Vladimir Vysotsky

I recently found a video of Vladimir Vysotsky on Youtube. My Russian teacher showed me his music a year or so ago, but I had forgotten about it.

He has been compared to George Brassens. I can hear the stylistic similarities, but Vladimir Vysotsky is much more forceful and passionate.

Strange phone call

Recently I got a call from an unrecognized number. Someone left a message saying that they were looking for Heather T.

I called them back.

"Hi, my name is Kent, and I just got a message from this number asking about Heather T."

"Oh, hi, Kent. Do you know Heather?"

"No, but may I ask who this is?"

"My name is Andrew, and I'm calling from the NRA."

"Really? Interesting!"

"Yeah. Well, thanks for your time."

So I heard this amazing joke...

Q. What do astronauts like on their sandwiches?

A. Launch meat.

$7

Conversation at work with someone who came up to the information desk:

Her - "I just found $7 on on the floor."

Me - "Well, I don't think anyone is going to come here looking for it."

Her - "OK, well I'll give you $2 so I don't feel like a jerk."

Me - "Thanks."

drafts

I have 8 draft posts that I should just finish, but I keep putting it off. That explains why I don't update this more. I have this pile of half-finished rants, updates, philosophical treatises, etc., but I get distracted by other things or just forget about them.

Anyway, soon I'll publish something I've been thinking about for a while regarding the philosophy of science, since I recently came across the works of Karl Popper, who was one of the most influential philosophers of the 20th century.

In other news, I graduate next spring. I have mixed feelings about this. I'm excited to take a break from the unrelenting stress of school, but I'll probably go crazy. It will also be nice to read books that I've had to push aside during school (lots of science fiction, Steinbeck, etc.), though I imagine that I'll come back to philosophy and Russian literature to read things I haven't yet read.

lists

Currently reading
The Cossacks by Tolstoy
Sections of the three-volume Russian Philosophy
The Sickness Unto Death by Kierkegaard

Planning to read over Christmas break
The Lord of the Rings (yet again)

Really excited for
Quantum of Solace
Star Trek
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
the end of the semester

Mixed feelings
the pending economic collapse
graduation next spring

The Death of Yugoslavia

I just finished watching the BBC documentary "The Death of Yugoslavia." It's a six-part series about the dissolution of the Republic of Yugoslavia in the 80s and 90s. It was both both intensely captivating and, at times, difficult to watch. It was released in 1995, less than a year after the first hearing of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the court which prosecutes crimes committed during the Yugoslav wars. Thus, the interviewees (such as Slobodan Milosevic and other government and military leaders) had not yet been prosecuted, and speak quite candidly about their actions, as though they are untouchable and won't get their comeuppance. It's interesting to watch it now, knowing that Slobodan Milosevic died in his cell toward the end of his trial, in which he was accused of 66 counts of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. In fact, most of the major leaders in the documentary are now either dead or on trial. Two of the Serbian leaders responsible for much of the war in Bosnia were found and arrested just last summer!

Anyway, I highly recommend it. It forced me to take a different perspective on international intervention, though I'm still not entirely sure of how I feel about things like that.

All six parts can be watched on Google Video. Here's the first: Part 1: Enter Nationalism