tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83343393760178652052024-03-04T21:50:32.127-08:00Ron MooreTravels, thoughts and poems- Ron MooreRon Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05340180922765986810noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8334339376017865205.post-55013649305839711502014-03-12T12:33:00.002-07:002014-03-12T12:33:12.106-07:00Bach<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<br />
Bach's "music sets in order what life cannot."<br />
Otto Bettman<br />
<br /></div>
Ron Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05340180922765986810noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8334339376017865205.post-41303856196467498132014-02-07T12:54:00.001-08:002014-02-07T12:54:25.051-08:00Lucy in the Sky...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Today is the 50th anniversary of the Beatles first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. Who Knew?</div>
Ron Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05340180922765986810noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8334339376017865205.post-6420589865758597612014-01-11T16:55:00.001-08:002014-01-11T16:55:18.983-08:00Do you believe this?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
"All that stuff I was taught about evolution and embryology and the Big Bang Theory, all that is lies, straight from the pit of Hell."<br />
Representative Paul Broun, Chairman of the House Science Sub Committee on Investigations and Oversight in a Speech, September 27, 2012 </div>
Ron Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05340180922765986810noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8334339376017865205.post-12520401065009282102013-07-14T17:09:00.002-07:002013-07-14T17:10:01.385-07:00Lo Muthang and Sting<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
</div>
Ron Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05340180922765986810noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8334339376017865205.post-53704478415434640582012-02-26T12:55:00.001-08:002012-02-26T12:55:11.885-08:00save the dateDonald Johanson, who is most well known for discovering "Lucy," is coming to TCU November 12-13, 2012. The TCU Honors Program, Anthropology Dept. Add Ran College and the Ronald E. Moore foundation are sponsoring the event. More details later. Ron Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05340180922765986810noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8334339376017865205.post-45200503119675174272012-02-01T20:02:00.001-08:002012-02-01T20:02:46.960-08:00But Not Quite<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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But Not Quite</div>
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A little walk, perhaps,</div>
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The warm evening air,</div>
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A half moon punctuates</div>
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Our dim cobbled path.</div>
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Away from the city’s</div>
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The sad, handsome houses,</div>
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Trees darkly wave,</div>
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Stars blink encouragement.</div>
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Deep in the salt marsh,</div>
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The breeze volunteering,</div>
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Ravens circle, lazily,</div>
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The stony surface sending</div>
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Their melancholy cries.</div>
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Finally, she takes my hand,</div>
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Says, “On nights like this,</div>
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It is almost enough.”</div>
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Almost.</div>Ron Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05340180922765986810noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8334339376017865205.post-67226272308687972582011-09-05T08:59:00.000-07:002011-09-05T08:59:46.924-07:00LaetoliLaetoli<br />
<br />
At Laetoli,<br />
for seventy feet,<br />
there are footprints,<br />
preserved in volcanic ash,<br />
three and a half million years old.<br />
Down from the trees,<br />
fully upright, pre-human,<br />
a woman and a man<br />
walking<br />
together<br />
somewhere.<br />
Who knows if she's with child,<br />
what beast they just escaped, or<br />
if they've lost their tribe or are rejoining it.<br />
Tread carefully,<br />
we never know,<br />
how we'll be remembered,<br />
as are they,<br />
walking<br />
somewhere<br />
together.Ron Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05340180922765986810noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8334339376017865205.post-87208197741664348952011-08-23T07:21:00.000-07:002011-09-13T07:34:30.774-07:00Dreaming ArgentinaDreaming Argentina<br />
<br />
Ah, Buenos Aires,<br />
You are the woman I once loved.<br />
Too beautiful to turn away,<br />
Too wounded to ask to stay.<br />
Of course I'll take you back-<br />
How could I not<br />
as Piazzola starts to play that tango,<br />
the bandaneon wraps Binelli's sad shoulders,<br />
horse tails grandly brush the polo fields,<br />
at Boca, on Sunday, the earth gently trembling,<br />
and, famously late, Teatro Colon opens again<br />
its golden doors.<br />
The richest poor country on the earth. <br />
Many long rivers have made you, but<br />
year after year, laconic, in plain sight,<br />
your own rob your sky blue birthright.<br />
I beg of you, my beauty-<br />
Repair your sidewalks, grow greater hymns,<br />
throw the fat rascals into River Platte.<br />
And if you don't... next Tuesday,<br />
we'll walk along Parque Las Heras, verdant still,<br />
have a paper and a coffee, and, like old lovers,<br />
dream that you one day will.Ron Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05340180922765986810noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8334339376017865205.post-75655352218010702362011-08-14T09:01:00.000-07:002011-08-14T09:01:15.284-07:00Poem That Won't Stay PutPoem That Won't Stay Put<br />
<br />
Some people know words<br />
that can rise up off the page<br />
and visit places, like<br />
a garden, a pool, <br />
another country, the moon-<br />
forswearing earthly realities-<br />
a streaming nimbus <br />
moving through the air,<br />
stopping for afternoon tea,<br />
anywhere, remembering, singing<br />
a canticle at night,<br />
and then at their pleasure,<br />
reassembling in the book<br />
and giving off light.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Ron Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05340180922765986810noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8334339376017865205.post-61352255686907032772011-08-04T17:31:00.001-07:002011-08-04T17:31:28.880-07:00A Short History of Life<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><img src="http://img2.blogblog.com/img/video_object.png" style="background-color: #b2b2b2; " class="BLOGGER-object-element tr_noresize tr_placeholder" id="ieooui" data-original-id="ieooui" /> <style>
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<div class="MsoNormal"> There was no love, </div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>no race of Gods,</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>no music of any kind, faint or ephemeral.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Till molybdenum </div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>riding on an asteroid</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>collided with a petri dish of cosmic drizzle–</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>a flask of gurgling gases–</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>on earth, life stirred.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Time wound its clocks, marked its calendars.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Beetles and seed spores </div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>filled the floor of forests,</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>killer whales and fiddler crabs occupied the seas.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In far pastures ibex and catamount, </div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>chrysanthemum, mossy marigolds,<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>the skies flecked with falcons and whippoorwills.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Then reasoning creatures–</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>bushmen striding out of Africa–</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>gathered at the rivers of the earth, its valleys, plains.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Nightfire tales were told,</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>paintings on cave walls and vases,<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>fear and wonder, singing their incomprehension.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Predators, disease, ghastly wars,</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>there was compassion, hunger, </div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>mothers bringing babies to their bare breasts.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>There was joy, brilliance, </div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>increasing mastery of earth.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And under a single bulb in many dim rooms–</div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>longing</span>Ron Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05340180922765986810noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8334339376017865205.post-78053895897440046932011-08-04T17:20:00.001-07:002011-08-04T17:20:58.553-07:00The Golden Man---KazakhstanThe land mass of Kazakhstan is the 9th largest nation in the world,<br />
> bigger than western europe. Population 16 million of whom 1.6 live in<br />
> Almaty. After the fall of the ussr the capital was moved to a new<br />
> city, Astana, because almaty is entirely too close to the chinese<br />
> border. It is a muslim nation since the invasion of the Arab Caliphate<br />
> in the 8th century. Almaty was totally destroyed by the Mongol<br />
> invasion in the 13th century, which empire lasted till the late 14th<br />
> century when it imploded of its own weight. The uzbek Tamerlane ruled<br />
> for a period then Kazak was free except for several invasions by the<br />
> chinese and Russians. It has been a democracy since 1991.<br />
> Here I had one of those priceless, unexpected experiences for which a<br />
> traveler lives.Upon learning of my interest in archaeology, I was<br />
> taken some 50 km out of Almaty to where a small museum had been<br />
> recently constructed at the site of an ancient city and a number of<br />
> tumuli-raised burial mounds, where the important people of the city<br />
> had been buried. The city was one of the 18 Saka tribes spread across<br />
> Kazakhstan who were kazaks ancestors, 8th century b.c.e. Herodutus<br />
> wrote about them calling them Scythians. It was at this site than an<br />
> archaeologist found the "Golden Man" who is now the post-communist<br />
> country's symbol (on the flag astride a snow leopard, and everywhere).<br />
> The discovered body was that of a young prince buried resplendently in<br />
> 400 pieces of gold, head to foot. I was introduced to the now 76 year<br />
> old archaeologist for whom the word spry must have been coined. After<br />
> a Kazak bear hug and a loud greeting he stared at me for a full<br />
> minute, then said, "back then," meaning the long ago past- "you are<br />
> Kazak, follow me." Of course I've been told the same thing by<br />
> Tibetans, Greeks, Turks, Welsh and Irish, so I'm proud to be a citizen<br />
> of the world or a melting pot in and of myself. We walked a mile into<br />
> the fields and sat on top of one of the tumuli, he said, to show<br />
> respect for our ancestors. Through a translator he began to describe<br />
> the Saka city which had been located in the foothills of the vast<br />
> steppes in the distance. The Saka were ruled by a tribal council and<br />
> there was no inter tribal war. There were extensive trade relations as<br />
> goods of many far away countries have been found. He pointed to the<br />
> location of the king's palace, where the nobles lived, and where the<br />
> common people lived. We then discussed our theories of the origins and<br />
> causes of war, and the origins in early humans of artstic and<br />
> religious impulses. As we walked back after an hour or so, he said he<br />
> now had two Ronalds--Reagan and myself--"no more Ronalds, enough."<br />
> Another Kazak hug, he slipped thru the fence to the museum and was<br />
> gone. Just another tuesday afternoon in Kazakhstan, right?<br />
> As further evidence of my cliched theory that all peoples in all times<br />
> are more or less the same, as we drove back into the city we passed a<br />
> Bentley dealership and behind a gated enclave were spread a mile in<br />
> each direction: McMansions- 10,000 sq ft closely bunched. Not without<br />
> some corruption, the vast oil reserves, which may be as much as 1/4 of<br />
> the reserves remaining on the planet, have been good to Kazakstan.<br />
> And yes, I did meet Borat--he was selling trinkets in the bazaar,<br />
> wearing a belt as old as he was, of which any cowboy would be proud,<br />
> telling Kazak jokes.Ron Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05340180922765986810noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8334339376017865205.post-40955522210817887412011-08-04T16:51:00.000-07:002011-08-04T16:51:14.448-07:00Regret that you never saw Samarkand--UzbekistanWritten in one of my poems, that line didn't anticipate that I would<br />
> one day be in Tashkent wishing I had planned to go to samarkand. It<br />
> recently celebrated its 2,752 birthday, was a major stop on the silk<br />
> road and contains many of the ancient treasures, at least those not<br />
> destroyed by the Arabs, mongols, Persians, Chinese Russians, whomever.<br />
> The Uzbecks are a warm, friendly open people, there are over 150<br />
> nationalities or tribes in the country, which fact is reflected in the<br />
> faces on the street. It was part of the Assyrian Empire, then<br />
> conquered by Alexander the Great. He fell in love with and married<br />
> Roxanne, a woman from Samarkand. Could I have been so fortunate had I<br />
> gone there? He also suffered one of his few defeats in the area of<br />
> Xorazm. He had laid seibe to the fortress for almost six months but<br />
> could not break thru the walls or gate. When the besieged realized<br />
> they could not hold out much longer they slipped in the night thru a<br />
> tunnel previously built into the hills beyond. When Alexander attacked<br />
> the next morning he breached the open gate and found only goats. The<br />
> country was invaded by the Arab Caliphate in the 8th century and has<br />
> since been muslim. They have always refused (twice recently even<br />
> though offered millions of dollars) to adopt the Iranian model of<br />
> statehood--religious power over the state. After the dissolution of<br />
> the ussr in 1991 they formed a democracy. Their form of Islam has some<br />
> elements of Zoroastrianism. I saw a beautiful mosque from the 10th<br />
> century, one of the few of that age not destroyed by Mongols. And it<br />
> was a privilege to see the oldest copy of the Koran extant, written in<br />
> 646. It was lost to the Persians but recovered by the great Emperor<br />
> Tamerlane. The Russians took it to the Hermitage but they did return<br />
> it after making 50 copies. An interesting aside. Stalin was so<br />
> impressed by Tamerlane's military prowess-28 successful campaigns<br />
> without a losing one- that he had Tamerlane's body disinterred and<br />
> brought to Russia for his scientists to study. He was warned that he<br />
> would have no military victories during this base act. He finally<br />
> relented and the body was returned and reburied. Soon after that the<br />
> Russians were victorius in lifting the seige at Leningrad.<br />
> Pithancropus were here 1.5 million years ago and the Neanderthal.<br />
> Fully human man was here 50,000 years ago, earlier than previously<br />
> thought. Cities began around 3,000 b.c.e. A great quote of Tamerlane "<br />
> the power is in justice." FYI It was a fifth generation descendant of<br />
> Tamerlane who built the Taj Mahal. Tamerlane's empire had extended<br />
> into northern India. Russia, in the person of Alexyev, Peter the<br />
> Great's grandson, conquered Uzbekistan in 1865 and it was Russian<br />
> until 1991.Important to point out that in Azerbijan, Kazakhstan and<br />
> Uzbekistan, it is a type of Muslim country where religion is totally<br />
> separate from religion, where all religions and ethnicity are<br />
> accepted. f.y.i. The taliban came from Iran.Ron Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05340180922765986810noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8334339376017865205.post-80697859355808557112011-08-04T16:31:00.001-07:002011-08-04T16:31:12.405-07:00They are no longer here-armenia> Armenia has a population less than 3 million of which 1.3 live in<br />
> Yerevan. Yerevan was earlier than Rome, built as Erubuni in 782 b.c.e.<br />
> The people are fiercely loyal to their country and most of them to<br />
> their Armenian Orthodox faith. Indeed the first christian church in<br />
> that part of the world was built in 301 a.c.e. when the King was<br />
> converted to Christianity by Gregory the Illuminator. All but one of<br />
> the previously existing pagan temples were destroyed and rebuilt as<br />
> churches except one, because the King's wife wanted it as a summer<br />
> home. When the King had gone to Rome to get his crown, he brought back<br />
> a slave who had been a greek architect, so the temple could easily be<br />
> sitting near the Agora. Of course, after all the churches of Georgia<br />
> and Armenia, I had to tell my guide we had finally found "my church."<br />
> Armenia has had a difficult history. A once large and successful<br />
> nation which stretched from the Caspian (largest sea in the world) to<br />
> the Black Sea. Aseries of invasions wars and international politics<br />
> has reduced it to the present status. Not having oil or much in the<br />
> way of natural resources the country is relatively poor and life is<br />
> difficult.There was a recent war between Azerbijian and Armenia over<br />
> an area in eastern armenia. The conflict was finally resolved by<br />
> granting the area its own statehood. But, by far, the most tragic<br />
> episode in Armenia's history is the Turkish genocide which occurred<br />
> from the late 19th century until 1923. During this time 1.5 million<br />
> Armenians were killed by the Turks. Similar to the Chines invasion of<br />
> Tibet in the middle of the 20th century in which 1.2 million Tibetans<br />
> were killed and their country conquered, no one, no country did<br />
> anything to stop the slaughter. (because there ws no oil in either<br />
> place.) The first stage included conscripting all the men between<br />
> 18-45 into to the Turkish army only then to force them into slave<br />
> labor. The second stage included the deportation of many thousands of<br />
> armenians. The third stage involved releasing convicts from Turkish<br />
> prisons to brutally slaughter the remaing mean women and children of<br />
> wester armenia under a policy entitled Armenia without Armenians. The<br />
> Genocide Museum displays incontrovertible and heartbreaking evidence<br />
> of this 40 year campaign which continued till a new president was<br />
> elected in Turkey in 1923 who stopped it.Because of the importance of<br />
> US air bases in Turkey, Congress has once again this year refused to<br />
> acknowledge the period as one of genocide, one of the few countries<br />
> which has not belatedly done so.The three persons primarily<br />
> responsible for the genocide were tried and convicted in Turkish<br />
> courts for crimes against humanity, but never suffered any punishment.<br />
> Because of these calamities it is estimated that 8 million armenians<br />
> are part of a world wide diaspora-more than three times the country's<br />
> population. To lighten the tone a little, Todd tells me there is a<br />
> significant population called Little armenia in Glendale, Los Angeles,<br />
> some of whom no doubt went there to watch TCU win the Rose Bowl. On my<br />
> last day the clouds did part and I saw Mt. Ararat (but not the ark),<br />
> which unfortunately is now in Turkey but beautifully visible on a<br />
> clear day. And it is the name of finest brandy I have had outside<br />
> France.Ron Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05340180922765986810noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8334339376017865205.post-84483281451454373202011-07-31T17:45:00.000-07:002011-07-31T17:45:51.499-07:00AlbaniaAlbania has a population of 4 million of whom 700,000 live in tirana. Another million live in Greece and nearby countries, where they went to escape the wars and seeking opportunity. Some now trying to return have found their places taken. The US has helped post communist albania but even so the average monthly income is under $100. . Saw the Mausoleum of the Albanian hero Gjergj Kastrioti in the small town of Lexhe, who in the 1440's has led the fight for freedom against the Turks.Also the splendid remains of the Castle of Rozafa, sitting on an impressive promontory (aren't most castles?). First built by the Illyrians (who were also in Kotor, Montenegro, location of my apartment, before making their way to become the Etruscans in Tuscany in Italy) in 4th century b.c.e. The castle has been occupied by Romans, Venetians, Turks, Serbs, Ottomans, and others. . Every country I have visited on this trip in central asia has been the multiple perpetrator and victim of war. One estimate has it that there have been 14,500 wars between 3,500 b.c.e. (origin of the state) and the end of the 20th century. Approximately 3.5 billion lives have been lost in these wars. There have been 300 years of peace in the same time period. That is 5.4% of the time humans are not slaughtering each other. . Unfortunately the National Museum of History was closed for renovation so i lost a prime learning opportunity. I was able, due to the persistence of a new friend/ businessman, Ferdy, to attend a performance of Don Carlos. Unexpectedly, it was a fine performance. The conductor, orchestra, chorus and most of the leads were quite capable- the equal of a Ft. Worth Opera performance. After the opera I got lost. The cab could not find my hotel. I asked to go to the Sheraton where the young man said, "In Albania you will not be lost." He changed the cab and I got home. The simple eloquence of that statement (it was after midnight) was reflected in the way I was treated by others. . The two most famous writers of Albania are Dritero Agolli, and Ismail Kadare. Two of Kadare's works are: The Palace of Dreams, and Three Elegies for Kosovo. He sought political asylum from the communists in France where he still lives. "the writer is the natural enemy of dictatorship." He has been short-listed for the Nobel Prize.(And it was while here that I learned the last of the major Serbians accused of war crimes in Kosovo and Bosnia, Mladic, had been finally arrested after running for 16 years). . And I happened on a ceramic artist, Mira, who told me she had studied under a famous Japanese artist of batik. I am pleased to add two of her pieces to my art, along with pleasant memories of a struggling but proud and friendly people.Ron Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05340180922765986810noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8334339376017865205.post-3933563663011027032011-07-31T11:15:00.000-07:002011-07-31T11:15:26.409-07:00My Montenegro View<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdkWGx_pFel31EGjFOncG2cWs8yGIonHod5zk6RIPP22Q2HJbv1VqhAiE_PcYpN20dHinegm363EV8T6Uq_ny5uO7HpozGOeshMBmgLvhCYEtVSV2ltI9Di7kEjq3t9ebiNymSKirMvr8/s1600/DSCN0906.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdkWGx_pFel31EGjFOncG2cWs8yGIonHod5zk6RIPP22Q2HJbv1VqhAiE_PcYpN20dHinegm363EV8T6Uq_ny5uO7HpozGOeshMBmgLvhCYEtVSV2ltI9Di7kEjq3t9ebiNymSKirMvr8/s320/DSCN0906.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Ron Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05340180922765986810noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8334339376017865205.post-89008601998438300812011-07-31T11:10:00.001-07:002011-07-31T11:10:40.175-07:00Better Not to Read It<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><img src="http://img2.blogblog.com/img/video_object.png" style="background-color: #b2b2b2; " class="BLOGGER-object-element tr_noresize tr_placeholder" id="ieooui" data-original-id="ieooui" /> <style>
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<table border="0" cellpadding="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="mso-cellspacing: 1.5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in;"><tbody>
<tr style="mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;"> <td style="padding: 0in 0in 0in 0in;"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="mso-cellspacing: 1.5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in;"><tbody>
<tr style="mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;"> <td style="padding: 0in 0in 0in 0in;"> <div class="MsoNormal"><span class="hb">, </span></div></td> </tr>
</tbody></table></td> <td style="padding: 0in 0in 0in 0in;"> <div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div></td> <td style="padding: 0in 0in 0in 0in;"> <div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div></td> </tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal">. I wonder if there is a compendium of all the tribes who have ever<br />
existed in all times and countries. If not I think i shall compile<br />
one. Surely it would equal in length the well known "Ocean of Story."<br />
---the Indian compendium which purports to contain every story that<br />
could ever be written. I think that tribal history contributes to the<br />
origins of war. In several of the countires of central asia, people<br />
identified themselves by a tribe,-I am tartar, I am uzbek, not by<br />
citizenship.<br />
. Bulgaria has 8 million people, 2 million is Sofia, beautiful,<br />
exuberant, inviting. In the 3rd century it was a Roman Province-many<br />
Roman remains. Cities in the areaq began in 7th century b.c.e.<br />
Animism, worship of mother gods, sky gods, shamans, cults of natural<br />
forces. Varna was an early settlement. Persians, Scythes, Macedonians,<br />
Celts, Odrysians, Thracians, Getae, Treballions all were here.<br />
Byzantium Emperor Constantine said, Serdica (Sofia) is my Rome.<br />
Bulgaria under Ottoman rule for 500 years until freedom in 1878. The<br />
rebellion was geatly assisted by Russians. To thank them they named<br />
the absolutely magnificent cathedral they built to celbrate their<br />
freedom-the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. He was a Russian warrior who<br />
had led the repulsion of the Norman invasion into Russia.<br />
. The oldest buidling in Sofia is St. George's Rotunda Church- 4th<br />
century. variously a place for cult worship, a Roman administrative<br />
bldg., and a Christian Church so designated by Constantine.<br />
. There is an arresting inscription on a wall dated 1015--"In 6,523<br />
years since the creation of the world..."--how did they do the math?<br />
. As to the serendipity of travel, as I, in an attempt to "put on the<br />
skin of all the earth;" how is it that upon going to see a performance<br />
of Nabucco, an early Verdi, the person sitting next to me pulls out a<br />
copy of the New Yorker to pass the time till the performance begins. I<br />
say, "Oh, I see I am sitting next to the only other person who speaks<br />
English." She later says, I am a lawyer. Well, turns out she was a<br />
judge at the court at the Hague for the Kosovo/ Serbian War Crimes<br />
Trial. She is now a candidate for the World Court. And that her<br />
husband is Ivan Dimov, the most famous painter of Bulgaria from whom I<br />
bought a painting, and that they introduce me to their friend Valeri<br />
Petrov, the esteemed Senior of the poets and writers of Bulgaria who<br />
made his mark by being the first to translate the entire works of<br />
Shakespeare into Bulgarian. He was pleased when I told him that the 14<br />
year old Dalai Lama had insisted that he be taught English so that he<br />
could read Shakespeare in his original language. We became sufficient<br />
friends that I may publish a project with him.<br />
. Valeri is 91 years old going on 39. "When in the mirror I see my<br />
beautiful face..." Among others he told the following story. He was<br />
honored for his literary accomplishments by a country he asked me not<br />
to name, but which is south of the US. They said to him, don't you<br />
think some of your poems should be read at the ceremony. Agreeing, he<br />
gave them a few for translation. He remarked that his poetry is<br />
notoriously difficult to translate because it is full of rhyme, fables<br />
and humor, interlocked. After they attempted the translation they said<br />
to him, "Better not to read it." I am sure the glee with which he told<br />
this story contained the same ironic wit with which he received their<br />
judgement.<br />
. Finally, the cast of Nabucco is 8 deep and the singers that day were<br />
the equal, in sum, of a production of the Dallas Opera, at what I am<br />
sure was 1/10th the cost. Bulgarian opera singers are known world wide<br />
including Ghena Dimitrova and a basso who is married to Mirella Fr</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div>Ron Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05340180922765986810noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8334339376017865205.post-6831353463618569042011-07-31T11:06:00.000-07:002011-07-31T11:06:04.727-07:00Hidden in Plain Sight<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><img src="http://img2.blogblog.com/img/video_object.png" style="background-color: #b2b2b2; " class="BLOGGER-object-element tr_noresize tr_placeholder" id="ieooui" data-original-id="ieooui" /> <style>
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<div class="MsoNormal">Azerbijan is something of an anomoly. A Muslin non-jihadist<br />
democracy. Population of 9 million, 3 million in the captial, Baku.<br />
Fueled by oil riches, with very little corruption, it has, since<br />
throwing out the Communists, built a modern state. Baku is a modern<br />
european city with infrastrcutre and amenities to match. I was quite<br />
surprised.<br />
. Like most countries in the region it has a long list of conquerors:<br />
Romans-Germanicus, Alexander the Great, Arabs, Ottomans, Mongols and<br />
Russia, twice. Yet is is a tolerant and progressive state. The people<br />
are one of the Turkic peoples.<br />
. Zoroaster was born here and founded Zoroastianism in the 7th century<br />
b.c.e. At one time there were more Zoro's than Christians. I guess we<br />
know who had the better missionaries. (or armies). Part of the ritual<br />
of the religion was fire worship. It turns out that natural gas<br />
springs natuarally from the earth in many places causing flames on the<br />
ground. The phenomena served one useful purpose in turning back some<br />
invaders quite startled by the spectacle. The country cares enough to<br />
know that there remain today 300 adherents of the religion.<br />
. We know that the Nobel prize was funded by the invention of<br />
dynamite. But, also--the Nobel brothers were working in Russia, came<br />
to Azerbijan in search of mahogany, found none, but did find oil--a<br />
lot of it. they were among the first oil developers in the early<br />
1900s.<br />
. I was further astonished by the National Literature Museum. What<br />
other country has one?--I only know of ones in Columbia and Vietnam.<br />
Here it is primarily poets (as well as other writers) who are honored.<br />
the whole history of poetry since 400 a.d. can be found. Statues,<br />
manuscripts, paintings, of over 100 poets from their tradition. Poets<br />
who were executed for writing against rulers. Wonder why it is that<br />
poetry matters so much in Russia and other countries in the area.<br />
. In the middle ages architects and artists were not allowed to sign<br />
their work. The largest palace in Baku was the palace of Shah Xalilula<br />
I. the architect was Muxammed Ali. He was determined to be remembered<br />
for his beautiful work. In an inscription on a wall above the entryway<br />
is his name, and claim of architecture. But to see it you must use a<br />
mirror. The next time I don't understand a woman I will see if a<br />
mirror works.<br />
. Off to Georgia and Armenia.</div>Ron Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05340180922765986810noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8334339376017865205.post-10471642585375349572011-07-31T11:03:00.001-07:002011-07-31T11:03:49.962-07:00Potato on a Stick<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><img src="http://img2.blogblog.com/img/video_object.png" style="background-color: #b2b2b2; " class="BLOGGER-object-element tr_noresize tr_placeholder" id="ieooui" data-original-id="ieooui" /> <style>
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<div class="MsoNormal">Potato on a stick</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">It seems every country in eastern europe and the balkans has had its<br />
period of empire and a period of suffering at the hands of the despot,<br />
including the long brutal arm of Russia. In the middle of the 1800's<br />
Romania exiled an incompetent prince, and at the suggestion of<br />
Napoleon III selected a Prussian army officer to be their King. He<br />
walked across the border, was coronated and ruled acceptably for 48<br />
years. At some point he learned to speak romanian The communists ruled<br />
for longer until the revolt in the late 90's when the yoke was thrown<br />
off and the despicable Ceaucesceau (sp?) killed. In the revolution<br />
plaza there is an elegant statue of Carol I astride his horse. One<br />
foot of the horse is lifted, meaning, according to the sublimely funny<br />
poem of Billy Collins, that the rider died in bed. Juxtaposed is a<br />
bizarre statue, object, thing--white steel columns rise together about<br />
4 stories high. 4/5 of the way up a patternless conglomeration of<br />
black iron forms what can best be described as a potato which holds on<br />
to the white steel.Some modern art dissembler will have to explain why<br />
that symbolizes a revolution. It is mockingly referred to by Romanians<br />
as a potato on a stick. Perhaps the irony is because the people threw<br />
off communism only to become ruled by wolves--who, as in russia, have<br />
appropriated all the desirable assets of the country, leaving the<br />
people free but no better off.<br />
Did you know that Exxon has not yet paid one penny of the gigantic<br />
court judgment against them for the oil spill in Valdez Alaska how<br />
many years ago.<br />
Off to Azerbijan.<br />
Ron M</div>Ron Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05340180922765986810noreply@blogger.com0