misconceptions and unknown facts about AIDS and Africa

The ASA ( African Student Association ) at Purdue held a forum on the economic impact of AIDS in Africa. I know this topic have been presented, discussed and argued to death but here are a few things I learned or found interesting. The event was a meant to be more of a "think tank" type of presentation rather than a formal lecture. The presenter admitted that he had a genuine interest in the topic but would not qualify himself as an expert. The usual stats, diagrams were shown but as it is often the case in these forums, the Q and A's were generating more insights and food for thoughts. There were about a dozen in attendance, composed of a rather wide panel of participants ( from freshman to professor, Ethiopia to Germany, agronomists to liberal arts).
I will pass on the usual song and dance about relative lack of basic knowledge about prevention, impact on labor force and costs in healthcare. Not that it's not important, but you heard it before.
Here are a few points made during the talk:
1) Senegal and Uganda have records of success in slowing down or halting the epidemic, Probably because their leaders stepped into the spotlight and aknowledge the crisis and the priority it should claim on the national agenda ( a la Mandela if you will)
2) the social stigma is as nocive to the campaign against AIDS as the disease itself
3) Fight vs AIDS will be stuck in the mud until the religious leaders are getting involved. Let's not hold our breath on that point since rel. leaders in most rural part still advocate polygamy ( islam) or prohibit the use of condoms ( catholic church). The push of the current adminsitration in the US to favor abstinence as the key to AIDS prevention is not really helping either (my nails are currently scratching the desk so hard that CSI could come analyze my DNA content)
4) The presumed more promiscious nature of Africans is a load of baloney that is conveniently spread around as facts by people who are looking for quick answers to serious problems.
5) finally, the saving grace for Africa is and always will be the empowerment of the african women. Good decision-making related to halting HIV spread will come from a more proeminent status of women , may it be financially, academically or socially.
I am sure I have overlooked many other points but that's for starters. Kudos to Ranjit for dragging us there and to the B for being in the African woman's shoes for the occasion.

Tags: AIDS, Africa, leadership, abstinence, Mandela, women empowerment

My hips don't lie ! ( but someone did)

You surely have heard the incredibly catchy new Shakira song: "hips don't lie".You know: the one that goes:
" I'm on tonight
You know my hips don't lie
And I'm starting to feel it's right
All the attraction, the tension
Don't you see baby, this is perfection "
You can thank me later when you have that tune stuck on "repeat" in your head and you feel the need to shake your hips in front of your co-workers.
As usual with a song written with Wyclef Jean of the Fugees, the lyrics are beyond pathetic which is either funny or annoying depending on your current mood. The dance moves are....well ....defying the basic principles of physics and anatomy (you can see it for yourself here. )
Let me tell you though: Shakira has got nothing on my cat Cleo. The thing is, poor Cleo is....in heat. ( I wish there were other ways to say this )I never had a non-neutered female cat before, so I was confused and a bit worried when she started acting strange and meowing all night. The fascinating part was that she started to crawl on the carpet as if her hindlimbs were stuck while still managing to sway her hips like a sailing boat in the "50eme rugissant". Fascinating feat, I kid you not. Cleo was in obvious discomfort so she is getting spayed as we speak. I hope she is fine because she is one sweet cat whose "hips don't lie". (understatement of the day !)

In a related story, in order to show support for her under-attack husband and appeal to the young demographic, the first wife Laura Bush offered to sing an altered version of Shakira's song to tell her version of the "Weapon of Mass Destruction" fiasco in Iraq.
Sadly, the potential megahit: "My Bush don't lie" did not meet the approval of the White House nor the church.
It seems that some advisors of the president know what they are doing after all, although I maintain that Mrs President could "rock the vote" if she was allowed to. I am sadden by the "what could have been " with that song.

Tags: shakira, fugees, lies, bush, 50eme rugissant

Tags: cat, heat

music and humor for everyone

I am trying out this new media host "putfile": so here are a few "food for fun" things:


Carla Bruni: "Quelqu'un m'a dit": for a former model , I think she is a talented songwriter.
KT Tunstall: "Other side of the world". KT is scottish and she has a beautiful voice.
chanakha song : It was our friend Chanakha's bday last week. We had a little fun with the song and the lyrics and we all sang it for him at hid bday. Good times ! I might put our own version and lyrics soon if I had enough to drink !
Hay ve rija ramanatoanina : Mr Crooner from home. I dont really like this song but my sister does and it brings her way back so
mcdonalds : Jerry Seinfeld is genius. This is a routine about an old McDonald advertisement that was saying : "a billion served daily"couple of years ago. It is still hilarious especially the "cow" part. I hope this works, let me know.

Tags: Bruni, filesharing, tunstall, chanakha, rija, seinfeld, mcdonalds

Understanding the Easter Bunny

A real quick post for a question that has bugged me for a while now. It is Easter time again, one of my favorite time of the year: warm weather just around the corner, flexible wardrobe, chocolate eggs, basketball in full throttle and allergy sneeze to share ( Ok maybe the last one is not so great) . It is first and foremost the time to celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus. I do not pretend to have an extensive knowledge of the Holy Bible nor do I mean to be disrespectful, but....
how is the resurrection of Jesus related to an oversized Bunny laying chocolate eggs in everyone's garden ? Beside the obvious miraculous nature of both events, I do not see the metaphor. I confess to my ignorance and would appreciate to be enlighten by a brief explanation because there is one out there, I am sure. Again, I enjoy the concept ( kids have fun and chocolate is always a plus...) but I will have a better time enjoying this period if I understood the story behind the mystery. Happy Easter everyone !!

Tags: easter, bunny, tale, spring

Nation Intellligence: my country is smarter than your country :)

Follow-up on the “IQ of the nation” post:
My post in French earlier about Lynn, Richard studies of national intelligence demanded a little further investigating. To recap, his study stated 3 things: 1) Germany’s IQ is 107 which is top with Honk Kong 107 while France was at the bottom of the EU well with 94. 2) men average 5pts higher than women 3) intelligence is related to cold climate as cold expands brain size (?????) hence Germany is smarter than southern EU nations such as Spain or Serbia ( last with 94).
I discarded the article as nothing more than funny stuff until I digged a little further down into Lynn’s body of work. He is a professor emeritus at University of Ulster and wrote a book called” IQ and the health of nations.”
Lynn uses different tests to measure IQ and provide the score for each tests in his book. He is also adamant about giving the results without too much adjustment so that further investigation can be scored. The intriguing part is that his IQ average is very closely proportional to nation’s wealth. (You might say this is the same quandary as "the egg and the chicken" story here so not much to talk about here ) . Hold on though, one of the test they use was the non-verbal Raven's Progressive Matrices that does not factor in literacy or education level. Moreover, Israel who one would probably have guessed in the upper nations is scoring 94. (By the way US is 98 , world average is 90, India scores at 81 and China at 100, my roommate by now know for a fact that this is crap and my labmates are all laughing secretly).
Madagascar ? I did not dare to look it up….. Kidding they did not test us but they estimated that we should be close to the average of Philippines (86) and Tanzania (72): 79. ( WTH ???)(2 small points below India, Darn Ranjit ! ). It is actually a fun read and not as bad as I thought it would be. I don’t think any conclusions can be drawn from the studies but it is fairly unbiased even if ultimately useless. I wanted to have fun and look up the IQ of the nation of the people around me so here goes the IQ War of nations:
1) Germany 107 7) India: 81
2) Taiwan 104 7)Sri Lanka:81
3) China 100 8) Madagascar:79
4) UK: 100 9) Zambia: 77
5) France: 98 10) South Africa: 72
6) Tunisia: 84 11) Ethiopia: 63
I will not write anymore about this topic as I am about to either 1) slowly burned myself to death 2) find Lynn and make him it eat his own foot 3) Run away from the South-African and Ethiopian mob ready to cut me to pieces for spreading these unverifiable claims. I still had fun looking it up though. Cheer up everyone , you can either rejoice for your country's average IQ and bragg until your face turns blue or prove to the world that you are the one exception that will lead your nation back to glory !!! In the word of Howard Dean, YEEEEAH !
PS: If it was not clear from the beginning, I believe the whole study and its purpose are absolute unadultered crap ( pardon my french). I am just glad it entertained me for 5 min.

Tags: intelligence, IQ, nation, lynn, madagascar, france, germany, india, taiwan, sri lanka, zambia, south africa, ethiopia, france

priceless gems found on the web: a global controversy and more malagasy testimony.

My guilty pleasures for a grim monday: useless yet priceless informations/testimonies like the following ( malagasy post is a tip from my sister, the other one is on yahoo ). I hope I can make this a recurrent theme on this webspace. Alas such finds come only every now and then.

1) In malagasy: follow up on "malagasy abroad": this guy's story is the reason why the malagasy culture is so unique.
Tsy sahy mody any Dago fa tsy tafita !
posted by Balita
Ahoana no hevitr'areo amin'ireo olona tsy sahy maka rivotra na mamangy havana any Dago satria tsy tafita ety an-dafy ?
Tamin'izaho niala tany dago dia efa navita maîtrise teny Ankatso. Nihevitra aho hoe tafita daholo ny akama nandeha vao afaka bac. Nony nifanena tamin-dry zalahy aho gaga fa hay mafy ady be ry lerony. Tena misy iray aza miklandy fotsiny. Hoy aho nony nandalo tany Dago hoe :"ireo ray aman-dreny be zesta hoe any an-dafy ny zanakay, matoa tsy mody na maka rivotra fotsiny aza ny zanany dia mivaralila any izay !"
I would translate but it would not be as fun.
PS: here is a the link to this message board.

2) In french: Euro IQ: Not only this guy has offended half of Europe, he also finally claim to have solved the mystery of the supposedly more intelligent population in the cold regions: priceless !
Les Allemands sont le peuple le plus intelligent en Europe, loin devant les Britanniques (8e) et très loin devant les Espagnols (15e) ou les Français (19e), selon une étude de l'université de l'Ulster (Irlande du Nord) citée dans le journal The Times.
Avec un quotient intellectuel (QI) moyen de 107, les Allemands devancent d'un souffle les Néerlandais (107) et les Polonais (106), Suédois (104) et Italiens (102) suivant au classement. Les Britanniques, avec un QI de 100, sont largement devancés, mais ils gardent une confortable avance sur les Espagnols (98) et surtout les Français (94), qui ne devancent que la Bulgarie, la Roumanie, la Turquie et la Serbie, dernière au classement.
Le professeur Richard Lynn, auteur de cette enquête, avait déjà beaucoup fait parler de lui en 2005 en affirmant que les hommes avaient en moyenne un QI supérieur de 5 points à celui des femmes.Selon le professeur Richard Lynn, ces différences de QI seraient dues au fait que les populations soumises à des climats plus froids dans le nord de l'Europe auraient développé des cerveaux plus volumineux. Selon les calculs de l'université de l'Ulster, la taille moyenne du cerveau humain en Europe du nord et Europe centrale est de 1.320 centimètres cubes, contre 1.312 centimètres cubes en Europe du sud-est.
Enough for today, I will let you digest those 2 treasures for now. Have a great week

Tags: webgems, malagasy tv, IQ, climate and intelligence,hunt

Sartre and De Beauvoir: How the mighty have fallen...

Ah the power of simple conversations ! Overwhelmed by a week of
collecting and organizing seemingly random data from my labwork,I
finally finished a draft of my article for submission and was looking
forward to completely clearing science out of my mind at least for the
week-end. Unfortunately (or fortunately as it turned out) we had a
social gathering at my boss's place to celebrate a labmate 's wedding.
I was dreading more talk about science but to my surprise, the evening
went into a totally different direction and we conversed well into
midnight about political activism, arts and existentialism. Enjoyable
night overall if you add the fact that the red wine was excellent (
probably one of the reason why the conversation was flowing freely :-) ).
Scientists venting about politics, arts or philosophy are quite
humourous akin to women's take on football: refreshing and sometimes
very insightful :-) ( that was a harmess jab at all the feminists reading ).
8 hours after hearing my boss explaining how arts would always define
human existence better than any political achievement, my mother phones me at home
and drops casually that she is finishing a book on Simone de Beauvoir.
Not a surprise, because gender equality is at the center of her work and she
had the chance to meet the author of the book in person. However,
I am surprised because my week-end was suddenly invaded by French Existentialism when
I was expecting College Basketball ! ( Go Purdue University !) I had to
expand my very little knowledge of the legendary Sartre/Beauvoir
couple that shaped the mind of the 60's and google away.
What I found would not please the fan in my mother. There is plenty of
critics or followers of course but this article about their
relationship desacralizes a bit of the aura that Sartre and Beauvoir
carried. To summarize, De Beauvoir and Sartre engaged more often than
not into a menage a trois with a young female apprentice. There were 2 problems
however.First, although De Beauvoir was open about her bisexuality, it seems
that she was surrendering more than embracing in the affairs that
Sartre were engaging their relation into.Although she had affair of her
own, it seemed that she was yearning more than anything to have Sarte
all for her own. This is a bit of a dissappointment for the absolute
icon of modern feminism. Second, they openly despised the 3rd wheel in their adult games.
Granted, not many could attain their intellectual prowess, but their
superior intellect should have directed them away from comtempt for other human beings
and their use of as pawns. ( What is it that is so difficult about the
proper use of superior powers anyway? see US foreign policy,
Sartre mind games and every other bully in junior high school)
This article may contain inaccuracy and if so,please let me know.
However, the "New Yorker" is usually quite thorough
about fact findings. I just hope someone can give it a proper rebuttal so
that my mother won't hate me :).

Tags: existentialism, feminism, philosophy, beauvoir, sartre, menage,

Tags: bisexuality

people who live together start to look alike or is it the other way around :) ?

My roomate Ranjit was going through his childhood pics when we realize that we kind of look alike back then. Funny, isn't it ? Since the chance of us being related is 1 in a billion, maybe the theory about people who live together start to look alike ought to be revisited. Here comes a new one : "you will end up living with someone who look like you". Somewhere Shrek is nodding in approval. Can you tell which one is which ? :-)




On a related note, here are other "look-alike": Dog owners and their dog ! I am waiting for Ranjit and I-mei to morph into Ginga /Booboo anytime now !

PS: Awesome post on the "identity crisis" ( definetely the theme of the week) of France from an objective point of view ( my roomate's see pics).

Tags: look alike, childhood, dog, dog owners

the best classical music pieces during powerful movie moments.

There was a moment that made my friends pause and wonder about both my sanity and my sexual orientation. (They are probably still wondering on both count but that is another story). We were on our way to dine out in the fabulously animated Lafayette downtown (3 people in the street total) when Tom Hanks took a break from working on his diffamation case with Denzel Washington. ( That movie is "philadelphia" but you knew that). In a strange momentum shift, he plays "la Mamma Morta" by Giordano ( or Chenier) and explains the changes in the song to a confused then intrigued Denzel W. As La Callas belt the highs and lows, T. Hanks narrates the song in tears and Denzel looks like a deer caught in the headlight.
Superb acting, outstanding idea and grat movie moment overall. Anyhow, I stopped in my tracks and made all my friends wait till the end of the scene. It was awkward and I understand why my guy friends stayed 2m away from me until we got to the pub. The point is, I just could not walk away from the scene. That is how powerful the combination of the music and the acting was. Let me add that I am usually totally thick to opera or classical music and tone deaf in general (to the dispair of my family) so here is my poor attempt at finding great movie moments associated with great classical pieces. I realize that I might be the only one interested in this but what the heck....:
movie, "music piece", scene
1) se7en, "air on G string" Bach, Morgan Freeman comtemplating life's misery in his apartment while solving mystery of a serial killer in glauque-town: perfect mood setting.
2) Shawshank redemption: "Noces de Figaro" Mozart. Tim Robbins find a moment of grace for him and his fellow inmates in prison by playing Mozart against the warden's will, knowing he will get a beating. "For those 5 min, we were all free".
3) sophie's choice: too many "songs" so I will pick one: "kinderszenen" Schumann
4) Pretty woman: "La traviatta" Verdi: Julia Roberts accompanies Richard Gere to the Opera in San Fran and well, you know the rest.
5) Apocalypse now: "ride of the walkyries" Wagner. Napalm Bomb dropping, people screaming, chopper flying and Walkyrie riding. Genius !
Only one girlie movie in the lot, so my roomate should not worry too much :-)
One last thing: I hate spellchecking. I know it looks retarded when I don't but it's a mental block of mine so .... you will have to live with that. I think you already did. Have a great week-end !

Tags: movies, classic, list, mozart, bach, schumann, verdi, shawshank

Ma soeur sur l'identite malgache / "being malagasy": take 2

you remember my sister for her thoughts on the reason we blog or my mother's birthday. Here she is, ranting in French on the theme of the week on the blogosphere: "being malagasy". It's well worth a read, I think (without being too subjective):

"Cela peut paraître surprenant mais, en ce qui me concerne, mon identité malgache me saute violemment au nez lorsque Bedis, mon canard sauvage, me tend fièrement quelques articles sur Madagascar, patiemment repérés et découpés après le tri d’interminables numéros du Monde et du Figaro. Ilakaka et son improbable Far West, une publi-promotion sur Ravalomanana, président-chef d’entreprise, un énième article sur la faune et la flore du dernier paradis, Morombe ou la mauvaise gouvernance, Tsingy majestueux sur la côte ouest et misère urbaine sur les décharges publiques de Tana, lémuriens chorégraphes et les succès de la ZOB.

Etre malgache à l’étranger, est-ce lire ces articles comme si on avait « toujours-déjà » su ? Est-ce chercher obsessionnellement le hic dans un documentaire télévisé, le trait grossi, le sensationnalisme, ou y chercher un visage connu, une rue de son enfance ? Est-ce se demander où pourquoi les reporters ne donnent jamais la parole à ceux qui ont eu la chance de partir (comme nous) et le courage de rentrer (contrairement à nous), ceux qui n’ont pas céder à l’angoisse d’un avenir incertain, ceux qui sont retournés sur la terre de leurs ancêtres et ont tenté de bâtir la nation de leurs enfants?

Mais être malgache à l’étranger, n’est-ce pas aussi éviter de se singulariser, tenter de s’adapter, apprendre, de manière à trouver presque surprenant que l’on s’adresse à nous pour le dernier article ou d’une future émission sur Madagascar, lorsque l’on s’efforce à se fondre, sans heurt, dans le milieu qui nous accueille, à en oublier ce qu’être malgache veut dire ?

Je baladais tranquillement mon statut de citoyenne du monde insouciante dans le couloir de notre appartement tunisois lorsque Bedis revint à la charge avec un article sur Jean-Luc Raharimanana, écrivain-poète, auteur de « Nour, 1947 » (Ed. Le Serpent à plume, 260p). Une demi-page dans la section Littératures du Monde, un article, une photo, un extrait, « Les mots et la mémoire volés de Madagascar », titre d’une lecture qui s’annonçait douloureuse à plusieurs égards.

D’abord, un réflexe plus qu’une douleur, irrépressible: le complexe d’infériorité, celui de l’incrédulité: un malgache ?….en page littéraire du Monde? Habituée à trouver de rares articles sur l'état de Madagascar dans la section environnement ou économie de ce genre de quotidien, j'avais oublié que le monde n’est plus celui de 1947, ou même des lendemains de l’indépendance où les puissances coloniales regardaient d’un œil, au pire narquois, au mieux paternaliste, la libération des esprits, des plumes des populations qu’elles maintenaient jadis sous leur joug. J’avais oublié que Madagascar, ses musiques, ses poètes, ses entrepreneurs, ses artisans, ses talents parcouraient et remplissaient le monde, depuis longtemps. Douleur d’un réflexe complexe de mon âme perdue, esclave de l’image durablement destructrice du Tana des années 70 de la production à outrance, du « Mamokara ! Mamokara ! », injonction désastreuse inspirée du système soviétique, qui allait à son tour inspirer la méfiance à toute une génération, la mienne, à l’égard du « vita gasy » . Une école redoutable du mépris de soi.

Puis vint une douleur plus sourde, plus profonde, plus insidieuse : celle de la perte de l’histoire, disparue des manuels de l’ESCA de la fin des années 70, gommées de mes années d’adolescence tananarivienne par un régime qui faisait l’histoire, et ne la racontait pas. Il n’y avait pas de passé, encore moins d'insurrection dans les cours de géo de nos professeurs d’Histo-Géo. Mon histoire de Madagascar était inscrite dans le Boky Mena, le petit livre rouge, celle des lendemains qui chantent, et non des veillées de souffrance. Nos héros s’appelaient Didier Ratsiraka (Ny ampitso tsy atakalo tsikera) et Kim Il Sung. Et non Jacques Rabemananjara, Joseph Ravoahangy ou Joseph Raseta.. Mon frère, plus jeune, parti à l’école française d’Ampandrianomby allait tout apprendre sur…la vallée des Rois de Thèbes, Louis XIV et Versailles. La bibliothèque nationale, ultime recours, près du Hilton, était soviétique: point de non-retour. A la lecture des « Mots et la mémoire volés de Madagascar », il me restait seulement le souvenir d’un 33 tour, que mes parents, alors étudiants en médecine en France, gardaient précieusement : un disque sur les voix des « oppressés », les a capella de la souffrance de naître dans la soumission et de vivre la répression. Celle de 1947. Un disque en noir et blanc, dont la couverture dépeignait une foule d’hommes et femmes drapés dans de leur lambas, le visage grave et déterminé. Lorsque je tenais ce disque, du haut de mes six ans, je tenais dans les mains tout ce qu’il me serait donné d’avoir, pour de nombreuses années, en matière d’histoire nationale, portée par les voix de ceux qui ont crié à l’insurrection pour redevenir libres, pour arracher la liberté bien avant même qu’on la leur donne. Celle de ceux qui avaient vécu 1947. Celle de mon peuple.
Enfin vint la douleur d’une image, racontée, que mon imagination s’efforce encore de faire revivre: celle d’un petit bébé emmailloté, ballotté dans les bras vulnérables et protecteurs d’une mère qui court, qui fuit les balles de la répression de 1947. C’est celle de mon père, né cette même année, au creux de la folie répressive des colons, ivres de violence totalitaire, de rage vengeresse démesurée et lâche. Et, dans cette image, forte et floue, réelle et imaginée à la fois, inlassablement mon identité malgache se perd et se lie au territoire de ma naissance: la France. Née d’un père, sauvé des balles françaises, moi, l’enfant de la mixité culturelle, de la double appartenance, d’une éducation à deux visages, d’une Afrique qui exulte l’espoir et la foi, d’une Europe qui pense à ne plus savoir où elle en est. Ceux qui m’ont appris le droit des peuples à disposer d’eux même, ceux qui m’enseignaient que le seul bien que j’aurais à chérir était la liberté, auraient pu tuer mon père. En 1947. Pour moi, ressentir cette douleur, c’est aussi ça être malgache. C’est ne pas pouvoir s’empêcher de retenir mes larmes à la lecture de cet extrait, sombre et splendide de « Nour, 1947 », qui reprend la voix de ceux qui tombent sous la violence aveugle de l'occupant: « Silence, amertume. Surgir des tranchées de Bir Hakeim, de Harréville-les-Chanteurs ou de Neufchâteau, de Crest, ou de Frier-du-Bois. Puis tomber. S’effondrer. Ici. Dans notre pays. A la fin de la guerre. De leur guerre. Sous leurs propres balles. Eux qui étaient à nos côtés. Eux que nous avions sauvés ». "

Randiana Rakotomalala

Tags: war, independance, madagascar, indentity

update on the poll and Follow-up on the malagasy abroad thread

23 people have weighed in on the subject of the "War in Iraq" so far. In general, the subject is not too personal for visitors of this blog which is why it was an interesting question to ask this panel. There was no emotional investment on the issue except for the universal compassion for the lives lost on both sides. I was bit surprised by the overall result: a fair majority 40% thought that it should not have taken place in the first place. However, 20% either thought that it was necessary or that the war cannot be stopped yet. Interesting, :) I am always giddy for difference of opinions colliding in unsuspected places. I also wanted to reassure my mother who urged me to stop writing about this for fear of retaliation by the gvt. It was a very cute message, written in malagasy which is not common for us but only utilized to emphasize a point. I don't think she needs to worry about the gvt reading this because 10 of thousands of other bloggers are way more opiniated and vicious than I am. Furthermore, I will keep writing about any subject because I want to drive a small but important point: this is one of the perk of living on these days and time, the absolute freedom to express our opinions, beliefs or passions without looking over our shoulders. The readers have the freedom to look away if the content is not to their liking. The day we censure ourselves because of fear from "big brother" is time we would have given up on a small but substantial part of our quality of life. So No Worry, mate as they say "down under".
I also wanted to give you a follow-up on a subject that is very dear to the malagasy community abroad: "life away from home: is it worth it ?" I wrote in French about it as a lot of other fellow bloggers did. However, Tattum just collected real life testimonies of a few of us ( back home and abroad ) and the final tally is quite interesting in its diversity. Check it out here and leave your own opinion or experience. Kudos to her for putting it all together !
A final word for you " sopranos" fans, can someone explain to me what is going on with Tony ? Is the timeline shifted or are we seeing one of his dreams while fighting for his life ? Thanks for helping a novice.

Tags: sopranos, gasy, blog censure, war in iraq, big brother

Just curious what you think...

You know how I feel about the issue. Since the demographic of the visitors is pretty random, kind of unsual and international all at once, I was wondering what your opinion was of the status of Iraq at the 3rd year "anniversary". Thank you for responding but no worries if you don't, to each his own opinion, right ? :-)

what is your take on war in Iraq after 3 years ? it should have never happen because no WMD it was necessary to countert errorism and freeIraq where is Osama ? it's time to leave leaving now would be betraying the new Iraq gvt. the focus should be on other issues.

Tags: war, iraq, poll, opinion

Zach Braff has a blog ! and the world is good again

I have been posting a lot today ( I was supposed to finish a report...oh well !) . I just stumble on Zach Braff's very own blog. If you don't know Zach Braff, you really should. He is the lead actor in Garden State ( terrific movie ) and the Scrubs tv show ( comedy at the hospital). He is very funny and one of america ' s saving grace ( the others? Stewart, Alba and Clooney of course ). He is giving tips on good movies, good music and being James Bond's next love affair ( Brokeback style ). Here is the link.
Enjoy and you are welcome !

PS: 1)while I am at it, check out gladwell 's blog.
2) You know it is a bad year for G.W. Bush when Castro can bragg in his face that his Cuban amateur players kicked the US billionaire's asses at the american national pastime game: baseball ! ( remember that Bush used to own the Texas Rangers, Castro for crying out loud ! No wonder he tried his hand at cricket. My roomate can now weep in silence over the soon to come death of his fave game)

Tags: zach braff, cuba, bush on cricket,

Tax returns and the “collapse” of societies from a global perspective

I pride myself on always trying to get the maximum out of my tax returns (out of necessity really). However, the mumbo-jumbo that tax experts use is an obvious attempt in my opinion at squeezing more cash out of the naïve like me. I have been here for almost 9 years now and no one can tell me for sure when international students are supposed to start filing taxes as resident. Not surprisingly, we also are the one getting the least opportunity for tax breaks. And yes, that would make us one of the fund providers for the “war-for-oil” in Iraq. I am so happy now I could drink my entire building septic tank. The next time someone tells me to shut up about the incompetence of the crrent administration because I am a foreigner, I will nicely remind him that I probably gave a much larger portion of my income to the government than they would ever do. (Now kindly back off my case and monitor your own government miscues for a change.)

This war on Iraq never-ending disaster ought to be looked at from the perspective of Jared Diamond, Pulitzer Prize winner, in his book :”Collapse: How societies choose to fail or succeed “. Diamond, who is trained as a physiologist, researched what made some societies that were once prosperous suddenly vanish. The gist of his argument is that one aspect that is often overlooked in studying the reasons for society’s collapse throughout history is the misuse of available natural resources. I will not get to all his examples (the book is an easy and entertaining read) but he makes for a compelling theory. Now, it becomes easily understandable why Bush would rather pay the price of war in the mid-east rather than outsourcing his own oil source at home.

However, I will add that one cannot have a narrow view of the world resources anymore. Their action in fact is a mismanagement of the global natural resources. If another source of energy is not found soon, a massive scaling down of energy consumption is vital wherever in the world we are. That is only from an energy standpoint because I don’t want to get started on global warming. The point is, the collapse of society nowadays won’t be measured on a scale of a nation anymore. Globalization will not allow that. Society from the perspective of resources is defined as one global entity that will either swim or sink as one. This is why caring for what happens in other parts of the world is more than just a fashionable thing to do or good hearted charity, it has become a necessity for long-term survival. Now If only I could figure out the tax deduction for not using a SUV…. :-(.

Tags: tax returns, jarred diamond, war for oil,

Yannick Noah's pride is wearing the ONE wristband "fight poverty"

As you well know, I have been a strong supporter of the ONE campaign to fight global poverty (one.org). One can knock "ONE" as a campaign by bored celebrities looking for Public Relation stunts, it still beats most of us do about poverty ...zero,nada, ziltch.
You could also have guessed from my previous rants that as a tennis aficionado from the 80's, Yannick Noah's tears of joy when he won the French Open in 1983 ranks as one of the most vivid memories of my childhood. I think I was actually on my knees when his dad jumped on the court to embrace him. ( Then my sister ruined the moment by saying that Noah is rather good-looking). Well, Yannick's son Joakim is tearing it up in front of the US national audience with his basketall play at the University of Florida. It is March Madness here and the entire nation economy and productivity is affected by the college basketball drama. Joakim Noah seemed to be bound for a nice NBA career with the millions in salary that comes with it yet I saw him showcasing his social awareness by sporting the "ONE: fight poverty" wristband. A star athlete with a conscious, refreshing isn't it ? Given his dad background, it is not too surprising but it is nice to see that Joakim has grown into a balanced grounded kid with great basketball potential. Well done, Noah family !

Tags: Joakim Noah, Yannick Noah, ONE campaign, global poverty

I am sure someone thought of this before, yet..

I was walking the dogs for their night stroll before bedtime when an idea dawn on me. Actually, one question and one idea: why do dogs have the urge to run and play right after the '"pooping" ? It never fails: 1st, squat and poop. 2nd, clean( very roughly) and then running wildly like you just scored the winning goal at the world cup. Granted, it is a joyous time but I think my roomate would move out immediately if I pumped the fist after my sacred time on the throne...but I digress yet again.
The idea came from the lack of innovative melodies on the music scene nowdays. Only Matisyahu, the orthodox jewish reggaeman, is worth his grain of salt. I was humming along a song by Eric Manana ( traditional malagasy singer) and I had the feeling that the dogs were not as repulsed as usual by my singing. So here is the idea: giving the untapped riches of malagasy melodies, can't anyone convince a producer to find a decent, kind of famous, songwriter/singer to put some english lyrics and sing those melodies, and then produce hit after hit on the cheap ?
Before you rip me for selling the malagasy soul to the capitalistic devil, everybody would benefit from this proposal: tremendous copyrights % earnings for the original artist, exposure for malagasy art, easy production for the singers and new pleasant melodies for the awfully arid music scene of the US. See ? It's not that bad and believe me, any songs from that era is 10 times better than what's on the pop radio here now. I am aware that there is a bit of bias in my judgement (OK, a lot) and that the plan needs the support of a serious marketing campaign but once the tipping point is reached, someone could make quite a bit of money at a very low price. So someone need to get on the phone with Clive Davis or Quincy Jones and make this happen just so that I can tell my grandkids that there was a time when their grandpa made sense and that my generation's music was not defined by Britney Spears and Vanilla Ice ( love both, by the way :) )

Tags: dog poop, matisyahu, eric manana, pop music

Random thoughts and most underrated gems

1) So apparently Michael Douglas is giving Brad Pitt lesson on marital bliss: "What is Brad Pitt thinking leaving that beautiful woman ? And how does he think it is going to end with this woman adopting kid from all over the world ?"
First, this is the same Michael Douglas who married someone who could be his grand-daughter. Second, the bashing of Angelina Jolie is getting old. She is minding her own business with her adopted kids and quietly making things happen to reduce injustice in the world. So Michael, chill out and take care of your own kids for a change.

2) The theory that renovations of buildings 'facade in the high-risk neigbhorhood was an essential part of the reduction of crime rate in NY in the 90's is worth examining. Sometimes it DOES start from the outside. In fact, Tana's crime reduction decreased since the cleaning up of some of the sleazy marketplaces. The only reason ? Of course not. But a factor ? absolutely.
3) Drew Brees, a former Purdue ( my school) Quarterback will play in my town ( New-Orleans). Needless to say, I will be rooting for them like hell except against the Indiana Colts.
4) Chikungunya ( spelling ?) virus is reported in Madagascar. This is the most disheartening part of science for me. Even with a decent level of education, I will most likely still know too little to have an impact when it matters.

Most underrated gems (according to me):
1) La baie des Russes ( Russian bay): on the way to Nosy Iranja (island) ( North of Mada)
2) Freshly brewed Ethiopian Arabica.
3) "Solsburry Hill" by Peter Gabriel, "Daydream believer" by the monkeys ("It" ebay commercial), "This year's love" by David Gray.
3) Russell Peters' funny routine on culture and race.
4) Creme Brulee at Balthazar ( SoHo)
5) Danny Granger of the Pacers.

Tags: Douglas, Pitt, Jolie, broken glass theory, Nosy, Danny Granger

you know you are a new malagasy in town if .....

I don' t know if this version of John Foxworthy routine: "you know you are a redneck if ...." has been done for malagasy folks yet. So here is my version: (If it has, I apologize and can I get a copy please ? )

You know you are a new malagasy in town if:

1) The first thing you check in the phonebook are the names that start with RA or AN....
2) you brought in your luggages tons of traditional malagasy songs that you will listen to for the next 2 weeks and then ignore until your next homesick phase.
3) you suspect every brown-skined people in the street to be a former classmate or a former neigbhour.
4) you are surprised that bus routes are actually mapped at the bus station and not yelled out by the bus driver.
5) You learn quickly that Taxicab fares are not negotiable and neither are the produces at the market.
6) You start to languish for your Grandma "enakisoa sy anana" after your 5th BigMac.
7) You are called a GVT ( Gasy Vao Tonga: newcomers) at a malagasy party and you learn that it is not a compliment.
8) Your first friends will most likely by other GVTs.
9) You have to visit distant relatives that you barely new existed. You then realize that you still don't have much in common with them as the conversation turns awkward.
10) You start to formulate project about improving the education system back home and building new school so that your kids will never have to leave home again.
11) Your international phone bill is outrageous until you learn about calling card and Skype. Yet, you are still broke because of internet bills and the new camcorder/mircophone you bought. ( Internet phoning is not reliable to Tana anyway)
12) You wish you worked for an airline company so that you can get cheap tickets back home
13) you play again and again Mahaleo's song: " Manimanina tahy hody izao O " ( apologies for the spelling, trans: I am longing for home) .
14) You are happy you can curse and gossip in your language without anyone else understanding you ( until you run into a zanatany who tells you to grow-up and stop cursing)
15) you blog until your fingers bleed :-)

Did I forget anything ?

Tags: malagasy, homesick, Foxworthy, Mahaleo

when do we become what people think we are ?

You all know the story of Mike Tyson: the most feared (not the best) heavyweight fighter ever. Average fight duration before his first loss: ~1min 30s. He was mean and he looked the part. However, before the ear bite and all the insanity, Tyson admitted to be an introvert kid, afraid of everything but especially of starving. The reason for his domination was his fear of being hit 1st and being famished 2nd. Clever boxing agents saw Tyson's ferocity and built the persona of "badass" ironmike. Once they convinced opponents and media of his ultimate mean streak, the media fed into this persona so much that Tyson himself was convinced and proclaimed himself the "baddest mo... ever."
So when did the shy kid become the most lethal hitter ?
Similarly, when did Tupac Shakur or Iverson become the most relevant icons of malagasy's youth overseas ? How is that related ? let me explain:
A quick look into the malagasy blogoshpere will tell you that malagasy youth relates preferentially (but not all) to the hip-hop culture. Hip-hop appeal to the youth is easy to understand: the "me vs-the world, I-will-not-be-ignored"vibe provides instanteneous identity. In a society that seems to not welcome them ( either for economic reasons or social reasons), hip-hop is a logical answer.
At some points in our life, we have a period of time when we are redefining our way of life,choices and priorities i.e who we are. However, more often that we would like, outside influences or perceptions play an underrated role in shaping our choices.
Tyson's blank sheet of a persona as a child was a perfect template for his agents to build "bad ironmike".
Malagasy's youth overseas have a void to fill from their identities being ignored where they live, so there comes hip-hop or other protest cultures which is then fedback by the society 's perception of a minority's youth.( This argument could be extended to other youth minorities although when the community grows to a recognizable size, this theory is flawed.)
By the way, I have no problem with kids embracing that culture. I will just say that once the angle "oppose-society" is outdated, a truer identity will be needed. Former hip hop most notorious "gansters" such as Ice Cube, Ice-T are now making comedies and tv shows. This should tell us that an identity is not engraved in stone but fluctuates around a basic core.
A final point on the effect of outside perception on the shaping of ourselves. A colleague of mine did not have any experiences in his new field of study ( molecular cloning )and dreaded the prospect of failing. However,his mentor kept repeating that she was good at it and very soon he indeed succeeded and now calls himself a molecular cloning guy. Eventually other colleagues have now seeked his advice on this subject. The repetitions by his mentor that he was a molecular biologist and the feedback from other coleagues persuaded him that at the core, this is what he was destined to do. He is now on the verge of great discoveries at UCSF.

Tags: personality, perception, tyson, malagasy youth

temoignage vecu de l'affaire du gendarme de St -Martin ou comment monter une affaire en epingle.

Petit historique de l'affaire du gendarme de St Martin:
article AFP:
"Gendarme de Saint-Martin :
Chirac "attentif"
Le chef de l'Etat a appelé la veuve du gendarme français mort le 12 février à Saint-Martin dans des circonstances qui restent à définir.

Jacques Chirac a appelé samedi 25 février la veuve du gendarme français Raphaël Clin mort le 12 février à Saint-Martin, aux Antilles, pour lui dire qu'il souhaitait que toute la lumière soit faite sur "les circonstances et motivations à l'origine de la mort de son époux", a indiqué l'Elysée.
Injures racistes ?
Cette mort, accidentelle, s'est accompagnée selon des témoignages d'injures racistes à l'encontre du gendarme, ce qui a provoqué une vive émotion dans la gendarmerie.
Le gendarme Raphaël Clin, 31 ans, est mort le 12 février lors d'un contrôle routier après avoir été heurté par un motard participant à une "course sauvage". Selon son épouse, son décès s'est accompagné d'injures racistes de personnes présentes sur les lieux de l'accident et à l'hôpital.
"Aux urgences, ça criait dans tous les sens 'on a tué un blanc'", a-t-elle déclaré à des journalistes en poste à Saint-Martin.
Selon Jean-Luc Hamlet, le premier adjoint du maire de la partie française de Saint-Martin, des "propos indignes" ont bien été tenus le jour de l'accident, sur les lieux même et ensuite à l'hôpital. Mais ces propos de "deux ou trois" personnes ne doivent pas être inteprétés comme du racisme, mais plutôt comme "dans l'esprit de ce qui peut se passer en dans les banlieues en France, dans les rapports entre les jeunes et les policiers", a-t-il déclaré.
"Pas deux poids, deux mesures"
Le porte-parole du gouvernement Jean-François Copé a fait valoir dimanche qu'il y avait "des soupçons très forts de racisme étayés par un certain nombre de témoignages".
S'exprimant lors du Forum Radio J, Jean-François Copé a affirmé que la "détermination" du gouvernement était "totale" pour que la lumière soit faite sur les circonstances de ce drame.
"Il n'y a pas deux poids, deux mesures" sur l'attitude du gouvernement face à de tels faits, a insisté le ministre, qui était interrogé juste avant sur le meurtre de Ilan Halimi."
L'accident vu par mon pere sur place a St-Martin:
oui,c'est bien de "mon "gendarme qu'il est
question..je l'ai recu aux Urgences avec toute l'equipe ( anesthesistes, Chirurgiens osseux,infirmieres...bref , on etait dix a
l'accueillir). Malheureusement pour lui, ses blessures ( au crane, au thorax, aux deux membres inferieurs: au total 8 foyers de fractures graves ) n'ont pas permis de le sauver, en particulier en raison de la gravite des pertes de sang,evaluees a une quantite de 4l500 sur un volume total circulant de 5l500. Donc desamorcage de la pompe cardiaque,malgre les transfusions massives, par quatre voies veineuses, et toutes les manoeuvres de reanimation habituelles...Ce drame est evidemment insupportable,comme tous les accidents imbeciles dus a
la vitesse, mais la recuperation politique qui en est faite est au moins aussi insuportable...Il est bien evident que la population
Stmartinoise dans son ensemble n'a rien a voir avec ce qui a ete dit ou ecrit...Bref ,les journalistes, une fois de plus, ont voulu faire un scoop: repugnant ! Mais c'est ainsi et c'est comme ca, meme a St
Martin...Voila, gros bisous aux KVZ, take care !
LeNaps.
Au final, St-Martin a porte plainte contre X pour diffamation et Sarkozy a abrege son voyage a St Martin pour cause de "CPE". Cette affaire va sans doute en rester la mais c'est un cas interessant de "manipulation mediatique". Je ne doute pas que des ecerveles est fait des commentaires inacceptables mais de la a dire que le service des urgences jubilait lors de l'accident, rien n'est plus faux. La desinformation a de long jours devant elle. Il est dommage de ternir le souvenir de ce gendarme par des propos irresponsables d'un cote comme de l'autre.

Tags: st martin, police, racisme

"Forever young" should ring a bell to the child of the 80's in u and clubbing in Tana back then

Welcome to the musical hour of the week: I caught a preview of the OC yesterday before "House" and the background music was "Forever Young" by Alphaville. 2 quick comments : 1) The "OC" is a blatant rip-off of "Beverly Hills 90210" tv show that was very popular back in Madagascar in the early 90's ( Dylan, Brenda and David rapping ...hilarious) 2) My sister, Sandy and Daody who I hold responsible for my odd taste in music, must be reminescing their wild days in "Hi-Fi" or "Caveau" night-clubs of Tana. Remember when people were still slow-dancing in night-clubs ? Now, it would feel awkward right ? Boy, we don't get any younger and I kind of miss those days especially because I would look like a total fool trying to "drop it like it's hot" !
Feel free to rip your gray hairs off right now. Here is a sample of the song for those with short memories.
Have a great week-end ..still !

Tags: alphaville,90210,slow dancing in club

Natalie Portman as a "gansta", a sorry tennis father and funny fridge magnets to kick off the week-end !

I was told I write way too much ( true but still ... my feelings are hurt... not really! ), so I will pass the floor to a badass gansta from Harvard and the fridge magnets. A word on that tennis dad in France who thought that poisonning his kids'opponents at tennis tournament was merely getting his favorite kids an edge towards their professional careers. 2 points: 1) I am not that surprised, tennis has 2nd highest ratio of crazy parents after iceskating 2) congratulations to him, he won 8 years in prison ( not enough) ,ruined his kids' life forever and probably will be abused in prison by a tennis fan inmate. Mr, you are one sorry PSYCHO ! Thank god that I then read this blog by a fellow malagasy who kindly visited this space. It put me in a much better mood ( foo-foo dust ?). Check out her post "100 things about me" here. Thanks Cinthia , that was funny.

Tags: fridge magnet, women, humor, funny pets, ganster portman

Of Justice and doping, it's in the eyes of the beholder.

I was going to write about my dad's own recollection of the motorcycle accident in St-Martin and the ugly racial connotation that it has taken . However, I figure that it will be more interesting to write about it after Sarkozy, the minister of homeland security, visit the policeman's family. The hot topic in US is the publication of a book that reveals what everyone suspected: Barry Bonds had steroids and Humane Growth Hormone for breakfast since 1998. (in spite of his own will , I am sure. Expect anytime the usual excuse " I told my personal chef that bovine testosterone does not go well with pancakes" ).

If you are not into baseball (I am only a casual fan), B. Bonds shattered almost all known baseball records. In baseball, peak of interests seems to be closely related to statistical milestones as numbers are the lifeline of the sports. The doping news should not come as a surprise to people watching Bonds because the size of his body and his head has grown exponentially in the last 5 years (see pictures, scary isn't it ?).
In the same manner, people in Europe have a sneaky feeling that Lance Armstrong amazing feats on the Tour de France were helped by top of the line enhancing drugs. The difference between them is that Barry Bonds, in spite of his achievements, is regarded as a pompous jerk whereas Lance Armstrong is close to semi-god status in the US (1/3 of US students wear the yellow “livestrong” wristband for the fight against cancer).
Here is my point about doping and its outcome: doping will be persecuted to its fullest only if the investigation does not hurt the sport. The Mariano Puerta (tennis player caught positive for steroids) of this world will be sacrificed because they have not meant much to their sport yet. If you ask people in the US, they see the attacks on Armstrong as a European bias who cannot bear to see an american succeed. Morevover, the attackers (mainly the newspaper L’equipe) should have known that the American cycling union would fight to death for Armstrong because without him, there is no interest in cycling in the US. So even though eveidence of Armstrong's guilt is almost undisputable, a technicality (age of sample and number of control) killed the case against him. Therefore Armstrong is still synonym with overachiever superhero and Bonds is a dope fine. (Don’t get me wrong, I think Armstrong and Bonds are phenomenal athletes with or without doping. We just will never know how phenomenal because of their obsession with pushing their limits beyond legitimate means.)

This brings up an interesting metaphor for the global world. Let’s imagine a nation that is on the verge of being an economic superpower, yet human rights violations and child labor are part of their success. This nation decides to invest in poorly developed nations, creates tons of jobs there, picking up the average quality of life of the locals in such ways that this superpower is synonymous with messiah over there. Would anyone from those countries believe or even ask about the human rights violations? They would probably assume or want to believe that it is fabricated news from other envious superpowers. I, for one, would not know for sure whether I would resent or embrace their help. ( This situation is hypothetical of course. Any resemblance with reality is purely coincidental, of course.)

The bottom line is, 1) fairness is perspective-dependent 2) universal justice is an utopian dream not worth pursuing. A reasonable goal is to attain a global equilibrium by having superpowers fight for sphere of influence and potential markets. The balance scale is currently a bit tilted by things are progressing.

Did I just draw a parallel between doping and world politics ? I think I really need to quit smoking peyote for breakfast. Anyhow, enjoy World Baseball Classic !

Tags: bonds, armstrong, wolrd politics

what took so long ? tennis replay and other much needed improvements

First I would like to thank all of you who wheigh in on my cat's name. I posted an update on her on the dog blog, she is adorable and her name might just be Cleo. ( Dad, mum, I am not getting rid of the cat so stop voting :-) ). My cousin Sandy and I have been lifelong tennis fan and the new ruling about allowing replay to make the correct decision on litigious points have us excited about the future of the game. Federer does not like the new rule (?) but anything that makes the game more fair is good in my book. I am going to miss John McEnroe's outburst:" You cannot be serious !" but I will survive :). Here is my list of other ideas or concepts that made me wonder why we did not think about it earlier:
1)online banking ( always hated the trip to the crowded bank at lunch time)
2)foreign language in elementary school ( kids do learn faster right ?)
3) Laser scanning cytometry ( sorry if it sounds foreign but it's advice that allows quantification of fluorescence intensity on individual cells. Still unclear? It's a tool that would help me graduate :) )
4) movies that take a social stand.
5) impeachment of president on other issues than stained blue dress
6) google earth
7) key finder
8) mastercard commercial
Finally, I just wanted to say a word about the news from St-Martin about a policeman death that are in the front pages of French newspaper right now. My dad was at the site of the accident and his take on the whole issue is worth another post so stay tuned.

Tags: novel ideas, tennis replay, st-martin

live recap of the Oscars from Point Of View of malagasy dude in Lafayette, IN

Since my dear sister shares my love for movies and the shallow world of celebrities and since it will be way too early in the morning in Tunis for her to watch tv, I thought I would write a running recap of the Oscar night to share the moment with her and everyone else. I will try to describe and comment on the year’s night of glamour and meaningless questions as they happen so please forgive me for any mispellings and botched sentences.
Early disappointment for my sister , no Eva Longoria sighting ( and no Tony Parker either, thank god !) The red carpet was already quite funny so it is about to start, so let’s get going !!!!

Great start ! All former hosts refuse to host and Jon Stewart is in bed with Halle Berry and George Cloney. This is bizarre in more way than one. The theme seem to be the “return of glamour”: when did glamour leave ? ( Stewart asks )

Bjork, Dick Cheney: great joke !!!!! (if you remember, Bjork came last year with a Swann (fr:cygne) wrapped around her neck (?). This year, Dick Cheney shot a quail ( fr: caille). The joke is in place but someone had to make the connection.

Schindler, Munich , Jewish trilogy: even a better joke that only . Stewart is doing Ok so far, solid but not outstanding, a bit of nerves maybe ?

Kidman, looking good !

9:30 PM

Cloney won: I am awfully giddy right now ! He is funny and solid smart too ! I am not having a man crush yet ! ( too many of these lately ) The sarcastic self-promotion “sexiest man alive 97” was witty. I knew he would say something socially relevant but the part about Hollywood being socially conscious was refreshing and on point ! He knows his history and his speech was short, good stuff so far !

I have no word to describe Ben stiller's costum ( a frog like green disguise )and Tom Hanks' hair ( "Da vinci Code meet Tarzan"). I-mei asks me who won the most Oscars ? I have no clue , she thinks: K. Hepburn, I think, J-C Van Damme.

9:45

Madagascar was not nominated for animated features :-( 2nd dissapointment.of the night (not really).

2^nd Imei trivia: did you know that there was a 3^rd wilson brother actor beside Luke and Owen ? answer after the break ( always wanted to write that ) I-mei is worrying me about her extensive knowledge. I should be the one with the meaningless trivia knowledge, I will fight back and reclaim my position!

Great change to have A-celebrities introduce the winners.

10: 25 Rachel Weisz, and "March of the Penguins both won". This might be my happiest oscar ever. Rachel Weisz acknowledged in a classy way the issue raised by the “Constant Gardener” (pharmaceutical industries using Africa as trying grounds. Note to self: rent this movie). I rented “March of the Penguins” but have not watched it yet. The Penguins accepting their awards had very heavy french accent…. kind of cute in a weird way.

Salma Hayek looked stunning in a tight blue gown. Apparently according to the award winner for soundtrack, brokeback mountain did a lot not only for gay minority but also the latin minority. I am starting to think that they made the movie to anger the hardcore republican party. I have no doubt that I will wach that movie at some point now. ( I can see Ranjit and Chinmay's eyes raising to the sky. You will too my friends, you will too.)

10:35 ( the night starts to drag a bit)

Stewart joked about repopulating the earth with Eric Bana and Jessica Alba's babies. I second that motion. (Alba is smoking hot, and so is King Kong as it won its second statue.)

I cannot wait for Stewart's reaction after "it's hard out here for a pimp " won the oscar for best song. I nominate the acceptance speech by "36 mafia, cedric and sthg Beauregard" ( great name for a rapper b the way)" as the best moment ever in Oscar history !!!!! Priceless.

10:50 Jennifer Gardner almost fell coming onstage:"I do my own stunt" (great recovery). King Kong Rules ! (...the technical aspect at least. )

"Totsi" ( South Africa) won the award for foreign movie. The kids in the movie (and in the crowd) were very proud and emotional, very nice moment. I am liking this ceremony so far !

best actor is up , suspense ..... Philip Seymour Hoffman for Capote! Wow, the kid in scent of a woman and along came Polly.... he promised to his high school to bark if he won so I am waiting....no barking. Ginga/ boo are dissapointed. I have a joke in French about Capote ...nevermind.

We are coming down the stretch few awards left: Reese Witherspoon for best actress. She officially becomes the new Julia Roberts, america's sweetheart. Brokeback Mountain is showing its teeth with screenplay adaption. The winner seems to be taking high dosage of valium. It is almost 11:30 after all. Uma Thurman is splendid and that dress is a movie in itself. Crash won, I really like that movie although many people think it paints a too simplistic view of race. I dont agree but to each its opinion.
Ang lee wins for Brokeback Moutain !!!!! It's done, I am watching it and taking the reticent Ranjit and Chinmay with me ( akward moments ahead :-) yep ).

In a stunning upset, ( do u feel the drama ?:) ) Crash wins best film !!!!! Now that is going to be discussed for a while. I should be happy, it puts culture difference and racial stereotyping back on the spotlight. Let the debating begin !!!!

OK that's it from Lafayette, IN. An exciting night overall, plenty to discuss and gracious winners. Big winners: Cloney, Crash and tolerance. Only sad note, the moviegoers did not ..go (lowest attendance in a while). Does it mean that when the movies are interesting and meaningful , we reward them by NOT watching ? Jon Stewart was again solid but not great. On hindsight, that was the right approach for a debut, I hope he comes back next year. I am dead tired, I hope my sister and you guys enjoyed this a bit. Answer to trivia: Andrew Wilson.

Good Night and good luck !

Tags: oscar, live diary, stewart

Tags: academy,

help with cat's name

By now You know the story of the mystrious black cat that came to our building, played with Ranjit and stayed the night. We wanted to set her free but she went outside and returned. So now after an expensive trip to the vet, she is all set to stay except for her interviews with Booboo and Ginga . So we need a name, here are a few suggestion but feel free to add your own. The most popular name will be tagged on cat in black unlike the US elections of 2000. Thank you so much for weighing in.

my feline friend's name ? cleo kheops tahiry Mr Dwayne De prufundis get rid of it new suggestion

I officially entered the twilight zone ! Gladwell, the sportsguy and a black cat showed me the truth is out there !

I know I have been spending far too much time mumbling and rumbling on this space but I need some reinsurance from you guys that my life is not just being played on strings by a muppet-master with a funny bone. I have new proofs (3 of them) that something supernatural is happening in my world. If you have been following the verbal junk that is on this website, there are a very few things that triggers my interest: my family friends and Mada, global issues and poverty, cultural stereotypes and consequences, sports and movies and finally my pets. All of them came together in any very spooky way the past 3 days. Therefore I am either going insane or there is a higher power that is having fun at my expenses. The 3 evidences: 1) my roomate found a very playful and cuddly cat yesterday that is the long lost twin of my cat in Tana named kiwi. They are exactly the same and if you knew my cat, you can see more pictures on the dogblog. So I might have a cat but I am not sure.( that sentence will make sense some time in the future I hope)
I am well known with my friends as having man-crushes on Bono, Gladwell , Jon Stewart and the Sportsguy because I won't shut up about them. (That is a lot of man crushes actually, maybe I should tell my therapist and girlfriend about this. Anyone knows the acceptable limit for man-crushes ? ) Well guess what ?
evidence 2): Jon Stewart is hosting the Oscar on sunday with plenty of awesome materials to work with ( Thank you Dick Cheney ) and
evidence 3): the Sportsguy is having a whole article about Malcom Gladwell on sports issues.
Crazy no ? I am now half-expecting Bono and U2 to write a song about Malagasy tennis with the doggies Jon Stewart, Booboo and Ginga doing the background vocals. It could happen ( if it does , I am joining Tom Cruise's church of Scientology)
I am so psyched about this article that I will take a long bathroom break at work and enjoy the exchange between the 2 guys that are shaping my intellects right now ( That last sentence is so sad on so many levels. On the other hand I could have had Dick Cheney as my civil right instructor so I don't feel too bad about myself ). After that, I will go check on my long lost cat , buy a lottery ticket ( that is how good I feel right now) and peruse the yellow pages for a psychotherapist and/or a psychic (mind reader).
I am sorry if this post did not make any sense but I don't make much sense to myself at the moment.
I wish all of you the greatest of the week-end ( mine is going to be just fine ) and make sure to catch the Oscars !

Tags: Gladwell, black cat, sportsguy, man-crush, Stewart

My roomate is on acid ! (kidding Ranjit ) D-day -2 till Oscar night

My roomate Ranjit who introduced me to the painfully-addictive world of blogging is on fire lately. It has been two days in a row that he made my day by posting hysterical notes on his blog.
Please, give yourself a nice break and check it out, especially the bumper sticker that pretty much sum up my feelings about the state of this nation. The tips about W's visit to India would work almost just as well for Madagascar, especially the vehicle-right-of -passage part.
Note that we are aware that Big Brother in DC/Texas is monitoring our rants and has probably "red-listed" both of us by now. (Oh well, our visa applications looked suspicious the moment they saw our "too-close-to-middle eastern" faces anyway.)
Still, it was a good liberating laugh and as Jon Stewart sayss: sometimes, that is all we need. ( I made that up but I live vicariously through him so...)
Ranjit also is the webmaster for the highly popular dog-blog "the world of Ginga and Booboo" ( I know it's shameless plug to our pets' website but I am about to be ejected at the border so shameless plugging is the least of my worry :-).)
Oscar night is Sunday aka the night when Jon Stewart took over the world. All jokes aside, the guy is not only funny and bright, he is also fair about his criticism of "either sides of the political fence" (a little Sting reference for you children of the 80's). He is also thorough about his fact finding even though he did not have to because it is a COMEDY show. That makes his show the exact opposite of the "O'Reilly factor" which is not a comedy show but highly unitentionally comical and clueless about facts accuracy. ( Letterman was dead-on in saying that 60% of his words are BS). I am dead-serious when I assert that Jon Stewart and David Stern ( NBA commissioner) would make the best Pres./VP combo since..... Crepe and Banane Flambee. Someone needs to pitch that idea and make it happen.
In honor of Oscar Nights, here are my nominees for the Stewart/Stern Award for most potent combo ever:
Adam Sandler/ Drew Barrymore
Jean Reno/Christian Clavier ( or Portman)
Vivien Leigh/ Clark Gable
Darth Vador/ Luke Skywalker
Gandhi/MLK
Bessa/Lola
Jordan/Pippen (or Bugs Bunny)
Booboo/Ginga

Humm, looking back at the list maybe I had some of the leftover cake.

Tags: Ranjit, Oscar, W, THC, daily show, O'Reilly

Malgache expatrie: le moment est-il venu de rentrer ? Des Nouvelles qui merite d'etre plus entendues

Cela fait un certain temps que je n'ai pas ecrit en Francais et le traducteur electronique est toujours aussi pitoyable alors en avant sans peur ni honte !
Un des bienfaits d'ecrire un blog , c'est que l'on rencontre et communique avec des personnes d'interet commun mais qui ont une perpective differente et forcement interessante de la mienne. Des internautes malgaches ont eu la gentillesse d'ecrire quelques mots sur le blog et en lisant leurs blogs respectifs, je suis tombe sur une montagne d'info qui m'ont occupe jusqu'a ce que mes colocataires ( chiens et humains) me rappellent qu'il etait heure de fermer les voiles et tomber dans les bras de Morphee. La discussion qui revient souvent est le probleme du retour au pays.
J'ai la chance d'avoir une famille nombreuse, et je dirai que de mes 24 cousins germains ( oui 24 et tous copains comme cochons) 18 vivent en dehors de Madagascar. 2 d'entre nous sont revenus apres 8 ans en France et une est revenue puis repartie. Avant mes deux cousins, le feedback des personnes revenues definitivement etait assez mitige: pas assez de travail, manque de dynamisme economique ( annees 90), bref morose. L'envie de rentrer ne manquait pourtant pas par patriotisme, manque de famille et aussi le mal-etre inherent a toute personne en terre etrangere. Mais il semble que le vent tourne, mes 2 cousins qui sont rentres sont plus qu'heureux d'etre de retour. Situation professionelle plus avantageuse et l'entourage familiale, il semble qu'ils ont trouve le meilleur des 2 mondes.
Alors le moment est-il venu de rentrer ?
Leurs carrieres en France se deroulaient pourtant bien et il y avait un risque certain de revenir et abandonner tout cela. Je pense pourtant que la reponse est la dans cette situation. Il me semble que rentrer directement apres les etudes est un trop grand risque. La raison du succes de ces retours reside dans le fait qu'ayant bien etabli leurs expertises, experiences et projets, mes cousins ont pu rentrer avec un minimum d'assurance quant a leurs devenir. Cette assurance est helas absente pour l'etudiant moyen finissant ces etudes.
Pousser votre carriere jusqu'au plus haut niveau. Votre retour n'en sera que plus profitable pour vous et votre pays.
De plus, j'encourage mes collegues a tente leurs chances dans les pays anglophones car je vous promets qu'en un rien de temps, l'obstacle de la langue sera depasse.

Avant de partir: quelques nouvelles qui sont peut-etre passes inapercues mais qui merite qu'on s'y arrete.

Un autiste qui montre la voie a ses camarades au basket.
horreur dans l'Ouganda
l'histoire incroyable de Emmanuel Yeboah

Tags: expatries, madagascar, emmanuel yeboah, Jason McElwain, Uganda

keeping it real: what exactly does it mean ?

"American Idol" is about to sweep away the nation and yes, I am totally indulging in it. ( No shame here, I know you are watching and loving it too). I probably should turn away and be more productive with my time ( I am blogging at 1 am who am I kidding ? ) but the reason you and I watch is that there is something compelling about such a simple concept: People try to win you over with a song and a dance and you decide if you like for reasons that matters only to you. ( "he/she seems nice" seems to be the most common reason, so much for the singing).
It is also intriguing because of the social issues it reveals . How big of a factor is race or demeanor in the contest; and how the contestants will fit the stereotype we came to expect or support. The judges' behavior is what really amazes me. They are the one most concerned about fitting into their public persona. Paula is tring to be nice but still be credible as a judge, Simon has to be the one with the most articulate and critical point and Randy has to appease to his fanbase.
Now what would happen if Randy would quit saying: " you did our thing, dawg" or " I did not feel it tonight, man". I probably would be shocked and a little dissapointed. Why ? Because my first reaction would be that he is straying away from his demographic and try to be someone else. aka he is not " keeping it real" anymore.
That is a bit sad because we tend to feel more comfortable when someone behaves as is expected and stay true to his roots. Where is the threat in Randy just saying: "I did not like it "? In other words, why would a community want to identify itself with cliches and catch-phrases?
I believe a culture draw its strength in its flexibility. The moment we outgrow our needs for obvious benchmarks as speech pattern or traditional daily routine is the mark of a mature culture. The only tradition worth keeping is the one that generate productive results and better quality of life. If "keeping it real" allows the black community to generate more jobs and nurture the children, then I am all for Randy and his dawg pound, keep them coming. I am not so sure this is the end it achieves though. The recurrent cliches make him sound both contrived and foolish . Not really the kind of way you want to represent your community.