I am on Avaaz.org's list and this global non profit organization works:
"to ensure that the views and values of the world's people inform global decision-making. (Avaaz means "voice" in many languages.) Avaaz receives no money from governments or corporations, and is staffed by a global team based in London, Rio de Janeiro, New York, Paris, Washington DC, and Geneva." this is their 'stop the clash of civilizations' video.
Hello Ingrid,
ReplyDeleteWhat a nice surprise getting a visit from you as well as an interesting coincidence we posted the same video. Howard Zinn's work really should be required in American classrooms. It would give some balance and maybe deflect a few towards a more positive way of encountering the world.
Yes, I've also found it hard to keep up with people of interest in Blogtopia. I'm finally starting to settle into a role that's comfortable without going all out political. There are some excellent sites for that kind of thing where I'll post comments from time to time if I have something relevant to add.
I hope you manage to get the Eliot Pattison books. I read the Pullman series but only really enjoyed the first one. By the last I felt he'd become too dark for children and couldn't get away from that point of view. The Shan stories are a very different thing and actually provided my initial impetus to study Tibetan Buddhism seriously. It's been a revelation on multiple levels and that's after having studied comparative religion for more than twenty years - meditating regularly too.
I'll add your site to my blogroll too and perhaps we'll keep in better touch. All the best.
Hi Ingrid,
ReplyDeleteYou were so kind in leaving notes on several of my posts earlier so I thought I'd just drop by and leave one here so you won't have to go looking.
First, thanks so much for your very flattering comments about the stories. They are all essentially true but some had to be edited to fit a format that seems to be working for me. For the time being I'm just enjoying drawing and writing them really as gifts for those who drop by and are interested. Knowing they're enjoyed is reward enough. I'll wait and see where it all goes but I do know there'd have to be many more than half a dozen to get a publisher's attention
So far as Eliot Pattison is concerned his book list of Shan novels is:
Skull Mantra 04/01
Water Touching Stone 05/01
Beautiful Ghosts 04/04
Bone Mountain 05/04
Prayer of the Dragon 12/07
I explained in a comment to Gary's post that the books are hard to find in stores and even Powell's here never has more than a couple. The book business is like everything else these days - too much junk and hard to find the good stuff - but I would recommend Amazon if you don't mind buying. Otherwise a library might have them (I just hate waiting for library books so have always bought my own).
Anyway, for last I'll paste a description from Amazon per Publisher's Weekly of Skull Mantra:
"A venerable plot device, the discredited detective given one last chance is invested with stunning new life in this debut thriller from a veteran journalist who clearly knows his exotic territory. The gulags of Tibet, where the Chinese keep the Buddhist monks and other locals they've swept up since occupying the country, also house a few special Chinese prisoners. Shan Tao Yun, working as a laborer on a road crew called the People's 404th Construction Brigade high in the Himalayas, was once the inspector general of the Ministry of Economy in Beijing before he was imprisoned for refusing Party membership. Now he struggles to survive his harsh new life, gaining spiritual sustenance from the monks in his brigade. The discovery of the headless body of a local official, wearing American clothes and carrying American cash, changes all that, as Shan is threatened and cajoled by the shrewd colonel in charge of the district into conducting an investigation. Col. Tan wants a quick and dirty job that implicates a monk found near the site, but Shan knows the man isn't guilty: more-likely culprits include other high-ranking Chinese and a pair of American mining entrepreneurs. To encourage Shan to come to a rapid resolution, Tan dangles the fate of the monks of the 404th before him, surrounding their barracks with brutal Public Security troops. Shan becomes an apolitical guide through a murky world of failed socialism. Pattison has created another memorable character, an ambitious and conflicted young Tibetan called Yeshe, who can "sound like a monk one moment and a party functionary the next." Set against a background that is alternately bleak and blazingly beautiful, this is at once a top-notch thriller and a substantive look at Tibet under siege."
Hope you're having fun with your mother and nice long days to enjoy her company.