I just wanted to remind you students out there, particularly those who live in the Midwest, that you can still sign up for the SAAN 2007 Conference at the University of Michigan on the January 26-28th weekend. I spoke at last year’s conference (along with current guest blogger Preston Merchant) and re-capped the fabulousness of it all here.

SAAN’s primary function is to establish an annual South Asian conference for South Asian and non-South Asian students alike. SAAN 2007: Reveal, Rethink, Realize will be the fifth annual holding of this conference, and we hope to continue setting a precedent that all future SAAN conferences will follow. SAAN 2007 will be held January 26-28th at the University of Michigan Union. [Link]

For those of you who are wondering, SAAN is like the anti-SASA. No crazy partying, no SWAT teams, no drunken fights. Just good people, good learning, and great networking. Here is this year’s line-up. I am sure you will recognize many of the names on the list. Among them is Dr. Rajmohan Gandhi, the biographer and grandson of Mahatma Gandhi. Some of the workshops look pretty interesting also. These two stand out (for me at least):

Do Nice Guys Finish Last? – Does leading an ethical life limit your ambitions? As we climb the ladder, should we hush our ethical voice for personal gain? For instance, if you see your boss engaging in sexual harassment, will you stay silent? Will you be totally honest on your resume? Or will you start a pseudo-student group just so you can add another leadership position on your resume? This workshop will examine the interplay between ethics and ambition in our lives…

Mohammad, Vishnu, and Darwin – We always hear about the conflict between the Bible and evolution. But how do South Asian religions reconcile religious and scientific beliefs?… [Link]

Don’t be lazy. Sign up here. It’s cheap and if you don’t like your experience you can totally rip me a new one in the comments section without being banned. I’m that confident in my recommendation.

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In case any of this wonderful siteÂ’s (donÂ’t fire me!) glorious readers (leave me happy comments!) are in Karachi for the next couple of days, I highly recommend that they check out the 6th KaraFilm Festival being held at the Arts Council and/or the Pakistan Institute of International Affairs. According to the website:

There are a grand total of over 170 films being screened this year, including over 40 features, over 30 documentaries and over 95 shorts. They are from 37 countries as diverse as Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Iran, Spain, Germany, France, Italy, USA, Canada, Lithuania, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Portugal, Jamaica, Brazil, Ireland, Romania, Sweden, Guatemala, Sudan, Chad, UAE, Sri Lanka, Peru, China, Poland, Estonia, Austria, Australia, Turkey, Greece, Finland and the Czech Republic . They include a number of World Premieres and Asian premieres, while most are at least Pakistan premieres. Many of them have won prizes at other well known festivals including Cannes, Berlin, Venice, London, Sundance and Mumbai as well as international critics’ FIPRESCI jury awards.

The film festival will also be running a retrospective on François Truffaut, and showcasing the works of Irani (not Iranian, thank goodness) director Jafar Panahi and Pakistani director Jamil Dehlavi. What I love about this festival, despite my inability to actually attend it, no matter how many times I swear to myself in the months leading up that I WILL go to at least a handful of screenings, is that it manages to also (albeit somewhat tangentially) hit other visual arts media. To wit:

Accompanying the film screenings will be a unique curated art exhibition of the work of 5 Pakistani artists who draw their inspiration from the hand-painted imagery of popular cinema and billboard advertising.

In a city like Karachi, where the only forms of public entertainment revolve around food (which, hey, no complaints from me or the owners of my gym) and the occasional (overpriced) concert, this is an unsurprisingly popular event. Tickets tend to be relatively cheap, and the organisers of the event tend to try and cater to a variety of income groups, for example showing movies like The Incredibles dubbed in Hindi/Urdu (the voices are by Sharukh Khan, no less! Eeeee! Not really.) for kids, and charging about Rs. 50 (about 90 cents) for a ticket to a showing. ItÂ’s not a bad deal at all, but I think what I find really encouraging about the whole event is that it tends to remind Karachi that it can well function as a city with cultural projects, as a locus not necessarily limited to bombings and huge amounts of criminal and sectarian violence or a massive economic class divide.

On the off-chance that there are any readers in Karachi whoÂ’d like to go and are having trouble finding tickets or getting sorted out, leave a comment and IÂ’ll try to help out. ItÂ’s well-worth the effort. Continue reading →

You have just over one month to eat your nuts and fruits, reserve your favorite setting and line up the partner(s) of your choice. On Friday, December 22nd, you can help change the world by taking part in the Global Orgasm for Peace.

WHO? All Men and Women, you and everyone you know.

WHERE? Everywhere in the world, but especially in countries with weapons of mass destruction.

WHEN? Winter Solstice Day – Friday, December 22nd, at the time of your choosing, in the place of your choosing and with as much privacy as you choose.

WHY? To effect positive change in the energy field of the Earth through input of the largest possible surge of human energy. There are two more US fleets heading for the Persian Gulf with anti-submarine equipment that can only be for use against Iran, so the time to change EarthÂ’s energy is NOW!

Our minds influence Matter and Energy fields, so by concentrating any thoughts during and after The Big O on peace and partnership, the combination of high orgasmic energy combined with mindful intention will reduce global levels of violence, hatred and fear.

Since the list of countries that possess WMDs includes the United States, India, Pakistan and the United Kingdom, the Global O gives most of our readers an opportunity to do some good. Make sure to tell all the aunties and uncles back in Desh that they too can change the world that day. I am sure they will all want to participate.

It will come as no surprise that the Global Orgasm project originates in San Francisco, the veritable yoni of spiritually-oriented activism. Amusingly sprinkled with double entendres, this article in yesterday’s San Francisco Chronicle has the details:

While the Global O may sound much like other collective actions attempted over the years, the O’s organizers promise something more on their Web site: “The combination of high-energy orgasmic energy combined with mindful intention may have a much greater effect than previous mass meditations and prayers.” …

The effect is to be measured by the Global Consciousness Project at Princeton University (I’m not making this up), which tracks the impact of major events on the output of random number generators. That scientific dimension distinguishes Global O from earlier ventures:

Not surprisingly, the Global O isn’t the first effort to synchronize pleasure in the name of peace. Or even just in the name of synchronized pleasure. For several years, a weekly climax has been coordinated online (Webcams optional), and sexuality experts say there have been several other attempts to link pleasure and peace.

I’m also reminded of the song by Pulp, “Sheffield Sex City,” which speculates on what might happen if everyone in a depressed Northern England city came at once. But the Global O takes the concept to a more ambitious stage and I am sure you will all want to take part. No word yet on a Meetup.

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I just wanted to say thank you to everybody who made it to the first ever Chicago Meetup! We had roughly 15 macacas in attendance (more than you can see in that photo) of all varieties: ABD, FOB, Active commenters, Quiet Lurkers, etc. We may not have hit 40, Taz, but I’ll bet there’s never been a sweeter, more easy going, more congenial group of people who’ve shown up.

The event hosted itself, I didn’t have to do a thing other than suggest that we order more food. Oh yeah, and this will appeal to the desi mentality – it was cheap, yo! We ended up $35 over when we collected money, and actually had to hand some back.

Great company, tasty food … really, the only thing that went wrong was that I didn’t take enough pictures, and the two I did take (with Ravi’s camera) don’t really capture the energy of the event.

So yes, there will definitely be another Chicago Meetup, but from what people said, maybe we should wait until the spring? And for those lurkers who were too shy to attend – come on in, the water’s fine!

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I saw this in the window during my last trip to Chicago.

I know it’s short notice, but I just looked at my calendar and realized that I will be gone most of November, and that if we were going to hold a meetup in Chicago in 2006, this Saturday is probably the best bet. [The Saturday after is a possibility if this Saturday is a really bad idea]

So, are people still interested in a Chicago meetup? I can’t promise the luminous Anna or any of the other mutineers, it would be just me and well, all y’all lovely people. Which honestly, is enough for me

If so, when and where? On Devon? [I’ve never been] If so, where? In one of the desi eateries? Or one of the Jewish ones? [Ooooh – are there any good South Indian places up there?] Somewhere else? The Loop? Lincoln Park? Tentatively, I was thinking 2-3 in the afternoon to meet.

Holler at me, folks. Tell me what your favorite places are, and if you can make it at all and I’ll update accordingly. [If nobody can make it, or if nobody is interested, then we’ll simply punt]

UPDATE: I’ve moved the date up one week because of Diwali. Will that work better for most of you?s

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