Actually “favorite 5s” would be a much more appropriate term; it’s not like I’m grading or anything. Besides, there are still heaps of movies and albums I haven’t got to see/listen to. Nevertheless, the following is a compilation of some of my favorite movies, music, books, music videos and various YouTube clips of 2007: keep reading… »
Popularity: 61%
From Hitler to Pinochet and beyond, history shows there are certain steps that any would-be dictator must take to destroy constitutional freedoms, wrote author Naomi Wolf back in April for the Guardian. Her new book, The End of America: Letter of Warning To A Young Patriot details each and every of these steps, all of which the Bush administration has already initiated and are being developed in the US. For a year and a half now, every time Wolf gets on a plane she would have a high security risk symbol stamped on her boarding pass. She’s “on the list” for criticizing the Bush administration.
Popularity: 47%
For many expats, one of their biggest gripes is how expensive books are in Germany, especially imported English books. The Buchpreisbindungsgesetz not only stipulates a book’s price but also prohibits publishers and bookstores to sell it for any less. The idea is to protect the value of books as a cultural heritage by exempting it from the “supply and demand” inevitability of a free market, as well as protecting the smaller, independent bookstores from being disadvantaged by a more competitive pricing chain stores more capable of sustaining. Amazon Germany is also subject to the same regulation. Since 2004 customers were no longer able to use coupons for book purchases. Thank goodness at least free shipping for books is not verboten. I can see that the heart of the law is in the right place, but on the other hand you’d have to wonder at the end of the day if book lovers aren’t the real underdog with the heaviest burden to bear?
Popularity: 43%
I just finished reading the wonderful American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang. The graphic novel opens with Monkey King attending a dinner party in heaven with the gods. Monkey King is a fictional character from the Chinese Classic novel Journey to the West written in the 1590s. The wildly imaginative fantasy story chronicles a monk’s journey to India to bring Buddhist scriptures back to China. The monk has recruited three disciples before his treacherous odyssey: a flamboyant monkey, a deferential fish, and a lascivious pig. These creatures, appearing in human form, all know their Kong Fu and have magic powers, for their task is to protect the monk from all sorts of monsters along the way, who want to eat the monk in order to gain eternal life. In Yang’s book, the story of how the handsome Monkey King, who once defied all the gods, succumbs to the Monk and becomes his faithful apostle is beautifully captured and succinctly adapted into the first of three interweaving tales.
keep reading… »
Popularity: 43%