Lisa Napoli's Blog, page 69
March 8, 2011
Bhutanese film
(movie poster for "My Beloved Children")
A reader from Dubai named Reyaaz (or rather listener, since he got the audio book of RSL) wrote to ask about a particular film he and his wife saw while on vacation in Bhutan a year or so ago. He couldn't find it on IMDB and wanted to know more. From it, he said, he learned about Bhutanese culture; the very ritual of going to a movie offered insights that can't be found from a tour guide, as is of course the case anywhere. (My particular favorite is the grocery story, but I see why Reyaaz seeks out the cinema:)
"It was actually a pretty good production," he writes, "with some big group dance sequences and a tragic heroine – cursed by her beauty and taken advantage of by all the men she encounters. Except for the hero – we liked him – he seemed to be all over the place on TV, a typecast Rambo type character with bulging muscles. And watching without subtitles was not a problem – helped both by the universal language of emotion and the continuous reactions from the audience around us."
From a photo Reyaaz took of the theater, Pema kindly identified it for him as Lee-Gi-Dra (translation, "enemy of the body.")
Meanwhile, Reyaaz has since found this site about Bhutanese movies; it even has a movie trailer on it.
Here's to digital media allowing artists to get their work out–and allowing people from around the world in.
March 7, 2011
Happiest state
It's time for another "happiest place to live" survey. They're always amusing even though it's hard to imagine they're accurate. (Of course, why wouldn't Hawaii be a happy place to live—as long as you're able to afford it?)
The top 10 states and their average well-being scores (out of a possible 100 points):
1. Hawaii: 71.0
2. Wyoming: 69.2
3. North Dakota: 68.4
4. Alaska: 68.3
5. Colorado: 68.0
6. Minnesota: 68.0
7. South Dakota: 68.0
8. Utah: 67.9
9. Connecticut: 67.9
10. Nebraska: 67.8
11. Massachusetts: 67.8
The bottom 10 states:
51. West Virginia: 61.7
50. Kentucky: 61.9
49. Mississippi: 63.0
48. Arkansas: 63.7
47. Alabama: 63.7
46. Ohio: 63.8
45. Delaware: 64.2
44. Nevada: 64.2
43. Louisiana: 64.3
42. Michigan: 64.6
Happiest man in America: The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index
In case you haven't seen this yet from the NY Times, meet the happiest man in America–as determined by a daily Gallup survey conducted by phone of a 1000 people. Participants are asked about emotional, physical health, work environment, and how they evaluate their lives.
March 6, 2011
Jailed for tobacco
Flurry of stuff on the monk busted in Bhutan for carrying tobacco who just got a jail sentence. Here's one take on it. Here's the official response from the Prime Minister, published on the Bhutan News Service.
Life without money
Ever heard of Daniel Suelo? Apparently, he lives without money. Here's a bit about how he does it. And here's a blog he used to keep about being "moneyless." In it he describes his path, and how it led him to Buddhist beliefs, a trip to India, and to aspire to be a Hindu Sadhu, a person who lives without money. Thank to Pete Gross, a river guide who found me online after hearing an R/S/L interview and being intrigued by the idea of Gross National Happiness, for sending this:
EXCERPT:
"I gave up every cent to my name in the first year of George W. Bush's reign, the first year of this millenium.
What made me start living moneyless? Actually, I lived moneyless, without Consciousness of Credit & Debt, when I was born. This way of life is the nature and desire of children. Any child or young person I talk to, not yet too programmed by the Man, thinks it's cool…..Every time I made a resume for a job, signed my name to a document, opened a bank account, or even bought a banana at the supermarket, I felt a tinge of dishonesty, like I was not letting my yes be yes and my no be no. Yup, you know what I am talking about. Everybody does. I was becoming supersensitive to this basic knowledge. Even the slightest seed of dishonesty was just that–a seed. One seed can populate the mind, the whole earth. One dark eye can darken the whole body, the entire universe!
One year I went to Alaska with my 2 friends, Leslie & Mel, in their van & spent the late spring, summer, and early fall there. At first I worked on the docks. But none of it felt honest. So I quit and decided to go on a solo pack trip and try to live off the land for a few weeks. Lo & behold, I ran into a Basque dude named Ander who was also toying with thoughts of living off the land. So that's what we did. We speared fish, ate mushrooms & berries, and lived very well. Then we hit the road, hich-hiking, and realized how generous people were, and were astonished at the plethora of magical "coincidences" that kept happening to us. Eventually we split up and I decided to hitch all the way back to Moab, Utah, with $50 in my pocket, just to see if I could. When I arrived in Moab, I had $25 left. Then I realized I had only used money for things I didn't need, like snacks and a beer. For the first time, I was seriously realizing I could live totally moneyless."
Think you're happy? Song lyrics may have the answer
Story from Chronicle of Higher Education about research that shows analysis of 230-thousand songs by a mathematician and computer scientist to assess happiness. (Thanks, Ken!)
Excerpt:
?Their results are reported this week in the Journal of Happiness Studies in an article titled "Measuring the Happiness of Large-Scale Written Expression: Songs, Blogs, and Presidents."
And what the two scholars found certainly was interesting. The last U.S. presidential election produced the happiest day in four years. Among the least happy were the day of Michael Jackson's death last month, the fifth anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks, and the day before.
The two professors say one thing that differentiates their results from those of other surveys is that their participants did not know they were being tested.
"We can't say what is going on in someone's head," Mr. Dodds says. "We wanted to look at what people do, not at what people think they do."
Their research also showed several trends. People seemed to get happier as they got older, until their 60s, when happiness began to decline. Happiness didn't vary much depending on the day of the week. And since the 1960s, songs have gotten sadder……"
Bhutanese reaction to the book
People keep asking how Bhutanese people are reacting to the book. In this review written by a Bhutanese woman in , the answer appears to be…not well! (As I've said in the past, I don't read reviews, but since I know the writer, I broke my rule and gave it a quick scan.) Note that the photo used of the cover is incorrect.
Final blog post at Powell's
http://www.powells.com/blog/?p=30839
Memoir of an unknown person collides with travel about a little known place becomes a book.
March 4, 2011
Radio West
For the record, audio of the interview today with Jennifer Napier-Pearce on Radio West. Interesting callers.
Popmatters
This must be a lousy review as it was forwarded by the publicist without comment:
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/137273-radio-shangri-la-by-lisa-napoli/
