http://augustphilippic.quiblit.com god I hate the king Sat, 29 Mar 2008 16:08:08 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en A brief word about Tibet (not intended as support for any particular side).   Tibet was not "part of" China before the twentieth century.  Understanding the relationship between Tibet and China requires understanding the Qing Dynasty, which lasted from 1644-1911. The emperors of the Qing were from Manchuria, and they engaged in ... http://augustphilippic.quiblit.com/index.php/2008/03/29/tibet/ On Wikifray, I posted something not well considered, and Gregor Samsa took me to task, at which point I made things worse. What follows is my attempt to say something less stupid... The Wikifray discussion is here Hi Gregor, Your critique comes at a useful time for me. I've been ... http://augustphilippic.quiblit.com/index.php/2007/12/05/in-which-i-am-taken-to-task-for-saying-something-stupid/ On subway platforms, he was always convinced that a maniac would push him in front of a train, and that his parents would think it was suicide.  He took various precautions -- sitting down when  he could, grasping available girders, positioning himself behind solid-looking passengers.  He was often concocting homicidal ... http://augustphilippic.quiblit.com/index.php/2007/11/24/very-short-fiction-2/ Seeing the leaves against the granite, orange and green and red, gave me vertigo.  I thought of the Japanese aesthetic of death, that a way of dying can be beautiful.  I think in the U.S. the idea has an unfortunate association with kamikaze pilots.  But what would it mean to ... http://augustphilippic.quiblit.com/index.php/2007/11/21/death/ ME: I had a hard time telling how you were different from earlier nightmares. NIGHTMARE: I get asked that a lot. I'd say it was indeed subtle, my own artistic inspiration, borrowing a bit from German Expressionism and (because I love the textures) the Righteous Brothers. I ... http://augustphilippic.quiblit.com/index.php/2007/11/20/interview-with-my-nightmare/ I mentioned Adam Langer’s Crossing California in a previous post. One of the many interesting things about that book is that it’s central theme is a street – California Avenue in Chicago – that was a border for a Jewish neighborhood. It’s a familiar kind of border – ... http://augustphilippic.quiblit.com/index.php/2007/11/19/cities-and-borders/ I'm finding myself oddly attuned to space today. I think it's because mrs. august and I spent a few hours this weekend biking though a sculpture park. Something about taking in so much art in motion, circumnavigating, weaving, braking and accelerating through sculpture. It was really exhillerating, a reminder of ... http://augustphilippic.quiblit.com/index.php/2007/11/18/sculpture-bike/ I was looking across the sky at the sunset, which made the clouds seem like mountains, when I surprised myself by turning inside out.  My eyes could only see my inner brain, while my organs felt at first warm, then cooler as the world got darker through my translucent humours. http://augustphilippic.quiblit.com/index.php/2007/11/15/very-short-fiction/ I've just read a short essay by Riccardo Petrella titled "A Global Agora vs. Gated City-Regions." The title refers to two visions of the future. The first is a world ("Global Agora") in which things like information technology have made it possible for the voices of people around ... http://augustphilippic.quiblit.com/index.php/2007/11/13/56/ Taiwanese identity is one of the world's more complicated, volatile, and undiscussed issues. This article only hints at the depth of feeling about mainland China, and particularly Chiang Kaishek's army, which took over the island in 1945 and retreated there in 1949 (with branches winding up in Korea and Southeast ... http://augustphilippic.quiblit.com/index.php/2007/11/12/taiwanese-identity/