The Malagasy dwarf Hippo: May 2006

5/28/06

what would you do with an invisible cloak ?

Scientists claim that they are able to manufacture the famous Harry Potter's "invisible cloak". As a result, India uncut asked: "what would you do if you had an invisible cloak ?". I think that's easy: I will use the invisible cloak to sneak into the G8 summit photo op, squeeze between G.W and Tony, remove the invisible cloak and moon the photographers with the words: "stop global warming" on my cheeks. Do you think I could put the cloak back on and escape before they gun me down :) ?

5/27/06

French open should start with a minute of silence and baby Shiloh is here

The French open starts in a few hours and although I am enthused by the Federer-Nadal budding rivalry, I am sadden by the news from Baghdad that 2 tennis players and their coach had been killed for wearing shorts. Not only is that one of the most mindboggling cause of death, it also emphasizes the mess that is expanding in Iraq as a result of the ill-conceived invasion. I am not quite sure how this situation can be resolved, I am just wondering how some people can go to sleep at night watching this disaster unfold on a daily basis.
On a lighter note, the Brangelina natural offspring is finally here. The name: Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt. The question: Has the couple been following the esoteric trend in Hollywood ? Shiloh means either the gift or the "Messiah" in Hebrew. If being expected to be genetically perfect is not hard enough, now baby girl has to bear the expectations that comes with carrying "messiah" as a name....Talk about great expectations.... And knowing Pitt's passion for architecture, is Nouvel a shout-out at the architect or at Jolie's French roots? C'mon guys, the world needs to know this :).

5/26/06

fete des meres et "Salut Lalaina" on memorial day

C'est la fete des meres (chez les francophones) et memorial day aux US ( pour honorer les veterans de guerre.) Mais l'envie me manque de baigner dans le sentimentalisme patriotique americain. Alors pourquoi ne pas plutot honorer la memoire de ceux qui ne sont plus avec nous mais qui ont enrichi mille fois nos vies et celebrer les mamans qui ont guide nos 1er pas.
Voici en musique et en image pour commencer le week-end et:

1) Pour celebrer Lalaina, qui aurait ete un musicien hors pair, mais qui nous a quitte precipitament un certain mois de Juin et qui a laisse une marque indelebile sur toute sa famille, voici un de ces morceaux preferes:

"sailing" rod stewart.
Click here to listen to 'sailing-15'

2) pour ma fete des meres: Mirou, on quitte le classique (post precedent) pour faire un tour cote "radio nostalgie" :)

Click here to watch 'try-to-remember'
Click here to watch 'I-dont-wanna-talk-about-it-'
Click here to watch 'plaisir-damour-25'

3)Pour toutes les mamans:

Click here to listen 'the-way-you-look'
Click here to listen 'carmen-42'
Click here to listen to the fray 'over-my-head-'

Bonne fetes et prudence sur les routes :) !

5/24/06

2 words tonight: BORIS ...DIAW

I have to celebrate the brilliance and the effort of the Phoenix Suns team tonight. The beat a Dallas team that is more talented and much bigger than them, although they were down 9 pts with 3min to play. One man especially scored 34 pts and the game winner: Boris Diaw. He is an old school player, often called a "poor man Magic Johnson" because of the way he passes the ball. He was an afterthought, a "bust" in Atlanta, given away as a token change with draft picks in a trade to Phoenix. After scoring the final basket, he did not even flinch, "cold as ice" :)as his teammates went bananas. The kicker: Boris is half-French, half Senegalese, speaks with respect like he is addressing elder, wiser folks. Let's just say he represented the continent quite well. He looks like a good choir boy but he will dissect you cold blooded on the court. He and his teammates ( Nash, Marion, Barbosa, Bell..) are reigniting the passion for pro basketball in the US. This postseason has been just plain unbelievable this year ( best ever in my opinion).

5/23/06

I hope this film turns out as good as it sounds ....

and I am not talking about "Da Vinci Code". ( sidenote: apparently "Da Vinci" left a lot critics unimpressed and viewers a bit disappointed. I enjoyed it but I can see how the movie may not flow too well if you have not read the book. They probably tried to stick to close to the book. Still, it's doing well in the box-office and the success is justified. The historical references may be shaky but it IS a fiction, based on historical references but still a fiction. End of long sidenote).
The movie that I cannot wait to see and that I hope will come out as good as I imagine, is "Blueberry nights". There are several reasons to love this upcoming film: 1) it will be filmed mostly in the southern states in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. Katrina will be discussed but I am not sure if it is a center feature of the movie yet. 2) The cast: Norah Jones,Natalie Portman, Rachel Weisz and Jude Law: I mean, need I say more ? ... put it this way: if you are a heterosexual male and you haven't lived under a rock for the past 10 years, you have to be at the very least....intrigued (when all is said and done, Jude Law could still be the prettiest of them all, and yes I do realize he is a guy). These 3 ladies (Jones,Weisz, Portman) are the only ones in Hollywood who can make you believe that they can master nanotechnology and be your best friend all at once( the angelic face routine does not hurt either). Anyway, as you can tell, I am psyched. Let's hope the movie does not bomb.
PS: The director Wong Kar Wai is the heir apparent to Ang lee.
PS2: Angelina Jolie and Audrey Tautou do not make the list because Jolie cannot pull the best friend routine and Tautou...well let's add her to the list.
PS3: Weisz in the constant gardener is stunning. Go watch it.

5/22/06

Bono live from Africa

I was joking around with my mother back in December that she may want to get in touch with Bono and Peter Gabriel to organize a "Africa's response to Live 8" concert. The premise of the event would be to have the best artists from all over Africa mingled with a few of the live 8 participants in a one day concert in Addis-Ababa. The concert would emphasize the fact that not only Africa is not ungrateful for the global effort initiated by many but also that Africa is able to get things done to help herself in eradicating Malaria, AIDS and extreme poverty.
Although the idea was appealing to me, I was mainly just kidding around. My mother replied to my idea,deadpanned, that I should give her a list of "must have"African artists to and people to contact in order to make it possible. In other words, "son, either you think practically about making things happen and I may help you or you quit wasting my time with your daydreaming ..." Ouch, reality is painful... :) ( my putative list is comprised so far of Eric Manana, Extra-Musica, Ladysmith black Mambazo and Youssou N'dour.... :( Oh well, it's not happening anyway....)
I am rambling about this because Bono is now touring 4 African nations to keep the "one campaign" going. In his latest stop in Tanzania, he explains that he is encouraged that a local factory has taken on locally mass-producing mosquito nets treated with insecticide to prevent malaria spreading. Here is a funny quote of Bono on world economics: " There are two things coming together here for me that are giant ideas," he says. "One is the end of malaria is within sight, and the second thing you're seeing is Africa responding to China in the apparel sector."You're seeing the beginning of a fight-back against Chinese domination in the apparel sector and funny enough as a result of scaling up to fight malaria that this has become possible."
Hummm, love you and love the idea, Bono but I still think you should let the experts on world economy handle this one.
The other news is that Brian Williams NBC nightly news will broadcast Bono live from Tanzania tonight to further expose the fight against AIDS and poverty. It sometimes seems like Bono is pushing the issue down our throats, however I'd rather have it this way that watching the news debating over whether sporting events are fixed or not (football scandal in Italy or NBA play-offs). It's just a tad more relevant , don't you think ? ;)

5/19/06

if this film is Al Gore's only legacy....

then I think he would have had more positive impact on global history than any US president in the last 6 years. The Malagasy dwarf hippo does not want to see more species join him in the list of extinct animals.

My roommate knew this post was coming.....

I came down with the flu yesterday ago, the kind that makes you feel like you have been ran over by truck, put back together by a surgeon on acid and then your sinus allergy kicks in, good times all around. In other words, I stayed away from the lab and any other living creatures except the dogs and cats at home. I fetched a copy of the "New Yorker" to keep busy between two sneezes when I read the title of the featured article: "Malcom Gladwell on the Dog whisperer". I have to recap the situation: as you know, I am a huge fan of Malcom Gladwell's work. My roommate Ranjit is a such a fan of the "Dog Whisperer" ( Cesar Milan) that he is considering a move to LA to become the "Dog Whisperer II: the international remix" :). So the universe is again on the verge of implosion for this "man-crush deathmatch" of epic proportion. Well, it turns out the piece is a well-written article ( according to Ranjit whose standards on "anything-Cesar-related" are pretty high) , very informative on dog behavior, the importance of phrasing and presence, and some insights into Cesar's life: risky move to the US from Mexico ( wonder what he thinks of the new immigration law) ,his family and his principles. Here is the online interview of Gladwell about that article. The best part for me about the interview is his take on Clinton, Bush and personal charisma:
"You write about political phrasing, and how a politician like Bill Clinton or Ronald Reagan is better at calming and inspiring an audience than a politician like George W. Bush is. How much difference does that make to voters watching speeches on television? How much does phrasing overlap with personal charisma?

That's a good question, and not one I have a good answer to. Television has a strangely muting effect on a lot of this stuff. A former aide to Clinton once said to me that if Bill Clinton had been able to personally shake the hand of every American, he would have been elected unanimously. I think that'’s right...... Cesar is the same way: it'’s only when you meet him that you "get" why he has that kind of effect on dogs."
This is my interpretation of his statement: Cesar Millan would probably have a better satisfactory rating if he ran for president that G.W. It is totally speculative of course but not that far fetched from the truth. I can already see my roommate jumping with joy and pumping his fist. Which begs the question, which tv personality you think would be able to inspire people more than G.W ? (we will leave the actual ability to run a country for another time...)

5/16/06

John or Mary ?

Da Vinci 's "Last Supper" captured the moment after Jesus anounced to his disciples that one of them would betray him. Da Vinci was asked to portray the last supper scene as a final goodbye in a serene and nostalgic atmosphere as depicted in previous "Last Supper" paintings. Let's just say that Da Vinci did not quite follow the directives:

the disciples are painted as either angry, confused or distraught upon hearing Jesus' words. Plenty of details to focus on in this masterpiece: Judas escariot's face is shadowed and he is holding the money bag for his treason, Judas is reaching for the same piece of bread as Jesus,a mysterious hand is holding a dagger....and of course is it John or Mary Magdalene leaning against Peter?

You can decide for yourself in this great website where you can zoom at will without loss of resolution.

5/15/06

malgache contre malagasy sur google

Un petit gadget amusant sur http://www.google.com/trends. On peut trouver les statistiques des mots-cles les plus recherches sur le web en fonction de la ville ou du pays d'origine. J'ai decide de chercher les statistiques sur "malgache" et sur "malagasy". Les resultats sans compter Antanarivo sont assez surprenants: Toulouse arrive en tete des recherches pour "malagasy" mais Sainte-Foye, Canada arrive en tete pour "malgache" (resultats standardises). Alors la question: Toulouse est-elle la ville la plus "malagasy" d'outre-mer ? Et la communaute malgache a Sainte-foye est la plus malgache francophone ? ( Amis Canadiens, Ou se trouve Sainte-Foye, SVP ?) Voici les resultats:

5/14/06

happy mother day in music and images ....

With the time difference, this might be a little late but Happy Mother day to all the proud Mama out there ! My mother as you may know is a bit far away for me to come visit ,so the only way I can celebrate her is with virtual gifts. She is, among other things, a big sports fan and classical music fan so here goes:
bach suite in 3 D
ainsi parlait Zaharatoustra
ave maria
let it be me
jesus que ma joie demeure
Sampras-Agassi: le point de la decennie (dedie a Sandy :) )

5/13/06

Tulane U. rises again .....

After a semester canceled due to Hurricane Katrina, Tulane U ( my alma mater) was able to resume school and successfully finished spring semester. Bill Clinton, Bush Sr and Ellen Degeneres were present at the graduation ceremony. I think the whole school spirit in the US is sometimes a bit overdone. However, this time I will indulge in it completely and express my pride for my school. New-Olreans is not quite there yet and probably will never be, but a lot of credit must be given to the people who came back to try to rebuild the city in whichever way they can. Go Green Wave !

5/12/06

Thoughts on heatlhcare for May ,12th

Today is my dad's birthday. He likes to tell the story that he was born before the planned term because his mother had to run away from the fighting between the French army and the Malagasy independentists. So in honor of his birthday and the fact that healthcare is at the core of his life, here are a few thoughts on the state of health in the world:

Fighting viruses in Africa:
1) An apology that is a bit late but better than never: The Anglican Church in Kenya apologized for ostracizing AIDS/HIV patients as sinners and that AIDS is a curse from God. This attitude back then certainly did not help find solution to the problem but admitting earlier mistakes is a good start.
2) Here is an original to prevent Bird Flu pandemic from Abidjan. The "Bird Flu Dance": It was described as "chicken with Parkinson trying to dance hiphop". Hey at least it's not country line dancing and really, it cannot hurt the bird flu situation, can it ?

Matt Damon emails about the US cutting funds for AIDS in Africa:
"I just returned from a 7 day trip to South Africa and Zambia. What I saw changed my life. I want to tell you about my trip and let you know about billions of dollars in development assistance that is at risk this week....The biggest lesson I took home from the trip was that folks in these countries can turn things around if given the basic resources that we take for granted here every day. That's why I was shocked to learn from the ONE campaign that within the next 2 weeks the U.S. Senate is poised to slash billions of dollars from President Bush's plan to fight AIDS and poverty.This is an outrage - and it can be stopped.

America is sicker than UK: the average white person in a certain socio-economic group pays $3000/year more in healthcare in US than UK. Stress seems to be the major factor. Huuum, I really don't see why it would be more stressful here: weather...? didn't think so....

Off-topic: 1) May 12th is also the birthday of 2 of the main actors in one of my favorite movie of all time, "the usual suspects": Gabriel Byrne and Stephen Baldwin. What are the odds of that ...Kaiser Soze?
2)I got an email from my little cousin back home: she used a phrase that I have never heard before but maybe I am just too old...."evidaoazy mazavament". That would be "Duh" here much shorter but not as cute.....
Have a great week-end !

5/8/06

Get your flag and best singing voice out ! It's world cup time soon......

The World cup is less than 2 months away and I am positively giddy about the whole thing. This is the only sporting event that 1) never gets old 2) never fails to generate passion and heartbreak 3) unites the whole globe as one, hence deserving its name: World cup ( unlike the wanna-bes, such as NBA or MLB World champions, or other events that have no appeal to some parts of the World). This is the reason why Pele is the only athlete that made Mohammad Ali say: "I am great but he is the greatest". So n celebration of this 2 week world fest, here are my "need -to-know" songs and lyrics so that you can sing along with the crazy fans invading Germany soon.

For Argentina ( my prediction to win it all ): Queen " We are the champions": ( as kids here say: duh ...)
"And bad mistakes
I've made a few
I've had my share of sand
Kicked in my face
But I've come through
And I need to go on and on and on and on
We are the champions - my friend
And we'll keep on fighting till the end
We are the champions"

For England ( close second ): Presley, "You' ll never walk alone" ( Liverpool fight song but WTH ? They won't mind..)
"Walk on through the wind,
Walk on through the rain,
Tho' your dreams be tossed and blown.
Walk on, walk on with hope in your heart
And you'll never walk alone,
You'll never, ever walk alone."
For Germany ( generous host): Pet shop boys "Go west" ( no pun intended, it is just a big football song )
"
(Go West) Life is peaceful there
(Go West) In the open air
(Go West) Where the skies are blue
(Go West) This is what we're gonna do"

For France ( last stand before Zizou's retirement): Gaynor, "I will survive" ( What else ?)

"La, lalalala, lalalalala, lalalalalalalalala.... :-)"

For Ivory Coast ( my dark horse to go deep in the tournament): magic system "1er Gaou" ( this song is ...Priceless for a lack of a better word)

"Dieu merci pour moi je savais chanter un peu
J'ai fait ma cassette oh on me voit Ã la tele
Matin midi soir c'est moi je chante Ã la radio
Antou a vu ca elle dit le gaou a perce
Attends je vais partir le couper

{Refrain:}
Et on dit premier gaou n'est pas gaou oh
C'est deuxieme gaou qui est niata oh ah
Et on dit premier gaou n'est pas gaou oh
C'est deuxieme gaou qui est niata oh ah"

Australia ( Where is my Foster, lad ? ): Waltzing Matilda ( I have no idea why but it seems to be the Aussie unofficial fight song )

"Wasted and wounded, it ain't what the mood did,
I've got what I prayed for now
I'll see you tomorrow, hey Frank, can I borrow a couple of bucks from you
To go waltzing Mathilda, waltzing Mathilda,
You'll go waltzing Mathilda with me"

Madagascar:( I know we are not in, but we can still ourg our our butt off, can't we?Max "Choc Choc" ( Hey Don't deny it , you know you sung this one at least once )

Choc choc choc e
Halako magnano choc e
Ady ady ady e
Halako olo-miady e
Olo-tsy mahay miaigny e
Mandrombaka ny ambiance e
Alamino
Alamino fa tsara ny sama
Alamino
Alamino fa tsara ny antsa

Now get your friends, a jersey and some beers and sing your lungs out...it's world cup time !

5/7/06

"You are throwing like a girl." Merleau-Ponti and feminisim.

"Throwing like a girl" is a common trash-talk phrase used in playgrounds in the US. It is also a successful book by Iris Young,a professor in political philosophy and feminist theory. She analyzes the particularity of women's bodily movement in contrast to men's. She explains that a woman,50 years ago, has a natural tendency to restrict the range of movement when throwing the ball whereas a man would rather use the full range of body motion. I might not be the case anymore nowadays as more often that not, we see women not shying away from showing of athleticism and strength (as seen on this Candace Parker Dunk in high school). Merleau Ponti, one of Pr. Young reference, is a famous French philosopher, contemporary to Sartre and De Beauvoir, who theorized that the body and mind is one whole entity and cannot be separated as argued by Descartes ( "cogito ergo sum") He also coined the phrase:" faire et en se faisant, se faire et n'etre que ce que l'on s'est fait"(loose translation: Build, and by building, build yourself, and only be what you have built)which is the motto that my mother lives by. The point is that, women, by not shying away from athletic performance are also asserting their place in society as more than a supporting cast for men. Iris Young is making a case for body language as a sign of evolution in gender perception and athletic success as support for gender empowerment.
In a related note, I attended a wedding ceremony yesterday where the preacher was advising the bride to be a good submissive wife by supporting her husband hence achieving marital bliss. My boss could not believe her ears and we were all left pondering: which century is this ? Did we go back in time through some kind of time machine ? The main head scratcher was the fact that lots of people were nodding along in approval....seriously..I am still speechless.

5/4/06

Birthday and wishes...

Yep, today is the anniversary of the day my mum was allowed to yell at will at my dad because she was trying to push me into the world. :) You know what that means ? I was close to sharing the same birthday as Suri Cruise: 1) I do not think that is a good omen for me or for her for that matter:) 2) BTW Katie Holmes soon Cruise agreed on a $50 million prenup agreement: The over/under in Las Vegas about the duration of this marriage must be 3 months at best.
So yesterday was a time for a small reflection on the world, so I took the dogs on a walk to a park close-by. As we stroll through the park, I notice that this park had a strange but pleasant vibe. It has a pound where father and son come to fish, beautiful trees all around, 5 tennis court that are rarely used, 2 basket-ball courts that are always busy and a field for children softball.
I was walking towards the tennis court to let the dog run free inside when I notice little kids running to start their softball with parents cheering along. 10m away, the atmosphere is more..."Urban" on the basketball court. Shirtless youngsters competing fiercely and calling each other names ( "N" words and "MF" words all around) in a friendly way ( I guess). The situation was a bit surreal because a family outing was intermingled with urban hip-hop and no one seemed to find it unusual. White kids were playing hide and seek behind a "pimped out" car inside which 2 hip-hopsters were watching the basketball indifferently, listening to 50 cent. 2 different communities minding their own businesses, without care, without fear of each other, in the exact same place, invested in their task at hand. How refreshing is that ?
The dogs loved the place, as the white kids approached to pat them and the black youngsters asked if the dogs would bite. The dogs were happily playing with everyone although one of the "hip-hoper" was not totally reassured( dogs were barking a bit).
I thought, this is the way it should be: different people doing the different things they like to do without judgment or fear. And, of course dogs in the middle to keep everyone happy or in check :)
That is my wish for today.

5/2/06

Finally, the answer to every men's ultimate question....

This is a tip from Vanilla and Sipakv that I had to spread around because it finally answers the fundemental question on every lad's mind:
the answer is: (S+C) x (B+F)/T = V
the question is
"What is the perfect butt shape ?"

Mosilager, you owe me big time for this one !! Many thanks again to Vanilla and Sipakv for the web gem. To know your score you can go to Vanilla's blog, or
here (they will help you do the math: http://www.lambrinigirls.com/ then go to Lambrini at the grand national and then formulas )
Good times all around !

5/1/06

Jesus II le retour- les inconnus au sommet de leur art

This video is one of the highlights of my junior highschool year. This is in my humble opinion one of the funniest sketches ever, in any languages.
A few hilarious scenes translated from french: "I was born in a barnyard but one day people will build me buildings that even the richest billionaires can't afford....My name is Christ, Jesus Christ and you ?....my name is Das, Ju-das"
enjoy,
Thanks to Vacaloca on youtube for sharing !!!!
PS: the video is in french but the gist of it is easy to follow.

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