacific

Image from Atlantic-Pacific

Journalism: David Brooks and Jan Fleischhauer

I always love reading what David Brooks has to say, and this month he just hit it out of the park with this columns in the New York Times.

America is Europe
The Materialist Fallacy
The Machiavellian Temptation

I hesitate to call David Brook's a "journalist" since he doesn't quite fit that mold (he's more of a commentator than anything). Nick Kristof, however, can be a commentator with some of his columns, but is more often a journalist. He's been doing some amazing reporting out of South Sudan this month, which, sadly, I haven't done a good job of keeping up on.

I loved this piece in Der Spiegel about how Germany has become "the America of Europe." Again, it's an opinion piece (so not technically "journalism"), but it made a very interesting point.

Sentiment towards the Germans isn't very good in the region right now. Hardly a day goes by without Chancellor Angela Merkel being depicted in a Nazi uniform somewhere. Swastikas are a common sight as well. It doesn't seem to help at all that we faithfully approve one aid package after the other. If calculations by experts are true, then we are far beyond the point where we are just providing loan guarantees. 

A good deal of the €130 billion expected to be approved by the German parliament on Monday will never be seen again. But if you read the editorial pages of newspapers in the crisis regions, for whom this money is intended, you would be led to believe that we are out to achieve what our grandfathers failed to do 70 years ago (and this despite the fact that research into Hitler outside of Greece is fairly unanimous in the belief that National Socialism didn't launch its tyranny of Europe with a bailout package).

It won't be long before they start burning German flags. But wait, they're already doing that. Previously we had only known that from Arab countries, where the youth would take every opportunity to run through the streets to rage against that great Satan, the USA. But that's how things go when others consider a country to be too successful, too self-confident and too strong. We've now become the Americans of Europe. The role reversal won't be an easy one either -- it is already safe to say that today. We Germans are accustomed to having people admire us for our efficiency and industriousness -- and not to hate us for it. 

I was impressed by the fairness which Jan Fleischhauer used in writing about her own country:

But before we complain too much about all this ingratitude, we should remind ourselves that we ourselves spent years passing the buck. As long as the global villain was America, the Germans joined in when it came to feeling good at the expense of others. The Americans also had every reason to expect a little more gratitude -- after all, it was their soldiers who had to intervene when a dictator somewhere lived out his bloody fantasies while the international community stood by wringing its hands. 

People came to secretly rely on the USA as a global cop in the same way that Germany's neighbors are now expecting the Germans to save the euro. Unfortunately, however, the feeling of inferiority can be just as vicious as that of superiority.

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That'll do for February. The Germans say auf wiedersehn, Iranians say khodahafez, Ponette says au revoir--but let me sign off in the tongue of Holly Golightly: Goodbye, darlings! It's been simply marvelous, marvelous, I tell you!

Arts Wrap: January 2012

Okay, I know  I've said I'm going to start during recurring posts on various topics numerous  times ("That's America to Me", politics, feminism, etc) but for real, let's do this. I've been a spotty blogger for the past four months or so and I'm tired of it. Even though so few people read what I write, it's a way of helping me feel productive and it's a small, small  way for me to leave a mark on the world.

Forgive me while I get all sad on you, but unless history books write about you, history will only remember you by what you've written. Even if what I jot down is inconsequential, I like to think of my writing as bread crumbs left along the path of . . . well, who knows, but they're there.

One thing I'd like to start doing is a monthly post dedicated to the arts. Mormons are taught to seek after things that are "virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy." And I figure seeking doesn't amount to much unless it turns into sharing, right? :) So here we go, the best of the best of January 2012.

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Book--Fiction: Beatrice and Virgil 

The world went beserk for Life of Pi  and waited achingly for Martel's next book. The wait was long--nearly a decade. Beatrice and Virgil  was not what people were expecting. 

It has been maligned as the worst book of the decade and praised as a masterpiece. (It's hard to write about the Holocaust and not  have the critical response be polarizing.) In my opinion, the latter is true. Beatrice and Virgil  was one of the most haunting, creative, and beautiful books I have ever read. 

At just over 200 pages long, it's more of a novella than a novel, but it's the only book in my life where--upon turning the final page--I went back to the first and started again.

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Book--Non-Fiction: Who Cooked the Last Supper? The Women's History of the World

The biology of woman in fact holds the key to the story of the human race. Although generally unsung, female monthly menstruation was the evolutionary adaptation that preserved the human species from extinction and ensure its survival and success.

Female oestrus in the higher primates is a highly inefficient mechanism. Chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans come on heat rarely, and produce one infant every five or six years. This puts the whole species dangerously at risk of extinction, and the great apes today survived only in small numbers and in the most favorable environments. With twelve chances of conceiving in every year, instead of one every five years, the human female has a reproductive capacity sixty times higher than that of her primate sisters. Menstruation, not hunting, was the great evolutionary leap forward. It was through a female adaptation, not a male one, that "man" throve, multiplied, and conquered the globe.

Moral of the story? Quit hating on your period and read this book. And, having been written by a British woman, you can expect all sorts of dry, subtle, dirty humor along the way to pepper things up (including a chapter entitled "The Rise of the Phallus"--seriously, you gotta read this).

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Television: Alcatraz and New Girl

New Girl is proof that you don't need a laugh track for laughs (for the love, television producers, CAN WE BE OVER THAT????) In a television world where mockumentaries reign supreme (The Office, Modern Family, etc), New Girl  is a breath of fresh air. Or maybe that's just Ms. Deschanel. Hard to tell.

Alcatraz  is proof that J.J. Abrams still has it goin' on. Like Stacy's mom, only creepier.

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Film: The Artist and Five Broken Cameras

If you're one of those people who makes a Calvin blech face at the thought of a silent, black-and-white movie, get over yourself and see The Artist. You're not too cool for it, I promise.

As for Five Broken Cameras:

I will forever be grateful to the Sundance Film Festival for screening Slingshot Hip Hop in 2008. Seeing that documentary is what first got me interested in the Israeli-Palestinian issue. It was then that I first started thinking about studying Arabic.

Who would've thought that I'd return to the Festival four years later to watch another documentary on the same issue? Only this time, I didn't need the subtitles.

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Music: Walk off the Earth's cover of Gotye's "Somebody That I Used to Know"

Five people, one guitar, magic. (Check out the original video of the song, too--it's very, very cool.)

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Dance: The Great Chinese Circus' performance of Swan Lake

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Comedy: Utah drivers; Kristen Bell's sloth story

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Journalism: Nick Kristof, Daniel C. Peterson, Andrew Malone

"Where Are The Romney Republicans?" by Nick Kristof for the New York Times

“Much of the current conservative movement is characterized by this sort of historical amnesia and symbolic parricide, which seeks to undo key aspects of the Republican legacy such as Reagan’s elimination of corporate tax loopholes, Nixon’s environmental and labor safety programs, and a variety of G.O.P. achievements in civil rights, civil liberties, and good government reforms,” Kabaservice writes. “In the long view of history, it is really today’s conservatives who are ‘Republicans in name only.’”

"Gingrich Is Wrong; Palestinians Are Not 'Invented'" by Daniel C. Peterson for the Deseret News

There are, I think, relatively few politically conservative American Arabists. But I'm one, and I reject Mr. Gingrich's declaration that Palestinians are merely an "invented people." His claim is not only needlessly provocative and inflammatory (in a region that scarcely needs inflaming) but false.

"The GM Genocide: Thousands Of Indian Farmers Are Committing Suicide After Using Genetically Modified Crops" by Andrew Malone for the Daily Mail

In one small village I visited, 18 farmers had committed suicide after being sucked into GM debts. In some cases, women have taken over farms from their dead husbands - only to kill themselves as well. 

Latta Ramesh, 38, drank insecticide after her crops failed - two years after her husband disappeared when the GM debts became too much. She left her ten-year-old son, Rashan, in the care of relatives. 'He cries when he thinks of his mother,' said the dead woman's aunt, sitting listlessly in shade near the fields.

Village after village, families told how they had fallen into debt after being persuaded to buy GM seeds instead of traditional cotton seeds. The price difference is staggering: £10 for 100 grams of GM seed, compared with less than £10 for 1,000 times more traditional seeds.

But GM salesmen and government officials had promised farmers that these were 'magic seeds' - with better crops that would be free from parasites and insects.  Indeed, in a bid to promote the uptake of GM seeds, traditional varieties were banned from many government seed banks. 

The authorities had a vested interest in promoting this new biotechnology. Desperate to escape the grinding poverty of the post-independence years, the Indian government had agreed to allow new bio-tech giants, such as the U.S. market-leader Monsanto, to sell their new seed creations.

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That's enough for this month! If you're a-hankerin' for more, spend some time perusing a website I recently came across called Artswrap. StumbleUpon is also a great way to find wonderful things if you use it right (I prefer it to Pinterest). If you find anything great ever, please share!