Philippe Rose
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Friday, 25 March 2005

Curing poverty


Girl with a fishThe UK has found a miracle cure to fight poverty. Wearing a white wristband is your personal contribution to making poverty history, at least by removing its weight from your conscience (and shifting it to those who aren't wearing one).

How more ridiculous does it get?





[25 March]



Tuesday, 22 March 2005

American fantasy


President AkayevIn the south of Kyrgyzystan, local residents are staging protests and taking the opportunity of burning down official buildings and police stations. Both protesters and police beat up local journalists, accusing them of supporting one side over the other. As if to highlight the irony of the situation, a friend's father was assaulted by both sides over the course of a few hours.

Local media don't cover the event, and, Soviet-style, cover nature, landscapes, dancing and other musical celebrations instead. Russian media cautiously mention unruly activities. And foreign media talk of imminent revolution similar to the recent events in Ukraine and Georgia, with flashing tickers and live reports by eager journalists.

In Bishkek, police is patrolling main squares and open spaces to prevent people from assembling. A pro-government demo attracted a large following (had the people been paid or coerced?). Reports of farmers boarding buses going North were issued, but with precarious road connections, it is far from certain they will ever arrive.

American-backed groups have long had an interest in encouraging an uprising against the government (part of an American fantasy for the region), and current events are probably encouraged by them. To some extent, the news coverage is fuelling the impression of a full-blown revolution, contributing some momentum to what is happening, although there is hardly the scope for such a small country to impact significantly on the region. It reminds me of the instance in which local farmers from two neighbouring countries burned down the borders control office in frustration at a corrupt official. Government media labelled it as a "border skirmish threatening national integrity" - and all NGOs believed it (generating extra funding to assist in their "peace" efforts).

In any case, the expat community in Bishkek are paying a visit to their respective embassies asking if all the paperwork is in order. They are preparing themselves to spend even more time at their hotel's fitness centre, waiting for the farmers to quiet down.

As for myself, I'm greatly looking forward to my visit in May.

[22 March]



Sunday, 20 March 2005

Fukuoka


Prof. M. AbiruThe Professor from Japan came to the conference in casual clothes. Inquiring about the dress code, he was strongly encouraged to reappear in business attire. Somewhat surprised about having to wear such a blatant symbol of the establishment (the topic was meant to be entrepreneurship), he strolled into town to purchase shoes, shirt, trousers, jacket, tie and tie clip. He later told me: 'Buying a suit can tell you a lot about the local culture, I do it often.' The Professor likes to travel light. He will dispose of the suit before continuing his journey, as he always does.

[20 March]



Friday, 18 March 2005

Dreams


Marilyn MonroeLittle sleep I get these days... sometimes finding myself dozing off on a train, plane, car (oh, but aren't I driving?!!), listening to music, and suddenly having a feeling I understand the deep meaning of its lyrics, as if I had been drinking. I then open my eyes and watch the world unfold around me, noticing impossible things. I never know if they're real or not. This morning, riding on the bus at some ghastly morning hour, I noticed a man wearing leather shorts sitting in the lawn near the road. On a March morning. And tonight, my flatmate told me she had been teaching somebody who suddenly started to levitate 5cm off the ground after doing a special breathing exercise. I was visiting an industrial complex today which seemed to be full of steam leaks. We were stepping over and into these leaks as if they weren't there - and apparently they're ok, everything under control. On the plane I was reading the Daily Mirror. On its pages, high resolution, full colour pictures of an execution in Iran, complete with flogging (100 lashes over 30min), stabbing (done by the brother of one of the condemned's victims), choking to death (5min long, suspended from a crane) and dragging of the body onto a hearse. Was this all real?

[18 March]



Saturday, 5 March 2005

Plaisir coupable


« Jure-moi de continuer à tourner le dos au monde de ceux qui attendent patiemment que la mort les éclaire. »

Ma mèreJ'ai passé un moment agréable à regarder le film Ma mère au cinéma ce soir. Ma mère est une incursion dans le monde de la perversion et de l'amour entre une mère et son fils. Le film est rafraîchissant, les personnages me semblent authentiques et ils ne cherchent pas à s'expliquer ou à se rationaliser. Le fils épouse la perversion de sa mère qui la lui fait découvrir tout au long du film afin qu'ils se rejoignent dans une scène finale où le spectateur est précipité dans le néant. Un moment, l'acte incestueux est interrompu par le suicide de la mère. Le moment d'après, au funéarium, le fils recherche son plaisir interrompu devant le corps de sa mère et hurle "Maman, je ne veux pas mourir!"

Ma mèreMa mère se termine sur cette scène où le son est coupé, laissant défiler le générique en silence. Le départ précipité de l'audience et les commentaires dépréciateurs sur l'état du cinéma français me font deviner leur sentiments! Je souriais en sortant de la salle - au regard ébahi d'une fille, le visage écoeuré.

« J’aimerais bien qu’on se dise, en sortant du film, que ces personnages ne sont ni plus monstrueux, ni plus pervers que nous, simplement plus libres, plus pleinement vivants, qu’ils ont réussi alors que nous sommes toujours prisonniers de notre raison. » (Christophe Honoré, réalisateur)

[05 March]





Philippe Rose
Rose.ph is where Philippe Rose blogs. One day I'll have my office on the Moon (in Borneo for now).


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