Icosahedron

There is nothing new under the sun

"A large-scale operation involves enormous expense, which not only breaks you down in the field, but also exhausts you at home. Therefore a wise government does not keep its army in the field." - Commentary by Li Quan (China, Tang Dynasty, 618-906) on The Art of War by Sun Tzu (China, Warring States period, fifth to third century B.C.E.).

Feeling rusty on your Latin? . . .

This primer in The Economist should help.

The business of business is bibliography

In 2001, Today's Libarian published a list of "The Seven Essential Popular Business Books" that seem to have stood the test of time. The list is reproduced here. In a field containing many titles - a search on "business" at Amazon.com returns 433,703 hits - this is a short list indeed.

2004 Citigroup Photography Prize

The images from the 2004 Citigroup Photography Prize are worth a look. Three of the four finalists offer social commentary, while the fourth offers unusual views of everyday objects.

Latin fusion for winter blues

A couple of newish CDs are worth mentioning as the winter days grow longer. Both discs are moody, Latin, and high-brow.

The first is a collection of tarantellas, performed by L'Arpeggiata, conducted by Christina Pluhar. The album mixes classical and folkloric to brilliant effect. (La Tarantella, Alpha 503)

The second disc features a sort of tango/jazz fusion. Argentinian accordion player Dino Saluzzi collaborates with bassist Palle Danielsson and guitarist José Maria Saluzzi. The disc is nostalgiac enough to be traditional, and abstract enough to be contemporary. (Responsorium, ECM 1816)

While on the subject of Latin fusion with some dance interest, I'd like to mention a 1996 album by Radio Tarifa . The group imagines a radio station at Spain's southernmost tip, where Spanish and Arabic music can fuse. The seamless result is inspiring. (Rumba Argelina, Atlantic 79472)

Herr Check

In the newsweekly Die Zeit: next to an editorial praising Colin Powell's diplomatic comments to the Kremlin, there's a delightful feature for dictionary-lovers everywhere: "Mr. Check." The instructions translate as follows: (1) mark word, (2) click button, (3) explanation appears! Should one follow these instructions, up pops a dialog containing a relevant entry from Germany's authoritative Duden dictionary. This dignified text is accompanied by a most 1960's looking icon of Mr. Check himself. Check it out.

Hajj in Mecca

From L'Express, here's a dramatic image of the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Saudia Arabia.

White nights?

The BBC offers an unusual view of St. Petersburg, in which tradition and technology meet. It's the second picture in the series.

Urbane adventure

I attended a dinner party over the weekend whose nominal purpose was to compare four bottles of shiraz. As it turned out, the host contributed bottles zero and five, which easily stole the show. Good food and conversation supported the evening. A striking feature of the convivial atmosphere was the national origins of the guests: Canada, USA, France, India, Russia, and Zimbabwe (if I remember correctly). And there were only seven of us in total. Toronto is striking for its relatively unself-conscious multiculturalism: the group enjoyed the diversity of background, but didn't worry too much about it. Conversation focussed on such relevant topics as weblog privacy, real estate prices, and how the lemon aioli set off the salmon-and-sausage cakes.

Please, don't tell your friends, Toronto is not a nice place to live.

Stage lights on His Dark Materials

For those who have read Philip Pullman's trilogy, His Dark Materials, here's an early review of the stage production in London.