Thursday, January 31, 2013
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Monday, January 28, 2013
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Kyi May Kaung - Is it Sci Fi without the Science
I am thinking of Dune, or A Canticle for St. Leibowitz, or George R. R. Martin's work, where technology is changed to magic or all technology is almost all lost.
Why isn't sci fi fantasy?
Why should we worry so much about labels and categories.
What is the bottom line.
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Kyi May Kaung - comment on IFC and microfinance in Burma -
Microfinance alone cannot solve even all of Burma's agricultural sector problems, when so much land has been taken by the cronies and govt projects./
where would the microfinance be used - maybe in small scale craft projects?/
but if there is so much land lost - so many displaced - it will be as the Burmese say, "throwing sesame seeds to feed an elephant."/
Dr Kyi May Kaung, DC-based analyst./
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Interview of Burmese singer Daw Mar Mar Aye, Death Railway etc -
http://www.rfa.org/burmese/
Mar Mar Aye: As for new creations in Burmese music, there is rap and there is hip hop, but it all started elsewhere, in the west./
So far nothing has come from within the Burmese tradition itself -/
I know because even from an early age, I was cavorting on the rainbow (her first best selling song, at about age 13, was thet tant paw hmar kasar me - or "I shall play on the rainbow")/
so until I see something generated within Burma itself, I will have to reserve judgement -/
About whether she is coming back for good -
"I thought I would never be returning and so I had made certain arrangements there, and I could not just get up and move back suddenly, now could I?
-- so it's just coming to visit./
About how she made the decision to visit -/
"Well, my age is coming along and I wanted contact with my family and my audience and the people of Burma - now, my family, I can call them on the phone, but how would I call all the people of Burma?
-- and also they want to hear Mar Mar Aye's voice - and I also, I want to sing for them, I want to see if I can still sing."
Informal translation and summary Kyi May Kaung
Monday, January 21, 2013
Comment on writing and publishing -
I scanned through all comments here and majority opt for small presses, which they don't equate with "self-publishing" except for one comment -
Small presses have small or non-existent PR/budgets, and one I approached was set up mainly to publish works of founders, I believe - so -
bottom line is if you self publish, or publish at all, you yourself MUST do most of the PR, like it or not -
In the 90s I met a dedicated and talented writer who got a three book deal with a big advance - 1996 - but she still did most of PR herself - had a top of the line NY agent - and publisher -
so - 1996 economy being much different from this present recession, you have to do most of heavy lifting yourself -
another friend spent 30,000 of his own money, 1996 $$ - to promote his work in NY etc/travel
and it was not a novel but an academic journal - so go
figure.
Try and learn what is called guerilla marketing (and self promotion) - many good books -
Kyi May Kaung
Comment left on Kanlaon Blog - The Structure of a Play -
Did you like Homebody Kabul - I met the actress who understudied for part - she did a monolog at my other friend's house, they met in Afghanistan!
I am a great admirer of Angels in America and my play Shaman has a similar structure - saw Angels 9 times as an usher at Philadelphia's Annenberg Center.
Kyi May Kaung
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Saturday, January 19, 2013
Quote of the day - Sir Thomas More to Martin Luther -
"throw back into your paternity's shitty mouth, truly the shit-pool of all shit, all the muck and shit which your damnable rottenness has vomited up"
:)
From Sir Thomas Moore Wikipedia -
accessed 1-19-2013
Young man celeb admits falling in love with fictional creation (hoax)
http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/19/sport/manti-teo-controversy/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
Rather sad don't you think -/
Henry VIII was angry with a portrait artist for bringing him a picture of a woman he did not like at all when he met her "I like her not" - in fact he could not stand her as marriage partner - no chemistry, as we say these days - This was Ann of Cleves./
- strangely she did not get beheaded like the ones he "liked" and bedded -/
this woman managed to negotiate for herself a "sister" position and even got a pension and a house/home - and acted sometimes as a political adviser and sounding board - and died a natural death of old age -/
I would say with Henry's daughter Elizabeth - she was one of the few success stories from that saga - an example of "satisficing" rather than "optimizing" or playing all one's cards and losing./
kmk
Friday, January 18, 2013
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Breaking news - Algerian hostage crisis, BP facility
http://thedianerehmshow.org/
NPR Tom Gjelton interviews experts and takes calls -/
Algerian forces attacked hostage takers - who had taken over BP oil and gas facility - many foreigners including Americans among hostages -/
Something similar could happen in Burma./
--
Burma - central government attacks Kachin Independence Army - air strikes -
http://www.rfa.org/burmese/commentaries/kachin-air-strike-01082013193915.html
informal summary -/
It's in the 2010 "constitution" that the ground forces do not always need to obey the president, so this seems to be pre-planned./
Both sides should stop. KIA had a 17 year ceasefire, unlike KNU, whose ceasefire is quite recent./
However, KIA found that during the ceasefire period, the Burmese army and the cronies took advantage of them./
The present strategy by the "new government" seems to be to cut off the KIA's main economic base at the Hpakant Jade Mines, and to attack Laiza, the KIA headquarters./
The estimates of civilian refugees has increased from 60 to 80 to 90 to even 100,000./
In this cold winter weather, there is no help that we heard of from the "new" Burmese government, nor from China and the UNHCR and the international NGOs cannot go there./
Former captain in Burmese Army Sai Win Kyaw, based in USA said that though govt's policy may "succeed" in short term, in long term this cannot be solved by military means -/
Host - Khin Maung Nyane at RFA/
informal translation and summary- kmk/
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
My George R. R. Martin series, Song of Ice and Fire arrived in the mail -
The Mutt barked her head off - the black postman muffled up against the cold brought my boxed set of George R. R. Martin's fantasy series Song of Ice and Fire -/
Someday soon someone will also order my novels and novellas in the mail and be similarly pleased and happy when they arrive./
kmk
Monday, January 14, 2013
Kachin-Americans and other Burmese exiles chant "Thein Sein is a fraud" in front of White House - etc
http://www.rfa.org/burmese/
Well done, Ko Shwe Htee and All, very well done -
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Sightings of Gordon H. Luce and Daw Tee Tee Luce - a long ago "love affair"
sent to a fellow blogger - 1-12-2013/
Thanks again, glad you translated and put it up, in years I knew them she looked just as in photo -/
I had only 1/2 a day to go to see Luce's archive at Australian National Library, in Canberra, which my brother had catalogued, but I did not know it till I got there and Burmese students told me-/
Luce corresponded with a large # of people, including John Maynard Keynes, the Bloomsbury Group etc - Chinese scholar Arthur Waley -/
he was very fond of me and I of him - one memorable occasion in 50s when I was 13 when he cast me as Juliet while at 80? he read Romeo in a reading of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet was unforgettable - all the other readers were his students in Eng Lit at Rangoon Univ. and I don't know how the ma mas and ko kos felt abt me - I was too shy to chat with them, and just read the role Saya Luce told me to read and then came home./
I have other memories which I should write down /-
do you mind if I post this addition on my blog?/
aunty/
--- On Sat, 1/12/13, wrote:
> From:
> Subject: Re: present (today) + past - blog post
> To:
> Date: Saturday, January 12, 2013, 12:54 AM
> what a shameful act of Burmese
> authority who force to put off wedding
> ring from Daw TT Luce.
>
> here is my old translation abt her, back on 5 years ago. The
> original
> link can't even accessed anymore.
>
> http://kthwe.blogspot.com/2008/05/blog-post_24.html
>
Friday, January 11, 2013
National Geographic photographer and humanitarian, Reza -
http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photographers/photographer-reza/
So privileged to have met him in person at NEIU a few years ago.
As we say in Burmese, full pots don't thrash around and make a lot of noise.
International Day of Protest for the Rohingya
Date: Friday, January 11, 2013, 12:38 PM
> http://interoccupy.net/blog/ai1ec_event/international-day-of-protest-for-rohingya-120/
>
> InterOccupy | INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PROTEST FOR ROHINGYA
> 1/20
>
> INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PROTEST FOR ROHINGYA 1/20
>
> When: January 20, 2013 @ 12:00
> pm - 1:00 pm
> Where: Myanmar's embassies
> internationally
>
> We appeal all who have hearts and called for Human Rights to
> break the wall of silence . . activities around the world
>
> Calling for peaceful demonstrations around the world in
> front of the Myanmar’s embassies to show our silent anger
> and peaceful support for the innocent people who are facing
> Genocides WITHOUT no sin ,, only for their religion
>
> On 20th of Jan – 12 pm around the world ,, all of us will
> go and protest against INHUMANITY crimes in Arakan –
> Myanmar
>
> INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PROTEST FOR ROHINGYA | Global Day Of
> Action! :
>
> From BERLIN : http://www.facebook.com/events/383469365078749/
> From United State of America : http://www.facebook.com/events/391122774314038/
>
>
>
2004 tsunami movie The Impossible
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1649419/
The only thing I don't like about it is the built in premise that the world is not aware of what happens unless it happens to white people, so fetching in their swimwear.
Vietnamese-born artist Huong unveils Peace Mural in Miami
Contact: Huong
Peace Mural Foundation
Phone: 305-596-9280
7700 SW 77th Ave
Miami, FL 33146
www.peacemural.org
THE OBAMA INAUGURATION
Peace Mural Foundation Announces the Unveiling of The Obama Inauguration Mural on Lincoln Road
The new exhibit by the artist Huong celebrates renewed American patriotism and hope .
When: Saturday, January 19th, 5pm
Where: 430 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach FL 33139
Miami, January 10, 2013: The artist Huong will unveil her largest painting designed to honor and inspire the renewed patriotism of our nation. OBAMA INAUGRATION will be open daily from 10am-10pm and parking is available in the parking garage behind the building at the entrance to 16th Street. The exhibit is sponsored and presented by Ambassador Paul Cejas of 420 Lincoln Road Associates, Ltd.
THE OBAMA INAUGURATION captures the transformative swell of joy and pride felt by the nation as President Barack Obama was sworn into office for his first term. This enormous canvas, measuring 84 feet by 240 feet is a celebration of history in the making as well as a reminder of what it truly means to be an American.
Huong who emigrated from her native Vietnam following the fall of Saigon, remains dedicated to world peace. Reflecting on the brotherly love she felt during the inaugural festivities, she says, “ I was part of a new era in the history of America. The country had gently but securely adopted me. I was arm in arm with daughters and sons of other immigrants, some refugees like me, and others who took a different road to freedom. I smiled and knew, yes, this is my country –the land of promise, a promise of hope, and a hope for new life. Our faces read, ‘We are citizens of American and of the world.’ We are accountable to both. I think this is what we mean by feeling patriotic.”
BBC TV host raped children on a vast scale
http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/11/world/europe/uk-savile-sex-abuse/index.html?hpt=hp_c1
be aware and protect children -/
children and teenagers are most often abused by relatives and others, such as priests,sports counselors, coaches etc, who have access to them./
Teach your children what is acceptable and what it not at an early age - don't leave them alone with others -/
Azar Nafisi "What I have been silent about" writes of being groped by an iman that her mother worshipped./
"fashion magazine" Hnyo - banned as too racy by Burmese censors -
http://blogs.wsj.com/searealtime/2013/01/10/too-racy-for-myanmar-censors/
Sex and gender education should be in schools -/
Hnyo - the name itself means "seduction."/
Probably a "near-pronographic" magazine is not the right place for proper sex education./
The lack of education of individuals in all fields, even those who have lived outside for so long, is phenomenal./
In my years at Penn, I met several people who worked in anti-AIDS education and outreach - and also in Thailand, I know for a fact that CDCE arranged for visiting non-profit workers and groups of social worker monks to receive AIDS-related information from expert Dr. Laurie Maund./
Of course those inside Burma are not well served - the whole culture needs to change./
A medical student told me that even medical texts had the reproductive system blacked out!!/
kmk
Myitkyina train, Burma, hit by mine, Soros meets Daw Suu, anti-Kachin genocide demonstrations world wide, Burmese govt creates anti-corruption organisation - plus some of my memories
http://www.rfa.org/burmese/
Myitkyina is in Kachin land -/
anti-Kachin genocide demonstrations in London, Bangkok, Canberra and on Chinese side of Burma-China border./
Kachin headquarters in Laiza on Burmese side was attacked by helicopter gunships and heavy artillery./
Govt. spokesperson said they "just used practice aircraft."/
On corruption, the lawyer, in black jacket said -"This is like government employees investigating themselves."/
Generation 88 U Ko Ko Gyi said, "With existing law, the maximum, even if millions were appropriated, is 7 years. With this and that, some serve only 4 years. -- as we (political prisoners were so long in prison -/
(U Win Tin for instance was in there 19 years) --/
I for one have never seen a prisoner serving a sentence for corruption in prison."/
What no one said - as we say in Burmese, The roof always leaks from the top down --/
no one mentioned the greatest thieves of all./
The 98th birthday of the late historian Col. Ba Shin, who died in 1970, was celebrated in Rangoon. I saw Col. Ba Shin when I was a child and teenager, and he was working regularly with Prof. Gordon H. Luce and famed geographer, Dr Daw Thin Kyi. To this day I regret not having gone with them on a trip to Bagan (formerly spelled Pagan)because I had to take my exams - subsequently Luce was forced by the Ne Win government to leave Burma and his property and the Home for Waifs and Strays (of course an old fashioned name) near Inya Lake was taken over. Some other time I will relate what a relative saw at the airport on the day the Luces left - oh well, it might as well be here and now./
All personal jewelry was not allowed out of Burma. Mrs Luce(Daw Tee Tee Luce)never wore nor probably had any jewelry, but the airport officials forced her to leave her wedding ring - As she had worn it so many years, she could not take it off easily. Finally with soap and a lot of tears, I am sure, she got it off and left it with the British Embassy person who came to see them off./
I feel this random or not so random act of cruelty towards an old woman who never did anyone any harm, in fact even was renowned for her social work, was a winner of the Ramon Magsaysay Prize, needs to be documented./
My beloved aunt always wanted me to "be like Daw Thin Kyi" and herself was so pleased to tell me that when the Duke of Edinburgh visited Burma, the only Burmese person he talked with at length at an official reception, which my aunt and uncle also attended, was Daw Thin Kyi./
There!/
Daw Thin Kyi, like the Luces, was similarly lovely./
I loved the way she walked on campus in her later years, supported by two students on either side, like a great she-elephant out of the Buddhist jataka (stories of the former lives of Gautama Buddha) --/
At the Luces' house, Daw Thin Kyi would be peering at aerial photos of Bagan with a viewing device, while Col. Ba Shin and Prof. Luce chatted with each other about their work. My father at the time was the first Chairman of the Burma Historical Commission. He was trying to get Saya Luce to stop making changes to his book and send it off for publication./
Informal summary, paraphrase and comments, reminiscences - Dr. Kyi May Kaung
Left on Kanlaon's blog - opportunity costs and Chinese imports
I just love Self and this blog -wondered why you were walking -
for me Walmart is 2.31 miles away so I walk 4.62 miles if I go and back.
I found that to order George R. R. Martin's 4 pack I would only have to pay less than $2 for delivery, while pick up or home delivery, the date I will get it is the same -
so what with waiting for good weather and forgetting and feeling tired all the time - less than $2 for walking over 4 miles is OK, not to factor in my time, and getting dressed and ready to go out.
There's nothing very interesting to see along the way and the people watching is also useless here as everyone is in a car. Seeing a bus is very rare and I heard there is one bus accident a day.
Epiphany of the day - I never knew Walmart sells guns, and books!
I know it all comes from China, but was I glad to get a coat, padded, red for $20.
In 30 years I have never bought a $20 coat.
The army surplus jacket I have was $20, off a truck, but it is old and not as warm -- bought during the first Iraq War, and I really could not wear it on Penn campus -
go figure -
it all comes off the backs of Chinese workers I know, but what to do - I am retired and on a limited income -
Kyi May Kaung
Charles Dickens' Little Dorrit, George Orwell's 1984 (movie version)
http://www.amazon.com/Little-Wordsworth-Classics-Charles-Dickens/dp/1853261823#reader_1853261823
I saw a TV series some years ago and it was excellent -
the intro in the Amazon sample pages are soo interesting -
D was an early activist - and also had a magazine where he energetically addressed all the problems of the day, and Orwell wrote a great article on him in 1948 -
it is Amazing --
I watched "1984" - movie version and it was very good though extremely bleak and depressing -
Julia hiding the small gifts like chocolate, real coffee, real sugar in the fireplace and giving them to Winston Smith so like 1982 when I left Burma.
The real 1984 was an important year for me, because I went to see Burma expert Josef Silverstein at a MacDonald's near the train line for the first time - I had never heard of him in Burma. My Karen friends lived close by and gave me his phone number as he was a supporter of Karen National Union leader, the late Saw Bo Mya -
I went because I had read Silverstein's books in the Penn library and I wanted to be like him.
kmk
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Left on Kanlaon blog - gardening fire and ice -
Love this blog - I just ordered box set of George R.R. Martin's Song of Fire and Ice series, and am eagerly waiting - am about to try ordering plants by mail - gearing up for The Child's lectures.
Kyi
latest lists of Burmese political prisoners from Ko Tate Naing of AAPPB
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yI0IMVo-Yks
Association for the Assistance of Political Prisoners, Burma says
there are 380 plus about a 1000 people detained in Arakan - whose status as to whether they are political prisoners is being debated -
I want to change myself - by Fadhil al Awazzi via Ko Ko Thett
I want to change myself/
After all my heavy losses/
Here and there/
After all my ever-bleeding wounds/
From the lost wars of my short life/
I saw how fragile I was./
I sat and thought about what I should do/
To rebuild the ruins of my afflicted soul./
*
I think I have to change my body parts/
One by one,/
Some of them, at least – /
To earn the happy days to come./
*
I think I need/
A new pump for my heart/
To love as many women as I want./
I´ll need a lung, washed out of tar and nicotine/
To smell the streets after rain,/
And nerves of steel/
To bear the blows of fate,/
And new blood, rich with red and white blood/
To donate/ (to)
The victims of the coming wars./
*
I need/
A stomach that thankfully digests all I give it,/
Sharp teeth to tear the barbarians/
Coming down upon us from their snowy mountains,/
A wide chest to be kind to treacherous friends,/
Long limbs to win the Olympic Games,/
And tender lips for burning kisses./
*
What would it matter if I were bald?/
My remaining hairs/
The wind will gently comb back./
*
My liver and spleen/
I will leave as they are –/
I really must spend as little as possible – /
And my head will just have to find its way out of the trouble/
The way it has always done./
*
In short: I have to be alive enough/
To still look like myself after all./
*
funny transliteration - for real
billionaire = bee lee yohn narr
:)
http://www.rfa.org/burmese/
this is almost as good as THS Loh!
If you don't know Burmese, I decline to translate - ask someone you know well.
--
Wednesday, January 09, 2013
Monday, January 07, 2013
Wince-inducing words from Vanity Fair care of Kanlaon
http://anthropologist.wordpress.com/author/anthropologist/
This woman never fails to wow me with what she blogs about.
Sunday, January 06, 2013
Comment left on Kanlaon's Anthropologist blog - ref. Asian calligraphy and writing -
Your insights on calligraphy and using the form/structure of what you are currently reading to write is great - that's what I do too.
I am sure you must also like Franz Kline's "calligraphic" paintings - I did not know about him and his work until one critic compared my paintings to his.
Kyi May Kaung
Images from my travels -
A must see for all artists and writers in exile - Marlene Dietrich: Her Own Song --
http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/410471|18559/Marlene-Dietrich-Her-Own-Song.html
quotes and paraphrases from the documentary:
Goebbels - "We must have German literature, German art, German music --"
Dietrich on her Hollywood work "prostitution and real prostitution"
---
Saturday, January 05, 2013
Comment left on Irrawaddy site - ref Burmese writer Ma Thida
I am very privileged to have seen her outside Burma, once for about 45 minutes at Baltimore Penn Station,and to be distantly related to her -- However, I wish her books and articles and short stories were more widely available - inside and outside Burma.
I read with interest her translations of Japanese writer Noriko's recollections of Daw Suu and Daw Than E Fend.
Friday, January 04, 2013
Thursday, January 03, 2013
Excellent interview of F. Murray Abraham by Diane Rehm on NPR
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2012-10-15/academy-award-winning-actor-f-murray-abraham
Who would have ever guessed he grew up in El Paso, TX?
My favorite interview of my favorite personality, Daw Mar Mar Aye - singer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RIu3aSNIb0&list=UUv-YbGueeYCp8_CdjgXQD3A&index=5
I have other stories of my encounters with Daw Mar Mar Aye -
but won't relate them here as it's the new year and the circumstances of the first of these meetings was not happy - she was offered a "job" that only paid $200 a month and that she could not live on.
I will recount it some other time - she herself is incredibly lovely and always will be.
KMK
Wednesday, January 02, 2013
going viral right now - a new year round robin letter from Myanmar
Fighting escalates between Burmese government and Kachin and ABSDF (North), Mandalay-Myitkyina train line mined etc -
http://www.rfa.org/burmese/
One government plane shot down - helicopter gunships also used by Burmese army/
Billionaire George Soros will meet Shan and other ethnic leaders during his Burma visit,Generation 88 goes to Laiza - Min Ko Naing will make first trip overseas to the Philippines and/
mine blasts in Tavoy damage old historic pagodas -/
note mine workers working with their bare hands in sarongs and flip flops./
unofficial translation & summary.
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