The weekend

Today was a beautiful day. In fact, this whole weekend was beautiful. The highlights were the movies I watched and the emails I received. Yes, that's right, the emails. I am surrounded by smart, thoughtful people whose ideas and feelings inspire me and intrigue me. Having friends like that is very important I think. It reminds me of what's important in life. It focuses my thinking on issues that are relevant to others as well as to me.
As for why I watched three movies in two days... I was in the mood. The Holiday was a fun and entertaining look at love in the modern world, where cross-continental home-swapping is possible and jerks will cross an ocean to prove how slimy they are. The film's strength is its funny and balanced portrayal of what I consider to be the two primary ways of falling in love: love-at-first-sight and friendship-maturing-into-love. Although in this case the processes are significantly sped up, but I forgive them that.
The next movie I watched is titled No Good Deed and I picked it on a whim from the video store. Turned out to be an excellent (if at times violent) story about a cop who stumbles into a 10 million dollar heist by five thieves. The movie explores the social, emotional and psychological relationships between the characters while carrying on a gripping storyline. My curiosity was constantly piqued, waiting to find out what each character would do next, how'd they'd react. Greed, envy, fear, betrayal, manipulation... all these and more in what I thought was a delectable package. I highly recommend it to those who enjoy intellectual cinema. I just read the review on the imdb page I linked above and it's amusing that he considers it so bad. I still stand by my review of it. :)
Oh, and the final movie I watched was Dune, of the Frank Herbert novels, .... in German... with no subtitles. Yeah, pretty sweet. Thankfully, I remembered practically the entire story from having read it back in grade 11. Which was... spring of 1997, exactly a decade ago. Remarkable how much of it I remember. I feel like going back and reading the rest of the series. I'd stopped where it got too slow and political for me but that may appeal to me more now. We'll see.

That brings us up to today. Today was different. I spent a few hours reading from The World According to Garp in the garden of my favorite cafe. I hate not finishing books but this one can be infuriating sometimes. I have to put it down and let my anger at it settle out. Days or weeks go by before I can pick it up again. Well after reading I bought some groceries then spent the rest of the afternoon in our apartment not doing very much until it was time to cook dinner. I prepared a variation on my usual 'pasta with veggies and ground beef' using an Indian theme. I need to look up how to prepare a proper Indian curry for next time though for a first, uneducated attempt this was ok. At least my flatmates thought so, and that's what counts.

Vertical and horizontal dimensions of Faith

Undeniably, the message of Baha'u'llah is, like every revelation of God, first and foremost a guide to the individual. It is the ancient path, cleansed of the encrustments and encumbrances of the past, along which man can achieve life with God, enlightenment, and spiritual rebirth. The revelation of Baha'u'llah is not, however, limited to this "vertical" dimension. The Baha'i religion is not merely a "creed"; it is a religion in an all-embracing sense, as it also has a fully developed "horizontal," a "political" dimension.

Cited from page 12 of The Baha'i Faith – Sect or Religion? by Udo Schaefer. Originally published in German under the title, Sekte oder Offenbarungsreligion? Zur religionswissenschaftlichen Einordnung des Baha'i-Glaubens (Hofheim-Langenhain: Baha'i-Verlag, 1982). ISBN 3-87037-134-X.

Udo Schaefers Homepage

Readers familiar with Udo Schaefer's name will quickly realize the value of his Homepage. Students of religion and those interested in scholarly analyses of the Faith will find in Dr. Schaefer's work cogent and systematic expositions on a variety of themes and beyond this an example and inspiration for their own research. The breadth and depth of his work, which has been translated into several languages, is evidenced by the following partial list of his published articles.

Ethics for a global society
Religious Intolerance as a Source of Violence
Baha'u'llah's Unity Paradigm
Loyalty to the Covenant and Critical Thought
Infallible Institutions?

A list of his English books can be found and purchased here.

Cold Coffee Friendships

CoffeeGeek - Cold Coffee Friendships: "A lot can happen between the top and the bottom of a cup of coffee."

One of the best articles on coffee I've ever read. Not only can I totally relate to his experience of cold coffee and getting to know someone, but I even have my own story about my first cup of coffee. It was drip coffee that had sat in a thermos for a few hours on a drive from Edmundston to Rimouski. The six adults in our minivan had had their two rounds and Dad called back from the driver's seat to ask if anyone wanted a third. I cheekily yelled back "yeah, I do!" only to find a cup of cool, black coffee handed over to our backrow a minute later. Since no one else wanted a third cup I decided it shouldn't go to waste (and who am I kidding, I was curious about this stuff Mom and Dad drank all the time). Funny thing is, it didn't really taste that good. But they all liked it so there must be something good about it. More than ten years later, I'm still appreciating the something good.

Sudan Defying Security Council on Darfur, U.N. Says - New York Times

Sudan Defying Security Council on Darfur, U.N. Says - New York Times

This is now the second report critical of the Sudanese government's actions regarding Darfur. And this one is even more specific about the violations committed. I pray God that the U.N. finally acts decisively in this matter.

Crazy Indian Music Video

What do you get when you cross early 90s Michael Jackson with a Bollywood music video? A Crazy Indian Music Video!

Gospel according to Judas | Salon Books

I'm neither one to follow Salon closely nor to go looking for deep writing; but this morning I found myself doing both. My finds were fascinating, enlightening, and intriguing. (and yes, I do love putting commas before ands)
If you take the time to read this interview with religious historian Elaine Pagels (who was married to a physicist!) titled Gospel according to Judas, I think you'll find yourself very pleasantly surprised by the fair, balanced and inclusive view she holds of religion. I myself could learn a great deal from her. I'm rather hoping I have.

allBlog

A political satire dressed in an Apple spoof. Who'd a thunk?
iRack and iRan

Easter Thursday

So I know there's no such thing as Easter Thursday but I think you'll all understand what I mean.

To-Do List:
1. send poster abstract to International Workshop on Non-Linear Dynamics in Excitable Media
2. reserve hotel room for above
3. pay doctor's bill
4. submit reimbursement claim for doctor's bill
5. submit reimbursement claim for DPG 2007
6. run lots and lots of simulations (start by debugging code... argh)
7. upload pictures from camera to computer
8. post to my blog
9. keep looking for an apartment (i've got an appointment at 6pm)
10. smile :D

9.5 out of 10 so far. Have I missed anything? Perhaps. But I'll take comfort in what I've done so far. And I'll enjoy the nice weather we're having. God bless Spring. Hope this flat I'm about to see is the one. Been apartment hunting for over a month now and it's getting old. *sigh* :)