Lisa Napoli's Blog, page 31
August 24, 2011
Choose your poison
My coworker and I have varied opinions on caffeine sources. (At home I prefer tea.)
Why doe the choice of Mc Cafe (in the rare instance when I Indulge in a waste of cash and paper) seems less onerous than Starbucks?
August 23, 2011
Just released: @liveTalksLA fall schedule: @gleeonfox, adam gopnik, hal holbrook, @steveinskeep, so much more
This line-up will make you wish you're in LA (if you're not,) from Glee's Jane Lynch, New Yorker's Adam Gopnik, NPR's Steve Inskeep, as well as Dave Barry, Hal Holbrook, John Lithgow and much more, just announced at www.livetalksla.org
Be sure to check out the business program, too.
August 22, 2011
Swore I'd never go to a job in the dark again
So much for that!
August 21, 2011
#Refugee resettlement scam
News today from the Bhutan News Service of a scam artist (below) charging Nepali youth huge sums to qualify for resettlement in the US and other countries as "Bhutanese refugees."
Woman involved in conning Nepalis for sending for resettlement arrestedPosted: 21 Aug 2011 04:40 AM PDT
Following a tip-off, Damak police arrested a local woman involved in conning Nepali youths with promises of sending them to the western countries by registering them as "Bhutanese refugees".
Ajita Paudel (Picture courtesy :Purbelitime.com)
Police named the alleged cheater as Atija Paudel, a local woman of Damak-13, who already earned a lot of money by conning some 15 Nepali youths in the name of third country resettlement of the Bhutanese refugees.
"The investigation has revealed she was able to lure at least 15 youths making them pay up to Rs 1.5 million from each individual," a local reported quoted Police Inspector Nabin Karki as saying to local media, Sunday.
Meanwhile, the accused woman expressed surprise over why she was arrested stating she has clearly told those youths that their money would be refunded incase she failed to resettle them.
According to Paudel, she even lodged those youths in a hotel for a month to teach them the basic "interview techniques" applied by the United Nation High Commissioner for Refugees and International Organization for Migration.
"A number of agents are active in the business that I am involved with," Paudel told reporters, confessing the fraud. However, she refused to elaborate it.
August 16, 2011
A mandala story w/o photos
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, how could you! (But if you can go see this, you should. Watching one made is a spectacular experience!)
Buddhist monks create a sand mandala
Mediha Fejzagic DiMartino, Staff Writer
Created: 08/16/2011 04:17:48 PM PDT
POMONA – Deep-voiced chants resonated amidst the hustle of a busy city, announcing the arrival of visitors from far away.Through Sunday, the Land of Enlightened Wisdom Center is hosting Buddhist monks from Gaden Jangtse Tsawa Monastery – one of the three main Buddhist monastic universities of Tibet.
In hopes of generating world peace and compassion, the monks will spend the week creating the Avalokiteshavara Sand Mandala – a sand painting depicting "portraits of the celestial mansions of enlightened beings."
During Tuesday's opening ceremony, the monks performed ritual chanting and invocations, and then started filling the round pattern with fine sand grains of various colors.
Valorie Thomas of Pomona came to the center to celebrate the monks visit.
"I've seen a mandala before, but I never actually seen the process from the beginning," Thomas said. "To me, a mandala represents the artistry, the philosophy and the impermanence. It's sand and it will be gone.
"It reminds us that there are good things, beauty in our lives which we sometimes take for granted that it will be there forever. It's a hard lesson but a very loving way to demonstrate it."
The monks chose Avalokiteshavara, the compassionate Buddha, since the sixth month of the Tibetan lunar calendar corresponds to the month of August in the Western calendar, according to Dr. Geshe Dorji Wangchuk, one of the seven monks.
The public is invited to
watch the intricate process every day until Saturday, from 9 a.m to 5 p.m.At 10 a.m. Sunday, the monks will hold the concluding ceremony, dismantling the sand mandala and tossing the sand into Puddingstone Reservoir at Bonelli Regional Park in San Dimas, "to bless the local environment," Wangchuk said.
Visitors are encouraged to follow the monks to the site.
During their year-long tour through the United States, monks are hoping to raise funds for Tsawa Khangtsen, a part of Gaden Monastery, which serves the Himalayan regions of Tibet, India's Arunachal Pradesh, Bhutan, Ladakh and Nepal.
Tsawa Khangtsen houses more than 400 monks, while its prayer hall can only accommodate 200.
At daily, gatherings more than half of the monks have to remain outside, monastery officials said. The money raised by the monks will help the monastery complete their new prayer hall.
The monks will also be available to perform blessings, ritual ceremonies and special prayers at private homes, or places of business.
Land of Enlightened Wisdom is at 1317 N. Park Ave.
The People's King in #Bhutan by Noam Lemish
Jazz pianist Noam Lemish taught music for a year in Bhutan and while there was commissioned to create a piece in honor of His Majesty the King for his 30th birthday.
Here's a snip of it as well as some context from his website: the chants in particular are wonderful. Give a listen.
And here's a story about a concert he's about to give in Sonoma, if you happen to be nearby and want to go….
Paperback Shangri-La
So the exciting news is you can pre-order the paperback version of Radio Shangri-La right now for a little over ten bucks.
The not so exciting news is…it won't arrive until mid-April. That's the official pub date from Broadway Books.
Good thing, since the cover's not designed yet, and my special bonus extra chapter's not even written! (I am working on it though, really!)
Ah, publishing in this digital age…..
Lessons from Cloud Nine
WSJ reviews the new book The Happiness Equation and concludes: Don't rush to the nearest bookstore. (Thanks, Aldis.)
Are the Bhutanese happy?
People ask that question all the time. Here's the latest answer (if you believe statistics, that is.) (Note that the monks and nuns rank highest in GNH.)
