Some more articles

Here an article I wrote,  on Orientalism and French 17th- and 18th-century theatre and the representation of Islam. I'm sure you've been dying to read it, now, finally, here's you're chance.
http://www.humanities.ualberta.ca/agora/Articles.cfm@ArticleNo=154.html

And on article on the article and many other sources concerning Voltaire, his views on Islam, and the play Mahomet.  As for the author of the article, Mr. Morgan, that Voltaire's depiction of the life of the prophet Mohammed is accurate, from my research, I would have to disagree, and state that many of the incidents of the play are simply recycled Western myths about him, designed to paint the prophet as Machiavellian and a lecherous sybarite.
http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/id.7224/pub_detail.asp

Moti Mahal

My wife made the most scrumptious butter chicken the other night - Mughal style, with the usual cardomam, spices, tomatoes, ginger, garlic - which got me to thinking about Moti Mahal. If you have never been to India, or Old Delhi, then you've missed out. Just a stone's throw away from the Jamma Masjid (the Red Mosque), near the Red Fort, and on the main avenue which leads back south to Connaught Circus, Moti Mahal is an old restaurant in Old Delhi. Reputedly opended just after Partition, the restaurant sits back from the street, with a turbaned door wallah there to meet and greet. The dish to go for is the butter chicken, which the restaurant claims to have invented. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the dish, this is boneless chicken, usually breast, which has been cooked Tandoori style. Then it is finished off with a cream/butter reduction sauce flavored with the above mentioned spices and more. Done well it is sublime, and Moti Mahal does it perfectly. Plus it is an Old Delhi must-see for other reasons. The old dining room is worn but elegant, a bit too large and cavernous, but a peaceful haven from the bustle outside. We went there on a hot June day, and it was a welcoming relief of shade from the pre-monsoon heat outside. Other dishes were fantastic. Our waiter may well have been at the restaurant since Partition. He was discreet, genteel, and perfect in anticipating needs. In short, it was Indian dining at its best - wonderful food, great service, in a locale that while a little worn, reeks of history. When in Delhi, you must go ...

Uhmm, I'll opt for the painful, non-mandatory surgery ...

The Death of the High School Musical
“Hell is full of musical amateurs.”
George Bernard Shaw

Maybe I’m in the minority on this one, and if I am, it is something I can live with. Easily. I can’t stand musicals. I wouldn’t waste 150$ to buy a ticket to see one on Broadway, or at the local theatre hosting touring productions. I’ve had to direct a couple – its like being force fed cotton candy for two months, and having to grin and pretend its salmon (sorry, I don’t eat beef). Maybe its all because when I was in the second grade, and in choir at church, the choir leader let it be known, in no uncertain terms, that my voice should never be heard.
I’ve been involved in theatre all of my adult life. I’ve taught it at college and high school levels, directed at these levels and professionally, and acted professionally. Musicals, unfortunately, are a necessity at high school, primarily as cash cows and as ways to involve parents who normally could give a rats ass about theatre. And most of them still, after watching their wretched offspring trip across stage or mangle another song in the chorus, will not develop a deep love of theatre. Rather they will equate their yearly trip to the theatre to a root canal.
Ripping sub-par art forms is no great art itself, And I’m not interested in prolonging my screed against this most mediocre form of entertainment – well, tap dancing gives it a run – but I do have concerns about education and the arts in the US,

To be continued …

House committee says no new Chinese consulates in the U.S. until the U.S. gets one in Lhasa, Tibet | International Campaign for Tibet

House committee says no new Chinese consulates in the U.S. until the U.S. gets one in Lhasa, Tibet International Campaign for Tibet