The Sonikcycle Syndicate

CHAD. chad. Chad. cHaD. I love to say the word “Chad.”

The Republic of Chad has forever enchanted me. I learned of Chad back in my school daze when I saw it on a map — an empty looking chunk of North Central Africa. Chad’s neighbors — Libya, Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic, and The Sudan — all seem to crop up in conversation, periodically, at least. I know people from all of those countries except Libya. But Chad, land of mystery, has eluded my perception. The closest I seem to have ever gotten to Chad was to have lived next-door to a peculiar boy named Chad (not Chadwick, just Chad). That is, until recently, when I met some one who knows someone from Chad, land of mystery. My brief yet pointed “grilling” yielded little in the way of what Chad is like. But I was getting closer ;->

Last night, as I perused the racks at the local B@$$buster, a film directed by a Chadian and filmed in Chad just jumped off the shelf at me. Oh happy, happy day! The title of the film is Abouna, and it’s a deeply cultural film that I found delightful and satisfying… I was witnessing CHAD!!!! At the end, there’s a very informative interview with Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, the director.

So, if you too are intrigued by Chad, check out Abouna (and Bye Bye Africa). As for me, I hope to actually visit Chad sometime next year. Just so I can say, “Yes, I have seen Chad, land of mystery, with my own two eyes ;->”

Technorati Tags: chad, africa, abouna

On my way to class yesterday morning, I thought to myself, “Oh, I should turn off my cellular telephone so that it doesn’t ring in class.” Since my hands were full, I decided to switch it off when I got to class. That didn’t happen. Sure enough, one of the few people who know that I now have a cellular telephone, called me right in the middle of our deep discussion! The illustrious Dr. Kinzie was quick to capture the moment…

Technorati Tags: cell phone, annoy

Are you familiar with James Burke’s wonderful series, “Connections,” shown on PBS and The Learning Channel? I was pleasantly reminded of the show after a mild “Burke-ian Moment.” No, I didn’t happen to connect the dots between Napolean and the development of the modern computer (the latest question on Burke’s Knowledge Web Project), I did, however, receive an e-mail that prompted a search for a professor at Curry, then led me => the Curry faculty gallery => another faculty member => that person’s Curry page => that person’s personal website => a page he had just shown me today. The significance of this “connection” story lies in the fact that today when Steve asked me whether “page x” loaded, I made little of it (he’s forever creating cool stuff), but when I saw the same page IN CONTEXT, as an integral part and extension of his personal site, everything fell into place…I connected the dots, I saw the whole!

I wanted to comment on how much I liked the design of the WHOLE. Alas, there is no place from the personal page to “contact” the doctor. I expect that my rather circuitous comments will come to his attention as there is little that escapes his ever watchful eye ;->

Note—the personal website mentioned above has changed and now looks like this. I liked the old one better…. 9/14/08

Technorati Tags: connections, social networking, k-web