Paul's visual arts, literature & philosophy forum.

tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-295067892011-07-08T04:22:34.247+07:00Paul's visual arts, literature & philosophy forum.The purpose of this blog is to initiate dialogue between people with interesting ideas about the subjects of greatest consequence to me, namely: the seven arts (I would also include certain films as the eighth) & philosophy. Any of the work on my site (http://www.HermanStudios.com) is fair game for criticism, comment or question & I will post stories & philosophical essays while encouraging you to do the same.Paul Hermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18070893444492329744noreply@blogger.comBlogger111100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29506789.post-48827738137221248682010-03-05T13:33:00.001+07:002010-03-05T13:35:33.477+07:00Change of address

I stopped posting articles here years ago. If you want to see more go here instead.

Paul Hermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18070893444492329744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29506789.post-1153477453649688002006-07-21T17:19:00.000+07:002006-07-21T21:47:39.380+07:00Masculine versus feminine, Muslim versus Buddhist.

Well, here I am again with the wild and wacky fundamentalist Muslims. I have been living among the essentially feminine, light-hearted and frivolous northern Thai Buddhists for almost three years now and the differences are stark. Northern Thailand joined the rest just three hundred years ago to form Siam, prior to that it has its own long history and particular traditions. Up until just one

Paul Hermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18070893444492329744noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29506789.post-1153468537396484592006-07-21T14:45:00.000+07:002006-07-21T21:28:55.496+07:00Driving with Muslims or Buddhists

When an American or European person first drives on Thailand's streets it seems insane and impossibly dangerous. The majority of Thai people on the road have purchased their driving licences illegally without ever taking a class and such things as fast or slow lane, lanes themselves, or even double yellow lines dividing oncoming traffic are completely ignored. People drift from one lane to

Paul Hermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18070893444492329744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29506789.post-1151740216289538862006-07-01T14:48:00.000+07:002006-07-01T14:50:16.296+07:00Peter Feldstein & Stephen G Bloom's Oxford project

Peter moved to the tiny town of Oxford, (6-700 people) Iowa, 32 years ago to teach photography at the State university. In 1984 he set up his camera & took photographs of many of the town's natives. In 2005 he did the same thing. The resulting project is garnering increasing amounts of attention with articles in the NYTimes, television coverage & now, Peter informs me: a book deal. Why is this

Paul Hermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18070893444492329744noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29506789.post-1151478336723233552006-06-28T13:54:00.000+07:002006-06-30T19:42:04.826+07:00How to argue

There are good arguments & there are bad arguments, there are valid arguments & there are stupid arguments. The good or valid arguments lead to deeper knowledge & harmonious agreement, while the bad or stupid arguments lead to negative emotions & deeper disagreement.Plato claimed truth was in the air all around us, the proof being that two men who are ignorant of a certain knowledge can, through

Paul Hermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18070893444492329744noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29506789.post-1151047569141353022006-06-23T14:21:00.000+07:002006-06-23T14:41:55.116+07:00On 'happiness', in answer to Ivan's comment.

Ivan wrote:Happiness, in itself is a silly, giddy thing. Rather it's the "pursuit" of happiness that's of value. Imagine a life engaged in the pursuit of misery.Ivan ShermanYes, I think that is a valid point Ivan, that a life in pursuit of happiness can be defined as more successful than one that becomes complacent upon accomplishing some pre-defined state of happiness. I think a good analogy to

Paul Hermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18070893444492329744noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29506789.post-1150956426016515342006-06-22T13:00:00.000+07:002006-06-22T13:13:43.950+07:00Thoughts on Happiness

In response to some of the comments posted to the essay - 'Happiness Versus Suffering' (below) I would like to offer this excerpt from my book: 'Life is Good Even When it's Not':The idea of life as a project or series of projects may not be unusual, but the deeper significance is interesting: it has made my satisfaction with life tied largely to my level of productivity, rather than my volume of

Paul Hermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18070893444492329744noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29506789.post-1150214888810787492006-06-13T22:53:00.000+07:002006-06-22T14:15:09.816+07:00The birth of Chiang Mai

To the Thai, a city is a living body that can get sad, angry, happy, bored, sick... it is a cooperation of its inhabitants akin to the collaboration of cells in a human body. After the kings of Lampun and Sukothai came to the aid of Mangrai, the king of Chiang Rai to repel the invading Burmese, the three kings from Chiang Rai in the north, Sukothai to the south, and Lampun in the east, decided to

Paul Hermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18070893444492329744noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29506789.post-1150009770031039632006-06-11T13:57:00.000+07:002006-06-12T00:19:21.770+07:00War Story

I am crawling on my belly in the mud. The night is black as a puddle of engine oil; the stars obliterated by the dark silhouettes of the tropical forest that crowds on top and all around us. We three followed Knuckles, a man we hated, feared and trusted. He was the naked killer we would have been if only we could get rid of this damned fear. Knuckles was the only man I had ever seen get back up

Paul Hermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18070893444492329744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29506789.post-1149999410059378472006-06-11T11:12:00.000+07:002006-06-22T14:16:32.540+07:00Happiness Versus Suffering

Christians are always talking about suffering & in the foremost Christian countries the whole religion has become a cult to suffering with the virgin mother as its centre (the Dolorosa) but all the saints are either crying or bleeding or at the very least in an anguished pose of ecstatic revelation (pain/pleasure of physical climax). Even the priest's celibacy is seen as sacrifice. The 33 years

Paul Hermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18070893444492329744noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29506789.post-1149932384216187892006-06-10T16:29:00.000+07:002006-06-10T16:39:44.223+07:00Cogitations upon observing the life of an ant, from its birth to its death by old age, while I lay in a bathtub.

Without being too scientifically punctilious we all know ants come in what can essentially be described as three sexes, the only female of a colony is the Queen ant, she mates once, storing the sperm for her entire lifetime in her own bloated body. She is doted on by worker ants that make it possible for her to dedicate her remarkably long life to egg production, fertilizing each with the stored

Paul Hermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18070893444492329744noreply@blogger.com3