Delia Derbyshire was a rare creature: she studied math and music - and worked later in the famous BBC Radiophonic Workshop. There she created for example many sound effects for tv shows and the theme for Doctor Who. Delia had a passion for weird sounds and harmonies. I wish she would have worked during the early house and techno scene - I am sure she would have created amazing music!

More? Guardian Obituary

I am pretty sure I can compete at least in one aspect of his guruness.

I remember these terrible drives for Atari, Commodore and Apple home computers - even more unreliable then pro drives for IBM machines. And the noise! Something you thought they are actually drilling the data into the floppies.

Good thing they are dead. Or do you wanna save your MP3 collection on a billion single sided 170 KILOBYTE disks?!

Sorry, I was a bit sick the recent days. So I hardly spent any time on my blog and answering comments. I am slowly coming back.

Before 1914 the world was already starting a global society without any political systems to divide them.

Then Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria, was assassinated by a terrorist which started the first half of the great war from 1914 till 1945. It took half a century to restore the global society to the same flow of goods and people like before 1914. It took Europe another World War to finally start the European Union.

Are we now having a new global war thanks to 9/11? Instead of communism and capitalism will we have a competition between Islam Fundamentalism vs. Western Democratic Idealism?

Our global society is still very young and unstable - are these the wars to unite us? Is the horror of war the only way to break down national differences?

Some people are down to earth. Others like to fly between the clouds. The extreme ones go for the moon and stars. And the pros are one with the whole universe.

Why do people need to be someplace else with their minds & souls - except to stay in the here and now?

To be honest I am still surprised about Mr Warhols fame. He certainly was a great artist, but his work (in my eyes) are not as breath taking and special as Picasso’s. But I guess ‘The Factory’ which was not only just a cool place, but a celebrity hang out that played an important role. He was well connected and created his own fans and market in one go. I guess at a certain point he simply was a social anchor as well as Godfather to anything related to art in New York?

Another part of his fame is his commercial ’soup art’ - his understanding how to create mass media compatible mass art. I think in that respect he was truly groundbreaking:

In the future, everyone will be world famous for 15 minutes.

I think in this quote he summed up everything you need to know about today’s media society (although today it’s 15 seconds of fame on YouTube). His art reflected mass produced images of the same people / themes over and over again. Art was no longer an unique object, but a mass produced variation of an idea / topic.

Mr Warhol was not just a rich and famous person. He also did volunteer work for social institutions. He not only painted soup, he also handed it out. This - more then anything - honors him.

More? Wikipedia

I have been using skype since it’s start. Today it’s the only Instant Messaging program I use. I also do many conference calls and all my text messaging to cell phones with it. It’s cheap (to call land lines and cell phones), free (to download and call other computers) easy to use and works fine most of the time.

Highly recommended for all digital human beings. Delete your ICQ, AOL, Yahoo!, MSN or whatever IMs - this is the future.

Bettie Page is certainly one of the most iconic figure of the last century. Today she hides far away from the glamour life.

But Bettie has many followers and imitators. But in contract to Bettie they only repeat what she has done. They can’t break any taboos anymore, because they have all already been broken.

I wonder if Bettie would be a young girl today she might be the Queen of YouTube and MySpace. Even more annoying and alluring then Paris Hilton, LonelyGirl15 and Pamela Anderson together …

Gee, I loved this game. I even wrote a book about it - a long time ago (1990). I somehow miss these games with primitive visuals and weird 8-bit sounds. There was still enough space left to use your imagination. Todays 3D-Surround-Sound-Virtual-Worlds are just too perfect.

via Moby Games

Jeremy Vickery is a genius. His artwork very charming, colorful and incredibly charming. Make sure to visit at least his Paintings Gallery for some amazing fantasy art. And you might have seen is work already in a Pixar movie?

Munich is once again Barfing Capitol of the civilized world. Already over one million people have stormed the Oktoberfest to enjoy mass hysteria and a good time with many other drunks.

I grew up here, so I know it all, seen it all and done it all (barfing on a rollercoaster is a lot of fun for all those behind you).

Yeah, I am here for the culture too …

Since the early nineties the Oktoberfest has mutated into a total party zone. The traditional Lederhosen and Dirndls have been replaced with trendy and mostly slutty imitations. Drinking has become a martial art. And since all the beer tents are overrun and closed down almost immediately after they opened - it is almost impossible to get seats just for short visit.

The once enjoyable family has been replaced by disco anthems, combat drinking and fake tradition. Basically a yodelling tourist trap - that can be recreated anywhere.

So much for the original Oktoberfest …

BBC News: Beyond the pale?

Although Asian countries like India, China and Japan had their problems with European colonialism the white men’s influence still reigns supreme.

In China and Japan woman get plastic surgery to look more Caucasian, brown Asians dye their skins to look paler. It’s also amazing how many ‘blonde’ Asian girls are out there.

Success is to be rich enough to afford such ‘improvements’ and join the westernized middle class.

I find this highly ironic, since pale westerners roast their skins on sunbeds and use other cremes to look browner.

Nevermind vanity. It once again shows that people are willing to do almost anything to belong to the ‘majority’. Whatever happened to ‘vive la difference’?

Volcanoes have always been a threat to humanity - although more on a local then a global scale. But scientist just recently discovered so called supervolcanos (for some good information visit this BBC section). Their eruption could devastate huge areas and influence global climate. If this thing blow Mount St. Helen will look like a tiny firecracker.

So is the end near? Nobody knows for sure. Seismic and volcanic observations are made constantly and the area is certainly active, but there are clear indicators if this thing goes off tomorrow or in a thousand years.

More? Wikipedia entry

BBC News:  Pedophiles’ brains ‘different’

We have just begun to understand ourselves, how our brains and our minds work. Psychology and neuro sciences are pretty young.

Chemical imbalance, a small injury or a tumor can totally change your personality - your desires and moral judgement.

I think neither our justice system or society care about these insights. We often consider terrible things like Pedophilia a choice. In some cases it might be - but we are all slaves to our brains. Even ‘normal’ people can totally run amok when their brains get whacked.

We need more science on this, better laws and understanding of ourselves. In this area there are no simple answers.

Autumn is in full swing here. Grey skies, rain, fog, more rain and many miserable faces. Why did God invent the seasons? I can do with sunshine 365 days …

After several billion years of evolution we are finally able to produce pink kitsch cows?

The real strength and weakness of the human race is it’s diversity, ranging from high culture and spiritual dedication to mindless violence and egocentric kitsch.

This is sometimes hard to remember when seeing such an object …

You don’t choose religion - religion chooses you! Most religious people follow the religion of their culture and don’t choose from the huge variety available.

"Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally."

Abraham Lincoln

A bag of tricks - that’s all a modern women needs …

Photographer: unknown - can anyone help?

An elephant and his mahut are a special kind of family. Sometimes when beloved work elephants die, people erect little temples in their honor. Too bad we hardly have any personal relationship to nature and the other inhabitants of this great planet.

On the other side - I can’t build a temple for every McChicken, Cow and Fish I ate …

Screw exotic mermaids - I want a domestic bathing beauty in my tub. Let the scrubbing begin …

Gracious musicals and most of all dance movies have completely disappeared. No more Ginger & Fred shows. Nobody cares about singing and dancing in movies anymore. And Hip Hop movies and MTV video clips are not the same thing.

We still consider babies and little kids as symbols of innocence and purity. But can a ‘blank’ mind in training be considered innocent unless it has developed it’s full potential?

What I find even more odd is the overall desire to be ‘good’ and be ‘clean’ - without any spots on your soul/mind. To accept your own power and potential in an ‘unfair’ and ‘uneven’ universe you have to get ‘your hands dirty’. The desire to stay clean sounds rather like cowardice not to get involved.

But what’s the point of having a mind and not using it to get involved? What’s the point of being alive, if you don’t muddle with your own existence and power?

People are people.

Another day in paradise. Just watching just picture fills me with a quiet tranquillity.

Here is one amazing art blog by Mr. H. - go and enjoy it. He covers many aspects of art in great detail, with knowledge, insight and detail. One of the rare gems in the blogosphere!

Until the late 12th century almost any cultural life or innovation had died in Europe. Christian mysticism and symbolism had completely taken over all the great minds. Thanks to the Arabs and many wars we started to exchange ideas again and rediscover lost authors and wisdom of Greek and Roman origin.

Not only animals, but also culture, art and science can be completely eradicated. Beware of religious fundamentalism, it won’t tolerate any knowledge beside itself and keep it’s followers dumb.

Some Madness from time to time is very healthy. It’s the minds defense mechanism against unbearable feelings or moments. Madness is a way to cope with the real insanity outside. It’s like a mental flu, brain fever or soul burning! Go thru the darkness of madness to cleanse yourself of false limits, rules and obligations. Free yourself by going bonkers!