Joseph Anton (Salman Rushdie) reference - reply

The book is available on Amazon and in bookstores.

The Jonathan Yardley review - the link for it is already posted on this blog, or you can Google.

This blog is set up so I cannot correspond at length on comments.

Thank you for your understanding.

Quote of the day - from Toni Morrison

If there's a book you really want to read -- and it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.

Toni Morrison

End - visual evening -

Bottle sculpture - forgot to note artist's name
at the Hirschorn Museum -
Photo - Kyi May Kaung

Coca cola by Ai Wei Wei

Photo copyright Kyi May Kaung

Ashes to ashes - dust to dust -

Photo copyright Kyi May Kaung - fire circle LT.

Home made Daw Aung San Suu Kyi sign -

Painting and photo copyright Kyi May Kaung

Rose after rain -

Photo copyright Kyi May Kaung (K.M. Kaung)

My Weedy Garden with cinqfoil berries

Photos copyright Kyi May Kaung (K.M.Kaung)

Brookings Institute and IMF Burma workshop

http://www.rfa.org/burmese/

Burmese in Norway protest Thein Sein visit

http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/27892

Project Guttenberg - free copy of Little Dorrit

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/963/963-h/963-h.htm

Pimps use social networks to recruit for prostitution

http://money.cnn.com/2013/02/27/technology/social/pimps-social-networks/index.html?hpt=hp_c1

Bishop Desmond Tutu's tribute to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi - written in 2009

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jul/30/desmond-tutu-aung-san-suu-kyi

She was only released Nov 13, 2010, a week after the junta had made sure it won the "election."

Bishop Tutu in Burma - "Looking forward to when your country is really free --"

http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/27791

Archbishop Desmond Tutu goes to Rangoon to see Daw Aung San Suu Kyi

http://www.rfa.org/burmese/

Burmese TV Feb 26 broadcast - sorry, no translation, images speak louder.

So-called president Thein Sein greeted by big demonstration in Oslo -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stlmTEHegBw

Informal summary and translation:

Slogan - "We meet Thein Sein with shwe pan"  -- shwe pan="gold flower"=male genitals.

Interview - "There are no human rights in Burma, there is no constitution.  That's why we are demonstrating."

Man with the guitar - famous singer Mun Awng - "This is the same general who imprisoned democracy activists, now spouting 'democracy' and going around visiting."

Congrats Norway-based activists - you speak the Truth.

Quote of the day -

Burma - colonial era Pegu Club in Rangoon - stray dogs and weeds -

http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/27721

My Saatchi on line site -

http://www.saatchionline.com/KyiMayKaungArt

Sorry, still a hub as I try to focus on my writing life - or my life.

Iran says movie "Argo" is CIA propaganda

http://atimetobetray.com/blog/iran-criticizes-argo-as-cia-propaganda/

Argo - story of a real life rescue, wins Oscar for best movie

http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/showbiz/2013/02/25/point-cho-academy-awards-fashion.cnn&hpt=hp_tvvideo#/video/bestoftv/2012/10/22/exp-early-cho-real-argo.cnn

Alina Cho interviews the real life former hostages.  From CNN.

Guy Delisle's graphic novel Burma Chronicles

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5596923-burma-chronicleshttp://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5596923-burma-chronicles

K.M.Kaung's Good Reads review of George Orwell's 1984

1984 by George Orwell

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


You must be kidding - George Orwell's 1984 is a classic and needs no review - you'll be pulled in from when the clock strikes 13.

It does not have a complicated or page turning plot, and you could say it's depressing, a doomsday scenario, but then, look at all he foresaw.

If like me you come from a totalitarian system, it is almost too painful to read or watch (the movie version, with Richard Burton).

Still, you should.

No one who is a thinking person and lives in this world, should go without reading 1984 and Animal Farm at least once in their lives.

Kyi May Kaung (K.M.Kaung)



View all my reviews

The Silver Garden at Longwood Gardens, PA

Aha - at last centered and lined up.

Photos Copyright Kyi May Kaung a. k. a. K.M. Kaung.

A test, a test, this is a test -

Ash lens 5 - copyright Kyi May Kaung.

Audio book sample from George R. R. Martin's The Dance of Dragons -

http://www.audible.com/pd?asin=B0057POQJE&source_code=GO1DG9048SH080912&mkwid=dynB0057POQJE&gclid=CJ7u0KzI0LUCFQZV4AodrkEAYA

George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire may turn out to be 8 books instead of 7

http://io9.com/5820288/george-rr-martins-song-of-ice-and-fire-may-turn-out-to-be-eight-books-instead-of-seven Interesting interview of how complicated plot evolves.

Oscar Economics -

http://business.time.com/2013/02/22/whats-oscar-worth-at-the-box-office/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+time%2Fbusiness+%28TIME%3A+Top+Business+Stories%29&hpt=hp_c1

Peter Dinklage who played Tyrion Lannister in A Game of Thrones

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Dinklage

George R.R. Martin's A Dance with Dragons

Photos - K.M.Kaung Book review from Mother Jones http://www.motherjones.com/mixed-media/2011/08/book-review-dance-dragons Book review from The New York Times/ http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/15/books/a-dance-with-dragons-by-george-r-r-martin-review.html?_r=0

Cartoon: Impact of Kaladan Project in Arakan and Chin States, Burma.

By the famous Harn Lay. Cartoon from the Chinland Guardian -- http://www.chinlandguardian.com/cartoons/2019-impacts-of-kaladan-project-in-chin-and-arakan-states.html

sneak peak - cover of my upcoming novel Wolf

Cover design copyright Todd Hebertson.

Sneak peak - a character in my new sci fi epic

Woman with AK 47 Character, text, painting and photo - copyright K.M.Kaung

Snow pic from SST

Snow on old tree - photo copyright SST

The Dalai Lama's mother recalls his infancy

http://www.reincarnationexperiment.org/home/dalailamaplid.html

Ancient Indian Jewelry

http://www.indianetzone.com/1/jewellery_ancient_india.htm

India's Windfall - by Andrea Bennet

http://responsibility-project.libertymutual.com/blog/india-s-windfall?src=keyword_s=msn_K=indian%20gold%20coins_C=Responsibility_G=IndiasWindfall_India_M=e&K_CLICKID=7adf0f32-736b-de88-bad2-000063419bab#fbid=EkvBqGX2kgK&src=keyword_s

ancient scripts - Brahmi to Pallava to Pyu to Burmese and other SE Asian languages

http://www.skyknowledge.com/pallava.htm Endlessly fascinating./ I am convinced the "donation inscriptions" I saw at Banteay Serai near Angkor in Cambodia were a form of these. I can't get over it./ Stay tuned, I need time to find my Angkor pics./

Burma archaeology - Gutman and Hudson

http://www.timemap.net/~hudson/ArchaeologyOfBurma-Gutman&Hudson2004.pdf

My mini review of Charles Dickens' Little Dorrit - left on Amazon site

I did not find it long. I learned a lot about Dickens and his social conscience from reading this. I also saw the Masterpiece Theatre TV series a few years ago, but what was lost there was Charles Dickens' incomparable authorial voice and his sense of humor. The TV version did help me anticipate the plot somewhat, but Dickens can still kill people off in one paragraph, and it does not seem contrived. The mental decline of the overly prestige-conscious Father of the Marshalsea debtors' prison and his ho-humming pronouncements was wonderfully done. So much so that his final breakdown came as no surprise. The speech patterns of the fat Flora, said to be modeled on Dickens' wife, and the dialogue involving others were also excellent. I think the plot has been changed a bit in the TV version. However, Little Dorrit is still one of the best works for anyone to read who wishes to paint on a large canvas and handle serious, societal issues. I was able to relate to it more because as someone born in Burma with its Gulag of military-operated prisons and its prison of a country, I could relate to the Marshalsea more. The audio version, judging from the sample, is also excellent. People should read the classics more. They should not impose their 20th and 21st century values on the 19th century. K.M.Kaung

My mini review of Mark Bojanowski's The Dog Fighter -

I have read this several times, and I never fail to be moved./ To this day the story remains with me. The author has done a beautiful job of building up the reader's sympathy and empathy for the dog fighter, who in the end -- well - we can't have a spoiler here -- can we?/ It is masterly from the first sentence on./ I look forward to reading much more from Mark Bojanowski./ K.M.Kaung/ On Amazon site - / I still remember when I presented the first sentence of this novel in class, and all the women jumped on me as being cruel to animals - I wonder how they would have reacted if Mark himself were there - of course he is not the protagonist of the novel either -/

Tourist robberies increase in Bagan, Burma

http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/27507

audio book sample - Chris Kyle's American Sniper - read by John Pruden

http://www.audible.com/search/ref=sr_ab_1_1_1?searchAuthor=Chris+Kyle&source_code=GO1DG902WWS111511&mkwid=srTmYWcF9&pcrid=22673156889&pmt=b&pkw=chris%20kyle%20audiobook&gclid=CIiF9IS-yrUCFdGd4AodRhsAbQ

Pol. Sci. thriller - Larry Bond - Red Dragon Rising -

http://www.amazon.com/Larry-Bonds-Red-Dragon-Rising/dp/0765360985#reader_0765360985

Dickens and his ten or eleven children

http://www.npr.org/2012/11/20/164798328/famous-father-had-highest-expectations

Dickens' Little Dorrit as allegory

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2005/jan/01/classics.charlesdickens

Dickens self-published -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Expectations

Actor Colin Firth (The King's Speech) on reading audio books

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-207_162-57428912/colin-firth-lends-voice-to-classic-novel-reading/

Bruce Chatwin and Dr. Ho from The Literary Traveler

http://www.literarytraveler.com/articles/bruce-chatwin-and-dr-ho/

The Irrawaddy interviews Land of Green Ghosts author Pascal Khoo Thwe -

http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/26437 Thanks Pascal, you spoke well.

U Tube how to videos - henna skin painting, wet on wet watercolor etc -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPcUp8lbDMM I loved how to cook dhansak in Hindi/English the best.

S. African blade runner Pistorius murder case - judge denies bail -

http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/20/world/africa/south-africa-pistorius-case/index.html?hpt=hp_t1 Prosecutor says premeditated murder - CNN asks Marcia Clark - prosecutor in OJ Simpson case for her opinion. Marcia says not waking his partner in bed first was not credible./ Defense attorney that CNN asked (not Pistorius's actual defense lawyer) said it "might not have been in S. African culture to call 911 first" - instead of calling the gated community manager./ !!!! Hope we don't see a repeat of OJ Simpson case -

Cover design for special issue of International Gallerie, on Burma - hard look.

watch out for my article -/ Aung San Suu Kyi: Strange Collection of Clear Victories, by Dr. Kyi May Kaung/ in this special edition, upcoming./ Editor and founder Bina Sarkar Ellias commissioned this article - the two artistic and literary friends who connected me to Bina - Big thank you, and thanks Bina and International Gallerie.

Re-posting after one year - Potemkin Politics: Are Burmese reforms real by Kyi May Kaung

http://www.himalmag.com/component/content/article/4842-potemkin-politics.html I am happy to have the last word, though sad that I am right about Burma yet again./ In the end, I get to say "I told you so," but the Burmese people suffer more under the regime, which is still the same old, same old military./ Where is the so-called reform. Nowhere./ K.M. Kaung

Irrawaddy interview of Burmese beauty queen -

http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/25036#comment-27505

Prince Jackson, Michael's son, makes debut as a reporter -

http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/19/showbiz/hollywood-jackson-son/index.html?hpt=hp_c3 The children look beautiful and seem to be doing well.

Quote from Kanlaon's Blog - on Mo Yan by Ian Buruma

Two translations of Mo Yan, both by Howard Goldblatt: Sandalwood Death and Pow! The review is by Ian Buruma, who says of Mo Yan: “There is nothing mandarin, or even urbane, about Mo Yan’s work. He has retained the earthy character of rural Shandong, where he grew up in a farming family.” http://anthropologist.wordpress.com/author/anthropologist/

Anniversary of my father U Kaung's death in Calcutta of a car accident -

Fall leaves close-up - Copyright Kyi M. Kaung http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdAERH_XkCQ Dear Father, You would have loved the person I have become - today I am talking to my book packagers. Kyi Kyi

Generation 88 - Min Ko Naing and Ko Pyone Cho in Oslo

http://democracyforburma.wordpress.com/2013/02/16/ko-min-ko-naing-and-pyone-cho-norway-17-february-2013-videos/ Hosted by Norwegian Burma Council

Tolstoy said - Anna Karenina's lover had teeth like spades -

My friend Kanlaon said "Sorry, but that does not sound at all attractive." My reply - "Yes, 2 front teeth. :) The lover was depicted realistically, like the husband and Anna herself - as if Tolstoy were saying "She was obsessed with him, but I knew it would not turn out well." It makes the reader feel like, "Anna be careful" but we cannot do anything about it - I thought it masterful. Kyi/ left on Kanlaon Blog. It's said of Tolstoy's writing that he was so good, even a poof that the heroine sat on in War and Peace, had a life of its own.

UN Burma envoy Quintana says human rights abuses continue in Burma

http://www.thailandnews.net/index.php/sid/212633741/scat/7eb51d3138244bed

British couple - round the world cyclists, hit and killed by truck in Thailand -

http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/27126

For Burma - the mirror of Syria -

http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/18/world/meast/syria-detainees-horror/index.html?hpt=hp_c1

Burma - CIA Factbook

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/bm.html

Cambodia - from Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodia

Ancient Khmer script

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:AncientKhmerScript.jpg

Raffles Hotel - Siem Reap - Cambodia

http://www.raffles.com/siem-reap/about-hotel/

Strand Hotel, Rangoon, photos

http://www.mylifesatrip.com/a-stay-at-the-strand-hotel-in-yangon-myanmar/

The Oriental Hotel - Bangkok

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandarin_Oriental,_Bangkok

Graham Greene's Travels with My Aunt

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travels_with_My_Aunt

Graham Greene -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graham_Greene

Bizarre Burma business opps -

http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/26662

Reading matters - left on Kanlaon's Blog

I have not read the first two books, but Anna Karenina, I read about 6-10 years ago - Very sad. Tolstoy supposed to have based it on a train accident that he witnessed. Wonderful descriptions, her lover with teeth like spades, Anna wearing the dress with the white lace collar. The way she goes through with it, even though she may have sensed that the man will not be with her for long. I am no good at delayed gratification as regards my reading. I have to read a book at once. Kyi M. Kaung

VOA wrap up in English on Kachin conflict in Burma panel at the Heritage Foundation, DC - in English

http://www.youtube.com/user/voaclips

Orchid - cymbidium Burma Star

http://www.bribieislandorchidsociety.com/wp-content/uploads/file/orchidgrowing/Cymbidium-Canaliculatum-Orchids.pdf

Longwood Gardens, PA

http://www.longwoodgardens.org/WhatsinBloom_1_3_1_3.html

Longwood gardens over 30 years - comment left on Kanlaon Blog

Thank you! I used to live in Philadelphia - 15 years while at Penn - and so went there a bit - interesting to see the way the garden has changed -/ and remained the same - like how old the purple bougainvillea in the conservatory are - or the new pawlovnia (sp?) trees they put in to replace the old ones that were taken out -/ I only have been there at intervals of 6-10 years now - but my son first visited when he was 13 - and was enchanted by the bonsai jasmine -/ and one summer I went there right after having a colonoscopy, and the pink roses on the arches to the right of the entrance were in full bloom -/ one family friend who was a Quaker and whom I first met through other family friends lived at Crosslands retirement community near there. K.M.Kaung

Poetry from Burma - Bones will Crow ed-ed by James Byrne and Ko Ko Thett

Finger a la Ai Wei Wei - photo copyright K.M.Kaung http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2013/feb/08/bones-crow-burmese-poets-review Another book with the westerner's name coming first, though I would think Ko Ko Thett would have done most of compilation and translation - kmk --- On Fri, 2/8/13, ko ko thett wrote: From: ko ko thett Subject: review of the day: bones will crow in the guardian To: Date: Friday, February 8, 2013, 11:09 PM greetings from yangon... i am forwarding the following. http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2013/feb/08/bones-crow-burmese-poets-review -- KKt ko ko thett

AAPPB - Association for the Assistance of Political Prisoners, Burma gives scholarships to children of Burmese political prisoners -

http://www.mizzima.com/news/prisoner-watch/8879-aapp-offers-scholarships-to-children-of-political-prisoners.html sadhu sadhu sadhu/ well done, well done, well done/ now we are talking - at least today I don't have to read another report full of political or economic mumbo jumbo - what this government minister said, what that minister said.

Storm hits NE (USA) - from CNN

http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/08/us/northeast-blizzard/index.html?hpt=hp_c1

Soe Zin Photography

http://photography.zinonline.com/archives/146

Funny transliteration - "loo nar" New Year

http://www.youtube.com/user/voaclips VOA newscaster said loo nar hnit thit kuu for "lunar New Year" in Burmese - which sounds like "sick patient new year." :)

Storm Nemo - food prep/storage for emergencies

http://eatocracy.cnn.com/emergency/?hpt=hp_c2

Twitter - Wikipedia entry

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitter I will have to get used to it for things in the public domain and to promote my books, visual art. Live tweets also good if going to a conference or event and for breaking news - __

China bars activist Wang from going to Burma to see Suu Kyi

http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/26183

Ashley Fontaine - crime novel - self publishing success story

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhY6yA4nc_U

Burma President's website hacked

http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/26065

Self published author who did her own PR - from CreateSpace

https://www.createspace.com/

Bedlam- military owned oil tanker fire in Rangoon -

http://www.rfa.org/burmese/ Video - well the videographer is excellent -

Images 2012 - Election signs USA

Images 2012 - before Election Day - USA

Images 2012 - Voting rights in Maryland, USA

Image of the day - The late Louisa Benson Craig

Such a lovely person and my good friend.

Burmese Hitlerisms - poster by Anonymous

Disclaimer - as the owner of this blog, I do not necessarily agree with all views expressed by blog guest posts - I post some things to increase Burmese tolerance of differing points of view.

U Thaw Kaung & Daw Aung San Suu Kyi at Irrawaddy Literary Fest

Photo courtesy of Good Friend Copyright Good Friend

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi draws thousands to Burma's first literary festival

http://travel.cnn.com/aung-san-suu-kyi-draws-thousands-myanmars-first-literary-festival-137776 http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/03/burma-literary-festival

Richard III's skeleton found

http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/05/world/europe/richard-iii-reconstruction/index.html?hpt=hp_c1 One who allegedly killed (according to Sir Thomas More)his nephews, the 2 young princes in the tower.

Branding in marketing

http://marketing.about.com/cs/brandmktg/a/whatisbranding.htm

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi says Victor Hugo's novels inspired her -

http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/25959

Quote of the day - from Marianne Villanueva

" A List is always exclusive"

American Tolkien George R. R. Martin releases sample chapter from next book

http://www.businessinsider.com/george-rr-martin-releases-sneak-peek-game-of-thrones-2013-1

Irrawaddy Literary Festival - Rangoon -

http://www.youtube.com/user/voaclips http://www.ctpost.com/news/article/International-literary-festival-opens-in-Myanmar-4241519.php#photo-4119946 Huh?? If you write in English you're not a Burmese writer?? We've lived overseas because we were unable to go back, sometimes due to our writing.

US cracking down on China based hackers who got into NYTs, WSJ etc

http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/25722