A Sea Change

Lost Jospeh (Hafez)

Your lost Joseph will return to Canaan, do not grieve This house of sorrows will become a garden, do not grieve Oh grieving heart, you will mend do not despair This frenzied mind will return to calm, do not grieve When the spring of life again sets in the meadows A crown of flowers you will bear, singing bird, do not grieve If these turning epochs do not move with our will today The spheres of time are not constant, do not grieve Lose hope not, for awareness cannot perceive the concealed Behind the curtains hidden scenes play, do not grieve Oh heart, should a flood of destruction engulf the world If Noah is at your helm, do not grieve As you step through the desert in desire of Ka’aba The thorns may reproach you, do not grieve Home may be perilous and destination out of reach But there are no paths without an end, do not grieve Our state in separation from friends and with demands of foes The divine who turns circumstance knows all, do not grieve Hafez, in the corner of poverty and loneliness of dark nights Until your words echo prayers and lessons of Quran, do not grieve.

*Note: I tried to make this translation verbatim and minimize interpretation, however Hafez poems are very challenging to ‘translate’ because (a) a large part of the meaning of his poems are carried implicitly in the rhyme and structure of the couplets (b) many of the words Hafez uses have a multitude of meanings for which there is no single English equivalent, so any translation is much more simplistic than the original poem.

Or so goes the story from the New York Times. I have to admit absolutely loving the number of headlines today that appear to mention A Sea Change, not in reference to this blog, but in reference to the Iranian elections that are going on today.

This past year has been full of elections excitement. There were the Canadian general elections back in October that while were not terribly exciting, did lead to unique shifting of alliances in the parliament and some very unprecedented events. But to raise our spirits, there was the Novermber 4^th, 2008 US elections which had the air buzzing, graffitti on the wall, and all of us glued to the television here in Montréal (and all the way to Tehran). The outcomes, historic and a true sea change if there ever was one. Then, this year, there was the massive Indian General Election which concluded on May 16th with an incredible 700 million voter turn-out. And on a more local level, a few days ago for the first time in history, the NDP sweeped the votes in Nova Scotia.

Of course, today I am awaiting eagerly to hear the results of this election, as I am sure are million of Iranians and others around the world. We saw the 20 kilometer human-chain in a show of support for the reform Candidate Mousavi on June 8th. I can only imagine the air now must be electric in Tehran…

While cynicism remains strong and every candidate can be criticized and rightfully so, I can’t help but admire those who go to the polls to make a sincere effort towards a better tomorrow. They go with optimism and the hope that promises that have been made will be delivered. Whatever the outcome of this election, with a vote-turnout that is expected to reach into 80% (pretty incredible!), I am most glad that Iranians are so passionate about the opportunity to vote and take their fate into their own hands. I hope the same kind of fervor and call to responsibility is carried on in the post-election era because as it goes… any day without apathy is a good day.

*Pictures source (Associated Press/MSNBC) and even more pictures.

I was once like you are now, and I know that its not easy,
To be calm when you’ve found something going on.
But take your time, think a lot,
Why, think of everything you’ve got.
For you will still be here tomorrow, but your dreams may not.

How can I try to explain, when I do he turns away again.
It’s always been the same, same old story.
From the moment I could talk I was ordered to listen.
Now there’s a way and I know that I have to go away.
I know I have to go.

A venerated sage with vast power and knowledge, you gently guide forces around you while serving as a champion of the light.

“Judge me by my size, do you? And well you should not – for my ally is the Force. And a powerful ally it is. Life creates it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us, and binds us. Luminescent beings are we, not this crude matter! You must feel the Force around you, everywhere.” *source

I was kind of hoping to be a STer like Picard or Spock or Data… even Worf would’ve been fine. Turns out I am just an old little green hippie inside… we know these quizzes never lie!

In other news, the web’s abuzz about Google Wave. From the preview, I can’t decide whether they’re streamlining user-experience by collapsing multiple services into one, or creating an entirely new service that may even be too bloated with functionalities. But Google rarely disappoints and the fact that this is open source is good news and the real-time document editing capabilities look fantastic. I can’t even begin to describe how many times I’ve needed something exactly like this for collaboration projects, because Google Docs just does not do it… so I am definitely looking forward to when this thing actually comes out.

What I am really looking forward to though is this upcoming summer (yes, summer still hasn’t quite started here, you can still breathe in Montreal) there are some exciting things coming this way.

Stumbled upon this on twitter (“Finally, an easy way to reconcile the differences between Jews, Christians, & Muslims, with a nod to the mormons!” via @god appropriately enough). It’s a pretty funny observation… Speaking of trilogies, the next Trek is due out in 2011. Hopefully it follows the Lord of the Rings and not the Matrix sequel trajectory.

Think of it like a movie. The Torah is the first one, and the New Testament is the sequel. Then the Qu’ran comes out, and it retcons the last one like it never happened. There’s still Jesus, but he’s not the main character anymore, and the messiah hasn’t shown up yet.

Jews like the first movie, but ignored the sequels, Christians think you need to watch the first two, but the third one doesn’t count, Moslems think the third one was the best, and Mormons liked the second one so much they started writing fanfiction that doesn’t fit with ANY of the series canon.

I was about nine or so, standing in front of my grandmother’s house an early spring evening, looking mesmerized at the ever-falling comet Hale-Bopp illuminating the dark sky. Emotions can hardly be transcribed into words, but looking at this falling star, one that would come back in 2500 years– when we would all be nothing but star dust– I was overcome by how incredibly small I was in the face of infinity. All the while sensing how incredibly significance we must be, to have the privilege being witness to and a part of this infinity. I’ve kept that moment. And now, all these years later, when I look up at the sky I still feel vividly the awe and wonder I felt then.

Galactic Center of Milky Way Rises over Texas Star Party byWilliam Castleman.

Spring has arrived and the McGill campus looks absolutely stunning…

In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.

- Albert Camus        

I’ve been absolutely immersed in brain anatomy (which I now heart) for the past eight months. In the process I’ve amassed a rather large collection of links. I’ve listed some of the better resources below, hopefully others will find this helpful.

Image Source: the Morbid Anatomy Collection

1. The Brain from Top to Bottom (McGill University) offers a fantastic overview of the brain. It can serve as a good starting point for introducing the molecular to histological to social aspects of the brain. The nice design is a great bonus.

2. The Digital Anatomist (University of Washington) is a site I use frequently for my studies. The organization is a bit confusing but the site has amazing gross and histological sections, vascular and pathway diagrams, and MRI animations. There is a self-test for almost every slide, which is a great way to reinforce the structures and pathways.

3. Salamon’s Neuroanatomy and Neurovasculature Web-Atlas Resource (UCLA) is a pretty comprehensive tutorial resource covering both anatomy and vascularization of the brain. With clear explanations and diagrams, the site is good for self-study or as a complement to neuroanatomy classes. The interface could be better (the text is all in jpg form) but the thorough quiz section makes up for that.

4. Neuroanatomy Tutorial (University of Utah) is a fairly simple but highly effective site for learning gross structure of the brain. Its labeling system is particularly useful.
Read the rest of this entry »

“Birth”

At the edge of the crimson horizon,
The last crescent of light dims,
As a veil of darkness,
Adorned with precious jewels,
Settles across the vast land.
The howlers, the prowlers,
The day-scavengers fall into a deep sleep,
As a new world awakens.

An oasis lies near.

Touch, let the golden grains of sand
Run through your fingers
Feel the warmth that remains.

Smell, the brisk mountain air
These ancient peaks stood tall,
As a mighty deluge consumed the world.

Taste, the evening dew
As it trickles down every leaf
Carrying the sweet nectar of life.

Listen, to the nightingale’s soliloquy
The melody, a tribute to the heavens
Flowing, piercing through the landscape.

A river, riveting, reviving.

Watch, as the rays of light slowly penetrate
Through the entwined branches
Of the ancient baobab tree.

Fall, fall on your knees
Before this majesty, before this splendor.
The misty morn settles across the plains.

The night, a fleeting memory
As the pitch black
Transforms into a heavenly azure.

- Marzieh Ghiasi (March 2005)

*Image Source Baobab tree at sunrise. © Shahidul Alam/Drik/Majority World

A friend shared this collection in Time a while back, but I stumbled upon them again today. The pictures are by photographer Peter Menzel and are part of the book “Hungry Planet: What the World Eats“.

Bhutan, Shingkhey Village — $5.0
Family recipe: Mushroom, cheese and pork

Before coming to university, I never really thought about food beyond ‘what’s for dinner?’ but since coming here I have to admit my perspective on food has really begun to transform. Aside from learning that I will never make it as a chef, through friends I’ve become exposed to the politics of food, from the meat industry to global food production. I’ve had to research on the Green Revolution and learn in class about agricultural genomics. I’ve gotten to know about the current food crisis, food and women’s rights and even food and homelessness in lectures and conferences.

I am really fascinated by these pictures because they capture a truly colourful cross-section of cultures, juxtaposing some startling differences between what we eat, and how much we [are able to] spend on our food. But I think what is even more striking is the nuanced story that the foods set on the table tell about each family, painting a unifying narrative of the human condition and our basic needs– needs that make us human. It seems as though food ties into every aspect of health, environment, economics and justice in a very subtle yet important way. After all this, it has become a tiny bit harder for me to look at the dinner plate the same way.

*Picture source. The exhibition is on display at Montréal Science Centre until May 3^rd.