Earthquake 'Round Midnight
It was around midnight. The city was quiet, bedding down for the night. And then came the now familiar feeling. Our tall apartment block started swaying – strong, deliberate trembling. The wooden wind...
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The Morning After
Obviously most people were talking about last night's earthquake though some friends, remarkably, managed to sleep through the whole thing. We are over 500km from the epicentre but the tremors were...
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Jimmy Smith And An Aomori Winter
Hisashi has a jazz programme on a local radio station in Hokkaido, northern Japan, and we've been writing to each other about Jimmy Smith. He featured the great album The Sermonlast Sunday. And, in...
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That Have Not Been Asked: 5
From John Berger's essay "That Have Not Been Asked" with photographs by Sebastião Salgado. The secret of storytelling amongst the poor is the conviction that stories are told so that they may be...
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Ten Of The Best
One of the best things about passing on the stick of the recent book survey is the chance to follow up on other bloggers' choices. From this partial spider's web I have selected just one of the...
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That Have Not Been Asked: 6
From John Berger's essay "That Have Not Been Asked" with photographs by Sebastião Salgado.The worst cruelties of life are its killing injustices. Almost all promises are broken. The poor’s acceptance...
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Not Playing The Game
For as long as I can remember the West Indies has been my cricket team. This affinity had more to do with accident than design. When we moved to England we lived not far from The Oval and it was there,...
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That Have Not Been Asked: 7
From John Berger's essay "That Have Not Been Asked" with photographs by Sebastião Salgado.“Whilst the rich drank tea and ate mutton, the poor were waiting for the warmth and for the plants to grow.”The...
View ArticleBlogs: Spaces For Capital?
For years now there has been overheated talk about the revolutionary impact of information and communications technology - including the internet - on every facet of society. To read some commentators...
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That Have Not Been Asked: 8
From John Berger's essay "That Have Not Been Asked" with photographs by Sebastião Salgado.“....it was as if she were alone in the world, free from happiness and sorrow, and she wanted to dance a...
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Robert Creeley, 1926-2005
I took American Studies as a subsidiary subject at undergraduate level (something that seems to surprise my friends). There I was especially taken by the American literature subjects because of the...
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New Filmmaking In Malaysia
This morning I found myself down at the Finas (National Film Development Corporation) compound at an indecently early hour. My friend Wan had invited me for a special screening and discussion of a new...
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That Have Not Been Asked: 9
From John Berger's essay "That Have Not Been Asked" with photographs by Sebastião Salgado.No development (the word has a capital D as an article of faith on the other side of the walls) no insurance....
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Getting Tough On Thugs?
It seems to me that the international political debate over Burma is reaching some kind of critical juncture. And the terms of that debate are throwing up some unexpected dynamics in relations between...
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Wayning Moments
Sometimes compilation albums work and sometimes they don't. But thisis simply great - the distillation of a lifetime's work by one of the greatest composers and improvisers in jazz. It follows on from...
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That Have Not Been Asked: 10
From John Berger's essay "That Have Not Been Asked" with photographs by Sebastião Salgado. The multitudes have answers to questions which have not yet been asked, and the capacity to outlive the walls....
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Constant Tremors
When I wrote about the second large earthquake I wondered whether more tremors and aftershocks were to become a regular part of my life, even though I live more than 500 kms from the epicentres of most...
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A Radical Returns
It seems appropriate to round off the serialisation of John Berger's essay "That Have Not been Asked" with this profile of him in yesterday's Observer. It is written in anticipation of the celebration...
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Harrassing Bloggers
The Malaysian political class likes to promote itself as being moderate, tolerant and willing to open up "democratic space". The truth is not nearly so cosy. Authoritarian practices die hard. There is...
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Telling Stories At The Theatrette
Last night Wan and I watched a private screening of the uncut version of Sepet. This is the latest film by Yasmin Ahmad who blogs here, appropriately enough under the moniker The Storyteller. Because...
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