Philosophies, Science, Formalisms, Music and More

From Brazilian music to foreign film reviews, this site is filled with diverse topics and ideas. I have translated the works of my favorite Brazilian artists, and posted my amateur attempt at fiction writing.

There are plenty of English translations of my favorite artist: Jorge Ben Jor. Ben Jor, is the son of a Brazilian father and Abyssinian mother, who is also a world-famous guitarist and singer. The works of some other Brazilian artists I've translated and posted (some with sound streams) include: Seu Jorge, Chico Buarque, Vinicius De Moraes, Celso Fonseca, Luiz Melodia, Elis Regina, Djavan, Ed Motta and Simone. Brazilian music I believe is pointing the way to truly esoteric expression in the 21st century. Yes, there will be more. First I've got to program some compression into the streams of this site to bring down the page load time.

My passion for mathematics and theoretical physics is evident in some essays I've written about infinity, time travel and mathematical linguistics.

Lastly, I am a Somali-American by birth as I was born in New York City and matured in Jersey City. My people and culture are still of paramount importance to me. I am writing a large work on this issue. I will post it in the future.

Images of my People and Our Land
Lake Assal in Jibuti	Stunning Issa Woman in Tadjoura, Jibuti	Another Gorgeous Somali Woman	Amhara Abyssinians	And of course my lovely daughter and my beloved grand children, that's Asha, Malcolm, Aaron and Nyla, my own Abyssinians

Articles of General Interest
It is a popular idea that all we do and make is limited and finite. We know we will die and our relatives too. But in this essay I try to look at from a different perspective. What if we can be infinite as a species?	Are We Finite?	The Coen Brothers have made so many good films. This one is called Burn After Reading. It's a comedy and boy what a good laugh it is. I of course relate it to mathematics, this is becoming theme on this site, I better stop this stuff...huh?	Burn After Reading	Hector Hugh Munro was a 19th Century Burmese-born British writer with the pen name Saki. He wrote many spell-binding short stories. The Interlopers is the first I'll review. There are many more to come. Here is my take on a story of men in deadly conflict that find their biggest enemy is not themselves but well... something else.	The Interlopers	Another in my continuing series of articles about contrived human conceptions. This time we examine Beauty, the idea and the perception.	What Is Beauty	When we send messages over computer networks today, we are using encryption to protect what is within them. When we want to know that the source of messages received are authentically from the person we believe is sending them, again we use encryption. RSA is one method to this. It comes from cryptography mathematics which is part of set theory and here is simplified description of it.	RSA Algorithm	Intuitionism is a form of Logic that the Dutch mathematician Luitzen Brouwer helped to create. It is a direct repudiation of the older Truth-Functional system of Logic. Its implications are far-reaching as I examine in the article below	Intuitionism, Brouwer and Gӧdel		Television advertising is turning us into consumer machines. I look at Jeopardy, the quiz to see how it's just a device to make us buy things.	Jeopardy An Advertiser's Paradise	Do you like your given name? I don't. What if we could choose our names at some point after we were born. Until then, what if we had a temporary name? I think this system could work in any culture. See why.	Self Naming	Sampling Music Debate Is music sampling plagiarism? I don't think so, see why.	The Black Cloud A real science fiction novel that will have you entranced. Written in 1958 by the famous British cosmologist Sir Fred Hoyle, it's about alien visitation to Earth

Avatar James Cameron's Avatar is not worth its ticket price. Avatar: A 3-D rip-off

Does Perfection Exist? A short article about the concept of Perfection

Turing Test and AI Alan Turing Does the Turing Test really measure if a computer is conscious? In this article, which I wrote over 10 years ago, the issue is thoroughly examined.

Is Web Piracy Out of Control? Web Piracy is everywhere on the Net and I've made a brief study of it. Here are my results.

Again singer/guitarist Ben Jor creates a searing hot narrative about the power of a Black slave woman in 18th century colonial Brazil: Xica Da Silva, theme song to the movie of the same name. Xica Da Silva

Ze do Caroco (Joe Pit) is a song about man a trapped in the "favela" or slums. It's poignant to the max, and makes you sway to it's plaintive tone. Ana Carolina put so much passion in to her vocalization of what is really a piece of poetry. I seen on several net pages what I consider an inaccurate English translations of this song. Some seem to have been done by programs. Here is mine: Ze do Caroco She has an accompanying vocalist, whom I don't recognize, who takes the song to a new height. See this is why Brazil is more than soccer!

Jorge Ben sings about a man who wants to be a star. Or better put a Superstar. O Astro (Superstar)

One of Ben Jor's most melodic works. A Minha Teimosia uma Arma Pra Te Conquistar.My Plan To Win You Over

Celso Fonseca is a Brazilian artist with a Bossa Nova style and being a Carioca he knows it. The song in English means The Night is my Opium. A Noite Meu Opio Celso Fonseca A Noite Meu Opio

A song by Jorge Vercilo, based on the Spider-Man comic book character. Homem Arranha (Spider-Man, The Song) Spider-Man Jorge Vercilo

Inclination (Queda) Another one by Fonseca. This time a song about adultery or the temptation to commit it. This is something I know about personally.

De Jesus de Praga Jorge Ben Jor shows his Catholicism again with this song about the amazing boy Jesus in Prague. I like this song for his pure beauty of melody and style.

Ed Motta is to my mind the direction that Brazilian-American-Afro music should take. This guy has Us down so pat you can't help but love him Fora da Lei (Outside the Law)

What Is Belief An article about the philosophic idea of Belief. I explore the topic from the perspective of science and philosophy. myself 1999

Um Homem Solitario Skank is a rock group in Brazil that has made a song that speaks to my Existentialist philosophy. I love the sardonic tone of this song, even its American-influence rock thematic structure. Check out the translation.

Language and Infinity Is language construction infinite? Can we form an infinite real world sentence? Steven Pinker, the author of The Language Instinct believes we can. I believe this idea is wrong, and explain why in this article.

L'Enfant (The Child) is a film by Belgian brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne that will tear at your parental instincts. L'Enfant

The Wrong Man A film by Alfred Hitchcock. Henry Fonda plays the mild-mannered musician who becomes the subject of a police investigation into a recent bank robbery.

The Lorentz Contraction and Reverse Time Travel

Unique Infinity Is there a unique infinity? This article looks at infinity from a different perspective.

Afro Blue A John Coltrane Classic

John Coltrane

A Review of John Searle's Chinese Room Argument John Searle's Chinese Room Argument

The 4th Spatial Dimension Is there a 4th spatial dimension? If so, are there living beings within it? This unfinished work looks at that question.

Sub-Normal translation A song by Luiz Melodia

Sao Liebowitz translation Jorge Ben's song based on the book The Canticle of Saint Liebowitz. A chilling work about the aftermath of nuclear war

Elements of film making Short review of how films are made.

Typical Dreams Dreams are strange night stories we fashion for ourselves.

Justice in America is a strange mixture of theater and ritualized procedure. Flawed Jurisprudence

Carolina's Dream

Here are some sound files I made expressing sometimes dark and dangerous themes. It Is There (1992)

You are Not Alone (1992)

Spirit (1997) For an atheist to write and read this takes some interpreting

Pursuits (1992) This poem I wrote for a woman (name withheld for obvious reasons), an adulterous lover I became obsessed with in the late 80's. I still wonder where she is now. Though, this love was wrongheaded, my compulsion for her would not let me stop. A life mistake for sure. We eventually separated.

How we can voice our opinions on radio talks with the help of set theory. Radio Programs, Sets and the Individual

Two more English words that have been used in contexts which they were not intended. Oh well, that's synchronic changes for ya The English words High and Low

Pseudo Scientists Scientists with a religious agenda

On the Day I Went Away-No Dia Que Eu Vim Embora A poignant work, sung by the late beautiful Brazilian singer Elis Regina. She led a tragic life that parallels this song.

Tolstoy, Kafka, Life and Death, and English Idiom
In The Penal Colony is another of Kakfa's grotesque stories. A prison colony that enforces its will through a deadly mechanical instrument. In The Penal Colony	Lies Cynicism and Suspicion What do the words: Lies, Cynicism and Suspicion really mean?	Matrix Revolutions has more action than a prize fight, the corniest dialogue you could ever imagine and some more amateur metaphysics screenwriting. Matrix Revolutions	Why do we fear dying so much? As we approach our mortality there is a disturbing state of mind that steadily possesses us. It was termed by one of my favorite philosophers, Jean-Paul Sartre, Being-toward-death. Jean Paul Satre Matters of Life and Death	Self-Deception is an idea that Jean-Paul Sartre examined. Aren't we deceiving ourselves all the time? Another in my series of articles about Existentialism. Jean Paul Satre Self-deception and Sartre	There is one phrase in English that has troubled me for some time now: the last thing. A Phrase most irritating: The Last Thing	Is downloading music from the Net theft? Isn't almost everybody in the know doing it? Might this phenomenon become as prevalent as VCR recording of TV shows used to be? Music on the Net	One of Russia's many great novelists is Leo Tolstoy. His Master and Man is a novelette that in 73 pages will keep you reading every word. Leo Tolstoy Master and Man	Franz Kafka was a brilliant Jewish writer that lived a very short life. Here is my take on two of his most famous works. I wonder why the The Castle has never been made into a movie? Kafka The Trial and The Castle compared	Again Kafka befuddles and astounds us with this surreal story. Are we all before a law? Do we seek the Law? Before the Law Kafka at 40 years of age	Tolstoy's Anna Karenina and The Death of Ivan Ilych The Death of Ivan Ilych and Anna Karenina

Set Theory, Physics and Existentialism
Georg Cantor, a 19th century mathematician that first extended our knowledge of infinity to include supra-infinity or better put Transfinity Numbers Larger Than Infinity? Cantor	Is C, the Speed of Light changing? Joao Magueijo a cosmologist and a self-centered, egotistic, physicist seems to think so. Here is my review of his book. Joao Magueijo Faster than the speed of light	Review of the philosophic school of Existentialism the Existential Concept	How does our physical experience relate to the concept of Existentialism? Existentialism and our Bodies	In 1986 physicists, John Barrow and Frank Tipler, wrote The Anthropic Cosmological Principle , in which they claim to prove no alien life exists in the Galaxy, and I must dissent. Alien Life in the Galaxy

Personal Tragedies
My mother died under tragic circumstances in 1997. I would like to remember and pay tribute to her here. First, an account the event and its aftermath. The needless suffering, my family and I experienced as a result of the negligent incompetence of a few doctors is immeasurable. I would like the entire Internet community to know this, and rightfully beware. Second, I pay homage to her in poetry (see the poem entitled 'Is It Like' below). Most of all, in future additions to this site, I hope to give expression to the meaning of her long life for me. It is painful to remember those last weeks and commit them to words, but it is as necessary to do, as is my own demise.	Losing My Mother Is It Like A poem that alludes to her death and is a tribute her.
In 1983, my father died at 84 years of age. Unlike my mother's demise, his was expected. Yet, it was no less painful for myself and family. I wrote a short account of his last moments a few days after he died. It is written just as I witnessed the events. I am not as bitter about Dad's death, though he too was the victim of a callous physician that cared very little for his health and welfare. But, Dad's death was natural and could not have been avoided. Now, so many years late, I have learned to accept and even fondly remember the event, as a evident of his stoic Somali nature.	My Father's Death

Film Reviews
The Vanishing is a Dutch-French film which might disturb you The Vanishing	Tzameti 13 is a thriller directed by Gela Babluani 13 Tzameti	French director, Claude Chabrol's film L'Enfer is a tense study in madness L'Enfer	The last Star Wars installment had great special effects, now didn't? Not much else, as we all expected Star Wars: Attack of the Clones	Spanish director, Carlos Saura is famous for creating inventive films that challenge conventional notions of film making, much as David Lynch has been. El Jardin De Las Delicias (The Garden of Delights)	For those interested in Saura's work, the film Cria is a good chance to see how he developed his filmmaking style Cria Review	Spielberg's latest film is Catch Me If You Can . I liked it can you believe that? One set of thumbs up for the Berg. Catch Me If You Can	David Lynch's new work, Mullholland Drive is in short: strange and incomprehensible by some estimates, but a typical Lynch film, to which I give a vote of yes. Mullholland Drive Review	Tom Tykwer is a German director whose film Run Lola Run (German title is Lola Rennt) delivers a fresh, new directorial style. Lola Rennt

Well Tom Tykwer strikes again. The Princess and the Warrior is one good flick, moviegoers! The Princess and the Warrior

An obscure film entitled The Lightship, deserves a wider audience. Robert Duvall and Klaus Maria Brandauer give superb performances in this flick. The Lightship

Matrix II is an improvement. I still can't believe anybody can take this film seriously on philosophic grounds. Matrix Reloaded Review

Minority Report is proof positive that the Berg is declining. Will he ever give up the action blockbuster and return to serious cinema? Minority Report

I gave this film a negative review back in 1999. Well, I didn't entirely torch it. It didn't have much cinematic or intellectual value, but it did have great special effects. Its biggest flaw was it took an area of human endeavor and trivialized it. The Matrix: The AI Uneducation

AI Steven Spielberg's Artificial Intelligence epic is a failure. The Movie AI

Est/Ouest is a film French director, Regis Wargnier. It's set in Stalinist Russia after WWII, and is a look at what happens to people in love under a repressive government. Est Ouest

The Listeners by Walter De La Mare
The Listeners the poem's verses Walter De La Mare

Brazilian songs with Portuguese/English parallel translations
Milton Nascimento sings about youth and the city: Credo(Creed) Milton Nascimento Credo	Nascimento's song about the world as seen from a bedroom window. Milton Nascimento Paisagem Da Janela	Seu Jorge is best known for his role in Cidade de Deus as Knock-out Ned. His thick baritone voice is unmistakable and a real turn-on to women. Translation of the Eternal Search	Chega no Suingue (Coming to Swing, English Translation) Seu Jorge is a political artist too. He sings about 'partying' with a socio-political edge though.	Jorge Ben Jor's song about of all things, Alchemy. Translation of Os Alquimistas Estao Chegando	Jorge Vercilo is a young Brazilian singer with a velvet voice. Could he be the next Jorge Ben Jor? His Que Nem Mare is emblematic of his style and voice. Translation of Que Nem Mare	To hear any of the songs I've translated here check out MPB 93.3. It's a great station for pure Brazilian music with no English songs or groups and that's a blessing considering how many Net stations from Brazil cater specifically to English-speaking listeners. This sycophancy to English culture sickens me. MPB FM 93.3 Brazilian radio station	Procissao (Procession) by Gil Gilberto is a song with a message undoubtedly. Gil tells us about the dupe that Roman Catholic Christianity foists upon its faithful Minister of Culture for Brazil, Gilberto Gil in recent times	Procissao	Jorge Ben in his 30's A song by Ben Jor that ribs those false upper class Brazilians that come out at Carnaval. Check out that airy choral background! Lalari Olala

More Brazilian songs with Portuguese/English parallel translations
another love song by Ben Jor	Princesa e o Plebeu (The Princess and the Peasant)	Jorge Ben sings the song of every young man longing for a girl.	Carnaval de Amor (Carnival of Love)	Jorge Ben Sings about extraterrestrial visitation	Errare Humanum Est (translation)

Chico Buarque's cool and sophisticated choral work about a time of repression in Brazil. Living Wheel (The English translation) Roda Viva (the mp3)

Jorge Ben Jor sings about St. George and his invincibility. This song as with many of his works, has been sung by several artists in Brazil. Jorge de Capadocia

Jorge Ben sings about St. Thomas Aquinas Assim Falou Santo Tomas de Aquino (English translation)

Another song by Chico Buarque Chico Buarque in later years Translation Pedro Pedreiro

A broken woman's lament sung by Simone

Simone sings a song by Carlinhos Brown. Simone you make me wanna pray too!

Jorge Ben Jor sings of Rosa, his often cited sultry Brazilian temptress. A nightclub tune from the early 60's. The lyrics and melody are so strong it makes you want to jump and dance with the rose girl

Translation of Metamorfose Ambulante (Walking metamorphosis) from the film Cidade de Deus

Translation of Aviao by Djavan And then there is Djavan. One of so many black Brazilian artists I can't stop listening to. When Djavan sings of not playing the pawn anymore, you're in a nightclub somewhere along the coast of the Atlantic ocean hearing the lapping waves and warm humid night air beyond.

It is clear that Brazilian music is a major motif on this site, but I listen to and enjoy other musical styles. In fact, I listen to a wide variety of music, with the exception of classical, rap, and rock, including acid, punk or any other kind!

Here is my eclectic selection of some musical genres NOT in the Brazilian idiom, that I like.

Terry Callier, Ordinary Joe (1980s)	Stevie Wonder, Hey Love (1960s)	A Carribean heart throb with a voice that makes chicks go wild, is Jon Lucien. Listen to his love song Luella	Steel Pulse, No King James Version (1980s Reggae)	Raid Blues Dance (I LOVE THIS SONG! a most politically aware trio here) Here is the Creole English text Raid Blues Dance	A brilliant flutist and musician is Yusef Lateef. His version of Spartacus from the movie by the same name, puts me in another world, one of group symmetry and perfect numbers.	Lateef's version of the theme song by Alex North from the movie The Robe is just as moving as Spartacus.	Nat King Cole Nature Boy. No one had a voice like Nat. An accomplished pianist that turned into the greatest singer this country has ever produced. I listen to anything Nat sung and feel that not even Brazilian crooners like Ben Jor can equal Nat, not Nat. He made me love jazz singing at age 12. I wished he'd lived longer.
Bob Dylan, Knockin on Heavens Door (1980s)	Bobby Hebb, Sunny (1960s) (1960s)	Barbara Lewis, Hello Stranger (1960s)	The Turtles, You Showed Me (1960s)	Nick Drake, a velvet voice jazz singer that recorded a song that has elements drug addition in it. Check out his reference to Betty in the lyrics. The song is Riverman.	Michael Jackson Who could forget this conflicted but musical genius? Off The Wall	Oh, oh Nancy Wilson, yes Nancy, that hip, sweet, delicate voice singing the Loesser tune I Believe In You. Nancy must be in her 80's today, still she's lovely	Parable another politico-social song by good Jamaican group

The Brazilian Music Continues

Visit the Heteronym Homepage link below for a discussion of a strange class of words that are pronounced differently, spelled the same and have different meanings they are called heteronyms. The site contains of list of heteronyms and invites you to submit any you discover. Of course, they are all English heteronyms, though this kind of word formation occurs in other languages.

Heteronym homepage