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Haiti book rec

Tracy Kidder - Mountains Beyond Mountains One of the best books I read while in Haiti (and I read a lot – probably about 40, something I never manage at home with all those distractions!) was Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder, about Dr. Paul Farmer, the founder of Partners in Health, whose work in Haiti and elsewhere is absolutely astonishing.

At the center of Mountains Beyond Mountains stands Paul Farmer. Doctor, Harvard professor, renowned infectious-disease specialist, anthropologist, the recipient of a MacArthur “genius” grant, world-class Robin Hood, Farmer was brought up in a bus and on a boat, and in medical school found his life’s calling: to diagnose and cure infectious diseases and to bring the lifesaving tools of modern medicine to those who need them most. This magnificent book shows how radical change can be fostered in situations that seem insurmountable, and it also shows how a meaningful life can be created, as Farmer—brilliant, charismatic, charming, both a leader in international health and a doctor who finds time to make house calls in Boston and the mountains of Haiti—blasts through convention to get results.

On Audible I found an interview with him, for a show called ‘Fresh Air’, that was done in 2003, in case you want to get an inkling of why this man rocks: mp3 on Sendspace, 25mb (via anonym.to)

Crossposted to my personal blog.

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Music: A Year in New Zealand

Spending the week saying goodbye is not fun, so I decided to cheer myself up by making a playlist to commemorate my time here. It’s a mix of kiwi artists (*), songs I listened to while here and/or that I found appropriate. Enjoy! 🙂

A Year in New Zealand

1. Elemeno P* – Baby Come On: www.sendspace.com/file/6ppyri
2. Discovery Channel – Boom de Yada: www.sendspace.com/file/57z8zd
3. Howard Shore – The Shire (Lord of the Rings): www.sendspace.com/file/myrb6u
4. Bic Runga* – Precious Things: www.sendspace.com/file/00rkdx
5. Opshop* – One Day: www.sendspace.com/file/vdxyom
6. XTC – Stupidly Happy: www.sendspace.com/file/5wy0np
7. Rhombus* – Scorching Bay: www.sendspace.com/file/vvn05c
8. Koop – Come to Me: www.sendspace.com/file/fw8xdq
9. Bright Eyes – First Day of My Life: www.sendspace.com/file/l8u9ur
10. Empires – Anywhere: www.sendspace.com/file/cru1f1
11. Fire Flies – Welcome to Our Neck of the Woods: www.sendspace.com/file/706at7
12. Anika Moa* – Good In My Head: www.sendspace.com/file/fkr9v4
13. Jason Mraz – Live High: www.sendspace.com/file/xlbwmb
14. The Hush Sound – Medicine Man: www.sendspace.com/file/nif9xh
15. Panic at the Disco – Northern Downpour: www.sendspace.com/file/5gprxf
16. Oh No! Oh My! – Walk in the Park: www.sendspace.com/file/zphjli
17. Fall Out Boy – Saturday: www.sendspace.com/file/0v53ew
18. Bon Jovi – Lost Highway: www.sendspace.com/file/e0q17l
19. Cracker – Been Around the World: www.sendspace.com/file/7uvz4g
20. Patrick Stump – Tom Traubert’s Blues (Tom Waits cover): www.sendspace.com/file/6pppn4
21. Regina Spektor – The Call (Narnia – Prince Caspian): www.sendspace.com/file/0c98ps

Bonus: Anika Moa* – Kotahitanga (“Oneness”): www.sendspace.com/file/60s1sk

Later today I’ll be posting some photos from this week’s series of goodbyes… My last day in Wellington, how strange is that?!

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Not much to report

Study week is almost over – my first exam is tomorrow afternoon. I don’t know if I’ve studied enough, if I’ll remember all those finicky little details, but there’s not much I can do about that now except revise some more.

Yesterday I watched a couple of movies with Michelle (and a very sleepy Rathy) – ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ and ‘Some Like It Hot’, both films that never fail to make me smile.

Lazy Saturday afternoon

And tonight the view from my window once again managed to make me get out my camera:
Sunset

But anyway, back home the EuroCup 2008 started, which led me to search YouTube for some video of the opening match, Switzerland-Czech Republic, which was held in Basel (Switzerland lost, 1:0, btw). In doing so I found this pretty little video of a tram ride from the Basel train station:

I also discovered that apparently Baschi, a hometown boy, did the inofficial Euro 08 song for Switzerland – Bring en hei (“bring it home”): www.sendspace.com/file/avyszo

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Homegrown festival

On Friday, I met Janne once more before she left.

Oriental Bay

But the big thing was of course Vodafone Homegrown, a festival with over 30 kiwi bands playing on 5 stages over 11 hours. I went with Meredith and her friend Zoey and it couldn’t have been a better festival experience, starting with the awesome weather, the fun atmosphere and of course the great music.

Homegrown festival

These are the bands I saw at least partly, in chronological order: Salmonella Dub, Ladi6, Sunshine Sound System, Cornerstone Roots, Opshop, Elemeno P, The Phoenix Foundation, The Black Seeds, The Mint Chicks, Tiki. There were also buskers, breakdancers, a Brazilian drum group and awesome fire poi to admire.

Here’s some more photos, music and video from the day:

Continue reading “Homegrown festival”

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Feeling better

Finally started working on the next assignment. Also, met up with Kathrin one more time before she leaves NZ tomorrow. Aww, now all three of my first uni friends here are gone. 🙁

Anyway, main reason for this post – I found a really cool clip of the All Blacks (NZ rugby team) doing a haka, a Maori war dance. There are many different kinds of haka, but this one (Ka Mate Ka Mate) has become more or less the “default” version. VERY impressive, even more so when they’re doing it right in front of you…

Also, this commercial, in which gingerbread men perform the haka, is hilarious!

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Music for you

I made a 2007 mix CD – you can find it here, in my personal blog, which otherwise I’m shamefully neglecting in favour of this one… 🙂

21 songs that personify this exciting year for me for a variety of reasons. Hope you enjoy! 🙂

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Bye bye… Evamaria’s “Leaving for New Zealand” mix

For my goodbye party last Saturday I made a special music mix, which I gave to my friends with personalized cover art. However, I also made a more general cover, using photos from my last visit to New Zealand. It’s all about getting ready for something new. I’d love to hear if you like it…

Right-click for full-size
Right-click image for full-size cover.

Continue reading “Bye bye… Evamaria’s “Leaving for New Zealand” mix”

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Japan soundtrack

As I'm trying to find my footing here again, I've played around with something: Before I left, I created a 'good stuff' playlist – just random songs (74 of them) I enjoyed, some new, some old.

I actually didn't listen to as much music on this trip as I normally do, mainly because in Japan as a rule there's always a certain level of background noise, but a number of the songs did come to mean quite a lot to me, and I'll probably always connect them to this journey from now on. I thought I'd share this 'ultimate' playlist with you, including some words why I chose these songs. Hope you like it!

Japan 2005 – a travel soundtrack
1. Kaze Wo Atsumete – Happy End (From 'Lost in Translation', a movie that describes my experiences quite well.)
2. 99 Luftballons – Nena (German 80s hit song – first song I ever sang in a karaoke box!)
3. You're Beautiful – James Blunt (My current goosebump song.)
4. The Blood of Cu Chulainn – Jeff & Michael Danna (From the 'Boondock Saints' soundtrack, a song that never fails to make my mind travel.)
5. One Line – P.J. Harvey (Very intense – it has come to be my ultimate 'Professionals' song and I would kill for a fanvid using it…)
6. Und wenn ein Lied – Söhne Mannheims (Not normally my music, this song reminds me of and traveling with her.)
7. Under the Milky Way Tonight – The Church (This was my New Zealand song, even before I knew that The Church are a kiwi band.)
8. Die Katze – Annett Louisan (One of the songs I sang to myself when I was walking in the mountains, although the voice of the singer takes a bit of getting used to.)
9. Jerk It Out – Caesar's Palace (The iPod song – I might have danced to it out in a field, when no one was watching. *g*)
10. I schänke dir mis Härz – ZüriWest (I felt the need for music in my own language sometimes, and this is an all-time favorite.)
11. The Blower's Daughter – Damien Rice (Another goosebump song, for some reason I keep forgetting how beautiful it is.)
12. When Doves Cry – Ginuwine (After Baz Luhrman's 'Romeo & Juliet' I just adored this song – for this trip, I dug it out again.)
13. Sitting Waiting Wishing – Jack Johnson (Jack Johnson makes excellent travel music – and this song reminds me of the hours I spent waiting for connecting trains… *g*)
14. Your Song – Keane (I think shared this cover just before I left and I kept listening to it on repeat.)
15. Good Life – Leslie Mills (Discovered this song a couple of years ago through a website that used the phrase 'raspberry sun' – I just love the lyrics, they're so me.)
16. W. Nuss vo Bümpliz – Patent Ochsner (Another Swiss German song that's been a favorite of mine for years.)
17. Ice Cream – Sarah McLachlan (Heard this song on 'Felicity' one time, loved that it mentioned chocolate – and it led me to discover Sarah McLachlan.)
18. Universe – Savage Garden (Will always remind me of a certain special morning in Southampton when I was 17 – one of the few songs that I find truly sexy.)
19. A Sorta Fairytale – Tori Amos (Probably my favorite Tori song.)
20. Almost Human – Voltaire (A chance discovery, this just speaks to me.)
21. Heimweh – Plüsch (This song is called 'homesick', and I listened to it whenever I missed home or felt lost in this strange country – it always cheered me up, strangely enough.)