[far-east] 2020 vision needed for chinese hegemony

I’m reprinting this Melbourne Age August 21, 2006 article on China, by Professor Victor Bulmer-Thomas, as another take and an authoritative one, on the rising hegemony of that country:

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union 15 years ago, there has been only one megapower — the United States. For the first 10 years, the dominance of the US was seen as a great opportunity to rebuild the global institutional architecture in favour of a more democratic, rational and equitable system.

The United Nations, partially crippled during the Cold War by superpower rivalry, acquired a new lease of life and UN peacekeeping operations multiplied.

In the past five years, however, US hegemony has been viewed much less favourably with opinion polls across the world recording unprecedented levels of distrust of the US Governments throughout the world.

Full text here.

[film festival] venice launches attack on rome

In an interview on Italian television, 63rd Venice festival director Marco Mueller explained, in reference to the Rome festival which will follow it next month:

"It [Rome] has taken nothing from us. Some films, which neither Cannes nor ourselves wanted and which we were finished viewing at the end of March, have finally found an Italian destination. That's really pleased us because in that way we have avoided acrimony from people we turned down. Rome can have them."

Mueller's comments were immediately blasted by Rome festival organisers Giorgio Gosetti and Mario Sesti as "an incredible offence to cinema and to the extraordinary authors who have decided to bring their work to Rome. Over the last few months we have always referred to the Venice Mostra with respect. And we will continue to do so. We reiterate that Venice mustn't fear Rome but only its own mistakes through arrogance and isolation."

Rome’s festival includes Martin Scorsese, whose latest film is set to open the Rome festival of film on October 13, according to Italian media reports. Rome's mayor Walter Veltroni also pointed out that the Eternal City was able to host next month's event without calling for "one lira from the state".

"In Italy we always live with a terror of things new. There's an instinct for conservatism which is one of the reasons why our country finds it so difficult to compete abroad," said Veltroni, who has repeatedly praised Venice, the world's oldest film festival.

The dispute, coming just before Brian De Palma's adaptation of James Elroy's novel The Black Dahlia opens the festival tomorrow night, has put Culture Minister Francesco Rutelli in an awkward position and has called for an end to the rivalry between the two festivals, saying they "complemented each other."

Personally, it seems to me that the fault is all on Venice’s side, which knows its festival has lost some of the limelight over recent years. Mueller’s comments perhaps reflect his Sud-Tyrol origin.

AFP and the Age

[colour schemes] the culture of brown

You will have noticed that I've gone over to browns and sea-green aqua and part of the reason comes from this article by 'About'.

Brown is a natural, down-to-earth neutral color. It is found in earth, wood, and stone. Brown is a warm neutral color that can stimulate the appetite. It is found extensively in nature in both living and non-living materials.

Brown represents wholesomeness and earthiness. While it might be considered a little on the dull side, it also represents steadfastness, simplicity, friendliness, dependability, and health. Although blue is the typical corporate color, UPS (United Parcel Service) has built their business around the dependability associated with brown.

The color brown and its lighter cousins in tan, taupe, beige, or cream make excellent backgrounds helping accompanying colors appear richer, brighter. Use brown to convey a feeling of warmth, honesty, and wholesomeness. Although found in nature year-round, brown is often considered a fall and winter color. It is more casual than black.

Shades of brown coupled with green are an especially earthy pair, often used to convey the concept of recycling or earth-friendly products. Very dark brown can replace black, adding a slightly warmer tone to some palettes. Brighten brown with a mellow yellow or rusty orange. Go smart but conservative with a mix of brown and deep purple, green, gray, or orange-red.

Although blue is the typical corporate color, UPS (United Parcel Service) has built their business around the dependability associated with brown.

Culture of Beige: Beige has traditionally been seen as a conservative, background color. In some cultures, beige garments might symbolize piety or simplicity.

Traditional Saudi Arabia dress include a flowing floor-length outer cloak (bisht) made of wool or camel hair in black, beige, brown or cream tones.

[sailing] double-hulled small cruiser concept

For such a 'tubby' looking craft, there were years of thinking and abandoned designs before this one was finalized. If sailing's not your thing - kindly pass to the next post.

Trimarans, wing sails with twist, H105 foils, Eppler codes - I abandoned them all for low-tech but not as low tech as Wharram.

I settled on 23 feet as the optimal length for one-up and continued the low-aspect, low-tech throughout. Ease of sailing for a middle-aged duffer was the idea - hence two self-tacking mains, rather than the western fractional rig.

Equally, proas and crew-number intensive balancing acts were right out. Reefability, repairability, ease of sailing, speed, open deck lightness vs overnight accommodation - these were the considerations.

If this is remotely interesting for you, have a look at the sketch and notes.

[love and all that] sam hits the streets

For some time I've been keeping up an occasional correspondence with this girl and now she's on TV. Check her out here.

[love and all that] aussie women require more adventurous lovers

30 per cent of Australian women are disappointed by their men's performance in the sack and would prefer them to be more "adventurous" and 20 per cent wish their men would sweep the floors or do the cooking rather than sweep them off their feet.

Harlequin Australian managing director Michelle Laforest said the report proved material gifts were not always the way to win a woman's (or man's for that matter) heart. She said sometimes putting in a bit of extra effort around the house, or in the bedroom, showed more love than a material gift and required a lot more thought.

Some Aussie men, however, wanted to change more than their partner's behaviour around the house or in the bedroom. Twenty per cent said they were unhappy with the way their partner's looked and wished they would get a breast enlargement. Fortunately these blokes were vastly outnumbered by a whopping 70 per cent of Aussie men who said they loved their women just the way they are.

Meanwhile, 30 per cent of men wished their partners would remember to do something special for them on Valentine's Day. This percentage was higher than those men who wished their partners would let them watch more sport on television.

The survey, which covered men and women from 15 countries, also found Dutch men were the world's lustiest with 60 per cent craving more sex. "Women in Spain were just behind them, with 40 per cent of Spanish women wanting more loving from their partners," Ms Laforest said.

- AAP