Everybody is doing it and strangely everybody is hiding it. Is intimacy about hiding it or closeness? Why do we classify something that happens everyday? Something our species needs for our very survival?
Does any other species hide in the bushes to do it?
Till the mid 1950’s Britain and several European Countries still were on food rations. During the war years people got used to live on small portions.
With the "Wirtschaftswunder" more and new food arrived: convenience and processed food containing loads of sugar, fat and salt. People loved all that rich stuff after so many years of living lean and mean.
This was the beginning of the obesity epidemic we are suffering now.
Click image for bigger clouds.
Noctilucent Clouds are fascinating and beautiful things. Click here for more images.
Click image for more moonlight.
Billions of years our faithful companion led a quiet life, but 40 years ago humanity invaded the moon.
This giant step for mankind was actual mostly symbolical and technological. The American Space Program resulted in many new technologies (ball pen etc.) that improved our daily lives.
I suspect it will take another century before humanity really gets a grip on the moon with permanent settlements and mining operations (yes, the moon has many rare elements that earth doesn’t have).
Doodle Jump is an incredible simple and terribly addictive games. One of the few mobile games that is fun, simple and brilliant. And for just 99 cents it’s a bargain. I love the mind behind it: childish graphics and intuitive "steering" …
Highly recommended for all iPhone and iPod Touch owners – even those who DON’T play games.
Bob and Judy tried to speedup the development of their prodigy child Jimmy, but they were slow to understand that genetics are hard to accelerate in that manner.
I admire the old explorers like the Vikings. It is incredible tough even "just" to follow the coast – but it’s sheer insanity to go places like Iceland or Greenland.
You don’t have any shelter on these boats, no toilet, no private space and no fridge. You are stuck with your mates often for weeks and months in confined space.
No surprise these Vikings were so pissed off and aggressive when they landed …
You can tell it’s an very old advert, because nobody would do masculine stuff in pink / magenta these days.
For me it’s especially funny, because Hasenbräu (Rabbit-Brewerie) is located in Augsburg – a small city in Bavaria that is hardly know for being tough in any way …
No going back to living a "natural life" is not the solution for humanity. Many Africans live quite natural – and therefore starve, face terrible sickness, are uneducated and have shot life expectancies. That’s not what I would call a good life!
We develop human culture and technology to survive and have better, safer, healthier and longer lives.
And you can’t feed six billion people just with a hunting and ploughing the fields with horses.
One aspect that I find highly fascinating and morbid as well is that so many soldiers often have families and kids.
Why would you start a family in face of death and cause a lot of pain for your loved ones? It seems almost cynical and sadistic to form a family, leave them to fight and come back badly injured or dead.
With the high chance of getting killed is the desire to clone yourself especially high?
Or is it just the soldiers way to live life to the fullest and give and experience every aspect of being human?
Or is it part of a old fashioned mindset and lifestyle: having a family and fighting for it on all fronts possible?
Or is it an odd way to create a support system for yourself while in battle, give yourself a reason to fight or comeback?
Any ideas? Anyone?
The Beauty and the Beast.
Many so called "great people" often suffer from extreme psychological damage and deformations.
Usually the needs to be a "huge drive" in your psyche that propels you to "more" than the usual person.
Many great artists, industrialists, scientists and politicians were not driven by mere talents, but the crazy need to please their parents (like Mozart or Michael Jackson) or patch some other painful hole in their personality (like being loved, accepted and adored by everybody).
So it’s no surprise that Artistic tendencies linked to ’schizophrenia gene’ and many great people often suffered from mental illnesses like depressions or bi-polar-disorder (like Stephen Fry or Robbie Williams).
But it’s that very inner turmoil that drives these people forward to excel.
Psychological pain not always translates into creativity and so called "greatness" – many people suffer heavily form such conditions without reaping any "benefits" from them.
Most youngster wouldn’t believe how complicated and terrible the first answering machines were. It was especially hard to get back your phone once they answered the call first …
The gayest couple in the universe. How much candy coloured kitsch can one planet endure? 
But I do love their art for their unique style and shameless indulgence in … uh … candy moments.
In the Stone Age of Multimedia there was just one TV, one Radio, one Phone and one Record Player for the whole family.
Today’s multi-channel multimedia families have multiple entertainment and data devices for each family member. Plus everyone has many different online-personalities all over the intranets.
Instead of living and experiencing a "unified family reality" today we spread ourselves over several planes of virtual existence.
So it’s no surprise that so many families are feeling disconnected, hardly share mutual experiences or participate in each other’s lives. They are connected somewhere else with a million strangers …
The Single-Device-Family was certainly less sophisticated, but they actually had more time on their hands. They didn’t need to learn to handle complex devices, configure their computers, VCRs, cell phones, cameras, digicams, Facebook & MySpace pages, update their operating systems …
Their head were less stuffed with following a gazillion TV shows, celebrities, events in remote places, horrors and hysterias unreported or not yet invented.
Less sometimes really is more.
Click image for more innocence.
That’s how we guys like it: old enough to be seduced, untouched to be deflowered, erotic makeup, red lips, wonderfully naive – so we can impress, terribly sexy and beautiful to get a proper boner.
There is always a fine line between being a molester of young girls and successful womanizer.
Modern movie stars are so "all over the place". A bit more shyness and reservation would often add some charm to some stars instead of that constant slutty behaviour to market themselves …
Give us style and grace instead of "secret" porn videos.
The modern and very bored office worker seems to hunger for fun, excitement and danger.
That is why "extreme" and so called "fun sports" were invented.
I prefer to think of them of great ways to trim the herd and make the idiots kill themselves – instead of endangering other sensible humans by driving their cars to fast …
So "action people" go and climb a mountain, jump of cliffs and surf huge waves …
The western cult of Hygiene has made some strange twists and turns. The Romans had public baths and a highly developed culture around cleaning and grooming themselves.
In the Middle Ages Europe somehow lost it’s cleanliness, although bathing houses were still around.
With the industrial revolution and medical science cleanliness was back in town. Especially the discovery of germs and the resulting insights lead to a whole new industry producing detergents, soaps and cleanings products.
But cleanliness has become a hysteria for many modern housewives. But sterile environments are also bad for us: our immune systems need dirt to train and harden itself.
In a strange twist we get sick from being to feeble to battle of the very germs we try to clean away.
We humans are sometimes very stupid.
For one elegant Lady there were dozens of servants and hundreds of workers working hard to produce that glamorous lifestyle.
Vacations for workers – or so called little people – is a pretty new invention. Thanks to our social minded forefathers and their fight for justice we received "free days" and then even "paid vacations".
The now roaming masses created a huge tourism industry, which was actually good for developing remote places and creating even more jobs.
But your vacation is still only a privilege – if the economy goes down the drain you’ll loose it fast. And in many undeveloped nations many of our fellow humans hardly have a day off. Often they only get off work when there is a huge national or religious holiday.
So enjoy your summer vacation and drink a margarita to all those less fortunate than you!
Click image for great book art.
Sure modern books are mass produced and hardly receive the care and attention of unique handmade copies back in the days.
But actually it should be the other ways around: modern designers have powerful tools at their hands, so designing a unique books with excellent typo, vignettes and illustrations should be easy.
And best selling books deserve the extra work.
But publishers and authors alike have lost the passion to make great books.
You know your country is fucked, when the tough Special Forces turn into a bunch of Segway riding nerds.
I wonder often whey we humans hardly share the erotic pleasures of life – we usually are such social animals like Pigs and Wolfs …
Wall Street Journal - China Squeezes PC Makers
China requires PC makers to put firewalls on their machines to filter certain websites locally. It’s not enough that China constantly blocks many sites like Wikipedia etc. as it suits the tyrannical government – the control will be directly installed on people’s machines.
But I am pretty sure many other governments dreams of equal measures – even here in the so called free west.
Since the invention of consumerism producers of mass produced products have washed our brains – telling us that their products perfectly suit each individuals personal style and character.
Mass produced individuality for a mass of willing idiots.
But you are worth it!
Source: Spiegel Online (German)
The volume of the Arctic ice has shrunk a whopping 57% from 2004 till 2008. This is incredible and defies almost all forecasts how fast climate change will impact our lives.
Playing Grand Theft Auto back then required you to have a lot more imagination and a lot less electricity and money.
Still one of my greatest heroes: he was smart, kind and fiercely curious. We need more people like him so we can progress as a species and see the cosmos like it is without the fog of myths and religion.
Click image for more Marilyn.
She didn’t have big breasts, she was not really exceptionally beautiful – but she had charm and charisma.
The shot is today a classic nude moment – back in 1953 is was simply sleaze. How times change …
I love this movie and I love Kronk! The Emperor’s New Groove is one of the best recent Disney movies. Enjoy and if you like clip buy the movie …
Just because males can piss in almost any position doesn’t mean they have to do it everywhere.
I think we would care much more about old people if they would suddenly become powerful witches and wizards – capable to curse their ignorant offspring’s …
Instead we often let them rot powerlessly in some forgotten homes or hospitals … or should we call them hell on earth?
If you can than watch this amazing video on HD on YouTube. I love space pr0n like this …
Click image for more blood.
I don’t mind bulls killing stupid humans on the road of Pamplona every year to celebrate some old festival.
But killing the bulls later in the arena in a slow and painful process is simply sadism. When we slaughter animals (for food) it should be quick and painless.
The Spaniards should find better ways to prove the manhood of their matadors (the American Rodeo is pretty exciting as well, but doesn’t end in senseless slaughter).
See the full horror of the festival here.
Wikipedia: 35th G8 Summit
Another G8, another round of promises, great commitments and speeches ("Hello Mr Obama!") – and the same pomp. Obviously politicians love to talk and present themselves in a good light …
But all the talk is cheap. Most countries don’t live up to their promises and commitments. Africa still waits for all the money it was promised the last time it was the focus of the G8. Some rich nations like Italy failed miserably to hand over aid.
For poor nations the unpredictable trickle of help is counterproductive. How you organize a campaign in your own country if you don’t know if the foreign money will be there on time and as much as it was promised?
Rich nations demand accountability from poorer nations how the aid is used. But they themselves are often unreliable.
Another familiar screen face gone. I always like Malden, he was a unique actor.
Amen! Bye bye Karl …
Since I have seen "Fog of War" I am a big admirer of Mr Namara. He was incredible smart and very philosophical person. He was lifted by John F. Kennedy into a position of power and was responsible to run the Vietnam war.
Certainly a job not many people would love to take on.
In his later days he tried to create good "realpolitik" to improve humanity and bring old foes together. He also wrote an excellent book about war, politics and warfare. He really faced many ugly questions and tried in his own technocratic and human way to find some answers.
He also reflected on his mistakes in old age and changed many of his opinions – something not many politicians are able to do.
So CompuServe officially died this week – it was the first big online service here in Germany and allowed newbie’s like to go "on" for huge amounts of money.
Sometimes I spent about 1.000 or 3.000 Deutschmarks per month for that bloody service. If I remember correctly my ID was 10015,1352 – it’s almost exactly the amount of money CompuServe ripped off me.
I loved the service and it’s text based interface – and worked quite well with my speedy 12.800 modem.
On CompuServe I discovered all the basics of online lifestyle and communities: forums, eMail, Chat, user profiles and downloads.
CompuServe died a long and miserable death – like AOL (who actually deserved it). But both actually were victims of the openness and their own ignorance to adapt to it.
