Neurotic Beauty

OK, Wafers; the Japan book is finally available. You'll probably need one for the kitchen and one for the bathroom, and maybe one more for your den. And then of course the basement workshop...This Amazon listing needs fixing: there are some endorsements to come, and the subtitle got cited twice, for some odd reason. Well, all in good time (hopefully). In the meantime, I hope you all enjoy the book:

http://www.amazon.com/Neurotic-Beauty-Outsider-Looks-Japan/dp/1893075974/ref=sr_1_11?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1424965596&sr=1-11&keywords=morris+berman

Practice Your Spanish

Well, Wafers: I got duped. Canal 22, the cultural TV channel in Mexico City, asked me to do a taped interview with them, which I did a few weeks ago. They told me they would tape about 30 minutes, then do a slight bit of editing, and issue the interview in two parts, of about 10 or 15 minutes each. Well, the "slight bit of editing" consisted in removing almost all of the interview. What aired was two parts of 3 minutes each. Their apparent goal was not political analysis, but entertainment. As a result, all I managed to convey were slogans and platitudes; what else can you do in 6 minutes? I may be being hard on myself, but I think I come across as a cliche (progress vs. tradition, etc.). Not good. I guess the American contagion of hustling has managed to infect the Mexican media, tragically enough. My first and last interview for Canal 22, in any case.

Anyway, I'm posting this not for content--there isn't much--but for those of you want to practice your Spanish (though mine ain't perfect, as hispanohablantes will rightly point out). Gozalo!

http://youtu.be/WIvkWxcSFdI

http://youtu.be/ZPKFlSWS3tM

-mb

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Well, Waferinos-

We've got a good discussion going on the Ukraine, so we might want to continue with that; although a subthread on the merits of chopped liver would not be totally amiss, methinks. I don't have a lot to add right now, being up to my eyeballs in trying to get out the Japan book and the Spanish edition of SSIG. Also doing my taxes. When I saw how little I earned last year, I wept. Not sure how I manage to keep going; it sure ain't from book sales. "Little Known Author Dies in Mexico from Poverty, While Trollfoons Applaud"--a future newspaper headline somewhere, I suppose. On the bright side, we now have 157 registered Wafers, so our victory is assured.

Life goes on, amigos. Try to avoid talking to Americans, in the meanwhile; it's just too depressing.

mb

Interview with James Howard Kunstler

OK, Waferinos; let's take a break from Charlie Hebdo for a while, and check out JHK's latest podcast:

http://traffic.libsyn.com/kunstlercast/KunstlerCast_263.mp3

(Another) Interview with Ken Rose

http://whatnowsolutions.org/?powerpress_pinw=1216-podcast

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Dear Wafers (and Waferettes):

Well, here we are, at the end of another year. I have nothing profound to say at this point; I'm going to leave that up to you. We spent 2014 watching the U.S. slide further into chaos and self-destruction; it's a good bet we'll see more of the same during the next twelve months. As a group, we Wafers could retard the process, if the American public would only listen to us; but as we all know, there's not much chance of that. Onward and Downward! That's all we can say.

Happy New Year!

mb