The valley of the workers who created the tombs.
Sunday, October 23, 2005
The temple of Ramses II in Abu Simbel. He actually claimed to dedicate this temple to Neferteri, the daughter of a Nubian king who became his wife in order to get the support of the Nubians. There are a few statues of Neferteri but in the inside the temple is mainly about what a cool lad Ramses himself was...
This is the Cheops pyramid. All the pyramids were built out of limestone which could only be found in Aswan which is hundreds of kilometres away. It is still a mystery how they managed to bring the stones up here. I'm not sure but I think the guide told us that it took about 65 years to build a pyramid. 1'000'000 people worked here (hm, I think it was per year but I'm not sure;-)
Saturday, October 15, 2005
Sunday, October 02, 2005
With Nabokov against the Ayatollahs
With Nabokov against the Ayotollahs
by Klara Obermüller, NZZ am Sonntag translated by Kristen
In totalitarian systems art and literature are usually the first victims. It was no different when the Ayotollahs took over in the end of the 1970’s in Iran. Like others before them they tried to gain control and started to prohibit books, destroy great works of art and force intellectuals to leave the country (some of them died). To engage with literature had become something dangerous. However because of that, literature gained a status which it doesn’t hold in other countries where freedom of expression is taken for granted.
Azar Afisi, a female professor for English literature at the University of Teheran was not allowed to give lectures anymore because she refused to wear a veil. From then on she held her lectures about Nabokov, Fitzgerald, Henry James and Jane Austen secretly in her own home. Two years she taught the most talented students about the famous protagonists who had
come into conflict with the norms of society (like Afisi herself). This silent form of rebellion empowered the women and they learnt to admit their feelings and needs, although this was something which women shouldn’t do according to the Islamic priests.
‘As the Iranian regime forced us to submerge, we became more interesting, dangerous and paradoxically even more powerful’ writes Azar Nafisi in her memoir ‘Reading Lolita in Teheran’.
‘Every great piece of art is a form of disobedience against the betrayal, the cruelty and the disappointment of life’ she told her students over and over again. ‘Like in fairy tales the power of great art comes from the promise that we don’t have to accept the constraints with which destiny confronts us.’
by Klara Obermüller, NZZ am Sonntag translated by Kristen
In totalitarian systems art and literature are usually the first victims. It was no different when the Ayotollahs took over in the end of the 1970’s in Iran. Like others before them they tried to gain control and started to prohibit books, destroy great works of art and force intellectuals to leave the country (some of them died). To engage with literature had become something dangerous. However because of that, literature gained a status which it doesn’t hold in other countries where freedom of expression is taken for granted.
Azar Afisi, a female professor for English literature at the University of Teheran was not allowed to give lectures anymore because she refused to wear a veil. From then on she held her lectures about Nabokov, Fitzgerald, Henry James and Jane Austen secretly in her own home. Two years she taught the most talented students about the famous protagonists who had
come into conflict with the norms of society (like Afisi herself). This silent form of rebellion empowered the women and they learnt to admit their feelings and needs, although this was something which women shouldn’t do according to the Islamic priests.
‘As the Iranian regime forced us to submerge, we became more interesting, dangerous and paradoxically even more powerful’ writes Azar Nafisi in her memoir ‘Reading Lolita in Teheran’.
‘Every great piece of art is a form of disobedience against the betrayal, the cruelty and the disappointment of life’ she told her students over and over again. ‘Like in fairy tales the power of great art comes from the promise that we don’t have to accept the constraints with which destiny confronts us.’
Saturday, October 01, 2005
Who cares oder warum ich das hier mache
Gewisse Dinge sollte man der Öffentlichkeit nun wirklich nicht antun und deshalb habe ich in den vergangenen Wochen hier nix reingeschrieben. Aber dafür ist ein Blog nun auch nicht gedacht. Also deshalb entschuldige ich mich jetzt schon mal im voraus für die einen oder anderen Missgeschicke die es zweifellos geben wird. Wer sich fragt, warum ich gewissen Schwachsinn hier reinschreibe und nicht einfach in der Schublade verstaue dem soll gesagt sein, dass mein Notizbuch mir leider keine Rückmeldungen gibt. Es kann sich nicht wehren und da ich eines Tages mal ein guter Schreiber sein will, brauche ich eure entsetzten Aufschreie oder die frenetischen Glückwünsche;-) Aber ich zwinge niemanden, Reisende soll man nicht aufhalten...
Some things shouldn't be published and that's why I haven't written anything in the past few weeks. However since this is a blog I've decided to write whatever comes to mind and I'd like to apoligize in advance, because some of it is and will always be crap. If you ask yourself why I don't have mercy I'd like you to know that one day I want to be a good writer and to achieve that goal I need your booohhhs and applause. However I'm not liable for injuries or deaths caused by instant boredom...
Some things shouldn't be published and that's why I haven't written anything in the past few weeks. However since this is a blog I've decided to write whatever comes to mind and I'd like to apoligize in advance, because some of it is and will always be crap. If you ask yourself why I don't have mercy I'd like you to know that one day I want to be a good writer and to achieve that goal I need your booohhhs and applause. However I'm not liable for injuries or deaths caused by instant boredom...
Abschied vom stillen Örtchen
Keine Angst, es folgen keine fäkaliengeschwängerten Worthülsen. Heute geht es mir um die Betrachtung des langsamen Todes des stillen Örtchens. Natürlich hat das Klo schon immer die Lebensumstände der Menschen reflektiert, aber bis heute ist mir das nie so direkt aufgefallen.
Ich geh also aufs Klo und finde ein schwarzgestrichenes Örtchen vor, indem die einzige Lichtquelle ein orange blinkendes Pünktchen am Boden ist. Während ich nach dem Klopapier taste, denke ich darüber nach, dass sich der Preiszerfall von Heroin also auch auf den Normalbürger auswirkt.
Beim Händewaschen entdecke ich die Plakate "gegen Langeweile auf dem Klo". Kostprobe: Dieser Satz enthäld zwei Fehler. Finden Sie sie! Und obwohl mir gar nicht langweilig war, ist mein Hirn schon am Rauchen weil es eh nur einen Fehler hat. Aber wer bleibt lange genug auf dem Klo, dass Langeweile aufkommen könnte???
Später als ich meine Kollegin frage, ob sie eine Idee habe, wofür denn das orange Lämpchen am Boden gewesen sei, erklärt sie mir, dass dort ein Fernseher installiert sei und dass man tatsächlich VIVA auf dem Klo schauen könne. Habe ich die erste Folge von Pimp my Pippibox verpasst? Was ist mit dem STILLEN Örtchen geschehen? Die Antwort ist einfach: das Klo reflektiert die Gesellschaft.
1. Wir müssen im Dunkeln pinkeln, weil gewisse Leute bei Licht spritzen.
2. Wir haben genug Geld für einen Fernseher auf dem WC-Boden.
3. Alleine sein ist uncool, sogar auf der Toilette.
Ich geh also aufs Klo und finde ein schwarzgestrichenes Örtchen vor, indem die einzige Lichtquelle ein orange blinkendes Pünktchen am Boden ist. Während ich nach dem Klopapier taste, denke ich darüber nach, dass sich der Preiszerfall von Heroin also auch auf den Normalbürger auswirkt.
Beim Händewaschen entdecke ich die Plakate "gegen Langeweile auf dem Klo". Kostprobe: Dieser Satz enthäld zwei Fehler. Finden Sie sie! Und obwohl mir gar nicht langweilig war, ist mein Hirn schon am Rauchen weil es eh nur einen Fehler hat. Aber wer bleibt lange genug auf dem Klo, dass Langeweile aufkommen könnte???
Später als ich meine Kollegin frage, ob sie eine Idee habe, wofür denn das orange Lämpchen am Boden gewesen sei, erklärt sie mir, dass dort ein Fernseher installiert sei und dass man tatsächlich VIVA auf dem Klo schauen könne. Habe ich die erste Folge von Pimp my Pippibox verpasst? Was ist mit dem STILLEN Örtchen geschehen? Die Antwort ist einfach: das Klo reflektiert die Gesellschaft.
1. Wir müssen im Dunkeln pinkeln, weil gewisse Leute bei Licht spritzen.
2. Wir haben genug Geld für einen Fernseher auf dem WC-Boden.
3. Alleine sein ist uncool, sogar auf der Toilette.
Friday, August 05, 2005
The Gift of Silence
Your lack of words
Made me feel like a comedian on stage
Desperate for applause
Your lack of words
Seemed to confirm my incapability
To keep you smiling
So I stepped off the stage
Avoiding your gaze
Staring at nothing
You did the same
Why did you keep coming
If silence was all you had to tell?
But then you said
That silence is never
As polite as clapping
Never as easy as cheering
And only given more than once
To those who dare
To leave the stage
Naked of all pretence
Made me feel like a comedian on stage
Desperate for applause
Your lack of words
Seemed to confirm my incapability
To keep you smiling
So I stepped off the stage
Avoiding your gaze
Staring at nothing
You did the same
Why did you keep coming
If silence was all you had to tell?
But then you said
That silence is never
As polite as clapping
Never as easy as cheering
And only given more than once
To those who dare
To leave the stage
Naked of all pretence
Thursday, July 07, 2005
Don’t let terrorists dictate the agenda
Bombs don’t only blow up buses or trains, bombs raise questions. Who is the enemy? Is it a religious war? What is the ultimate goal? What is the reason for the bloodshed? Is it our own fault? Is it a result of the countless inequalities or are the terrorists just murderers?
The Madrid attack had an immediate effect on the elections. Is this another politically motivated attack? Is there a way out of this nightmare?
I don’t know any of the answers, but I’m sure that attacks like these can’t be prevented, no matter how high the security standards are. Focusing on terrorism has proven to be effective to win votes but attacks have not been prevented. So instead of turning the world into a Big Brother house it might be a good idea to start asking questions and looking for solutions. Elevating people from poverty (which isn’t only an issue in Africa) isn’t an altruistic dream, dreamt by alternative treehuggers. Neither is the preservation of water resources or the fight to prevent climate change. The reasons are so damn rational that it’s scary. Politicians have ignored these issues far too long.
This is not an excuse. Terrorists and violent demonstrators make me sick. That’s exactly why we shouldn’t give them the pleasure to dictate our political agenda. Poverty and climate change are being discussed right now at the G8 summit. These issues affect billions of people. Whoever believes the world could be freed of terrorists is a dreamer. It is not worth devoting all these resources to fight terrorists. It’s even counterproductive. They will feel like heroes if they get all this attention. Let’s talk about what’s important. Let’s ask questions and find solutions. Let’s not wait for bombs to open our eyes.
The Madrid attack had an immediate effect on the elections. Is this another politically motivated attack? Is there a way out of this nightmare?
I don’t know any of the answers, but I’m sure that attacks like these can’t be prevented, no matter how high the security standards are. Focusing on terrorism has proven to be effective to win votes but attacks have not been prevented. So instead of turning the world into a Big Brother house it might be a good idea to start asking questions and looking for solutions. Elevating people from poverty (which isn’t only an issue in Africa) isn’t an altruistic dream, dreamt by alternative treehuggers. Neither is the preservation of water resources or the fight to prevent climate change. The reasons are so damn rational that it’s scary. Politicians have ignored these issues far too long.
This is not an excuse. Terrorists and violent demonstrators make me sick. That’s exactly why we shouldn’t give them the pleasure to dictate our political agenda. Poverty and climate change are being discussed right now at the G8 summit. These issues affect billions of people. Whoever believes the world could be freed of terrorists is a dreamer. It is not worth devoting all these resources to fight terrorists. It’s even counterproductive. They will feel like heroes if they get all this attention. Let’s talk about what’s important. Let’s ask questions and find solutions. Let’s not wait for bombs to open our eyes.
Sunday, July 03, 2005
White Band & Live 8
I'm sure all the cynics who don't wear white bands or haven't watched Live 8 are the ones who are going to solve the worlds problems. Because they're the only ones who really know, that pop-stars don't care and that everyone in the Western world is a hypocrite who believes, that something about poverty should be done. I'm also sure, that they're the only ones who will think about poverty and other global problems once the concerts are over.
Pop-stars do everything for their ego as well as those who volunteer, those who support charity or those who bother to inform themselves about the subject.
But what's the real story here? Is it possible that by critisizing everyone and everything the cynics justify their own behaviour? There will always be more reasons to despair than to hope. But just sitting around making cynical comments doesn't really help anybody. Even if the only thing you do is wearing the white band you show the politicians that they can't just keep going on if the want to win any elections again. Which is more than doing nothing.
We have to be realistic. There will always be rich and poor people and even nations. Like not everyone is born to become a rocket scientist, not everyone will be able to handle financial affairs as well as others.
We can't make history by doubling the aid. We can make history by being educated democrats who vote for the people willing to find solutions.
Pop-stars do everything for their ego as well as those who volunteer, those who support charity or those who bother to inform themselves about the subject.
But what's the real story here? Is it possible that by critisizing everyone and everything the cynics justify their own behaviour? There will always be more reasons to despair than to hope. But just sitting around making cynical comments doesn't really help anybody. Even if the only thing you do is wearing the white band you show the politicians that they can't just keep going on if the want to win any elections again. Which is more than doing nothing.
We have to be realistic. There will always be rich and poor people and even nations. Like not everyone is born to become a rocket scientist, not everyone will be able to handle financial affairs as well as others.
We can't make history by doubling the aid. We can make history by being educated democrats who vote for the people willing to find solutions.
Friday, June 24, 2005
No news is bad news
I tried hard to come up with good news but I gave up. There is none around. That doesn't mean that my life is depressing, there are just no good news which I think would be worth sharing. But why is that?
I tried hard to remember the last time people came together to celebrate something spontaneously. This is what I thought of:
1. When the name of the new pope was announced.
2. When Jacko was cleared.
3. When Greece won the European Championship.
So it's religion, sports, entertainment and ceremonies which make people come together and celebrate. Three out of these five aren't modern and because we're in post-modernism it seems we're moving away from everything which makes us celebrate. But are our lives less happier because of this? Hmm, there are studies which suggest that we laugh less than we used to. I read somewhere that the average Brit laughs 6 minutes a day. Man that's sad, I mean that's only 0.004% of the day. So is modernism actually making us grumpier? It looks like we're developing technically and in terms of productivity but that at the same time basic skills like how to laugh, socialize, use our language correctly and understand each other are on the decline. We're becoming apes again, highly developed but nevertheless depressive apes. Hmm, I'm hungry I'll have a banana now.
I tried hard to remember the last time people came together to celebrate something spontaneously. This is what I thought of:
1. When the name of the new pope was announced.
2. When Jacko was cleared.
3. When Greece won the European Championship.
So it's religion, sports, entertainment and ceremonies which make people come together and celebrate. Three out of these five aren't modern and because we're in post-modernism it seems we're moving away from everything which makes us celebrate. But are our lives less happier because of this? Hmm, there are studies which suggest that we laugh less than we used to. I read somewhere that the average Brit laughs 6 minutes a day. Man that's sad, I mean that's only 0.004% of the day. So is modernism actually making us grumpier? It looks like we're developing technically and in terms of productivity but that at the same time basic skills like how to laugh, socialize, use our language correctly and understand each other are on the decline. We're becoming apes again, highly developed but nevertheless depressive apes. Hmm, I'm hungry I'll have a banana now.
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
Da Cuddle Monster
When will scientists prove that Mr. Darwin's theory is incomplete? We're not only moving on in time, we're moving in circles. Don't believe me?
The trendy cuddle parties are a great example. If you join a cuddle party you basically meet strangers and cuddle up. Sex is prohibited. You have to ask whoever you want to cuddle and can only do so if they say yes. It sounds pretty weird but the idea behind isn't that strange. The key assumption is that non-sexual touch is nowadays neglected and happens only accidentially. We are encouraged to look at everything without touching it. Just think of all the germs crawling. Well back to the cuddle party. Aren't the people who go there pretty couragous? I could never do that. Just imagine your neighbours or friends would see you and figure out that you're not the sex god(dess) you pretended to be!!!
But let's go back to Darwin for a minute. We descended from the chimps and what do chimps do when they've finished eating and sleeping? The louse each other. They even do it if no lice are there to be found. And what did the human race do? We stopped lousing each other long ago, feel miserable because we want to be touched and than we create a totally new, horizontal profession because we confuse the need for comfort with the need for sex. So what happens in the end?
a) you neglect your fifth sense
b) you try to cure it with sex
c) you attend a cuddle party
So either way you end up paying for it, either with suppressed or misdirected feelings or by paying the fee for the cuddle party. Now do you call this DEVELOPMENT?
I suggest going back to lousing each other. It's cheaper and your size doesn't matter ;-).
http://www.cuddleparty.com/about/cuddlemonials.html
The trendy cuddle parties are a great example. If you join a cuddle party you basically meet strangers and cuddle up. Sex is prohibited. You have to ask whoever you want to cuddle and can only do so if they say yes. It sounds pretty weird but the idea behind isn't that strange. The key assumption is that non-sexual touch is nowadays neglected and happens only accidentially. We are encouraged to look at everything without touching it. Just think of all the germs crawling. Well back to the cuddle party. Aren't the people who go there pretty couragous? I could never do that. Just imagine your neighbours or friends would see you and figure out that you're not the sex god(dess) you pretended to be!!!
But let's go back to Darwin for a minute. We descended from the chimps and what do chimps do when they've finished eating and sleeping? The louse each other. They even do it if no lice are there to be found. And what did the human race do? We stopped lousing each other long ago, feel miserable because we want to be touched and than we create a totally new, horizontal profession because we confuse the need for comfort with the need for sex. So what happens in the end?
a) you neglect your fifth sense
b) you try to cure it with sex
c) you attend a cuddle party
So either way you end up paying for it, either with suppressed or misdirected feelings or by paying the fee for the cuddle party. Now do you call this DEVELOPMENT?
I suggest going back to lousing each other. It's cheaper and your size doesn't matter ;-).
http://www.cuddleparty.com/about/cuddlemonials.html
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
How we drive ourselves crazy
-Man why are news so depressing? I asked God.
-Maybe because journalists are no journalists but psychiatrists on a secret mission.
Well I don't know if that was really HIM who answered but you know what the bad thing is?
This probably isn't even a genius's marketing plan to get the couches filled, it's our very own masochistic nature. Now I'm not at all someone who'd want to see the papers filled with birthdays and wedding announcements. But could someone please explain why we drive ourselves crazy about things which are just myths? Let's face it there are more fun (and faster) ways to end up in the looney bin than from keeping up with the news. Try psychedelic mushrooms, someone told me that a friend of her thought she was a strawberry and she screeemed DON'T EAT ME I'M NOT RIPE. Now that is a stylish way to go nuts, isn't it? The news is so boring compared to that.
Ok now if you don't want to get high or blue or whatever, just ask yourself the next time you read the paper if they're bullshitting you. Beware of statistics, they're great to frighten people, after all, who's not wetted their pants at school because of the infamous four-letter subject? Everybody is afraid of maths and statistics and because we have some kind of horror gene planted in us the papers keep printing them like mad. Crime is a great example. Crime rate risen by 20%! Sounds familiar? Well the coolest thing about the crime rate is that the people who are most afraid of crime are those who are the most unlikely to ever become a victim. So this is good news for all the cowards out there ;-)
Ever thought that there may be more policemen patrolling, that there are more people in general than when the dinosaures where here, that more people have access to police stations because everybody has a phone and the vehicle to get there? New laws result in new crimes and these make the statistics look really scaring.
I don't mind if we all get mental but let's do it in a more creative way.
-Maybe because journalists are no journalists but psychiatrists on a secret mission.
Well I don't know if that was really HIM who answered but you know what the bad thing is?
This probably isn't even a genius's marketing plan to get the couches filled, it's our very own masochistic nature. Now I'm not at all someone who'd want to see the papers filled with birthdays and wedding announcements. But could someone please explain why we drive ourselves crazy about things which are just myths? Let's face it there are more fun (and faster) ways to end up in the looney bin than from keeping up with the news. Try psychedelic mushrooms, someone told me that a friend of her thought she was a strawberry and she screeemed DON'T EAT ME I'M NOT RIPE. Now that is a stylish way to go nuts, isn't it? The news is so boring compared to that.
Ok now if you don't want to get high or blue or whatever, just ask yourself the next time you read the paper if they're bullshitting you. Beware of statistics, they're great to frighten people, after all, who's not wetted their pants at school because of the infamous four-letter subject? Everybody is afraid of maths and statistics and because we have some kind of horror gene planted in us the papers keep printing them like mad. Crime is a great example. Crime rate risen by 20%! Sounds familiar? Well the coolest thing about the crime rate is that the people who are most afraid of crime are those who are the most unlikely to ever become a victim. So this is good news for all the cowards out there ;-)
Ever thought that there may be more policemen patrolling, that there are more people in general than when the dinosaures where here, that more people have access to police stations because everybody has a phone and the vehicle to get there? New laws result in new crimes and these make the statistics look really scaring.
I don't mind if we all get mental but let's do it in a more creative way.
Thursday, June 09, 2005
Happyness - Lessons from a New Science by Richard Layard
First of all it's kind of relieving to see that not every educated economist believes in this insane rat-race most of us are part of. It deals basically with the question why we haven't become happier alhtough Western society is the richest society which ever existed. Layard suggests that we have 'false Gods' and that 'getting ahead' doesn't really get us anywhere except to family break-ups (sorry was to busy getting ahead), disturbed children (sorry have neither time nor the energy to actually care), crime (sorry I don't know you that's why I can steal from you) and so on.
In his opinion the goal of every society should be to increase happiness instead of economic growth. Employers would therefore think twice about cutting jobs, forcing people to commute, pressurize with unrealistic goals and so on.
What's also pretty cool is that Layard doesn't seem to be the only star economists who thinks that way. Another one is Amartya Sen, the Nobel Prize winner 1998.
I do agree with almost anything he says but I'm not sure if the world is ready for this. As if to prove that we don't learn anything from history Layard is being critized or not taken seriously all over the place, just like Galilei and other famous scientists have hundreds or thousands of years before.
Well there is one good thing: Layard won't get incarcerated for his believes. A minor step forward. Maybe we nevertheless learn something from history. Even if it's at a very slow pace.
In his opinion the goal of every society should be to increase happiness instead of economic growth. Employers would therefore think twice about cutting jobs, forcing people to commute, pressurize with unrealistic goals and so on.
What's also pretty cool is that Layard doesn't seem to be the only star economists who thinks that way. Another one is Amartya Sen, the Nobel Prize winner 1998.
I do agree with almost anything he says but I'm not sure if the world is ready for this. As if to prove that we don't learn anything from history Layard is being critized or not taken seriously all over the place, just like Galilei and other famous scientists have hundreds or thousands of years before.
Well there is one good thing: Layard won't get incarcerated for his believes. A minor step forward. Maybe we nevertheless learn something from history. Even if it's at a very slow pace.
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
Escaping the Sound of Mortality
I tried all the paths I have known
To escape the tick tick clicking sound
Time is ticking away so loud
It makes me think I’m stalked by death
Clacking high heels on solid ground
People say there is this place
Not out of space but in your soul
It can’t save you from the pursuer.
But it’s a temple: no shoes allowed!
To mute down time’s lethal sound
Hell where is this thing called soul?
Why are there many ways to Rome?
But only one way I don’t know
To peace and silence of my home?
Tick tick click click it’s coming nearer
My decision now gets clear and clearer
I won’t find myself unless I make
The path on which I’ll evaporate
From the dimension of clocks and time
Somewhere lost and freely flying.
To escape the tick tick clicking sound
Time is ticking away so loud
It makes me think I’m stalked by death
Clacking high heels on solid ground
People say there is this place
Not out of space but in your soul
It can’t save you from the pursuer.
But it’s a temple: no shoes allowed!
To mute down time’s lethal sound
Hell where is this thing called soul?
Why are there many ways to Rome?
But only one way I don’t know
To peace and silence of my home?
Tick tick click click it’s coming nearer
My decision now gets clear and clearer
I won’t find myself unless I make
The path on which I’ll evaporate
From the dimension of clocks and time
Somewhere lost and freely flying.
Monday, June 06, 2005
Coldplay X & Y review
After skipping through, this CD has the usual Coldplay effect: slows down the heart beat and I feel at ease. But I also have the feeling that the songwriting has gotten weaker. There are less abstract songs and more normal love songs.
X1 Square One
The beginning reminds me of Enigma. Faster than usual and apart from Chris' voice there is not much about this song which is Coldplay like. Maybe the last minute.
X2 What If
Starts with the piano like everybody loves anyway but this is one of the songs I consider to be weak. Questions about life and love asked thousands of times this way. Nothing fresh about it.
X3 White Shadows
One of the faster tracks, the background is kind of typical Coldplay. I like the lyrics but it's too loud for my taste. The organ at the end sounds like a song played at a funeral and it links perfectly to X4.
X4 Fix You
At first you find yourself at a chapel with the organs playing. I like this touch of holyness in some weird way. My favourite song. The only thing I don't like is that the lyrics are predictable something I normally really hate. But this song is just too good. After 2 minutes and 38 seconds there is a filler which I've heard hundreds of times before but it fits perfectly well.
X5 Talk
Catchy melody and in the middle again this churchy sound. One of the faster tracks, louder than usual. The lyrics are not bad.
X6 X&Y
This reminds me of a song I can't remember. A little bit too much Ooohh for my taste.
Y1 Speed of Sound
I like this, it's similar to Clocks. But don't think the whole record is this kind of style, it's not.
Y2 A Message
The message you don't have to be alone is not really something new but nevertheless this easy-going guitar song is relaxing in the good old Coldplay way.
Y3 Low
The beginning reminds me of Jimmy Eat World. This beat and the background make me nervous. Don't listen to this if you want to relax.
Y4 The Hardest Part
There are elements of REM's Loosing my Religion in this song, just imagine Coldplay would have covered it and taken out and added a few things.
Y5 Swallowed in the Sea
The rhymes are rather predictable but the lyrics are still interesting because they managed to make something new with all the used words and messages. Cool metaphors.
Y6 Twisted Logic
How can you go forward when you go backwords? Well it's not as twisted as I thought.
Bonus Track
This is the kind of song you'd like to hear when the pic-nic with your boyfriend ends in him making a fire and playing on the guitar he's hidden behind the tree. Nothing new but like an intimate prayer. I love this simple song.
X1 Square One
The beginning reminds me of Enigma. Faster than usual and apart from Chris' voice there is not much about this song which is Coldplay like. Maybe the last minute.
X2 What If
Starts with the piano like everybody loves anyway but this is one of the songs I consider to be weak. Questions about life and love asked thousands of times this way. Nothing fresh about it.
X3 White Shadows
One of the faster tracks, the background is kind of typical Coldplay. I like the lyrics but it's too loud for my taste. The organ at the end sounds like a song played at a funeral and it links perfectly to X4.
X4 Fix You
At first you find yourself at a chapel with the organs playing. I like this touch of holyness in some weird way. My favourite song. The only thing I don't like is that the lyrics are predictable something I normally really hate. But this song is just too good. After 2 minutes and 38 seconds there is a filler which I've heard hundreds of times before but it fits perfectly well.
X5 Talk
Catchy melody and in the middle again this churchy sound. One of the faster tracks, louder than usual. The lyrics are not bad.
X6 X&Y
This reminds me of a song I can't remember. A little bit too much Ooohh for my taste.
Y1 Speed of Sound
I like this, it's similar to Clocks. But don't think the whole record is this kind of style, it's not.
Y2 A Message
The message you don't have to be alone is not really something new but nevertheless this easy-going guitar song is relaxing in the good old Coldplay way.
Y3 Low
The beginning reminds me of Jimmy Eat World. This beat and the background make me nervous. Don't listen to this if you want to relax.
Y4 The Hardest Part
There are elements of REM's Loosing my Religion in this song, just imagine Coldplay would have covered it and taken out and added a few things.
Y5 Swallowed in the Sea
The rhymes are rather predictable but the lyrics are still interesting because they managed to make something new with all the used words and messages. Cool metaphors.
Y6 Twisted Logic
How can you go forward when you go backwords? Well it's not as twisted as I thought.
Bonus Track
This is the kind of song you'd like to hear when the pic-nic with your boyfriend ends in him making a fire and playing on the guitar he's hidden behind the tree. Nothing new but like an intimate prayer. I love this simple song.
Sunday, June 05, 2005
If you were a fruit fly scientists could make you a homo
Reading the below mentioned article I was really puzzled. What reason would evolution have to let a simple gene alteration prevent animals from reproducing, the ultimate goal of evolution? As I wrote in a previous post there are examples of homo animals not only humans. Why is evolution sabotaging itself?
Trying to answer this question I remembered a study I once read which was carried out with rats. The happiest rats were those which had enough to eat and enough space. As soon as there were more rats around they started fighting even if all of them had enough food. In this light I’m pretty much a rat and I’m sure most of you out there are one too. We just hate it if we don’t have enough space.
This would mean that evolution’s goal is not uncontrolled reproduction (growth) but that the creatures actually have all they need. That would suit Lord Layard’s ideas about happiness (see yesterdays post) and it makes sense to me. Nothing is made to grow forever, after a while it's all about maintaining what is there. Scientific research just started revealing it. Just wonder how long politicians and economists will have to understand and accept this.
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/050603/80/fkelm.html
Trying to answer this question I remembered a study I once read which was carried out with rats. The happiest rats were those which had enough to eat and enough space. As soon as there were more rats around they started fighting even if all of them had enough food. In this light I’m pretty much a rat and I’m sure most of you out there are one too. We just hate it if we don’t have enough space.
This would mean that evolution’s goal is not uncontrolled reproduction (growth) but that the creatures actually have all they need. That would suit Lord Layard’s ideas about happiness (see yesterdays post) and it makes sense to me. Nothing is made to grow forever, after a while it's all about maintaining what is there. Scientific research just started revealing it. Just wonder how long politicians and economists will have to understand and accept this.
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/050603/80/fkelm.html
Saturday, June 04, 2005
Happyness the science part 1
Today I picked up a copy of Lord Layard's book Happiness: Lessons from a New Science. I'll write the review when I'm finished.
Layard thinks governments shouldn't only pursue economic growth but the happiness of its own people.
Do you think there are rules which can increase happiness? Isn't happiness something which is somewhat spontaneous? Is happiness happiness at all if it's straight-forward and even politically motivated? What if the policies succed, don't we always need more and different things to get happy? Or does the secret lie when to know that it's enough? Is happiness something that can be pursued anyway? Is it a state or a result of something?
Well we'll soon know more about that.
Layard thinks governments shouldn't only pursue economic growth but the happiness of its own people.
Do you think there are rules which can increase happiness? Isn't happiness something which is somewhat spontaneous? Is happiness happiness at all if it's straight-forward and even politically motivated? What if the policies succed, don't we always need more and different things to get happy? Or does the secret lie when to know that it's enough? Is happiness something that can be pursued anyway? Is it a state or a result of something?
Well we'll soon know more about that.
Thursday, June 02, 2005
How Socrates saved me
The PISA study revealed the misery: youngsters are stupid all over the world (except in Finland). What a horrid, spoilt generation would thank their grandparents for working their arses off (remember the good old days when there was no electricity?) with illiteracy and pathetic math skills?
I must admit I felt guilty ever since. Until today: I was lying on the couch doing nothing (which is something else to feel guilty about). Suddenly this question came to mind: are we really stupid or is the world getting smarter? I tried to think logically:
1. Thanks to the authors of books like “Why Men Don’t Listen and Women Don’t Read Maps” we know that our brain is basically the same like it was when our ancestors didn’t have roast beef but dinosaur steak on Sundays.
2. The knowledge in the world doubles about every five years.
This means it’s not our fault that we’re stupid there is just too much information around for our brain to make sense of. So let’s proof it mathematically.
Assuming that the world would have discovered the very first fact in 1900 (I do know that that happened long before but my calculator couldn’t take the challenge) the situation would have been this:
1900 1 brain = 1 fact (this is a model I’m trying to proof something)
1950 1 brain = 1024 facts
2005 1 brain = 2’097’152 facts
The guilt is gone and Mr. Socrates came (to mind not in person, haha I know bad joke):
-True knowledge exists in knowing that you know nothing.
I can relax now. Knowing that what I know is nothing compared to the world. I don’t have to hurry. I can take my time and speculate whether Socrates would have done well on the PISA test or not.
I must admit I felt guilty ever since. Until today: I was lying on the couch doing nothing (which is something else to feel guilty about). Suddenly this question came to mind: are we really stupid or is the world getting smarter? I tried to think logically:
1. Thanks to the authors of books like “Why Men Don’t Listen and Women Don’t Read Maps” we know that our brain is basically the same like it was when our ancestors didn’t have roast beef but dinosaur steak on Sundays.
2. The knowledge in the world doubles about every five years.
This means it’s not our fault that we’re stupid there is just too much information around for our brain to make sense of. So let’s proof it mathematically.
Assuming that the world would have discovered the very first fact in 1900 (I do know that that happened long before but my calculator couldn’t take the challenge) the situation would have been this:
1900 1 brain = 1 fact (this is a model I’m trying to proof something)
1950 1 brain = 1024 facts
2005 1 brain = 2’097’152 facts
The guilt is gone and Mr. Socrates came (to mind not in person, haha I know bad joke):
-True knowledge exists in knowing that you know nothing.
I can relax now. Knowing that what I know is nothing compared to the world. I don’t have to hurry. I can take my time and speculate whether Socrates would have done well on the PISA test or not.
Wednesday, June 01, 2005
Pleasantville Politics
Have you seen the movie “Pleasantville”? It’s about a village where everything is perfect but there are no colours. Everything is black or white. The local basketball team wins all the time, and the fire brigade is used to helping cats down from trees but hasn’t got a clue what a fire actually is, because nothing has ever burned in Pleasantville. Nice but damn boring.
Some politicians are trying really hard to bring everyone to “Pleasantville” and the people are waiting for someone to take them there.
Get real man! Do you really think some politician or other leader knows how to get there? Why go anyway even if somebody knew?
Politicians are like painters who only have one colour to work with. One paints the future black; his opponent paints with pure white.
You say yes to the EU and the good days will be gone you will use your job, your country, your identity and there will be anarchy. Or how about the white version: we will be part of a great family, where everybody supports everyone and we will be able to fight criminals, help refugees and end poverty.
Do you think you’d enjoy looking at a painting like that, a painting with only one colour? Where are the real artists (politicians) who know that there are shades, different colours, eternal but also new shapes and forms? Where are the politicians who don’t simplify reality but take the challenge to accentuate the pros and cons? Where are the politicians who have the courage to admit that they have no idea where Pleasantville is but that it may be worth trying a new route, not to find Pleasantville but a place where colours exist?
These politicians won’t come unless we learn how to appreciate true art (information) which is differentiated and colourful. Don’t pay the price for a museum (newspaper, political party) where there are only white or black paintings. Ask for diversity, ask for shades and colours. Ask for information which paints an accurate picture so that you can make up your mind rather than having to choose whether you like black or white better.
Some politicians are trying really hard to bring everyone to “Pleasantville” and the people are waiting for someone to take them there.
Get real man! Do you really think some politician or other leader knows how to get there? Why go anyway even if somebody knew?
Politicians are like painters who only have one colour to work with. One paints the future black; his opponent paints with pure white.
You say yes to the EU and the good days will be gone you will use your job, your country, your identity and there will be anarchy. Or how about the white version: we will be part of a great family, where everybody supports everyone and we will be able to fight criminals, help refugees and end poverty.
Do you think you’d enjoy looking at a painting like that, a painting with only one colour? Where are the real artists (politicians) who know that there are shades, different colours, eternal but also new shapes and forms? Where are the politicians who don’t simplify reality but take the challenge to accentuate the pros and cons? Where are the politicians who have the courage to admit that they have no idea where Pleasantville is but that it may be worth trying a new route, not to find Pleasantville but a place where colours exist?
These politicians won’t come unless we learn how to appreciate true art (information) which is differentiated and colourful. Don’t pay the price for a museum (newspaper, political party) where there are only white or black paintings. Ask for diversity, ask for shades and colours. Ask for information which paints an accurate picture so that you can make up your mind rather than having to choose whether you like black or white better.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)