the Malaysian Cowboy

The Political Mind by George Lakoff

Perusing the shelves of a bookstore, a year ago I stumbled on George Lakoff’s The Political Mind. Claiming to explain the nature of the American political mind, through the lens of objective, cognitive science, Lakoff’s words seemed a refreshing change from the partisan finger-pointing. So I put the book on my seemingly endless list of things to do, and eventually, I got around to reading it about a month ago.

Having finished the book, in my opinion, if you ever happen to come across the book, go right ahead and skip it. Lakoff’s focus on the inner workings of the mind, from neural patterns, biconceptionalism, and unconscious frames, definitely make for a compelling discussion and newfound introspection about how our minds act in the political realm.

Yet, even as he declares notions of the “left-right” spectrum useless in this discussion, Lakoff’s conclusions seem bent on galvanizing liberals rather than simply informing. Every now and again, you’ll notice a reference to what he clearly views as direct and indirect failings presided over by the Bush administration, with his references to Blackwater and the invasion of Iraq, Enron, healthcare, among other things. Throughout, he calls for a “new enlightenment” that goes beyond mere rationality and utility that pervaded the original enlightenment, to acknowledge the emotional component of our reasoning. In one sense, to any progressive individual, the book is the kind of feel-good literature that makes you feel empowered and a little more certain about how to go about achieving significant progress in the American political landscape.

And, don’t get me wrong: it’s not that I didn’t find myself in agreement with Lakoff, on multiple occasions. I’m definitely sure of my own progressive mindset on countless issues.

Still, Lakoff appears to go through significant pains, at the outset and various other junctions, to convince the reader that he is presenting an entirely objective point of view, while at the same time turning right around and arguing, implicitly or otherwise, that there’s a sort of battle against a conservative mindset that the world must .

Using some of Lakoff’s terminology, one might say that as you move from chapter to chapter, you can’t escape the notion that Lakoff is carefully framing the argument in a manner presenting the progressive point of view as the better option, while failing to acknowledge this frame and the fact that it may in fact be clouding the actual discussion. That really irked me.

In short, I found it a chore to get through Lakoff’s writing. It wasn’t so much dry writing as it was annoyingly hypocritical, and, to the extent that it reached a conclusion, it was so overtly one-sided that it left a bad taste in my mouth for objective, informative writing.

The Mantle of the Prophet Religion and Politics in Iran by Roy Mottahedeh

I came to discover this gem writing on the Iranian revolution on the Council on Foreign Relations’ Foreign Affairs website. I received my copy in the mail today—turns out it’s not all that readily available at most local Barnes and Noble or Borders locations—but having read the opening pages, I’m already excited.

Presented in narrative form, from the reviews I’ve read, Mottahedeh presents an unrivaled account of an increasingly relevant society, and I’m looking forward to coming away with an increased appreciation and understanding for Iran. If nothing else, the perspective is likely to give me a refreshing change from all that the mainstream media love to spew on a daily basis!

The Flickr Galleries: Day 1 | Day 2 || Denver: July 28th & 29th

After a good night’s rest and a late breakfast, our first stop was Casa Bonita, a wonderful dining experience similar to a Rainforest Café, only better. Now I must tell you that Julia and her mom went to great lengths to inform me that the food there was pretty bad, and, really, we were going for the experience over anything else. Obviously, being familiar with the numerous Tex-Mex dining options in Houston and Texas, while I can’t say I’m a connoisseur of good Tex-Mex, I can certainly tell good food from the bad stuff.

As it turns out, the food wasn’t really as bad as I’d expected (in fact, the nachos were pretty good, if not rather filling), and the rest of the experience was really cool (check out the video clip for a better idea)!

Having watched a few of the cliff diving shows and a pirate duel, we finished our meal and explored Black Bart’s hideout, which took us through a windy cave filled with lots of interesting creatures and sights.

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Today’s Flickr Gallery | July 24th: Disneyland. When I was six years old, I made my one and only visit to Disneyworld in Orlando, Florida. At the time, I quite enjoyed myself. Thirteen years later, I’m glad to say I experienced much of the same enjoyment one comes to know only by having been there for yourself! That being said, apart from the video above, I’m going to try and detail what we did do.

After a two and a half-hour drive down to Anaheim, we arrived at the ripe hour of 9:30 to find parking already beginning to fill up.  Given that Disneyland itself closes at midnight, we had designs on spending the entire day there. And, while we ended up leaving at around 10:30 instead of midnight, I can assure you we didn’t have to work too hard to tire ourselves out =P.

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It looked like it was going to rain. It did. Quite hard. Then it lightened up. Kind of. Eventually, I did in fact make it to the Grand Canyon, despite my musings to the contrary in the above video. As you’ll see, the bulk of today’s focus was indeed getting to the Grand Canyon.

Two quick things: today’s flickr gallery is here, yesterday’s is here, and you can view the entire Road Trip collection, as it continues to grow, here. The other thing is that you may notice the posts are coming progressively later-this is partly due to the fact that I’m moving further west and turning the clock back, and, I was pretty tired today, haha.

Leaving Albuquerque at 7:30 in the morning, I told myself I would need to make as few stops as possible in order to make it to the Grand Canyon by midday.

I did end up making a few stops, as my camera seemed to have a mind of its own, hitting the brakes and flipping on my turn signal without much work on my part…don’t know what I can really do about that beyond going with the flow .

I didn’t bother stopping for lunch, instead, I munched on this almond-cranberry-cashew nut trail mix that I’m sad to say I’m all out of at this point, but will probably end up getting again once I’m back in Houston and can find a Randalls. I daresay I may even have to make the stop before I pull into my driveway, ’cause it’s really that good.

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Today was the day of the famed New Mexico green chile. I’d been told about it previously, but had to have some myself.

The New Mexico chile is a local cultivar of the species, or subspecies otherwise represented as Anaheim peppers. The large, flavorful New Mexican variety gives the region’s cuisine much of its distinctive style, and used so extensively that it is known simply as “chile”. Green chiles are those that are picked unripe; they are fire-roasted, then peeled before further use. Unlike the ultra-mild canned supermarket green chiles, New Mexico green chiles can range from mild to hotter than jalapeños, and come in grades of spiciness at markets that cater to chile aficionados. (Wikipedia)

Leaving the hotel at 8:30 in the morning, I set out from Amarillo at a rather leisurely pace. The drive to Albuquerque was considerably more straightforward as compared to Houston-Amarillo: I simply headed west all day on I-40, ’till I finally got to the city.

Slated to last about five hours, I made sure to stop at various points to get some shots of the fields, which eventually turned into more undeveloped desert areas.

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For me, few things compare to a good banana leaf meal.

For those who’ve never experienced such a meal, it’s easy to dismiss the picture above as just “some Indian food that happens to be on a banana leaf” as opposed to a conventional plate. And, objectively speaking, you’re right.

Still, there’s quite a bit more to this style of eating than first meets the eye:

• First, there’s the communal aspect. When you’re going to “do banana leaf” at a restaurant, while you can certainly go it alone, more often than not the experience is with a group of people. With you and your companions are sitting side by side using only your hands to nourish yourselves, there’s a sense that you’re closer to a more primordial, simpler way of coming to discuss issues. In a sense, when one chooses to dine at a banana leaf restaurant, apart from the awesomeness that is the food itself, there’s a good amount of an attempt to get up to date on the local happenings.
  • Admittedtly, this point has application to food in general. I guess my bias lies in the fact that, for me, and for those with an exposure to this culture, it really has a certain importance to me, in the way that one might crave the idea of late-night chinese takeout on a friday night, or getting bagels from that local bakery.
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