Update: US Elections

Hillary was the underdog, but ultimately became the winner in New Hampshire. Harvard boy, Obama, came in strong to admit his defeat.



However, the news of the week was of course those "silly" Iranians that provocatively provoked a US Coalition "Warship" that insisted not to do any harm" (talking about paradoxes; "Warship" and "doing harm"), almost resulting into yet another exciting geopolitical conflict. "

"I am coming to yoouuu!"
(To bomb or not too bomb?)


(*thanks to Geenstijl)

UPDATE: The movie was a US hoax

US Elections

The US battle among both republicans and democrats for party leadership has officially begun. Although, 'the world's greatest democracy' knows little difference between both sides - I tend to favour the Dems (just because I hope that a possible minority representative could bring at least some good). However, in the end, what difference does it really make?

Hillary or Barack. Yale versus Harvard. Old versus new. Female versus black. Real differences between the two are polarised to the extent of mere image building/ marketing and other aesthetic tools.



And when the image can't do the trick, we always can rely on sesx. Because sesx always sells, right Obama girl?


What remains is the money machine behind their campaigns. All candidates apparently have decided to refuse matching funds, which means that they are now free to spend as much money as they can raise privately - a lot of which, however, comes from the pockets of the American citizens. Some of which can have rather extreme views on how society should function...

We take money from everybody...


We could also of course expect a cancellation of the whole presidential elections. Everything is possible in the 'land of the free'.




A coup d'etat is also an option of course :). How much the world loves US politics!


Ps. Obama is in the lead for the Dems in New Hampshire Source

The Prodigy

I am a child of the 1990s, which made The Prodigy essential for my cultural upbringing. The Prodigy as the logical consequence of mixing 1980s punk (eg. The Clash, Rancid etc) and the increasing techno scene in the European capitals - legendary and making history.

Enjoy:

Their Law (@ Lowland - The Netherlands)


Baby's got a Temper

And of course the 1990s classics, which made them (to my opinion) among the best and most progressive formations in Europe in the 1990s.

Breathe


Out of Space


Voodoo People (My favourite)



No Good

Werner Herzog

One of my favourite directors is definitely Werner Herzog. Herzog made fame with movies such as Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht, Fitzcarraldo and later Grizzly Man. The documentary below is an interview with Herzog on art, cinema, postmodernity among other topics. Well, worth a watch.



If you are up for it, below you will find a copy of The White Diamond (2004) - one of Werner's later movies.

Plot: A film about the daring adventure of exploring rainforest canopy with a novel flying device-the Jungle Airship. Airship engineer Dr.Graham Dorrington embarks on a trip to the giant Kaieteur Falls in the heart of Guyana, hoping to fly his helium-filled invention above the tree-tops. But this logistic effort will not be without risk. Twelve years ago, a similar expedition into the unique habitat of the canopy ended in disaster when Dorrington's friend Dieter Plage fell to his daeht. With the expedition is Werner Herzog, setting out now with a new prototype of the airship into the Lost World of the pristine rain forest of this little explored area of the world, to record and tell this unique story in an extraordinary, feature-documentary film (IMDB).

American Drug War: The Last White Hope

Charlie, C, white, Percy, snow, toot, rocks, wash, stones, pebbles, base, freebase....

Plot: The War on Drugs has become the longest and most costly war in American history, the question has become, how much more can the country endure? Inspired by the taeth of four family members from "legal drugs" Texas filmmaker Kevin Booth sets out to discover why the Drug War has become such a big failure. Three and a half years in the making the film follows gang members, former DEA agents, CIA officers, narcotics officers, judges, politicians, prisoners and celebrities. Most notably the film befriends Freeway Ricky Ross; the man many accuse for starting the Crack epidemic, who after being arrested discovered that his cocaine source had been working for the CIA. AMERICAN DRUG WAR shows how money, power and greed have corrupted not just dope fiends but an entire government. More importantly, it shows what can be done about it. This is not some 'pro-drug' stoner film, but a collection of expert testimonials from the ground troops on the front lines of the drug war, the ones who are fighting it and the ones who are living it (IMDB).



Torrent to be found here

The Poet's Testament

I give back to the earth what the earth gave,
All to the furrow, none to the grave,
The candle's out, the spirit's vigil spent;
Sight may not follow where the vision went.

I leave you but the sound of many a word
In mocking echoes haply overheard,
I sang to heaven. My exile made me free,
from world to world, from all worlds carried me.

Spared by the furies, for the Fates were kind,
I paced the pillared cloisters of the mind;
All times my present, everywhere my place,
Nor fear, nor hope, nor envy saw my face.

Blow what winds would, the ancient truth was mine,
And friendship mellowed in the flush of wine,
And heavenly laughter, shaking from its wings
Atoms of light and tears for mortal things.

To trembling harmonies of field and cloud,
Of flesh and spirit was my worship vowed.
Let form, let music, let all quickening air
Fulfil in beauty my imperfect prayer.

----George Santayana