Worldwide

Yep! A visitor from Africa! Now my blog's been looked at from all continents!

L'amour e(s)t l'indépendance

«L'indépendance synergique au lieu de l'interdépendance symbiotique, c'est ce qui crée des relations inspirantes et motivantes, qui pourraient tenir et évoluer dans le long terme. [...] Pour cela, laisser la liberté à l'autre est indispensable ― et l'amour sera rendu à un facteur de dix ou cent!!»
Bjørn Clasen, 5/9-6, dans un échange philosophique sur les couples

Øh nå

»Steen var også tandtekniker, så i dagtimerne talte vi en del i telefon.«
Jan Tronhjem alias J. Gedde
i et interview i KODA /DK, September 2006
om sin tekst til Dodo & The Dodos-sangen 'Vågner I Natten'

Om vrede og ligegyldighed

»Det er sjældent de læsere, der er ophidsede over avisen indhold, der for alvor siger den op. De truer måske med det, og måske gør de det endda, hvis bølgerne går virkelig højt. Men har de så stærke følelser på spil, vender de for det meste hurtigt tilbage. De kan ikke undvære modsigelsen og udfordringen, hvad enten de nu er sig denne mekanisme bevidst eller ej. De læsere, vi varigt mister, er tværtimod de læsere, der er ligeglade, som synes vi er kedelige eller uinteressante. En vred reaktion kan være tegn på meget, men sjældent på ligegyldighed.«
Tøger Seidenfaden

Kilde: Klumme på Politiken.dk 1/10-6

Hjemlighed

»Hjemlighed er duften af madpakker, alt for meget fodtøj i entréen, støv i en solstråle og edderkopper i hjørnerne.«
fra en interessant artikel på Politiken.dk om udviklingen i begrebet hjem, om rodløshed ...og dybest set om identitet

Take a look at this beautifully designed site

copenhagen alternative art fair 2006's website is a beautiful example of web design. Its aestehetic simplicity does not disturb but actually emphasises the clarity of the site. It makes you feel like clicking and exploring the contents ...but only after you have let your eye be spoiled by the meta-esque design.

One of the best-designed websites, I have ever seen.

The artist behind it is Christian Yde Frostholm. You can see other projects of his here. Enjoy! It's art!

Læs lige historiebøgerne, Borrell!

»Der er lande såsom de nordiske, som ikke har oplevet krig.«

Josep Borrell, formanden for Europa-Parlamentet, i forbindelse med Europa-Parlamentets køb af bygningerne i Strasbourg, som en kommentar til den million EU-borgere, som har skrevet under på, at Europa-Parlamentet skal stoppe flytteriet mellem Bruxelles og Strasbourg.

ritzau ― fra Politiken.dk, 28/9-6

Et års kamp for friheden

I DAG er det præcis et år siden, at Jyllands-Posten offentliggjorde de nu verdensberømte tegninger af profeten Muhamed. Helt igennem uskyldige karikaturer, hvoraf halvdelen faktisk gjorde grin med avisens redaktion eller med forfatteren Kåre Bluitgen.

Det var ham, der forgæves søgte en tegner, som turde illustrere hans fredelige børnebog om Muhameds liv. Oplevelsen fik bladet til at undersøge graden af selvcensur. Og den var høj.

MEN DET var ikke den sølle avisside, der skabte balladen i mange af verdens 54 muslimske diktaturstater. Derimod så en del af de kyniske magthavere deres interesse i at hidse uvidende befolkningsgrupper op til hysteriske demonstrationer imod tegninger, de aldrig havde set.

Der blev lukket damp ud — rettet imod Danmark. For en stund glemte de fattige, skrigende masser at protestere imod deres egne magthaveres brutale undertrykkelse.

UNDER TUMULTERNE er over 100 mennesker dræbt og måske 800 såret. Ambassader og flag er brændt af. Modige redaktører fængslet. Feta-eksporten standset, indtil Arla lagde sig fladt på maven.

VAR RETTEN til ytringsfriheden værd at stå fast på, trods disse omkostninger? Skal vi i dag ønske, at Jyllands-Posten aldrig havde givet de gale religiøse og verdslige magthavere et påskud for at rase mod vort lille kongerige?

IKKE TALE OM. Hvis vi kunne rulle tiden tilbage, skulle vi gøre det igen. Ytringsfriheden var og er værd at forsvare, uanset de menneskelige og materielle omkostninger, som man indirekte kan lægge den til last. Der er tale om vort demokratis vigtigste frihedsrettighed. Vi har kun haft den siden 1849. Den eksisterer ikke automatisk i evighed. Vi skal slås hver dag for at bevare den ved at bruge den - ikke bøje den.

HVIS VI giver afkald på den af høflighed, af bekvemmelighed, i den artige tones og den gode, globaliserede smags navn. Hvis vi vennesælt gør sådan, som det blev anbefalet af en snes halvsenile fhv. ambassadører, Uffe Ellemann-Jensen, det kvarte Folketing og et par indskrænkede, selvfede chefredaktører, ja så prisgiver vi vores samfundsform.

EKSTRA BLADET støttede hele vejen igennem Jyllands-Posten. Vi gav dens redaktion det bedste, vi har: Victor-prisen, som er vor højeste anerkendelse af journalistiske præstationer. Det står vi ved.

DET LYDER så kønt, at vi skal tale pænt til fremmede og ikke udfordre. Men ytringsfrihed er ikke høflig. Den er rå og ærlig — samt forudsætningen for alle andre frihedsrettigheder.

LÆREN AF det seneste år er, at vi ikke skal beskære ytringsfriheden. Hverken for at tækkes muslimer eller andre. Det er ikke os demokrater, der har for stor ytringsfrihed. Problemet er, at muslimerne ingen har.

Leder i Ekstra Bladet, 29/9-6

Teorier om ondt i ryggen

»[Rygsmerterne] er garanteret fordi jeg begyndte på yoga i går. Jeg har nu ellers dyrket yoga før [...]. Måske er det dét kombineret med min ugentlige skægbarbering i morges, hvor jeg altid skal stå i en ubehagelig foroverbøjet stilling fordi sådan nogle indretningsarkitekter laver vaskeborde (badeværelset) så lave at jeg kan slænge et vist udhæng op i vasken ― for ikke at sige ned i vasken ― men skal bøje mig for at vaske hænder. Man skulle tro at det var et bidet.«
Anonym

Danish equivalent of Gary Larson

Translation: 'Flemming was aware that it would most probably cost him his life ― but he had always had an urge to slap a panther on the head with a sausage.'

Oasis' 'Stop The Clocks' ― My bid

Britrock pioneers Oasis have a pretty cool competition on their website. For once a competition, in which an actual effort is required to try to win something rather unique. Namely guess the track list, even in correct order, of the band's upcoming 'best of' album.

I could have simply chosen my personal favourites and made my own 'best of', as an idealistic approach. But 'simply' is a joke in this case. Oasis have made so many ge-reat songs that it'd be 'die Qual der Wahl' as they say in German. (That language does have some good expressions.) Instead I have tried to select a bit here and there, keeping a similar number of songs from each of the albums, leaving out gems such as 'Champagne Supernova', 'The Masterplan' and 'Some Might Say'. Still not easy.

And it shouldn't be. And I could name three or four reasons why my track list is not realistic ― but hey (now!), it's olympic spirit that counts, it was fun, it was an occasion to listen to all the great stuff again, and... it made me discover that the 'The Masterplan' album is actually a pretty good one. So far, I have considered it a peripheric release but I will listen to it again right now. And here's my list.

1. Acquiesce
2. Supersonic
3. The Importance Of Being Idle
4. Wonderwall
5. Fade In-Out
6. Lyla
7. Cigarettes & Alcohol
8. Whatever
9. Sunday Morning Call
10. The Hindu Times
11. Don't Look Back In Anger
12. Stand By Me
13. She Is Love
14. Let There Be Love
15. Rock'n'Roll Star
16. Who Feels Love?
17. Little By Little
18. Half The World Away

Love and luck

'We are not the same persons this year as last; nor are those we love. It is a happy chance if we, changing, continue to love a changed person.'
W. Somerset Maugham

Discussion should be dialogue

'In discussions it is important to not necessarily want to be right, and to be able to say that someone's point of view is interesting even if you don't necessarily tend to agree. Discussions should not be competitions but dialogues. Exchanges. Inspirations. Enrichments (in the best case).'
Bjørn Clasen

En... øh... original sammenligning

»Den samfundspolitiske debat p.t. er lige så frugtbar som flueknepperi på Nordpolen juleaften, hvor er al glæden?«
Jytte Hilden i en ellers ganske velskrevet og optimistisk artikel på Politiken.dk om tidens og fremtidens ældre og yngre

Optische Illusionen 'mal interaktiv

Hier bei FOCUS Online können Sie sich interaktiv davon überzeugen, inwieweit optische Illusionen mit Ihrem Gehirn spielt.

Sechs Klassiker unter Illusionen sind erklärt. Es dauert nicht lange, macht Spass ― und man lernt was davon!

From stotin to stork

Pictures of Slovenia's Euro Coinage

As of today, pictures of Slovenia's euro coins can be viewed at http://www.evro.si, the central web site for the implementation of the euro campaign. The campaign is run by the Government of the Republic of Slovenia and the Bank of Slovenia in collaboration with partner institutions.

Images of the national side of new euro coins are available at both the Slovenian (http://www.evro.si/o-evru/slovenski-kovanci/) and English (http://www.evro.si/en/slo-and-euro/slovene-euro-coins/) web sites. The images are also available in print format.

Slovenian euro coins are being minted by the Mint of Finland. The mint was selected by the Bank of Slovenia via an international public tender in which all twenty-two mints of the EU member states were invited to participate. Five mints submitted entries and, in line with the tender's requirements, the Bank of Slovenia commissioned the Mint of Finland to produce the 234 million Slovenian euro coins.

Ljubljana, 30 August 2006 ― Press release from the
Government PR and Media Office and the Bank of Slovenia

Høhø...

»Pornofrit Miljø er flere gange tidligere blevet kontaktet af pornoproducenter, der blandt andet ville have foreningen til at udvælge mindre stødende covere.«
Kilde: artikel i Ekstra Bladet

Lad os spare på marinen

VOR FREDELIGE nation er ved at udvikle sig til en vældig krigskarl. Der er opstået en mani med, at hver gang krigsgale magter rundt om i verden fyrer løs på hinanden, skal der anbringes nogle danskere mellem dem som freds-skabere.

VI HAR 430 mand i Irak, hvor danskerne har problemer med bare at passe på sig selv. Vi har 290 mand i det sydlige Afghanistan, hvor de er under daglige voldsomme angreb af Taleban-styrker. Den løbende udskiftning af disse tropper stiller så store krav til forsvaret, at det kun med det yderste af neglene kan overkomme opgaverne.

IKKE DESTO mindre har regeringen nu til hensigt at sende et orlogsfartøj til farvandet ud for Libanon, hvor det skal forestille at hjælpe styrker fra Libanons hær og de første spæde FN-tropper med at holde israelere og Hizbollah-krigere fra hinandens struber.

PROJEKTET har unægtelig et skær af komik over sig. Man tænker tilbage på de glade dage, da kongeriget sendte ubåden Sælen til assistance i ørkenkrigen i Irak. Ingen har nogen sinde kunnet forklare, hvad den gjorde af gavn - inden den gamle skude måtte hjælpes hjem til Korsør i bugen på et fragtskib.

DANMARK er i forvejen det land, der bidrager med flest udstationerede soldater pr. million indbyggere. Vi har ingen grund til at sætte nye rekorder i militær opofrelse.
Det virker langt mere fornuftigt at sende hjælp, som nytter noget. F.eks. det personale fra Beredskabsstyrelsen, som prøver at rydde op i den vældige forurening med 15.000 ton fuelolie, som forurener libanesiske kyster efter israelske bombninger af depottanke.

DANMARK udretter rigeligt. F.eks. er vi i forhold til indbyggertallet verdens næststørste leverandør af udviklingshjælp. Så lad os nu til en afveksling spare på kræfterne - i stedet for at sløse med penge til tomme demonstrationer.
Kort sagt: Lad marinen blive hjemme.

Kilde: Leder i Ekstra Bladet 25/8-6

Life is Right Now (livet er Lige Nu)

What follows is my translation of the quotation I think says most about life. It's part of a song called 'Lige Nu' ('Right Now'), saying in metaphoric but clear words that you are responsible for your own life, that it is never too late to change it, and that it has to be lived now.

But time is running and now I'm sitting here
dreaming about how wonderful it would be
to leave behind my luggage in a bullet-proof locker
throw the key over my shoulder and go completely wild

Disappear in a dust cloud and then reassemble
as a complete person on top of his existence
and I know perfectly well which way to take
that's forward, babe, without looking back

But time is sliding, it is now that we must move forward
we have to kiss the stars, it is now that we have to move
the limits for what one can, and ought to, do
all that nonsense they have made us think people like us cannot do

(Steffen Brandt)

The original words

Men tiden iler og nu sidder jeg her
og drømmer om hvor dejligt det kunne være
sådan at efterlade bagagen i en skudsikker boks
kaste nøglen over skulderen og gå fuldstændig amok

Forsvinde i en støvsky og samles igen
som et helt menneske med styr på tilværelsen
og jeg ved udmærket godt hvilken vej vi skal tage
det er fremad, babe, uden at se os tilbage

Men tiden skrider, det er nu vi skal rykke
vi skal op at kysse stjerner, det er nu vi skal flytte
grænserne for hvad man kan og hvad man bør
alt det bavl de har bildt os ind, sådan nogen som os ikke kan gøre

(Steffen Brandt)

Another football shirt― from the other end of the ranking

The Internet opens up a new kind of creative space and feeling of, or urge for, freedom in people. And you stumble over the most amazing, or weird, things sometimes. I wanted to look up why the Danish football team formerly known as 'NFA' is now called 'LFA', so I searched on the latter on Yahoo! (yes, that still exists, and for example their image and video searches are far better than Gooooooooooooooooogle's), and among the top results was a slightly, but only slightly, different LFA...

...Namely the Lovely Football Association. Lovely? Yeah, Lovely. It's a country. Well, a self-proclaimed one but aren't all countries sort of self-proclaimed?

Speaking of proclaiming: On the country's website, there is a referendum on the question whether or not to have a king. As a republican (don't worry, not in the USAmerican sense of the word but in the 'c'mon-this-is-the-21st-century-monarchies-are-so-before-last-millennium'
kind of way), I of course strongly encourage you to place a 'no' vote. Especially since those royalists are actually in the lead.

Oh, and to see what I mean by the title of this post, have a look here. Those lovely people sure are in for it.

Bjørn

Clasinho

That would, according to Brazilname, be my name if... if I was selected for Brazil's national team. Yours?

Well-travelled?

With a friend and with my brother, I sometimes compare the number of countries we each have been to. This generates discussions such as 'what is to be considered a country' and 'what are the criteria for being able to say you have been to a place'.

The website you reach by clicking on the map below does not really answer the first question ― an ideal solution would be to talk places instead of countries ― but its notion of 'visited' countries makes the second issue pretty clear in my opinion. For example, you can visit a country without staying there overnight. But if you just pass through, you don't really visit, even if you stop for a snack or so.

In lack of a realistic (online) solution to the first problem, I decided to create and blog my personal map of visited countries anyway. I'm at 33 so far...



...which contributes ― just ― to qualify me for membership of the Travellers Guild of Denmark (De Berejstes Klub).

As the guild also has a somewhat more exhaustive list of countries and territories, a.o. including countries that are now history, I even reach 37 ― the Acores, Galápagos, Northern Ireland and Rapa Nui (Easter Island) being the four additional territories. One may of course discuss whether or not to count these.

Also, the guild operates with a 24-hour rule, which in my case would remove San Marino and the Vatican from the list. Again: Subject for discussion.

So... Happy discussing, and especially: Happy travelling!
Bjørn

article updated on 18 August

Britain's first square-shaped melons

Square-shaped watermelons are to be sold in the UK.

Tesco plans to sell the melons imported from Brazil.

Boxes are placed around the growing fuit which naturally swells to fill the shape.

Tesco exotic fruit buyer Damien Sutherland: "We"ve seen samples of these watermelons and they literally stop you in their tracks because they are so eye-catching.

"These square melons will make it easier than ever to eat because they can be served in long strips rather than in the crescent shape."

They will go on sale in stores from October for under £5.

Source: article on Ananova

Ballet for livet

Hvilket medium vil du bruge til din selvbiografi?
»En ballet, den skal opleves og kan ikke gemmes, ligesom livet«.
Lasse Karlsson

Die Falkland-Inseln— eine selbstgeöffnete Wunde Argentiniens

Diese Felsinseln, hauptsächlich von Vögel bewohnt, liegen isoliert in südostlicher Richtung von der Küste Südamerikas, und man muss es schon wirklich wollen um dorthin zu reisen. Sie gehören zum Vereinigten Königreich. In Argentinen sieht man aber überall Propaganda die "las Malvinas" ― so der Name auf Südamerika-spanisch ― als offener Wunde im Bewusstsein der Argentinier beibehalten soll.

Die Welt hat dazu einen interessanten Artikel veröffenlicht.

Volleyball 'mal umgekehrt

Bei einer Recherche im Internet bin ich zufällig auf einem Sport gestossen, der "Prellball" heisst. Ehrlich gesagt hatte ich nie davon gehört, was meiner Neugier geweckt hat. Es scheint sich um ein deutscher Sport zu handeln, der, soweit ich den Regeln verstehe, sowas wie einer "umgekehrten" Form von Volleyball ist.

Prellball ist eine Mannschaftssportart und zählt zu den sogenannten Rückschlagspielen.

Auf einem Spielfeld, das in der Mitte durch ein Netz in 40 cm Höhe geteilt ist, stehen sich zwei Mannschaften gegenüber. jedes Team besteht aus vier Spielerinnen oder Spielern, die im Nachfolgenden kurz nur Spieler genannt werden.

Jede Mannschaft hat die Aufgabe, den Ball mit der Faust oder dem Unterarm so auf den Boden des Eigenfeldes zu prellen, daß er über das Netz ins Gegenfeld gelangt.

Dabei ist jeder Spieler bemüht, den Ball so gekonnt zu spielen, daß die Annahme dem Gegner erschwert wird. Der Ball darf nach jedem Spielerkontakt nur einmal auf den Boden aufprellen und muß spätestens nach der dritten Berührung wieder über das Netz gelangen.

Jeder Spieler darf den Ball nur einmal prellen. Weder der Ball noch die Spieler dürfen das Netz berühren. Bei jedem Fehler der einen Mannschaft wird der anderen ein Gutpunkt angeschrieben. Angabe hat die Mannschaft, die den Fehler begangen hat.

Quelle: Kleine Prellballkunde beim Fachgebiet Prellball der Deutschen Turnerbund

Jeg kan stadig

For første gang i umindelige tider gav jeg mig pludselig til at skrive en musikanmeldelse. To endda. Her er de.

Kunstner: Marybell Katastrophy

Sang: Hidden Agenda
Min første association var en epo-555-agtig lyd, men med færre detaljer. Hvilket ikke nødvendig vis er en negativ ting.

Over den næsten Amiga 500-agtige electronica flyder så en både kyndig, smuk og sensuelt sexet kvindestemme. Ja, flyder. Lige tilpas ― ikke svævende og slet ikke druknende, men flydende.

For sin genre er det absolut et trin, der kan bygges på. Talentet er der. Musikbegejstringen ligeså; den kan høres.

Men efter min mening skal der alligevel et krydderi mere på. Måske er det lidt variation, der savnes i sangen, måske lidt pondus, lidt gåpåmod. Et lille, men vitalt pift, som vil hæve den over standarden for elektromusik.

Bestemt en gruppe, man kan holde øre med...

Sang: Big Big Bear
Jeg er hård, jeg ved det. Igen er lyden der hos Marybell, og ikke mindst stemmen. Men jeg synes stadig, at biddet mangler. Noget, der lokker mig til at ville høre mere. Noget fylde og dybde.

Faktisk ER sjælen der, ingen tvivl om det. Men den river mig ikke med, den får mig blot til at lytte, ikke føle.

Kræng dig ud, Marybell. Lad det, der er inden i dig, flyde ud over teknikken, som i symbiose. Så kan du skabe noget musik, der TALER til folk. For talentet, det har du.

Persian: the name of the language

See this photo? It's a calligraphy of a Persian poem from my favorite poet, Sohrab Sepehri. I'll tell you about him one of these days......

But what language is this? It may look like Arabic to some of you, since the alphabet is almost the same. But Persian and Arabic are different languages written with the same alphabet. You can simply think of French and German that almost have the same alphabet but are absolutely not the same.

I use the name "Persian" language. but am I right? Is it the correct name of the language? I can explain it in a simple way. Just look at the sentences below and tell me which group of sentences is correct in your point of view:

Group A:

1. He speaks français (Il parle French).
2. She speaks Deutsch (Sie spricht German).
3. They speak español (Hablan Spanish).

Group B:

1. He speaks French (Il parle français).
2. She speaks German (Sie spricht Deutsch).
3. They speak Spanish (Hablan español).

If you think that the sentences in Group A is correct, or you think that both groups are equally fine, please write to me and tell my your reasoning. I'll be very happy to hear that.

Otherwise, if you think that Group B is the good group, we share the same opinion. Now let me show you the same comparison regarding Persian language:

Group A:

* I speak فارسی [pronounce: farsi] (حرف می‌زنم Persian من [pronounce: mæn pershiën hærf mi-zænæm])

Group B:

* I speak Persian ( من فارسی حرف می‌زنم [pronounce: mæn farsi hærf mi-zænæm])

I think it is clear now that "Persian" in the name of the language in English (in French it is "Persan," in German "Persisch," in Dutch "Perzisch," in Italian "Persiano," etcetera). On the other hand "فارسی" [pronounce: farsi] is the name of the language in Persian (local name). It's easy to see the connection between the local name and the international name of the language. Persian is derived from Pars (the ethnicity of the royal family of the first Persian Empire). فارسی (pronounce: farsi) is also derived from Pars; it is actually the Arabized version of Parsi, an adjective meaning "related to Pars."

You may hear that many people use the local name of Persian language when they speak English or other Western languages. It's just a mistake that became popular after 1979, when many Persians immigrated to Western countries, and started using the local name. This mistake is now so popular that even Microsoft used the local name of Persian language in its programs! But not everybody made that mistake. Mac OS X (the operating system of Apple computers), for example, worked out all different languages so professionally, and you can see the correct name of the language there.

By the way, I should tell you about my Mac Book Pro! I got it immediately when it came to the market, and I use it almost everyday. And I love it almost every day!

OK, let me finish what I started in this post. Next time, you face somebody using the local name of Persian language, or read it in a newspaper or a magazine, make a comment on that! You can show how professional you are!

by Fakhredin

Bloody tourists...

Astonishing aesthetics

I don't know what it is about this picture.

Is it the technique,
is it the girl...
or is it both, the medium and the motive melting together
symbiotically into an aesthetic masterpiece of art?

No matter what it is that does it ―
I find it powerful and beautiful
beyond words.

Look at it. And then again.

And enjoy it.

Do.

Environmental friendliness is easy

Despite the usual formal name, the European Environmental Toolkit for Citizens gives some useful tips on what you (yes, you!) can do to make this World liveable for a little longer. Read'em... and do follow'em. It is easy. It is.

Russian Farmer Asks Putin’s Permission to Marry Cow — Vil giftes med ko

A young Russian farmer from the small village in the Kemerovo region (South Siberia) has asked President Vladimir Putin to allow him to marry a cow, the Komsomolskaya Pravda daily reported Monday.



“All girls have left our small village and moved to the city, so I cannot find a woman to be with. But I see the solution to the problem. I love animals very much and want to ask you when it will be allowed in Russia, as it is in Holland, to marry domestic animals?” his question to Putin reads.

The farmer’s question was one of the 160,000 questions Russians asked Putin during theThursday web cast in which Russian’s were allowed to query their president.

Article on Mosnews.com


En russisk landarbejder vil have præsident Putins tilladelse til at gifte sig med en ko

En ung, russisk landmand fra en lille landsby i Kemerovo-regionen i det sydlige Sibirien har bedt om præsident Vladimir Putins velsignelse til at indgå ægteskab med en ko. Det skriver Mosnews.com.

— Alle pigerne er rejst fra landsbyen og til byen, så jeg kan ikke finde en kvinde. Men jeg mener at have fundet en løsning på problemet. Jeg elsker dyr og vil gerne spørge, hvornår det i Rusland bliver tilladt at gifte sig med husdyr — ligesom i Holland, skriver han i sin mail til Putin.

Landmandens spørgsmål var bare ét af 160.000, som russerne stillede Putin sidste torsdag, hvor Putin havde indbudt undersåtterne til at spørge løs.

Artikel i Ekstra Bladet af Maiken Kolby

Tobolsk

Sittin' here looking through brochures and websites, tryin' to find a destination for my next holiday. While waitin' for more interesting posts, take a look at this pic from old Tobolsk.

Skamløs kgl. grådighed?

FREDERIK: — Har du prøvet badeværelse nr. 17?

MARY: — Næ, du. Jeg kan bedst lige badekarret i nr. 19 og toilettet i nr. 12.

DENNE SAMTALE kan finde sted i sommeren 2009, når Slots- og Ejendomsstyrelsen i samråd med kronprinseparret er færdig med at ombygge Frederik VIII’s palæ på Amalienborg. En net lille øvelse til 105 millioner kroner. Regningen deles sådan, at skatteyderne betaler 102 mio. kr., mens kongehuset betaler tre mio. kr. (som også er hentet i skatteydernes lommer).

PALÆET tæller i forvejen 16 badeværelser — men nu opføres yderligere fire, så parret om et par år kan lette og rense sig overalt i bygningen. ’Behovene har løbende været drøftet’ med Frederik og Mary, forklarer styrelsens talsmand, Jacob Holst Andersen, i dag i søndagssektionen flash!

Det er vi glade for. Så risikerer skatteyderne ikke en ekstra regning til sin tid til et 21. og 22. badeværelse. 20 skulle slå til ifølge ægteparret selv.

OVEN I regningen på de 105 mio. kr. er der afsat 23,2 mio. kr. til udvendig smukkesering af palæet. Så undersåtterne får også noget smukt at kigge på, når vi skal ind og råbe hurra ved kronprinsens 40-års fødselsdag, som vinker forude.

Vi må håbe, han er hjemme til den tid. Antallet af ferieperioder i hans kalender giver jo ikke plads til mange officielle arrangementer.

HVIS IKKE Ekstra Bladet var så generøst indstillet over for kongehuset — lige fra den skrøbelige dronning Margrethe til den fotografinteresserede Alexandra — kunne vi have anstillet betragtninger om, hvorvidt der kan tænkes at være grænser for de kongeliges grådighed.

Vi kunne f.eks. have nævnt, at kronprinsen allerede får 15,4 millioner kroner i årpenge. Da de er skattefri, svarer beløbet til en indkomst på 40 millioner kroner. Det er den næsthøjeste gage, som nogen dansker får. Den overgås af hans mor, som scorer 62 mio. kroner — svarende til 163 mio. skattepligtige kroner. Og familien betaler hverken afgifter eller moms.

Her kan ingen nok så forkælet topdirektør være med.

SMÅLIGE UNDERSÅTTER kunne mene, at disse mennesker er så vel betænkt i forvejen, at det må være pinligt for dem at modtage yderligere 105 mio. kr. til indretning af et københavnerhjem — oven i Kancellihuset, sommerhuset på Fredensborg, som de netop har fået istandsat for 17 mio. kr.

MEN FOLKET kan sove roligt: Der er ikke mindste tegn på, at kronprinsen er genert over den overvældende forkælelse, der bringer timelønnen for hans arbejde i nationens tjeneste op i nærheden af en mio. kr.

Guldgraveren fra Australien er heller ikke taget i forsøg på at dæmpe det forbrug, som hofsnoge fra alle sider bombarderer det værgeløse par med dag ud og dag ind. Personligt klarer hun sig med beskedne 1.540.000 skattefrie kroner til tøj og kosmetik.

VED NÆRMERE eftertanke kan det blive en belastning for det snart ikke så unge par at finde vej mellem alle Amalienborgs kommende badeværelser. Bare det nu ikke ender med, at de slet ikke tør flytte ind i al stadsen.

Kilde: Leder i Ekstra Bladet 2/7-6

Join me to watch the World Cup final

Haven't got a ticket? Well, you can get one for free. Cyberspace is taking over from the Real World. So go virtual, get your seat in the Largest Online Stadium. I got mine right here. Sorry for the hat ― that's what came closest...

And the foundations?

The fondation de l'architecture's website certainly leaves room for improvement. One thing is to create a nice graphic design and add some artistic photos... but the foundations(!) are missing. You don't need to dig deep into the site before you are met with a very poor structure and missing information, such as a link page lacking links, an events page not going futher than 2001 etc. The designers seem to have forgotten the basics — website architecture...! If at least it was a blog, they would have an excuse.

Osho on the subject of love

I agree with him on these...

'The third [love] should be called lovingness ― a quality, unaddressed ― not possessive and not allowing anybody else to possess you. That loving quality is such a radical revolution that even to conceive it is very difficult.'
extract from ask Osho

'To suffer in love is not to suffer in vain. To suffer in love is creative; it takes you to higher levels of consciousness. To suffer without love is utterly a waste; it leads you nowhere, it keeps you moving in the same vicious circle.

The man who is without love is narcissistic, he is closed. He knows only himself. And how much can he know himself if he has not known the other, because only the other can function as a mirror? You will never know yourself without knowing the other. Love is very fundamental for self-knowledge too. The person who has not known the other in deep love, in intense passion, in utter ecstasy, will not be able to know who he is, because he will not have the mirror to see his own reflection.

Relationship is a mirror, and the purer the love is, the higher the love is, the better the mirror, the cleaner the mirror. But the higher love needs that you should be open. The higher love needs you to be vulnerable. You have to drop your armor; that is painful. You have not to be constantly on guard. You have to drop the calculating mind. You have to risk. You have to live dangerously.'
another extract from ask Osho

Happiness

'Given my lifelong search for irony, you can imagine how happy I am!'
Phoebe in 'Friends'
season 9, episode 6

Home, sweet...

It was very weird coming back to my flat. As had I been away for months, and yet it was a mere three weeks. Moreover, my flatmate had both sets of keys (as she was terrified of losing one). I arrived at 11.30 pm and had to ring my own doorbell, which was weird in istelf.

And the doorbell didn't work, all of a sudden.

Shit.

Me knocking. Not too hard, in order not to bother neighbours. I can't help being considerate on such things, though others would just talk and shout in the stairs. Not me.

And no answer. Knock again. No answer. Try bell again. Nothing. Knock. No. Could she have gone out? Not her style... during five months of traineeship ― that's how I know her; I was her supervisor ― she did not go to one trainees' party.

So I call my home phone on my mobile. After a couple of rings, I hear my own voice on the ansaphone. Hang up. Wake up, goddammit. If you're home and have not been kidnapped by aliens or something.

Knock-knock-knock-KNOCK...!!! Clip-clap-clip-clap... finally I hear footsteps. A voice silently and kinda anxiously asking through the door: 'Bjørn-e'? (yes, she speaks to me in French...)

'Oui...' Open flatmate. Enter Bjørn with suitcases. Home, sweet... er, is this how it looks? :)

Feet back on the ground

What you should envy me are my walking shoes.
Luka
putting an end to a discussion on values

(Anti)royalistisk guf

Tv-baben Annette Heicks mand, societykokken Jesper Vollmer, er blevet udpeget til dronningens nye køkkenchef. »Jeg har masser af planer om at forny det kongelige køkken ved at give det et mere royalt touch. For eksempel har jeg tænkt mig, at retten ’Væltet lokum’ fremover skal hedde ’Kong Vollmers røv’, skal han have sagt.
Kilde: Nyt om kendte

Stotin — A philosophical question

What's worse — not knowing something you should know, or thinking you know something but turn out to be mistaken?

A couple of days ago, a Slovenian friend and I got to talk about currency for some reason. To cut a short story even shorter, my friend didn't know what the subdivision of a tolar (Slovenia's currency) is called, whereas I was pretty sure it has a name similar to the former Austrian Groschen.

We ended up making a bet, though seconds later it occured to me that groszy is probably the Polish equivalent. Also, Slovene doesn't have the letter combination 'sz'. But a bet is a bet, and I left it up to my friend, after all being the one who should know, to prove me wrong.

And indeed I was. A Slovene tolar is divided into 100 stotinov. Nothing to do with Groschen. Fine, you win the bet, you get your fancy overpriced disgustingly sweet cocktail. But an interesting philosophical question remains (you won't get away that easily... I can still win morally...)

So... is it better to not know something you should know, or to think you know it but be proven wrong?

Anyway, whichever it is, I'll happily give a few thousand stotinov to pay my friend a sweet and colourful and hopefully tasty cocktail. The Sun is shining, life is beautiful — and it keeps make one wonder about kleine cocktails and grosse Groschen. What more do we need?!

Bjørn Clasen

Viel Bock

"[I]ch wurde schon gefragt, ob ich später die Rolle des Geißbocks übernehmen will."
Markus Feulner, Spieler beim 1.FC Köln, im kicker-Interview

In order to finally post something in Italian...

"...faccio in modo che gli spaghetti n.5 siano sempre gli spaghetti n.5".
Fernando Caviola, Esperto Qualità Barilla

Friends (II)

'[H]ow wonderful it is to finally feel appreciated and respected. It's not the air I breathe but more of a scent making it a genuine pleasure to actually breathe it.'
Bjørn Clasen, 21/4-6

Risikoen DF

»Dansk Folkepartis argument om, at en Charles Taylor i et dansk fængsel vil udgøre en sikkerhedsrisiko, er det rene plat. DF har lagt stemmer til et utal af forhold, der har gjort Danmark mere utrygt, men vil ikke stå ved Danmarks ansvar internationalt.«
Anne Baastrup i Politiken.dk

Diplomacy

Statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus on the Decision by the United States and the European Union to Impose Restrictions Against Belarusian Officials

The European Union and the United States have responded to the election of President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko at the direct and general elections with a decision to impose restrictions against a number of Belarusian officials.

It is difficult to comprehend the sense of this decision. Both the US and the EU had never questioned Mr. Lukashenko being the most popular leader in Belarus who leaves far behind all other contenders. It means that the people’s choice is not liked.

At the same time, the US and the EU continue to pronounce their interest in friendly relations with the Belarusian people. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stresses once again: if the United States and the European Union respect the people of our country, they must respect the choice they have made.

Responding to the people’s choice with restrictions means rejecting the Belarusian citizens’ right to live in their country at their own discretion, not somebody else’s. This policy is not the best. Above all, it is a dead-end policy.

The Republic of Belarus reserves the right to undertake reciprocal actions.

Source: Belarus' Embassy in Belgium

Be brave to be happy

'There is no happiness without freedom and no freedom without courage.'
Pericles

Få derfor det bedst mulige ud af det!

Rutsj med Rembrandt

»En stor rutsjebane giver masser af synlighed og omtale. Man kan sige, at det er vores svar på museernes Rembrandt- og Matisseudstillinger.«
Søren Kragelund
direktør i Fårup Sommerland og formand for Foreningen af Forlystelsesparker i Danmark
Kilde: artikel på Politiken.dk