Capitalism and capitalists rarely surprise…. They really do take alienation to the extreme. Who needs the sagacity of Karl Marx, when Adam Smith said, capitalism’s division of labour turns workers ‘stupid’ and ‘ignorant’ – apparently into captivity and even death on the job. The man whose whole life is spent in performing a few simple…
Month: August 2024
Instant photos on a roll
I finally made time to sort out, and find a way to use and display, some of the instant pics I made with the Leica Sofort instant camera. The pictures are stuck on a till roll, it’s not a very original arrangement, and a bit clumsy, but I had fun. I bought the camera a…
Film: Tebusan Dosa (The Redemption of Sin)
I look forward to watching the new Indonesian film, Tebusan Dosa, a ‘mystery-horror’ work by Yosep Anggi Noen, an enormously talented filmmaker (See his body of work, here). While I am not a fan of ‘horror’ films – not at all – Noen’s exceptional talent and vision, and the performances of Happy Salma, Shogen and…
Malaysia’s road to BRICS is laden with traps and mines
Malaysia’s decision to apply to BRICS for membership is visionary, but fraught with problems. These problems are mainly external, non-governmental, it should be said, and will probably continue to nag the application process and bedevil Malaysia’s actual membership and participation in the BRICS. The likely challenges Malaysia faces, more especially the Prime Minister, Anwar Ibrahim,…
The Next Stage of VAR is in Nanotech Coatings
Like most sports football has become more competitive, more intense, louder and attracting a wider spread of fans and following over the past two decades or so. All of this has attracted more money and interest… with emphases on greater efficiency and investment in the game; from the stands to the field to the kit,…
Review: Kabut Berduri (Borderless Fog)
I can’t be completely objective about Kabut Berduri (Borderless Fog), an Indonesian film by Edwin, with Putri Marino as the lead protagonist, Sanja Arunika, who is sent from Jakarta to Borneo to investigate a strange set of murders where one victim’s severed head is found the body of the other. Set, as it is, where…
A Photograph: Wireless Radio Blues
Review: Notes about a book
A short video clip about a chapter in the book, Coloured: How Classification Became Culture, slipped into my TikTok feed yesterday. In the chapter, the writers, Tessa Dooms and Lynsey Ebony Chutel stated that “Trevor Noah is not coloured”. I don’t intend to review the book, here. I turned down a formal request to review the book…
The Hill of the Skull: A brief commentary and notes about a photo essay
The Hill of the Skull is a book-length photo-essay by Jeremy Bassetti, a “writer, photographer and educator,” and Professor at Valencia College in Orlando, Florida in the USA. With the text and photographs, Bassetti tracks his journey to a sacred mountain in Quillacollo, Bolivia as part of his academic research on mountain cultures, ostensibly to get an understanding of…