Notes from 'The Path to Tranquility' by His Holiness the XIV. Dalai Lama, edited by Renuka Singh:

January 18: "To develop patience, you need someone who willfully hurts you. Such people give us real opportunity to practice tolerance. They test our inner strength in a way that even our guru cannot. Basically, patience protects us from being discouraged."

January 29: "It is said that if you want to know what you were doing in the past, look at your body now; if you want to know what will happen to you in the future, look at what your mind is doing now."


Snippets:
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Edwin Way Teale (1899-1980), American naturalist. North with the Spring (1951), Autumn Across America (1956), Journey Into Summer (1960), Circle of the Seasons (1953), Wandering Through Winter (1965).
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Book: 'Durst' (in German, Engl. transl. 'Thirst'). 1976. An extraxt from 'Wind, Sand, und Sterne' ('Wind, Sand, and Stars). A desert pilot crashed in the desert and struggles against his own mind. Good tempo. Beautiful language.
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Video: Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace. 1999. 133 min. w/ Liam Neeson, Natalie Portman, Ewan McGregor. Prequel to the first Star Wars film. More special effects, lots of shooting, laser sword fights, and battles. Trying to give a meaning to 'later' episodes in the series. Don't expect too much.
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All Movie Guide. Useful information about movies. Similar to All Music Guide.
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Video: Seven Years in Tibet (1997). 136 min. w/ Brad Pitt, David Thewlis. The story of the Austrian mountain climber Heinrich Harrer during his years in Tibet, and his friendship with the young Dalai Lama. Film has too much Hollywood Schmalz and is too shallow for the intensity of the subject. Thewlis' acting is significantly better than Pitt's. However, some great nature scenes.
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John Pike (1911-1979): American watercolor artist and illustrator. Wrote books on watercolor painting.
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Public Citizen: national, nonprofit consumer advocacy organization that represent consumer interests
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Consumer Reports and Consumers Union.
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Video: Stephen Hawking: A Brief History of Time (1992). 84 min. Directed by Errol Morris. Documentary on the life and work of the renowned cosmologist. Hawking is suffering from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS, motoneuron disease), which nearly completely paralyses his body, but leaving his mind fully active. Excellent biography of the person, including interviews with friends and family. However, the science of Hawking's work could have been explained a little more in detail.
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