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„Ach du heilige Scheisse“, sagte der Sohn Gottes.
Sie hatten den Fluss erreicht, über den die neue Brücke führte, und keine fünfhundert Meter weiter flussabwärts sah man die alte Brücke. Die mit den Bögen.
„Was ist los?“, fragte Joe.
„Die Brücken!“, meinte der Sohn Gottes etwas mutlos.
„Das ist ein Fluss“, sagte Joe, „Da sind Brücken keine Seltenheit“.
„Brücken sind gefährlich.“ sinierte der Sohn Gottes.
„Seit wann sind Brücken gefährlich?“
„Wegen der S.E.“
„Wegen was?“ fragte Joe.
„Mein Gott! Wegen der Schutzengel.“ Maulte der Sohn Gottes.
„Verstehe ich nicht.“
„S.E.! Schutzengel. Kennst du doch. Aber ihr, ihr stellt euch die ja immer so nett vor. Als würden sie hauptsächlich damit beschäftigt sein, kleine Kinder über die Straße zu führen, oder eben über Brücken. Ihr macht euch keine Vorstellungen, was die Schutzengel wirklich sind. Immer auf der Suche nach den verlorenen Seelen. Die bringen es fertig, und lassen eine Brücke zusammenkrachen, nur damit sie eine dieser verlorenen Seelen zurück bekommen. Außerdem machen sie Jagd auf alle, von denen sie glauben, sie könnten was mit Onkel Lutz zu tun haben.“
„Wer ist jetzt wieder Onkel Lutz?“
Der Sohn Gottes erklärte geduldig: „Ihr nennt ihn Teufel. Luzifer. Satan. Und Ihr glaubt, das wäre einer von den Engeln gewesen. Ich verrat’ dir ein Geheimnis. Onkel Lutz ist der Bruder von meinem Vater. Der jüngere Bruder. Hatte auch keine Lust mehr, den ganzen Schwachsinn mitzumachen. Ist einfach abgehauen und hat sich hinter die Menschen geklemmt. Alles Ketzer und Sünder und Wissenschaftler und Künstler und so weiter. Sagte den Menschen: Macht euren eigenen Kram. Denkt doch mal selber nach. Früher war Onkel Lutz wahrscheinlich wirklich ziemlich hibbelig und gut drauf. Ich glaub’, er ist jetzt ziemlich müde geworden. Verbirgt sich irgendwo. Aber Paps, verstehst du, nachtragend wie ein Elefant. Weißt du was? Vielleicht sollte ich mich auf die Suche nach Onkel Lutz machen. Der ist cool.“
„Meine Güte. Was für eine Familie seid ihr denn? Und was sagt deine Mutter.“
„Eine Mutter habe ich nicht.“ sagte der Sohn Gottes. „Alles Leihmütter. Mein Vater kann nicht so mit Frauen“.
„Wie, alles Leihmütter? Gibt’s etwa noch mehr von euch?“
„Naja, immer mal wieder… Pass auf, ich hab’ jetzt zwei Probleme.“
„Nämlich?“
„Hab’ immer noch mörderisch Kohldampf. Und außerdem: Kuck dir doch den Fummel hier mal an. Ich brauche dringend was zum Anziehen.“
„Also hör mal… He, wie soll ich dich eigentlich nennen, Alter? Jesse? Chris?“
„Quatsch. Ich weiß schon was du meinst. Das war Nummer Sieben. Jesus Christus!“
„Genau. Der Sohn Gottes.“
„Einer von ihnen. Der Siebente. Echter Pechvogel. Wenn du mich fragst, auch nicht gerade der cleverste. Mann, Mann, Mann! All diese Wüste, und die Dornen, vom Rest gar nicht zu reden. In meinem Alter hat der schon im Tempel gepredigt. Papas Liebling. Und was hat er davon gehabt?“
„Aber Jesus war doch cool! Hat’s den Römern gezeigt. Und das mit den Geldwechslern im Tempel. Und Maria Magdalena. (Ich kenn’ mich aus!) Und gut ausgesehen hat er auch. Wie Che Guevara…“
„Che Guevara war keiner von uns. Aber er ist mal einem begegnet.“
„Was? Das musst du mir erzählen.“
„Später mal. Aber du wolltest was fragen.“
„Na, wie ich dich nennen soll. Du brauchst einen Namen. Jeder braucht einen Namen.“
„Ach, Namen“, sagte der Sohn Gottes. „Das ist so eine Sache. Wenn du mal einen hast, dann wirst du ihn nicht wieder los“.
„Doch das geht. Schau’ dir Bob Dylan an.“
„Bob Dylan“, sagte der Sohn mit einem Anflug von Entgeisterung. „Was willst du denn mit dem alten Zausel?“
„Hey, sag’ nichts gegen Bob Dylan! Dann kriegen wir Krach. Bob Dylan ist das Einzige, bei dem mein Vater und ich uns nicht streiten. Wir haben alle Platten zuhause…“
„Bob Dylan! Mein Arsch! Fällt vom Motorrad, hat ne Erleuchtung und will sich bei Vatern einschleimen. Der war vielleicht genervt. Was nölt und krächzt dieser kleinwüchsige Schnösel eigentlich dauernd herum, soll sich doch um seinen eigenen Scheiß kümmern. Na, hat er ja dann auch gemacht. Aber wenn du schon keine Leute deines Alters gut finden kannst, wie wäre es denn mit Jack White, mit The Knife, oder mit Lil Wayne meinetwegen.“
„Mach hier keinen auf Pop-Nerd, Sohn Gottes. Ich wollte bloß einen Namen für dich, das ist alles.“
„Bob Dylan!“ Der Sohn Gottes lachte und wischte sich wieder den Rotz von der Nase.
„Jetzt ist gut. Sonst hau’ ich ab“, sagte Joe.
„Okay, okay“. Der Sohn Gottes versuchte sich zu beruhigen. „Nenn’ mich einfach SG 33“.
„33?“ fragte Joe. „Willst du damit sagen, dass du schon der dreiunddreissigste Sohn Gottes bist?“
„Naja, es gab ein paar Fehlgeburten… Ein paar, die Paps partout nicht anerkennen wollte. Aber so im eigentlichen Sinn: Ja, glaube schon. Bin die Nummer 33.“
„Meine Scheiße!“
„Ich sag’s ja. Mein Vater ist stur wie ein Panzer. Er lässt und lässt den Quatsch mit der Erlösung nicht. Und wir, wir sollen die Drecksarbeit machen.“
„Hör mal, Alter. Das mit den Leihmüttern…“
„Also, jetzt nicht. Ich erklär dir ja alles, aber jetzt brauch’ ich echt was zu mampfen. Und was zum Anziehen. So kann ich doch nicht rumlaufen. Da erkennt mich ja jeder.“
„Na, erkennen…?“
„Wie auch immer. Kannst du mir was besorgen? Jeans und Shirt oder so. Und was ich brauch: Wasser, Fische, Brot. Da mach’ ich uns einen leckeren Snack.“
Joe erklärte sich bereit, nach hause zu gehen, um das Gewünschte zu holen. Aber dazu musste er die Brücke überqueren.
„Ach du heilige Scheiße“, sagte der Sohn Gottes wieder.
„Was ist jetzt wieder los?“
„Die Brücke, Mann. Die S.E.!“
„Was soll mit denen sein?“
„Die S.E. kennen mich. Die riechen mich auf hundert Meter.“
„Aber du musst ja nicht mitkommen. Mich kennt keine Sau“, sagte Joe. „Mich können sie nicht riechen. Ich bin ja nicht der Sohn Gottes.“
„Aber du hast mich angefasst. Jetzt riechst du nach Gott. Wenn auch nur ein bisschen. Für Schutzengel reicht das. Auf zehn Meter orten die dich wie nichts.“
„Und was jetzt?“
„Du musst dich von den Schutzengeln fernhalten. Vorsichtig sein.“
„Aber woran erkenn’ ich die denn? Laufen da etwa Leute mit Flügeln rum?“
„Hey! Das hier ist 2013! Die schauen eher aus wie ganz gewöhnliche Body Guards. Aber auch nicht sooo auffällig. Die sind ja lernfähig. Du musst einfach darauf achten, wenn Männer (es gibt übrigens seit neuestem auch weibliche S.E.) so um sich schauen, als wenn sie nach irgendwas suchen. Das könnten welche von ihnen sein. Ach, und noch was, das Wichtigste: Wenn Schutzengel was sehen, worauf sie Jagd machen, dann werden ihre Augen total gelb. Sowas gibt es bei keinem Menschen. Ich wünsch’ Dir Glück. Und jetzt mach hin“.

Der Sohn Gottes hatte keine Ahnung, welches Abenteuer seinen neuen Freund Joe erwartete.

The idea of plopping down on a Caribbean beach with a good book gets a serious upgrade at the “Anguilla Lit-Fest: A Literary Jollification.”

Headlining this year’s event, which runs May 23-26, is legendary poet Nikki Giovanni (pictured), whose early poetry in the 1960s was inspired by the civil rights and black power movements. Also expected this year: National Book Award winner Bob Schacochis, Haitian-American author Edwidge Danticat and Simon & Schuster executive Judith Curr.

Details: www.ivisitanguilla/news/anguilla-lit-fest.com  or 786-235-1310.

For the original report go to http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/05/04/3378591/anguilla-poet-nikki-giovanni-headlines.html#storylink=cpy

The genre that spawned anti-gay anthems is back in the big time, with a fresh attitude, as Chris Mugan writes for London’s Independent.

With Bruno Mars and Wyclef Jean guesting on Diplo’s new Major Lazer album, Jamaican artist Busy Signal guesting on No Doubt’s comeback record and bass-heavy tunes heard in the UK’s hipster clubs, Jamaican dancehall seems to be enjoying a peak of influence on mainstream pop and underground dance. And yet, a decade ago, the genre was mired in controversy.

As a musical term, dancehall has been used since the Eighties to describe a distinct style emphasising rhythm over melody, with Sly & Robbie among its most famed producers. A step-change came with the ditching of in-house bands for pure digital instrumentation, providing a platform for the high-energy ragga vocalists that emerged in the Nineties and vied to provide the killer line over popular backing tracks, or riddims. Much of the lyrical content, about guns and girls, was instantly familiar to hip-hop fans, though it was the occasional homophobic number that proved poisonous when dancehall artists started to achieve wider fame in the early Noughties.

An early warning shot came with Buju Banton’s “Boom Bye Bye”, an especially vile example that seemed to call for the murder of gay men and helped lead to a campaign against homophobic content that gathered strength as a new wave of Jamaican artists began to cross over. In 2003, gay rights group OutRage! called for the arrest of several dancehall singers due to lyrics they saw as inciting violence, including Elephant Man, who was gaining a UK foothold with major-label backing.

Tracks were pulled off iTunes, gigs cancelled and the Mobo awards withdrew nominations from targeted performers, among them the fierce Vybz Kartel. At first, Jamaican artists defended their right to free speech, claiming the campaign was racist, but most have chosen to clean up their acts. In 2007, Sizzla and Beenie Man were reported to have signed the Reggae Compassionate Act, an agreement condemning anti-gay violence, while the vocal group TOK signed their own declaration. By then, though, dancehall’s global push had run out of steam, though whether that is all down to OutRage! is hard to discern.

Certainly now the dancehall sound is sounding fresh to a new generation of pop and dance acts. Diplo, the American DJ and producer who has worked with everyone from MIA to Usher, embarked on his first dancehall-influenced project in 2009, the debut Major Lazer album Guns Don’t Kill People… Lazers Do. This collaboration with the UK producer Switch featured a range of Jamaican vocalists, among them the previously tarnished Vybz and TOK, alongside such US names as Santigold and Nina Sky. It is best known for the bonkers, carnival-esque track “Pon de Floor”, sampled on Beyoncé’s 2011 mega-hit “Run The World (Girls)”.

For its follow-up, Free The Universe, delayed from last November, Diplo has called in a wider range of contacts. As well as Wyclef Jean and R’n'B crooner Bruno Mars, there are performances by female indie protagonists: the producer has called in left-field rapper and feminist artist Peaches plus Dirty Projectors’ singer/guitarist Amber Coffman, two artists who would have little truck with anti-gay rhetoric. Free The Universe again features the cream of the Caribbean island’s music scene. Vybz appears once more, alongside a typically exuberant cameo from Elephant Man, plus a range of less familiar names that demonstrates how dancehall remains a vital force. The most established figure among them is the smooth-voiced Busy Signal, a leading artist on the scene since the mid-Noughties and a previous Major Lazer collaborator.

Last year, Busy featured on the Diplo-produced title track from No Doubt’s comeback album Push and Shove, suggesting he might be ripe for overseas success himself. Signed to the influential VP Records, Busy has shown he can draw on reggae’s rich heritage – as on last year’s Reggae Music Again set. There is a closer meeting of the generations on Diplo’s other, higher-profile assignment, as executive producer for Snoop Dogg’s move into Jamaican music, Reincarnated, that sees the West Coast hip-hop veteran reinvent himself as a reggae artist, Snoop Lion. Diplo crops up on Vice’s documentary film of the same title.

Snoop’s pull attracted reggae legend and former Bob Marley collaborator Bunny Wailer to guest on the album alongside much younger names, among them former Vybz acolytes Popcaan and Mavado. Wailer has since became disenchanted with Snoop’s supposed conversion, though interest in Snoop’s Reincarnated project is keen ahead of the album’s release later this month and, with the film on cinema release, both remind us of Jamaica’s hothouse creativity. It remains to be seen, though, if home-grown artists can gain international leverage.

Major Lazer’s album ‘Free The Universe’ is on Because Music. Snoop Lion’s ‘Reincarnated’ is on RCA Records

For the original report go to http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/dancehalls-new-steps-8601597.html

“Growing up in Jamaica music is a part of life” Bolt tells Angus Taylor of United Reggae.

Usain Bolt is the fastest man alive and he is from Jamaica. Not since Bob Marley has his island’s palpable natural per capita talent been so plainly shown to the world. The land whose motto is “out of many – one people” could just as easily adopt “more success from the few”.

Usain “the Lightning Bolt” holds the 100 and 200 metres world records as well as six Olympic gold medals in sprinting. In 2012 as Jamaica celebrated 50 years of independence he defended his Olympic titles at both distances and took gold as part of the relay team.

And Usain is also a fan of Jamaican music, enjoying the occasional appearance as a selector and counting notable artists among his friends. He granted United Reggae this checklist interview on the subject – one of the fastest of Angus Taylor’s career…

First experiences of music as a child

“Growing up in Jamaica music is a part of life so I would say from birth. Definitely some Bob Marley.”

Reports that he knew Vybz Kartel at school

“Sorry they are misinformed. I didn’t know Kartel growing up. No artist was living where I grew up.”

First sound system experience

“There was a sound system in my community called Sunrise and they played until late into the morning. I could hear it but as a child I wasn’t allowed to go out at nights. Now when I do go out it’s usually to the club.”

How music has helped his career

“Music is a part of my everyday life. It makes me relax and it’s a good escape from rough times. My song that I play everywhere I go is Bob Marley “One Love”.  That’s my anthem. The world needs love I feel.”

Ways that Jamaican music can move forward

“Well from what I hear we need to create a proper industry to grow our music. I would love – love – to see Reggae and Dancehall on the international scene more.”

Morgan Heritage pausing their concert to watch him win the 100 metre gold live from the Olympic Park in London 2012 with Shaggy in the stadium cheering him on

“It’s just a honour that greats like Shaggy and Morgan Heritage who I grew up listening to would stop to recognize the hard work I have put in to be the athlete I am today.”

Meeting Chronixx at his Tracks and Records show in December 2012

“I love the new wave of roots reggae artists. Chronixx is one who is leading the way. It’s positive and uplifting music and the world needs that now more than ever. I am supportive of anything positive and uplifting for our nation. It’s brand Jamaica at the end of day so just continue making good music and running fast.”

Favourite running music

“Any music that gives you positive energy really.”

Favourite deejay

“Vybz Kartel music.”

Favourite singer

“Right now I listen to a lot of different musicians. I don’t think I have a favourite right now. I just listen to what’s hot.”

Artist friends

“Chris Martin.”

Music of choice apart from reggae and dancehall

“Hip Hop and Pop.”

New artists to look out for

“There are a lot of artist on the verge. I will just say to the world ‘look out!’”

Next DJ set (after his appearance in Paris in 2010)

“It’s the next big secret!” (laughs)

Dream artist to meet in person

“The Legend Bob Marley of course.”

For the original report go to http://unitedreggae.com/articles/n1346/050313/interview-100-seconds-on-music-with-usain-bolt

Cybercriminals in the region have built their own tools and learned from their predecessors in other regions, says Trend Micro report in cooperation with Organization of American States (OAS). This article by Kelly Jackson Higgins appeared in darkreading.com.

Eastern Europe isn’t the only region housing a healthy cybercrime industry: Latin America is quietly becoming a new hotbed of activity, and the cybercriminals there are learning their craft from missteps of their counterparts in other regions.

Cyberattack incidents increased anywhere from 8 to 40 percent last year in Latin America and the Caribbean, depending on the country — and that’s only among nations that reported or knew about the threats hitting them, according to a new report published today by Trend Micro in collaboration with the Organization of American States (OAS).

Getting a handle on the situation in Latin American and the Caribbean is tricky: There is little, if any, cooperation and information-sharing among nations there, and private industry is notoriously loathe to report any incidents they experience.

But data and information gathered from Trend’s survey of OAS member states, as well as intelligence from Trend Micro’s honeypots and data culled from its customer data, show a burgeoning region of cybercrime and victims. A lack of cybercrime laws, economic challenges, and unpatched and unprotected citizen machines make the region ripe for cybercrime — and the data only represents a fraction of the cybercrime incidents there since few incidents are even reported or detected, according to Trend’s report.

“Latin America is a new, emerging threat region — if you’re in government, finance, or energy and doing business in Latin America, be prepared to be the target of sophisticated attacks that have seen a dramatic evolution in capability,” says Tom Kellermann, vice president of cyber security at Trend Micro.

Attacks on critical infrastructure in the region are on the rise. One large national utility was hit by a series of attacks, as were financial institutions and a major telecommunications provider that briefly disrupted cellular service. According to Trend’s own data, the nations in the region have a large percentage of Internet-facing industrial control systems — with Argentina, Peru, and Columbia leading the list of ICS systems on the Net. Many of these systems aren’t password-protected or running patched, up-to-date software, Trend says.

“Attacks on critical infrastructure and especially industrial control systems are on the rise,” Kellermann says. “Financial institutions, in particular, are being targeted by sophisticated, unique Trojan attacks.”

Traditional crime syndicates in Latin America have carved out their own tools and developed their own cybercrime kits. In December 2012, the Latin-born PiceBOT kit debuted in the region. The kit, which sells for about $140, steals financial information. Crimeware kits are bought and sold on social networks, with Orkut as the most popular venue, as are IRC channels, where stolen financial information is traded. Banking Trojans are popular among the bad guys.

Cybercriminals in the region have learned from the botnet takedowns of 2011 and 2012 that hit Eastern European gangs hard: Rather than using paid and proxy servers, they typically use free hosting services for their malware, command-and-control servers, phishing pages, and other malicious content. They typically favor Dot TK and other free hosting services’ free trial services, which provide them with about a week’s worth of free hosting until they have to move to another hosting service, so this likely provides them an easy way to hide their tracks, the report says.

“Latin American cybercrime is being perpetrated by traditional criminal syndicates who are no longer relying on Eastern European-developed tools, but instead are crafting their own sophisticated cybercrime tools,” Trend’s Kellermann says.

Hacktivism is growing there as well, with two Latin American countries reporting attack campaigns protesting legislation on copyright enforcement and tax code reform last year. Hacktivist groups threatened to hammer government network infrastructures unless lawmakers vetoed the legislation, but computer emergency response teams there were able to prepare and deflect much of the attacks from disrupting operations.

Mexico, for instance, experienced a 40 percent increase in hacktivist attacks last year, highlighted by major DDoS, Web defacements, and cross-site scripting and SQL injection attacks during the 2012 presidential campaign.

The most popular malware in Latin America are file infector families, including Sality and Ramnit, as well as Mustan, which came on strong in the third quarter of last year and usurped Sality with more than 2 million infections.

At least two Latin American nations, Chile and Columbia, have seen an improved cybercrime picture. Incidents requiring response and investigation dropped 33 percent last year, and wire fraud incidents, such as phishing and pharming attacks, decreased by 122 percent. Chilean officials attribute that big drop in those types of attacks to the takedown of a large criminal syndicate there responsible for much of that type of malware.

Meanwhile, OAS member nations are trying to instill stronger cooperation and information-sharing to help quell cybercrime and threats. “Overall, OAS Member States have shown unity on cybersecurity issues,” the Trend reports says, namely an inter-nation 2004 cybersecurity strategy and most recently, the 2012 “Strengthening Cybersecurity In the Americas” declaration.

For the original report go to http://www.darkreading.com/vulnerability/threat-nuevo-latin-america-caribbean-cyb/240154136

Today’s PhD students are tomorrow’s academics, says Janine Bradbury in this article for London’s Guardian. So are we happy with how our future’s looking?

Here’s a question I’d like to see in a GCSE maths exam: in a climate where only one in 13 (7.7%) university professors are from BME backgrounds, where only 50 out of a total 14,000 university professors in Britain are from black Caribbean or black African backgrounds, and only 10 of these are women, how much tenacity does one black female PhD student need to achieve her full potential?

Back in 2002 when I started my undergraduate degree, I was one of few students of colour, from what we’re now describing as a ‘precariat’ background, about to begin my degree in American studies at a Russell Group university. And almost everybody was white. I had attended majority white schools and by the age of 18, I had become so expertly skilled in negotiating the dynamics of my class and race identity that I thought nothing of it.

I chose American studies because of the social mobility it would afford me (I’d get to travel and live abroad) and because I longed for a course with a curriculum that I could identify with. I love black culture and from a very young age I was familiar with African American film, literature and history. I had family in America, knew my Martin Luther King from my Malcolm X, and had memorised all the US states and their capitals.

The narratives of resilience that run throughout black history helped me overcome years of intense racist abuse during my primary school years and I threw myself into learning as a way of arming myself with knowledge about my heritage, my abilities and my potential.

The first time I fully realised how critically underrepresented people of colour are in my field was when I spent my year abroad at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. I felt uplifted to be in such ethnically diverse classrooms, and for the first time in my life had black lecturers. In what Oprah Winfrey describes as an ‘aha’ moment, I realised that I wanted to be a university academic.

On my Trinidadian mother’s side of the family, I have aunts and cousins who are strong, talented, and inspiring black women educators. Having seen so many black female professors in North Carolina, I felt I too could pursue a career in teaching anywhere I wanted. I returned to the UK with the US equivalent of a first in my pocket and a renewed sense of direction, only to feel deflated when I realised how white and male Russell Group university departments can be. A particularly supportive dissertation supervisor encouraged my ambitions and encouraged me to undertake postgraduate study – which is exactly what I am doing.

Why do there still seem to be so few black women academics in the arts and humanities in particular? We face a double bind. Embracing a more diverse curriculum may foster more diversity and the Equality Challenge Unit is exploring the role of unconscious bias and discrimination. However, as I look around those campuses I’m familiar with, I think a new approach to student recruitment and widening participation is key.

I co-founded a programme, We Are Here, based at Sheffield’s school of English that works with BME schoolchildren and their parents in the hope that we are meeting some of the brightest academic stars of the future. I have met and worked with more people who look like me and understand my cultural reference points during the year and a half of our small programme, than I have in the all of my time at university. I feel exceptionally proud of the collaborative and valuable dialogue we are facilitating between these underrepresented groups and our staff and students of all backgrounds.

Programmes like this, but aimed at bridging the colossal gap in postgraduate widening participation, would address an urgent need to recognise and act on the fact that our postgraduates of the present are our academics of tomorrow. And sadly there very few PhD students from Afro-Caribbean backgrounds like mine in the arts and humanities right now. Few funding opportunities, an overwhelming lack of role models, and alternative opportunities to work in cultural and creative industries or on a freelance basis means that doctoral study is not always the most attractive option.

To return to our maths problem: according to the University and College Union we may have to wait 38.8 years for women and 15.8 years for BME staff to be proportionately represented among the professoriate. I’m not sure what this means for this aspiring black female professor, but I know we can’t wait that long.

It’s time for the introduction of an Athena Swan equivalent for BME academics, a fresh approach to postgraduate retention, and a dedication to sustaining diverse curricula that inspire young people to join our profession.

For the original report go to http://www.guardian.co.uk/higher-education-network/blog/2013/may/03/black-postgraduate-university-diversity-recruitment

Sometimes, at night, the fallen leaves begin to glow. Then they slowly organize themselves into shapes that you just might recognize. Or maybe not.AND


Miya Ando is an artist who released 1,000 bioluminescent leaves into a pond in Puerto Rico. She had coated the leaves in a non-toxic, phosphorescent resin. After a day in the sun, the resin on the outside of the leaves would release photons all night, emitting this beautiful, blue glow. You can see more of Ando’s work on her website.

Spotted on Colossal!

For the original report go to http://io9.com/the-bioluminescent-leaves-of-puerto-rico-490210411

A post by Peter Jordens

May 17, 2013 will be Curaçao Night at the de Young Museum in San Francisco, California, as Curaçao capitalizes on a series of events being organized by the Museum in partnership with the Consulate-General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the City by the Bay.

On six consecutive Friday evenings between April 26 and May 31, the Museum’s regular ‘Friday Nights at the de Young’ are being transformed into Dutch-themed ‘Orange Nights at the de Young’: free, after-hours events featuring live music, dance performances, art exhibitions, artist demonstrations, film screenings and lectures/readings. The fourth Friday Night in the series, May 17, will be Curaçao Night.

Curaçao Night is a unique opportunity for the Dutch-Caribbean island of Curaçao to showcase its art, music, dance and food in a state-of-the-art, culturally significant, world-class museum. The landmark de Young Fine Art Museum is the 6th most visited museum in the USA and the most visited museum west of the Mississippi.

The program of Curaçao Night consists of a mix of traditional and modern culture. There will be a performance by folkloric dance group Futuro i Memoria di Kòrsou. Especially for this occasion bassist Eric Calmes, guitarist Jean-Jacques Rojer and percussionist Vernon Chatlein will form a trio playing jazz-like mazurka and danza. Kuenta i Tambu (KiT) will play tambú rhythms. Photographers Bea Moedt and Brett Russel’s will showcase their photography, illustrating the beauty and diversity of Curaçao. Andre Nagtegaal, Garrick Marchena and Serena Janet Israel are also putting their art on display. Cenaida van Dinter will be demonstrating the traditional art of tying the lensu (headscarves). There will be a documentary on 3D-screens of scrap artist Yubi Kirindongo, a reading by Patricia Selbert, author of The House of Six Doors, and a video and panel on the Green Town project.

The menu for that week at de Young café will include typical Curaçaoan dishes like stobá di kabritu (goat stew), keshi yená (stuffed cheese), funchi (corn meal), tutu (sweet funchi), banana hasá (fried plantain), and bolo pretu (a scandalously decadent, alcohol-infused, black prune cake). A special cocktail will be available from Landhuis Chobolobo, the producers of the world-famous ‘Blue Curaçao’ liqueur.

The brainchild behind Curaçao Night is Natasha Chatlein, a Curaçaoan who is Senior Advisor at the Office for Science & Technology of the Dutch Consulate-General in San Francisco. The organization further consists of Erika Römer and Susanne Capello (two Curaçaoans living on the West Coast) and Allan Chatlein.

News sources:

• http://www.amigoe.com/english/151021-curacao-night-in-san-francisco
• http://www.curacaochronicle.com/local/curacao-night-at-de-young-museum-in-san-francisco
• http://sanfrancisco.the-netherlands.org/news/2013/03/orange-nights.html

For the full program of Curaçao Night, visit the de Young Museum’s website: http://deyoung.famsf.org/deyoung/calendar/orange-nights-cura-ao-friday-nights-de-young. The Museum is located at 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive, near John F. Kennedy Drive, in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. Telephone number: (415) 750-3600.

To contact Natasha Chatlein, e-mail her at nchatlein@yahoo.com.

Many thanks to all the regular readers of this blog because thanks to your votes, my book, The Cold Cold Ground, has won the 2013 Spinetingler Award for best crime novel!
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I'm really very touched. I put a lot of my heart and soul into that book. It was both harrowing and strangely fun journeying back to the 1981 of my imagination and reliving those childhood days in Victoria Estate in Carrickfergus. I don't find writing particularly easy and I'm not one of those 1000 words before breakfast types but occasionally during the writing process of this book I did feel that I was firing on all cylinders the way a top notch writer presumably feels all the time...
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Anyway many thanks to everyone who voted for me or reviewed me on Amazon, Audible, Good Reads or their blog. When you are published by a small press it's almost impossible for your book to get noticed which is why reader support and reader reviews mean so very much.
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Slainte. 

An essay written for Toronto’s Cinematheque Ontario program guide (February 2007). –- J.R. For better and for worse, and principally the latter, Jacques Rivette has been singled out as the former Cahiers du Cinema film critic who makes the least commercial films, as well as the longest ones. But for the record, the films of the [...]

Mr. Gray dealt with contemporary issues in his work, including race relations and American drug policy.    

Day before yesterday, on the 10-year anniversary of the US Navy’s departure from Vieques, Puerto Rico, fishermen found a gigantic bomb—over ten feet tall—some three miles north of the island, at a depth of approximately 80 feet (one of “thousands of bombs” in the Vieques seabed, according to the fishermen.)

Three fishermen found a huge bomb under the sea, while working north of the island municipality of Vieques. In written communique, Cacimar Zenón, Xavier Próspero, and Manuel Rucci stated that the immense explosive is 80 feet deep. “This is one of the bombs that still lie in our seabed. My coworker is 5 feet 6 inches and he was not even half the size of the exposed part of the bomb. How deep does a bomb need to be buried to stick straight up in strong sea currents?” asks Cacimar Zenón, who usually goes fishing between Vieques and Culebra.

According to fishermen, thousands of bombs are scattered on the seabed in unexpected places, as they are very far from the old bombing polygons that the U.S. Navy used in the area.

“Every day we come across bombs or military scrap. The risk is there, but we will not stop fishing. We need to work for a living,” said Zenón. Also, the trio of fishermen claim that “no official work has been done by local or federal authorities to address the restoration of the seabed.” “On the contrary,” says Zeno. “The opening of the Laguna Anones and the neglect of agencies such as Fish and Wildlife has caused a significant decline in fishing,” he said, quoting official data from Government of Puerto Rico, which shows declines of 90 percent for fishing the last 10 years ago.

For original article, see http://www.elnuevodia.com/pescadoresencuentrangigantescabombaenvieques-1502063.html#.UYFWCJbDLjo.facebook

A day after the documentary “Unclaimed,” which suggests that a former P.O.W. was found alive in Vietnam, played at a film festival, the Defense Department said the man was a fraud.    

A listing of films releasing this summer.    

Filmmakers and actors choose their favorite summer movies.    

A new film by Rama Burshtein, an Orthodox Jewish director in Israel, centers on a young woman facing an agonizing choice after her sister dies in childbirth.    

Johannes, den sie alle nur Jo nannten, manche auch Joe, wie in einem alten amerikanischen Film, war dem Sohn Gottes an einem Aprilnachmittag begegnet. Er war ungefähr zwölf Jahre und wischte sich den Rotz mit schöner Regelmäßigkeit mit einem Leinentuch von der Nase, das er um seinen, nebenbei ziemlich mageren, Körper geschlungen hatte.
„Hi“, sagte Jo, „ich heiße Johannes. Kannst Joe zu mir sagen, wenn du willst“.
„Hallo, Joe.“
„Und du?“
„Ich, ach ich bin der Sohn Gottes, weißt du. Einen Namen habe ich noch nicht. Oder ich hab’ ihn nicht mitgekriegt, in all’ dem Trubel.“
„Was für’n Trubel?“, fragte Joe.
„Ach, so Familienzeugs. Vater kann ziemlich zornig sein, weißt du. Wenn man sich dann nicht in Acht nimmt, dann macht er gleich eine Sündflut, oder eine Heuschreckenplage. Oder irgend so was. Und hey, er war wirklich verdammt wütend.“
„Warum war er so wütend. Haste was ausgefressen?“
„Nee, ich hatte nur einfach keine Lust“.
„Keine Lust zu was? Übrigens: Wir könnten auch zum Fluss runtergehen. Ich hab’ noch’n Schokoriegel. Willste ‘ne Hälfte?“
„Hey, danke“, sagte der Sohn Gottes. Er machte den Eindruck, als hätte er schon eine Zeit lang nichts mehr gegessen, und deswegen gab Joe ihm auch das größere Stück.
„Also, wozu haste keine Lust gehabt?“
„Na das mit dem Erlösen, verstehst du. Vater meinte, ich müsste die Menschheit erlösen. Das wär’ das Einzige, wozu ich überhaupt auf die Welt gekommen wär’. Er hat gesagt, ich hätte mich opfern sollen. Soll er doch selber. Hab’ ich keinen Bock drauf.“
Der Sohn Gottes machte ein trotziges Gesicht. Joe fand den Neuen sympathisch.
„Häng’ dich selbst ans Kreuz, oder was deine Menschen heute sonst so treiben mit den Leuten, die sie erlösen sollen, hab ich gesagt. Peng, hatte ich schon wieder eine gefangen.“
„Also, da kann ich dich beruhigen“, stellte Joe fest. „Gekreuzigt wird bei uns nicht mehr. Aber es gibt andere fiese Sachen. Ich glaub’ aber nicht, dass das was mit Erlösen und so Zeug zu tun hat“.
„Na jedenfalls hat sich der Alte aufgeführt wie der letzte Arsch. Rumgeschrien, dann wieder predigen, dann wieder rumschreien. Das kennst du ja wahrscheinlich“.
„Ach, mit dem Predigen hat es mein Alter nicht so. Aber er hat auch noch nie die Idee gehabt, dass ich ein Erlöser sein könnte.“
„Sei mal froh, Joe“. Der Sohn Gottes musste lachen. „Daraus könnte man nen geilen Rap machen, he? Sei mal froh, Joe, verpiss dich aufs Klo, oder so, zeig’ der Welt dein dickes No!“
Joe und der Sohn Gottes mussten lachen. Sie waren überhaupt ziemlich guter Laune, wie zwei Kerle, die wussten, dass sie endlich den richtigen Kumpel gefunden haben, um die Häuser ziehen und Scheiß machen.
Und so beginnen unsere Geschichten von Joe und dem Sohn Gottes.

“What Maisie Knew,” a new film updating the Henry James novel, raises anew the issue of just how hard it is to adapt James’s work to the screen.    

Olivier Assayas’s new film, “Something in the Air” (opening today in New York and Los Angeles and also available via video on demand), details the experiences of a high-school student near Paris a few years after May ‘68 whose interests drift away from politics and toward the cinema. The film is an exemplar of a new “Tradition of Quality,” of a bien-pensant but mal-imaginant sophistication. In lieu of original creative energy, it offers a complacent sincerity peopled with dewy, modelish youths and adorned with markers of a political, literary, and artistic culture that it doesn’t explore or examine or transform at all but, rather, displays as part of a living museum of a storied time. Its pictures are utterly and blandly professional, pretty enough without being showily postcardish; its story is a stack of tightly sliced events laid out in chronological succession with no narrative audacity or curiosity or freedom; its earnest absorption in the conflicts of youth lack humor or even extravagance. Its brief political citations from classic works representative of the era’s prominent ideologies set up simplistic lines of conflict and make big choices appear all too easy in retrospect; the movie is bathed in nostalgia, which it fuels by way of the intellectual equivalent of product placement.

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