In Harmonium

Being in the main the musings of a Symbolic Anthropologist

Marc | February 17, 2010

The people in the past used to worship the idols which they used to make with their hands. Nowadays, people worship idols which are more intellectual – like democracy, liberalism, freedom, and so on. So these need to be destroyed as well, and replaced with worshipping and obeying Allah.
(source: Anjem Choudary)
I rarely write about religion, [...]

The value of the Arts to Economics

Marc | January 29, 2010

Margaret Atwood was recently honoured with a Chrystal Award at the World Economic Forum.  The true esteem in which the Arts are held by the WEF, however, was clearly shown in how they handled the acceptance speaches by the various winners: the canceled them.
I really can’t let this go by both as an Anthropologist and [...]

A new year, a new start

Marc | January 1, 2010

Back on the 12th, I put up a short post about December having been a trying month.  What I didn’t mention then was that my wife Leslie and I were separating.  We have spent the last 18 months trying to see if we could work out our differences but came to the conclusion early last [...]

A trying month

Marc | December 24, 2009

December has, for me at least, been a very trying month, and I just have not had the time or energy to blog despite many interesting happenings.  I am hoping to return to blogging early in the new year once things have settled down somewhat.  I wanted to take the opportunity, however, to wish all [...]

Lynddie England and Free Speech

Marc | August 15, 2009

Yesterday, Friday August 14th, was to have seen a talk given by Lynddie England at the Library of Congress on her new biography Tortured: Lynndie England, Abu Ghraib and the Photographs That Shocked the World. The talk, however, sparked a very strong reaction from Morris Davis, a veteran and employee of the Library of Congress [...]

Small Wars Journal writing competition

Marc | July 17, 2009

The folks at SWJ have been talking about this for a while, and now the preliminary announcement has come out.  This is a great opportunity for people to put together 3,000 – 5,000 words on one or both of the topics.  The prizes are not shabby either: US $3,000 for the winner in each category [...]

Leipzig or Why Bach is great!

Marc | June 10, 2009

Well, phase 1 of the tour is over and in the past: Leipzig.  This was our third time singing at the Thomaskirche, and the time just flew; it seemed to be over almost as soon as it started.  Too bad.

A Review of Cyburbia

Marc | June 2, 2009

Lost in Cyburbia: How Life on the Net Has Created a Life of Its Own.
James Harkin
Little Brown UK
Alfred A. Knopf Canada
http://www.cyburbia.tv/
On May 2nd, 2009, I had the pleasure of hosting James Harkin at the Ottawa Writers Festival as he talked about his new book Lost in Cyburbia.  As someone who has a strong interest in [...]

Some thoughts on FM 3-07-1

Marc | May 7, 2009

FM 3-07-1 Security Force Assistance was released on May 5th month by TRADOC (announcement here, PDF here).  I have been waiting for this one since I saw an early draft of it several months ago.  As I feared, I was underwhelmed by the chapters dealing with culture.

When it rains, it pours

Marc | April 7, 2009

I have been insanely busy since I got back from Monterey.  What has made the situation so frustrating is that the vast majority of the busyness is things that I have been waiting for to happen.  My body, however, decided that I needed a rest so, along with two of my bass colleagues in the [...]