I have been looking for quite a while whether there is a song out there that summarises all what's going on. Hm, I still havent found one. But while looking my thoughts wandered off and I found something else.
I got to her because of her song "Jungle Drum" which is played up and down in Germany. To be honest, I think she's got a nice accent and smile so I'm a bit biased there. Anyhow, her earlier works are good too; maybe not for all the time but some are ok for certain occasions. Put differently, sometimes it's amazing to discover some artist backwards and see what they have done before.
Umm, what a blurb and no deep-philosophical content... I need vacation I think.
Friday, 31 July 2009
Sunday, 26 July 2009
Thursday, 23 July 2009
before i go to bed
Lisa: just because Maggy can't talk it doesn't mean she's dumb. Einstein couldn't speak until he was 3.
Marge: ... and even then he only could speak German.
Ha, only American English is the superior language... :p
Marge: ... and even then he only could speak German.
Ha, only American English is the superior language... :p
Sunday, 12 July 2009
Beep Revised
Beep, Beep, Beep. What is beeping? Sputnik. And why is it important? Because it put men on the moon. From a feminist point of view I would say it's good it were men and not women because it wouldn't be that much of a loss in case of disaster...
Continuing from last week's urge to freedom, to touch the sky, and to see the stars an early commemoration of the moon landing.
Unfortunately, it's only purpose was to kick the Soviets in their red asses... Otherwise, we would have stayed there. The thought in my mind these days is how history is redefined in the (British) media at the moment. There are a lot of programs regarding the landings and space in general, May in Space and consorts. But in all of them (at least most) the role of the Soviets in the cosmos is devalued, if not neglected. It was the same 2 years ago with the Sputnik anniversary; I remember some British news saying "The sound that shocked the World". Hm, I would have a good bet if I said that at least half of that "World" was actually dancing on the streets (metaphorically speaking). This time, there are a few other gems, like: "The Americans put the first man into space, Gagarin was only in Earth Orbit." Someone is having sex with definitions there... Or when they ask celebrities about the moon landing and what they felt back then. No word said or asked about the Soviets, only Sputnik and maybe Gagarin if at all... It's kind of amazing how small omissions by the media can change the image of something. It's not even lying about something, it's only not saying it and thus shifting the perspective to only one side of the story (-ies). Well, I hope that in two years they do a proper commemoration of the first man in space and, in four years time, the first woman in space (20 years before the Americans did, btw.; and Tereshkova was on her own and didn't need to be flown by men..).
Oh, what a rant. Maybe because I went to Gagarin and Tereshkova elementary schools. And maybe because I like the sound of "cosmonaut" more. But hey Mr. Spaceman, one day, will you please take me along for a ride? To the moon, to the Sun, to the space? That would be very kind indeed!
Continuing from last week's urge to freedom, to touch the sky, and to see the stars an early commemoration of the moon landing.
Unfortunately, it's only purpose was to kick the Soviets in their red asses... Otherwise, we would have stayed there. The thought in my mind these days is how history is redefined in the (British) media at the moment. There are a lot of programs regarding the landings and space in general, May in Space and consorts. But in all of them (at least most) the role of the Soviets in the cosmos is devalued, if not neglected. It was the same 2 years ago with the Sputnik anniversary; I remember some British news saying "The sound that shocked the World". Hm, I would have a good bet if I said that at least half of that "World" was actually dancing on the streets (metaphorically speaking). This time, there are a few other gems, like: "The Americans put the first man into space, Gagarin was only in Earth Orbit." Someone is having sex with definitions there... Or when they ask celebrities about the moon landing and what they felt back then. No word said or asked about the Soviets, only Sputnik and maybe Gagarin if at all... It's kind of amazing how small omissions by the media can change the image of something. It's not even lying about something, it's only not saying it and thus shifting the perspective to only one side of the story (-ies). Well, I hope that in two years they do a proper commemoration of the first man in space and, in four years time, the first woman in space (20 years before the Americans did, btw.; and Tereshkova was on her own and didn't need to be flown by men..).
Oh, what a rant. Maybe because I went to Gagarin and Tereshkova elementary schools. And maybe because I like the sound of "cosmonaut" more. But hey Mr. Spaceman, one day, will you please take me along for a ride? To the moon, to the Sun, to the space? That would be very kind indeed!
Wednesday, 8 July 2009
Four wheels under my saddle
Just to warn you, this post is utterly pathetic.
Freedom. Hm, Freedom? Part of my urge for freedom is to ride into the sunset like they do in the old Western Movies. The only difference is that I’m using a car for that. Driving down the road, only me, the song, the car, and the sunset.
I think the best place to do it is the US because you can drive on for hours and nothing changes – or everything changes every couple of miles. That is just great. So, part of the freedom is basically to be surprised and overwhelmed by the grandiosity of nature. Making me and everything else small, meaningless, “a lump of biological waste” accidentally put on earth. I even don’t mean it in a negative way. But the thing with riding into the sunset is that you are free and put yourself back into the wilderness. Into an almost natural state of being. I mean look at this one and then tell me humans are bigger than nature. And sometimes the clouds are so low as if they want to tell “duck down” and I think, I almost can touch the sky. See here
The great thing is that there is nothing certain when you are on the road. The only thing for sure is that you drive forward and don’t reverse. That’s all. You can stop for a swim, for a church, to hug a tree, to relieve yourself and watch over the large lake in front of you and being watched by some animals who also relieve themselves, see bisons, sheeps, cows, etc. crossing the road and starring at you, sleeping under the open sky.
And then there is music. “Cowboys” had their guitars and harps (supposingly), I have got the Cds. There’s loads of road music, here are only a few:
(on the Harry Nilson one: When I bought the CD the cashier asked me if I always buy my own Cds… because I looked like him on the cover…; and if you have time listen to Coconut from him, I think it’s one of the most hilarious songs there is because it’s basically just a song about a coconut. Anyhow)
Both songs are dealing with freedom and that you can run away but never hide from things, no matter how hard you try. This is what happens when I’m on the road. I drive and drive for thousands of miles, nothing changes in my mind. Until one moment which is like those dreams one has. You run and run, and suddenly you run over a cliff and then fly like a bird, looking down on earth, on the green grass, on the hills. The feeling is, my feet loose ground, my mind detaches, and I fly. All while driving.
And at last, I feel free. At peace. I reached a higher spiritual stage.
p.s. my driving-to-freedom strategy: don’t know and don’t care where I want to go. I just drive and if I like a road and want to take the turn I do it. I will find the sunset and the sunset will find me.
Freedom. Hm, Freedom? Part of my urge for freedom is to ride into the sunset like they do in the old Western Movies. The only difference is that I’m using a car for that. Driving down the road, only me, the song, the car, and the sunset.
I think the best place to do it is the US because you can drive on for hours and nothing changes – or everything changes every couple of miles. That is just great. So, part of the freedom is basically to be surprised and overwhelmed by the grandiosity of nature. Making me and everything else small, meaningless, “a lump of biological waste” accidentally put on earth. I even don’t mean it in a negative way. But the thing with riding into the sunset is that you are free and put yourself back into the wilderness. Into an almost natural state of being. I mean look at this one and then tell me humans are bigger than nature. And sometimes the clouds are so low as if they want to tell “duck down” and I think, I almost can touch the sky. See here
The great thing is that there is nothing certain when you are on the road. The only thing for sure is that you drive forward and don’t reverse. That’s all. You can stop for a swim, for a church, to hug a tree, to relieve yourself and watch over the large lake in front of you and being watched by some animals who also relieve themselves, see bisons, sheeps, cows, etc. crossing the road and starring at you, sleeping under the open sky.
And then there is music. “Cowboys” had their guitars and harps (supposingly), I have got the Cds. There’s loads of road music, here are only a few:
(on the Harry Nilson one: When I bought the CD the cashier asked me if I always buy my own Cds… because I looked like him on the cover…; and if you have time listen to Coconut from him, I think it’s one of the most hilarious songs there is because it’s basically just a song about a coconut. Anyhow)
Both songs are dealing with freedom and that you can run away but never hide from things, no matter how hard you try. This is what happens when I’m on the road. I drive and drive for thousands of miles, nothing changes in my mind. Until one moment which is like those dreams one has. You run and run, and suddenly you run over a cliff and then fly like a bird, looking down on earth, on the green grass, on the hills. The feeling is, my feet loose ground, my mind detaches, and I fly. All while driving.
And at last, I feel free. At peace. I reached a higher spiritual stage.
p.s. my driving-to-freedom strategy: don’t know and don’t care where I want to go. I just drive and if I like a road and want to take the turn I do it. I will find the sunset and the sunset will find me.
Tuesday, 7 July 2009
Thursday, 2 July 2009
Ralf Dahrendorf is dead. He died last week at the age of 80. Why telling about? He was one of the first sociologists I read when I started with sociology. And he tried to answer the foregoing question by using power. The (only) book by him I read was "Homo Sociologicus" which is about a hundred pages long and in its 16th(?) edition since the mid 60s. In there he develops on the concept of social role but in a normative context. Why people act as they do and use three levels of expectational norms directed to them: can, should, must. Each of these has different courses of action and sanctions attached.
Hm, I'm not entirely sure where this post is really going or what I want to say at all. It's just that the news of his death made me a little upset. I'm not even sure why, maybe it's because it was one of those books you will never forget, the books that give you a certain spin. I remember going on to Goffman afterwards. And then seeing the "house", also conceptualised by Dahrendorf. He was Marxist but sought to find another mode of class distinctions. So, instead of poverty he used power and today German academics of social structure and inequality use "layers"/milieu instead of pure class. And then Dahrendorf is technically the same generation as Habermas or Luhmann, even though all three experienced it differently. Within a very short time of a year, people will have quite varying life courses; meaning, all three were 15-17 in the last year of WWII and thus may have or may not have served. Anyhow, I will certainly read the little book again and venture on to some of his other books.
I don't have anything to say about jacko except that it was probably the best for him; he was completely fucked up and maybe it was the best for him to live on as a "mythos/legend/genius/ambivalent character/fallen celebrity/whacko/.../.../" than as a wreck.
Just bubbling on... :D
Hm, I'm not entirely sure where this post is really going or what I want to say at all. It's just that the news of his death made me a little upset. I'm not even sure why, maybe it's because it was one of those books you will never forget, the books that give you a certain spin. I remember going on to Goffman afterwards. And then seeing the "house", also conceptualised by Dahrendorf. He was Marxist but sought to find another mode of class distinctions. So, instead of poverty he used power and today German academics of social structure and inequality use "layers"/milieu instead of pure class. And then Dahrendorf is technically the same generation as Habermas or Luhmann, even though all three experienced it differently. Within a very short time of a year, people will have quite varying life courses; meaning, all three were 15-17 in the last year of WWII and thus may have or may not have served. Anyhow, I will certainly read the little book again and venture on to some of his other books.
I don't have anything to say about jacko except that it was probably the best for him; he was completely fucked up and maybe it was the best for him to live on as a "mythos/legend/genius/ambivalent character/fallen celebrity/whacko/.../.../" than as a wreck.
Just bubbling on... :D
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