Showing posts with label IP. Show all posts
Showing posts with label IP. Show all posts
20120504
PgDning the cine
i have previously alluded to my reading habits, dear reader, with respect to both corporeal books, and virtual books -- generally in .pdf format -- read on my computer as well as the handheld device. i also may have indicated a somewhat ambivalent attitude toward notions of intellectual property, if not to the more general concept of property itself. i may not have previously mentioned my occasional practice of watching movies, some of perhaps questionable provenance, on my computer.
sometimes a movie of such questionable provenance has subtitles hard-coded into the video, or the option of displaying subtitles from a separate file.
lately, i've been on a bit of a lars von trier kick, because "melancholia" was so beautiful, as well as enjoying some tarkovsky works; a friend also recommended fassbinder. i mention von trier and fassbinder particularly because it was while watching subtitles coded into their films that i noticed a strange, new behavioral tic.
20120303
apropos
A mixed bag of references today, Dear Reader:
First, Jonathan Lethem's Harpers piece: The ecstasy of influence: A Plagiarism, a moving reflection on the cultural commons of creativity, notable not least for its rare reference to Heidegger's theory of the "enframing" capacity of art, composed entirely of the (attributed) words of others, and recently referred to me by a friend pursuant to discussion of private ownership of things.
If it were all Lethem's original work, it would be a persuasive and thought-provoking essay on some aspects of the tension between notions of property and forces of creativity; it remains at least that in light of it's appropriated and repurposed constituent verbiage, and becomes also an additional work of art beyond its formal structure, a pointillist painting/sculpture/score of such an essay, that, upon inspection, blossoms into many essays addressing a broad range of issues in a variety of traditions and discourses.
It is, however, difficult to cite excerpts according to scholastic form (which is probably as it should be), and so no highlighted verbiage. Go read the whole thing.
That work begins by considering several stories sharing features we commonly attribute to one story by Nabokov, as a way to approach the question of originality, influence and appropriated content. In the lecture below, Slovenian rock-star philosopher Slavoj Žižek also touches on this idea, suggesting that often what cultural forces understand to be the primal version of a story, is just a more polished reworking of other, earlier stories or versions. His example is Antigone, which we non-classicists lamely take to be originally told in the Sophocles tragedy dating from circa 442 B.C.E., but, Žižek claims, the stories of myth of Antigone vary among more primordial sources.
Available courtesy of the Backdoor Broadcasting Company, Slavoj Žižek's very long lecture, entitled "The Wire, or the clash of civilisations in one country," delivered at the University of London last week, can be streamed or downloaded here. Succinctly, Žižek offers a far-ranging assessment of the HBO series, "The Wire" as a cultural phenomenon, as a text, and as a lens into contemporary society, touching on a wide range of contemporary, historical and cultural issues with an essentially Marxist analysis. Much of it is worth quoting, but, as the entire lecture is an hour-and-a-half long, transcription is challenging.
If you thought that was an excellent series, and are curious, like I have been, as to what makes a philosopher a rock-star philosopher, then check it out. Your time (except for those three or four times he plays a scene from the show, which the mic does not pick up, but you know those scenes anyway) will be invested well. Also, like myself, you may find that you disagree with his descriptions -- I don't think he got Omar quite right -- but, try to allow yourself to disagree and keep listening, because if you stop to argue you might not get through it all, and the many fascinating tangents might thereby turn into derails. For those of us who can afford to spend our attention on long philosophical lectures, plenty of time for arguing will remain.
Separately, while looking for an audio clip of a statement made by the President to a Disney journalist in December 2003 (and failing), I stumbled across The George W. Bush Public Domain Audio Archive (as well as this, somewhat more staid archive from the Presidency Project at UCSB), which led me to the Bots' delightful songs, Bushwack2 and Fuzzy Math. I suppose this is not, actually, entirely separate from the foregoing, as I stated at the top of this paragraph, for the search was occasioned by a destructive-writing project and related DJ-Pebkacery involving content repurposing, and I could not locate the target soundbyte, perhaps for Disney-related intellectual property reasons, perhaps just because my search was poor and lazily implemented.
First, Jonathan Lethem's Harpers piece: The ecstasy of influence: A Plagiarism, a moving reflection on the cultural commons of creativity, notable not least for its rare reference to Heidegger's theory of the "enframing" capacity of art, composed entirely of the (attributed) words of others, and recently referred to me by a friend pursuant to discussion of private ownership of things.
If it were all Lethem's original work, it would be a persuasive and thought-provoking essay on some aspects of the tension between notions of property and forces of creativity; it remains at least that in light of it's appropriated and repurposed constituent verbiage, and becomes also an additional work of art beyond its formal structure, a pointillist painting/sculpture/score of such an essay, that, upon inspection, blossoms into many essays addressing a broad range of issues in a variety of traditions and discourses.
It is, however, difficult to cite excerpts according to scholastic form (which is probably as it should be), and so no highlighted verbiage. Go read the whole thing.
That work begins by considering several stories sharing features we commonly attribute to one story by Nabokov, as a way to approach the question of originality, influence and appropriated content. In the lecture below, Slovenian rock-star philosopher Slavoj Žižek also touches on this idea, suggesting that often what cultural forces understand to be the primal version of a story, is just a more polished reworking of other, earlier stories or versions. His example is Antigone, which we non-classicists lamely take to be originally told in the Sophocles tragedy dating from circa 442 B.C.E., but, Žižek claims, the stories of myth of Antigone vary among more primordial sources.
Available courtesy of the Backdoor Broadcasting Company, Slavoj Žižek's very long lecture, entitled "The Wire, or the clash of civilisations in one country," delivered at the University of London last week, can be streamed or downloaded here. Succinctly, Žižek offers a far-ranging assessment of the HBO series, "The Wire" as a cultural phenomenon, as a text, and as a lens into contemporary society, touching on a wide range of contemporary, historical and cultural issues with an essentially Marxist analysis. Much of it is worth quoting, but, as the entire lecture is an hour-and-a-half long, transcription is challenging.
If you thought that was an excellent series, and are curious, like I have been, as to what makes a philosopher a rock-star philosopher, then check it out. Your time (except for those three or four times he plays a scene from the show, which the mic does not pick up, but you know those scenes anyway) will be invested well. Also, like myself, you may find that you disagree with his descriptions -- I don't think he got Omar quite right -- but, try to allow yourself to disagree and keep listening, because if you stop to argue you might not get through it all, and the many fascinating tangents might thereby turn into derails. For those of us who can afford to spend our attention on long philosophical lectures, plenty of time for arguing will remain.
Separately, while looking for an audio clip of a statement made by the President to a Disney journalist in December 2003 (and failing), I stumbled across The George W. Bush Public Domain Audio Archive (as well as this, somewhat more staid archive from the Presidency Project at UCSB), which led me to the Bots' delightful songs, Bushwack2 and Fuzzy Math. I suppose this is not, actually, entirely separate from the foregoing, as I stated at the top of this paragraph, for the search was occasioned by a destructive-writing project and related DJ-Pebkacery involving content repurposing, and I could not locate the target soundbyte, perhaps for Disney-related intellectual property reasons, perhaps just because my search was poor and lazily implemented.
20111205
A Spy on the Street Where You Live, pt. 3
But what can I say . . . to make it clear? How can I say that to her, when the groveling started sixteen years ago—or thirty two, if my stars really do point at her—was ineffective then, and has, it would seem, continued, to resurface now? How can I say that, which every brokenhearted singer has ever sung, that every adult has recognized for the screen-kiss kitsch it is, as a vehicle for commercial culture and greater need, to this stranger whose company I crave with a thirst I’d say anything to slake? Never trust a junkie or a crooner: My mama done told me, they’ll both do anything for another hit.
And, how, after all, if she won’t return my calls, who gave up writing weeks ago, who won’t be getting in touch, nor speak to me at all? If the sun refused to shine, perhaps she would return my calls; or if the moon plunged into the sea, perhaps she would call me. Of course, if that happened, phone service would likely be adversely impacted, not to mention low-lying coastal areas, and we, refugees, going nowhere.
And, how, after all, if she won’t return my calls, who gave up writing weeks ago, who won’t be getting in touch, nor speak to me at all? If the sun refused to shine, perhaps she would return my calls; or if the moon plunged into the sea, perhaps she would call me. Of course, if that happened, phone service would likely be adversely impacted, not to mention low-lying coastal areas, and we, refugees, going nowhere.
If it were but a matter of faith,Barring the fools’ unforgivable sin of rushing in and talking out loud; even choosing not to tell her about it, how can I even think I crave such things, and continue to think of myself as a person? No: Must struggle, must ramble on; must . . . resist . . . compulsive . . . romantic . . . hyperbole.
if it were measured in petitions and prayer . . .
but it is not, nor do I care.
20111204
A Spy on the Street Where You Live, pt. 2
And there’s Lerner and Lowe’s Fair Lady, herself also a figment from Ovid as Pygmalion’s Galatea, but, back then, she didn’t have a street, just the pedestal.
The audience of the modern musical, for dramatic development, had to be shown that Eliza Doolittle was not only sophisticated in ladylike civilized artifice, but also filled with the feminine graces known to prompt poets’ odes and lovers’ praises, through the introduction of a rival suitor to the Professor’s as yet unspoken devotion.
Rival suitor sues to see her, and succeeding, has found a reason to sing of enchantment pouring out of every door, has cause for singin’ in the rain, and dancing in the street.
Excised from the arc of plot, this recorded and rerecorded song is simply everyman’s love song. Again, the lyric is not about the beloved, whose presence merely imbues the setting, but a report on the state of mind and heart of, or simply part and parcel of the art of, the singer. As always, at first, I’ve just seen a face and can’t forget the time or place of that first sight. Then, with or without overtures or encouragement, merely because I want to hold your hand and can’t stop my brain, or maybe because I’ve been watching . . . every breath you take, the residence of the beloved is discovered. Then the wooing, the suiting starts, or the stalking—the difference lies in her consent—with the overpowering feeling that any second you may suddenly appear.
The audience of the modern musical, for dramatic development, had to be shown that Eliza Doolittle was not only sophisticated in ladylike civilized artifice, but also filled with the feminine graces known to prompt poets’ odes and lovers’ praises, through the introduction of a rival suitor to the Professor’s as yet unspoken devotion.
Rival suitor sues to see her, and succeeding, has found a reason to sing of enchantment pouring out of every door, has cause for singin’ in the rain, and dancing in the street.
People stop and stare; they don’t bother me,This is before the rain, of course. Properly validated, Liza falls for the Prof.
For there’s no where else on Earth that I would rather be.
Let the time go by, I won’t care if I can be here on the street where you live!
Excised from the arc of plot, this recorded and rerecorded song is simply everyman’s love song. Again, the lyric is not about the beloved, whose presence merely imbues the setting, but a report on the state of mind and heart of, or simply part and parcel of the art of, the singer. As always, at first, I’ve just seen a face and can’t forget the time or place of that first sight. Then, with or without overtures or encouragement, merely because I want to hold your hand and can’t stop my brain, or maybe because I’ve been watching . . . every breath you take, the residence of the beloved is discovered. Then the wooing, the suiting starts, or the stalking—the difference lies in her consent—with the overpowering feeling that any second you may suddenly appear.
20111203
A Spy on the Street Where You Live, pt.1
It is only a woman that can make a man become the parody of himself.
--French Proverb, the Rev. T.F. Thistleton-Dyer
. . . I cannot step out of my home without asking myself whether I’m only going out in the hope of seeing her, here on the street, and knowing that if I do or do not see her, I’ll be looking for her anyway, and judging and chiding myself for it. Let me tell you a little about what I know of me and this fervent furtive infatuation.
Conditioned by love songs to be the perfect American romantic id, in addition to being the paranoid monomaniac ego of me, I am attuned to poignant phrases pertaining to the street where she lives, or some synonymous heterologue, distinct as a singular wandering star in the collective romantic meme-pool of popular music, an ersatz zodiac of coupling if not graveyard of the language and dreams of modernity.
This has been powerful imagery for me since before she moved onto my street.
There ought to be a lot of love songs dealing with this theme, but I can only think of two, and another scenario, to which I add this, my words and tone, my own inept tune.
Yonder window, wherever it is, irresistibly attracts the romantic speaker’s attention, displacing the governor of the dome of the sky, the prime indicator of direction and time throughout human history. That window becomes the East, and Juliet is the sun. Wither she goest, so the speaker’s heliotropic heart and attention, perpetually dawning.
Conditioned by love songs to be the perfect American romantic id, in addition to being the paranoid monomaniac ego of me, I am attuned to poignant phrases pertaining to the street where she lives, or some synonymous heterologue, distinct as a singular wandering star in the collective romantic meme-pool of popular music, an ersatz zodiac of coupling if not graveyard of the language and dreams of modernity.
This has been powerful imagery for me since before she moved onto my street.
There ought to be a lot of love songs dealing with this theme, but I can only think of two, and another scenario, to which I add this, my words and tone, my own inept tune.
But soft! What light in yonder window breaks? It is the East!Not even a love song, but some higher-art embodiment, in perhaps its most perfected form, this is certainly the archetype, the articulation of romantic love that has most imbued the cultural discourse; has so imbued this discourse, that Romeus and Juliet are commonly invoked as exemplary lovers, despite their tragic non-consummation. As if they’d got hitched, bought land, and made it fruitful across the long gloss of their bliss.
Yonder window, wherever it is, irresistibly attracts the romantic speaker’s attention, displacing the governor of the dome of the sky, the prime indicator of direction and time throughout human history. That window becomes the East, and Juliet is the sun. Wither she goest, so the speaker’s heliotropic heart and attention, perpetually dawning.
20111112
pay to play from your dumb terminal
i wander (market-rationalized as information stored on theCloud) and wonder how they did it:
used to be, a user bought a thing and a thing was a discrete tangible item which, at the moment of the transaction, passed physically from the seller to the user and remained within the user's physical control whether idle or in use.
i am thinking of my (encoded and compressed audio recordings of musicians using musical instruments alone or with other users to perform specific sequences of sounds within the convention of) music.
used to be the listener bought an object encoding such recordings (i think one can actually still do this in some cases) and, when combined with the appropriate actuating instrument, reproducing them audibly on command, which, at the moment of the transaction, passed physically from the seller to the user and remained within the user's physical control whether idle or actuated by the appropriate instrument. (the listener bought an actuating instrument separately, which, likewise, remained in the user's physical control).
then recording and encoding and actuating technology developed, growing together according to the law of the superposition of the computer, which turns out to describe a sort of universal actuating instrument.
oh, it does not actuate the grooves in wax or magnetic signatures of a ribbon of cassette tape, although those objects -- and a great variety of their actuating instruments -- remain. it actuates a digitally encoded information object that exists as a sequence of digits abstracted within the physical structure of some object: it could be such physical object as a compact disc, but finds frequent expression as part of the physical memory structure of the same universal actuating instrument that will actuate it, when called to do so, or of another universal actuating instrument connected to that one in a network of such instruments.
used to be, a user bought a thing and a thing was a discrete tangible item which, at the moment of the transaction, passed physically from the seller to the user and remained within the user's physical control whether idle or in use.
i am thinking of my (encoded and compressed audio recordings of musicians using musical instruments alone or with other users to perform specific sequences of sounds within the convention of) music.
used to be the listener bought an object encoding such recordings (i think one can actually still do this in some cases) and, when combined with the appropriate actuating instrument, reproducing them audibly on command, which, at the moment of the transaction, passed physically from the seller to the user and remained within the user's physical control whether idle or actuated by the appropriate instrument. (the listener bought an actuating instrument separately, which, likewise, remained in the user's physical control).
then recording and encoding and actuating technology developed, growing together according to the law of the superposition of the computer, which turns out to describe a sort of universal actuating instrument.
oh, it does not actuate the grooves in wax or magnetic signatures of a ribbon of cassette tape, although those objects -- and a great variety of their actuating instruments -- remain. it actuates a digitally encoded information object that exists as a sequence of digits abstracted within the physical structure of some object: it could be such physical object as a compact disc, but finds frequent expression as part of the physical memory structure of the same universal actuating instrument that will actuate it, when called to do so, or of another universal actuating instrument connected to that one in a network of such instruments.
20110606
destructive writing iteration exercise
with found marketing jargon & machine metatranslation, circa 2004
1.
Sony® classify excellent hearing person
of monitor of studio's ear-phone
Supra-Ohren conception for comfort,
30 leading the section for deep stick,
magnets of ferrite of high energy, commutable
ear-cups for the unilateral supervision,
regulator of desired volume, broad volume
of face that for comfort are formed and Stereouni Match®
long-lived plug for tel.
versions of commitment and mini jackets minimise.
for the outstanding comfortable hearing,
30 millimeters conducts the diameter is the deep pole,
the high energy ferrite magnet may
exchange earcups was the unilateral surveillance,
the regulative convenience capacity,
the face broad capacity has formed comfortably
is the telephone pours out the establishment
and minijacks for the long life with StereouniMatch.plug.
Sony. classifies studio the s earphone in
on Ohren devised monitor outstanding
hearing artificial comfortable
30 leads partially is the deep stick,
the high energy ferrite magnet, for
comfortably is formed earcups which
may exchange is the unilateral surveillance,
longed for the capacity,
the face broad capacity superintendent has formed
comfortably is the telephone pours out the establishment
and miniature clamps
for the long life with the pledge tel. edition is smallest.
1.
Sony® classify excellent hearing person
of monitor of studio's ear-phone
Supra-Ohren conception for comfort,
30 leading the section for deep stick,
magnets of ferrite of high energy, commutable
ear-cups for the unilateral supervision,
regulator of desired volume, broad volume
of face that for comfort are formed and Stereouni Match®
long-lived plug for tel.
versions of commitment and mini jackets minimise.
for the outstanding comfortable hearing,
30 millimeters conducts the diameter is the deep pole,
the high energy ferrite magnet may
exchange earcups was the unilateral surveillance,
the regulative convenience capacity,
the face broad capacity has formed comfortably
is the telephone pours out the establishment
and minijacks for the long life with StereouniMatch.plug.
Sony. classifies studio the s earphone in
on Ohren devised monitor outstanding
hearing artificial comfortable
30 leads partially is the deep stick,
the high energy ferrite magnet, for
comfortably is formed earcups which
may exchange is the unilateral surveillance,
longed for the capacity,
the face broad capacity superintendent has formed
comfortably is the telephone pours out the establishment
and miniature clamps
for the long life with the pledge tel. edition is smallest.
20110322
overheard in boy talk hell
i don't do too much overheard in boy talk hell. no doubt, as a result of millennia of patriarchal tradition, boy talk hell is kind of just normative generalized small talk, though it may still veer into decidedly men-are-gearhead-nerds-from-mars realms, as with the popular notions of fishing, the barbecue, power tools and spectator sports.
but today in boy talk hell, one party said to another party, "everybody objects to paying their taxes," and, with a pointed pause pregnant with contempt, "except you." (one of the many "everybody . . . but you" statements used by said party to said other in today's boy talk hell), and i had to look (once more) at my little prototype "do not cast your pearls before swine"-sign as i turned to engage...
but today in boy talk hell, one party said to another party, "everybody objects to paying their taxes," and, with a pointed pause pregnant with contempt, "except you." (one of the many "everybody . . . but you" statements used by said party to said other in today's boy talk hell), and i had to look (once more) at my little prototype "do not cast your pearls before swine"-sign as i turned to engage...
20080801
Why Hellmark Press?
Why Hellmark, you ask? It is kinda like Banksy says in defining "Brandalism":
Any advertisement in public space that gives you no choice whether you see it or not is yours. It belongs to you. It's yours to take, re-arrange and re-use. Asking for permission is like asking to keep a rock that someone just threw at your head. -- Banksy, Wall and Piece at 196.
And it is kind of different, insofar as the parodied brand is not so much of a public-space advertiser as an insidious parasite replacing genuine interpersonal pathos with product.
20030905
what happened to CALL?
Scheme is a very small language! Is that really all you need?
What happened to call, Ceci? What happened to integers and strings
and vectors staying the same? People are like "What happened,
call the doctor, or what happened to songs like Little Babies?"
I guess asking anyone who witnessed the shooting or any knowledge
of what happened to call Gurden at Reporter 7. I use blocking software,
can that cause problems? What happened to call of the wind?
If there were some tendency to pessimism in
handset subsidies we would want to judge the market by what
happened to call charges, he said adding that the plenary
presentation would, FYI, answer some of your
comments: Police ask anyone who may have witnessed what
happened to call North Vancouver, chat until the cows come home.
What happened to call, Ceci? What happened to integers and strings
and vectors staying the same? People are like "What happened,
call the doctor, or what happened to songs like Little Babies?"
I guess asking anyone who witnessed the shooting or any knowledge
of what happened to call Gurden at Reporter 7. I use blocking software,
can that cause problems? What happened to call of the wind?
If there were some tendency to pessimism in
handset subsidies we would want to judge the market by what
happened to call charges, he said adding that the plenary
presentation would, FYI, answer some of your
comments: Police ask anyone who may have witnessed what
happened to call North Vancouver, chat until the cows come home.
20020405
the Selective Share (or myIP)
you can't write a poem with
my words, she said, i have a right
to privacy: you cannot righteously
write about me in the skin of poetry.
and what can you say to that except
quote it whole cloth because she's
right and leave it uncited also
because she's right; her right
stifles and silence rules.
it has a chilling effect this wedge
of i-me-my right insisting not our
between we, a chilling effect on our
voices between us and, if heeded our
voices everywhere else. you cannot
express freely about me, you see.
not even there anymore, doused
from my rapt prolixity,
now you mention it: i'll hoard
every word, so my privateering
paramour won't have the chance
to sell it out from under.
my words, she said, i have a right
to privacy: you cannot righteously
write about me in the skin of poetry.
and what can you say to that except
quote it whole cloth because she's
right and leave it uncited also
because she's right; her right
stifles and silence rules.
it has a chilling effect this wedge
of i-me-my right insisting not our
between we, a chilling effect on our
voices between us and, if heeded our
voices everywhere else. you cannot
express freely about me, you see.
not even there anymore, doused
from my rapt prolixity,
now you mention it: i'll hoard
every word, so my privateering
paramour won't have the chance
to sell it out from under.
19951205
bill'd
Much later.
Well, the reason she wanted to talk to me is because she is worried about Duke. He has been, selon elle, unable to give any kind of clear answer, about anything. She asked me if I had noticed any change in him of late. I said that I thought his obliviousness characteristic ever since his arrival. So she proceeded to explain to me about a "non-convulsive seizure." These are more insidious than convulsive ones in that they are harder to detect: they are not as severe - that is, the brain activity is not interrupted enough to cause the body to shut down, but seizure activity is going on in the brain nevertheless. The subject is unable to answer questions - the most direct questions are the best to detect this sort of seizure: he will not know his name or birth date etc. These questions cannot be faked. Also, he will not move - adopt one position and maintain it for a very long time. In general, he will not track, and will be unable to interact meaningfully with the environment. She was worried that he had changed his medication.
So I got off the phone with her and went to question him. I questioned him for about fifty minutes - getting conflicting answers to many of the questions, and no answer to the rest. Finally I asked him to show me his medication. This got him up from his seat in the kitchen so we could go to his bedroom. A few minutes latter he "came to" as it were. He said he didn't remember the past fifty minutes and, after seeing his medicine (he's taking 1250mg of Primodone daily - though, even when lucid, he thought it was 1000mg) we decided to call his mother back. Probably she was more worried than before, we spoke (after they spoke). She really wants him to go to an American neurologist - or at least to see the one in Seoul whom his neurologist in D.C. referred him to. So far he hasn't. At the time of this writing, Duke has had one more seizure - last night - though there were no witnesses.
In the job field there have been no new developments: Duke dropped his suit - and has met with Mr. Im once or twice, but no progress has been made. No agreement reached. Im Won-jeong-nimh has let him sit for about a week - perhaps more meetings will be due soon.
Last week when Mr. Im came down to talk with Duke he brought 3 bills with him: 2 phone bills and an electricity bill. We all worked out what we owe and put it in an envelope - but we have done nothing with it yet. On Sat. (the bills were brought down on Wed.) "serving woman" came down and took both phone bills - but she left the electricity one. When they were given to us, all were overdue. --Don't know quite what will become of that.
My life is reasonably unchanged. I went to Kyobo bookcenter last Wednesday and spent W85,000 in one blow (this was earlier in the day than we received our bills). I got two books from the list sent to me by [redacted], the teachers book for the new book they want me to use at school, Ecce Homo, Kundera's Book of Laughter and Forgetting, Thich Nhat Hahn's Zen Keys, and a book on Yoga - which I have since started trying to practice. I guess that's it for now - I'll write more later - especially about my Chinese horoscope experience.
Well, the reason she wanted to talk to me is because she is worried about Duke. He has been, selon elle, unable to give any kind of clear answer, about anything. She asked me if I had noticed any change in him of late. I said that I thought his obliviousness characteristic ever since his arrival. So she proceeded to explain to me about a "non-convulsive seizure." These are more insidious than convulsive ones in that they are harder to detect: they are not as severe - that is, the brain activity is not interrupted enough to cause the body to shut down, but seizure activity is going on in the brain nevertheless. The subject is unable to answer questions - the most direct questions are the best to detect this sort of seizure: he will not know his name or birth date etc. These questions cannot be faked. Also, he will not move - adopt one position and maintain it for a very long time. In general, he will not track, and will be unable to interact meaningfully with the environment. She was worried that he had changed his medication.
So I got off the phone with her and went to question him. I questioned him for about fifty minutes - getting conflicting answers to many of the questions, and no answer to the rest. Finally I asked him to show me his medication. This got him up from his seat in the kitchen so we could go to his bedroom. A few minutes latter he "came to" as it were. He said he didn't remember the past fifty minutes and, after seeing his medicine (he's taking 1250mg of Primodone daily - though, even when lucid, he thought it was 1000mg) we decided to call his mother back. Probably she was more worried than before, we spoke (after they spoke). She really wants him to go to an American neurologist - or at least to see the one in Seoul whom his neurologist in D.C. referred him to. So far he hasn't. At the time of this writing, Duke has had one more seizure - last night - though there were no witnesses.
In the job field there have been no new developments: Duke dropped his suit - and has met with Mr. Im once or twice, but no progress has been made. No agreement reached. Im Won-jeong-nimh has let him sit for about a week - perhaps more meetings will be due soon.
Last week when Mr. Im came down to talk with Duke he brought 3 bills with him: 2 phone bills and an electricity bill. We all worked out what we owe and put it in an envelope - but we have done nothing with it yet. On Sat. (the bills were brought down on Wed.) "serving woman" came down and took both phone bills - but she left the electricity one. When they were given to us, all were overdue. --Don't know quite what will become of that.
My life is reasonably unchanged. I went to Kyobo bookcenter last Wednesday and spent W85,000 in one blow (this was earlier in the day than we received our bills). I got two books from the list sent to me by [redacted], the teachers book for the new book they want me to use at school, Ecce Homo, Kundera's Book of Laughter and Forgetting, Thich Nhat Hahn's Zen Keys, and a book on Yoga - which I have since started trying to practice. I guess that's it for now - I'll write more later - especially about my Chinese horoscope experience.
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