literarydiscussions.myfreeforum.org

Sitaram · Site Admin Joined: 14 Sep 2005 Posts: 1079

http://profile.myspace.com/index....viewprofile&friendid=80790816

Posted with permission

pwrmyth (11:57:37 AM): I saw your reading list. Impressive! Have you
heard of Zooba? Thought I'd return the favor for chatango. For 9.95 a
month flat, you can create a book queue like at Netflix. You receive the
next book from your queue each month and get to keep it! Don't mean to
sound like an ad, but as a fellow bookfiend, it's great. I think of it as my
source for monthly gym membership. It's not for all people, but I LOVE it.

sitaram (12:06:58 PM): sorry i was away from keyboard

sitaram (12:07:50 PM): hmmm... sounds interesting
sitaram (12:07:59 PM): the monthly book program
sitaram (12:08:20 PM): I have not heard of Zooba

sitaram (12:08:33 PM): I would recommend "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel

sitaram (12:24:55 PM): see my message board post

http://literarydiscussions.myfreeforum.org/ftopic996.php

pwrmyth (12:58:40 PM): Got it. I just finished American Theocracy and
am reading Confessions of an Economic Hitman. I have A War Like No
Other (on Athens vs. Sparta) and Collapse by Jared Diamond in my
queue. Good times!

sitaram (01:17:26 PM): plus, if you use chatango.com catcher program in
your tray.... and leave the window open for messages, then you always
appear on in chatango

pwrmyth (01:18:05 PM): I've been playing around with my profile page

pwrmyth (01:18:15 PM): i changed the b/g and lost chatango

pwrmyth (01:18:24 PM): not sure how to keep all these codes straight

sitaram (01:24:32 PM): hmmm.... well... you can always get the chatango
code again, and insert it into your profile... I periodically cut and paste all
my profile code to a word document for backup, with heading

sitaram (01:24:58 PM): headings in the document which are the same as
the places where the code goes like MOVIES BOOKS

pwrmyth (01:25:28 PM): I just joined so it

pwrmyth (01:25:33 PM): it's all rather confusing

sitaram (01:25:55 PM): its hard to find a Johhnie who wants to talk

pwrmyth (01:26:02 PM): We're actually chatting in real time

pwrmyth (01:26:03 PM): amazing

pwrmyth (01:26:15 PM): I would think Johnies wanted to do nothing BUT
talk

sitaram (01:26:16 PM): the forum seems kind of dead, the st. johns
forum/group at myspace

sitaram (01:26:27 PM): well, one would think that

pwrmyth (01:26:31 PM): Hey, I read your blog on AI

pwrmyth (01:26:35 PM): I liked it too

pwrmyth (01:26:42 PM): Watched it in Annapolis, actually

pwrmyth (01:26:50 PM): Though it suffers from repeat viewings

sitaram (01:26:53 PM): you can get a free message board from

http://www.myfreeforum.org

sitaram (01:27:08 PM): a phpBB message board, menu driven, a snap to
learn

pwrmyth (01:27:36 PM): I'm tempted to ask you how you find the time

sitaram (01:27:41 PM): and there is a FLASH tutorial for learning phpbb

admin/mod/user which plays on your screen like a movie

pwrmyth (01:28:00 PM): Hmm... that sounds intriguing

pwrmyth (01:28:06 PM): Have you visited zooba?
pwrmyth (01:28:11 PM): That's my site of the month

sitaram (01:28:20 PM): well... I worked full time for the past five years,
but i could log on at work... and then there are weekends... and staying
up all night

sitaram (01:28:22 PM): sometimes

pwrmyth (01:28:32 PM): My queue is 66 books long

pwrmyth (01:30:07 PM): all my friends are techies
pwrmyth (01:30:10 PM): I'm odd man out

sitaram (01:30:58 PM): i would suggest that you get a free website
somewhere, and practice learning/using html codes

sitaram (01:31:02 PM): there are hundreds of tutorials
sitaram (01:31:10 PM): on html
pwrmyth (01:31:27 PM): Seriously -- that's a heavy time investment.

sitaram (01:31:29 PM): one really only needs to know about a dozen
codes to create pages
sitaram (01:31:33 PM): well, yes, it is
sitaram (01:31:35 PM): in time
pwrmyth (01:31:39 PM): Too many books to read
sitaram (01:32:03 PM): i mean a really nice SJ grad, and is a ghostwriter
for architecture books/articles

sitaram (01:32:11 PM): but, he seems too busy to correspond

sitaram (01:32:26 PM): either that, or he didnt care for me and my
interests...
pwrmyth (01:32:32 PM): Ghostwriter, eh? I met a guy like that too -- he
a GI?
sitaram (01:32:34 PM): we met at a baudelaire seminar

sitaram (01:32:44 PM): hmmm... i dont knot about GI...

sitaram (01:32:57 PM): i still have his card somewhere

pwrmyth (01:33:15 PM): I love Baudelaire.

sitaram (01:33:32 PM): you can read all my notes about the baudelaire
seminar at my message board

sitaram (01:33:39 PM): let me find the link

pwrmyth (01:33:43 PM): A professor at UCLA really lit him up for me. All
about the 19th Century and modernism in Paris. One of the best I've
ever had

sitaram (01:34:42 PM):
http://literarydiscussions.myfreeforum.org/ftopic105.php

pwrmyth (01:34:55 PM): I'll check it out.

sitaram (01:35:05 PM): the beauty of message boards is that you can
post something of essay proportions, then give others the link in
conversation

pwrmyth (01:35:21 PM): Which you just displayed.

sitaram (01:35:25 PM): in depth conversation is difficult in yahoo in chat
rooms

sitaram (01:35:39 PM): i spend a lot of time in yahoo books and literature
chat room

sitaram (01:35:59 PM): every once in a while, perhaps once per month..
you meet someone worthwhile

sitaram (01:36:18 PM): and, my name in that room is literarydiscussions,
so people who are serious are attracted to contact me

sitaram (01:37:18 PM): i have only been on myspace for one month, but i
put many hours into invites through the search engines... so i have 400
friend contacts

pwrmyth (01:37:36 PM): yikes!

pwrmyth (01:37:56 PM): That's social networking on steroids

sitaram (01:38:05 PM): what is particularly touching for me, over the past
8 years, is the few people who have approached me having very little
formal education, but a hunger to learn the things i write about

sitaram (01:38:30 PM): that is why i grit my teeth and send invites to
people who seem like monster truck competition fans

sitaram (01:38:38 PM): i.e. unlikely to care for baudelaire

pwrmyth (01:39:00 PM): LOL

sitaram (01:39:04 PM): but.... one in a hundred will drop that facade, and
take an interest in something more cultural or spiritual

pwrmyth (01:39:04 PM): Why not teach?

pwrmyth (01:39:13 PM): You seem perfect for JC

sitaram (01:39:29 PM): i have had a learning disability all my life which
makes it impossible for me to perform on standard exams..

sitaram (01:39:42 PM): that is why st. johns was idea... no exams, the
years i went anyway

sitaram (01:39:49 PM): only oral participation and writing papers

pwrmyth (01:40:09 PM): It's still good ol' St. Johns -- the last bastion of
real learning, although...

sitaram (01:40:11 PM): so, i could never gain the academic credentials to

teach anywhere

pwrmyth (01:40:23 PM): A Master's is all you need

sitaram (01:40:33 PM): but, if i were in academia, i would also be under
their thumb, to be politically correct

pwrmyth (01:40:41 PM): not at a JC
pwrmyth (01:40:46 PM): that's the beauty
pwrmyth (01:41:09 PM): a crossroads for faculty who just want to teach
and students who need a leg up

sitaram (01:41:25 PM): you know... to be honest with you, the faculty at
SJA never really liked me or my ideas, they tolerated me... i would say...

pwrmyth (01:41:46 PM): (laughs) -- well, I fit that too

sitaram (01:41:48 PM): and in seminars,... i found the same to be true
among the student body

pwrmyth (01:42:04 PM): I'm Jungian and a screenwriter -- that didn't go
over well
sitaram (01:42:11 PM): yes, jungian would not

sitaram (01:42:20 PM): i too am jungian
pwrmyth (01:42:33 PM): I did an oral on the archetypal journey Odysseus
takes in the Odyssey
pwrmyth (01:42:46 PM): I was intrigued on the stages between warrior and husband
sitaram (01:42:48 PM): they barely tolerated hegel
pwrmyth (01:42:52 PM): My tutors hated it
pwrmyth (01:43:02 PM): and then... I found a book on the subject by Jung at Borders
pwrmyth (01:43:07 PM): I was flabbergasted
sitaram (01:43:16 PM): you know.... i stumbled across an Eva Brann paper attacking Postmodernism
pwrmyth (01:43:22 PM): hey -- I ADORE Hegel
sitaram (01:43:30 PM): i merely had to see the title, and i instantly knew what it would be like
pwrmyth (01:43:43 PM): I skipped class when we read the Philosophy of History -- it literally changed my life
sitaram (01:43:54 PM): i knew because one of their buttons in the 1960s was HISTORICITY,.... which they despised
sitaram (01:44:07 PM): well, you have to read my hegel paper from senior year, on line
pwrmyth (01:44:17 PM): I took that for a whole summer in Graduate (GI) program
pwrmyth (01:44:27 PM): they hate the history segment but allow it anyway
sitaram (01:44:27 PM): which was entitled History of Philosophy and Philosophy of History
pwrmyth (01:44:30 PM): I jumped on it

pwrmyth (01:45:30 PM): well, we share the Hegel bug

pwrmyth (01:45:49 PM): I adore Nietzsche as well and dabble in
Heiddeger
pwrmyth (01:46:05 PM): Phenomonology rocked my world for a spell

sitaram (01:46:09 PM): yes, i love nietzsche, kierkeegard

pwrmyth (01:46:10 PM): It comes up a lot in my life

pwrmyth (01:46:22 PM): Soren is a sore spot for me

sitaram (01:46:27 PM): so.. you will like my three school papers on line

pwrmyth (01:46:32 PM): Either/Or but that's about it
sitaram (01:46:34 PM): which are at my profile
sitaram (01:46:38 PM): in myspace
pwrmyth (01:46:50 PM): How about Mahler?
pwrmyth (01:47:05 PM): I am a Mahlerian to the core
sitaram (01:47:10 PM): the guy across the hall from me at SJ was a Mahler freak...
pwrmyth (01:47:12 PM): with a Bruckner twist
sitaram (01:47:15 PM): i never got around to listening
sitaram (01:47:20 PM): i should
pwrmyth (01:47:25 PM): he's a universe
sitaram (01:47:28 PM): i sometimes remember him and think of Mahler

pwrmyth (01:47:41 PM): He should be so lucky
pwrmyth (01:48:05 PM): You can't love Baudelaire and avoid Mahler --
that's not right
sitaram (01:48:20 PM): well... i will shop for some CDs
pwrmyth (01:48:29 PM): You probably heard the wrong conductors

pwrmyth (01:48:36 PM): wrong conductors can ruin Mahler
pwrmyth (01:48:42 PM): Ask me first

sitaram (01:48:46 PM): oh... i have been renting dvds of movies by fellini,
kurosawa, bergman

pwrmyth (01:48:53 PM): Every symphony has its own idiom

sitaram (01:48:53 PM): ok... so, give me your suggestions
sitaram (01:49:01 PM): i mean, when you are ready
pwrmyth (01:49:04 PM): Excellent.
sitaram (01:49:05 PM): email me

pwrmyth (01:49:25 PM): Every symphony, literally, is different

sitaram (01:49:28 PM): or... ha ha, i can cut and paste and edit this chat,
and post a blog, with your permission of course..

sitaram (01:49:33 PM): i do that sometimes
pwrmyth (01:49:44 PM): Fine by me...
sitaram (01:49:59 PM): i have a lot of dialogues at my message board in
a section/forum entitled DIALOGUES

pwrmyth (01:50:07 PM): I like my Mahler fiery and emotional, so if that
offends, we'll be at ends

pwrmyth (01:50:24 PM): the LAST thing Mahler needs is a literal, cerebral
reading

sitaram (01:50:31 PM): well,... firey and emotional is fine with me

pwrmyth (01:50:31 PM): which is how most moderns play him

pwrmyth (01:50:49 PM): that's why Bernstein opened him up for modern ears

sitaram (01:51:08 PM): in sophomore music, they were always talking about the Neapolitan 6th cord...and i could never hear anything special
pwrmyth (01:51:11 PM): he can be overheated, but he remains a crucial link

sitaram (01:51:21 PM): a major 7th cord built upon the flated 2nd

pwrmyth (01:51:33 PM): Mahler pushes the limits on tonality without breaking it

pwrmyth (01:51:42 PM): Schoenberg always called him the first modernist

sitaram (01:51:42 PM): and the lowest note in Bach's St. Matthew's
passion occurs on Todd (death)

pwrmyth (01:52:17 PM): Ich kann Deutsch -- ist doch kein Problem, hab
ich es auch studiert an der Uni und auch in Deutschland

sitaram (01:52:18 PM): and the terrific hiatus (Faulkners phrase) in the
Donner und Blitzen Area

pwrmyth (01:52:49 PM): How 'bout Bruckner?

sitaram (01:52:51 PM): i saw a parody recently, of Bush, saying "Ich bin ein chulapa"

sitaram (01:53:00 PM): or whatever that mexican dish is

pwrmyth (01:53:05 PM): Ever heard any of Bruckner's work?
sitaram (01:53:10 PM): no, sorry...

pwrmyth (01:53:14 PM): Argh

sitaram (01:53:34 PM): well, providence has sent you to rescue me from my pit of musical ignorance

pwrmyth (01:53:45 PM): There's a marvelous, ridiculously cheap box set on Naxos that is criminally cheap

sitaram (01:53:56 PM): hmm.... well, i must get that

pwrmyth (01:53:59 PM): the whole Bruckner catalog

pwrmyth (01:54:07 PM): conductor: Tintner
sitaram (01:54:09 PM): how much is "cheap"

pwrmyth (01:54:14 PM): like 35 bucks

pwrmyth (01:54:18 PM): for all nine symphonies

sitaram (01:54:23 PM): oh yes, that is good for me

pwrmyth (01:54:24 PM): I got mine from Overstock.com
pwrmyth (01:54:30 PM): read the reviews at amazon

sitaram (01:54:36 PM): so... you can be my virgil, and guide me

pwrmyth (01:54:56 PM): this guy was something... the conductor... he
lept from a window in his 80s rather than die a feeble death

pwrmyth (01:55:05 PM): that caught me right there
pwrmyth (01:55:14 PM): this guy MUST be special, I thought
pwrmyth (01:55:27 PM): he brings a spirituality to Bruckner's work that is
appropriate

pwrmyth (01:55:45 PM): I have 200 Bruckner CDs...

pwrmyth (01:55:58 PM): and Tinter is my preferred version for 6 of 9 symphonies

pwrmyth (01:56:06 PM): that's unheard of
pwrmyth (01:56:13 PM): never heard of him, sorry
sitaram (01:56:20 PM): hmmm... interesting...
sitaram (01:56:30 PM): but you were at annapolis for the standard 4
years
pwrmyth (01:56:35 PM): nope
sitaram (01:56:36 PM): or at grad institute
pwrmyth (01:56:39 PM): GI -- four summers
sitaram (01:56:44 PM): ohhh...
sitaram (01:57:09 PM): i see.. that ghostwriter went through the 4 years
program
pwrmyth (01:57:13 PM): Literature-History-Philosophy/Religion-Politics

sitaram (01:57:32 PM): somehow, i thought of GI as the GI bill, a veteran

sitaram (01:57:45 PM): some of my fellow students were GI Vets

pwrmyth (01:58:07 PM): I'm happy with my course of things because I
studied at the University of Oregon, Tubingen/Freiburg in Germany and
UCLA before St. John's -- I was (ahem) well rounded

sitaram (01:58:17 PM): nice

pwrmyth (01:58:47 PM): My awakening came in Europe. Without that, I
would have ended up a cog in the machine

sitaram (01:59:02 PM): cog is bad, machines are bad

pwrmyth (01:59:10 PM): It set the stage for a personal renaissance at
UCLA and then St. John's

pwrmyth (01:59:25 PM): the four summers were unique in that each
return trip caused a new awakening

pwrmyth (02:00:20 PM): I miss it severely, though not always classes. Just the environment. I read Ayn Rand at night in my dorm room and felt like I was a Soviet freedom fighter.

sitaram (02:00:51 PM): i was posting regarding Ayn Rand a few months
ago

sitaram (02:01:04 PM): regarding her unusual popularity in India and
Africa

pwrmyth (02:01:20 PM): You probably didn't notice, but on my site I list
the books that influenced me

pwrmyth (02:01:24 PM): Walden, Entropy by Jeremy Rifkin, What's the
Matter with Kansas, American Theocracy, Your Money or Your Life, The
Philosophy of History (Hegel), Understanding Media (McLuhan), Amusing
Ourselves to Death, Brothers Karamazov, Still Life with Woodpecker... it
goes on and on.

sitaram (02:01:32 PM): in India, they have yearly Ayn Rand essay
contests with cash awards

sitaram (02:01:42 PM): i did look at your profile...

pwrmyth (02:01:52 PM): well, the Ayn Rand institute is rather obnoxious, IMHO

sitaram (02:01:53 PM): though i should look some more

pwrmyth (02:02:16 PM): but Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged knocked me out

sitaram (02:02:23 PM): oh, Greenspan was a member of the Ayn Rand inner circle in his college years

pwrmyth (02:02:29 PM): I'm rereading her Romantic Manifesto right now

pwrmyth (02:02:39 PM): Oh, I know

pwrmyth (02:02:47 PM): it's like Scientology for really smart people

pwrmyth (02:02:48 PM): LOL
sitaram (02:02:51 PM): you might want to check out
http://www.thebookforum.com/forums

pwrmyth (02:02:57 PM): I shall
sitaram (02:02:59 PM): ha ha, good remark
sitaram (02:03:10 PM): i was really active there for a year,... not so
active any more
sitaram (02:03:19 PM): but, there are some good things there

sitaram (02:03:31 PM): also check out
http://www.online-literature.com/forums

pwrmyth (02:03:45 PM): that looks really great!
pwrmyth (02:03:46 PM): thanks!

sitaram (02:03:52 PM): i was active there for one years, but fell into disfavor with the admin

pwrmyth (02:04:00 PM): hmm... imagine that
pwrmyth (02:04:06 PM): you are an iconoclast

sitaram (02:04:10 PM): and one of the mods, a woman who teaches in
england, but was raised in turkey

pwrmyth (02:04:11 PM): we have a LOT in common

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