Dominique Hourani Redux

Earlier this year -- on June 16, 2007 -- Dominique Hourani graced a stage at the International Arab American Festival in Dearborn, Michigan. In person, she's stunningly beautiful, transcending fashion photography, the flesh mightier than the image. Partly charisma, partly something inexplicable. In any case, her internet fan club reports that she married some dude on November 11.


Here's a shot recovered from the little camera I dropped a few weeks later -- a friend of mine salvaged the roll in her dark room, slightly damaged and obscured but better than nothing.

Given her long leopard print dress and dramatic gyrations, Dominique evoked Bathsheba or Delilah in imagination -- not too farfetched given her Lebanese background. In any case, I'm glad to have stumbled upon her performance out of sheer curiosity. And don't you know it . . .

Today's Rune: Breakthrough; yesterday's: Harvest.

The War Drags On

Donovan re: The Universal Soldier.

Savagery, Thy Name Is Human

Another voice of moderation was extinguished today. As to the specific details, more will be revealed but initially, it has the eerie feel of the riveting political film by Costa Gavras from the 1960s, Z.

Benazir Bhutto, former prime minister and prominent opposition leader in the scheduled 2008 Pakistan national election, is dead by violent means. RIP. From the Vatican: "It is difficult to see any glimmer of hope, peace, reconciliation in this country [Pakistan]" (source: Reuters, "World outraged, fearful over Bhutto assassination," 12/27/2007).


Given today's events, now is a reasonable time to mention Iris Chang (1968-2004), The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II (1997) and Nanking, the 2007 documentary film inspired by Chang's work. The events described in both began in 1937, same year as the ferocious aerial bombing of Guernica, Spain, by European fascists, but on a much larger scale (hundreds of thousands vs. hundreds killed or wounded). In Nanking / Nanjing, the Japanese military savaged the Chinese inhabitants from late 1937 to early 1938.

Neutral observers in Nanjing helped create a Safety Zone in an effort to protect and save thousands of civilians from the mayhem. Japanese soldiers aimed to kill all men close to military age, and raped tens of thousands of women. More information can be found at the official documentary film site at http://Nankingthefilm.com

Lou Reed contributed two songs, "Gravity" and "Safety Zone." For more, see also Lou's excellent website at www.loureed.com

Observant and sensitive souls like Philip K. Dick and Iris Chang may respond to such history by saying their bit and self-destructing, or like Voltaire and Costa Gavras, locating those who bear witness, and remembering, while still somehow finding joy in life. The pen may not be mightier than the sword at the time, but it will not let such history be "disappeared" from the annals of the human race.

Today's Rune: Wholeness.

Life in Pursuit of Freedom

I'm halfway through Roger Pearson's Voltaire Almighty: A Life in Pursuit of Freedom (2005). Voltaire, of course, rocks: ". . . history is a witness, not a flatterer . . . the only way to make others say good things of us, is to do good things . . ." Voltaire's worldview was remarkably enlightened, progressive, and anathema to arbitrary power -- an astonishing fact given his years on earth (1694-1778). He was quite a character, to boot. Aptly, from the front flap: A rebel from start to finish . . . The consummate outsider, a dissenter who craved acceptance while flamboyantly disdaining it, author of countless stories, poems, books, plays, treatises, and tracts as well as some twenty thousand letters to his friends: Voltaire had a long and active life, all for the cause of freedom -- his own and others'.

Today's Rune: Partnership.

Fairytale of New York

Merry Christmas, everybody!

James Brown - Soulful Christmas

In The School Of Bad Santa

Tara Palmer-Tomkinson ("Princess TPT") is celebrating her 36th birthday today -- The Naughty Girl's Guide to Life, her first book, landed on British bookshelves recently. Nice color coordination . . .


Birthday: Spanish singer Beth (Elisabeth Rodergas) already has three albums out in Europe. She looks ten but is actually 26.

Birthday: Sky Lopez (Corrie Floris), 32, former porn star, now Christian hip hop artiste. A sort of modern day Mary Magdalene . . .


Birthday: Model/actress Summer Altice on a German GQ cover. That's her real name and she just turned 28 for those who are still counting.

Thanks all for the recent comments! To Danny's question about the 2008 election: yes, I do think there is some difference between the Democrats and Republicans. I believe a Hillary Clinton presidency is preferable. Why? Good to break the gender ice in American politics; Supreme Court selections; more moderate in general than any of the Republican candidates. That's sufficient cause to back Clinton. As a backup, I'd support any of the Democrats over any of the Republicans.

Today's Rune: Defense. Yesterday's: Signals.

Merry Christmas, folks!