Click image for a larger hat.

I think one of the greatest actresses ever – and a great role model for woman. She was smart, witty, charming and beautiful. She was sexy without pushing her boobs or whatever into everybodys face.

A real lady and a great human being.

Photographer: Anyone knows who made this great shot?

How often have I saved this planet?! How often have I risked my virtual neck for some stupid princess or small village? How often was I hurt, mangled and killed in my quest to save the universe?

And what did I get for it? Not even a permanent entry in the high score list of this universe!

I wish all my bonuses and extra lives would translate into the real world – I’d be richer then Bill Gates by now and rule this planet by magic and super weapons!

Just wondering if they also do deep throat?

We all dislike fighting and arguing with other people, co-workers and loved ones. But it’s a necessary part of life.

Most people are stressed out by fights and anger. But like boxing it is a skill that can be learned to reduce the stress and not to waste too much energy. It’s not about anger management, but dealing with stress during a confrontation, making proper arguments, understanding the  physical effects of stress and anger on your body and mind … and getting out of your own “hot head”.

By developing a “conflict culture” and getting to know yourself in hot situations is a benefit to yourself and everybody else. You still can be mad, passionate and intense about your opinions, but you learn how to focus and use your power in a good way to make your point of view clear.

A good fight / argument can be highly stimulation and refreshing – it doesn’t need to be a total disaster for everybody.

Too much artistic power was wasted in the time of the Soviets for stupid propaganda. But this poster still is looking great and very modern.

Just because you have the mental strength to kill yourself, doesn’t mean everybody admires your willpower.

How much time do we loose in our life’s queuing or waiting in (traffic) jams? We can fly to the moon – but we haven’t lost the queue …

A new week a new version. Just upgraded my WordPress from 2.33 to version 2.5 The upgrade ran smoothly and only one plugin doesn’t work – but I guess an upgrade for it is already in the works. WP is really well done. Thank WP team – my donation is on the way …

Airports are great places to hang out before you start your airlift. Instead Airports are modern versions of hell -only invented to annoy you. Why are there NEVER comfy seats or corners to have a nap if your flight is canceled or delayed?

Ah, space the final frontier … amazing that so much of nothing can be so exciting. Let’s solve our global problems and than push ahead exploring the cosmos.

*Thanks for Edosan for this nice image*

Not everybody grows up with the perfect (grand)parents and in a perfect time. But that’s not important – what’s important that you want to change the presence for a better future.

We all have family members that have weird or simply terrible opinions and convictions. But we can’t be held responsible for that – only for our own actions.

Sometimes I wonder if computers haven’t already achieved consciousness and are just keeping silent to piss us off with stupid error messages. I could swear I heard a little snigger coming out of my notebook when it crashed yesterday …

Update: Here is a new version.

Update: The movie has been removed from LiveLeaks – you can still click the player above – but you only get an official statement. I will try to download the movie from another source and repost it here. What a shame!

Since all the world is going bonkers about this movie – watch it yourself and judge it for yourself. (Warning: LiveLeaks stream is currently overwhelmed by demand – so the video could be jerky.)

Let me know what you think?

I am pretty sure it appeals to some of my new conservative American friends.

This video is certainly made to provoke and wake up the world / Europe / the Dutch to the “dangers of Islam”. For me Islam is as dangerous as any religion when it is commanded by Fundamentalists and Terrorists as an excuse to kill or suppress others, because they can’t cope with diversity.

Should the video be censored or forbidden? Of course not. It may be not the best video ever made – but it expresses valid concerns and simply states a political opinion (doesn’t matter if you agree or not). Religions and violence are not beyond criticism.

Plus I like to point out that some stuff that is broadcast by some official Arab TV stations is much harsher than this. And al-Quaeda and Jihadist recruiting videos are pure hate and blood. So in terms of propaganda this Dutch video is rather lame.

But this video is also not beyond criticism: the associations and connections this video sometimes makes are wrong at best and stupid in some cases.

Stupid rhetoric’s from both sides are not helping.

Muslims have to ask themselves if they want to tolerate or maybe combat those fundamentalists who have hijacked their religion and commit murders in their names. And they have to accept that many place in the world don’t care about religious piety and will continue to allow attacks, ridicule and humor against Islam.

And the West has to learn that Islam is not simply bad – and that not every bearded Muslim is a terrorist.

More? Wikipedia entry

Some reactions:

BBC: Dutch MP posts Islam film on web with comments

Graphic images from the bomb attacks on London in July 2005 and Madrid in March 2004 are shown.

Pictures of a woman being stoned, scenes from a beheading and images of the Dutch director Theo van Gogh, who was murdered by a radical Islamist in 2004, are also included.

And pictures appearing to show Muslim demonstrators holding up placards saying “God bless Hitler” and “Freedom go to hell” also feature.

The film shows a young girl in a headscarf making derogatory comments about Jewish people.

Economist: Flat-earth fears

The leaders of both countries have tried to discourage these ventures. They are doing their utmost to soothe bruised sensibilities abroad. The Dutch prime minister, Jan Peter Balkenende, has had several talks with his Danish counterpart, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, about how to cope with the incipient crisis.

One sign that events are escalating came this week, when Mr Wilders secretly visited Copenhagen in an attempt to persuade Danish television to broadcast his movie. As in the Netherlands, the argument against doing so is to avoid provoking retaliation. Already Danish goods are being widely boycotted in Muslim countries.

The Danes seem to have had their fill of the controversy. An opinion poll in Jyllands-Posten, the newspaper that first published Mr Westergaard’s cartoon, showed that almost 60% of Danes thought republication was ill-advised—whereas a majority supported publication the first time round. On the other hand, the Danes (and Dutch) are staunch believers in free speech. A Danish minister has talked of offering a Dutch-Somali politician, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a safe bolt-hole. Two Danish television stations also aired clips of “Submission”, the film made by Theo van Gogh, who was murdered by an Islamic fanatic in 2004, for which Ms Hirsi Ali wrote the script.

There is also a natural unwillingness to bow to bullies. In the Netherlands, Mr Wilders is admired for his free-speech stance even by those who hate his politics. When two Danish soldiers were killed in Afghanistan, Mr Fogh Rasmussen rejected calls to bring the troops home. “Violent groups are trying to halt progress. They must not succeed,” he said. Many Europeans apply the same logic to free speech and Islamists.

Just because you rebel against something or act a bit odd doesn’t make you different. Even amongst rebels, punks and other “outsiders” to the so called system is a certain uniformity and consensus of what is supposed to be different.

Overall I am not a big Turner fan. I was always amazed in London when people spent hours in front of his blurry masterpieces in the National Gallery.

But this one I like (more info here):

The scene is fairly certainly identifiable as Maidenhead railway bridge, which spans the Thames between Taplow and Maidenhead. The bridge, designed by the engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel and completed in 1839, has two main arches of brick, very wide and flat. The view is to the east, towards London.

On the left people are boating on the river, while to the right a ploughman works on a field. The tranquility of these traditional activities contrasts with the steam train rushing towards the viewer, the stark outline of its black funnel clearly visible. In front of the train a hare, one of the speediest of animals, dashes for cover.

Turner’s picture can be associated with the ‘railway mania’ which swept across England in the 1840s. It is also an outstanding example of his late style of painting. Sky and river landscape are dissolved in a haze of freely applied oil paint, to give a striking impression of the contrasting movement of driving rain and speeding train.

*Thanks to Edosan to sending in this picture*

Wikipedia says that there are currently 7.500 different types of Apples. One would think that’s a lot, especially since most super markets only offer three or five different brands (how many can you name from memory?). According to some articles / sources we had over 10.000 or even 20.000 varieties not just a hundred years ago.

The problem of loosing bio diversity is very serious. Some varieties have genes that might withstand a new illness or virus that threatens a specific plant or animal.

Sounds to scientific to you? Just remember that we still don’t know what is killing bees in such huge numbers in the US and Europe. if we would loose some more bees plant pollination would be insufficient and food production would be greatly reduced. Hanger and starvation would be result for man and animals.

Another example: lets say a new fungus develops that kills most of the rice crops in Asia. A huge famine would be the result.

So we need bio diversity to ensure that some plants and animals are resistant to some threats – so we can cross breeds these species with weaker ones.

Every species and variety we loose is a direct threat to our own survival.

This winter was pretty warm, hardly any snow. Good. But suddenly Frau Ice Queen decided to show up and fucks up springtime! We have snow, we have cold weather and harsh winds. Yuck! Global climate change hates me especially … I demand some hot action with the Queen to unfreeze my balls …

Finding your inner child and behaving like an adult idiot doesn’t make you any younger or wiser. Sometimes it is necessary to go back in your memories and heal some old crap. But you should came back and act with the decency and wisdom befitting your actual age. Nobody like big babies.

Once again Frontline delivers an excellent documentary about current US affairs. Once again solid work offering many insight. Once again Frontline helps us to put many pieces of the puzzle into one big picture. Once again – thank you Frontline for the great work and allowing us bloody foreigners to watch the whole thing online.

More? Watch it all online with many bonus interviews you won’t see on TV.

I actually think this nutty product is a good idea. I haven have cold hands while writing – although my room is heated. The only thing I don’ like are the many cables – I think I am gonna use some old fashioned wireless gloves …

France – like Germany – is in dire need of reforms. Sarko started his campaign for his Presidency with the promise of change (sounds familiar). Many French people liked his busy and aggressive style – and had high hopes for some positive change.

But with his ugly divorce and stupid handling of his own affairs he has lost a lot of political capital. In recent local elections Sarko’s party has lost many votes.

France still is in need of reforms, but they new leader has busted a lot of his power for silly personal affairs. Too bad, because I won’t help him and his still necessary task.

Sarko admires the British economy and it’s success in recent years. Tony Blair inherited many necessary – but painful – changes made under Thatcher and built his success on it. France is not in such a bad shape as Britain in the late 1970’s, but still there is a lot to be done.

Sarko is especially fascinated by London’s vitality, something Paris lacks (his won words). In terms of international importance, stock market and political influence London easily beats Paris. Only the number of high ranked restaurants is higher in the French capitol.

So no surprise that this visit to Britain is so important to Sarko, he needs some serious political action to restore his credibility and some backing for his ideas for change. Maybe some serious glamor from the British Crown will rub off and the dry Mr Gordon Brown can add some intellectual spice as well … 

Good to get some more background on the current fights in Iraq. lways worth checking out RealNews for some insights you hardly find in mass media.

Interesting video – didn’t know that Sir Attenborough also did porn voice overs. Overall I am happy that my penis isn’t located behind my head – although sometimes it feels like my head is located in my penis. And another note: you can show almost any animal fucking on national TV – except homo sapiens … why is that?

*Thanks to Olivia for that scientific video*

It must be spring, I can feel something growing in my crotch!

I think dirt can make you very happy. Pigs and Kids enjoy playing in water and dirt – and why not? Nature is dirty.

Modern society is too obsessed with hygiene and “clean” fun.

Life is dirty.

In the Age of TV families shared quality moments together in front of the screen. In the Internet Age we sit quietly in our rooms and maybe chat via AIM together. Computer screens don’t provide the same social glue as TV screens.

Several people fighting for the remote control was bad enough – but a consensus could be reached which show to watch for an hour or two. But you can’t have four people controlling a computer and surf different websites at the same time.

TV serves as the radio today – it provides the noise to our life, but it is the computer with it’s highly individualized interaction that grabs our FULL attention.

So our media experience is more and more individualistic – and all these digital toys and gadgets (especially cell phones and instant messaging) keep us “busy” and distracted all the time.

In front of the TV the whole family could switch off – today that switch has been lost. We are always “ON” …

In the foreseeable future we will raise life expectancy further and further. It is now easy to replace many body parts and rejuvenate the body in many ways.

So maybe we can rebuild and regenerate our bodies for hundreds of years – but what about our minds?

Most people’s minds already go down the drain in their 40’s without physical “defects”. And when we live longer we need to constantly learn new stuff – you can’t play dumb grandpa if you live 200 or more years. You need to learn and adapt.

And what about the emotional strain of a long life? How much pain, idiocy and trivia can you take before you loose your will to live?

I knew that the Empire was going down the drain.

Mission Statement from 2003:

Start a War based on lies.

Alienate all your European Allies.

Piss of the whole Muslim world.

Save money on protective gear and Hummvees.

Totally ignore the Shia and Sunni conflict in the region.

Totally ignore the Kurdish and Turkish conflict.

Ignore security and rule of law in postwar Iraq.

Dissolve the Iraqi Police for more crime.

Dissolve the Iraqi Military for more crime.

Torture your prisoners and take snaps for everybody.

Ignore war crimes of your own troops.  

Forget to secure huge amount of weapons and ammo.

Drive up the price for oil.  

Ruin your own military.

Start a job boom for Blackwater and other mercenaries.

Make Halliburton even richer.

Funnel Billions of Dollars into dark holes.

Funnel Billions of Dollars to contractors who waste the money.

Encourage a culture or corruption in Iraq.

Blame everything on Iran and al-Quaida.

Promise to pay insurgents to fight for you – and then don’t pay.

Lay the foundation for another war in the region.

Did I miss anything?

Journalists should be able to read / understand what some people said – analyze them and put the into context.

But most US journalists lack these skills today.

Mass media seem only to deliver triggers for scandals instead of content. Stoking anger on all sides seem the only mission.

Anyone remember that saying “A house divided against itself cannot stand” by Abraham Lincoln. But hardly anyone in American Politics or Journalism is capable of delivering or understanding such great speeches anyway.

Who says it’s hard to understand other cultures humor. Some stuff is pretty universal and easy to “get”. This one cracks me up every time …

Pain is certainly a main ingredient of Christianity. So some fanatics celebrate Jesus crucifixion by getting nailed to a cross themselves. I am not sure sure good old Bene approves of such madness …

Ouch.

Now the Olympic fire will travel from Greece to China – expect a lot of protests on the way. I really really really hope these games won’t take off. Beijing 2008 should be boycotted. How can the world celebrate all the great athletes in country that shots, tortures and suppresses it citizens at the same time?

Never was big into all these religious festivals – they don’t mean shit to me. They just happen, nobody works and I can’t go shopping as usual.

Why is sexual unity so often considered the ultimate ‘oneness’? Can’t we be one without arousal, hormones and desire? Or are we talking unity in sexual energy with all Chakras open and flowing? But still, that can be achieved without intercourse. Or do our egos need sex to be so distracted that they finally can see the unity that is always there?

Artist: Andrew Gonzalez

This is an old report from the LA Times – but still valid. Young American soldiers and Iraqis get blown to bits.

A three part documentation about wounded American soldiers in Iraq. Harsh reality – highly recommended to see what you don’t see on mainstream television.

Rice is the most important food source, but climate change is fucking rice production up (from the New Scientist):

Rice is arguably the world’s most important food source and helps feed about half the globe’s people. But yields in many areas will drop as the globe warms in future years, a review of studies on rice and climate change suggests.

The poorest parts of the world, including Africa, will probably be hardest hit, the study says. Rice harvests already need to increase by about a third just to keep up with global population growth.

Predicting how a changing climate will affect crop yields is notoriously difficult. Temperature, carbon dioxide concentration and ozone levels all have a big impact on growth. Yet most studies look at just one of these factors, making it difficult to know what the combined effect will be.

It is also hard to know whether results from experiments in greenhouses with artificial climates will hold true in the real world. But when the evidence from some 80 different studies is combined, the outlook is bleak, says Elizabeth Ainsworth of the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

In regions where the average daily temperatures are expected to rise above 30ºC, rice yields will start to fall off, and the impact will get worse as the temperature increases.

The drop in yield caused by rising temperatures can be counteracted by the boost to photosynthesis provided by the increased levels of carbon dioxide driving climate change. But when Ainsworth pooled the studies, she found that effect is not strong enough to counteract the stress plants suffer at high temperatures.

Harvests will also be reduced by rising ground-level ozone concentrations. They are caused by nitrogen oxides (NOX) from power stations that catalyse the formation of ozone in warm and sunny conditions. Ainsworth’s review found that ozone concentrations of around 60 parts per billion, which have already being recorded on farms in China and the United States, cause yields to drop by 14%.

Experiments on the effect of ozone using greenhouses containing artificial atmospheres are still crude, so other rice researchers are urging caution in interpreting Ainsworth’s results. For example, many experiments use fixed levels of ozone, but outdoors levels fluctuate daily and plants can use the low points to recover from brief periods of high concentrations.

Of all the spring festivals Holi seems the happiest to me.

From Wikipedia:

Holior is an annual Hindu spring festival, predominantly celebrated in North India and Nepal. It takes place over two days around late March or early April. As per the Hindu calendar, it falls on the last day on the month of Phalgun, which is a Purnima (or Pooranmashi, Full Moon), and on the first day of Chaitra. It is a celebration also of the Hindu New Year, as Chaitra is the first month of the Hindu Year.

It is also called the Festival of Colour. On the first day, a bonfire is lit at night to signify burning Holika. On the second day, known as Dhulandi, people go around until afternoon throwing coloured powder and water at each other, although the powder stings the eyes.

A special drink called ‘thandai’ or bhang is also consumed sometimes, which actually contains small amounts of marijuana(Cannabis sativa). People invite each other to their houses for feasts and celebrations later in the evening. Rangapanchami occurs a few days later on a Panchami (fifth day of the full moon), marking the end of festivities involving colours.

In Hindu mythology, Hiranyakashipu was the king of demons, and he had been granted a boon by Brahma, which made it almost impossible for him to be killed. The boon was due to his long penance, after which he had demanded that he not be killed “during day or night; inside the home or outside; not on earth or on sky; neither by a man nor an animal; neither by astra nor by shastra”. Consequently, he grew arrogant, and attacked the Heavens and the Earth. He demanded that people stop worshipping gods and start praying to him. But his own son, Prahlad, was a devotee of Lord Vishnu. In spite of several threats from Hiranyakashipu, Prahlad continued offering prayers to Lord Vishnu.

He was poisoned but the poison turned to nectar in his mouth. He was ordered to be trampled by elephants yet remained unharmed. He was put in a room with hungry, poisonous snakes and survived. All of Hiranyakashipu’s attempts to kill his son failed. Finally, he ordered young Prahlad to sit on a pyre on the lap of his sister, Holika, who could not die by fire by virtue of a shawl which would prevent fire affecting the person wearing it. Prahlad readily accepted his father’s orders, and prayed to Vishnu to keep him safe. When the fire started, everyone watched in amazement as the shawl flew from Holika, who then was burnt to death, while Prahlad survived unharmed, after the shawl moved to cover him. The burning of Holika is celebrated as Holi. It is also said that later Lord Vishnu came in the form of a Narasimha (who is half-man and half-lion) and killed Hiranyakashipu at dusk (which was neither day nor night), on the steps of the porch of his house (which was neither inside the house nor outside) by restraining him on his lap (which is neither in the sky nor on the earth) and mauling him with his claws (which are neither astra nor shastra).

In Vrindavan and Mathura, where Lord Krishna grew up, the festival is celebrated for 16 days (until Rangpanchmi in commemoration of the divine love of Radha for Krishna). Lord Krishna is believed to have popularized the festival by playing pranks on the gopis here. Krishna is believed to be complained about his dark colour and Radha’s fair colour to his mother and so decided to apply colour to her face. The celebrations officially usher in spring, the celebrated season of love.

There is another story about the origin of holi. The Kamadeva is God of love. Kama’s body was destroyed when he shot his weapon at Shiva in order to disrupt his penance and help Parvati to marry Shiva. Shiva then opened his third eye, the gaze of which was so powerful that Kama’s body was reduced to ashes. For the sake of Kama’s wife Rati (passion), Shiva restored him, but only as a mental image, representing the true emotional and mental state of love rather than physical lust. The Holi bonfire is believed to be celebrated in commeration of this event.

The Holi Festival looks like a tradition I want to import to grey Germany – although this chap doesn’t look too happy.

Get an even bigger color rush with a big Holi image pool on Flickr.

Still one of the quintessential 80’s pop songs in style and content. Although it seems neither the Russians nor the Americans have learned any lessons from this?

What better way to celebrate Easter than watching some Christian pain porn? Maestro Waterhouse once again proves his sense for drama and half naked ladies with this piece.

Poor little St. Eulalia was just a young girl, when she was brutally tortured and than finally killed for refusing to pay homage to pagan gods. From Wikipedia:

Eulalia of Mérida was a Roman Christian child martyred in Emerita in Lusitania (modern Mérida in Spain) during the persecution of Christians in the reign of emperor Diocletian and his co-emperor Maximian. Others place her death at the time of Trajan Decius (AD 249-51).[2] There is some dispute as to whether Saint Eulalia of Barcelona, whose story is similar, is the same person.[3]

Eulalia was a devout Christian virgin, aged 12–14, whose mother sequestered her in the countryside in AD 304 because all citizens were required to avow faith in the Roman gods. Eulalia ran away to the law court of the governor Dacian at Emerita, professed herself a Christian, insulted the pagan gods and emperor Maximian, and challenged the authorities to martyr her. The judge’s attempts at flattery and bribery failed. According to the Spanish-Roman poet Prudentius of the fifth century, she said:

    Isis Apollo Venus nihil est,
    Maximianus et ipse nihil:
    illa nihil, quia factu manu;
    hic, manuum quia facta colit

    (Isis, Apollo and Venus are naught,
    Nor is Maximian anything more;
    Nothing are they, for by hand they were wrought,
    He, for of hands he the work doth adore)

She was then stripped by the soldiers, tortured with hooks and torches, and burnt at the stake, suffocating from smoke inhalation. She taunted her torturers all the while, and as she expired a dove flew out of her mouth. This frightened away the soldiers and allowed a miraculous snow to cover her nakedness, its whiteness indicating her sainthood.

Can’t wait for Mel Gibson to make another bloody movie about her.

The painting itself has an unusual symmetry, since the main subject literally falls flat on the lower third of the image. The central space is almost vacant. Compared to most other Waterhouse paintings (where the woman and the tension is located smack in the center of the image) this one requires some “looking” to realize what is actually going on.