June 2004

The Archives

• univerCity

  Gaming in the Classroom

  06.30.04 | Permalink | 1 Comment

  I am not a board game geek like some SVG PCV or one co-worker (I was gonna link to his very impressive 100+ board game collection but it appears that is no longer a possibility). I did play Monopoly when I was a kid. Still, I contend that board games are a great tool in [...]

• homistan

  Ahl-e Wafa

  06.29.04 | Permalink | 15 Comments

  I discovered Faiz Ahmed Faiz when I was a senior in high school (FSc for those that know). My mother warned me specifically not to touch some authors as they were godless communists or had mature content. Faiz was one of them (Manto and Faraz the others). I bought Dast-e Saba (Wind’s Palm) at a [...]

• imperial watch

  F Day

  06.28.04 | Permalink | Comment?

  Empires aren’t supposed to beat a hastily arranged retreat, Niall. What gives? Paul Bremer hands a blue folder to a confused older judge and a truly evil-looking Allawi and the Empire has left the building.
  The Bush administration’s gamble here is pretty obvious. Paul Bremer boards the plane. Shi’a, Sunni, Kurds explode onto each other [...]

• not baseball

  Divorce of Imran Khan

  06.27.04 | Permalink | 28 Comments

  If I had one superhero, one legend, in my youth it was the amazing Imran Khan- Captain of Pakistan Cricket Team through late 80s. I remember that poster in Aamir’s room of Imran’s bowling action and how I tried oh-so-sadly to emulate that. Got my ass kicked.
  Imran Khan cemented his legend by leading Pakistan to [...]

• homistan

  Jamali Juju Breaks

  06.26.04 | Permalink | 8 Comments

  Poor Jamali. He was doomed ever since he started “speaking from the heart” and getting too chummy with the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA). For the last 2 months, numerous rumors of his resignation or firng circulated. The writing was indeed on the wall. Chosen as a rubber-stamp PM, he did his job admirably until his relationships [...]

• optical character recognition

  Charlie Did It

  06.25.04 | Permalink | 7 Comments

  “It was all Kiplingesque,” said Charlie Wilson of his first encounter with the Afghani Mujahideen. Sadly, both the tragedy and the irony of that statement seemed to be lost on him. Charlie Wilson’s War by George Crile is billed as a “riveting inside account of the last battle of the Cold War” by the publisher [...]

• better with tablas

  Canadian Craze

  06.24.04 | Permalink | 8 Comments

  Blake informs me that Bryan Adams is HUGE in South India. Alanis Morisette is HUGE in Pakistan. Explain.

• univerCity

  Bash Berkeley

  06.23.04 | Permalink | 2 Comments

  I didn’t take my jacket because, well, it is LATE JUNE. I am absolutely freezing my ass here. Sure, sure, tell me about the Bay Area weather. I do not care. I am cold and damp and I want to go home to Chicago and embrace the midwestern sky.
  My talk is over and for 40 [...]

• univerCity

  Berkeley Bash

  06.22.04 | Permalink | 4 Comments

  I am in Berkeley CA for two days giving a talk on something or the other. Not quite sure but it is tomorrow morning at 9:45.
  There is shopping planned.
  Pub crawl.
  And maybe a movie as well.
  I love San Francisco.
  update: No, sven, I have just been informed that my talk is entitled History of Islam in India. [...]

• homistan

  Dhoti Man

  06.21.04 | Permalink | 6 Comments

  Marvel announced that they will be “transcreating” Spider Man into a a local Indian variety, Pavitr Prabhakar, so that Indian kids can enjoy it more.
  The original post here was all about the “local” v “global”. It got accidently deleted this morning as I was rubbing sleep from my eyes.
  What did I have to say? [...]