European Constitution

Non to the EU constitution. I am reading the constitution itself. When finished, will have more to say. I expect a yet stronger Nein.

Blue Daydreamer

Houellebecq was in San Francisco last week and I got to see and talk to him. "Jim" is a professional photographer, whoever he is.

I am late, the room is packed. I drag myself in front of one of those giant abstract pieces of art hanging on the wall and look at the writer's face, who is answering the questions of a nice tommy boy American interviewer. His French accent rushes me in the face. Why women are all dressed up? Men in suit, I feel like being lost in a ball masque.

I am more interested in audience than the writer himself. I spot a "very" genuine listener. A girl in white with a glass of white wine in her hand in the second row who is apparently "very" much amazed by the charming frenchie gestures of the writer. Every time he mumbles a word in French, her eyes become round in a "very" compassionate way. She laughs with him and when he is uttering a word, she lip-syncs him silently. When her excitement mounts, she points to a friend in the same row, a few chairs away and with her index finger shows the writer to her, so as she hasn't seen him in the room before.

I want to talk to him, he wears a pair of too formal shoes for his loose jacket and baggy trousers. The remarkable point in his gesture is the angry, sad and smart glow of his eyes. I pull myself to the front and start the conversation.

-I finished reading one of your works last night and I want to tell you something.
-What do you want to tell me?
-Well, I hate you, because you hate everyone.
Pauses and looks at me, blue anger.
-Not everybody thinks like you do.
-They are afraid of you, that's why they want to see you with that hunger. All these women here fall for your orgy scenes made up by words. They want to see you as the one who says something they don't dare to say and do.
He is thinking,
-I found the hatred in your last book really cheap.
-I don't see why you are calling it hatred?
-Are the books autobiographical?
-No, not at all.
-But the descriptions are very good, how do you know those places in Thailand?
-Well, you have to be there to see it. That's enough.
I can imagine him as an outsider, watching the German and Americans having fun in tropics. A sense of mercy rises in me. I have done my part. Cameras are flashing and fans are asking for autograph, I left.

-Brant, look, This guy is like a little kid who gets pissed off and breaks all the windows in the house. I say.
-Come on man, It is fun to do so, isn't it? Not only I don't deny the Schopenhauer's influence on him, I am a Schopenhauer fan myself.
-Sadness in the movies and books is not bothering me anymore, I should say I have a more natural reflex to the violence which makes me sick. Really sick.

Adam tells me that there was supposed to be some protesters outside, told me UC Berkeley students had a plan.
-Don't worry Adam, I told him what you guys wanted to say. I said.
-Ah good, so you are the "protester"..
-Yeah you can say that.

I and Jim went to hunt down the translator, a small woman in her thirties who was the host. Jim is starting the conversation now it is her turn:
-Are you the translator?
We never can't hold ourselves in front of an open bar. We are loaded by almost a bottle of chardonnay,
-you know the previous translations were awful.. I think yours would be an exception".
-I hope so, she says,

Adam is showing me to a girl wearing a "central square" T-shirt.
-He is the protester, He told him that he sucks" ,
Jim pulls out another cigarette and asks for light, I don't have light, I see the writer dragging on his.
-Do you have a lighter, s'il vous plait? Writer pulls out the lighter and professionally lights Jim's fire.
I look at him again, isn't it amazing? His boldness which makes him a figure, why? Is it the decadence and tired hate and anger or is the left over of suffering in his eyes? What makes him a figure? His daydreams on paper? He probably enjoys other people's being cruel to him.
Jim met the translator's sister, a Yale hipster, and got her number. We are done and headed out through the mezzanine. Let's breath on "Mission" again. I drove back sober.

Disappointment

Today Tom pointed out the fact that according to Chaitin, having n bits of axioms, you will have no more than n bits of theorems (in Kolmogorov complexity sense of course).
It’s sad, no philosopher’s stone would be found in mathematics.

Anniversaire

Apparently this blog is one year old!

American Dream

The New York Times May 15th included this article about popular opinion on classes in the US. You can rank yourself based on their ranking database in this graphic interface.
Some points to mention:

a- These are prestigious occupation based on popular belief:

1-Legal practice
2-Physicians and Surgeons
3-Computer/Math (Mathematicians are hot anyway!)
4-Education
5-Engineers/Architects
…
446-Dishwashers,

How many lawyers or physicians or engineers have washed dishes?

b- If you have a Bachelors, then you studied more than 90% is States

c- If you earn up to 90 grands, you are better off than 90% of Americans.

d- If you have declared a graduate degree, 3 in 4, will end up in top fifth.

e- In spite of all the hype, income mobility rates are higher in Denmark, Canada and France. To my opinion it is mostly based on the uniformity of income and having a solid middle class in these countries. It is easier to slip from one range to another, if they are almost the same level.

f- Americans are mostly optimistic. Poor tend to model rich and are not rebellious.

Impression

I found Sergei Yesenin‘s biography quite stunning and Russianly dramatized. Ida has has sent me this link to his poetry and advised me to read more of his works to impress Russians with a firsthand knowledge of Russian literature. Way to go.

RATT

Rational secularism is not dead at Stanford. Fabian is the “Financial Officer”. Should take him more seriously.