ASTROLOGY

We just gonna let the ever brilliant late Carl Sagan (1934-1996) to enlight us about astrology. Not because you, my fellow guelylanders, need to know the true but because he have some good points that we may remember when talking to someone that believe in it.

SNOW? THE ESKIMOUS HAVE... TWO WORDS FOR IT!!

Qanik, snow in the air and aput, snow on the ground. And that's it!

The idea that their language has (at least) seven words for the white flakes of frozen water can be traced back to a 1940's article in Technology Review by one Benjamin Lee Worf. He said that there were seven but "forgot" to mention them. Actually the other words were derivated as we can say in english snowball, snowfall, snowman (yellow snow is something else. Just don't eat it).

By the way there is not only one eskimo language but around twenty. Ok? (We were talking about the Greenland language in this case).

And if you are in Greenland or Canada please avoid the "E" word and say Inuit instead. In Siberia and Alaska is ok anyway. The inuit in Greenland prefer to be called Greenlanders.

And since we are here let's say once for all that they don't kiss rubbing each other noses either. They do something different called kunik that is not exactly the same thing and it is for you to find out. But is not done instead of kissing.

MY HERO, JAMES RANDI

I hope this guy will live long and prosper, because he makes and amazing job. The former magician James Randi and now worldwide debunker of charlatans, liars and preachers . Since many years ago his fundation is ready to pay a million dollars to anybody that can proof something supernatural. No one has got the money yet.

In the following video he unmask the once famous israeli psychic Uri Geller and the christian healer Popoff (and yes,that's Ricardo Montalbán at Geller's right).

And here The Amazing Randi doing his thing again (at this time he only offered 10,000 dollars)

I hate those damned healers (really sinister guys ,if you ask me) playing and getting money with the hopes of faithfull people be careful because Randi is around!

And finally about horoscopes

I strongly recomend you these two James Randi books (I read them more then once and check them now and then) they are not just a good lecture but a couple of eye openers in case one is in need of that, or just in doubt. Funny how Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke (each one introduce one book), two very rational fellows and probably the most famous science fiction writters have Randi in very good opinion and thank him for his work (in case my word is not good enough).

A BIT STIFF, BUT I LIKE THE WAY SHE MOVES

One of the most beautiful gods imagined comes to life twice here today (and to tell you the true i can't made up my mind if is Shiva or Kali ( i think is Kali), so some comment about it would be nice). The first is a CGI work of Konstantin Bronzit .The second one belongs to my very favorite Harryhausen movie The Golden Voyage of Simbad (Gordon Hessler, 1974)

OK GO AND THE MOST ELABORATED VIDEO CLIP (EVER?)

Inspired by the Looney Toons, (I think they should thank Willy E. Coyote). by the way the song is called "This Too Shall Pass".

HAPPY 80th BIRTHDAY, "KING OF COOL" !!

NEON (Film. Video. The bigger picture) was a very original and independent british film magazine from the second half of the 90's (maybe because of his character didn't run for so long). During his last twelve numbers had a serie of sarcastic dark side oriented "comic" page biography of the biggest of Tinseltown: Marilyn, Orson, Bogie, Errol, Jane Mansfield, Sinatra, Cary, Jimmy Dean, The Duke, Howard Hughes and, in this case, our "King of Cool". Stevo, who died at 50 in the 80 and today he would be that: 80.

From the vaults of Guelyland comes this black humored homage. A piece of a good magazine that you may not know (I am looking at you, Snyder). As usual, clicking on the pics you get a bigger picture.

HIPPO EATS DWARF!

Is the name of a funny book (by Alex Boese) I found very cheap today. Urban myths, scams, hoaxes. After reading and laughing you will end up thinking "What can i believe nowadays!" (at that point you will probably stop laughing until you go on reading).

Food dog that include dogs and cats as ingredients (true). Bonsai kittens in a bottle (false). Reality shows that are unreal and even documentaries from Attenborough or Disney that are not exactly what they seem to be (remember those suicidal lemmings from Disney's True-Life Adventures?). Musical condoms from Russia?(false). In india cow urine (called gomutram) is drinked because many people believes cures cancer and diabetes and the demand is so strong that scam artists sale instead buffalo or sheep pee (true).Cher removing her lower ribs? (false). You heard of Kopi Luwak, the most expensive coffee in the world ($280, pound) so expensive because the beans are excreted by some indonesian cats and the workers must hand-pick from the faeces? (true). The famous subliminal publicity can be finally discarded as false. Nigerian scams that are real (real scams, that is!). Strange things sold in E-bay (you wanna buy a chess toasted sandwich with Mary a.k.a. The Virgin face roasted on? Well, how the sellers know is her face!!). Do you believe in chain e-mails by Bill gates?(false). The origen of the word spam has to do with a Monthy Python sketch (yes, true!). And talking of spam this is one that millions of people received in 2003:

"Hello, I'm a time traveler stuck here in 2003. Upon arriving here my dimensional warp generator stopped working...I anm going to need a new DWG unit, prefereably the rechargeable AMD wrist watch model with the GRC79 induction motor, four i80200 warp stabilizers, 512GB of SRAM, and the menu driven GUI with front panel XID display. I will take whatever model you have in stock, as long as its received certification for being safe on carbon based life forms. In terms of payment: I don't have any Galactic Credits left. Payment can be made in platinum gold or 2003 currency upon safe delivery of unit."

I wish everybody would read this book at least for in order that once for all they stop spreading those chain e-mails that we all get so often (actually i think i will transcribe that part of the book in a future entry).

By the way the title of this book is based in the urban legend about a circus dwarf that falled from a high act in a circus right into the open mouth of an hippo in Manchester, Thailand or Sidney (false).

And the book goes on for 263 pages and after that we have a 15 pages glosary with interesting terms such as:

Faux-mosexuality, n. Homosexuality faked in order to appear trendy.

Merkin, n. A pubic hair wig. sometimes worn by exotic dancers in order to appeal fully naked while obeying local ordinances that require them to be partially clothed.

Snob Hit, n. A boring movie or play that people pretend to like because they think they're supose to like it.

Surfer's voice, n. the vacant, spaced-out tone of people browsing the web and conversing on the phone at the same time. Characterized by a high frecuencyof 'ummms' and 'errrs', and long pauses.

Synthespian, n. A virtual actor created through digital animation. Examples include Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story and Gollum from Lord of The Rings.

In 2003 the MTV Movie Awards became the first show to reward the best 'virtual performance'

Tanorexia, n. A syndrome in which the sufferer believes that no matter how tanner they are, they are not tanned enough.

Unread bestseller, n. A book that many buy , but few actually read.

This little book goes in my library with my James Randy books, Mac Dougall's Hoaxes, Vicente Vega's Diccionario de Rarezas Inverosomilitudes y Curiosidades (DRIC), Wallace's Book of Lists and a growing etcetera that go along so well with my chronic skepticism.

HISTORIA DE LA LITERATURA UNIVERSAL PRAMPOLINI

No deja de sorprenderme la silenciosa ingratitud de sus lectores al encontrar en internet virtualmente ninguna información sobre la Historia Universal de la Literatura de Santiago Prampolini, el escritor , poéta, ensayista y conocedor de casi sesenta lenguas (Milan,1898-Pisa,1975) autor de esta obra monumental en trece infinitos volúmenes, cuya adquisición fue sueño imposible en mi adolescencia. Las tardes pasadas leyéndola en la silenciosa biblioteca de la Universidad Católica. Mi desaforado proyecto de fotocopiarla (en alguna caja de cartón en Lima, secreto y dormido, debe yacer el librito que hice de las 147 páginas xerografiadas de su deliciosa historia de la Literatura China) y mi, hasta el momento constante e infructuosa busqueda, sobre alguna información o cualquier dato sobre la obra , dicen algo acerca de mi cariño por estos libros.

Décadas han pasado hasta que finalmente he podido hacerme de una copia de su segunda y acaso última edición que anduvo esperándome desde el fondo del tiempo en una libreria de viejo de Chicago, llegando a Estocolmo y a mi con todo el esplendor de sus treintaicinco kilos. Ahora puedo deleitarme en sus ya algo amarillentas miles de páginas donde viajo sin cansarme y saltando de tomo en tomo leyendo sobre los libros de Madagascar, Estonia, Uruguay o, porqué no una vez más, China.

Originalmente editada en Italia como Storia Universale della Letteratura , Enciclopedia (UTET, Torino) en 1948, la edición en español estuvo a cargo del arquitecto, historiador, poeta y políglota barcelonés José Pijoán (1880-1963).

El exhaustivo contenido de los trece volúmenes desarrollado en más de 9,000 páginas es el siguiente:

1. Literaturas China, Japonesa, Inda y Arabe.
2. Literaturas Iranias, Turcotártaras, Egipcia, del Asia Occidental, de Israel, Griega y Romana.
3. Literaturas Cristianas Occidentales, Cristianas Orientales, Bizantina, Latina Medieval y Hebraica Medieval.
4. Literaturas Célticas: Irlandesa (siglos XVIII al XX), Escosesa, Galesa (siglos VI al XX), Córnica y Bretona. Literaturas Germánicas: Anglosajona (siglos VII al XII) , Islandesa (siglos VII al XIX) y de Las Islas Feroe. Literaturas Románicas de la Edad Media: Francesa (en lenguas de "oil" y de "oc"), castellana, Galaico Portuguesa y Catalana.
5. Literatura Italiana (desde los origenes hasta 1750). Literatura de los Pueblos Germánicos hasta la Reforma: Alemana (siglos XIV al XVI), Noruega, Danesa y Sueca. Literaturas Ibéricas: Catalana y Portuguesa (siglos XIV al XVI).
6. Literatura Castellana (siglos XV al XVII). Literatura Inglesa (desde 1066 hasta finales del siglo XVIII). Literatura Francesa (siglos XV al XVIII).
7. Literatura Holandesa (siglo XVII). Literatura Alemana (siglos XVII y XVIII). Literaturas Francesa, Alemana e Italiana durante el siglo XIX.
8. Literaturas Inglesa y Norteamericana durante el siglo XIX. literaturas Nórdicas desde el siglo XVIII hasta 1945 (Holanda, Frisia, Africa Del Sur, Flandes, Dinamarca, Suecia y Finlandia Sueca, Noruega, islandia y las Feroe).
9. Literaturas Ibéricas: Castellana (siglos XVIII al XX), Catalana (siglos XIX y XX), Gallega (siglos XIX y XX) y Portuguesa (siglos XVII al XX).
10. Literaturas deFrancia, Alemania e Italia en nuestro siglo.
11. Literaturas de Estados Unidos e Inglaterra en nuestro siglo. Literaturas eslavas desde su iniciación hasta nuestros días (Búlgara, Yugoeslava, Checa y Eslovaca, Lusaciana y Polaca, Ucrania y Bielorrusa y Rusa). Las demas literaturas de la Europa Oriental (Lituana, Letona, Finlandesa, Estonia, Húngara, Yiddisch, Neohebraica, rumana, albanesa y Neohelénica).
12. Literaturas Iberoamericanas (México, Cuba, República Dominicana, Puerto Rico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panamá, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Perú, bolivia, Paraguay, Brasil, Chile, Uruguay, Argentina. Literaturas Indigenas de los Continentes Extraeuropeos.
13. Índice general de autores y obras.

Se podría arguir que es una obra incompleta poque falta los últimos cincuenta años. Se podría arguir que es una obra muy completa por la profundidad con que trata miles de años de la literatura universal de nuestro planeta.

Volviendo a lo que decía al principio. Cúantas cosas le faltan a la internet? Qué cosas no hemos encontrado? Las deberíamos poner nosotros mismos? Entonces el mundo aun guarda algunos misterios para mi. No todo está, aun, resuelto, escrito y pensado en nuestra querida "Net". Mucho por hacer, escribir e investigar (crear también no? Que conozco gente que lo hace). La suma del conocimiento humano está muy lejos de tener su completo recipiente en el mundo virtual. Seguro que todos tenemos algo que falta mencionar y encontrar. Qué cosas no han hallado aun?

En todo caso y por ahora con respecto a los libros de Prampolini, el adolescente que fuí y las incontables horas que pasé frente al sólido tomo verde y primero, de esta injustamente olvidada enciclopedia, reaparece en mí para deleitarse con las desconocidas maravillas que nos esperan por descubrir en futuras y largas horas recorriendo la historia de los libros y los hombres que armados de pluma y fantasía levantaron esta babélica torre que hemos dado a llamar Literatura Universal.

EL BUEN RIBEYRO (Y MUCHOS COMENTARIOS SOBRE LA EXISTENCIA DE DIOS QUE NO TIENEN NADA QUE VER CON EL ASUNTO PERO QUE CRÉO QUE ESTÁN BIEN)

Acaso el escritor más querido y de los más leidos en el Perú. No que no hayan varios, pero Julio Ramón Ribeyro (Lima, 1929-1994) a diferencia de otros no menos célebres o modernos y contemporaneos, no nos impone ningún esnobismo intelectual, no nos impresiona con docenas de traducciones en docenas de idiomas, ni nos mira desde la altura de su graciosa alcurnia. Ribeyro, flaco y fumador se hizo nuestro amigo en el colegio con sus cuentos con niños, durante nuestra adolescencia con sus cuentos más juveniles y aventureros, y ya adultos y hasta ya viejos con los correspondientes a las diversas edades del hombre. Este maestro de la narrativa corta nunca deja de sorprendernos con su sencilla elegancia, con su acequible sabiduría, con su refinada humildad.

Una de las ventajas de ser peruano es el haberlo tenido presente desde chico y haber podido acceder a su obra, entorno y presencia.

Aunque sea un autor muy popular en el Perú, es a nivel internacional mas bien un escritor de culto. Editado, sin embargo en España, Mexico, Estados Unidos , Italia, Alemania y Francia. se ha dicho que no pudo subirse al camión carnavalero del famoso "Boom Literario Latinoamericano" detonado por la editorial Seix Barral en los años sesenta (Garcia Marquez, Cortazar, Vargas Llosa, Fuentes , Donoso, Onetti, Paz y un largo e ilustre etcetera) por ser su fuerte el cuento, cuando Carlos Barral prefería editar sobretodo novelas. Me limito en esta ocasión a mencionar su culto. Espero hacer más entradas sobre él. Si eres peruano seguro que lo conoces y ya lo quieres. Sinó y lo desconoces déjame el gusto de presentártelo.

Les dejo un video en el que si bien el entrevistador es un poco burro , tenemos a Ribeyro hablando para la televisión (en YouTube existe una versión no condensada en cuatro partes, muy buena también).

Murió , dias o semanas despues esta entrevista.

GENTLEMAN PREFER BLONDES? I GIVE YOU 28!!

Christine Applegate

Not always of course, but with these movie stars one may agree. This entry is not as light headed (or blond) as it may seems. No! It is a protest against the discrimination to the light haired girls that usually are treated as dumb. You don't believe me? Neither do I. I leave the blond males for you dear reader/watchers as a homework.

Ann Margret

Raquel Welch

Scarlett Johansson

Julie Christie

Emma Watson

Alice Fay

Grace Kelly

Charlize Theron

Ginger Rogers

Naomi Watts

Helen Mirren

M.M.

Izabella Scorupto

Elizabeth Montgomery

Faye Dunaway

Kate Winslet

Cameron Diaz

Uma (there is only one)

Helena Ignez

Fay Wray

Elizabeth Berkley

Catherine Deneuve

B.B.

Chloë Sevigny

...Well, not always!

Divine

Patty "The Bad Seed" McCormack

BOOKS IN THE MAKING

After seen this old short film I can't help but loving my old books even more. How much work involved to get them made! I knew it was no simple task but i didn't know how really complicated was. On the other hand, we have these expresso book machines and then those e-readers that don't even need paper and our own blogs that we can print in seconds. The old short film is from 1947 and made by the guys from the Encyclopedia Brittanica. The other is some infomercial for books made on demand (a thing that i personally don't see myself "demanding" at all).

Call me old fashion but I am not that practical when it comes to books. For me are more like toys then tools. More pleasure then work. Is like comparing a gourmet diner or a delicious home made meal with fast junk food : I know I can eat anything but I know what I would prefer if I can choose. Harryhausen instead of CGI.

1947

2010