Land of Lime

Our Hopeful One AKA Decider has merited much more attention than one is able to provide. I suppose there is perhaps a Decider fatigue setting in, inspite of the strong emotions he continues to generate. Bob Woodward’s new book may produce more fireworks but Michael Kinsley has an interesting OPED in the Washington Post today. Kinsley compares Bush’s position on life in the context of stem cell research and Iraq war. I recommend that you read the entire piece but here are the concluding paragraphs:

A commander in chief who must face life-or-death questions such as these deserves a bit of sympathy. I would sympathize more with Bush if his answers weren’t so preening and struggle-free. It is wonderful to be so morally pure that you won’t allow a single embryo to be destroyed in the quest for medical cures that could save lives by the thousands. You are way beyond Gandhi, sweeping the path ahead to avoid stepping on an insect: Insects have more human characteristics than a six-cell embryo.

And regarding Iraq you are quite the man, aren’t you, “making the tough decisions.” A regular Harry Truman, consigning thousands to death in order to bring democracy and freedom and peace to millions. But Truman actually produced democracy and freedom and peace, whereas you want credit for your hopes. That’s not how it works. If you want to be the hard-ass, you get judged by results. And you can’t be Gandhi and Truman at the same time.

Obviously, the reference in the first paragraph to avoiding stepping on an insect is to a standard practice among Jain monks and not to Gandhi. But the comparison of Gandhi and Truman is pretty neat.

Actually, I have been thinking about the source of Bush’s moral certitude a lot. While the recent debates on torture has been one context for these reflections, we also read edicts of the Mauryan emperor Ashoka in one of my classes. What I find striking is not Ashoka’s transformation after witnessing suffering and violence during the Kalinga war but the tone of his moral message. Sure, Ashoka didn’t have to worry about winning mid-term elections and so he didn’t need to demonise his enemies. Still it is an interesting comparison and one of these days, I want to do an Ashoka number on Bush.

Last saturday, I finally succumbed to the ultimate California attraction: the farmer’s market on Grand and Lake in Oakland. You know the deal. Support the local growers and buy the imperfectly formed, organic vegetables and fruits. Nice food and good music. What more could one ask for? According to reports, I didn’t even notice friends, as I soaked in the new experience and bought enormous quantities of vegetables, fruits and cheese.

I did make a new friend though: Chef Dennis Bell, who runs Shakespearean Sweets. His brochures as well as pastry stand are filled with sonnets from the old master himself! Pastries are named after Shakespearean plays. Needless to add, I didn’t expect to run into a Shakespearean chef in a farmer’s market. Let us sample Dennis’ wares.
MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING is wine poached pear with pastry cream, promogranate seed sauce set in a tuile cup on a bed of sweet shredded Greek pilo dough.

ROMEO & JULIET’S ADDICTION is a flourless chocolate cake with a minted strawberry sauce, tuile butterfly and dark chocolate cigarette.

TAMING OF THE SHREW, LITTLE EGYPT, OTHELLO & DESDEMONA’S PASSION are the other appealing options while THREE WITCHES is among coming attractions.

You buy a box of truffles or a dessert, Dennis will throw in a love sonnet quote from Shakespeare, which he guarantees will ‘impress the one you love’.

As I rode back home, charting a course avoiding the steepest of Oakland hills, here is what I wished: chef Dennis would assure us that his pastries would impress the ones we love.

Don’t get me wrong. I love the written word as much as anyone who has ever breathed. Still, on occasions I suspect I want to take refuge in chef Dennis, than in the master poet.

My favorite poet, W. B. Yeats, the hopeless romantic and ferocious humanist, would have approved my sentiments. Oakland sure is filled with cool poets, as I have noted in the past. Dennis too makes it a cool place to be.

Watch out for this new movie - Zidane: A 21st century portrait.

I suspect the trailer doesn’t do justice to the movie but it will give you a flavor of the action and introduce you to the fascinating conceptual frame. Douglas Gordon and Philippe Parreno seek to capture Zidane’s artistry and presence on a soccer ground, through the entire 90 minutes of a match. Their choice is also an ordinary regular Spanish league game between Real Madrid and Villarreal played on April 23rd, 2005.
17 cameras followed Zidane and captured his every single move. The movies isn’t about the game  even. It doesn’t include  the great moments of Zidane’s career. It just seeks to capture Zidane on a soccer pitch, as any completely devoted fan would. Pure and simple.
Post modern theorists would go nuts on the purity of the gaze and such matters. But do read a very good review of the film by the Guardian’s Richard Williams. And enjoy the film.

It hasn’t been an easy month to find anything exciting. The Chicago White Sox lost today, as they have done all of September. I couldn’t even motivate myself to catch a game at the Coliseum last weekend. Well, we shall remain hopeful until we are mathematically eliminated from the Playoffs.

In the meanwhile, our Hopeful One aka Decider has amazingly emerged as the philologist for the twenty first century. His tortured efforts to explain ‘what torture is’ has been more torturous than his predecessor’s effort to explain the meaning of the word ‘is’.

Anyway, let me admit that I have been a big fan of Aaron Sorkin’s. I liked A Few Good Men and American President (a little), Sports Night (a lot) and The West Wing (way too much). What can I say? I am a political nut. But I like good writing and good dialogue; either on TV or in Hollywood movies good writers and story tellers are a rare breed. Charlie Kaufman is pretty good. So is Sorkin. One can look forward to some good lines, passion and some intelligence.

Studio 60 promises to be good and something to look forward to every monday. In these days of game shows and dumb competitions, mystery dramas and sports shows, rare is the prospect of finding intelligence, quirkiness and good writing on TV. In addition, Sorkin constantly seeks to create a romantic idealism in his shows, be it on politics or entertainment. I like that.

In the same vein, we could expect some very good films too. Personally, I am looking forward to a new flim version of Robert Penn Warren’s All the King’s Men and Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Babel. Iñárritu is brilliant and his 21 Grams is one of my favorite films. Babel too promises to be really good.

As I said, something to be excited about.