May 31, 2008
May 24, 2008
May 22, 2008
Discovered Today! 05/23/2008
The Paris Intifada - Granta 101
- bougnole, a racist French term to describe Arabs that dates back to the Algerian War of Independence, 1954–1962, when the French military used torture and terror against Algerian insurgents. The term bavure also comes from the same period. (The most infamous bavure was the so-called Battle of Paris, in October 1961, when a skirmish on the Pont de Neuilly between demonstrating Algerians and police led to a riot that ended with more than a hundred dead North Africans. Their bodies were thrown into the Seine by the police, under the orders of police chief Maurice Papon. Papon had previously been involved in the deportation of Jews during the German occupation of the early 1940s but was not accused of his crimes until the 1990s.)
May 20, 2008
Discovered Today! 05/21/2008
Thomas Pynchon Wiki: Gravity's Rainbow
- Besides the normal meanings, including "theater of war", 'theatre'
is the name that fireworks' organizers call a sky display. - 3.07 crystal palace
See Alpha entry, especially this re cultural meaning:
The Crystal Palace made a strong impression on visitors coming from
all over Europe, including a number of writers. It soon became a
symbol of modernity and civilization, hailed by some and decried by
others. The narrator thinks that human nature will
prefer destruction and chaos to the harmony symbolized by the
Crystal Palace.When the first major international exhibition of arts and
industries was held in London in 1851, the London Crystal Palace
epitomized the achievements of the entire world at a time when
progress was racing forward at a speed never before known to
mankind. The Great Exhibition marked the beginning of a tradition
of world's fairs, which would be held in major cities all across
the globe. Following the success of the London fair, it was
inevitable that other nations would soon try their hand at
organizing their own exhibitions. In fact, the next international
fair was held only two years later, in 1853, in New York City. This
fair would have its own Crystal Palace to symbolize not only the
achievements of the world, but also the nationalistic pride of a
relatively young nation and all that she stood for. Walt Whitman,
the great American poet, wrote in "The Song of the
Exposition":