Nepenthe

From Nature

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I've heard many sins laid at the feet of science fiction before, but accusing an entire literary genre of murder is a new one for me. Salvador Dali, creator of extreme artwork, held extreme views as well, one of which I discovered quoted in the introduction to a new translation of one of Jules Verne's earliest works, The Begum's Millions . "Every time someone dies, it is Jules Verne's fault," wrote the artist in Dali on Dali . "He is responsible for the desire for interplanetary voyages, good only for boy scouts or for amateur underwater fishermen. If the fabulous sums wasted on these conquests were spent on biological research, nobody on our planet would die anymore. Therefore, I repeat, each time someone dies it is Jules Verne's fault." It made me think less of Dali, an artist I have always admired, when I found this passage so many decades after he wrote it. How could the old surrealist not have realized that he and Verne were in the same bu...

Thanx Vanesa :) More postcards on the Dharma and Samádhi blogs (Link section here)

Thanx Jacquie :) More postcards on the Dharma and Samádhi blogs (Link section here)

Thanx Elena :) More postcards on the Dharma and Samádhi blogs (Link section here)

Thanx Jacky :-) More postcards on the Dharma and Samádhi blogs (Link section here)

Playing the trump card Free speech as inherent right or group consensus? How did the concept get into such a mess? Because liberalism persists in seeing a "right" as something to be claimed rather than accorded, says Tom Stoppard. If claim and counter-claim are presented as absolutes, the debate can have no resolution. The idea that being human and having rights are equivalent – that rights are inherent – is unintelligible in a Darwinian world. It is easily and often overlooked that when Thomas Jefferson asserted that life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness were inalienable human rights, he did so on the ground that they had been endowed by God, our Creator. That I have the right to express myself freely at all times in all circumstances entails the idea that free speech is a "basic human right" possessed by each individual, and, as such, trumps the interests of the society or group, including my neighbour. But there is something odd about this. The trum...

Os inadaptados A carreira de Ang Lee tem-se pautado por uma enorme versatilidade: entre a sátira de costumes de "Banquete de Casamento" (1993) e as proezas técnicas de "Hulk" (2003), tivemos um elegante filme de recorte literário, "Sensibilidade e Bom Senso" (1995), um magnífico retrato da América profunda em "A Tempestade de Gelo" (1997) e uma excelente revisita ao imaginário oriental no excelente "O Tigre e o Dragão" (2000). Independentemente da variedade de registos, parece indiscutível a sua capacidade para construir uma obra de vulto, a que vem agora acrescentar-se um belíssimo "western", com entusiástico acolhimento público e crítico, a perfilar-se para uma possível chuva de Óscares. "O Segredo de Brokeback Mountain" (com o costumeiro título explicativo português), "western" moderno, centrado numa história de amor entre dois homens, dois "cowboys" que mantêm, durante anos, uma relação episód...

2005 Final Nebula Ballot Novels Air - Geoff Ryman (St. Martin's Press, Sep04) Camouflage - Joe Haldeman (Analog, Mar-May 04, also Ace book Aug 2004) Going Postal - Terry Pratchett (HarperCollins, Oct04) Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell - Susanna Clarke (Bloomsbury, Sep04) Polaris - Jack McDevitt (Ace, Nov04) Orphans of Chaos - John C. Wright (Tor, Nov05) Novellas "Clay's Pride" - Bud Sparhawk (Analog, Jul/Aug04) "Identity Theft" - Robert J. Sawyer (Down These Dark Spaceways, Mike Resnick, Ed., Science Fiction Book Club, May05) "Left of the Dial" - Paul Witcover (SCI FICTION, Sep04) "Magic for Beginners" - Kelly Link (Magic for Beginners, Small Beer Press, Jul05, also F&SF, Sep05) "The Tribes of Bela" - Albert Cowdrey (F&SF, Aug04) Novelettes "The Faery Handbag" - Kelly Link (The Faery Reel: Tales From the Twilight Realm, Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling, Ed., Viking Press, A...

Effective immediately, with extreme prejudice.

Bigger version here

It's a sight increasingly rare in the wine world, but if you go to parts of Bordeaux and Rioja you can still spot winery workers cracking large quantities of eggs. The job is slow and time-consuming (the albumen has to be separated from the yolk), but some winemakers regard it as essential. They claim that a red wine 'fined' with egg whites (clarified and stabilised in layman's terms) has smoother tannins. If you're a strict vegan, that last sentence probably made you flinch. For wine-drinking readers who won't touch animal products, the bad news doesn't stop there. Many of the fining agents used in wine are no-nos for vegetarians as well as vegans. Gelatine (made from animal tissues), chitosan (derived from the shells of crustaceans and shellfish) and isinglass (made from fish bladders) are all on the proscribed list. These products don't show up in the finished wines, of course, but it's the principle that counts. Fortunately, there are plenty of w...

Everything You Need to Know About Sushi Varieties and Accompaniments, Etiquette and Dining Tips, and More by Dave Lowry Tell the truth: When you go out for sushi, don't you worry that you're not doing it quite right? And don't you hate feeling ignorant and inept about such a popular food category? If you do, you're going to love this informative little handbook by a St. Louis food writer who clearly know his way around a sushi-ya. A present for: Anyone who doesn't want to look like a dork at the sushi bar. What it is: A rundown on sushi fish from aji to uzuri tamago . Required readings: Washing It Down: What to drink with sushi. (Hint: It's not sake.) How the wasabi and soy sauce ritual got started, and why it's wrong. Chopstick etiquette. The training of an itamae, or sushi chef. What's the deal with that ceramic Hello Kitty. Something extra: A glossary of sushi-ben, or slang, with a warning that using it incorrectly will make you look really ...

Got this on my Observer print magazine (will snail mail) :-) When I started cooking professionally, it was hard, if not impossible, to find a decent vegetarian meal. So-called top restaurants concentrated on the main course - meat - and never the vegetarian option. When I became head chef at one of London's most expensive restaurants, the Lanesborough Hotel, I was happy to cater for meat eaters and vegetarians alike. Other chefs often asked me why I bothered. After all, vegetarians didn't want to eat at such grand establishments, did they? I saw it differently, however. Why shouldn't vegetarian dishes be interesting and imaginative? Even nowadays, it is not unusual for high-profile chefs to talk contemptuously about vegetarians, but to me they are just customers who have decided to forsake meat and fish in their diet. [Read all the recipes, again, from the Guardian-Observer ]

We don't have an address for Mr Sawada, the sushi master. Just a card with the samurai symbol of a red dragonfly and the name of a street off Tokyo's Ginza. We find the tiny dragonfly engraved beside a buzzer in an unremarkable doorway. 'This is a very extraordinary moment for me,' says Chie, our translator, as we troop up some shabby stairs. 'I could never eat here. I am not rich, I am not old enough.' She's in her mid-thirties; I think she means - 'not wise enough'. Ordinarily you would pay some $500 in advance just to make a booking here at the table of one of Japan's most talked-about traditional sushi chefs. But then, we could never have made a booking, because Sawada serves at most eight people each mealtime and is booked up years ahead. He has given us a few minutes at the end of his day to photograph him in action. We find a small square room made entirely - floor, ceiling, walls, chairs, counter and even the fridge - of pale lemon hinoki...