The fifth and last short text of this assignment is about the treaties laying the ground for enlarging the European Union East and South. Thank you for reading, and for quoting correctly.
Both the Treaty of Amsterdam, signed in 1997 and entered into force in 1999, and the Nice Treaty, signed in 2001 and entered into force in 2003, are amendments of the Treaty on European Union. They were designed to prepare for a vast enlargement that was approaching realisation in the course of the decade following the collapse of the authoritarian regimes in Central and Eastern Europe. A European Union of twice as many member states called for modifications of the decision-making procedures in order to stay effective.
Changes were to a large extent of a mathematical nature, in terms of vote weightings and numbers of European Parliament members per country. In the centre of these discussions — or battles — were the balance between big and small member states, as well as internally between the big member states, notably founding members France and the meanwhile reunified and now thus much larger Germany. 1 2
None of the two treaties really managed to provide a satisfactory framework for the wished-for improved effectiveness. That is how talks of a European Union constitution started and ultimately the Lisbon Treaty became the new legal framework for continuous European integration.
by Bjørn Clasen, 2011
Sources
1 Hartmut Marhold: History of European Integration, 5.1.2.2 — Monetary Union, Amsterdam Treaty and “left overs”, and 5.2.1.2 — In the lowlands of integration policy: the Nice Treaty (Course text for the participants of the Certificate and first year of the Master programme of the Centre international de formation européenne
2 Historiasiglo20.org: The Treaty of Amsterdam (1997)
Thursday, 26 January 2012
Wednesday, 25 January 2012
History of European Integration IV:
Maastricht Treaty
The fourth part of my short account of European Union treaties. Introducing: the €uro!
Whereas the Single European Act had bound together the three European treaties, the Maastricht Treaty continued the integration — into a union, which is why its official name is ‘Treaty on European Union’. Although amended by the Amsterdam, Nice and Lisbon Treaties, the Maastricht Treaty is largely what the present-day European Union is based upon. Not only did it introduce the three-pillar structure — adding the Common Foreign and Security Policy as well as Justice and Home Affairs to the already existing European Community — it also established the criteria for taking the European Monetary Union to its ultimate third stage, i.e. introducing a common currency, the euro. 1
The Treaty on European Union was signed on 7 February 1992 and entered into force only 20 months later on 1 November 1993 after quite a bit of nail-biting over its ratification in several member states. Notably Denmark and the United Kingdom were granted exceptions from certain parts of the Treaty. 2 For example, the United Kingdom was exempt from being bound by the social dimension, 3 which, along with the extension of the European Union’s competencies to other fields such as education and culture, health and environmental issues, further increased the common European influence on aspects close to the citizens’ everyday life.
by Bjørn Clasen, 2011
Sources
1 euro know: Maastricht Treaty
2 BBC News A-Z of Europe: Maastricht Treaty
3 Jens Engelbredt: Den Europæiske Unions Historie — Den Sociale Dimension
Whereas the Single European Act had bound together the three European treaties, the Maastricht Treaty continued the integration — into a union, which is why its official name is ‘Treaty on European Union’. Although amended by the Amsterdam, Nice and Lisbon Treaties, the Maastricht Treaty is largely what the present-day European Union is based upon. Not only did it introduce the three-pillar structure — adding the Common Foreign and Security Policy as well as Justice and Home Affairs to the already existing European Community — it also established the criteria for taking the European Monetary Union to its ultimate third stage, i.e. introducing a common currency, the euro. 1
The Treaty on European Union was signed on 7 February 1992 and entered into force only 20 months later on 1 November 1993 after quite a bit of nail-biting over its ratification in several member states. Notably Denmark and the United Kingdom were granted exceptions from certain parts of the Treaty. 2 For example, the United Kingdom was exempt from being bound by the social dimension, 3 which, along with the extension of the European Union’s competencies to other fields such as education and culture, health and environmental issues, further increased the common European influence on aspects close to the citizens’ everyday life.
by Bjørn Clasen, 2011
Sources
1 euro know: Maastricht Treaty
2 BBC News A-Z of Europe: Maastricht Treaty
3 Jens Engelbredt: Den Europæiske Unions Historie — Den Sociale Dimension
Tuesday, 24 January 2012
History of European Integration III:
Single European Act
This next step in the European Union’s development went towards a real internal market. Something we — more or less — take for granted today. If you want to use parts of the text, thank you for quoting accordingly.
By the mid-eighties it was high time for the European Communities, meanwhile enlarged three times and now counting twelve member states, to take the internal market into its decisive phase. This was done through the Single European Act, signed in Luxembourg and Den Haag in 1986, and entering into force the following year. 1
A main purpose of the Single European Act was to have a fully functioning internal market by the end of 1992. 2 The means was to boost decision-making in the European Communities, by adding areas for which only a qualified majority within the Council of Ministers was needed in order to pass legislation, as well as by giving the European Parliament more power. Also, the European Court of First Instance was established, 3 and the European Council was officialised. 4
With these institutional modifications, the Single European Act was a major turn towards stronger integration and away from national sovereignty. Facing the ever-increasing competitiveness from especially the USA and East Asia, a common approach from the member states was needed to keep up with these and possible new competitors on the world trade scene, and to avoid a new crisis like in the 1970s. 5
by Bjørn Clasen, 2011
Sources
1 Wikipedia article: Single European Act
2 The Europa website: Summaries of EU legislation — The Single European Act
3 Centre Virtuel de la Connaissance sur l’Europe: The Single European Act
4 Historiasiglo20.org: The Single European Act and the road toward the Treaty of the European Union (1986-1992)
5 Hartmut Marhold: History of European Integration, 4.2.1.2 — The “Single European Act”: A revolution in disguise (1985/87) (Course text for the participants of the Certificate and first year of the Master programme of the Centre international de formation européenne
By the mid-eighties it was high time for the European Communities, meanwhile enlarged three times and now counting twelve member states, to take the internal market into its decisive phase. This was done through the Single European Act, signed in Luxembourg and Den Haag in 1986, and entering into force the following year. 1
A main purpose of the Single European Act was to have a fully functioning internal market by the end of 1992. 2 The means was to boost decision-making in the European Communities, by adding areas for which only a qualified majority within the Council of Ministers was needed in order to pass legislation, as well as by giving the European Parliament more power. Also, the European Court of First Instance was established, 3 and the European Council was officialised. 4
With these institutional modifications, the Single European Act was a major turn towards stronger integration and away from national sovereignty. Facing the ever-increasing competitiveness from especially the USA and East Asia, a common approach from the member states was needed to keep up with these and possible new competitors on the world trade scene, and to avoid a new crisis like in the 1970s. 5
by Bjørn Clasen, 2011
Sources
1 Wikipedia article: Single European Act
2 The Europa website: Summaries of EU legislation — The Single European Act
3 Centre Virtuel de la Connaissance sur l’Europe: The Single European Act
4 Historiasiglo20.org: The Single European Act and the road toward the Treaty of the European Union (1986-1992)
5 Hartmut Marhold: History of European Integration, 4.2.1.2 — The “Single European Act”: A revolution in disguise (1985/87) (Course text for the participants of the Certificate and first year of the Master programme of the Centre international de formation européenne
Monday, 23 January 2012
History of European Integration II:
Rome Treaties
The second short text on the European Union is about the Rome Treaties, a milestone towards integration.
Signed in 1957 by the same six countries and entered into force on 1 January 1958, the two Treaties of Rome founded the European Economic Community and Euratom. It is in the former that for the first time, we see the ‘four freedoms’ that became crucial to European integration: the free movement of goods, services, persons and capital. 1 In other words, this is where a common market — in principle within all trade areas, not just coal and steel — is established and converting the territories of the six member states into a single customs area without internal customs borders and a common external customs border.
Although the base was already established with the European Coal and Steel Community, it is also with the Treaties of Rome that most of the European institutions we know today were set up:
by Bjørn Clasen, 2011
Sources
1 The Europa website: Summaries of EU legislation — Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, EEC Treaty — original text (non-consolidated version)
2 Ibidem: ‘Institutions’, first paragraph
Signed in 1957 by the same six countries and entered into force on 1 January 1958, the two Treaties of Rome founded the European Economic Community and Euratom. It is in the former that for the first time, we see the ‘four freedoms’ that became crucial to European integration: the free movement of goods, services, persons and capital. 1 In other words, this is where a common market — in principle within all trade areas, not just coal and steel — is established and converting the territories of the six member states into a single customs area without internal customs borders and a common external customs border.
Although the base was already established with the European Coal and Steel Community, it is also with the Treaties of Rome that most of the European institutions we know today were set up:
‘The institutional balance is based on a triangle consisting of the Council, the Commission and the European Parliament, all three of which are called upon to work together. The Council prepares the standards, the Commission drafts the proposals and the Parliament plays an advisory role. Another body is also involved in the decision-making procedure in an advisory capacity, namely the Economic and Social Committee.’ 2All subsequent treaties increasing European integration are amendments to the Treaties of Rome. Even more than the Treaty of Paris which marked the first steps, they can thus be regarded as the base foundation of what is now the European Union of 27 countries.
by Bjørn Clasen, 2011
Sources
1 The Europa website: Summaries of EU legislation — Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, EEC Treaty — original text (non-consolidated version)
2 Ibidem: ‘Institutions’, first paragraph
Sunday, 22 January 2012
History of European Integration I:
A short account of the European Community of Coal and Steel
It’s EU time. Over the next couple of weeks, I will post short texts on different aspects of the European Union. They were all part of some small assignments that I wrote in December. Please be aware of the sources, quote correctly, including from ‘my own’ texts. And if you have questions, just comment on the post. Most of all: Enjoy. You might learn something :)
We start of with, well, the first treaty.
The European Community of Coal and Steel was established by the Treaty of Paris, which was signed in 1951 and entered into force in 1952. The signatory countries were Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and The Netherlands. 1 It came about in the aftermath of World War II, which had left the European continent and the European people split between hope for a more peaceful future and a state of fear of another devastating conflict. Armed conflict requires weapons, and at the time, a country’s ability to produce weapons depended especially on two factors: Access to coal and access to steel. 2
This is why France’s Foreign Minister, Robert Schuman, came up with a proposal to put the production of both these resources under a common ‘High Authority’ 3, instead of keeping the control of the production nationalised. Schuman presented his idea in a declaration on 9 May 1950. To this day, 9 May is celebrated in European circles as ‘Europe Day’, marking the very beginnings of what has since become a tight and binding co-operation between 27 European countries so far.
The European Community of Coal and Steel was an indirect success. During the first couple of decades of its existence, coal production in the member states went down, and the increase in steel production was nowhere as strong as in for example Japan or the Soviet Union. However, trade between the member states was strengthened, and the European Community of Coal and Steel proved to be the first step in a common market, which kept growing both in terms of trade areas and geographically. Moreover, a series of welfare measures for mine workers marked the first steps of a new integrated solidarity between member states. But most importantly, peace was kept in Europe. 4
The Treaty of Paris expired in 2002 and, meanwhile having been integrated into the Maastricht Treaty and subsequent European Union treaties, it was not renewed.
by Bjørn Clasen, 2011
Sources
1 The Europa website: Summaries of EU legislation — Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community, ECSC Treaty
2 Hartmut Marhold: History of European Integration, 2.1.2.1 — Jean Monnet’s Plan, origins and circumstances (Course text for the participants of the Certificate and first year of the Master programme of the Centre international de formation européenne)
3 The Schuman Declaration
4 The history of the ECSC: Good times and bad, by Gilbert Mathieu (Le Monde, 9 May 1970)
We start of with, well, the first treaty.
The European Community of Coal and Steel was established by the Treaty of Paris, which was signed in 1951 and entered into force in 1952. The signatory countries were Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and The Netherlands. 1 It came about in the aftermath of World War II, which had left the European continent and the European people split between hope for a more peaceful future and a state of fear of another devastating conflict. Armed conflict requires weapons, and at the time, a country’s ability to produce weapons depended especially on two factors: Access to coal and access to steel. 2
This is why France’s Foreign Minister, Robert Schuman, came up with a proposal to put the production of both these resources under a common ‘High Authority’ 3, instead of keeping the control of the production nationalised. Schuman presented his idea in a declaration on 9 May 1950. To this day, 9 May is celebrated in European circles as ‘Europe Day’, marking the very beginnings of what has since become a tight and binding co-operation between 27 European countries so far.
The European Community of Coal and Steel was an indirect success. During the first couple of decades of its existence, coal production in the member states went down, and the increase in steel production was nowhere as strong as in for example Japan or the Soviet Union. However, trade between the member states was strengthened, and the European Community of Coal and Steel proved to be the first step in a common market, which kept growing both in terms of trade areas and geographically. Moreover, a series of welfare measures for mine workers marked the first steps of a new integrated solidarity between member states. But most importantly, peace was kept in Europe. 4
The Treaty of Paris expired in 2002 and, meanwhile having been integrated into the Maastricht Treaty and subsequent European Union treaties, it was not renewed.
by Bjørn Clasen, 2011
Sources
1 The Europa website: Summaries of EU legislation — Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community, ECSC Treaty
2 Hartmut Marhold: History of European Integration, 2.1.2.1 — Jean Monnet’s Plan, origins and circumstances (Course text for the participants of the Certificate and first year of the Master programme of the Centre international de formation européenne)
3 The Schuman Declaration
4 The history of the ECSC: Good times and bad, by Gilbert Mathieu (Le Monde, 9 May 1970)
Saturday, 21 January 2012
Forfrosne roser
Her er så den anden af mine mildest talt ufærdige historier, jeg fandt i nogle gamle digitale gemmer. Faktisk er det kun en indledning. Har du lyst til at skrive videre på den, eller har du blot en ide til det videre forløb, er du yderst velkommen til at kommentere.
Det var en af disse dage, hvor temperaturen lå, så rimkrystallerne i de vinterdvalende græstotter hverken kunne fryses helt hårde eller smelte nok til at flyde ud. Faktisk smuldrede de ved de mindste vindpust langs den hårde jordoverflade, selvom vinden slet ikke var så råkold og hård, som den kan være, når vinteren er begyndt at vise tænder.
Han sad nede ved fjorden, på dét sted bag den gamle fabrik, hvor man kunne køre lige ud i vandet — eller nu på isen — hvis man havde for meget fart på før det snævre sving. I vintertågen flød alle omgivelserne ud i ét hernede. Den halvfrosne fjord, betonkanten på bredden, den sandgrå fabriksmur, de træer, der også om sommeren var stort set nøgne, himlen — det hele var indhyllet i en snigende dis af rim og støv.
Det var en af disse dage, hvor temperaturen lå, så rimkrystallerne i de vinterdvalende græstotter hverken kunne fryses helt hårde eller smelte nok til at flyde ud. Faktisk smuldrede de ved de mindste vindpust langs den hårde jordoverflade, selvom vinden slet ikke var så råkold og hård, som den kan være, når vinteren er begyndt at vise tænder.
Han sad nede ved fjorden, på dét sted bag den gamle fabrik, hvor man kunne køre lige ud i vandet — eller nu på isen — hvis man havde for meget fart på før det snævre sving. I vintertågen flød alle omgivelserne ud i ét hernede. Den halvfrosne fjord, betonkanten på bredden, den sandgrå fabriksmur, de træer, der også om sommeren var stort set nøgne, himlen — det hele var indhyllet i en snigende dis af rim og støv.
Friday, 20 January 2012
”Spontan Fiktion”
(En eksperimentalfortælling af Bjørn HBC)
I nogle gamle digitale gemmer fandt jeg et par historier, som jeg var begyndt på, men så heller ikke mere. Her er den ene. Har du lyst til at skrive videre på den, eller har du blot en ide til det videre forløb, er du yderst velkommen til at kommentere.
1.
Sveden piblede ned fra hans tindinger, ned over kinderne. Efter tre kvarter i romaskinen, ved håndvægtene og på løbebåndet var ømheden i leddene ved at bide fra sig. Han slukkede for løbebåndet og lagde for første gang mærke til, at det var et Carl Zeiss-fabrikat. Mærkeligt, tænkte han ganske flygtigt, jeg troede sgu kun, at de lavede kikkerter.
Under omklædningsrummets hårtørrer fik han så sin vision for første gang. Han så denne kvinde med langt, lyst hår stå midt i rummet. Hun smilede til ham — vistnok — men da han kiggede op, var hun væk. Hm. Sær dag. Først havde han lagt mærke til, hvilket firma, der havde fabrikeret løbebåndet. En maskine, som han havde brugt flere gange om ugen i næsten trekvart år — og netop i dag opdagede han maskinens navn. Og nu altså en smilende blondine, som var i mændenes omklædningsrum, og som ikke var der alligevel. You need sleep, Ben!
Egentlig var Ben, hvad mange kunne finde på at kalde ”ganske almindelig”. Benny Nicolaj Jørgensen, sidst i 20’erne, ungkarl, boede i en lejlighed i en Odense-forstad. Og — okay — han var arbejdsløs, men dét var jo for så vidt også ”almindeligt”. Han havde mistet sit job for små to måneder siden — et job han havde haft i otte år! Pludselig var han blevet fritstillet, som det hed, og han havde været fuldstændigt ligeglad med hvorfor, men det var vistnok det sædvanlige med, at firmaet flyttede til Portugal.
Ben faldt i søvn, så snart han var hjemme fra kondicentret.
2.
Biip-biip, biip-biip… Det irriterende, digitale vækkeur bippede Ben ud af hans søvn. Klokken var 8.30, så han havde sovet hele fjorten timer! Lidt tummelumsk og uden tidsfornemmelse vaklede han ud i køkkenet, men gik hurtigt tilbage til soveværelset igen, for det var hans time manager, han ville kigge i. Jo, den lå på natbordet. Han tog den, men inden han fik den åbnet, syntes han pludselig, at han havde set noget mærkeligt ude i gangen, da han var gået tilbage fra køkkenet. Det var bare først nået fra hans søvnige nethinder gennem hans forvirrede hjernefiltre og frem til opmærksomheden nu.
Ben flintrede ud i gangen — jo, ganske rigtigt: katten lå og var død! Den lå på måtten foran indgangsdøren. Ben var stadig rundt på gulvet, for i stedet for at kigge nærmere på katten, gik han ind til sofabordet og tænkte på, at det også var den satans dørmåtte. Han havde aldrig gidet at investere i en måtte, men når nu han havde fået en af mosteren i gave for nylig, kunne han jo lige så godt bruge den.
Der var ikke skyggen af rationalitet i Bens tankegang, for måtten havde jo ikke andet med kattens død at gøre, end at katten lå på måtten. Men han undersøgte hverken kattens død, blondinen, der ikke var der, eller mærket på løbebåndet nærmere.
3.
(ja… hvad sker der videre?)
1.
Sveden piblede ned fra hans tindinger, ned over kinderne. Efter tre kvarter i romaskinen, ved håndvægtene og på løbebåndet var ømheden i leddene ved at bide fra sig. Han slukkede for løbebåndet og lagde for første gang mærke til, at det var et Carl Zeiss-fabrikat. Mærkeligt, tænkte han ganske flygtigt, jeg troede sgu kun, at de lavede kikkerter.
Under omklædningsrummets hårtørrer fik han så sin vision for første gang. Han så denne kvinde med langt, lyst hår stå midt i rummet. Hun smilede til ham — vistnok — men da han kiggede op, var hun væk. Hm. Sær dag. Først havde han lagt mærke til, hvilket firma, der havde fabrikeret løbebåndet. En maskine, som han havde brugt flere gange om ugen i næsten trekvart år — og netop i dag opdagede han maskinens navn. Og nu altså en smilende blondine, som var i mændenes omklædningsrum, og som ikke var der alligevel. You need sleep, Ben!
Egentlig var Ben, hvad mange kunne finde på at kalde ”ganske almindelig”. Benny Nicolaj Jørgensen, sidst i 20’erne, ungkarl, boede i en lejlighed i en Odense-forstad. Og — okay — han var arbejdsløs, men dét var jo for så vidt også ”almindeligt”. Han havde mistet sit job for små to måneder siden — et job han havde haft i otte år! Pludselig var han blevet fritstillet, som det hed, og han havde været fuldstændigt ligeglad med hvorfor, men det var vistnok det sædvanlige med, at firmaet flyttede til Portugal.
Ben faldt i søvn, så snart han var hjemme fra kondicentret.
2.
Biip-biip, biip-biip… Det irriterende, digitale vækkeur bippede Ben ud af hans søvn. Klokken var 8.30, så han havde sovet hele fjorten timer! Lidt tummelumsk og uden tidsfornemmelse vaklede han ud i køkkenet, men gik hurtigt tilbage til soveværelset igen, for det var hans time manager, han ville kigge i. Jo, den lå på natbordet. Han tog den, men inden han fik den åbnet, syntes han pludselig, at han havde set noget mærkeligt ude i gangen, da han var gået tilbage fra køkkenet. Det var bare først nået fra hans søvnige nethinder gennem hans forvirrede hjernefiltre og frem til opmærksomheden nu.
Ben flintrede ud i gangen — jo, ganske rigtigt: katten lå og var død! Den lå på måtten foran indgangsdøren. Ben var stadig rundt på gulvet, for i stedet for at kigge nærmere på katten, gik han ind til sofabordet og tænkte på, at det også var den satans dørmåtte. Han havde aldrig gidet at investere i en måtte, men når nu han havde fået en af mosteren i gave for nylig, kunne han jo lige så godt bruge den.
Der var ikke skyggen af rationalitet i Bens tankegang, for måtten havde jo ikke andet med kattens død at gøre, end at katten lå på måtten. Men han undersøgte hverken kattens død, blondinen, der ikke var der, eller mærket på løbebåndet nærmere.
3.
(ja… hvad sker der videre?)
Thursday, 19 January 2012
Aggression in Albania XIII:
Everybody who is exposed to political violence, is psychologically traumatized
The conclusion to the essay on Albania in 1997, as given by the author, a 17-year old who wishes to remain anonymous.
I believe it is true, with certain exceptions, but it is true. I have been there, I have seen violence, I have witnessed it and I know what dimensions it can reach, what consequences it can produce. I have seen my nation on the flares of monstrosity as an observer, as an Albanian and as a terrified human being. I have tried to give a name to this creature of evil, but I could not. I have tried to give a reason, an explanation why we chose the worst way of reacting, but I couldn’t, till I understood that we were TRAUMATIZED.
Why all this violence? Was this a response toward the violence to which the Albanians were submitted during the past? More than 3400 people were dead during 97. Can any fact justify this?
I think any psychologist would be more than happy to study the patterns of behavior, the social structure of the Albanian society, the political influences and the psychology and mentality of the Albanians. All human, social, political, and cultural processes developed in Albania are singular and unique phenomena with incredibly speedy paces.
I believe it is true, with certain exceptions, but it is true. I have been there, I have seen violence, I have witnessed it and I know what dimensions it can reach, what consequences it can produce. I have seen my nation on the flares of monstrosity as an observer, as an Albanian and as a terrified human being. I have tried to give a name to this creature of evil, but I could not. I have tried to give a reason, an explanation why we chose the worst way of reacting, but I couldn’t, till I understood that we were TRAUMATIZED.
Why all this violence? Was this a response toward the violence to which the Albanians were submitted during the past? More than 3400 people were dead during 97. Can any fact justify this?
I think any psychologist would be more than happy to study the patterns of behavior, the social structure of the Albanian society, the political influences and the psychology and mentality of the Albanians. All human, social, political, and cultural processes developed in Albania are singular and unique phenomena with incredibly speedy paces.
Wednesday, 18 January 2012
Aggression in Albania XII: December ’90… (continued)
The touching and disquieting essay about Albania, written by a 17-year old, is reaching a climax, building a bridge of explanation between the 1990 events and those in 1997.
Now I ask, in front of all the atrocities witnessed, in front of the discrimination and disdain that human beings were faced with, how were they supposed to act against? How were they supposed to oppose and raise their voice for justice?
I remember the frustration of my parents; their fear to talk in front of us, because of a word that might leave the doors of my home; a word that could send my father in jail; that could humiliate and destruct my mother. I remember my father fearing the worst for us and working his all to prevent it. He was a high rank officer and a professor, and for this he was always under surveillance. I remember my mother sewing clothes staying up all night in order to save some money for her three children. She was head of finances and yet she couldn’t provide all necessary things for the family. I am not talking about luxury. I am talking about necessary living.
Another question comes to my mind. Was that political violence? Was that a massive collective psychological trauma inflicted to my people? Because if it is, I presume I can justify my country for being what it is, for being the way it is, and I can justify my people of being who they are. But does the world think the same as I?
Maybe so far, I have exaggerated with the description I depicted on the past systems. But you can’t know what a nation is, unless you know its past. And you can’t know a human being, unless you know his past, his strivings in life, his emotions and his feelings; unless you know him.
Almost every Albanian has faced political violence, be it aggressive, passive or indirect. What were the consequences of this violence?
Let’s face ’97 once more. The nation was separated into two major poles or forces, the Albanian Democratic Party and the Albanian Socialist Party. In the mean time, the nation was separated into two major geographical zones, north and south. A strange and unexpected phenomenon was created. The north opposed to south and vice versa. On the other hand, political poles had a membership of militants. Organized crime and gangs were spread all over Albania. It was unsafe everywhere. The public order was totally reversed. Anarchy and chaos prevailed all over.
People started to hate each other for their political belonging. It was so fearful to see that we had become enemies of ourselves. Political polarization was the cause of all that. It was a similar effect to the arithmetic progression of a chain reaction. It started from the leadership. Leaders of both parties were not fully aware that any statement or stand they could take would create an increasing reaction of masses against each other. One was either a militant, or a complete ignorer of politics. Chances to find persons that might enter the second group were very small. Violence was exercised from militant groups toward each other. Opposition and position were in “fighting positions” all the time.
The anarchy of each day was terrifying those who were longing to see again some good and shiny days. But it seemed as if the days to come were going to be gloomy days for the Albanians.
The collective trauma accumulated for 50 years, was now provoked and fueled by the recent events. It was a massive “flashback” to Albania. A flashback experienced during the clashes of ’91 violently crushed by the dying regime of dictatorship. A subsequent traumatizing collective experience that the Albanians lived throughout the whole history. If a post traumatic stress disorder can be devastating for a person, how vast can it be if experienced by 100 persons, 1 000 persons, by 3 500 000 persons? I think it can reach tragic and fatal dimensions. I believe that a tragic dimension was extended in the Albania of ’97 where violence, aggression, maltreatments and losses were the only things going on.
Now I ask, in front of all the atrocities witnessed, in front of the discrimination and disdain that human beings were faced with, how were they supposed to act against? How were they supposed to oppose and raise their voice for justice?
I remember the frustration of my parents; their fear to talk in front of us, because of a word that might leave the doors of my home; a word that could send my father in jail; that could humiliate and destruct my mother. I remember my father fearing the worst for us and working his all to prevent it. He was a high rank officer and a professor, and for this he was always under surveillance. I remember my mother sewing clothes staying up all night in order to save some money for her three children. She was head of finances and yet she couldn’t provide all necessary things for the family. I am not talking about luxury. I am talking about necessary living.
Another question comes to my mind. Was that political violence? Was that a massive collective psychological trauma inflicted to my people? Because if it is, I presume I can justify my country for being what it is, for being the way it is, and I can justify my people of being who they are. But does the world think the same as I?
Maybe so far, I have exaggerated with the description I depicted on the past systems. But you can’t know what a nation is, unless you know its past. And you can’t know a human being, unless you know his past, his strivings in life, his emotions and his feelings; unless you know him.
Almost every Albanian has faced political violence, be it aggressive, passive or indirect. What were the consequences of this violence?
Let’s face ’97 once more. The nation was separated into two major poles or forces, the Albanian Democratic Party and the Albanian Socialist Party. In the mean time, the nation was separated into two major geographical zones, north and south. A strange and unexpected phenomenon was created. The north opposed to south and vice versa. On the other hand, political poles had a membership of militants. Organized crime and gangs were spread all over Albania. It was unsafe everywhere. The public order was totally reversed. Anarchy and chaos prevailed all over.
People started to hate each other for their political belonging. It was so fearful to see that we had become enemies of ourselves. Political polarization was the cause of all that. It was a similar effect to the arithmetic progression of a chain reaction. It started from the leadership. Leaders of both parties were not fully aware that any statement or stand they could take would create an increasing reaction of masses against each other. One was either a militant, or a complete ignorer of politics. Chances to find persons that might enter the second group were very small. Violence was exercised from militant groups toward each other. Opposition and position were in “fighting positions” all the time.
The anarchy of each day was terrifying those who were longing to see again some good and shiny days. But it seemed as if the days to come were going to be gloomy days for the Albanians.
The collective trauma accumulated for 50 years, was now provoked and fueled by the recent events. It was a massive “flashback” to Albania. A flashback experienced during the clashes of ’91 violently crushed by the dying regime of dictatorship. A subsequent traumatizing collective experience that the Albanians lived throughout the whole history. If a post traumatic stress disorder can be devastating for a person, how vast can it be if experienced by 100 persons, 1 000 persons, by 3 500 000 persons? I think it can reach tragic and fatal dimensions. I believe that a tragic dimension was extended in the Albania of ’97 where violence, aggression, maltreatments and losses were the only things going on.
Tuesday, 17 January 2012
Aggression in Albania XI: December ’90…
Part XI of the essay on Albania, written by an anonymous 17-year old, now takes us into the middle of the action of what happened in the country in 1990. The thesis of the essay is that ‘Everybody who is exposed to political violence, is psychologically traumatized’.
Students in the University of Tirana organized a massive disruption of lectures and in sign of discontent from the system and regime, entered a strike of hunger. All the population of Tirana was in solidarity with the requests of the students. In this regard, the miners of Valias (a coal mine in the vicinity of Tirana) entered a hunger strike within the mine. The rest of Albania was surprised with these new events. People started to escape the country and run for the borders with Greece and Yugoslavia. But almost all who attempted to escape were murdered by the secret services or by the border guards. It was a very dark moment for Albania. You could see dead bodies being pulled in the center of the town by military and police cars, to show to the inhabitants that this would happen to all who would try. People were terrified. For the first time, the real face of the dictatorship was being shown to the Albanians. Horror, fear and condemnation started to arise all of a sudden. All that pressure held within for almost 50 years was now materializing with massive opposition. But now, the rage was far greater than the fear and the horror. Now it was time to shout out loud against all injustice and prosecution. It was time to abolish the mask of democracy and show the true picture of an inhuman system that humiliated and destroyed the very core of the Albanian nation.
It is strange how the laws of physics can be applicable in explaining the human nature. The more you press the piston in an empty container, the more power it gains to outbreak from the pressure charged on it. The same goes for men. The more you press over men, and the more they bear, the more it is likely for them to explode into outrageous behavior. Indeed this happened in February ’91. Massive revolts and uprising were reported all over Albania. The Albanians were tired of living the illusion of being the only democratic country worldwide. They were tired of living apart as if they were quarantined from the rest of the world. This quarantine called Albania was populated by a nation who during all its existence were striving and fighting for one sole thing; a thing called FREEDOM. After year 1945 freedom was brought to Albania, but it was not freedom at all. It was liberation from the Nazi-fascist dictatorship, in order to bring the country into another sort of fascism, that fascism called communist dictatorship. It had nothing to do with communism itself. Communism was meant to be the most efficient system to be applied during all mankind history. It was a system where all were equal, where all were one, and one were all. But it was not this communism that was applied in Albania, or in USSR, or in any other eastern country, or even at all. It was a system that obliged men to behave like machines subdued in service of these new “Pharaohs” of modern times.
Students in the University of Tirana organized a massive disruption of lectures and in sign of discontent from the system and regime, entered a strike of hunger. All the population of Tirana was in solidarity with the requests of the students. In this regard, the miners of Valias (a coal mine in the vicinity of Tirana) entered a hunger strike within the mine. The rest of Albania was surprised with these new events. People started to escape the country and run for the borders with Greece and Yugoslavia. But almost all who attempted to escape were murdered by the secret services or by the border guards. It was a very dark moment for Albania. You could see dead bodies being pulled in the center of the town by military and police cars, to show to the inhabitants that this would happen to all who would try. People were terrified. For the first time, the real face of the dictatorship was being shown to the Albanians. Horror, fear and condemnation started to arise all of a sudden. All that pressure held within for almost 50 years was now materializing with massive opposition. But now, the rage was far greater than the fear and the horror. Now it was time to shout out loud against all injustice and prosecution. It was time to abolish the mask of democracy and show the true picture of an inhuman system that humiliated and destroyed the very core of the Albanian nation.
It is strange how the laws of physics can be applicable in explaining the human nature. The more you press the piston in an empty container, the more power it gains to outbreak from the pressure charged on it. The same goes for men. The more you press over men, and the more they bear, the more it is likely for them to explode into outrageous behavior. Indeed this happened in February ’91. Massive revolts and uprising were reported all over Albania. The Albanians were tired of living the illusion of being the only democratic country worldwide. They were tired of living apart as if they were quarantined from the rest of the world. This quarantine called Albania was populated by a nation who during all its existence were striving and fighting for one sole thing; a thing called FREEDOM. After year 1945 freedom was brought to Albania, but it was not freedom at all. It was liberation from the Nazi-fascist dictatorship, in order to bring the country into another sort of fascism, that fascism called communist dictatorship. It had nothing to do with communism itself. Communism was meant to be the most efficient system to be applied during all mankind history. It was a system where all were equal, where all were one, and one were all. But it was not this communism that was applied in Albania, or in USSR, or in any other eastern country, or even at all. It was a system that obliged men to behave like machines subdued in service of these new “Pharaohs” of modern times.
Monday, 16 January 2012
Aggression in Albania X: Art, culture, science…
Another highly interesting, and very disturbing, chapter in a 17-year old’s essay on Albania in 1997.
In the name of socialist realism many things were truncated. Art was only realism that presented real individuals working the lands and protecting the country. Expressing individual feelings and emotions was prohibited, unless the person was expressing real life of real cooperative workers, real life of soldiers, real life of teachers teaching Marx and Engels’ philosophy on proletariat. The love of the Labor Party was to prevail in every text, in every novel and article of newspapers.
Everything was subdued to the review of the “critical eye” of the party and its selected ones. Erotic content was not only not allowed, but also prosecuted. Love was pure and idyllist. In the cinematography scenes of kisses, touching, and other intimacy were considered as obscene. No surrealism, no expressionism, no cubism, nothing of the modern streams of painting. It was obscene to have erotic poetry and poems as well. Poetry had to express love for the family, love for the country, party and so on. Intimacy was expressed in simple words of a superficial relationship. Music mustn’t contain strong rhythms and other elements of the western music. All these components were considered as decaying, decadent, and as imitation of hippie streams. Those who dared to oppose this oblivion of human nature and freedom of spirit, were imprisoned, stained in biography, were set aside or were fully ignored by the system. Despite the contribution they gave for the nation, it was immediately opposed. Everything, everybody had to be within the frames of socialist criticism.
In the name of socialist realism many things were truncated. Art was only realism that presented real individuals working the lands and protecting the country. Expressing individual feelings and emotions was prohibited, unless the person was expressing real life of real cooperative workers, real life of soldiers, real life of teachers teaching Marx and Engels’ philosophy on proletariat. The love of the Labor Party was to prevail in every text, in every novel and article of newspapers.
Everything was subdued to the review of the “critical eye” of the party and its selected ones. Erotic content was not only not allowed, but also prosecuted. Love was pure and idyllist. In the cinematography scenes of kisses, touching, and other intimacy were considered as obscene. No surrealism, no expressionism, no cubism, nothing of the modern streams of painting. It was obscene to have erotic poetry and poems as well. Poetry had to express love for the family, love for the country, party and so on. Intimacy was expressed in simple words of a superficial relationship. Music mustn’t contain strong rhythms and other elements of the western music. All these components were considered as decaying, decadent, and as imitation of hippie streams. Those who dared to oppose this oblivion of human nature and freedom of spirit, were imprisoned, stained in biography, were set aside or were fully ignored by the system. Despite the contribution they gave for the nation, it was immediately opposed. Everything, everybody had to be within the frames of socialist criticism.
Sunday, 15 January 2012
Aggression in Albania IX: Economic development…
In part IX of the anonymous 17-year old’s essay on Albania, we learn more historical background that helps to understand what happened in 1997.
It is true that after the liberation of Albania from the Nazi occupation, the development was somehow rapid. All people were involved in the refurbishment of Albania, and more than this. Till after the war, the infrastructure has been very rural. Cities looked like destroyed villages. The new infrastructure was a typical eastern architecture. Grey buildings with small apartments to live in. The private property was no longer permitted. All properties were fused into collective properties such as cooperatives and other structures. There was no more private investment or initiative. Previous tradesmen or businessmen were considered as enemies and micro burgesses. All their wealth and richness was confiscated and was transformed into collective property. We were being told that Albania was an oasis among the desert of capitalism. The welfare and well-being of the Albanian people was the highest. But the truth was different. People used to wait in long lines and long hours for milk and bread. Everything was sold with ratios. Milk, oil, wheat, coffee, sugar, everything was with ratios. The basic work and constructions in Albania were based on voluntary work. Massive voluntary actions were undertaken, and workers were obliged to participate “voluntarily”. Everything was productive including wilderness, but the economic level of an average family was still very low. The demagogy of a highly egalitarian and democratic state, was feeding the people more than the fruits of their own work and struggle.
Though everything was household produced: mines and minerals, power, oils and fuels, vegetables, fruits, corns and crops, industrial consumables etc., the Albanian families still lived in poverty. It was as if the Buddhist, Christian and eremites’ philosophy of neglecting and denying the luxuries of this world, would lead to a higher level of emotional, physical and interpersonal well-being. But this new philosophy was the philosophy of applied communism, which had nothing to do with the utopia of the communism itself. It had nothing to do with promised richness and equality of all social classes. In deed, social and political classes were deepened by the abysses of distinction, prejudices and discrimination. Prosecution of an individual was far beyond the individual himself. The whole family and relatives were prosecuted. They were sent into camps of forced labor, into deep areas of the state, and they were forced to lose contact with all their relatives. It did not matter if the prosecuted one was a professor, a doctor, a musician, a high-ranking officer; they were all politically, socially and morally degraded and put to forced labor.
It is true that after the liberation of Albania from the Nazi occupation, the development was somehow rapid. All people were involved in the refurbishment of Albania, and more than this. Till after the war, the infrastructure has been very rural. Cities looked like destroyed villages. The new infrastructure was a typical eastern architecture. Grey buildings with small apartments to live in. The private property was no longer permitted. All properties were fused into collective properties such as cooperatives and other structures. There was no more private investment or initiative. Previous tradesmen or businessmen were considered as enemies and micro burgesses. All their wealth and richness was confiscated and was transformed into collective property. We were being told that Albania was an oasis among the desert of capitalism. The welfare and well-being of the Albanian people was the highest. But the truth was different. People used to wait in long lines and long hours for milk and bread. Everything was sold with ratios. Milk, oil, wheat, coffee, sugar, everything was with ratios. The basic work and constructions in Albania were based on voluntary work. Massive voluntary actions were undertaken, and workers were obliged to participate “voluntarily”. Everything was productive including wilderness, but the economic level of an average family was still very low. The demagogy of a highly egalitarian and democratic state, was feeding the people more than the fruits of their own work and struggle.
Though everything was household produced: mines and minerals, power, oils and fuels, vegetables, fruits, corns and crops, industrial consumables etc., the Albanian families still lived in poverty. It was as if the Buddhist, Christian and eremites’ philosophy of neglecting and denying the luxuries of this world, would lead to a higher level of emotional, physical and interpersonal well-being. But this new philosophy was the philosophy of applied communism, which had nothing to do with the utopia of the communism itself. It had nothing to do with promised richness and equality of all social classes. In deed, social and political classes were deepened by the abysses of distinction, prejudices and discrimination. Prosecution of an individual was far beyond the individual himself. The whole family and relatives were prosecuted. They were sent into camps of forced labor, into deep areas of the state, and they were forced to lose contact with all their relatives. It did not matter if the prosecuted one was a professor, a doctor, a musician, a high-ranking officer; they were all politically, socially and morally degraded and put to forced labor.
Saturday, 14 January 2012
Aggression in Albania VIII: Education…
In part VIII of this essay on Albania in 1997, the anonymous 17-year old author continues to go further back in time to give us some background.
It is without doubts the part with most merits achieved by the regime. Within a short period, analphabetism was almost eradicated in all urban and rural areas of Albania. Universities, colleges, lyceums, elementary schools and gymnasiums were established within a brief time. Attendance to school was incredibly high. Many intellectuals were “produced” during this process of evolution. The system utilized the knowledge of west and east in order to fill the gaps that existed for many centuries. Many students from Albania were studying in the best universities of Moscow, Paris, London, Rome and in other countries. But anyway, there were plenty of gaps. Other taboos were not only deepening, but new ones were created. It was shameful to talk about sexuality, prohibited to talk about religion in an objective way, democracy was a misused word with a wrong meaning, war of classes was touching the elite of intellectualism, and secret services were acting everywhere. There were cases when the wife had revealed her husband for agitation and propaganda. One had to be careful with his family members because it was possible that the word might be spread all over. It was a dark time and nobody was safe unless always “on guard”.
It is without doubts the part with most merits achieved by the regime. Within a short period, analphabetism was almost eradicated in all urban and rural areas of Albania. Universities, colleges, lyceums, elementary schools and gymnasiums were established within a brief time. Attendance to school was incredibly high. Many intellectuals were “produced” during this process of evolution. The system utilized the knowledge of west and east in order to fill the gaps that existed for many centuries. Many students from Albania were studying in the best universities of Moscow, Paris, London, Rome and in other countries. But anyway, there were plenty of gaps. Other taboos were not only deepening, but new ones were created. It was shameful to talk about sexuality, prohibited to talk about religion in an objective way, democracy was a misused word with a wrong meaning, war of classes was touching the elite of intellectualism, and secret services were acting everywhere. There were cases when the wife had revealed her husband for agitation and propaganda. One had to be careful with his family members because it was possible that the word might be spread all over. It was a dark time and nobody was safe unless always “on guard”.
Friday, 13 January 2012
Aggression in Albania VII: Religion…
Part VII of the anonymous 17-year old’s essay on Albania in 1997 looks at more background.
No to religion! “Religion is the opium of the masses” said Karl Marx, one of the fathers of communism. And so be it. Religion had to be abolished down to the very roots. Most of churches and mosques were demolished. Only the historical monuments were preserved and were transformed into museums. Spiritual leaders were prosecuted and imprisoned, no matter to which religion they belonged. The need to believe in a supreme power that exceeded the powers of human nature was transformed in the need to believe and rely in the Party of Labor and its extreme fairness, impartiality and love for the “simple base”. What was confession? What was the mission of the clergy in accordance to the Marxist way of thinking? Confession was nothing but a way of expressing the ignorance of certain persons that fed people with false dogma. The mission of clergy was to disseminate division and separation among the people and to use their authority in order to profit and to leave them “in the shadow of ignorance”. No religious ritual or holiday was to be celebrated any more. No Christmas, no Bajram, no Easter, no nothing. The word ‘God’ was related to mythology and to harmful doctrines. The need for God was ignored and people were spiritually confused. To whom to direct when confusion, concern or distress was present? To the head of the council of neighborhood? To the secretary of the party? To the forum of youth? To whom else? Psychologically people were being emptied in order to leave space to a new era of national illumination by following the path of the fathers of communism. Russia, Yugoslavia, and all the eastern countries were rejecting the religious dogmas to free the people from obligations, ignorance and blindness. But was the clergy really the ‘Demon’ of Lermontov that was sneaking sliding through the windows of the “virgin” and telling beautiful lies to deceive her?
No to religion! “Religion is the opium of the masses” said Karl Marx, one of the fathers of communism. And so be it. Religion had to be abolished down to the very roots. Most of churches and mosques were demolished. Only the historical monuments were preserved and were transformed into museums. Spiritual leaders were prosecuted and imprisoned, no matter to which religion they belonged. The need to believe in a supreme power that exceeded the powers of human nature was transformed in the need to believe and rely in the Party of Labor and its extreme fairness, impartiality and love for the “simple base”. What was confession? What was the mission of the clergy in accordance to the Marxist way of thinking? Confession was nothing but a way of expressing the ignorance of certain persons that fed people with false dogma. The mission of clergy was to disseminate division and separation among the people and to use their authority in order to profit and to leave them “in the shadow of ignorance”. No religious ritual or holiday was to be celebrated any more. No Christmas, no Bajram, no Easter, no nothing. The word ‘God’ was related to mythology and to harmful doctrines. The need for God was ignored and people were spiritually confused. To whom to direct when confusion, concern or distress was present? To the head of the council of neighborhood? To the secretary of the party? To the forum of youth? To whom else? Psychologically people were being emptied in order to leave space to a new era of national illumination by following the path of the fathers of communism. Russia, Yugoslavia, and all the eastern countries were rejecting the religious dogmas to free the people from obligations, ignorance and blindness. But was the clergy really the ‘Demon’ of Lermontov that was sneaking sliding through the windows of the “virgin” and telling beautiful lies to deceive her?
Thursday, 12 January 2012
Aggression in Albania VI: Basis for aggression or imposed reaction?
Part VI of the anonymous 17-year old’s essay on Albania in 1997 takes us further back in time to look at some causes for the aggressions.
Now the question is whether the Albanian aggression is deeply rooted within Albanians, or it was just an imposed reaction toward the situation, or better to say toward the past.
Is there any valid justification for this aggression expressed in the form of rage toward everything?
Can this aggression be the surface of a hidden collective trauma? What does it mean to experience a collective trauma?
I would try to explain it by examples of the life in communist Albania. It was an era where people did not produce or establish the system, but it was the system that created people. People were mechanisms to serve to the apparatus of state, to serve to the Party and to the Leadership. It went that far as to ignore the individual in an individualistic and intimate prism and consider the human being as part of classes. Who did not belong to the class of eligible, was faced with severe punishment or total avoidance. Extreme measures were being taken by the state apparatus. Individuals were being prosecuted for their beliefs, ideas and even for their past. Biographies were chased till reaching to the roots of a “decaying” genesis. If there was not a thing going wrong, facts were being fabricated to support the assumption that a certain person was to be prosecuted by the regime.
Now the question is whether the Albanian aggression is deeply rooted within Albanians, or it was just an imposed reaction toward the situation, or better to say toward the past.
Is there any valid justification for this aggression expressed in the form of rage toward everything?
Can this aggression be the surface of a hidden collective trauma? What does it mean to experience a collective trauma?
I would try to explain it by examples of the life in communist Albania. It was an era where people did not produce or establish the system, but it was the system that created people. People were mechanisms to serve to the apparatus of state, to serve to the Party and to the Leadership. It went that far as to ignore the individual in an individualistic and intimate prism and consider the human being as part of classes. Who did not belong to the class of eligible, was faced with severe punishment or total avoidance. Extreme measures were being taken by the state apparatus. Individuals were being prosecuted for their beliefs, ideas and even for their past. Biographies were chased till reaching to the roots of a “decaying” genesis. If there was not a thing going wrong, facts were being fabricated to support the assumption that a certain person was to be prosecuted by the regime.
Wednesday, 11 January 2012
Aggression in Albania V: State apparatus…
Part V of the touching and disquieting essay on aggression in Albania 1997, written by an anonymous 17-year old. The thesis of the essay is that ‘Everybody who is exposed to political violence, is psychologically traumatized’.
Nothing was functional. Not a single school, not a single organization, not a single institution. The administration of state was totally dysfunctional. People were attacking the military bases in order to reach to the armament. All of them were armed. The archives and the cadastres were all burnt down to the soil. The people were left without identity, without property and past. This was the Albanian state of February-May 1997. People were setting fire to everything, deeming that they were bringing liberation to the nation. Liberation to whom? Liberation from what, who? They chose the most frenetic and barbarian way of expressing their rage toward the system, toward the loss of their wealth. The world was now being convinced that Albania was inhabited by barbarians of a civilian era. After the clashes and uprising of January ’91 the recent clashes were not only the most massive, but the most aggressive. If a comparison was to be made between the two periods, the difference was very big. In ’91 it was the state apparatus against the people of Albania, but now, it was the people of Albania against the people and the state of Albania. Destroying everything was not a solution, but it seemed as a relief of that pressure that was hidden within them. Or was it that the need for destruction had no other justification but destruction itself and the expression of rage.
Nothing was functional. Not a single school, not a single organization, not a single institution. The administration of state was totally dysfunctional. People were attacking the military bases in order to reach to the armament. All of them were armed. The archives and the cadastres were all burnt down to the soil. The people were left without identity, without property and past. This was the Albanian state of February-May 1997. People were setting fire to everything, deeming that they were bringing liberation to the nation. Liberation to whom? Liberation from what, who? They chose the most frenetic and barbarian way of expressing their rage toward the system, toward the loss of their wealth. The world was now being convinced that Albania was inhabited by barbarians of a civilian era. After the clashes and uprising of January ’91 the recent clashes were not only the most massive, but the most aggressive. If a comparison was to be made between the two periods, the difference was very big. In ’91 it was the state apparatus against the people of Albania, but now, it was the people of Albania against the people and the state of Albania. Destroying everything was not a solution, but it seemed as a relief of that pressure that was hidden within them. Or was it that the need for destruction had no other justification but destruction itself and the expression of rage.
Tuesday, 10 January 2012
Aggression in Albania IV: Vlora…
Part IV of the touching and disquieting essay on aggression in Albania 1997, written by an anonymous 17-year old. The thesis of the essay is that ‘Everybody who is exposed to political violence, is psychologically traumatized’.
It was a normal day among fighting of nobody and everybody. I was at my uncle’s with my mum. We were watching the news when all of a sudden black news appeared. A ship was sunk near the coasts of Italy, close to Brindisi. The ship was carrying Albanian emigrants that wanted to escape this war and secure their families somewhere else. 84 people were sunk with the ship, women, children, elders and men. It was horrible. 84 people try to escape hell, and they struggle in the middle of the Adriatic Sea in order to find the last resort: DEATH. This is caused willingly by the Italian coast guards in order to warn other possible emigrants not to surpass the Adriatic waters. It was horrible. But what could you expect from the others, when we were killing each-other??? I remember crying and fearing for my future and the future of my family. No one was safe.
This is still remembered as the Otranto Tragedy.
It was a normal day among fighting of nobody and everybody. I was at my uncle’s with my mum. We were watching the news when all of a sudden black news appeared. A ship was sunk near the coasts of Italy, close to Brindisi. The ship was carrying Albanian emigrants that wanted to escape this war and secure their families somewhere else. 84 people were sunk with the ship, women, children, elders and men. It was horrible. 84 people try to escape hell, and they struggle in the middle of the Adriatic Sea in order to find the last resort: DEATH. This is caused willingly by the Italian coast guards in order to warn other possible emigrants not to surpass the Adriatic waters. It was horrible. But what could you expect from the others, when we were killing each-other??? I remember crying and fearing for my future and the future of my family. No one was safe.
This is still remembered as the Otranto Tragedy.
Monday, 9 January 2012
Aggression in Albania III: Outside…
Part III of the touching and disquieting essay on aggression in Albania 1997, written by an anonymous 17-year old. The thesis of the essay is that ‘Everybody who is exposed to political violence, is psychologically traumatized’.
People were terrified even though they themselves were the ones to create all this hell. All you could see was people shooting from the balconies, from the streets, from corners of buildings, and a few ones that were caught in the middle of the street and used to run to escape any possible bullets.
I remember myself staring out of the window like a prisoner. Outside my courtyard there was a gipsy family. The man was an alcoholic and was always drunk. He took out a Kalashnikov and started to shoot toward our windows. I sat under the bed. He was that very drunk that he couldn’t understand he was shooting at the direction of the apartments. After a while, I went to see my neighbors and they told me that while having lunch, they heard a crash in the window of their kitchen. They had spotted that the window was shot by a bullet, and it entered into the couch in the living room. It was a miracle that they had no casualties, because they were eating in the table close to the window. The gipsy man continued to fire the gun. Afterwards, he entered into a bar with the Kalashnikov in his arms. All of a sudden, I could see him flying out of the door as in the movies of Bud Spencer and Terence Hill. The Special Forces were inside the bar and when they saw him in, they threw him out. It was a funny thing to watch, but it could have been very tragic.
People were terrified even though they themselves were the ones to create all this hell. All you could see was people shooting from the balconies, from the streets, from corners of buildings, and a few ones that were caught in the middle of the street and used to run to escape any possible bullets.
I remember myself staring out of the window like a prisoner. Outside my courtyard there was a gipsy family. The man was an alcoholic and was always drunk. He took out a Kalashnikov and started to shoot toward our windows. I sat under the bed. He was that very drunk that he couldn’t understand he was shooting at the direction of the apartments. After a while, I went to see my neighbors and they told me that while having lunch, they heard a crash in the window of their kitchen. They had spotted that the window was shot by a bullet, and it entered into the couch in the living room. It was a miracle that they had no casualties, because they were eating in the table close to the window. The gipsy man continued to fire the gun. Afterwards, he entered into a bar with the Kalashnikov in his arms. All of a sudden, I could see him flying out of the door as in the movies of Bud Spencer and Terence Hill. The Special Forces were inside the bar and when they saw him in, they threw him out. It was a funny thing to watch, but it could have been very tragic.
Sunday, 8 January 2012
Aggression in Albania II: Home…
Part II of the touching and disquieting essay on aggression in Albania 1997, written by an anonymous 17-year old. The thesis of the essay is that ‘Everybody who is exposed to political violence, is psychologically traumatized’.
I was playing with my cat. It was the only thing I could do in peace when I was not reading any books. The school was closed because no one could secure the life of students. All the windows were blinded with shutters. Even the sun rays were rare during those days. I could hear shootings from all sides. They were very close. Indeed, no matter where you were in Albania, the shootings were very close. I could even hear the sound of a metal jacket hitting the ground after it was being fired by a Kalashnikov. I couldn’t think how bored I was for being locked within my home, for more than a month. I could only think how safe it was to be locked within my home for the months to come.
I was playing with my cat. It was the only thing I could do in peace when I was not reading any books. The school was closed because no one could secure the life of students. All the windows were blinded with shutters. Even the sun rays were rare during those days. I could hear shootings from all sides. They were very close. Indeed, no matter where you were in Albania, the shootings were very close. I could even hear the sound of a metal jacket hitting the ground after it was being fired by a Kalashnikov. I couldn’t think how bored I was for being locked within my home, for more than a month. I could only think how safe it was to be locked within my home for the months to come.
Saturday, 7 January 2012
Aggression in Albania I: Beginning of 1997
Over the next couple of weeks, I will post what I think is an interesting, well-written, deeply touching and disquieting essay on aggression in Albania 1997 — written by a friend of mine, 17-year old back then, who wishes to remain anonymous. The thesis of the essay is that ‘Everybody who is exposed to political violence, is psychologically traumatized’.
Nobody knows how it began or how it ended. The only thing we were aware of was that a bloody war was at the doors of our very homes.
Everybody was whispering that the greed for money caused all of it. But I still believe that the roots were deeper than we thought at the time.
I was but a 17-year old girl, seeking for reasons and justifications, why my people all of a sudden had become a wild mob where everyone was target of everyone. I was ashamed to watch the news in foreign channels because I knew that my people were the first thing to appear on the screen. A war I couldn’t explain was going on. Nobody knew any good reasons for it, apart from the fact that almost all of us lost our money in the pyramid firms.
Nobody knows how it began or how it ended. The only thing we were aware of was that a bloody war was at the doors of our very homes.
Everybody was whispering that the greed for money caused all of it. But I still believe that the roots were deeper than we thought at the time.
I was but a 17-year old girl, seeking for reasons and justifications, why my people all of a sudden had become a wild mob where everyone was target of everyone. I was ashamed to watch the news in foreign channels because I knew that my people were the first thing to appear on the screen. A war I couldn’t explain was going on. Nobody knew any good reasons for it, apart from the fact that almost all of us lost our money in the pyramid firms.
Thursday, 5 January 2012
Chosen feelings are not actually feelings
‘Feelings are the one thing you cannot choose. Otherwise you wouldn’t feel them. They can seem wrong or confusing or even frustrating or devastating, but they are there. If we could just choose them, we wouldn’t have many problems in life, at least not significant ones. What we can choose is how to approach what we do feel. Even this is often tough work, and the first, biggest and maybe most important and for some reason difficult step is to acknowledge a feeling.’
Bjørn Clasen
3 January 2012
Bjørn Clasen
3 January 2012
Thursday, 29 December 2011
Kinder wann? — Kids when?
„Ich will nicht irgendwo angekommen sein, bevor mein Kind auf der Welt ist, ich will es mitnehmen.“
Patrick Bauer
in „Jetzt ein Baby?“ (Neon, Januar-Ausgabe 2012)
‘I do not want to have arrived somewhere before my child is born, I want to take it with me.’
Patrick Bauer
in ‘A Baby Now?’ (Neon, January edition 2012)
Patrick Bauer
in „Jetzt ein Baby?“ (Neon, Januar-Ausgabe 2012)
‘I do not want to have arrived somewhere before my child is born, I want to take it with me.’
Patrick Bauer
in ‘A Baby Now?’ (Neon, January edition 2012)
Thursday, 8 December 2011
Reviews of Opera Comique
A thorough, negative one — and a superficial, positive one.
From the author, Nagle Jackson, and from the audience (some 900 people in total watched the 9 performances), we got excellent feedback. And we loved performing it.
Let’s start with the good one, from Wort:
Bizet's battle for high art brought to life
The BGT gave a visually stunning performance of Nagle Jackson's Opera Comique at the Abbaye de Neumünster on Wednesday.
As part of a second run, following a successful staging in Mersch last month, the multi-cultural cast easily settled into their new surroundings.
And though they had every reason to be nervous, given that the work's playwright had made a special trip from Paris to watch the performance, it did not show.
The play struck off with a strong opener from Phoebe Smith, playing the buxom and occasionally principled usher. Her strong presence and perfect comic timing ensured the audience was primed for the many laughs which awaited in the script. And, as the play unfolded, we were not disappointed. Jackson's script, penned more than 20 years ago after reading a biography on Bizet, is packed with double-entendres, gags and farce, which still draw the laughs.
The beauty of the script also lies in its timelessness. The BGT performance and, in particular Joachim Cour's knitted-browed interpretation of Bizet, brought out the composer's frustrations with popular music over authentic and original music, echoing a common complaint by contemporary artists.
The point was not overly laboured by the BGT cast, however, and the raunchy shenanigans they portrayed onstage gave rise to enough laughs to ensure audiences did not feel they were being given a lesson in high art appreciation.
Lindsay Wegleitner's Viviane de la Corniche was a mesmerising sight, both for her stunning bustle dress and her chrysalis-like transformation from silent wall flower to verbose man-eater. Watching her declare her undying love and flitting from one man to another, she gave a believable performance of a rebellious teenage coming to terms with her own attractiveness.
On the subject of costumes, Viviane's dress was not the only creation to wow audiences. Costume designer Deborah Cocking pulled off a coup with her four lovingly recreated dresses, described in detail in the programme along with handy language and contextual references, crucial even for a native English speaker like me.
Finally, mention must be given for Karl Pierce's set. Despite Bizet's advice in the script to “Abandon all hope when people start talking about the architecture during the second act”, credit for the set is perfectly merited. The simple but beautifully decorated corridor leading to the Opera Comique boxes, painted with faux marble effect, accompanied by exquisite panel mouldings added another touch of authenticity to what was a visually impressive performance.
The other one, from 352 Luxmag:
Reviewer, Graham Cleverley, likes the pacing and the leads but feels the play itself was a poor choice of inspiration
‘Backstage’ is the word that comes to mind, but it doesn’t exactly describe the story of Nagle Jackson’s Opéra Comique, the BGT production at the Abbaye de Neumünster this week, in which the action takes place in a lounge behind the boxes at the eponymous Opéra Comique theatre in Paris, thus representing the much rarer category of ‘’front of house’ stories.
The location is therefore Paris, the time the rambunctious world première of Bizet’s Carmen, which needs no introduction, the ambiance the haut-bourgeois world of the early Third Republic. All of this is zeroed in on splendidly both by Karl Pierce’s perfect ‘any-day-now-and-we’ll-have-Art-Deco’ and Deborah Cocking’s meticulous costumes, about which a little later.
In this setting we meet two families, a wifeless Paul Vigneron and his son Hector, and an apparently settled married couple, the de la Corniches with their daughter Viviane, who have planned to meet accidentally in order to pair off the children. We also meet the composer himself, anxious that the audience might, with their lack of taste, actually like his work, with a friend, another composer, Ernest Guiraud (at least one assumes so, though the programme said ‘Giraud’). In a subplot a café singer, hardly ambiguously if bilingually, known as La Tartine, arrives seeking to seduce yet another composer, Charles Gounod, into writing an opera for her. And finally we have Odile, more or less the narrator and the dragon that guards the entrance to the boxes,
Quite obviously we are not just in Paris but in the world of the theatre boulevardier; adultery and other immoralities will be breaking out very soon. Unfortunately in so doing on this performance it seems that maybe the theatre boulevardier should be left to the French.
Comedy needs surprise to be funny (as, inversely, Hitchcock pointed out that suspense depended on knowing what is going to happen, and not wanting it to, not in not knowing). And here, once you’ve read the programme, what are you sure is going to happen? Adultery is going to happen. La Tartine is going to have her way with Gounod, which leaves no-one for Vigneron to be adulterous with except Mme and Mlle de la Corniche: that it transpires with both of them is hardly a surprise given the situation.
M. de la Corniche has no outlet for any such impulse, but no apparent impulse in the first place. Odile is out of the question, partly because smart servants don’t get involved. And of course, the intelligent servant will fatten her wallet from her superiors in the time-honoured manner of such servants throughout the history of the theatre. With the scene set and the characters introduced, the piece takes on a rather clockwork feel.
In terms of performance rather than content, Phoebe Smith as Odile adds another success to Thoroughly Modern Millie, Showstoppers and Calamity Jane, this time without singing but with an accent last heard of from Mrs Slocombe (and not dissimilar tastes in opera). She gave her jokes plenty of time to ferment, signalled them sufficiently without hamming, and varied pitch and pace. Essentially it was a faultless performance.
Moreover she looked like she had just walked out from behind the bar in the Manet painting – but wasn’t (genuine question) the bustle somewhat in advance of reality compared to the other women’s?
Also impressive was familiar BGT figure Ariane Spicq as La Tartine, in particular because she injected a genuinely French fillip into the characterisation without losing intelligibility. Joachim Cour as Bizet, Patrick Schomaker as Guiraud, and Pierre-Yves Lanneau-Saint-Leger as Gounod (again familiar from recent BGT productions) also presented us with a little more esprit gaulois in their satirical depictions of the composers, especially Bizet’s disdain for the audience, Gounod’s readiness for sin despite devoting himself at the time to church music.. Unfortunately Pierre-Yves suffered somewhat from becoming unintelligible when excited, and satirising Gounod’s conscience demanded a rather more rarefied audience than was at hand.
Which leaves the families, among whom Bjarn Clasen was his usual reliable self as M. Vigneron. Unusually, Stephen Anderson was not as reliable as usual as M. de la Corniche: for once his Americanism was a handicap, but he did also have a very weak part. 1875 was nearly the height of the duelling tradition in France, especially among the aspirants to minor nobility. Confronted with the adultery of his wife with Vigneron, an 1870s de la Corniche (or de la Anything) would have said ‘you will hear from my seconds…' not ‘you will hear from my attorneys…’ In fact it might have been funnier too, adding a Don Quixote touch to the way de la Corniche was played.
June Lowery playing Mme de la Corniche had a considerable part well speckled with wordplay and jokes, but while you could hear everyone of them, on the whole they passed by without leaving much of a ripple, lacking pointing and being produced with little variation in dynamics, pace or pitch – unusually for her.
Of the two children, Robin Edds as Hector has least to do, except appear stupid and obsessed with women’s’ clothes – or, rather, imaginarily removing them, so that he falls into a awkward staring pose every time a woman appears in view. He managed the awkward poses well, but the joke wears thin. Lindsay Wegleitner as Viviane has two running jokes, one her readiness to fall into bed, or any handy equivalent, with anyone old enough and the other an inability to stop laughing, paralleling her mother’s inability to stop crying for something like half an act, for no reason readily apparent to the audience. Mind you she laughs well.
Generally speaking all the running jokes that substitute for characterisation keep running after they have had their lap of honour, which is the fault of the play. Other jokes in the script fail to register with the audience, which is the fault of the players, and eventually of the director. Otherwise though the direction is successful, in that movement is logical, properly paced, and serves well to keep the focus shifting with the changes from one subplot to another.
But the main fault I suspect lies in choosing the play in the first place.
But, as I said, we had fun. And so had (the vast majority of) the audiences.
From the author, Nagle Jackson, and from the audience (some 900 people in total watched the 9 performances), we got excellent feedback. And we loved performing it.
Let’s start with the good one, from Wort:
Bizet's battle for high art brought to life
The BGT gave a visually stunning performance of Nagle Jackson's Opera Comique at the Abbaye de Neumünster on Wednesday.
As part of a second run, following a successful staging in Mersch last month, the multi-cultural cast easily settled into their new surroundings.
And though they had every reason to be nervous, given that the work's playwright had made a special trip from Paris to watch the performance, it did not show.
The play struck off with a strong opener from Phoebe Smith, playing the buxom and occasionally principled usher. Her strong presence and perfect comic timing ensured the audience was primed for the many laughs which awaited in the script. And, as the play unfolded, we were not disappointed. Jackson's script, penned more than 20 years ago after reading a biography on Bizet, is packed with double-entendres, gags and farce, which still draw the laughs.
The beauty of the script also lies in its timelessness. The BGT performance and, in particular Joachim Cour's knitted-browed interpretation of Bizet, brought out the composer's frustrations with popular music over authentic and original music, echoing a common complaint by contemporary artists.
The point was not overly laboured by the BGT cast, however, and the raunchy shenanigans they portrayed onstage gave rise to enough laughs to ensure audiences did not feel they were being given a lesson in high art appreciation.
Lindsay Wegleitner's Viviane de la Corniche was a mesmerising sight, both for her stunning bustle dress and her chrysalis-like transformation from silent wall flower to verbose man-eater. Watching her declare her undying love and flitting from one man to another, she gave a believable performance of a rebellious teenage coming to terms with her own attractiveness.
On the subject of costumes, Viviane's dress was not the only creation to wow audiences. Costume designer Deborah Cocking pulled off a coup with her four lovingly recreated dresses, described in detail in the programme along with handy language and contextual references, crucial even for a native English speaker like me.
Finally, mention must be given for Karl Pierce's set. Despite Bizet's advice in the script to “Abandon all hope when people start talking about the architecture during the second act”, credit for the set is perfectly merited. The simple but beautifully decorated corridor leading to the Opera Comique boxes, painted with faux marble effect, accompanied by exquisite panel mouldings added another touch of authenticity to what was a visually impressive performance.
The other one, from 352 Luxmag:
Reviewer, Graham Cleverley, likes the pacing and the leads but feels the play itself was a poor choice of inspiration
‘Backstage’ is the word that comes to mind, but it doesn’t exactly describe the story of Nagle Jackson’s Opéra Comique, the BGT production at the Abbaye de Neumünster this week, in which the action takes place in a lounge behind the boxes at the eponymous Opéra Comique theatre in Paris, thus representing the much rarer category of ‘’front of house’ stories.
The location is therefore Paris, the time the rambunctious world première of Bizet’s Carmen, which needs no introduction, the ambiance the haut-bourgeois world of the early Third Republic. All of this is zeroed in on splendidly both by Karl Pierce’s perfect ‘any-day-now-and-we’ll-have-Art-Deco’ and Deborah Cocking’s meticulous costumes, about which a little later.
In this setting we meet two families, a wifeless Paul Vigneron and his son Hector, and an apparently settled married couple, the de la Corniches with their daughter Viviane, who have planned to meet accidentally in order to pair off the children. We also meet the composer himself, anxious that the audience might, with their lack of taste, actually like his work, with a friend, another composer, Ernest Guiraud (at least one assumes so, though the programme said ‘Giraud’). In a subplot a café singer, hardly ambiguously if bilingually, known as La Tartine, arrives seeking to seduce yet another composer, Charles Gounod, into writing an opera for her. And finally we have Odile, more or less the narrator and the dragon that guards the entrance to the boxes,
Quite obviously we are not just in Paris but in the world of the theatre boulevardier; adultery and other immoralities will be breaking out very soon. Unfortunately in so doing on this performance it seems that maybe the theatre boulevardier should be left to the French.
Comedy needs surprise to be funny (as, inversely, Hitchcock pointed out that suspense depended on knowing what is going to happen, and not wanting it to, not in not knowing). And here, once you’ve read the programme, what are you sure is going to happen? Adultery is going to happen. La Tartine is going to have her way with Gounod, which leaves no-one for Vigneron to be adulterous with except Mme and Mlle de la Corniche: that it transpires with both of them is hardly a surprise given the situation.
M. de la Corniche has no outlet for any such impulse, but no apparent impulse in the first place. Odile is out of the question, partly because smart servants don’t get involved. And of course, the intelligent servant will fatten her wallet from her superiors in the time-honoured manner of such servants throughout the history of the theatre. With the scene set and the characters introduced, the piece takes on a rather clockwork feel.
In terms of performance rather than content, Phoebe Smith as Odile adds another success to Thoroughly Modern Millie, Showstoppers and Calamity Jane, this time without singing but with an accent last heard of from Mrs Slocombe (and not dissimilar tastes in opera). She gave her jokes plenty of time to ferment, signalled them sufficiently without hamming, and varied pitch and pace. Essentially it was a faultless performance.
Moreover she looked like she had just walked out from behind the bar in the Manet painting – but wasn’t (genuine question) the bustle somewhat in advance of reality compared to the other women’s?
Also impressive was familiar BGT figure Ariane Spicq as La Tartine, in particular because she injected a genuinely French fillip into the characterisation without losing intelligibility. Joachim Cour as Bizet, Patrick Schomaker as Guiraud, and Pierre-Yves Lanneau-Saint-Leger as Gounod (again familiar from recent BGT productions) also presented us with a little more esprit gaulois in their satirical depictions of the composers, especially Bizet’s disdain for the audience, Gounod’s readiness for sin despite devoting himself at the time to church music.. Unfortunately Pierre-Yves suffered somewhat from becoming unintelligible when excited, and satirising Gounod’s conscience demanded a rather more rarefied audience than was at hand.
Which leaves the families, among whom Bjarn Clasen was his usual reliable self as M. Vigneron. Unusually, Stephen Anderson was not as reliable as usual as M. de la Corniche: for once his Americanism was a handicap, but he did also have a very weak part. 1875 was nearly the height of the duelling tradition in France, especially among the aspirants to minor nobility. Confronted with the adultery of his wife with Vigneron, an 1870s de la Corniche (or de la Anything) would have said ‘you will hear from my seconds…' not ‘you will hear from my attorneys…’ In fact it might have been funnier too, adding a Don Quixote touch to the way de la Corniche was played.
June Lowery playing Mme de la Corniche had a considerable part well speckled with wordplay and jokes, but while you could hear everyone of them, on the whole they passed by without leaving much of a ripple, lacking pointing and being produced with little variation in dynamics, pace or pitch – unusually for her.
Of the two children, Robin Edds as Hector has least to do, except appear stupid and obsessed with women’s’ clothes – or, rather, imaginarily removing them, so that he falls into a awkward staring pose every time a woman appears in view. He managed the awkward poses well, but the joke wears thin. Lindsay Wegleitner as Viviane has two running jokes, one her readiness to fall into bed, or any handy equivalent, with anyone old enough and the other an inability to stop laughing, paralleling her mother’s inability to stop crying for something like half an act, for no reason readily apparent to the audience. Mind you she laughs well.
Generally speaking all the running jokes that substitute for characterisation keep running after they have had their lap of honour, which is the fault of the play. Other jokes in the script fail to register with the audience, which is the fault of the players, and eventually of the director. Otherwise though the direction is successful, in that movement is logical, properly paced, and serves well to keep the focus shifting with the changes from one subplot to another.
But the main fault I suspect lies in choosing the play in the first place.
But, as I said, we had fun. And so had (the vast majority of) the audiences.
Friday, 2 December 2011
Half A Genius
I’m half a genius
Or a half genius
Not sure
Maybe I’m no genius
At all
‘Cause it’s one of these
Things
That on Earth is
Either-or
If you’re not unquestionably
A genius
You’re not a genius
At all
Except of course those
About whom people discuss
Whether they are genius
Or just plain mad
But I’m not mad
So maybe I’m just plain
© Bjørn Clasen
Or a half genius
Not sure
Maybe I’m no genius
At all
‘Cause it’s one of these
Things
That on Earth is
Either-or
If you’re not unquestionably
A genius
You’re not a genius
At all
Except of course those
About whom people discuss
Whether they are genius
Or just plain mad
But I’m not mad
So maybe I’m just plain
© Bjørn Clasen
Tuesday, 8 November 2011
Pix!!
This summer, one of my Slovenian friends, Maruška, who is such brilliant photographer that she should make a living of it, took some portrait photographs for my website.
Here is part of the result, as well as her description.
Here is part of the result, as well as her description.
Monday, 24 October 2011
Meine Kandidatur für die Wahl zum FC-Verwaltungsrat
Liebe FC-Mitglieder
Die Mitgliederversammlung steht kurz bevor, und darunter auch die Wahl zum Verwaltungsrat. Ich habe beschlossen, für diesen zu kandidieren und brauche daher bis Sonntag 50 Unterschriften, die meine Kandidatur unterstützen.
Wer mich dabei helfen will, kann mich kontaktieren (fc [at] clasencoach.eu). Ich werde Ihnen dann einen Bogen zuschicken, wo Sie (und natürlich gerne auch andere Mitglieder in Ihrem Umfeld) sich mit Name, Mitgliedsnummer und Unterschrift eintragen können. Ausgefüllt können Sie den Bogen dann scannen und per E-Mail an mich zurückschicken (Original unbedingt aufbewahren; den brauche ich später) oder eventuell am 30. persönlich an mir abgeben.
Unterschreiben kann jede(r), die/der bei der Mitgliederversammlung Stimmrecht hat (auch wenn Sie nicht kommen bzw. mich nicht wählen), d.h. am 13. November 2011 mindestens 18 Jahre alt ist. Dabei ist es wichtig, dass Sie nicht nur Ihren Namen, sondern auch Ihre FC-Mitgliedsnummer angeben!
Ein Bisschen über mich:
Ich bin ein lebendiger Beweis für „einmal FC, immer FC!“. Die Geschichte ist zu lang um hier zu erklären, aber sagen wir mal, dass obwohl ich Däne bin und in Luxemburg aufgewachsen bin, steht die Bundesliga für mich über die Champions League, der FC, selbst in den Jahren in Liga Zwei, über jeden anderen Verein, national wie international. Dass 50.000 Zuschauer aufstehen und das FC-Lied 10 Minuten vor Schluss am letzten Spieltag in der letzten Abstiegssaison singen sagt für mich eigentlich alles. Ich war dabei. Und habe ironischerweise an diesem traurigen Tag mein Herz endgültig an den FC verloren. Seitdem fahre ich so oft, es meine Zeit und mein Geld es überhaupt erlauben, ins RheinEnergieStadion, zu Auswärtsspielen oder einfach nur nach Kölle. Könnte ich nach Kölle ziehen, würde ich es tun.
Ein Lebenslauf schicke ich gerne auf Anfrage. Online gibt es einen hier. Dazu können Sie auch gerne meine Firmenseite besuchen.
Einige Punkte wozu ich stehe:
— Der FC ist laut mehreren Untersuchungen einer der allerbesten Vereine Deutschlands im Bereich Fan-Service und Branding. Diese Position müssen wir auch in Zukunft halten und erweitern. Ich bin für eine Fortsetzung und einen Ausbau des Dialogs zwischen dem Verein, seine Mitglieder und seine Fans. Denn unsere Herzen schlagen alle für den FC.
— Profi-Fußball ist auch Geschäft. Darum heisst es Profi-Fußball. Der FC muss sich realistische sportliche und daher auch wirtschaftliche Ziele setzen. Diese müssten auch ambitiös sein, wobei man beachten soll, dass man laufen können muss, bevor man versucht zu sprinten. Stabilität ist das Schlüsselwort; so kommt der FC wieder voran, Schritt für Schritt. Dabei muss der FC nie einen Scheich-Spielzeug werden. Lieber eine Dauermitgliedschaft in der Bundesliga, mit kleinem Geld und mäßigen Ergebnissen (und dann in 2020 Meister werden) als eine durch „einfaches“ Geld gekaufte Spitzenposition, oder dieses ewige Zig-Zag zwischen den Ligen weil man zu früh zu hoch strebt.
— Auch hier gilt die Transparenz: Der Verein muss um seine Ziele offen sein, und darüber ehrlich bleiben wenn und warum etwas weniger gut läuft.
— Konkret könnte man überlegen, eine lebenslange FC-Mitgliedschaft anzubieten, zum Preis von z.B. 20 Jahre Mitgliedschaft. Die Rentabilität muss natürlich erst überprüft werden.
Übrigens habe ich die FC-Hymne in mehreren Sprachen übersetzt. Demnächst im Geißbock-Echo zu lesen!
Für Fragen bin ich natürlich offen. Schreiben Sie mir einfach.
Ich bedanke mich bei Ihnen sehr herzlich für jede Unterstützung und für Ihr Vertrauen!
Mit FCreundlichen Grüßen
Bjørn Clasen
Die Mitgliederversammlung steht kurz bevor, und darunter auch die Wahl zum Verwaltungsrat. Ich habe beschlossen, für diesen zu kandidieren und brauche daher bis Sonntag 50 Unterschriften, die meine Kandidatur unterstützen.
Wer mich dabei helfen will, kann mich kontaktieren (fc [at] clasencoach.eu). Ich werde Ihnen dann einen Bogen zuschicken, wo Sie (und natürlich gerne auch andere Mitglieder in Ihrem Umfeld) sich mit Name, Mitgliedsnummer und Unterschrift eintragen können. Ausgefüllt können Sie den Bogen dann scannen und per E-Mail an mich zurückschicken (Original unbedingt aufbewahren; den brauche ich später) oder eventuell am 30. persönlich an mir abgeben.
Unterschreiben kann jede(r), die/der bei der Mitgliederversammlung Stimmrecht hat (auch wenn Sie nicht kommen bzw. mich nicht wählen), d.h. am 13. November 2011 mindestens 18 Jahre alt ist. Dabei ist es wichtig, dass Sie nicht nur Ihren Namen, sondern auch Ihre FC-Mitgliedsnummer angeben!
Ein Bisschen über mich:
Ich bin ein lebendiger Beweis für „einmal FC, immer FC!“. Die Geschichte ist zu lang um hier zu erklären, aber sagen wir mal, dass obwohl ich Däne bin und in Luxemburg aufgewachsen bin, steht die Bundesliga für mich über die Champions League, der FC, selbst in den Jahren in Liga Zwei, über jeden anderen Verein, national wie international. Dass 50.000 Zuschauer aufstehen und das FC-Lied 10 Minuten vor Schluss am letzten Spieltag in der letzten Abstiegssaison singen sagt für mich eigentlich alles. Ich war dabei. Und habe ironischerweise an diesem traurigen Tag mein Herz endgültig an den FC verloren. Seitdem fahre ich so oft, es meine Zeit und mein Geld es überhaupt erlauben, ins RheinEnergieStadion, zu Auswärtsspielen oder einfach nur nach Kölle. Könnte ich nach Kölle ziehen, würde ich es tun.
Ein Lebenslauf schicke ich gerne auf Anfrage. Online gibt es einen hier. Dazu können Sie auch gerne meine Firmenseite besuchen.
Einige Punkte wozu ich stehe:
— Der FC ist laut mehreren Untersuchungen einer der allerbesten Vereine Deutschlands im Bereich Fan-Service und Branding. Diese Position müssen wir auch in Zukunft halten und erweitern. Ich bin für eine Fortsetzung und einen Ausbau des Dialogs zwischen dem Verein, seine Mitglieder und seine Fans. Denn unsere Herzen schlagen alle für den FC.
— Profi-Fußball ist auch Geschäft. Darum heisst es Profi-Fußball. Der FC muss sich realistische sportliche und daher auch wirtschaftliche Ziele setzen. Diese müssten auch ambitiös sein, wobei man beachten soll, dass man laufen können muss, bevor man versucht zu sprinten. Stabilität ist das Schlüsselwort; so kommt der FC wieder voran, Schritt für Schritt. Dabei muss der FC nie einen Scheich-Spielzeug werden. Lieber eine Dauermitgliedschaft in der Bundesliga, mit kleinem Geld und mäßigen Ergebnissen (und dann in 2020 Meister werden) als eine durch „einfaches“ Geld gekaufte Spitzenposition, oder dieses ewige Zig-Zag zwischen den Ligen weil man zu früh zu hoch strebt.
— Auch hier gilt die Transparenz: Der Verein muss um seine Ziele offen sein, und darüber ehrlich bleiben wenn und warum etwas weniger gut läuft.
— Konkret könnte man überlegen, eine lebenslange FC-Mitgliedschaft anzubieten, zum Preis von z.B. 20 Jahre Mitgliedschaft. Die Rentabilität muss natürlich erst überprüft werden.
Übrigens habe ich die FC-Hymne in mehreren Sprachen übersetzt. Demnächst im Geißbock-Echo zu lesen!
Für Fragen bin ich natürlich offen. Schreiben Sie mir einfach.
Ich bedanke mich bei Ihnen sehr herzlich für jede Unterstützung und für Ihr Vertrauen!
Mit FCreundlichen Grüßen
Bjørn Clasen
Hilarious ad
Humour involving stereotyping mostly works — probably because it confirms people’s little prejudices, so they can relate to it. Apparently, Norwegians have slightly different stereotypes of their close and less close neighbours, as this ad shows.
Upper row from left to right: Norway, Sweden, Denmark (what!?! WE are the ones who drink??!!?), Finland, Czech Republic.
Middle row: Poland (love this one!!), Estonia, The Netherlands, Germany, Austria.
Lower row: Hungary, France, Italy, Spain, Slovakia.
Upper row from left to right: Norway, Sweden, Denmark (what!?! WE are the ones who drink??!!?), Finland, Czech Republic.
Middle row: Poland (love this one!!), Estonia, The Netherlands, Germany, Austria.
Lower row: Hungary, France, Italy, Spain, Slovakia.
Monday, 12 September 2011
Cute pandas vs ugly slugs
‘[B]ecause pandas are so “cute” governments are spending a lot of money per individual to keep them going as opposed to spending that money on far less charismatic creatures, like sea slugs, Nembortha megalocera, for example, whose tentacles contain highly evolved nerve endings and synapses where chemical transmitters and signal transduction are comparable at many levels to the workings of the human brain, with its hundred billion nerve cells. Is being “cute” the criterion for conservation resource allocations? This is just one type of problem in reconciling the human condition with the condition of the planet’s biodiversity.’
Michael Charles Tobias and Jane Gray Morrison
in ‘God’s Own Country: The New Zealand Factor’
Michael Charles Tobias and Jane Gray Morrison
in ‘God’s Own Country: The New Zealand Factor’
Tuesday, 30 August 2011
Emil Aarestrup
Aarestrups digte er noget af det smukkeste, der nogensinde er skabt på dansk.
Her et — yderst beskedent — udvalg. Begyndende med mit yndlingsdigt.
Her et — yderst beskedent — udvalg. Begyndende med mit yndlingsdigt.
“Til En Veninde”
Der er en Trolddom paa din Læbe,
Der er en Afgrund i dit Blik,
Der er i Lyden af din Stemme
En Drøms ætheriske Musik.
Der er en Klarhed paa din Pande,
Der er et Mørke i dit Haar,
Der er en Strøm af Blomsteraande
Omkring dig, hvor du staaer og gaaer.
Der er en Skat af evig Viisdom
I Smilehullet paa din Kind,
Der er en Brønd, en Sundhedskilde
For alle Hjerter, i dit Sind.
Der er en Verden i dit Indre,
En sværmerisk, chaotisk Vaar —
Som jeg umulig kan forglemme,
Som jeg tilbeder og forstaaer.
“Omvendelse”
Der var en Tid, jeg troede ei paa Gud,
Og havde intet Haab om Evighed;
Tilintetgjørelsens uhyre Ro
Var mine mørke Tankers Ideal.
Men siden jeg har følt en Lidenskab
Som den, jeg nu besjæles af:
Har jeg begyndt at troe, der er en Gud,
Og har det Haab, der er en Evighed.
fjerde og sidste strofe af “Fortvivlelse”
Jeg vælter mig i mine Flammer
Og har det — saavidt — ganske godt:
Jeg har endnu min gamle Latter,
Min Djævlefrækhed, og min Spot.
Monday, 29 August 2011
Interessante bydemåder
Dansk har masser af sjovtlydende eller i deres betydning groteske bydemåder at …øh …byde på. Her et beskedent udvalg.
a!
begejstr!
boltr!
hindr!
kims!
kludr!
krydr!
lid!
opfordr!
polstr!
pøns!
studs!
sult!
tørst!
undr!
vejr!
voks!
a!
begejstr!
boltr!
hindr!
kims!
kludr!
krydr!
lid!
opfordr!
polstr!
pøns!
studs!
sult!
tørst!
undr!
vejr!
voks!
Friday, 26 August 2011
Fra dengang, det hed “edb”
Sjov læsning fra 1988 om almindelig omgang med Piccolinen, såfremt Partneren er tændt.
(Klik på et billede for at se det større.)
(Klik på et billede for at se det større.)
Thursday, 25 August 2011
FC Cologne, We Stand By You
The FC Cologne anthem in English — ©2011 Bjørn Clasen
Translated from the ‘kölsch’ version — Melody: ‘The Bonnie Banks O’ Loch Lomond’
Birmingham, Milton Keynes, Edinburgh and London Town
Everywhere, you’ll find FC supporters
In Sydney, New York, Brighton, Cardiff and in Cork
Everywhere, there are FC supporters
Yesterday and today, whether joy or sometimes pain
It’s the feeling that makes FC Kölle
Forward or back, each new game brings us new luck
That’s the feeling that makes FC Kölle
We swear to you on our honour and pride
FC Cologne, we stand by you
And we’ll go with you on each rollercoaster ride
We will always support FC Kölle
The old and the young, the poor and the rich
Together we are strong, FC Kölle
Through thick and through thin, through the fire, everywhere
Together we stand, FC Kölle
We swear to you on our honour and pride
FC Cologne, we stand by you
And we’ll go with you on each rollercoaster ride
We will always support FC Kölle
We swear to you on our honour and pride
FC Cologne, we stand by you
And we’ll go with you on each rollercoaster ride
We will always support FC Kölle
Translated from the ‘kölsch’ version — Melody: ‘The Bonnie Banks O’ Loch Lomond’
Birmingham, Milton Keynes, Edinburgh and London Town
Everywhere, you’ll find FC supporters
In Sydney, New York, Brighton, Cardiff and in Cork
Everywhere, there are FC supporters
Yesterday and today, whether joy or sometimes pain
It’s the feeling that makes FC Kölle
Forward or back, each new game brings us new luck
That’s the feeling that makes FC Kölle
We swear to you on our honour and pride
FC Cologne, we stand by you
And we’ll go with you on each rollercoaster ride
We will always support FC Kölle
The old and the young, the poor and the rich
Together we are strong, FC Kölle
Through thick and through thin, through the fire, everywhere
Together we stand, FC Kölle
We swear to you on our honour and pride
FC Cologne, we stand by you
And we’ll go with you on each rollercoaster ride
We will always support FC Kölle
We swear to you on our honour and pride
FC Cologne, we stand by you
And we’ll go with you on each rollercoaster ride
We will always support FC Kölle
Wednesday, 24 August 2011
Vi Er Med Dig, FC Kölle
1. FC Kölns fanhymne på dansk — ©2011 Bjørn Clasen
Oversat fra den “kölsche” udgave — Melodi: ‘The Bonnie Banks O’ Loch Lomond’
Odense, København, Aalborg, Århus, Aabenraa
Overalt er der fans af FC Kölle
I Tórshavn og Nuuk, på Bornholm og i Hobro
Overalt er der fans af FC Kölle
I går og i dag, om det går frem eller tilbag’
Er det følelsen af FC Kölle
Om op eller ned, lykkebringer er vor ged
Det er følelsen af FC Kölle
Stolthed og ære, det sværger vi på
Vi er med dig, FC Kölle
Og vi følger dig gennem ild hvis det ska’ vær’
Vi vil altid vær’ dig tro, FC Kölle
Gammel som ung, og fattig som rig
Sammen er vi stærkest, FC Kölle
Hvor end det går hen, gennem tykt og gennem tyndt
Er det sammen vi er bedst, FC Kölle
Stolthed og ære, det sværger vi på
Vi er med dig, FC Kölle
Og vi følger dig gennem ild hvis det ska’ vær’
Vi vil altid vær’ dig tro, FC Kölle
Stolthed og ære, det sværger vi på
Vi er med dig, FC Kölle
Og vi følger dig gennem ild hvis det ska’ vær’
Vi vil altid vær’ dig tro, FC Kölle
Oversat fra den “kölsche” udgave — Melodi: ‘The Bonnie Banks O’ Loch Lomond’
Odense, København, Aalborg, Århus, Aabenraa
Overalt er der fans af FC Kölle
I Tórshavn og Nuuk, på Bornholm og i Hobro
Overalt er der fans af FC Kölle
I går og i dag, om det går frem eller tilbag’
Er det følelsen af FC Kölle
Om op eller ned, lykkebringer er vor ged
Det er følelsen af FC Kölle
Stolthed og ære, det sværger vi på
Vi er med dig, FC Kölle
Og vi følger dig gennem ild hvis det ska’ vær’
Vi vil altid vær’ dig tro, FC Kölle
Gammel som ung, og fattig som rig
Sammen er vi stærkest, FC Kölle
Hvor end det går hen, gennem tykt og gennem tyndt
Er det sammen vi er bedst, FC Kölle
Stolthed og ære, det sværger vi på
Vi er med dig, FC Kölle
Og vi følger dig gennem ild hvis det ska’ vær’
Vi vil altid vær’ dig tro, FC Kölle
Stolthed og ære, det sværger vi på
Vi er med dig, FC Kölle
Og vi følger dig gennem ild hvis det ska’ vær’
Vi vil altid vær’ dig tro, FC Kölle
Tuesday, 23 August 2011
Dans Toute Éternité, FC Kölle
L’hymne de FC Cologne en français — ©2011 Bjørn Clasen
Traduit de la version «kölsch» — Mélodie: ‘The Bonnie Banks O’ Loch Lomond’
Saint-Étienne, Nice et Cannes, à Paris, Caen et Lyon
Supporteurs du FC, y en a partout
Genève et Bruxelles, et à l’île de Réunion
On en trouve qui supportent FC Kölle
La joie et les larmes, au passé comme au futur
L’émotion est en toi, FC Kölle
Des hauts et des bas, chaque défi est une chance
C’est bien ça, l’émotion FC Kölle
Nous te jurons sur l’honneur d’être fidèle
De te soutenir, FC Kölle
Et nous y tenons, même de traverser le feu
Dans toute éternité, FC Kölle
Jeunes ou âgés, les pauvres comme les riches
Unis, nous sommes forts, FC Kölle
Obstacles et défis, peu importe où tu nous mènes
Nous tenons tous ensemble, FC Kölle
Nous te jurons sur l'honneur d'être fidèle
De te soutenir, FC Kölle
Et nous y tenons, même de traverser le feu
Dans toute éternité, FC Kölle
Nous te jurons sur l'honneur d'être fidèle
De te soutenir, FC Kölle
Et nous y tenons, même de traverser le feu
Dans toute éternité, FC Kölle
Traduit de la version «kölsch» — Mélodie: ‘The Bonnie Banks O’ Loch Lomond’
Saint-Étienne, Nice et Cannes, à Paris, Caen et Lyon
Supporteurs du FC, y en a partout
Genève et Bruxelles, et à l’île de Réunion
On en trouve qui supportent FC Kölle
La joie et les larmes, au passé comme au futur
L’émotion est en toi, FC Kölle
Des hauts et des bas, chaque défi est une chance
C’est bien ça, l’émotion FC Kölle
Nous te jurons sur l’honneur d’être fidèle
De te soutenir, FC Kölle
Et nous y tenons, même de traverser le feu
Dans toute éternité, FC Kölle
Jeunes ou âgés, les pauvres comme les riches
Unis, nous sommes forts, FC Kölle
Obstacles et défis, peu importe où tu nous mènes
Nous tenons tous ensemble, FC Kölle
Nous te jurons sur l'honneur d'être fidèle
De te soutenir, FC Kölle
Et nous y tenons, même de traverser le feu
Dans toute éternité, FC Kölle
Nous te jurons sur l'honneur d'être fidèle
De te soutenir, FC Kölle
Et nous y tenons, même de traverser le feu
Dans toute éternité, FC Kölle
Monday, 22 August 2011
Sprogblomster fra korrekturlæsning
Ku’ jeg lige få dén en gang til?
Fagsprog kan være totalt uforståeligt for os almindelige jordiske. Fx nævner en særberetning fra 1998, at »EFSR og SPD for M1 blev endelig vedtaget i sommeren 1994 og EFSR og SPD for M2 i december 1994. Efterfølgende måtte man konkretisere EFSR gennem vedtagelsen af OP, globaltilskud og bestemte projekter.« Konkretiseres? Ja, det er lige ordet!
På den anden side kan forfatteren også undervurdere læserens intellekt. Hvor mange mon hopper på følgende fodnote: (4) Se fodnote 4.«? De, der gør, kommer i hvert fald aldrig videre med teksten i den pågældende beslutning.
Ordforbistring
Det sker meget tit, at det kompakte sprog i retsakter åbner mulighed for komiske misforståelser. I en retsakt om veterinærlægemidler omtales »æglæggende fugle, malkedyr eller honningbier«; jeg har ellers lært, at både køer og geder føder levende unger, men der er muligvis hér tale om genetisk ændrede arter.
Den seksuelle frigørelse må siges at være slået igennem, når en institution »i sin personalepolitik [går] ind for lige muligheder for kvinder og mænd i alle stillinger.«
Til gengæld tyder følgende på diskrimination af det ellers såkaldt stærke køn: »Tekniske specifikationer og detaljerede tegninger for Hybrid III, der svarer til de vigtigste mål på en amerikansk mandsperson, som repræsenterer 50 %-fraktilen, samt specifikationerne for dens justering med henblik på denne prøve, beror hos De Forenede Nationers generalsekretær og kan på anmodning besigtiges på sekretariatet for Den Økonomiske Kommission for Europa, Palais des Nations, Genève, Schweiz.«
I ekstreme tilfælde lader det endda til, at retsakter paradoksalt nok opfordrer til ulovligheder. En retsakt bærer således titlen »Direktiv om anvendelse af udlejningskøretøjer uden fører til godstransport ad landevej«. Ikke overraskende, at spøgelsesbilister er så frygtet.
Etikken kan synes noget mangelfuld i følgende titel: »Sammenlignende vurdering af de i dag anvendte socialpolitiske løsninger og de forskellige aktørers rolle med hensyn til udviklingen i socialudstødelsesformer og -processer i Europa«.
Endnu mere forargeligt lyder det, når der indkaldes forslag til »Initiativet »Vold i skolen««! Mon det er princippet om omvendt psykologi, der her søges taget i brug?
Typografi
Ind imellem er der problemer med de græske bogstaver. Således er den græsksprogede af de 11 overskrifter på en oversigt over udvælgelsesprøver angivet som »ÄÉÁÃÙÍÓÌÏÉ«. Jeg troede ellers, de også havde konsonanter på græsk.
Undersættelser
at bekæfte = at tilsmudse højlydt
at fremslægge = at slække på noget på forhånd. Fx at fremslægge yderligere beviser = at slække på bevisbyrden på forhånd
fuldtud = fænomenet, når alkoholikeres næser bliver rødsprængte
gæld-ende = når hele ens gæld er betalt
hoveproduktion = skomageri, fx til heste
myndiged = ged fra Myndien (græsk region)
at råspørge = at spørge meget kontant. Bruges fx i forbindelse med afhøring af kriminelle
tegnebøge = bøgetræ-art, specielt velegnet til fremstilling af blyanter
tråffes = konjunktiv præsens af træffes (gammel form)
underskuttet = når man endnu ikke har skuttet sig nok til at have fået varmen
Fagsprog kan være totalt uforståeligt for os almindelige jordiske. Fx nævner en særberetning fra 1998, at »EFSR og SPD for M1 blev endelig vedtaget i sommeren 1994 og EFSR og SPD for M2 i december 1994. Efterfølgende måtte man konkretisere EFSR gennem vedtagelsen af OP, globaltilskud og bestemte projekter.« Konkretiseres? Ja, det er lige ordet!
På den anden side kan forfatteren også undervurdere læserens intellekt. Hvor mange mon hopper på følgende fodnote: (4) Se fodnote 4.«? De, der gør, kommer i hvert fald aldrig videre med teksten i den pågældende beslutning.
Ordforbistring
Det sker meget tit, at det kompakte sprog i retsakter åbner mulighed for komiske misforståelser. I en retsakt om veterinærlægemidler omtales »æglæggende fugle, malkedyr eller honningbier«; jeg har ellers lært, at både køer og geder føder levende unger, men der er muligvis hér tale om genetisk ændrede arter.
Den seksuelle frigørelse må siges at være slået igennem, når en institution »i sin personalepolitik [går] ind for lige muligheder for kvinder og mænd i alle stillinger.«
Til gengæld tyder følgende på diskrimination af det ellers såkaldt stærke køn: »Tekniske specifikationer og detaljerede tegninger for Hybrid III, der svarer til de vigtigste mål på en amerikansk mandsperson, som repræsenterer 50 %-fraktilen, samt specifikationerne for dens justering med henblik på denne prøve, beror hos De Forenede Nationers generalsekretær og kan på anmodning besigtiges på sekretariatet for Den Økonomiske Kommission for Europa, Palais des Nations, Genève, Schweiz.«
I ekstreme tilfælde lader det endda til, at retsakter paradoksalt nok opfordrer til ulovligheder. En retsakt bærer således titlen »Direktiv om anvendelse af udlejningskøretøjer uden fører til godstransport ad landevej«. Ikke overraskende, at spøgelsesbilister er så frygtet.
Etikken kan synes noget mangelfuld i følgende titel: »Sammenlignende vurdering af de i dag anvendte socialpolitiske løsninger og de forskellige aktørers rolle med hensyn til udviklingen i socialudstødelsesformer og -processer i Europa«.
Endnu mere forargeligt lyder det, når der indkaldes forslag til »Initiativet »Vold i skolen««! Mon det er princippet om omvendt psykologi, der her søges taget i brug?
Typografi
Ind imellem er der problemer med de græske bogstaver. Således er den græsksprogede af de 11 overskrifter på en oversigt over udvælgelsesprøver angivet som »ÄÉÁÃÙÍÓÌÏÉ«. Jeg troede ellers, de også havde konsonanter på græsk.
Undersættelser
at bekæfte = at tilsmudse højlydt
at fremslægge = at slække på noget på forhånd. Fx at fremslægge yderligere beviser = at slække på bevisbyrden på forhånd
fuldtud = fænomenet, når alkoholikeres næser bliver rødsprængte
gæld-ende = når hele ens gæld er betalt
hoveproduktion = skomageri, fx til heste
myndiged = ged fra Myndien (græsk region)
at råspørge = at spørge meget kontant. Bruges fx i forbindelse med afhøring af kriminelle
tegnebøge = bøgetræ-art, specielt velegnet til fremstilling af blyanter
tråffes = konjunktiv præsens af træffes (gammel form)
underskuttet = når man endnu ikke har skuttet sig nok til at have fået varmen
Sunday, 21 August 2011
Danish Dynamite
EM-triumfen i 1992 er naturligvis det største, dansk fodbold har præsteret. Men jeg har samlet nogle andre højdepunkter fra nyere tid.
(I øvrigt har Dansk Boldspil-Union en glimrende søgebase på alle landskampe)
»En fullllldstænnndig vanvittig vinkel å' skyde fra, den dér!«
Fra dengang Laudrup kunne styre russerne (»han er altså ikk' mere end 20 år«), Lerby havde lov til at spille uden benskinner, og fodboldkommentatorer ― som her Svend Gehrs ― lød alvorlige. Det meste af tiden.
VM-kvalifikation i København, 5/6-85: Danmark-Sovjet 4:2 ― 1. halvleg
2. halvleg
Kortere sammendrag af begge halvlege, for de travle
»¡Estamos en México!«
VM-kvalifikation i Oslo, 16/10-85: Norge-Danmark 1:5 ― sammendrag
Antihelt Arnesen
Fra dengang enkelte hold stadig spillede fodbold i stedet for på resultattaktik (forklaring i det andet klips begyndelse), liberoer ikke var mere specialister end at de turde gå med frem, og enkelte spillere stadig viste sportsånd. Selv når det var for sent.
VM i Querétaro, 13/6-86: Danmark-Vesttyskland 2:0 ― sammendrag med langsomme gengivelser
Sammendrag med kommentarer før og efter
Uden kommentarer
OL-/ungdomslandsholdet kan også. Desværre rakte det ikke til kvalifikation pga. en slem skrivebordsfejl i Dansk Boldspil-Union.
OL-kvalifikation i Aalborg, 10/6-87: Danmark-Rumænien 8:0 ― Danmarks mål uden kommentarer
Syv mål af syv forskellige spillere
Nogle år senere blev Danmark europamester. Det tog noget længere tid, før grækerne præsterede det samme...
VM-kvalifikation i København, 17/5-89: Danmark-Grækenland 7:1 ― Danmarks mål
»Dinamarca estaba jugando su mejor partido internacional desde que ganar el campeonato europeo seis años antes...«
Piter Muler, Braian Laudrup, Ebe Sán y Tómas Élbe...
VM i Saint-Denis, 28/6-98: Nigeria-Danmark 1:4 ― Danmarks mål med kommentar på spansk
»Og der' mål. Der' kasse. Simpelthen.«
En mindre betydende, men ikke mindre flot og i øvrigt historisk sejr, som jeg faktisk havde glemt, over verdens bedst betalte spillere ― fra en tid med nærmest intetsigende kommentarer.
Træningskamp i København, 17/8-5: Danmark-England 4:1 ― Danmarks mål
»Ja'm det jo dejligt!«
»Ja, det tæller altsammen, jo!«
Endnu et bevis på, at held kommer, når man søger det. Selv fulgte jeg kampen på en portugisisk kafe i portugiserkvarteret, jeg bor i. Fadostemning. Fantastisk.
VM-kvalifikation i Lisboa, 10/9-8: Portugal-Danmark 2:3 ― de sidste 10 minutter uden klip
Indsatsen, resultatet og sejren i Portugal mindede mig om en kamp mod Belgien, som jeg derfor vil runde af med, selvom den kronologisk ligger allerførst...
EM i Strasbourg, 19/6-84: Danmark-Belgien 3:2 ― målene, med engelsk kommentar
We are red, we are white
We're still Danish Dynamite!
(I øvrigt har Dansk Boldspil-Union en glimrende søgebase på alle landskampe)
»En fullllldstænnndig vanvittig vinkel å' skyde fra, den dér!«
Fra dengang Laudrup kunne styre russerne (»han er altså ikk' mere end 20 år«), Lerby havde lov til at spille uden benskinner, og fodboldkommentatorer ― som her Svend Gehrs ― lød alvorlige. Det meste af tiden.
VM-kvalifikation i København, 5/6-85: Danmark-Sovjet 4:2 ― 1. halvleg
2. halvleg
Kortere sammendrag af begge halvlege, for de travle
»¡Estamos en México!«
VM-kvalifikation i Oslo, 16/10-85: Norge-Danmark 1:5 ― sammendrag
Antihelt Arnesen
Fra dengang enkelte hold stadig spillede fodbold i stedet for på resultattaktik (forklaring i det andet klips begyndelse), liberoer ikke var mere specialister end at de turde gå med frem, og enkelte spillere stadig viste sportsånd. Selv når det var for sent.
VM i Querétaro, 13/6-86: Danmark-Vesttyskland 2:0 ― sammendrag med langsomme gengivelser
Sammendrag med kommentarer før og efter
Uden kommentarer
OL-/ungdomslandsholdet kan også. Desværre rakte det ikke til kvalifikation pga. en slem skrivebordsfejl i Dansk Boldspil-Union.
OL-kvalifikation i Aalborg, 10/6-87: Danmark-Rumænien 8:0 ― Danmarks mål uden kommentarer
Syv mål af syv forskellige spillere
Nogle år senere blev Danmark europamester. Det tog noget længere tid, før grækerne præsterede det samme...
VM-kvalifikation i København, 17/5-89: Danmark-Grækenland 7:1 ― Danmarks mål
»Dinamarca estaba jugando su mejor partido internacional desde que ganar el campeonato europeo seis años antes...«
Piter Muler, Braian Laudrup, Ebe Sán y Tómas Élbe...
VM i Saint-Denis, 28/6-98: Nigeria-Danmark 1:4 ― Danmarks mål med kommentar på spansk
»Og der' mål. Der' kasse. Simpelthen.«
En mindre betydende, men ikke mindre flot og i øvrigt historisk sejr, som jeg faktisk havde glemt, over verdens bedst betalte spillere ― fra en tid med nærmest intetsigende kommentarer.
Træningskamp i København, 17/8-5: Danmark-England 4:1 ― Danmarks mål
»Ja'm det jo dejligt!«
»Ja, det tæller altsammen, jo!«
Endnu et bevis på, at held kommer, når man søger det. Selv fulgte jeg kampen på en portugisisk kafe i portugiserkvarteret, jeg bor i. Fadostemning. Fantastisk.
VM-kvalifikation i Lisboa, 10/9-8: Portugal-Danmark 2:3 ― de sidste 10 minutter uden klip
Indsatsen, resultatet og sejren i Portugal mindede mig om en kamp mod Belgien, som jeg derfor vil runde af med, selvom den kronologisk ligger allerførst...
EM i Strasbourg, 19/6-84: Danmark-Belgien 3:2 ― målene, med engelsk kommentar
We are red, we are white
We're still Danish Dynamite!
Saturday, 20 August 2011
From the Mexico Trip archive — Previously Unreleased
I could tell about all I the things I haven’t found time to blog.
About Andres, the Plazuela Bastida market clothes seller. Who liked my worn-out green jeans and asked me for a price. Of course I gave them to him, along with a bunch of T-shirts, a small towel and a pair of shoes, which I all had thought of leaving in the hotel anyway. In return, I got his address and a photo of him and his beautiful 3-year old daughter. Father of five, forty years old. Andres of Oaxaca.
About the book fair, local style. A poster with a reading grasshopper. A simple entrance portal. Stalls with stacks and shelves of books. Cubes for storage and for meeting rooms and relaxation, in straightforward red, yellow, blue and green. Paul Auster and Siri Somethingnordicsounding doing readings at the theatre, for the wannabeseens. Frankfurt go home. Why make it elaborate when you can make it simple. 28th Oaxaca Book Fair.
About the coffee place, called Xiguila, in the lovely neighbourhood Jalatlaco. Not just the organic coffee shop I thought it was but the best eatery I experienced in Oaxaca. Last meal there, best place. Xiguila in Jalatlaco.
About Dionisio, the artist, just next door to the coffee place. Sitting around his sand painting of skulls, a candle in each corner, and surrounded by skulls painted on the wall. Drinking mezcal and beer and eating typical Day Of The Dead food and drinking more mezcal and more beer. And admiring his art, the diversity of his artistic talent. Dionisio Martínez, artist, Jalatlaco.
About Etla. The parades of people in amazingly elaborate costumes, political or otherwise satirical statements, those clad in hundreds of mirrors, dancing on the plaza in front of San Agustín Etla’s church, then parading and dancing in people's gardens. All night. Dancing. Celebrating death. Etla, outside Oaxaca.
About folk metal. A genre mixing heavy metal with, well, folk. Got to know it from my roommate at the Reality Tour. Found out i already knew a group — Closterkeller singing in Polish ― playing that sort of thing, just didn’t know it was called like that. Dalriada, Eluveitie, Arkona. Folk metal.
About icebreaking. ‘Write up your best or worst or most hilarious travel experience in no more than 20 words, and then the others have to guess who wrote it’. And this, before anyone knew each other at the travel writers’ boot camp. My contribution, only one I could fit into twenty words:
About Monte Albán. A pre-Hispanic city. Its pyramids, its sacred places, its enormous squares, its ball games, its museum and souvenir shop. Finally a decent selection of postcards, and Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera as paper dolls. Best of all, an answer to the question why the steps on the pyramids are so high when the inhabitants were so small ― explanation: Because the summit of the pyramids as a religious place had to demand an effort to reach. Whereas we, in our civilisation, try to think practical. I buy that. Monte Albán, and the lesser Mitla, archeological sites outside Oaxaca.
About weaving. Teotitlán del Valle, weavers’ village. A visit to José Buenaventura, weaver using natural dyes for all of his carpets and other works, except for purple and turquoise, which you cannot get from plants or insects like the other colours. Weavers’ village, Teotitlán outside Oaxaca.
New word: casanueces = nutcracker
Quote: ‘Del rayo te escaparás, pero de la raya no.’
(Recopilación de Elodia Miranda Santiago)
©2008/2011 Bjørn Clasen
About Andres, the Plazuela Bastida market clothes seller. Who liked my worn-out green jeans and asked me for a price. Of course I gave them to him, along with a bunch of T-shirts, a small towel and a pair of shoes, which I all had thought of leaving in the hotel anyway. In return, I got his address and a photo of him and his beautiful 3-year old daughter. Father of five, forty years old. Andres of Oaxaca.
About the book fair, local style. A poster with a reading grasshopper. A simple entrance portal. Stalls with stacks and shelves of books. Cubes for storage and for meeting rooms and relaxation, in straightforward red, yellow, blue and green. Paul Auster and Siri Somethingnordicsounding doing readings at the theatre, for the wannabeseens. Frankfurt go home. Why make it elaborate when you can make it simple. 28th Oaxaca Book Fair.
About the coffee place, called Xiguila, in the lovely neighbourhood Jalatlaco. Not just the organic coffee shop I thought it was but the best eatery I experienced in Oaxaca. Last meal there, best place. Xiguila in Jalatlaco.
About Dionisio, the artist, just next door to the coffee place. Sitting around his sand painting of skulls, a candle in each corner, and surrounded by skulls painted on the wall. Drinking mezcal and beer and eating typical Day Of The Dead food and drinking more mezcal and more beer. And admiring his art, the diversity of his artistic talent. Dionisio Martínez, artist, Jalatlaco.
About Etla. The parades of people in amazingly elaborate costumes, political or otherwise satirical statements, those clad in hundreds of mirrors, dancing on the plaza in front of San Agustín Etla’s church, then parading and dancing in people's gardens. All night. Dancing. Celebrating death. Etla, outside Oaxaca.
About folk metal. A genre mixing heavy metal with, well, folk. Got to know it from my roommate at the Reality Tour. Found out i already knew a group — Closterkeller singing in Polish ― playing that sort of thing, just didn’t know it was called like that. Dalriada, Eluveitie, Arkona. Folk metal.
About icebreaking. ‘Write up your best or worst or most hilarious travel experience in no more than 20 words, and then the others have to guess who wrote it’. And this, before anyone knew each other at the travel writers’ boot camp. My contribution, only one I could fit into twenty words:
18 bears catching salmon, grabbing into the water, waiting for them to jump, or stealing other bears’ catch. Katmai, Alaska.Most thought the drinking stories or the Asia ones were me. It did break the ice.
About Monte Albán. A pre-Hispanic city. Its pyramids, its sacred places, its enormous squares, its ball games, its museum and souvenir shop. Finally a decent selection of postcards, and Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera as paper dolls. Best of all, an answer to the question why the steps on the pyramids are so high when the inhabitants were so small ― explanation: Because the summit of the pyramids as a religious place had to demand an effort to reach. Whereas we, in our civilisation, try to think practical. I buy that. Monte Albán, and the lesser Mitla, archeological sites outside Oaxaca.
About weaving. Teotitlán del Valle, weavers’ village. A visit to José Buenaventura, weaver using natural dyes for all of his carpets and other works, except for purple and turquoise, which you cannot get from plants or insects like the other colours. Weavers’ village, Teotitlán outside Oaxaca.
New word: casanueces = nutcracker
Quote: ‘Del rayo te escaparás, pero de la raya no.’
(Recopilación de Elodia Miranda Santiago)
©2008/2011 Bjørn Clasen
Friday, 19 August 2011
Eins meiner Lieblingslogos
Das Logo der Kölner Zoo ist einfach genial. Beim ersten Blick einfach ein Elefant. Dann entdeckt man zwei weitere Tiere, die die Silhouette des Elefanten ausmachen — zusammen mit dem Wahrzeichen der Stadt Köln schlechthin, er Kölner Dom.
So einfach geht das. Genial. Einfach genial.
Thursday, 18 August 2011
Gensyn med “Er DU Tintinolog?”
Bogen kan i øvrigt stadig fås hos fx Faraos Cigarer i København. Og jeg signerer den gerne ved lejlighed.
Wednesday, 17 August 2011
What shall… we use… to fill… the empty… spaces…
That’s what Pink Floyd sang three decades ago on legendary ‘The Wall’.
Three years ago, I attended a statistics trade fair in Lisbon. One stand remained like this:
…kinda ironic when you see the name above. Looks like they really do need to populate Minnesota. Or maybe the representatives were so amazed by the Portuguese weather as opposed to cold Minnesota that they simply found better things to do, out in town.
Another stand, just as unfull, maybe remained like that for almost the opposite reason. Luxembourg is rich, at least in official GNP terms. So why bother manning a stand to study income? I mean, they know how to generate one. Or they didn’t particularly need to increase it, what with being rich and all.
Enough fair. Fair enough.
Three years ago, I attended a statistics trade fair in Lisbon. One stand remained like this:
…kinda ironic when you see the name above. Looks like they really do need to populate Minnesota. Or maybe the representatives were so amazed by the Portuguese weather as opposed to cold Minnesota that they simply found better things to do, out in town.
Another stand, just as unfull, maybe remained like that for almost the opposite reason. Luxembourg is rich, at least in official GNP terms. So why bother manning a stand to study income? I mean, they know how to generate one. Or they didn’t particularly need to increase it, what with being rich and all.
Enough fair. Fair enough.
Monday, 8 August 2011
Huskedigt II
se Huskedigt I
Uden Titel
af Bjørn Clasen
Delaware
Nina, min ven i Laos’, to kroer
Penge på gulvet. Kaffe
Bacardi 2 Go
Slem hangover igen
Kopieres, smøres ud
Pia bryder isen
En minutafgørelse i reklamationsparlamentet
Need war, Peter?
Amøbe!
Wild cow!
Alarm! Strand — undergrund!
Åbn fløjteparaden!
Alpha 101
90125
Forsigtig hedning roser fjernsynet
Danmark, gå og gø
Uden Titel
af Bjørn Clasen
Delaware
Nina, min ven i Laos’, to kroer
Penge på gulvet. Kaffe
Bacardi 2 Go
Slem hangover igen
Kopieres, smøres ud
Pia bryder isen
En minutafgørelse i reklamationsparlamentet
Need war, Peter?
Amøbe!
Wild cow!
Alarm! Strand — undergrund!
Åbn fløjteparaden!
Alpha 101
90125
Forsigtig hedning roser fjernsynet
Danmark, gå og gø
Friday, 15 July 2011
Tuesday, 14 June 2011
‘Opera Comique’ — a comedy in English
BGT English Language Theatre
presents
OPERA COMIQUE
a comedy in English
by Nagle Jackson
Kulturhaus Mersch
Wednesday 5th October to Saturday 8th October at 20.00
Tickets €15.00 (€8.00 reduction)
Following the great success of “JANE EYRE” in 2010, the BGT is pleased to return to Mersch with “OPERA COMIQUE”, a hilarious comedy set at the premiere of Bizet’s “Carmen” in 1875.
A group of wealthy Parisians is visiting the Opera… but not for the show. Monsieur and Madame Corniche want their daughter, Viviane, to marry Hector Vigneron. But Viviane falls in love with Hector’s father …who is having an affair with her mother. Meanwhile “La Tartine” is trying to seduce the great composer Gounod. And amid all this, Bizet is in despair at the poor reception of his new work. “Carmen” may be a tale of passion, sex and betrayal …but it’s nothing compared to what is happening in the audience!
Actors: Phoebe Smith, Bjørn Clasen, Steven Anderson, June Lowery, Lindsay Wegleitner, Joachim Cour, Pierre-Yves Lanneau Saint- Leger, Ariane Spicq, Robin Edds and Patrick Schomaker
Design: Karl Pierce
Producer: June Lowery
Director: Tony Kingston
Saturday, 28 May 2011
Advanzia MasterCard: Verwirrung Total
Sehr geehrter Kundendienst
Ich habe gerade telefonisch einen SecureCode angefragt und per E-Mail dann auch sofort erhalten. Ich wollte sie dann aktivieren, damit sie nicht abläuft:
auf der Seite http://www.advanzia.com/index.php?id=49 klicke ich auf "hier registrieren"
ich komme dann zur Seite https://enrollment.securecode.com/vpas/advanzia/enroll/index.jsp?locale=de_DE&bankid=121, wo ich dann auf "Jetzt anmelden" klicke
um auf NOCH eine Seite zu landen, nämlich https://enrollment.securecode.com/vpas/advanzia/enroll/reg.jsp?locale=de_DE&bankid=121, wo ich dann zum dritten Mal einen Registrierungs-/Anmeldungsknopf klicken muss, diesmal mit dem Namen "Registrieren"
wenn ich das tue, kommt allerdings dieselbe Seite, https://enrollment.securecode.com/vpas/advanzia/enroll/reg.jsp?locale=de_DE&bankid=121, wieder. Also eine Ewigkeitslücke.
Noch ‘was: In Ihrem E-Mail ist service@gebuhrenfrei.com als Ihre Adresse angegeben. Wenn man an diese schreibt, heisst es im Adressenfeld allerdings “Bitte nicht antworten”.
Es ist sehr verwirrend, und ich habe jetzt eine Stunde gebraucht, ohne meinen Internetkauf überhaupt ausführen zu können. Da frage ich mich zweierlei:
1) Wozu habe ich überhaupt eine Kreditkarte, wenn es so umständlich/unverständlich ist, sie zu benutzen
2) Wie kann ich Ihnen als Kommunikationsexperte helfen, Ihren Kundendienst zu verbessern, damit Ihre Kunden auch bleiben, und Ihnen weiterempfehlen?
Mit freundlichen Grüßen
Bjørn Clasen
Career, Creativity & Communication Coach
Clasen Coaching & Consulting
Ich habe gerade telefonisch einen SecureCode angefragt und per E-Mail dann auch sofort erhalten. Ich wollte sie dann aktivieren, damit sie nicht abläuft:
auf der Seite http://www.advanzia.com/index.php?id=49 klicke ich auf "hier registrieren"
ich komme dann zur Seite https://enrollment.securecode.com/vpas/advanzia/enroll/index.jsp?locale=de_DE&bankid=121, wo ich dann auf "Jetzt anmelden" klicke
um auf NOCH eine Seite zu landen, nämlich https://enrollment.securecode.com/vpas/advanzia/enroll/reg.jsp?locale=de_DE&bankid=121, wo ich dann zum dritten Mal einen Registrierungs-/Anmeldungsknopf klicken muss, diesmal mit dem Namen "Registrieren"
wenn ich das tue, kommt allerdings dieselbe Seite, https://enrollment.securecode.com/vpas/advanzia/enroll/reg.jsp?locale=de_DE&bankid=121, wieder. Also eine Ewigkeitslücke.
Noch ‘was: In Ihrem E-Mail ist service@gebuhrenfrei.com als Ihre Adresse angegeben. Wenn man an diese schreibt, heisst es im Adressenfeld allerdings “Bitte nicht antworten”.
Es ist sehr verwirrend, und ich habe jetzt eine Stunde gebraucht, ohne meinen Internetkauf überhaupt ausführen zu können. Da frage ich mich zweierlei:
1) Wozu habe ich überhaupt eine Kreditkarte, wenn es so umständlich/unverständlich ist, sie zu benutzen
2) Wie kann ich Ihnen als Kommunikationsexperte helfen, Ihren Kundendienst zu verbessern, damit Ihre Kunden auch bleiben, und Ihnen weiterempfehlen?
Mit freundlichen Grüßen
Bjørn Clasen
Career, Creativity & Communication Coach
Clasen Coaching & Consulting
Wednesday, 25 May 2011
Brief an Nena
Aus Liebe zu deiner Musik, und da wir wissen, wie du Kinder liebst, möchten wir dieses Tolle Foto mit dir teilen.
Seit nunmehr fünf Jahren ist es für uns Tradition mindestens einmal im Jahr zu ein Nena-Konzert zu fahren, am liebsten Open Air. Dabei wohnen wir in unterschiedlichen Ecken außerhalb Deutschlands und machen uns immer die Mühe, eine Stadt zu finden, wozu wir alle recht einfach reisen können ...und wo du auch auftretest. “Wir” sind übrigens Steen aus Jütland in Dänemark, sein Sohn Kristoffer aus Kopenhagen und Bruder bzw. Onkel Bjørn, der in Luxemburg wohnt.
Da Steen schon als Teenie großer Nena-Fan war ist auch Bjørn mit dieser Musik aufgewachsen, und die Begeisterung ist jetzt in der nächsten Generation weitergeführt, indem Kristoffer als heutiger Teenie lieber Nena hört (obwohl er nur wenig Deutsch spricht) als all dem, was seine Gleichaltrigen sonst hören.
Wenn immer es möglich ist sind auch Steens Frau Merian und deren vier kleinen Töchter Mynte (4 Jahre), Merle & Nælde (beide 2) und Cirkel (6 Monate) bei den Konzerten dabei. Da das in diesem Jahr in Bad Segeberg nicht der Fall war, hat Papi aber Nena-Mützen und Nena-T-shirts für alle besorgt. Auf dem Foto sind es von links nach rechts Merle, Mynte, Cirkel und Nælde. Vielleicht schaffen wir es ja im Sommer noch einmal zu ein Konzert zu fahren, alle gemeinsam, damit der Nachwuchs auch Live ihre Begeisterung zeigen kann.
Die allerliebsten Grüße
Familie Clasen
Tuesday, 24 May 2011
Ståles nye klub — lidt om 1. FC Kölns spillere
Frits Adler fra sporten.dk har skrevet en artikel om 1. FC Köln — en udmærket minianalyse af nogle af holdets førstevalg blandt spillerne. Bortset fra, at de polske landsholdsspillere Adam Matuschyk og Sławomir Peszko end ikke er nævnt, var der et par smuttere, som jeg fik Adler til at rette.
Adler skrev oprindelig, at klubben skal forstærke sig på målmandspladsen. Men faktisk er Kölns Michael Rensing ifølge kicker forårets bedste målmand i Bundesligaen, og den bedste spiller i det hele taget, der ikke spiller for mestrene fra Dortmund. Desuden ejer 1. FC Köln stortalentet Michael Kessler. I denne sæson var han udlejet til FC St. Pauli og vil sikkert igen blive lejet ud til en anden klub, idet han fortjener spilletid.
Af profiler kan også nævnes den portugisiske tidligere stjerne Petit; en af Bundesligaens allerbedste forsvarsspillere, brasilianeren Geromel; og ikke mindst Milivoje Novakovič, som blev nummer tre på ligaens topscorerliste i år. Måske ikke verdensstjerner, men helt klart profiler. Adler skrev dog, at der ikke er mange profiler ud over Podolski, hvorfor jeg ikke ville klandre ham for dèn.
Endvidere hed det, at »Flere af de største tyske landsholdsspillere — herunder også flere danske — har spillet for Gedebukkene, der er klubbens kælenavn.« Sætningen var vist ikke helt korrekt (tyske landsholdsspillere, herunder danske…) — men derudover har store navne som Klaus Fischer og Rainer Bonhof og ikke-tyskere som fx Tony Woodcock og Toni Polster, for nu at nævne nogle ganske få, også spillet for Gedebukkene. Adler valgte helt at tage dette ud i anden udgave af sin artikel.
Sidst men ikke mindst glemte jeg at gøre ham opmærksom på, at Brečko bestemt ikke erpublikumsyndling. Personligt har jeg altid syntes rigtig godt om Brečko — jeg har endda hans træningstrøje fra for et par år siden — men han er den spiller, der oftest kritiseres, når jeg taler med andre 1. FC Köln-fans. Så generelt er han ikke så populær. Publikumskæledæggerne er Geromel og naturligvis Podolski og nu også Rensing.
Men rart, at der findes journalister, der tager konstruktiv kritik til sig. Og retter op. Tak til Frits Adler.
Jeg tænker i øvrigt på at kontakte Ståle Solbakken, hvis nu coachen har brug for en personlig coach. Han får i hvert fald sin sag for i Köln, både inden for klubbens mure og med omgivelserne i mediebyen. Jeg glæder mig virkelig til at se, hvad der kommer ud af det. Forhåbentlig først og fremmest stabilitet, og på lidt længere sigt étcifrede placeringer i slutstillingen.
Mer stonn zo dir, FC Kölle!!
Bjørn Clasen
Adler skrev oprindelig, at klubben skal forstærke sig på målmandspladsen. Men faktisk er Kölns Michael Rensing ifølge kicker forårets bedste målmand i Bundesligaen, og den bedste spiller i det hele taget, der ikke spiller for mestrene fra Dortmund. Desuden ejer 1. FC Köln stortalentet Michael Kessler. I denne sæson var han udlejet til FC St. Pauli og vil sikkert igen blive lejet ud til en anden klub, idet han fortjener spilletid.
Af profiler kan også nævnes den portugisiske tidligere stjerne Petit; en af Bundesligaens allerbedste forsvarsspillere, brasilianeren Geromel; og ikke mindst Milivoje Novakovič, som blev nummer tre på ligaens topscorerliste i år. Måske ikke verdensstjerner, men helt klart profiler. Adler skrev dog, at der ikke er mange profiler ud over Podolski, hvorfor jeg ikke ville klandre ham for dèn.
Endvidere hed det, at »Flere af de største tyske landsholdsspillere — herunder også flere danske — har spillet for Gedebukkene, der er klubbens kælenavn.« Sætningen var vist ikke helt korrekt (tyske landsholdsspillere, herunder danske…) — men derudover har store navne som Klaus Fischer og Rainer Bonhof og ikke-tyskere som fx Tony Woodcock og Toni Polster, for nu at nævne nogle ganske få, også spillet for Gedebukkene. Adler valgte helt at tage dette ud i anden udgave af sin artikel.
Sidst men ikke mindst glemte jeg at gøre ham opmærksom på, at Brečko bestemt ikke erpublikumsyndling. Personligt har jeg altid syntes rigtig godt om Brečko — jeg har endda hans træningstrøje fra for et par år siden — men han er den spiller, der oftest kritiseres, når jeg taler med andre 1. FC Köln-fans. Så generelt er han ikke så populær. Publikumskæledæggerne er Geromel og naturligvis Podolski og nu også Rensing.
Men rart, at der findes journalister, der tager konstruktiv kritik til sig. Og retter op. Tak til Frits Adler.
Jeg tænker i øvrigt på at kontakte Ståle Solbakken, hvis nu coachen har brug for en personlig coach. Han får i hvert fald sin sag for i Köln, både inden for klubbens mure og med omgivelserne i mediebyen. Jeg glæder mig virkelig til at se, hvad der kommer ud af det. Forhåbentlig først og fremmest stabilitet, og på lidt længere sigt étcifrede placeringer i slutstillingen.
Mer stonn zo dir, FC Kölle!!
Bjørn Clasen
Monday, 23 May 2011
Un faux chemin vers le mauvais but
« Le rêve d’indépendance financière est toujours très répandu dans les pays industrialisés. Voilà pourquoi nous nous échinons toute la journée et passons le plus clair de notre temps à travailler, alors que la plupart d’entre nous n’arriveront jamais à être vraiment « libres ». L’argent et le prestige occupent les deux plus hautes marches de notre système personnel de valeurs, avant même la famille et les amis. C’est d’autant plus étonnant que l’échelle de valeurs des économistes du bonheur est exactement l’inverse. Selon cette évaluation, il n’y a rien qui rende plus heureux que les relations interpersonnelles, c’est-à-dire les échanges avec sa famille, son ou sa partenaire, ses enfants et ses amis. En deuxième position vient le sentiment d’être utile ; puis, selon les circonstances, arrivent la santé et la liberté. Si l’on se fie donc à cette échelle de valeurs, on peut dire que la plupart des gens des pays riches se trompent en accordant autant d’importance à l’argent : ils ne font que prendre de mauvaises décisions. Ils cherchent à atteindre une sécurité qu’ils n’auront sans doute jamais. Ils sacrifient leur liberté et leur autonomie pour un salaire toujours plus élevé. Et ils achètent des choses dont ils n’ont pas besoin pour impressionner des gens qu’ils n’aiment pas avec de l’argent qu’ils n’ont pas. »
Richard David Precht
Dans l’essai « Vanuatu — les îles de la félicité. Qu’est-ce qu’une vie heureuse ? »
Richard David Precht
Dans l’essai « Vanuatu — les îles de la félicité. Qu’est-ce qu’une vie heureuse ? »
Monday, 18 April 2011
The European Union is not attractive
‘The European Union has somehow lost its sex appeal. There is no clear direction, and that is a problem […]. The current President, Barroso, is a bureaucrat; nobody knows the others in the European Union top.’
Jacek Kochanowicz, professor at the University of Warsaw
in Berlingske Tidende, 6 April 2011: ‘Let forkølelse i Polen’ by Michael Kuttner
(quotation translated from Danish to English by Bjørn Clasen)
Jacek Kochanowicz, professor at the University of Warsaw
in Berlingske Tidende, 6 April 2011: ‘Let forkølelse i Polen’ by Michael Kuttner
(quotation translated from Danish to English by Bjørn Clasen)
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