The Slap, The World Didn't Need. Or Did It?
Ah yes, poor poor Chris Rock. NOT!
It seems that now that we have found it acceptable to laugh at a joke about a debiltating, painful disease where a person's hair falls out. It truly sucks, that the likes of Chris Rock, Ricky Gervais and Dave Chappelle find material for their jokes in someone's pain of having a disease that they have no control of, simple being who they are, or having more job offers in Hollywood than themselves. (The thought of it being because no one likes working with them, because they are so full of themselves and love hearing their own voices so much, that they won't leave any place for anyone else besides them, of course never crossed their minds.) We laugh at their mean spirited jokes because we are glad they don't bully us? Because we seem to have to? Because the others laugh as well? Because it's the in thing to do? Because we simply don't care? The Emperor's new clothes much? It is in this real world of pain, selfdoubts, mental health issues, insecurities that people like Rock, Chappelle, Sykes, Gervais, Griffin find material to use in their acts. And we applaud them for it. If we cannot be nasty, let us pay for them to do it for us, right?! We are empowering them. And they got addicted to our cheers. So they give it one more bash, getting nastier by the day. So, don't you worry, Chris and his merry gang of self perceived dashing (while it is more likely bashing) friends will have lots of new material coming up as someone's pain will be a good joke for them. Hey! Here is some new material they can use; Bruce Willis has aphasia. Is that tone deaf or what?! Badoom tzz! Or how about Jack Osborne and his Multiple Sclerosis? Or Shannon Doherty's fight against cancer. No, I know, let us all mock Tim Curry and his stroke. Oh I know, Dave, how about some cheap jokes on Elliot Page. There must be some good laughs in that for you? Who cares if people like Elliot have suffered enough. And just want to be able to be who they are in public as well as at home?! Tasteless I hear you say? What is the f..king difference to what Rock said about Pinkett??? All the bullies/comedians have to do to get laughs these days is come out on stage, be their usual obnoxious self, and make fun of someone's debilitating illness, problem or death. And if that doesn't do it, they can still crack some jokes on some actresses weight gain due to finally living the life she wanted. Unfortunately now they found a way to turn themselves into the victims. Oh boohoo! They are now scared that someone else might actually say stop! And if saying isn't enough because the Kathy Griffin's of this world continue being tone deaf to anyone elses feelings, the kid whose father she wanted to behead might go full blown Cobra Kai on her ass. You know, the new hot show about solving every problem by smashing each other to pulp, and not once trying to actually act as Mr Miagi would have been doing or taught? But I am digressing. So, isn't it surprising that it's mostly the mean little bullies themselves who mistake comedy with getting applauded for hurting others, that are now beating up Will Smith? They are scared. Because one bully got talked to, in the only language he seems to understand! Chris Rock was asked repeatedly and for years to stop making fun of Jada. In private, in public, on stage, endless jokes and belittling about her looks, the colour of her attire, her acting, her marriage, etc... Yet, the more he was asked to tone it down a bit, the more he always upped it up one nudge. Because that is what bullies do. Until the husband of the bullied women snapped. Rock, had it coming. Chrisses obsession about Jada, almost feels like a scorned wannabe lover who was rejected and swore revenge. This must be personal for Chris. And now, of course, the other bullies in the house are all scared that they too will one day be held accountable for their words! Because they have gone too far. Imagine the LGTBQA+ community, which also keeps explaining to and inviting Chappelle to please understand what his constant demeaning, denigrating, does to them, how it feels like and what it can drive kids to do to themselves. And beg him to stop, so imagine, if one of them, stood up and showed him what it feels like to have had it up till their chins! This far and no farther! That is what these payed haters on stage fear. Roasting has gotten out of hand. What these people call humour is disgusting, racist, bigot, homophobic and meant to hurt people willingly. And simply NOT funny anymore. Remember the days of a Danny Kaye, Bob Hope, Lucille Ball etc... class acts, right? Well guess why?! Did Will snap? Yes. Should he have snapped? No. Did he go to far? Yes. Did he apologise? Yes. Did Chris stop when he was asked to stop? No. He thought it was funny to keep bullying. Should he have stopped? Yes! Did he go to far? Absolutely yes. Did he apologise? Nope! A Chris Rock doesn’t apologise. Did anyone care and speak up at those so-called comedians for their bullying? Did anyone of those otherwise concerned about everything wrong in this world, and turning every of their acceptance speaches into political calls for action, take the side of those being bullied right there and then? I mean if anyone understands how hard it is for any woman to get an acting job in Hollywood when you are older than 22, or slightly younger than 99 it is them! And most of them are white, so imagine being black and in that invisible age! Now above that all being bald, not your fault, but still having to be in public for all to judge you, not for you talent, but for your looks what do YOU think she feels like now?! Who would understand better than the others sitting right then and there that night? We might have no idea, but all these women in the audience on that day, did!!! And they said nothing. Was that the right thing to do? H.E. Double hockey sticks no! Why did no one else tell Rock to stop? Because they were scared of becoming the butt of his jokes themselves. Playground rules number one; never contradict the bully, or he'll bully you. So, stop acting holier, then thou, cowards! And now to the others suddenly supporting the Hollywoodian comedians. See every single comment section on social media about any article mentioning this #slapgate and tweets. They are predominantly white males and their sockpuppets who think it's OK to launch a full-blown insurrection, but now come shouting for Will to be cancelled for one mistake. Diverting much? Of course. After all, they want the world to forget they wanted to lynch the vice president of the United States of America. So, leave the speck in Will's eye alone and start taking care of the f..king Amazone Forrest in your own, you self entitled polyester cockwombles on steroids and blow it out your tubenburbles!
The Shaky Cam and Jason Bourne
So, instead of investing all its money into marketing ninjas trying to fix disastrously boring and endlessly repetitive movies, (yes, especially all the reboots and sequels) how about Hollywood investing in real writers, a bloody camera-tripod, and some optical image stabilisers again, for crying out loud!!! Because they are mistaking our dizziness and nausea when watching their lovelessly jotted products with excitement over a captivating story. All reboots are far worse than the most poorly written fan fiction I've ever read! Enough already! Hollywood makes Stephenie Meyer and E. James look like Shakespeare and Dickens these days, because they at least, stole from various sources, instead of just one, unlike all the reboot specialists trying to retell a story they never got in the first place. They are a bit like that annoying kid in kindergarten on Monday Morning, trying to recap saturdays Doctor Who episode for you, but all they got was this dude in a blue box went woosh, and boom and then he talked for a while, and boom, you know!? And I'm like: 😏🙄
yes, JJ, I'm looking at you. But I digress again...
The first two Jason Bournes had spectacular stories written by a true master. The shaking and zooming were already hard to cope with, but at least the story, the choreography, character development, and pace was right, more than right it was innovative, fresh, sharp. The third still had a great story, but the shakiness and excessive use of extreme closeups was on the knuckle.
And then it went awry. Everyone had to use it constantly in every movie, in every scene!
The latter Bournes are just shaking all around with so many extreme zoom-ins and zoom-outs and zoom-ins and zoom-outs and a shake to the left and a shake to the right in every single scene you can't even count them, not to talk of all the extreme closups, enough to scare every dermatologist, including Doctor Pimple Popper herself, to death.
So please, stop it already! Every iPhone, and drone has steadycams optical stabilisers etc... on it, so just fucking use them all ready!
The Wilhelm Scream stopped being an inside and thus funny joke after everybody started using it, now it's just embarrassingly awkward. Like the moment your granny digs your jeans, when that happens, it's time for a change in style, kiddo! And it's the same with the Dramamine camera!
#JasonBourne #ShakyCamera #Hollywood #Boring
Doctor Who Caught by Hate in the Net, or “People plus technology minus humanity. "
The Doctor Falls
Isn't it cute, how the hipster "I call myself a fan, but actually I just love to hate it" crowd, call themselves experts these days and hate everything typically Doctor-Whoish about Doctor Who? What actually made this show what it is today? What makes it so different and special? Just because it's become so fashionable to diss everything with stolen words these days? They didn't get half the nods, either out of genuinely not knowing the show and its past, or simply because they were being too busy live-tweeting how bad it all is and how utterly boring the show has become, to even notice. Let me tell You, from someone who has watched and loved this show for almost half a Century now, this "finale" if you may call it that, was made in the great tradition of the other regenerations, semiregenerations, endings and beginnings, and will even rank in my personal top three of all times, as far as pace, acting, storytelling, loving nods, references and touching homages count.
This adorably sweet-scary-edge-of-seat-sitting finale was a deep deep bow by Capaldi, Moffat and the team, to all who came before them, and deserves ten curtain calls.
Do any of the haters realise how many Doctors he quoted in this season finale alone? Or where the Tardis actually landed when he met One? What planet it was? Does the Tenth Planet ring a bell? No? Yea, thought so. Or any of this stuff...
“Sontarans! Perverting the course of human history!"
“Without hope, without witness, without reward”.
“I know you’ve fallen”
“It’s the scarecrows – new ones!”
"I don't want to go!"
“When The Doctor was me”
"Without hope, without witness, without reward" (yes, I adore River, so she gets two mentions for that fact alone.)
"While there’s tears, there’s hope,” doesn't that remind you of Pertwee's last words?: “A tear, Sarah Jane? No, don’t cry. While there’s life there’s…”
The Jellybabies...
The master and his dancing wheelchair...
I could go on and on... And I'm sure I missed many more, simply because my first encounters with the Doctor were in Italian ;)
Missy’s display of empathy, because she's a woman... that one actually reminded me of Douglas Adams', POV-gun storyline. (Douglas Adams having written some of my favourite DW storylines in the past, this could very well be another nod. After all, Moffat and Capaldi know their Doctor Who well, very well!)
The landing on the tenth planet, where it all began? That was some utterly gobsmacking telly! With the brilliant David Bradley returning as the first Doctor/Hartnell. "The Doctor? Dear me, no. I’m the Doctor. The original, you might say.” Oh, I can't wait for the Christmas episode...
His speech: "... I do what I do because it’s right! Because it’s decent. And above all, it’s kind. It’s just that. Just kind. If I run away today, good people will die. If I stand and fight, some of them might live … maybe not many, maybe not for long. Hey, maybe there’s no point in any of this at all, but it’s the best I can do, and I will stand here doing it until it kills me. You’re going to die, too, someday. When will that be? Have you thought about it? What would you die for? Who I am is where I stand. Where I stand is where I fall.”
I mean, come on! That was bloody brilliant. That was a mic drop moment.
Ok, yes, the Bill/Pilot thing reminded me a bit too much of the Clara/Ashildr departure in the last series finale. But hey, the universe is big enough for four badass girls in their respective flying (time) machines. And yes, since the pilot can fly everything, I'm sure she can get a hold of a time machine as well... thus flying the Tardis being no problem. I think Bill deserved her very own, very unique happy end. As unique as she was. But that's just me. Because I really liked her. Bill was heartwarming and innocent with a heart of gold and Nardole was a funny, sweet devoted and humble sidekick. And he was adorable! I don't understand all the hate they are getting. The interactions of all three characters were absolutely hilarious. And each story had something to take back into reality. Something good. Something about sacrifice, decency, love, compassion and respect. Classic beautiful storytelling.
All together; It was a very beautiful series finale, filled with so much love, I even shed a few tears! It reminded me of why I fell in love with this show, many many years ago. Yes, I admit it. I remembered what I felt like as a little kid, hiding behind the sofa with her teddy bear in her arms, but her eyes still fermly glued to the screen. Fading out the entire world around her. (I remember, my mind being like the Tardis, flying into the vortex when the show began. The first few notes really drew me in...)
This finale gives me hope for the future of this franchise; It will be good! “The Doctors will return at Christmas” indeed, and what a present this will be for those willing to take it in...
It saddens me to see how much was missed by those eager to hate everything. Watching something with wondering eyes and an open mind, seems impossible for them. But bashing all and everyone who dare speak up and actually like it and saying so out loud, is not impossible for them; It's daily business.
I mean, writing a hateful review shredding an episode to confetti, before the episode even aired, just because the name Moffat appears, doesn't make you cool, it makes you a pathetic angry little troll. Critiquing some factual errors, or poor acting, plot holes, with logical arguments is one thing, hating everything for hates' sake is another.
To me, Doctor Who was and still is about hope, is about love and bigger goals. It's about not giving up, even when life throws thousands of Mondasian Cybermen at you. It is humanistic to its core. It is about dreams and imagination. It's about believing in greater good! And to truly understand its beauty you must be willing to abandon yourself in the stories to a certain extent, immerse into this crazy, colourful, weird universe. And enjoy it for a while. It is about rediscovering your inner child. Remembering what it felt like when gran told you a bedtime story.
Try it. It will enhance your life dramatically. It's your choice to hate everything coming your way, or trying to see the beauty in it. You will always find hate and love in the same places. It just depends on what YOU are looking for!
As Missy said, "It's time to stand with the Doctor!" Or stop watching..
#DoctorWho #TheDoctorFalls
And then came Jody... and the new Who white male fanbase mostly from across the pond exploded! Oy vey!
Depunked myth: Albert Einstein, was not a poor student.
Es ist ein Mythos, dass Albert Einstein schlecht in der Schule war. Manche seiner Biographen haben das System von Schweizer Noten einfach nicht verstanden – Eine Sechs ist darin das beste, was du kriegen kannst. Und weil Einstein seine Matura an der Aargauer Kantonschule machte und sein Zeugnis von Fünfern und Sechsern nur so wimmelte, war er eben nicht schlecht, sondern gut in der Schule. Ausser im Französisch; da bekam er eine Drei.
Another myth that needs to be debunked, Albert #Einstein was NOT a bad student. Many of his biographers did simply not understand the Swiss school grading system. The Swiss system uses grades/marks from 1 (very poor) to 6 (the best you can get) while Germany uses the opposite (1 is the best, and 6 very poor) so Einstein was actually pretty good in school. Except for his French, were he got a poor mark of 3. (Below 4 is usually equal to a failed class)
Rebooting and reinventing or how to dismantle your childhood heroes
Rebooting a TV Show and turning it into something dark, brooding and deeply depressing seems to be the hip thing to do these past few years. Now, don't get me wrong I don't mind updates, remakes, reboots or whatever you want to call them. But I absolutely hate reinventing/reimagening. I really wished Hollywood and the movie industry would put its efforts into creating something original. Has Your generation nothing new to offer? Do you really ALL have to come back to the old and safe? There are so many good writers out there, with genuinly new ideas and entire universes to explore that it is unexplicale why they keep trying to fix things that don't need fixing in the first place. And why always turn something postive into negativity, darkness and distrust? Worse of all by constantly retconning, the makers alienate the longterm fans who actually made the show a success back in the days and passed the love for it onto a next generation. The lack of respect to the original stories, the characters and their fans is ipso facto counterproductive. Because we'll just stop watching, or going to the movies. No fans, equals to no commercial value of the movie/series and that, as we all know, results in the death of the show/movie/franchise. Get that Networks and Studios? Make the fans huff off, and You'll lose the show!
One thing I really mind is when my childhood heroes are being turned into whining alcoholics as in Battlestar Galactica, or one man shows for overpaid wannabe James Bonds as in Mission Impossible. (Teamwork? What Team?) Yes, and then the paramount of reboots gone bad: Bionic Woman. A stiff and sulky faced, bartending brunette that even makes the 24/7 pouting Kristen Stewart look vivid. Oscar Goldman and ALL other characters are badies and no one trusts or smiles at anyone, ever. EVER! (Alias squared)
Oh lordy Lord and holy flying spaghetti monster! Should I go into it some more? NOPE my grey hair is growing back!
I'm sure, there are plenty of lovers of the whole deep and dark and brooding approach. But its ike the "I'm thinking, I'm thinking" scene with the thinker by Rodin in Night at the museum II. Looking broody doesn't make you smart, dark shows don't make it interesting by just being dark. It's the writing, the originality, the difference that make us watch. And does he darkness has to be in EVERY reboot? We've had Alias! We've had Dark Angel! We've had the magnificent XENA! They were originally brilliantly written and conceived dark shows. But why turn Bionic Woman into a third class Nikita with an implant? (and yes, Jessica Alba had more sex appeal in her pinky toe than... You get my point) Why turn Hawaii Five-O into The Prisoner goes Lost with a sociopathic homicidal mother coming back from the dead? Why discard the planet of the Apes from all philosophical aspects, as in the brilliant final scene with the statue of liberty on the beach and Charlton Heston... oh I'm digressing again?
And Sabrina? AUDREY HEPBURN!!!!! Period! Need I say more?
And then finally why rip Batman from the last bit of poetic beauty and Burtonesque brilliance?
Its like that fashionable little sister/daughter thing so popular these days... She is annoying, clumsy and dad/mom/bro' does not understand. Good we got it. It stopped being funny in Eureka after season two. At least they got it and had her evolve a wee bit.
Take Hawaii Five-O for example. Season one of the new one had three dimensional characters a good balance of procedural "who done it" and the core characters back stories. You know... the kind of... do less more... (I'm quoting, I'm quoting) Season three has none of that elegance anymore. The criminal cases are boring and predictable and have become secondary, the back stories are so overcomplicated they are starting to bite themselves in the bacon, or vanish into oblivion, because no one gets it anymore. Even Ariadne would go "darn you've lost me" here. And the "additional women" on the show are written by men and for men as one-dimensional sexual fantasies in a way only a man can imagine how a woman of the 21. Century should be (always available and willing to do anything he asks for, no matter what it may cost her... but that's another story) to lure some Lara Croft fans off the computer towards this show. Even the original Charlies Angels was less oversexed. But Hawaii can take it, right?!
Today's generation should have a chance to have "positive heroes" of some kind like we did. As a matter of fact looking at the world today, they even desperately need them! Why is Hollywood depriving them from hope in 3D? What is so wrong with some lighthearted fun? Or a good old-fashioned cop story? Why digitalize and over-CGI the crap out of all movies, as much as to turn them into a video game? Do You think drowning us in more and more CGI and rumination untill there's no living aura left will make up for a bad script? I'm not asking for Inspector Colombo or the utterly brilliant Agatha Christie's Poirot every week, but when You fell in love with a show back in your youth, why do you have to take it apart now? Why do you feel the urge to destroy it, by making it bad? My childhoods TV and movie heroes however trite, banal, cheesy, or naive they might have been, enriched my life. Roddenberry's approach to a positive future made me a better person. Instead of always searching for all the bad in all the characters in all the shows and all the universes, he gave me hope and trust in a better tomorrow. A trust that not everyone is trying to cheat on, or lie at me.
You know what? I guess I am wrong, I do NOT like reboots/reinvention after all. So far only two have not disappointed me. Drew Barrymore's Charlies Angels I and II and JJ.'s Star Trek into Darkness. But the latter one only because I'm a Spokaholic, both of them. The story itself was meh!
I fear for the moment they’ll reinvent Magnun p.I. as a PTSD suffering, hobo with no home and welfare rejected secondhand Hawaiishirts, stalking a poor writer and uncovering a huge maleficiant underground coverup operation called Zeus vs Apollo and Higgins is the female ninja hitman/woman trying to drag Magnum to the dark side, with her singing remotecontroled helicopter called TC and they always meet in Ricks cafe, and new Baker and Poncherello are shooting themselves out of every trouble, shooting first and asking questions later, always dead serious of course. NOOOOOO!
"My" CHiPs, btw. never ever ! Except for Bear once, drew their guns in the entire series, they flirted, served and protected, and flirted - a lot - did I mention the flirting? ahhhh, the good old times!
And frankly all this overpondering crap today has gotten just plain boring! What some call good drama, I call destructing a good time. I don't want to go into darkness I want to go into the light! The undiscovered country ist bright! Right? I WANT MY JAMIE SOMMERS BACK!!!
Disclaimer: no picture belongs to me, I merely googled them. Mahalo!
Disclaimer: no picture belongs to me, I merely googled them. Mahalo!
Addendum, 30.05.2013:
I've since been asked why I prefered "my" Jamie to the new one. Is that a question, really?! Just look at that picture above! Not enough?
Ok, it's simply because my Jamie (sorry about that "my" thing Lindsay Wagner, not that I expect You to read this, but just in case...) had the sparkling smile of a life loving survivor. That smile you only get once you stood at the abyss of despair, felt the physical, psychological and mental pain of being sick or seriously wounded and yet and maybe unexpectedly surmounted it all!
No matter how often she got knocked down by life, enemies or deadly fembots, she stood up, wiped her clothes clean and continued on her path, giving the world her inimitable beautiful radiant smile. Gracefully, classy and loyal to her family, friends and loved ones. She stood by them and found them standing by her in return. She didn't hate the world for trying to protect her, she knew they did it because they loved her and subsequently proved to them she could take care of herself, not with hate, anger and negativity, but with a positive smile and a loving heart. My Jamie looked for love and found it, as much as the new one looked for distrust, hate, envy, grudge and guess what? She found it too. A generational problem? Maybe...
What I've learned from Lindsay Wagner's Jamie? We will always find what we are looking for, and we will find it in the same places. It only depends on OUR OUTLOOK
The Christchurch City terrorist and why I will not try to understand him or his likes.
First of all let me express my deepest condolences to all involved in this tragedy, including the first and second responders, their families, loved ones and friends.
The 74 pages pamphlet now being widely shared served a couple of purposes: to inflame political tensions, to ensnare the hidden and undecided Nazi, to serve as a knowing nod to those who might be watching the terrorist’s actions with approval and seeking to do the same, and of course to sow further discord and confusion, by calling right wing ideologies fascist and himself a liberal lefty and so on. To achieve those ends, this male terrorist, used memes and key phrases born out of a sick lust for world dominance of the aggressively insecure and last remaining unevolved white males over anything and anyone no matter what it takes. A beast is at its most dangerous when it realises it is dying, going extinct. The effect is ultimatly the same; it normalizes Nazism, and marginalises our enemies in the most twisted way possible.
I firmly belief that it does not matter WHY someone hates other people, other faiths, other colours, other sexes enough to massacre innocents while praying. The extremist mass murderer who killed 49 innocents in Christchurch wants to become famous, he wants his place in history, he wants his time in the spotlight to explain himself. Why do I know that? He wore a helmet, a bulletproof west and let them arrest him. He wants to live to tell his tale, just like the Norwegian assassin from 2011. No! My answer is strictly and simply: no. Strip him of all of his rights to proclaim his revolting ideas to the world. No tolerance towards intolerance. Yes, I am a firm believer in Karl Popper's Paradox of Tolerance. He and his minions, and there are a few of them, need to be taught that enough is enough. We will have no more tolerance of hate speech and terrorist acts at all. 
Valérian et Laureline, par Luc Besson
Cher détesteurs de toute chose neuves et originales,
Ce film sera une autre bijou de la part de Luc Besson: Et si vous voulez vous appeler de vrais fana de la bonne Sci-Fi, vous lui donnerez une chance de se prouver, avant (!) de l'enterrer.
C'est vrai que ce film sera probablement davantage pour le public mature de science-fiction, pour ceux qui savent qu'il y a plus que les Transformers le cinquante-cinquième film, ou Star Wars: nous raconterons la même histoire avec de nouveaux acteurs encore et encore.
Et aussi pour ceux qui veulent, et sont capables de regarder quelque chose de nouveau, avec les yeux et un esprit ouvert!
Le BD de Valérian et Laureline qui existait depuis 1967 est un nouveau motif pour beaucoup de gens, une BD à vous couper le souffle à explorer, original et connu de tous les adeptes de romans graphiques originaux, élaborés et totalement fantastiques, même bien au-delà des frontières françaises.
Donc, au lieu de prouver au monde entier votre ignorance née d'esprits étroit, en tirant sur quelque chose qui n'a jamais été fait au part avant, et qui n'est même pas encore sorti, essayez d'apprendre quelque chose de nouveau, de lire quelque chose que vous ne connaissez pas et de donner une chance réelle à quelque chose de différent, qui pourrait vraiment vous plaire!
Ou alors, arrêtez de babiller sur le manque d'originalité à Hollywood, si VOUS êtes ceux qui bloquent tout ce qui se passe en dehors de vos vieux chemins habitué!
Ou alors, arrêtez de babiller sur le manque d'originalité à Hollywood, si VOUS êtes ceux qui bloquent tout ce qui se passe en dehors de vos vieux chemins habitué!
Dear haters of all things original and new,
This will be another Besson gem.
And if You want to call yourselves Sci-Fi Fans, You will give it a burl, before (!) burying it.
It will probably be more for the mature Sci-Fi Fan audience though, for those aware that there is more out there than the odd Transformers the twenty-fifth movie, or Star Wars-we're retelling the same story with new actors. And for those willing and able to watch something new, with an open mind!
The BD of Valérian et Laureline that existed from 1967 is breathtaking new grounds to explore, utterly original and known to all adepts of original, elaborated and utterly fantastic graphic novels even far beyond the french borders.
So instead of proving your narrow minded ignorance to the whole world, by bashing something that hasn't been done before, or hasn't even come out yet, try learning something new, reading something you haven't known about and give something different a chance!
Or, stop babbling about the lack of originality in Hollywood, if YOU are the ones blocking anything outside your own old and worn out paths!
Ghostbusters 2016 - the travesty
My thoughts include a certain spoiler at the very end.
No, not all people disliking the last Ghostbusters movie have ridiculous attitudes and are misogynist buffoons: I am a woman. The first female firefighter in my country and a feminist. I saw the last one. And I can "open-mindedly" tell you that it was just as dumb, lazily written and sexist as the trailers predicted. All men in it are portrayed as morons, idiots and thugs. All of them! The only way to destroy super baddie is to shoot him in the junk (and they call "us" sexists).
The whole thing was like an overlong and very dumb SNL sketch. Comparable only to MacGruber. You thought: hmm, great premiss, even RDA is part of it, then you actually saw it, and your jaw dropped.
If you liked MacGruber, you'll like Ghostbusters 2016. If you didn't, you won't.
But to brand us, who dislike the new movie as all being misogynist pigs and worse, is just as wrong and insulting as not to accept that some are simply tired of all the inutile reboots, who are way worse than the original. The last really good remake must have been John Carpenter's The Thing, with its iconic soundtrack. And while we're at it: None of us ever claimed the new movie ruins our childhood, that phrase was only used by the marketing "geniuses" and bloggers hired to blame everyone else for this disaster, other than those truly responsible: the writers and director! And yes I know Aykroyd was part of the writing team, but then, I also know that he wrote and directed Nothing But Trouble aka Valkenvania. And that proved to be a "What the hell were you thinking?!"
The trailers of Ghostbusters 2016 show us the best we can expect from this movie, as a trailer should, the "best scenes" are in it, and they sure kept their promise!
Except for this part, that wasn't in the trailers. Or as Cartman so eloquently put it years ago: It doesn't matter, Butters! You never shoot a guy in the dick! Everyone knows that! Shooting a guy in the dick!? That's just... that's just weak... I can't believe you, Feig.
Let us hope they learned from their last mistakes and the next one, has actually some originality.
9/11
Hey guys, about tomorrow... IMHO... please remember...
it wasn't so much about God, or the "right" Religion, than it was about Lies, Intolerance, Power and Humans.
The Power to "prove" Others wrong by killing them...
Intolerance, about Others living their life differently from what some define as worthy.
Intolerance about what name God should be given, and how many "chapters" of that wise book we should acknowledge.
And Lies, as to what young people where and are still told to serve this dreadful purpose of killing Innocent people.
Humans can so easily be deceived, if they have not learned to think for themselves, to make up their own mind, to judge for themselves. So please NO more killing, NO more hate!
Even as a retired firefighter I can assure you, we are what we are, because we LOVE our neighbor. We do not ask about his or her religion, skin color or sex, when we go in to rescue someone.
So, honor the fallen One's by saving, rescuing, helping... That's what they lived for, that's what they died for...
And to them, their friends, colleagues, families and acquaintances, I can only say one thing: Thank You...
it wasn't so much about God, or the "right" Religion, than it was about Lies, Intolerance, Power and Humans.
The Power to "prove" Others wrong by killing them...
Intolerance, about Others living their life differently from what some define as worthy.
Intolerance about what name God should be given, and how many "chapters" of that wise book we should acknowledge.
And Lies, as to what young people where and are still told to serve this dreadful purpose of killing Innocent people.
Humans can so easily be deceived, if they have not learned to think for themselves, to make up their own mind, to judge for themselves. So please NO more killing, NO more hate!
Even as a retired firefighter I can assure you, we are what we are, because we LOVE our neighbor. We do not ask about his or her religion, skin color or sex, when we go in to rescue someone.
So, honor the fallen One's by saving, rescuing, helping... That's what they lived for, that's what they died for...
And to them, their friends, colleagues, families and acquaintances, I can only say one thing: Thank You...
How to Avoid Being Killed in a War Zone: The Essential Survival Guide for Dangerous Places, by Rosie Garthwaite
How to avoid being killed in a war zone, offers practical advise, that will help you survive some of the world's most hostile environments.
Now the content is, honestly, nothing new. But the writing style is splendid.
I don't know, if Rosie Garthwaite meant it that way, but some of her statements are so painstakingly bone dry, that they become hilarious reads.
I love that, because it reminds me of the sense of humor, I had as a senior firefighter sometimes, that alienates those who have not seen what I have seen. But with my colleagues/brothers at the hose, it was like a ping-pong match... Surprisingly we do recognize each other all over the world with that kind of humor... Also other Brothers in Arms... Not sure this makes any sense to whomever... But Rosie maybe?!
Don't get me wrong, this book can and will be very useful for many, and should be used with (GMV = gesundem Menschenverstand) common sense/horse-sense.
I will cherish this book for the rest of my life! Thank you!
Now the content is, honestly, nothing new. But the writing style is splendid.
I don't know, if Rosie Garthwaite meant it that way, but some of her statements are so painstakingly bone dry, that they become hilarious reads.
I love that, because it reminds me of the sense of humor, I had as a senior firefighter sometimes, that alienates those who have not seen what I have seen. But with my colleagues/brothers at the hose, it was like a ping-pong match... Surprisingly we do recognize each other all over the world with that kind of humor... Also other Brothers in Arms... Not sure this makes any sense to whomever... But Rosie maybe?!
Don't get me wrong, this book can and will be very useful for many, and should be used with (GMV = gesundem Menschenverstand) common sense/horse-sense.
I will cherish this book for the rest of my life! Thank you!
Ringing True, by Robert Morrow
This is a book imagined by an adult for adults. I love it. Sexuality is a part of us, that needs to be referred to without bigotry.
Its thought-provoking, humorous, smart, satirical, without ever drifting into the cynical. And it is remarkably well written.(!) Robert Morrow is a true poet, and his eloquent and classy writing promises greatness for the future.
The best summer read for anyone who enjoys thinking while and after reading.
Love it, love it, love it....
Its thought-provoking, humorous, smart, satirical, without ever drifting into the cynical. And it is remarkably well written.(!) Robert Morrow is a true poet, and his eloquent and classy writing promises greatness for the future.
The best summer read for anyone who enjoys thinking while and after reading.
Love it, love it, love it....
Etre the cow, a brilliant book by Sean Kenniff
Please check the homepage for the stories summary. As usual I will share my opinion about it with you and no more...
Berchtold Brecht wrote: „Die dümmsten Kälber wählen ihre Metzger selber“ Roughly translated "the dumbest cow, chooses its own butcher"
The meaning being: we follow blindly, without thinking and choose our life without really choosing it consciously.
Etre changes that... He becomes aware...
Or as some others would have said:
- He awakens (Jim Morrison)
- Cogito, ergo sum (Descartes)
- J'ai pas choisi de vivre ici, entre la soumission, la peur ou l'abandon, J'm'en sortirai, je te le jure, à coup de livres, je franchirai tous ces murs (Jean-Jacques Goldmann)
I have rarely read a more erudite and skilled story, packed with philosophical allegories. Very challenging psychological assertions, brought to you in a language you will LOVE and understand. Read it with an open mind, think about what it tells you, what unquestioned answers it reveals to you and it will blow your mind away!
All in all: I recommend it to 100%
Except to those who don't like books that accrue them as a human being and help them evolve into more consciousness! To those I say: Beware! Because you wont have any excuses left for NOT taking your life into your own hands, after reading this, anymore.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu was right about this one Sean! Superbe travaille!
Berchtold Brecht wrote: „Die dümmsten Kälber wählen ihre Metzger selber“ Roughly translated "the dumbest cow, chooses its own butcher"
The meaning being: we follow blindly, without thinking and choose our life without really choosing it consciously.
Etre changes that... He becomes aware...
Or as some others would have said:
- He awakens (Jim Morrison)
- Cogito, ergo sum (Descartes)
- J'ai pas choisi de vivre ici, entre la soumission, la peur ou l'abandon, J'm'en sortirai, je te le jure, à coup de livres, je franchirai tous ces murs (Jean-Jacques Goldmann)
I have rarely read a more erudite and skilled story, packed with philosophical allegories. Very challenging psychological assertions, brought to you in a language you will LOVE and understand. Read it with an open mind, think about what it tells you, what unquestioned answers it reveals to you and it will blow your mind away!
All in all: I recommend it to 100%
Except to those who don't like books that accrue them as a human being and help them evolve into more consciousness! To those I say: Beware! Because you wont have any excuses left for NOT taking your life into your own hands, after reading this, anymore.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu was right about this one Sean! Superbe travaille!
Still Life With Brass Pole, a great book by Craig Machen
Per aspera ad astra!
I read this book twice and fell in love with that lovable, romantic soul.
This Biographic Book is about Craig's search for a place to call home and someone to love, and who will love him back, unconditionally. He is also looking for the classic answers we all look for when we're young. Who am I, why am I here, will I be like my parents, when I grow up? Only in his case, with the adoption, the neglegtion, the abandon you feel them being twice as corroding on his soul.
But by growing older, smarter, and more sober he manages to find those answers and through them, ultimately unveils his true self. Sir Lancelot!
While reading you just can't stop thinking, this boy had so much love to give, despite having received so few. Where does he take it from? The book ultimately also raises the question why some people adopt at all.
The story itself is captivating and heartwarming. Its deeply and hopefully romantic.
The metaphors in the book are funny, witty, creative. The anecdotes are truthful, unpretentious, honest.
The writing shows real talent! I am certain that we can expect great things from Craig Machen in the future.
All in all, this has become one of my all time favorite books. I can totally and utterly recommend it!
And if you ... Ladies and Gentleman ... do not fall a tiny little bit for Craig after this, I do not know ...
I read this book twice and fell in love with that lovable, romantic soul.
This Biographic Book is about Craig's search for a place to call home and someone to love, and who will love him back, unconditionally. He is also looking for the classic answers we all look for when we're young. Who am I, why am I here, will I be like my parents, when I grow up? Only in his case, with the adoption, the neglegtion, the abandon you feel them being twice as corroding on his soul.
But by growing older, smarter, and more sober he manages to find those answers and through them, ultimately unveils his true self. Sir Lancelot!
While reading you just can't stop thinking, this boy had so much love to give, despite having received so few. Where does he take it from? The book ultimately also raises the question why some people adopt at all.
The story itself is captivating and heartwarming. Its deeply and hopefully romantic.
The metaphors in the book are funny, witty, creative. The anecdotes are truthful, unpretentious, honest.
The writing shows real talent! I am certain that we can expect great things from Craig Machen in the future.
All in all, this has become one of my all time favorite books. I can totally and utterly recommend it!
And if you ... Ladies and Gentleman ... do not fall a tiny little bit for Craig after this, I do not know ...
The House of Wisdom: How Arabic Science Saved Ancient Knowledge and Gave Us the Renaissance
A well written, insightfull and smart read.
Jim Al-Khalili is obviusly proud of his roots. And i like that.
Without being to missionary about it, he makes a good point in the fact that the Mideastern knowledge that started in Mesopotamian times and evolved all the way through our dark ages until the renaissance, was very influential on the occidents development of not only medicine, or architecture but also poetry, astronomie and art.
The questions of how and why the Islamic knowledge is suddenly regarded as threat from some circles, even within its own culture, is worth being elaborated in an book on itself.
I can highly recommend this book to everyone who wants to open his horizon a bit, in regard of where our cultural background was forged and how humanity evolved: By sharing its science and exchanging thoughts. Arabic was then what Latin became later to the literate elite. Scientists were Christians, Jews and Persians.
And as John Noble Wilford said in his (as usual) brilliant review "The Muslim Art of Science" in the NYT: Jim Al-Khalili also reminds readers that in early Islam there was no bitter conflict between religion and science and that the Koran encouraged the close study of all God’s works.
John Noble Wilford's (much better than mine) review can be followed here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/22/books/review/book-review-the-house-of-wisdom-by-jim-al-khalili.html?nl=books&emc=booksupdateema3
Jim Al-Khalili is obviusly proud of his roots. And i like that.
Without being to missionary about it, he makes a good point in the fact that the Mideastern knowledge that started in Mesopotamian times and evolved all the way through our dark ages until the renaissance, was very influential on the occidents development of not only medicine, or architecture but also poetry, astronomie and art.
The questions of how and why the Islamic knowledge is suddenly regarded as threat from some circles, even within its own culture, is worth being elaborated in an book on itself.
I can highly recommend this book to everyone who wants to open his horizon a bit, in regard of where our cultural background was forged and how humanity evolved: By sharing its science and exchanging thoughts. Arabic was then what Latin became later to the literate elite. Scientists were Christians, Jews and Persians.
And as John Noble Wilford said in his (as usual) brilliant review "The Muslim Art of Science" in the NYT: Jim Al-Khalili also reminds readers that in early Islam there was no bitter conflict between religion and science and that the Koran encouraged the close study of all God’s works.
John Noble Wilford's (much better than mine) review can be followed here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/22/books/review/book-review-the-house-of-wisdom-by-jim-al-khalili.html?nl=books&emc=booksupdateema3
Floods, Droughts Are 'New Normal' Of Extreme U.S. Weather Fueled By Climate Change, Scientists Say
In Switzerlan
Belgian Malinois: The Dog That Took Down Osama Bin Laden?
What happens to those dogs afterwards
Humans have a choice, what do those dogs have?
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost
The Tragedy of Arthur by William Shakespeare: The First Modern Edition of His Lost Play, with an Introduction and Notes by Arthur Phillips
The Tragedy of Arthur is an emotional and elaborately constructed tour de force from bestselling and critically acclaimed novelist Arthur Phillips, “one of the best writers in America” (The Washington Post)
I very much liked the fictional biography, or is it fictography?
I love that mind-boggling idea of not just inventing a (remarkably well done) lost Shakespearian play, but the hole family history to go along with it. Or, is it all true?
And so, fooling the readership into not knowing what to believe anymore! Great, base for a long night with friends discussing it in your book club... Or any English teacher seeking inspirational books for theire classes.
So much fun to read, talk and think about... Go ahead an buy it, worth every penny...
I very much liked the fictional biography, or is it fictography?
I love that mind-boggling idea of not just inventing a (remarkably well done) lost Shakespearian play, but the hole family history to go along with it. Or, is it all true?
And so, fooling the readership into not knowing what to believe anymore! Great, base for a long night with friends discussing it in your book club... Or any English teacher seeking inspirational books for theire classes.
So much fun to read, talk and think about... Go ahead an buy it, worth every penny...
Danny
Sometimes I am thankful for things I hated at first… like for having had the chance to meet 2 men in my live I adored…
The first one (also in the biblical sense) stepped in my life at the american embassy in Berne, next to where we used to go swimming in summer as teens (called the KWD)… He was stationed there. I was helping my best friend and her mom give swimming lessons 3 evenings a week. And there was this very mysterious and handsome blond, young man, lying on his belly... reading. (!) While his friends were flirting, joking with the "Barbie's" and swimming.. he was reading... At least thats what he wanted me to think (he admitted to me much later). It took him 3 weeks to address me with a short: good evening miss! How polite! I was little over 16 and very frustrated... "good evening miss" was definitively not what I wanted to hear from him. But its all I got for the next 2 weeks. It was Joe, his older friend, a funny redhead covered in freckles, who actually asked me out in his name. Thanks Freckles. All I could think was: 5 weeks for a coffee, he better be worth it! And he was!
I used to call him Danny because he resembled an actor from his favorite TV show: tour of duty.
I showed him my Switzerland, the lakes, the mountains, the rivers on his days off… we spend days just walking and talking... My first overnight hiking, trough the Wallis and Engadin were with him… and when he talked about his home in Watertown NY, that island state park (dont remember the name) he went camping with his dad, I was there with him. I loved to watch him, and those sparkles in his eyes, while he talked about his family, his friends in High School, his pranks... The little dimples that formed on his cheeks when he smiled...
I used to read in german to him, so he would learn how certain things where pronounced… He then would read his two favorite books to me in english. Zen & the art of motorycle maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig, and on the road by Jack Kerouac. Still my favorite books… He wanted to show me so much, about himself… To cheesy? Well... stop reading then.. And BTW.. I am swiss, thats what we are...
Later I even discovered that he had asked my dad to be allowed to ask me to marry him… My dad didn't like american’s, he was a little boy in WW2 in Italy and saw things he never shared with us, but witch must have been “unpleasant”. But he was impressed by this guys guts and determination, and agreed.
Danny died before that. On a sunny, warm Sunday in may, the 15. it was the warmest day measured until then... Funny the things we remember... We were on Holiday with two of his friends. It was a diving accident. He drowned. Or maybe he had stopped breathing before the air went out. I don't know. And I don't want to know... The cave collapsed and all I remember is that pink cloud out of his mask and his thumb sign to me and Freckles. UP! Freckles turned me around and we started the emergency resurfacing procedure. He held my arms so hard I bruised. No one ever looked at me that way before and ever again. He held my buoyancy compensator with such a firm grip, that I gave in. I just gave in...
I’l never forget Danny's eyes… they could change from that ice clear pale blue of a frozen lake in the mountains, to the deepest skyblue of a warm and cloudless winter day… On February 23. 2011 he would have been 46 years old… (witch is why I wrote this...) when I think hard, I can still remember how his kisses felt…
Danny died before that. On a sunny, warm Sunday in may, the 15. it was the warmest day measured until then... Funny the things we remember... We were on Holiday with two of his friends. It was a diving accident. He drowned. Or maybe he had stopped breathing before the air went out. I don't know. And I don't want to know... The cave collapsed and all I remember is that pink cloud out of his mask and his thumb sign to me and Freckles. UP! Freckles turned me around and we started the emergency resurfacing procedure. He held my arms so hard I bruised. No one ever looked at me that way before and ever again. He held my buoyancy compensator with such a firm grip, that I gave in. I just gave in...
I’l never forget Danny's eyes… they could change from that ice clear pale blue of a frozen lake in the mountains, to the deepest skyblue of a warm and cloudless winter day… On February 23. 2011 he would have been 46 years old… (witch is why I wrote this...) when I think hard, I can still remember how his kisses felt…
Today I am thankful for the love I was allowed to share, and for the strength I found, where I didn't expect it. And for my friends who kept me going after that…
And I am thankful for that one night, 19 years ago, I took a cab, after a hard night-shift at work… I never took a cab from this company before… That night I looked into the most peaceful and loving grey eyes I had ever seen, and I knew I was finally home… We got married on February 25. 1994.
And you know what? He still kooks at me with the same amazement and love in his eyes…
Yes I am happy…very, very happy...
Veterans With Insomnia Face Uphill Battle
Sorry, but some posted replies on this article in the Huffington Post really upset me!
The question should not be: where they right to enroll in the first place, or was the fighting worth it. There where young people who, for whatever reason, stood up some day and went out to do, what they believed was the only appropriat
These youngsters might have been naive to believe they would change the world for the better, by fighting for the american way of life, their flag or whatever, but who are the theoretici
Personally I prefer someone who tried and failed, or made a mistake, than ten who talk and never do anything for real!
So, the question should be: What can we do to support them now? We cry for Japanese people who we will never meet. But when our neighbor wakes up screaming we call the cops!
By shutting down the government they, and some FD and EMS will not get payed. OK, some were excluded to this madness, but the veterans, the ones on widow's pensions or disability annuity's, needing to pay for their mortgage on time... Do you think that will help them feel better? Is that what they deserve, as some posted as commentary's? Do those bloggers really regard themselves as more socially evolved humans than the involved, by posting such rudeness? Who do they think fought for their right to speak up and spread their verbal diarrhea, and every other thinkable nonsense in the Internet under the protections of the 1. amendment?
BTW, I am just a firefighte
There is a great book about this, in german:
"Wenn der Krieg nicht endet: Schicksale von traumatiesierten Soldaten und Ihren Angehörigen,
by Leah Wizelman http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8594115-wenn-der-krieg-nicht-endet
The English version should come out this autumn, but can be pre-orderd via Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/When-War-Never-Ends-Military/dp/1442212071/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1302816407&sr=8-1
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost
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