“Writing history (Thanh Nien Daily)” plus 3 more

Writing history (Thanh Nien Daily)
Owls closing in on perfection (Sherwood Voice)
Sholeh Patrick (Coeur d'Alene Press)
William Parker -- Who Owns Music? (All About Jazz)

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Posted: 09 Feb 2010 12:49 AM PST

Message from fivefilters.org: If you can, please donate to the full-text RSS service so we can continue developing it.

Traditional calligraphers, known as ong do in Vietnam, have always been old teachers or scholars, quiet and unassuming, sporting the customary old-fashioned robes and grey goatees.

But as Tet nears and calligraphy stalls fill city streets to sell their decorative art for the Lunar New Year celebration, it's hard not to notice that many of the calligraphers are close-shaven young students dressed in jeans and T-shirts.

And many of them are young women, a development still outrageous to many of their mothers and grandmothers who grew up in a more traditional society that frowned upon women taking up such work.

But just because these new artisans look different, doesn't mean they take the craft any less seriously than their elderly colleagues in the traditional long tunics.

The new deal

Traditionally, calligraphy has been a hand-painted artistic rendering of Chinese characters representing different words. But now, the new breed of young calligraphers are writing calligraphy in the Romanized Vietnamese alphabet.

As the New Year approaches, the most popular words people bring home as decorations are still Phuc (happiness), Loc (prosperity) and Tho (longevity), or poems or proverbs symbolizing good health, good luck and prosperity for the new year. This much has remained true for centuries.

Though calligraphy in the Vietnamese alphabet isn't technically "new," it's been practiced since at least the 1930s, it's never been popular like it is today. And not only the young are appreciating it.

The 68-year-old calligrapher Le Lan, head of the Ho Chi Minh City Laborer Cultural House Calligraphy Club, said Vietnamese calligraphy was valuable because it is uniquely Vietnamese and doesn't just imitate Chinese, Japanese or Korean arts.

And Lan, who holds calligraphy classes for foreigners, says Vietnamese calligraphy overcomes the limitations of other East Asian languages as westerners can practice it without having to memorize a new alphabet or phonetic symbols.

Young guns

So how do the new artists fit into the calligraphy game?

Most say they are earning their merits by staying true to the traditional definition of a noble calligrapher: one who is honest, respectful and does it for the art, not for the money.

"But many practitioners don't appreciate calligraphy properly," said Vu Dang Hoc, a 28-year-old artist.

He said there were even some collectors that didn't give the art its due respect.

"We cannot ignore the fact that many people collect works just to boast about their knowledge, or some only buy the works they think are readable, and disregard the meaning lying beneath the words."

Luu Thanh Hai, a 32-year-old artist, said that too many calligraphers were pursuing the work not as a passion, but only as a means to earn money during the holiday season.

"To be considered a calligrapher, one has not only good hand-writing, but also good character, knowledge and they must contribute to the development of the art," said Hoc

"Only those whose hearts are really invested in calligraphy can make a great change for the art," said Hai.

Young calligrapher Tran Van Sang, a food processing student during the day, is also a member of Hai's Netviet calligraphy group. He says it took him four to five hours of practice everyday for four years before he got good.

R.E.S.P.E.C.T

Young artists also complain that the Vietnamese version of calligraphy is all too often disregarded and doesn't get the respect of other art forms.

"Most people don't recognize calligraphy as an art form. It is still just a movement in the country," Hai said.

In order to promote local calligraphy, Hoc has already published books on calligraphy in both Vietnamese and English and is now organizing a calligraphy festival to be held at Vietnam's largest pagoda, Bai Dinh, in northern Ninh Binh Province this February.

Reported by Phuong Anh – Phong Lan

Owls closing in on perfection (Sherwood Voice)

Posted: 09 Feb 2010 02:51 AM PST

Message from fivefilters.org: If you can, please donate to the full-text RSS service so we can continue developing it.

Owls closing in on perfection

By Jeff Reed / Sports Editor / jreed@nlrtimes.com
Thursday, February 4, 2010 12:07 PM CST
It was the frustration of last season that caused Abundant Life coach Tim Ballard to change his offensive philosophy,

"I got so frustrated playing all of those teams that used a box-and-one [defense] because of Dane [Lottner] that I decided you weren't going to be able to step on the floor for me unless you could shoot 3-pointers. I mean, even the post players.''

Little Rock Lutheran discovered the adjustment the hard way Tuesday night. Six Abundant Life players hit 3-pointers as the Owls (25-4 overall, 8-0 in conference) drilled Little Rock Lutheran 77-51.

"It is something that we really worked very hard on during the summer,'' Ballard said. "When they went to the triangle-and-2 on Garrett [Southerland] and George [Herring] it took a little time to adjust but I told the kids we were going to start playing H-O-R-S-E. They left the outside open and we started firing away.

Senior Cameron Slayton had four 3-pointers and finished with 14 points. Mike Stramiello had a pair of 3s and led the way with 16 points. Sophomore Carter Lee, Dillon Eberle, Staphon Burns and Ryan Johnson all recorded long shots.

The Owls led 23-9 after one quarter and 41-18 at halftime.

"I didn't use the starters much in the second half,'' said Ballard. "I let a lot of those guys who don't get as much time play a lot. We had a JV game canceled and I was feeling bad because they didn't get to play.

"But this was good also because the starters got some rest and they didn't have to risk injury.''

The Owls close out the conference season with a trip to Conway Christian tonight and a home game with Quitman.

"You know, with coach speak, you don't always say things like this, but we want to win out and go undefeated in the conference for the second straight year,'' said Ballard. "It is something for us to push for.''

LADY OWLS

The push for third place in the conference standings for the Abundant Life girls team will come down to the final two games.

The Lady Owls (14-12 6-4) have to travel to league-leading Conway Christian tonight and will close the season with a home game with Quitman on Tuesday.

"If it comes down to playing Quitman for third, we will have to beat them by 10 to get the third seed,'' said coach Justin Moseley.

Abundant Life defeated Lutheran 46-34 on Tuesday.

Junior Carmyn Sharp had 20 points and Sydney Venus added 11.

"We were up big and quit pressing midway through the third quarter,'' said Moseley. "It was not as close as the score looks."

Conway Christian and St. Joseph share the 5-2A North lead. They will receive byes into the semifinals of the conference tourney. The third and fourth seeds will each have to win one game to reach the semis, which brings a regional berth.

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Sholeh Patrick (Coeur d'Alene Press)

Posted: 09 Feb 2010 02:38 AM PST

Message from fivefilters.org: If you can, please donate to the full-text RSS service so we can continue developing it.

Victims lost in legal tug-of-war

In this land of minimal-government philosophy there remain a few aspects of society no one disputes are properly left to the nation or state. Chief among these is law enforcement.

It's hard to admit that humanity is still too imperfect to leave to self-discipline, yet we are so far from safely civilized that imagining a world without police is frightening. Case in point: Idaho's relatively high rates of domestic violence and sexual assault, and recent publicity revealing the coverage gap in Benewah County -- what some would call a criminal's loophole, with good reason.

The problem: Two sovereign governments (State of Idaho and Coeur d'Alene Tribe), and it seems in Benewah County alone, a failure between them to come to agreement over authority to arrest. The result: Crimes which go unpunished, so the perpetrators remain free to reoffend.

"When they call and say, 'I have restraining order against so-and-so, and they've contacted me,' I have to say, 'I am sorry. I can't do anything.' It's heart breaking because I can't do anything and it's embarrassing because we're supposed to be a law enforcement agency," said Heidi Twoteeth, with police dispatch for Benewah County.

In Kootenai a cross-deputization agreement exists with the Tribe, but in Benewah a similar agreement dissolved in 2006. Now the state may step in with legislation, although legal questions, the least of which are federal overtones, make it complex.

Legalities aside, the human cost can't endure. That should be enough motivation to end this.

For example, tribal officers within tribe territory respond to a 911 emergency call; a woman is being violently attacked in a residence. They arrive, but the victim and perpetrator are not tribe members; many residents of tribal territory are not. Officers are powerless to arrest.

The emotional costs of these crimes of interpersonal violence are destructive enough. Often, they affect entire families for generations. If a victim knows there is no way out, no help from the law (which includes victim's compensation for medical care and other practical assistance), these costs are higher and both hopelessness and crime continue.

More victims created; more families suffer. More rapists feel free to attack again. More children grow up with the consequences of abuse, repeating the cycle or -- a statistical reality -- reacting with crimes of their own.

It's an extreme shame that it has come to this -- an escalating turf war when it's in the common interest to make it work at the county level. Yet it has. One way or another, this haven for human pain has to end.

Sholeh Patrick is an attorney and a columnist for the Hagadone News Network. Contact her at sholehjo@hotmail.com

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

William Parker -- Who Owns Music? (All About Jazz)

Posted: 08 Feb 2010 11:26 PM PST

Message from fivefilters.org: If you can, please donate to the full-text RSS service so we can continue developing it.

Who Owns Music?
William Parker
Soft cover; 140 pages
ISBN: 978-3-00-020141-7
Buddy's Knife
2007

Spirituality runs deep in the music and thinking of bassist William Parker. Those who have looked at the sleeves of his albums will have noticed that he not only expresses his philosophy in sound, but also through words, often including writings that are closer to poetry than the descriptions of music usually contained in liner notes.

So far, Parker's insights on life and music have appeared in scattered essays, liner notes, poems, journal entries and small chapbooks. Who Owns Music?, however, gives a comprehensive overview of Parker's writing and is the first book to do so. It provides a fascinating glimpse into the mind of one of the most important musical thinkers of the early 21st century.

Besides the informative foreword, written by the poet David Budbill, the book is divided into six parts: "listening to universe," "sound journal entries 1967-2006," "document humanum," "father of sound," "dreams" and "poems." The topics include everything from influential bassists to the educational system, the role of criticism, poverty, war and the death of Parker's father—but the common denominator is the quest to be a better human being through the realization of the power of music.

In Parker's philosophy, music isn't restricted to a particular sound or genre. It is, in a sense, the beating heart of the universe. "Music is a form of energy like the sun, " he writes. "Music is the voice through which spirits speak, using a language that is beyond words, a music that is beyond notes. Music informs us with a reality that is scented with the eternal."

While not everyone is equipped to take on the role and responsibility of a musical preacher, the positive message in Parker's book is that we are all open to the message of music—which is, in essence, the message of love. The world is often limited by exclusion while the way of the universe is inclusion. Parker expresses this point of view in one of his many telling aphorisms: "No race invented music."

Parker believes that music is misused the moment it is turned away from its true nature and becomes a tool for commerce and exclusion. Art loses its connection to beauty if it isn't the means to life, but instead the way to fame and fortune. This dilemma is expressed humorously in the following Parker aphorism: "The saxophonist says he no longer wants to scream on his horn; he no longer wants to be called an angry young man. In other words, he wants to make some money."

As a writer, Parker is able to combine humor and seriousness, politics and poetry, theory and praxis. It is hard to define the genre of the writing. He changes easily from polemical musings to condensed poetical meaning and the form morphs from free flowing, associative prose to near-scientific definitions, poetry, memorable one-liners and aphorisms. Like his music, Parker's words are larger than life and not meant to be placed in generic boxes. Instead, through words, he aims to open our eyes towards the mystery of life. Through it all, shines a message of hope: "Hope is eternal / it can never die / because it never lived / it is life itself."

Too many musical thinkers have written in a way that seems deliberately difficult. While Parker's art, whether in words or music, isn't always easy to understand, it strives for clarity, openness and inclusion—far beyond the obfuscating self-regard of the avant-garde scene, which too often regards itself as a closed community meant only for the initiated few. Parker's art addresses all humanity and especially those who are willing to hear. Its bottom line message is deep and uplifting: Music can really change our life if we let it.