January 2010

There were 13 posts published in January 2010 (this is page 1 of 2).

Electric Books

So Amazon has now included Israel as one of the places that its digital books are available, and I have just downloaded Murakami’s After the Quake to my Ipod Touch, which is also supposed to sync with Kindle for PC. And this makes buying books really easy. At least, the ones which are available. Amitav Ghosh’s Sea of Poppies, which I wanted more, is not yet available. But surely it’s only a matter of time before every new book will appear in electronic format – with perhaps a similar delay as exists between hardcover and paperback versions.

The first digital book I read was Wilkie Collins’ The Moonstone, which I downloaded for free to my old Psion palm computer. I quite enjoyed it, although a Psion isn’t ideal for reading. I’ve tried another couple of books on the Ipod and PC, but haven’t got very far with them. I’ve a feeling that there may be a problem with digital books similar to the problem of movies on TV. A film watched in a movie theater catches the attention much more easily than one watched on TV, partly because there is no temptation for channel surfing. Computers have even worse possibilities for distraction. A digital book has to compete with a dozen other things that require less concentration. A printed book has none of these distractions.

Perhaps, after all, the Kindle, being monochrome and offering less possibilities than Apple’s new device, will remain a better device for reading.

Ipad launch

Watched this on engadget and also the Boing Boing editor’s twitter blog.  It seemed a little dissonant that with our multiple satellite TV channels and broadband internet, it was still necessary to watch the launch as a series of stills interspersed with comments.

It’s a nice device, at a good price point.  But it wouldn’t fit in my pocket and wouldn’t replace my laptop.  How many devices do we actually need?

Journal – 2009-01-23

Participated, as usual, in the first half of the Thich Nhat Hanh sangha Day of Mindfulness, which takes place here once every six weeks.  Sat in for the meditation, introductions, silent walk, and went home before lunch.  Today was a special celebration, since one of the members, Sheila, had just returned from Plum Village after receiving the lamp – which means that she is a “dharma teacher”.  She’s the first Israeli to receive this.  Sheila was born in Ireland, and has retained her lovely accent.

Back home, I spent some time cleaning the house, since I hadn’t managed that yesterday, and read a little more from John Grisham’s “A Painted House”.  It turned out to be a very good book, though I’ve been plodding through it slowly.

And I spent awhile reading up on various subjects on the web.  I have been pondering the concepts of open source distributed social networks, as an alternative to the commercial ones like Facebook and Twitter. A number of people are working on the subject, though no one seems to have gone very far with it.  Identi.ca, which is run by Status.net – seems to be the most serious.  Its operations resemble WordPress (run by Automattic), in that it offers an downloadable open source version, while running a more public version (although Automattic seem to have a more viable business model and saleable product).   I also looked again at Opera Unite.  I’m troubled by the commercial and centralized nature of social networks and would prefer to something more chaotic.   I manage to achieve a little of the chaos I desire by distributing the same information across various commercial networks, but it would be nicer to have something a little more subversive and not be reliant on these large companies who are guided by commercial interests.

Christian, Muslim and Jewish views of “Avatar”

It’s interesting to see what commentators from these religions have to say about the film.  The Muslim and Jewish reviewers I have read liked it better than the Christians.

The American Muslim has two glowing and deeply considered reviews:

Avatar, a film for your inner child, by Arman Musaji, who says: “It reminds the viewer to open their eyes and see the world with renewed wonder and optimism… In my humble opinion Avatar is truly epic film experience, so see it immediately, and don’t forget to bring your inner child.”

Avatar as a mythic heroes journey by Sheila Musaji, who has a great deal to say in praise of the movie, and even brings a Quranic quote to back this up: “The world view of the NA’VI [the alien people who feature in the film] reminded me of the Qur’anic verse:  “The seven heavens and the earth, And all beings therein, Declare His glory: There is not a thing But celebrates His praise: And yet ye understand not How they declare His Glory! (Quran 17:44).””

She also quotes at length a letter from Rabbi Arthur Waskow, who thinks the film is so important, he urges interfaith groups to go see it:

“I urge that we begin by going , anytime from now till January 29, in interfaith, multireligious groups to see AVATAR and then discuss its meaning in our lives. And then I suggest we gather on the evening of January 29 to celebrate the sacred meal of Tu B’Shvat together”.

Another writer, Jay Michaelson, also draws parallels between the film and Tu B’Shvat – the Jewish tree planting holiday – in “Avatar, Tu B’Shvat and the connection to Jewish mysticism” (Haaretz):

“At first blush, "Avatar" may look like a beautifully rendered bit of Hollywood fluff, with risible cliches of enlightened natives fighting off dastardly industrialists. To be sure, it does paint with a broad brush. But spiritually and practically, it is also a challenge to question what we think we know about theology, ethics and contemporary values -especially in a new year that may not be such a happy one for the trees.”

The Vatican, in newspaper and radio reports dismisses any such challenge rather quickly, calling the movie “bland” and “rather harmless”: 

"In the end it is just reduced to an anti imperialistic, anti militaristic parable which doesn’t have the same cutting bite as other more committed films on the same theme."  The Vatican is also afraid of the film’s spiritualism.  According to the Associated Press, the Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore said “the film "gets bogged down by a spiritualism linked to the worship of nature.”

Some American Christian reviewers are even less happy, as is reported in The Examiner, “Christian reviews slam AVATAR – why?”.  The Examiner says, “If you read reviews on Christian sites you would think AVATAR a horrible attack on every warm-blooded American. James Cameron is out to convince your children to abandon the ways of Christianity and accept Gaia type spiritualism. ”

One of the reviews, “Otherworldly "Avatar" Familiar in the Worst Way” from Crosswalk.com (“The intersection of faith and life”) frowns, “In describing the military assault on Pandora, Cameron cribs terminology from the ongoing war on terrorism and puts it in the mouths of the film’s villains, who proclaim a "shock and awe campaign" of "pre-emptive action," as they "fight terror with terror." Cameron’s sympathies, and the movie’s, clearly are with the Na’vi—and against the military and corporate men.”

A Muslim reviewer, Imran J. Khan, in “Avatar is a Metaphor for Palestine or Something Else Probably” agrees, but thinks that Cameron didn’t go far enough: “I could not draw any connections that meant anything substantial. All of the characters were far too simple and straightforward to make any provocative or interesting analogies. Sure, you could say Pandora is a metaphor for Iraq, Palestine, or even pre-colonial America. But that’s the problem. The story is so generic that you could apply the Avatar plot to literally dozens of human conflicts over the last six centuries.”

As for Cameron’s intention on that score, we have that in “Movie’s blue-skinned aliens aim to open our eyes to War on Terror” : “.Cameron said yesterday that the theme was not the main point of Avatar, but added that Americans had a “moral responsibility” to understand the impact that their country’s recent military campaigns had had.”

Films reflect contemporary culture, but they also help in a small way to shape attitudes.   Avatar has certain advantages  in this regard in that it is proving to be one of the most watched movies in recent years and that, with all its visual wizardry, it is able to express its themes in such a palpable, realistic and unforgettable way.  In the best tradition of cinema, it doesn’t tell, but show, or rather, with its 3D tech, immerse. 

Religions attempt to overlay our vision of reality with a kind of 3D glasses of their own.  They would have us interpret experience from a certain contrived perspective and code of values.  Or, to put this in a more charitable way, to offer an alternative to the perspective and code of conduct we already impose.

Now that the age of exploration and conquest has been concluded, there are no new world cultures to encounter, subjugate or convert.  Faced cinematically with a virtual new world and culture that present an alternative to our own, it is interesting to see how people of various religious perspectives meet the challenge of this encounter. 

Significantly, those who were most likely to reject the values expressed in the film were those who found the film the least convincing as a cinematic experience.  The Vatican newspaper called the film “bland” and said there was "Not much behind the images".  And Christian Hamaker “if you go strictly for the experience, be prepared for a gooey, New Age romance with thematic elements that will likely make you squirm.”  These reviewers’ cultural/religious glasses were so strong, and their resistance to the movie was so rigid, that they were not able to immerse themselves in it.  Their reviews were full of moralizing and worries about its possible effect on the audience: 

“The danger to moviegoers is that AVATAR presents the Na’vi culture on Pandora as morally superior to life on earth.

If you love the philosophy and culture of the Na’vi too much, you will be led into evil rather than away from it.”

Those religious viewers who were more confident in their faith, apparently had less fear of the movie.  They saw it, embraced it and, far from squirming from its challenge to their own faith, found many points of convergence with their own belief system and values.  Rabbi Waskow:

“See it!  See it in the spirit of its watchword: “I see
yo
u.” For Pandora’s people, these words express what in Hebrew is “yodea,” interactive “knowing” that is emotional, intellectual, physical/ sexual, and spiritual all at one…”

Arman Musaji:

“Avatar is a film with many levels and themes. It is about redemption, war, love, nature, spirituality, and lots of other things. Most central to the film however, is the theme of innocence which is not only central to the story but to the experience of watching the film as well. This movie does not ask the jaded contemporary audience for the suspension of disbelief that must traditionally be given in order to “feel” as though a fantastic story has real emotional weight. It doesn’t have to. The world of Pandora and it’s people are so vividly portrayed, so aesthetically and visually believable that if your mind is even slightly open to the experience, you will lose yourself entirely for the film’s two hours and forty minute running time.”

Dorit’s birthday – evening out

It being Dorit’s birthday, Cole, Dorit and I piled into the Mazda and drove up to Jerusalem, with the not overly ambitious plan of enjoying a nice meal.

We chose the Te’enim (Figs) Restaurant, which is in the lovely location of the Confederation House. Windows look out on to the span of Suleiman’s walls just south of Jaffa Gate.

We knew the restaurant from its earlier incarnation on Emek Refayim Street. A couple of years ago perhaps, it moved fo its current location. It’s considered one of the city’s quality vegetarian restaurants, serving an eclectic array of foods from around the world. Looking at the menu, it’s hard to decide whether to order, say, an Indonesian salad, miso soup or a Provencal vegie hotpot.

But in our case the tempting menu didn’t deliver anything close to its promise. Cole’s quinoa and steamed vegetables were bland, stodgy and dry. He added a little of the butter that came with the bread. Dorit’s dish consisted mainly of root vegetables roasted on a spit, accompanied by salad. All was rather tasteless and unappetizing. I ordered a curry leek pie. The portion was generous but the pie filling was mushy, soggy and overly sweet. Cole and I were able to eat most of our portions but Dorit had to give up.

The service wasn’t sparkling. The two young waitresses had their hands full with the few guests. Eventually Dorit was left with the job of complaining. She expressed all of our disappointment but especially her own. And they gave her a reduction on one of the dishes. She asked to deliver our complaints to the management and to inform them we would not be coming back. (As if, even if the food had been awesome, we’d be there more than once a year.)

As compensation, we went to the Cinematheque restaurant for coffee and dessert. Its balcony enjoys a similarly gorgeous illuminated city-wall view.

The offerings were up to their usual standard. We shared a chocolate pudding and balls of coconut and berry sorbet. Ella bicycled over from nearby Abu Tor, where she’d already eaten dinner with friends, and chatted about the final days of her semester.

So in the end the evening turned out all right. We ambled out again into Jerusalem’s late night chill and drove back down through the misty hills – the weekday traffic much quieter at midnight.