… and it all depends how you define affordable? But I think $200,000 is doable for a person from an industrial country - if that is your life’s dream. Compared to 20 Million Dollars for a flight with the Russians it’s really cheap.
And I am sure once the industry gets off the ground - it will start a competition and prices will come down.
Walls do work. The Iron Curtain did it’s job for over 50 years, the Chinese Wall is still here and the US is building it’s homeland protection wall against those nasty Mexicans.
But in the long run all walls will fail.
I perfectly understand Israel’s idea and desire for the wall. It certainly stopped many suicide bombers and land based attacks. But the Palestinians are now shelling or shooting low tech rockets into Israel. Walls don’t stop hate and innovation.
Maybe negotiations will some day?
December the 17th 1903 - the first real airplane took off with Orville Wright as the pilot. The rest is history as they say. These two brothers were great engineering pioneers and brave souls to try their own ideas. Their planes crashed several times before that historic few seconds - and they had many crashes after that as well.
Next time you get on your cheap flight to Ibiza or Tichuana remember these brave men (and many others) who made this possible just 100 years ago.
Those where the times - when your new gigantic 10 MByte hard drive came with it’s own rig and technician - and a huge invoice …
I am always suspicious about people who tell me they are overworked in their jobs. It usually means that they either can’t organize their jobs or their try to make themselves irreplaceable by sucking up every bit of work and responsibility they can lay their hands on.
The motivation is fear - fear of being replaceable and not important. But instead of being a useful coworker these people become bottlenecks, because they turn into control freaks.
And nobody like bottlenecks - not matter how ‘important’ or overworked they are …
Business magazines like the great Economist already talked about a weak economy last year - and also about the chance for a recession. Sure, some indicators in the US showing signs of weakness, but overall the global economy is running quite nice.
The burst of the credit bubble was a nasty event, but still not big enough to bring the whole economic system down.
But the real ‘panic’ started once the presidential candidates used the ‘R’ fear to get votes. Now everybody started talking and most of all worrying about a ‘Recession’.
Stock Brokers are like sheep in any other profession- they easily panic and follow the herd. Although the economy didn’t really crash or some nasty event like 9/11 happened they panicked.
The American economy might be a bit wobbly, bit it’s not bad. The rest of the world is running quite nicely - so can we please stop that panic and WORK on a better economy instead of crashing it?
Click image for a deeper look.
Why is looking ‘deep’ into another persons eyes such an intensive experience? Why is such an exchange such an intimate moment? Why is it so hard to look a stranger for longer periods directly ‘into’ the eyes?
And why can ‘excited’ eyes make us so horny and a cold look kill our desire to live?
The eyes have it - looks can kill.
We are often prisoners of our own minds. Limited vision and limited imagination keep us from achieving often simple things. The simple thought “I can’t do that!” can stop you before you even tried.
Our minds can ‘think’ about reality and possibilities. To a certain extend we can envision the future and personal limits - but not everything our ‘common sense’ tells us is ‘real’ and the true limit of our abilities.
So free yourself and experiment with your limits. You can surprise yourself, you can grow and learn new stuff. Only false limits can really stop you more than anything!
Here are some of NASA’s design sketches for the next moon landing - as commanded by George W. Bush. The whole mission, the proposed systems and attitude is so 1960’s.
Once again it’s a race - with the Chinese - to be the first to establish a base. All systems like the crew capsule, the lander and the final landing (with parachute) are just a remix of old technologies. It’s almost like some old man at NASA and in politics try to recreate the golden age of space exploration - and America’s greatness.
More? The Constellation Program @ NASA
Life is still behind schedule. Now I have a cold and almost broke my toes hitting the door frame last night. No fun, no fun at all. So blogging will be at a reduced speed. 
Since Mr King is currently dragged into the presidential race in the US - it’s good to look back and hear for yourself how great he was. And maybe you watch an Obama speech to see if he really is another King?
You know that you hard drive will die some day and all the data on it will be lost. Maybe you loose your data by mistake, a system crash or virus? But day X is coming and you should be prepared!
This is a LONG rant - so skip this if you are not interested.
Adam Curtis / documentary / ca 44 minutes
From Wikipedia:
Focusing on the men of the Cold War on whom Dr Strangelove was based. These were people who believed that the world could be controlled by the scientific manipulation of fear - mathematical geniuses employed by the Rand Corporation. In the end, their visions were the stuff of science fiction fantasy.
Curtis most recent documentary ‘The Trap’ also comes back to these think tanks featured in this documentary.
More? Pandora’s Box Series
After Knut now Flocke (Flake) - another Polar Bear Mania sweeps the country. So many shops sell stuffed bears, the news and magazines can’t get enough of this cuddly something (image gallery here). Flocke even has her own official YouTube channel.
Madness.
The Security Council was and still is a good idea - but it no longer reflects the global status. After WW2 the US, Soviet Union, France, Britain and China reflected the world’s powers at that time.
But not today.
India und Brazil have been lobbying hard for a permanent seat - so did Germany and Japan as big spenders for the UN.
Europe is already over represented by France and Britain. I think ONE seat for the whole of the EU would be enough. Africa should also get it’s own permanent seat. Since India and China represented such a huge slice of the population - they also should get a seat each. Although I must say that neither China nor India have been big supporters of international progress - they have been too busy to get their own countries ahead. Although India has sent many troops to international missions.
It would be great progress if this important international forum would reflect the realities of 2008 and not 1950.
More? Wikipedia entry and a BBC discussion if India should get a permanent seat - some nice comments in there.
Where I live there are three great museums just around the corner - the so called Pinakotheks. And today - sunday - you can get in for free. Nice!
Usually I don’t care about the other visitors - I am not much of a people watcher. My ears are protected by some good music against the general chatter and noise. Give me art or give me death.
But today an old lady caught my eye. She slowly made her way through the gallery, heavily relying on her walking stick. But she always seemed to know where she wanted to go, seeking out some old paintings she seemed very fond off. Walking around was hard work for her, she often paused and sat down to catch her breath. But once she reached ‘her’ painting all the effort was worth it. Her eyes widened and she caressed the image with her glance like an old friend.
I was very touched by her love and passion for art. The old paintings seemed to recharge her spirit and give her timeless joy. Her posture changed - almost like some weight had been lifted from her shoulders.
I am pretty sure this kind of joy is special for her - since it was hard work to get through the Pinakothek with it’s huge rooms and many stairs. She didn’t do it for ‘fun’ or ‘entertainment’ - such pleasures are easier consume by switching on the telly.
I just hope that I have the same passion and stamina to get my weekly dose of art when I am an old fart. Art is able to give us joy, beauty and ecstasy that can lift our spirits and touch our soul although our minds and bodies are already on the way out …
Thinking of Van Gogh almost always breaks my heart, because of his great personal tragedy combined with his great passion for beauty and art. Today I want to invite you into Vincent’s bedroom - a small place were he lives in poverty, but his mind always filled with deep thoughts, sunlight and love for his brother - who supported him all these years.
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1. Click player below to start the music. 2. Click the image above to dive into the art. 3. Study for three minutes this great piece of art. |
Vincent was a very complex person and I am sure he tried to cope with poverty, limitations and his loneliness as much as he could. He wanted to capture and share the beauty he saw everywhere - but the world discovered him too late - so he had to die without knowing how great his art was and how much people appreciate his efforts …
By the way: he was a great letter writer - it’s worth diving into some of his messages to his brother here. Another website featuring his correspondence is here.
Adam Curtis / documentary / ca 44 minutes
Once again Maestro Curtis delivers some excellent insights into modern affairs. This time he reports about the inner workings of the Soviet Union and why it’s economy failed. This is once again highly recommended to anyone who wants to understand our present world.
Important note: some minutes of the end are missing. Nothing really essential. Just don’t be surprised if some final statement is abruptly ended. The rest is still brilliant!
More? Pandora’s Box Series
There are not many German bands that achieved such a cult status like Kraftwerk. Today electronic music is everywhere - with any cheap computer you can create Kraftwerk-like music. But there is more to Kraftwerk than simply beeps and zaps.
The first big song ‘Autobahn’ from 1974:
Starting 1974 (with Autobahn) till 1986 (Electric Café) they released a string of albums that defined the electronic music scene for decades to come. Many great artists like Bowie were big fans and many house & techo musicians were heavily influenced by their sound.
This is one of the newer pieces - a theme song for the Expo 2000 in Hannover:
Their synthesizer music sounded so different from eletro pop, disco or synthesizer artists like Jean Michel Jarre or Tomita. Kraftwerk didn’t try to make electronic music ‘nice’ or more like old instruments. They quite liked the harsh purity of their machines.
‘Taschenrechner’ (Pocket Calculator) from ‘Computer World’:
But also Kraftwerks minimal lyrics about the digital future were right on target (from ‘Computer World’ the song ‘Computer Love’):
Computer love
Computer love
Another lonely night
Stare at the TV screen
I don’t know what to do
I need a rendezvous
Computer love
Computer love
I call this number
For a data date
I don’t know what to do
I need a rendezvous
Computer love
Computer love
Their use of computer animation for music videos and cover art was state of the art at the time. Also their usage of robot like makeup and later real robots for their live performances just pushed the Kraftwerk-style further ahead.
Kraftwerk’s last album ‘Tour de France’ in 2003 was certainly in line with their style - but it was no longer a unique experience, since techno, house music, trip hop and electronica all were built on the Kraftwerk sound and therefore Kraftwerk itself was just another bleep on the market. Nevertheless it was good music.
One cultural note: Kraftwerk has always released it’s albums in German and in English for the foreign market. I consider their German albums and lyrics the original versions.
German dudes singing in English with a terrible accent might have been avantgarde in the 70’s and 80’s to non-german ears - but for me their songs in German are often rather melancholic or satirical. It rather feels like a commentary on the Zeitgeist and the Zukunft (future) instead of trying to be arty farty.
But I guess that gets lost in translation.
Specialization has allowed us humans to develop more and more complex skills and products. But in our modern times many people hardly learn any practical skills -apart from pushing their computer mouse and finding stuff via Google.
I know so many adults who can’t cut a slice of bread without a machine, drill a hole in the wall or sew a button onto a shirt. Even their technical digital skill are pretty lame: they can’t operate their over powered cell ones nor haven’t they learnt to program their VCRs in the last 20 years.
Our existence is not just bits and bytes. Sometimes being able to fix something yourself is not just to save money - but can be great fun as well!
So many movies these days are made in front of a green screen - to be mixed and composed with computer generated action later. The actor literally acts without context in a creative a vacuum.
I think we as an audience feel that emptiness and that lack of chemistry between the real actor and his virtual counterpart.
I wonder if Beethoven had an arguing couple in mind, when he wrote his 5th symphony? Just watch and enjoy.
Tree Kangaroos are pretty amazing and cuddly. I really envy the countries down under for all their strange and rare animals.
Do you like science? Do you like interesting experiments? Cool! Than go and visit Robert Krampf - who has a magnificent website up with many videos. Highly recommended for small and big science nerds …
We all have to jump into dark holes and make a transit into a new and foreign world in our lifes. New places, people and social platforms might feel alien or even mad to us - but part of the human experience is to learn new ‘games’, socialize and comply to group consensus.
But no matter were you travel to and whatever games you have to comply to - you should keep your inner world and not let other people’s madness infect you.