H2oil is a documentary about the impact of the extraction of oil from bituminous sands in the province of Alberta on the environment and humans.

In the community of Fort Chipewyan downstream from oil sands extraction sites, the number of cancer patients has drastically augmented in the recent years. The medical doctor of the community has received a warning form Health Canada for unnecessarily alarming people because he raised some concerns about the cancer levels in the town - especially some rare cancers. Dr. Kevin Timoney, who published a study based on governmental data, voices out his concerns too: the Athabasca river's water is highly contaminated with toxic waste from oil extraction. The government officials and the industry representatives say there is no correlation between oil extraction and illnesses or at least, if there is, it is not as important as the community claims.

This is a documentary to be watched and distributed.

Mario Benedetti once said that :"Uruguay is the only office of the world that has reached the category of republic!". His novel, The truce, is a good illustration of this sad reality.

The novel is the diary of a bureaucrat: Martin Santomé, a 49 years old widow and father of three children (Esteban, Jaime and Blanca). When Laura Avellaneda, a young woman almost his daughter's age, is hired at the office where Martin works, he falls in love with her. This love transforms the bureaucrat's boring life. Other than his love for Avellaneda, the diary is about Santomé's relationships with his colleagues, his encounters with his only friend Anibal and others from his past, his reminiscences of his wife Isabel and his relationships with his children. Santomé gets along well with Blanca, fights quiet often with Esteban and has a special affection toward Jaime.... until he discovers that Jaime is homosexual.

The truce is a very fine novel. It is full of irony (Santomé shows the ridicule of hierarchy, his work, the sheep society in which he lives), full of love (the love of Santomé for Avellaneda, his affection toward his children and his only friend). But first and foremost, the book is one of realism and misery. Santomé accumulates losses and very few moments of happiness. He impatiently waits for his retirement and when the day comes, he does not know what to do with his time (my translation):

"What shall I do with it?"

Other than the fatalist ending, I have nothing to criticize in this novel. Not that I would like a happy-ending sort of book, but why does history has to be cyclic to the point that Santomé lives the same kind of loss twice?

I recommend it!

Mario Benedetti a dit: "L'Uuruguay est le seul bureau dans le monde qui se soit haussé à la catégorie de république" et son roman La trêve illustre très bien cette triste citation.

La trêve est le journal intime d'un certain Martin Santomé, un veuf de 49 ans et père de trois enfants (Esteban, Jaime et Blanca). Quand Laura Avellaneda, une jeune femme à peine plus âgée que Blanca, est engagée au bureau où Martin travaille, il en tombe amoureux. Cet amour transforme la vie sans relief de bureaucrate que mène Santomé. Outre son amour pour Avellaneda, le journal raconte la vie du bureau de Santomé, ses relations avec ses collègues, ses rencontres avec son seul ami Anibal et quelques personnes de son passé, ses vagues souvenirs de sa femme Isabel et surtout sa relation avec ses enfants. Santomé s'entend bien avec Blanca, se dispute souvent avec Esteban et apprécie Jaime.... jusqu'au jour où il découvre l'homosexualité de ce dernier.

La trêve est une grande œuvre. Un livre plein d'ironie (Santomé se moque de la hiérarchie, son travail, la société de moutons dans laquelle il vit), plein d'amour (l'amour de Santomé pour Avellaneda, sa tendresse pour ses enfants et son seul ami Anibal). Mais surtout, le livre regorge de réalisme et tristesse. Santomé connaît plusieurs pertes et très peu de moments de bonheur. Il attend la retraite pour occuper son temps avec ce qu'il aime, dit-il, mais quand cette retraite arrive, il ne sait qu'en faire:

"Je me sens malheureux, c'est tout. Plus de bureau. A partir de demain jusqu'au jour de ma mort, j'aurai le temps à ma disposition. Après une si longue attente, voici le temps des loisirs. Que vais-je en faire?"

Je me demande si la fin fataliste était nécessaire. Non, je ne parle pas d'une alternative avec un happy ending mais plutôt, autre chose que la prédestination à la même sorte de perte deux fois...

À lire!

I read this collection after a friend recommended Monterroso. Originally, I wanted to read one collection and I ended up reading this one and The Black Sheep and other fables. The reason is that the stories are so witty, the humor so sharp and the style of writing so rich - and incredibly concise.

The Dinosaur (which is part of this collection) seems to be Monterroso most famous short story. Here it is:

"When he woke up, the dinosaur was still there."

For those who dislike this kind of -extremely- short stories that leave a lot of room for the reader's interpretation, don't worry! Monterroso has other things for you as well. Longer and more detailed short stories that range from a paragraph long (like The cow) to more than 20 pages long (like Leopoldo).

I actually liked all the stories but I have a slight preference for some longer ones like Mister Taylor and Leopoldo. The first recounts the decadence of a society because of the commerce of small human heads and the second one is about Leopoldo, a man whose dream is to become a writer, to acquire the perfect style and who never goes beyond taking notes of his ideas and admiring their potential as stories or novels. Both short stories are gems with great humor and satire.

Monterroso is truly a great discovery!

Un ami m'a conseillé de lire Augusto Monterroso. J'avais prévu de lire un recueil de nouvelles -Oeuvres Complètes (et autres contes)-et j'en ai fini par en lire deux. La raison? Ses nouvelles sont pleines d'esprit, son humour est perçant et son style est très riche - dans son concision!

Sa nouvelle Le Dinosaure et qui figure dans ce recueil est sans doute sa plus célèbre. La voici :

"Quand il se réveilla, le dinosaure était toujours là."

Pour ceux qui n'y comprennent rien et n'aiment pas ce style qui laisse toutes les interprétations possibles et imaginables aux lecteurs, ne vous inquiétez pas! Monterroso a autre chose pour vous aussi! Des nouvelles plus longues et détaillées qui vont d'un paragraphe (comme La vache) jusqu'à plus d'une vingtaine de pages (comme Leopoldo).

Pour ma part, je les ai toutes appréciées mais j'ai une préférence pour les plus longues notamment Mister Taylor et Leopoldo. La première raconte la décadence d'une société à cause de la croissance de l'industrie de têtes humaines réduites et la deuxième suit le parcours d'un homme qui rêve de devenir écrivain, d'acquérir le style parfait mais qui ne va pas plus loin que de noter ses idées dans son journal et de s'en émerveiller. Les deux sont des bijoux humoristiques et satiriques.

Monterroso est un auteur à découvrir absolument!

This book could benefit graduate students as well as researchers who are looking for a good overview of techniques in approximation algorithms. A wide variety of problems is covered and each chapter has a great set of exercises. The appendices about hardness are very useful. Prior knowledge of algorithms and their analysis is needed to go through the book.

The real life of Alejandro Mayta (translation of Historia de Mayta) starts with a dramatic portrayal of Peru: a country full of misery and invaded by external forces (Cubans, Boliveans and Americans). The narrator is a journalist interested in the life of an obscure Trotskyist revolutionary deeply tormented by the injustice in his country. Alejandro Mayta was at the head (or was it his comrade Vallejos?) of a leftist uprising in the Andes in the 50s. He travels in search of the "truth" about Mayta and conducts a series of interviews with people who knew Mayta and/or who were there during the uprising: Mayta's wife, his comrades in the RWP (T) (Revolutionary Workers Party (Trotskyist)) that counts seven members, his political rivals, the sisters of his friend Vallejos and several others.

The stories about Mayta are contradictory. Who is he? Did he really exist? Why do the interviewees provide divergent descriptions of him? Does the reader himself or herself get to know the real Mayta? Or are we misguided by the narrator? This narrator/investigator is after all a writer who is in search for a publishable story. Unveiling the truth is unimportant to him. He admits that the purpose of his investigation is to gain a deep understanding of what he will be lying about. Why does a writer of fiction need to tell the truth anyway?

Even if the history of leftism in Latin America does not interest you, the novel is a great read because of the originality of the style. The author alternates constantly between the present where he conducts the interviews and the past that reveals the story of Mayta. This alternation is absolutely ingenious and corresponds to the theme of the novel: the distortion between fiction and reality.

This is a complete practice session with the great Aziza: warm-up, hip movements, shimmies, arm movements, isolations and cool-down. It might seem challenging at first but it is amazing how you see the difference after few practices! I highly recommend it.

This CD has 7 pieces in total. New arrangements for Andah Alek, Leylet Hob and Akdib Alek. It has also three original percussions pieces and a Lebanese Saidi song. My coup de coeur is definitely Akdib Alek. The orchestration is great and the singer sings wonderfully. The drum solo Wetmakhtar is very challenging and original!

I love the orchestration and arrangements on this CD. You will find classical pieces such as Tamer Henna and Alf Leila wa Leila, a full oriental piece, a tabla solo, folkloric pieces and more: 12 in total. It is well worth it. Great to dance and listen to.