Excellent cover design - especially considering that this was 1973 and Photoshop didn’t exist.

It is amazing how many bad movies Disney has made since the early 80’s. One of them is the SciFi flick ‘The Black Hole’. It coincided with the first Star Wars movie - and was pretty lame compared to Like Skywalker and the most nerve wrecking space battle ever.

The movies production was actually started way before Star Wars, which explains the old school special effects using wires and models - instead of computer animation and computer controlled space ships.

I can only recommend the movie if you really really really don’t find anything else to watch - or you want to bore some kids.

More? Wikipedia entry and watch the whole movie online.

Click image to zoom into Africa (warning this image is big).

It is scary that has less and less green spots. The Sahara is growing every year and the water is a scarce resource even in ‘green’ areas.

Africa is like South America one of our last remaining green lungs. We have to be careful or it turns into another barren land like most of Australia.

I love Mario - he is the gaming buddy at least two generations have played with. Will he one day become a fairy tale creature like Hänsel & Gretel - or simply a cultural icons like Mr Spock or Darth Vader?

Here some video and screen shots of the newest incarnation of the Super Mario Series.

Click image for more amazement.

Ah, I am bewitched by this woman. She has fire in her eyes. She ain’t the usual dumb blonde - she was very feisty.

Photographer: George Hurrell

Apart from hating snow I also deeply despise Christmas. It really is the silly season. Instead of mad consumerism the days starting from the winter solstice until new year should be dedicated to some sort of quiet meditation and reflection.

But ‘xmas’ is now a global celebration - a party event the whole world get’s into even when they don’t have the faintest idea what it once was all about …

It is amazing how much cars are used as toys for kids. Since climate change is a problem for future generations maybe we should give them different ideas how to travel around and what to consider important in life.

In such a swimming pool you won’t realize if you are on or off drugs. I think this would make a great set for a nasty porn movie.

After 11 years of conservative rule Australia makes a jump to the left (details here). Labor promised to sign the Kyoto treaty, get the troops out of Iraq (but hopefully still support the war in Afghanistan) and rolling bad some labor laws which favored the bosses.

I hope for all my Oz friends that the new government REALLY does something about the environment - even when it will decades until nature will react to any human efforts. Australia suffers tremendously from one heat wave after another, the wildlife and the great reefs are greatly endangered and have already taken a lot of damage.

But this election also influences the world stage: George Bush has now lost most of his Coalition of the Willing. Spain went left, Italy went left, Australia went left. Germany’s Frau Merkel is not very willing either nor is Britain’s Gordon Brown. Only France’s Sarkozy seems pretty excited about following America into a new war.

What a guy! He had magic! He had power! He had an incredible voice! He rocked the audience! Queen’s performance for Live Aid shows you all you need to know about the power that was known as Freddy Mercury:

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4] [Part 5]

Aids killed Freddy way too soon. Why do we also loose the good people first?

More? his last last appearance and a tribute to Freddy Mercury. Plus his detailed Wikipedia entry.

On one side big media companies have greatly reduced their international reporter network and therefore lost ‘local competence’. On the other side a huge army of freelance photographers, reporters and cameraman has developed in the least two decades.

But the media mercenaries focus mostly on popular stuff that brings in the money. Unpopular topics are left to a few brave reporters and photo journalists. So commercial news is today mostly about ’sellable’ news. If you can’t sell a picture or a story you won’t report about it again, because you need to pay your bills.

This is why we need support alternative media outlets for journalists and a willing audience to pay these people.

We also need more institutions like the BBC and other democratic and state funded media organizations, who can afford to report unpopular causes and criticize the powerful.

Free markets for news organization is a disaster. To provide a balanced public service will always collide with the quest for higher profits. Let big media create the entertainment, let publicly funded news organizations make the news.

And screw Rupert Murdoch and all the big media tycoons.

Since it is now scientifically proven that blonde woman are a bad influence on us males - maybe different colored woman should do something to help us escape that evil spell?

This also shines a different light on all the fake blondes out there. Woman usually say that men like them to be dumb. But in reality woman make themselves blonde to make us guys dumber. So put your cards on the table ladies: you are the ones who like dumb partners - not us!

I swear to enrich the capitalists and suppress the masses for the greater good of the party and maybe China.

The great red nation has transformed itself in the total opposite of socialism: workers are suppressed while capitalist robber barons and the party enrich themselves.

I wonder how long they can keep the strings together? Especially when poverty and social differences become harsher and harsher?

If you live outside the UK you might not have heard of the Clangers. I love these little buggers. They are so very different from today’s often brutal computer animated action heroes and monsters for kids.

I still remember my utter surprise when I listened to this album for the very first time.  It was pure avantgarde at that time: minimalist electronic sounds and voice arrangements, intellectual lyrics and themes. A harsh contrast to the candy pop of the 80’s.

Also her performances (like in this song ‘O, Superman‘) were most amazing and unusual: video performance art, using computers on stage, special instruments and projections. Laurie Anderson certainly greatly influenced pop and was one of the rare creature ahead of her time.

More? Wikipedia and her official website

Bacteria are everywhere. They can live in the hottest and coldest of places (even on asteroids in outer space). No other life form on this planet has multiplied as much and conquered so many different places.

Bacteria also have made all other species their hosts - and we all depends on them.

The last Star Trek show ‘Enterprise’ was pretty much a fiasco. It had bad scripts, bad actors, bad everything. Now a new movie is in the making and I already hate it. It’s about young Kirk, young Spock and young McCoy …

Instead of trying to come up with really good ideas, Hollywood just circles the drain and recycles the same idea over and over again.

Gene Roddenberry was a brave men and tried to break old taboos and limits with his wacky little show. He succeeded and that is why the show was so beloved. But today it’s only about the franchise and milking some more dollars out of plastic figures and re-released DVDs.

Why are they afraid to go where no one has gone before?

Pretty, but still fucking cold. I hate them, but I am surrounded by billions of them. Help!

Nothing bothers English people more than sports. England just got very ungraciously kicked out of the Euro 2008 (watch some highlight here). This is causing a big ruckus on good old England - who still consider themselves world class footballers. All in all - a national tragedy. Even politicians got involved. Now that’s real dedication!

Let’s send them some chocolate and some fine German lager to get over it.

Click image for more drama.

Breath taking moment from a great master. Open the big image and get lost in this painting …

At a certain advancement of technology - Kitsch will take over innovation and spoil everything.

Although we all know that Flash & Thunder are ‘just’ natural events we are still deeply impressed by them. Thunderstorms are amazing. Don’t fuck with this form of Shock & Awe.

No matter how old, traditional and pompous your ceremony is, enlightenment and any higher spirits won’t drop down on you automatically.

Usually it has quite the opposite effect: having received some spiritual recognition via ceremony is often like a blank cheque for ignorance. Why bother - I already got my holy approval.

Since I recently complained about the lack of overall female comedy power I want to praise a great talent. She is a great writer and performer. A rare combination. And she is quite sexy without pushing the standard bimbo factors (blonde, boobs, brainless behaviour).

Get some Tina on YouTube.

Cats are smarter than dogs. Nope, they are just more ignorant of the human need to control them.